Notes: This was a fic request about Todoroki meeting Uraraka's loving parents. I, unfortunately, fell in love with the idea and then thought about what would happen if she met Endeavor, so this turned into a two-parter. I already know what's going to happen in the next chapter though, so that's a relief at least. Also, concerning the past Izuocha and Todomomo, I decided that I didn't want this to be their first relationship. They're both eighteen. There's a chance that they dated before and it also opened the door for even more awkwardness and silliness. There is some angst in this, but for the most part, this is a veritable shit ton of fluff.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

To be honest, Ochako had only seen Shouto nervous a handful of times. He didn't let his nerves get the best of him and, even if he did feel it, he very rarely showed it. Over the three years that they'd gone to school together, she could proudly say that she was not only better at reading him, but he had become more open with people. Still, they were in the hero course for a reason, so showing his nerves was not something he did. He couldn't let people know when he was anxious or afraid. There was no stopping those feelings completely, only containing them.

Sometimes though – usually the most trivial times for him – it couldn't be helped.

The last time she'd seen Shouto nervous was right before they had kissed for the first time. His entire face had turned a distinct shade of pink. It had been so innocent and sweet that she'd giggled. One of the first times had been when he'd half-admitted that he liked her as more than a friend. He'd not wanted to overstep his boundaries since Deku was his best friend and she and he had sort of dated in their second year. He had seemed so mortified with himself, as if he'd betrayed both of them.

It hadn't been nearly as big of a deal as he'd thought, seeing as how Deku had already figured it out and she and him had actually become stronger friends than ever before after realizing they didn't work well together as a romantic couple. Now a battle hero couple? Totally different story.

Today was different though. Shouto was not only a ball of nerves, but he was being very obvious about it. The whole train ride, he had been even more silent than usual, reminding her of their first year, but it was his distance that made her realize it. He had started when she'd slipped her hand in his, just like he used to do when they had first decided to see where they could go with a relationship. Ochako knew that she was a much more tactile person than he was, but it had warmed her when she figured out how much he craved it whenever she was physical with him in even the simplest and most innocent of ways, like he was trying to make up for all the times he had been starved of it.

"Hey," Ochako prompted quietly a few minutes before their exit. "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Shouto turned his head slightly and blinked her way.

"You just seem really out of it, is all," Ochako said.

"I'm fine," Shouto told her, but even his voice was distant, like his mind was on another train going in the opposite direction. However, if he thought that keeping any emotion out of his voice would make it more difficult for her to see through him, he was dead wrong. If anything, it confirmed her suspicions.

Ochako squeezed his hand. It was his left one, still somehow warmer than his right despite the fact that he wasn't using his quirk. "If you're uncomfortable, we can go back to the dorms. You don't have to do this."

Shouto frowned. "No, no, I agreed to this. It's fine. I'm fine. Backing out this last minute would be incredibly rude and I don't want to make the wrong first impression."

"Silly." Ochako playfully rolled her eyes at him. "You wouldn't do that. They would totally understand. Either that or I could tell them that I got food poisoning from bad takeout."

"You do eat a lot of sketchy takeout," Shouto pointed out.

"Hey!" Ochako reached over with her left hand to gently slap him on the arm. "You don't get to call me out on my bad habits if I'm going to use them as an excuse." That earned her a faint smile from him. No matter how small of a smile that she got from him, it always warmed her heart, as cheesy as it sounded. "Seriously though, if this is too much or too soon for you…"

Shouto shook his head and this time he was the one to squeeze her had in reassurance. "I'm not canceling dinner plans with your parents because I'm nervous."

A voice over the train announced that they would be pulling up to their stop momentarily. She watched Shouto's eyes flicker to the sign that showed the name of their stop and then the doors that would soon be opening. Oh, he was so nervous. She could practically see him mentally planning an escape route should things go wrong. It was kind of funny, to be honest. She had seen him destroy multiple villains at once without blinking an eye, but here he was hesitating over meeting her parents.

"I don't know what you're so anxious about," Ochako said dismissively as she stood up and grabbed hold of one of the polls. "They're going to love you."

