Chapter 1: Just A Bit Apprehensive

Ochaco's new apartment is hardly bigger than a closet. Katsuki surmises that if the two of them stood side by side with their arms outstretched, their fingertips would easily be able to graze the walls.

He had told her as much the first time they were here together, when he had accompanied her for a viewing. She had looked plenty unimpressed herself, but then the agent revealed the dirt-cheap rent, and she immediately changed her mind.

"I don't need anything fancy! It's just a place to sleep in anyway," Ochaco had been quick to defend when Katsuki pointed out that there were probably more spacious lockers than this place advertising itself as an aparment.

Like the rest of their class, she had been living within the UA campus at Heights Alliance for the past two and a half years. Upon their recent graduation however, they have had to pack up their things and leave their rooms, and now Ochaco has settled for this tiny closet of a space to call her new home.

It's way below the standards Katsuki would have expected from the salary she'll be getting as a pro hero, but he knows by now that she has a bad habit of shortchanging herself, so it doesn't come as much of a surprise anymore.

Today, Ochaco finally moves in, and Katsuki has come to help her out. Not that there's much heavy lifting to be done, thanks to her Quirk.

"What do I do with these?" Katsuki asks, gesturing to the three floating boxes that he's pushing effortlessly through the front door. "These are the last ones."

Ochaco, who's attempting to squeeze a mini fridge into the corner of the equally mini kitchen, interrupts her struggle to spare him a glance.

"Put them by the closet please, thank you," she instructs.

Katsuki gives the boxes another shove to float them in the right direction. Seeing that everything else in the apartment is in place, he decides to check the contents of the boxes he had brought in and get started putting them away.

"Release these, won't you?" He calls to Ochaco. "I'll sort them out."

Still busy with the refrigerator, she just gives a distracted nod and presses her fingers together. Gravity returns to the boxes and they drop to the floor by Katsuki's feet. He chooses one at random to start with, rips the packaging tape sealing the top, and finds inside a messy pile of what he assumes to be Ochaco's clothes.

Katsuki arranges himself in a comfortable position on the floor, frowning as he pulls the first shirt out of the box. "Can't you be neater?" he complains. "My folks would be scandalized if they saw this."

"Well, don't tell them I'm messy," Ochaco replies pointedly. Her words are punctuated by a soft thud as she finally gives the refrigerator back its weight.

She proceeds to take out a stash of sweets and cup noodles from a box on the kitchen counter to store them inside the tiny overhead cabinets.

"Don't tell them I live on a diet of junk food either," she adds. "Just focus on my cute points!"

Katsuki snorts. "You do that yourself when you meet them. I'm bringing you over to our place one of these days."

No sound at all comes from Ochaco in reply, so he turns from the pair of jeans he's smoothing out to look at her curiously. He finds her frozen in the middle of closing a cabinet door, her face pale.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-meet…?" Her voice falters.

"What?" Katsuki asks as he goes back to sorting her clothes. "I already told you my old hag of a mother won't shut up about wanting to meet you."

"B-b-b-b-b-but so soon?" Ochaco blurts out.

"Huh? The fuck are you talking about?" He shoots her an impatient glare. "We've been seeing each other for close to a year."

"Yes, but we've just graduated! I'm not anyone yet!" Ochaco exclaims in a panic, throwing her hands in the air. Then she brings them to her face to cup her cheeks dramatically.

"I'm just a girl from a poor family, and I was an average student at best," she laments. "What if they don't like me, and throw water at me, and offer me money to leave you?"

"What the hell kind of dramas have you been watching?" Katsuki asks with a snicker. "Don't be an idiot."

Ochaco grins at him playfully, dropping the theatrics, but then her expression melts into one of genuine concern. "I'm half-serious, though, Katsuki. What if they don't like me?"

He scoffs. "What's not to like?"

Katsuki doesn't mean for it to sound like flattery, but it kind of comes out that way, and Ochaco very obviously blushes. Embarrassed, he clears his throat.

"I just meant, they're happy enough that someone's putting up with me, so don't worry," he clarifies. Then, as casually as he can, he adds, "Shouldn't I be the one worried about meeting your parents?"

He takes care not to let any hint of apprehension show. But to be completely honest, Katsuki secretly worries about the kind of impression Ochaco's parents might have of him.

Over the past several months since his debut as a pro hero, he has steadily been gaining popularity, but not all for the right reasons. The media enjoys fixating on his explosive personality, treating it like a novelty, and the public in general seems eager to drink it all up.

It has resulted in a rather ungainly reputation for The Explosion Hero Bakugo, and it's widespread enough that Katsuki thinks it isn't unlikely even for Ochaco's parents out in the sticks to be aware of it.

It's not helping that Ochaco is taking her time to whip out a reassurance.

"Well," she begins in a tone that doesn't sound reassuring at all. "My parents have been asking to meet you too."

The way she says it, there's bound to be a 'but', and sure enough, it comes.

"But I don't want to introduce you just yet."

Katsuki's hands still on the jacket he's folding. He wills himself not to make a big deal of Ochaco's words, but as always, his ego is fragile and his tongue has a mind of its own.

"Why not?" he asks coldly. He spits his next words out like a challenge. "You ashamed of me?"

It's not like Katsuki has any delusions about what kind of person he is. He knows he's a punk. He's ill-mannered and temperamental and somewhat of an asshole overall, definitely far from being the ideal boyfriend a girl would be excited to bring home to her parents.

Still, he can't help feeling more than a little offended that Ochaco, of all people, would make him feel as though he's not someone to be proud of.

Ochaco immediately clamors to correct his train of thought, her eyes going round and wide as she waves her hands frantically in front of her face.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," she repeats about a thousand times in rapid succession. "You've got it all wrong! It's not like that at all! Of course I'm not ashamed of you! Why would I be?"

Katsuki shrugs noncommittally, not meeting her eyes, resuming to sort her clothes like a robot. He refuses to look at her, and for a while there's only silence between them.

"I'm not ashamed of you, honest," Ochaco repeats earnestly. "I just don't want to introduce you to my parents just yet because they're a little… they kind of…"

She fidgets, and Katsuki's heart sinks as he realizes what it must be that she's finding so difficult to tell him.

"They don't like me," he finishes the sentence for her flatly. He feels his stomach squirm as his secret fear is confirmed.

"I wouldn't say it's that bad," Ochaco tries to soften the blow. "They're just a bit apprehensive. Just a bit, that's all."

Katsuki grunts. Finishing one box of her clothes, he moves on to the next and tears the packaging tape off with so much force that the whole thing rips open.

He lets out a string of curses as the contents spill out onto the floor. He gathers them haphazardly into his arms, and Ochaco drops down to her knees by his side to help him.

"Are you angry?" she asks as she piles clothes on his lap.

"No."

"Then why are you acting like that?"

"I said I'm not angry," Katsuki snaps. "They're your parents. Do what you want."

Of course, Ochaco being Ochaco, she refuses to be cowed by his tantrum.

"Katsuki, listen to me," she insists. "Look at me."

When he doesn't, she reaches out with both hands to grab him by the shoulders and force him to meet her eyes. He scowls at her, but she stays firm.

"I told my parents I won't let them meet you until they stop being judgy," she clarifies. "They should meet you with an open mind or not at all. That's what I told them."

Ochaco slides her hands from Katsuki's shoulders down his arms to his own hands, but they're full with her clothes, so she hooks their fingers together instead.

"Of course I'm not ashamed of you. I love you!"

She says it with a passion that leaves no doubt of her sincerity. She leans forward to press a kiss on his lips, and as she pulls away she gives his fingers a squeeze.

"So don't be mad, okay?" she prods.

"I said I wasn't mad," Katsuki grumbles, but there's no hostility in his tone this time, and just a hint of red dusts his complexion. She beams at him, and it's so lovely he can't bite back a small one of his own.

"There, that's better!" Ochaco says teasingly. "Well then, let's get to putting these away…" Her eyes travel down to the pile of clothes sitting on his lap and the permanent pink in her cheeks deepens several hues.

Katsuki follows her gaze and his own face erupts in embarrassment. Between his sour mood and his haste to pick the clothes up from the floor, he hadn't noticed that all of it is underwear.

He's cradling a bunch of Ochaco's underwear, including some really cutesy ones that he half-wishes he hadn't seen. His imagination is not going to be kind.

"G-g-g-g-g-g-g-give them here!" Ochaco stutters, all flustered. "I-I-I-'ll sort them out by myself!"

Katsuki nods and hastily pushes the entire pile into her arms. His face is all warm, his pulse is racing, and he berates himself for it.

It's just underwear. It's not a big deal. He should be cool, or act the part at least, but try as he might, he suddenly doesn't know where to look and his mouth has gone dry.

He and Ochaco have been dating for almost a year, but they haven't actually… he hasn't even seen… He feels the beginnings of small explosions on his palms as they become excessively sweaty, and he rubs them vigorously against his pants.

"I'll put these away," Ochaco says meekly. "So um, just go rest. You've done enough for today, thank you."

Katsuki just nods again like a mute asshole and picks himself up from the floor as Ochaco begins to hastily fold her pile of underwear and shove them one by one into a drawer in the closet.

He goes over to her bed only a few steps away and plops heavily down on his back onto the uncovered mattress. Its springs give a grating squeak, but he ignores the sound and stares at the bare ceiling.

He and Ochaco have been dating for close to a year, but they have yet to sleep together.

It sure as hell isn't from lack of desire. There's loads of it from his end, definitely, and he can't see why it wouldn't be the same on hers.

But be that as it may, he's obviously being expected to make the first move, as Ochaco would suffer an aneurism otherwise, and this is where Katsuki is met with a bit of a complication.

He has never been in any kind of relationship before Ochaco, and though he'd like to believe that he's suave by instinct, in reality he's not. He's really not. Katsuki doesn't have the slightest clue how he's supposed to get to that point.

If only a good opportunity would come his way…

He lets out a loud, irate sigh.

"Tired?" Ochaco asks as she stands up and brushes off her knees, apparently done putting away her underwear. She walks over to the bed and drops down onto the mattress beside him. The springs make a racket, and Katsuki frowns.

"Where did you get this thing? It's fucking old," he complains.

"Of course it's old," she confirms. "I got it from a recycle shop, paid almost nothing for it!" She sounds proud.

"Yeah?" he drawls out. "That's not hard to believe."

Ochaco sticks her tongue out at him. "Whatever, Katsuki. As long as it serves its purpose, it's good enough for me."

To prove her point, she wiggles violently and moves her arms around on the surface of the bed to deliberately make the springs screech even louder.

"Stop that!" Katsuki snarls, annoyed with the grating sound, but Ochaco just laughs and doubles her efforts.

He clicks his tongue and rolls over to stop her by force. She squeals and tries to evade him, but in the limited space, there is nowhere to escape.

Katsuki ends up hovering above her, her wrists trapped above her head in one of his hands. She falls quiet when she registers the position they're in, blush blooming on her cheeks, her eyes wide and round as she stares up at him.

Katsuki feels his face heat up all over again and he retracts from her as though burned. He sits up with his back to Ochaco to hide his embarrassment.

Goddammit, he'll never get anywhere with her like this.

"…why don't you stay here tonight?"

Ochaco says it in a tiny voice. So tiny that Katsuki almost doesn't hear, but he does and his breath hitches. When he turns to look at her, she squeaks and covers her face, then scrunches her eyes shut for good measure.

He doesn't respond immediately, and she fills the silence with flustered rambling.

"I mean, you spent the whole day helping me move and it's getting late and your house is a bit far from here and you must be tired. I keep an extra futon for when my parents come over so you can sleep on that. Or I can sleep on that and you sleep on the bed. I can—"

"Okay, okay, shut it. I'll stay."

Katsuki tries to make it sound like it's a pain, but his chest is positively pounding and his head feels like it's going to explode. It's good that Ochaco's still hiding behind her hands. He's sure he looks fucking embarrassing.

This is it. This is what he has been waiting for.

He and Ochaco will be alone all night in the privacy of her apartment, and at her invitation, too. If this isn't the perfect opportunity for Katsuki to try something, then he doesn't know what is.

The time to act is tonight.

Katsuki stands up abruptly. A spring twangs as the mattress strains to smoothen out the shape his butt had left on the surface.

"Finish up here. I'm going out," he announces. "I have to get a few things if I'm staying the night."

There's a beat of silence so absolute that Katsuki hears Ochaco gulp.

"… o-okay," she squeaks from behind her hands, and he realizes she's read into what he said. His face burns.

"I meant like a toothbrush and a change of clothes!" he clarifies aggressively. "Don't act all weird!"

He quickly swipes his backpack from the floor and makes it out the front door in three large strides. It closes behind him with a slam louder than intended. Katsuki can swear smoke is coming out of his ears as he stomps down the outdoor stairwell of her apartment building.

Of course, it isn't just a toothbrush and a change of clothes he means to buy, but there's no reason to admit that now and get Ochaco even more worked up than she already is, is there?

A/N:

The drafts for the first 2.5 chapters have been rotting away in my laptop for months now. I haven't had the time to flesh out the rest of the story because, oh my god, work has been crazy. I haven't been on here, not even to read, for so long now.

I need a breather from work though, so I'm going to try and encourage myself to finish this one at least. Updates may not be as consistent as with my previous work though.

Comments would be appreciated! :)