"And if they don't?" Shouto asked, following her to his feet. Taller than her, he held onto one of the handles above their heads. When the train slowed to a stop, he swayed into her space, brushing up against her body, and she took the opportunity to nuzzle into him.

"What's not to love?" Ochako asked teasingly, although she was telling the truth as well.

Shouto sighed. "You say that now."

Honestly, she didn't know why he was so insecure about this of all things. If anyone had to be insecure about something, it was her. After all, Shouto was, well… He was rich and she wasn't. There was no denying that his family had way more money than hers. He never bragged about it, so sometimes it was easy to forget, except like instances when she spotted his very nice name brand clothes. Distantly, she had been aware that he was rich in the beginning of their first year. His dad had been the number two hero for longer than they'd been alive, which meant that he made a boatload of money.

When they'd moved to the dorms and she'd seen his room, she had almost died of shock. One) the detail had been beautiful, and two) it had taken him a ton of work to get it done, but three) it had been obviously expensive. She'd been so embarrassed when he had seen her bland and barely decorated room. He hadn't commented on it though. He never did when it came to money. It just wasn't a thing he thought about, which was kind of a consequence of growing up with it.

Now that she was thinking about it, maybe she should have been more self-conscious about it. Shouto had and would never say anything, but what if her parents' quaint little apartment disappointed him? He could probably fit at least three of their apartments into his dad's house, maybe four. He wouldn't look down on her parents – he wouldn't look down on her – but all of a sudden, it felt like some anxious rat was gnawing on her nerves in the back of her mind.

Shouto must have noticed her sudden reluctance from the way she'd started to slow down because he came to a stop. She hadn't and their entwined hands jerked her back when he didn't follow. "What's wrong?"

Ochako chewed on her bottom lip. "Well…" He stared down at her, patiently waiting for her to gather her thoughts instead of prompting her. "I just don't want you to be embarrassed…by me…"

"Why would I be embarrassed of you?" Shouto asked, his brow furrowed. "I'm the one who is about to be subjected to interrogation by your parents."

Despite her brush with nervousness, Ochako giggle-snorted. Of course he would think of it like that. It was probably what his dad would do in order to make sure that the person dating his son met his perfect standards. He couldn't have his son seeing someone with a quirk that was incompatible with his half hot half cold quirk. But then, as quickly as he'd made her laugh with his unintentional joke, she sobered up and began to fiddle with her fingers. Honestly, why did she still get like this? There was absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about when it came to her family.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."

However, when she tried to pull away, Shouto didn't budge. Short of activating her quirk on him, she was not going to be able to drag him with her. He hid it with clothes and the way he held himself, but now solidly in their third year, the boy was built.

Ochako dropped her head and sighed in embarrassment. "I'm just nervous that you'll see my childhood home and be, you know…underwhelmed."

At that, Shouto raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried that I'll judge your family for being poor?"

"No! I know you wouldn't do that!" Ochako turned bright pink. Okay, so she had kind of been worried about that. He wouldn't do it on purpose, but it was kind of hard not to think about him subconsciously comparing their two financial situations. "Oh, gods, I sound so petty, don't I? That's not… I'd feel the same way with Momo, I swear. No, wait, that's not good either. And I'm not embarrassed by them. They're incredibly hard-working and good people and I love them so much, but ugh, I just…"

Why were words suddenly failing her when she'd had them to soothe Shouto's nerves?

The moment Shouto set his other hand on top of her head, Ochako stilled and she lifted her gaze to stare into his eyes. When her stomach fluttered this time, it wasn't because of her insecurities, but at the simple touch. Maybe it didn't look like the most romantic gesture, but she had always found it sweet whenever Shouto did that to calm her down when she got worked up. It was like he was keeping her down to earth should she activate her quirk on herself and float away.

"Trust me when I say that you had more growing up than I ever did," Shouto told her in that straightforward way that always sent her heart racing. This time, it did some sort of belly flop as well. He'd opened up to her some about his past, but she knew that there was more to it. She hoped that in time he would trust her to tell her more, but for now, she was content for him to wait until he was comfortable.

Giving him a tremulous smile, Ochako nodded and they started to walk again, both of them filled with purpose once more. He was more confident now. She could tell just by looking at him that his nervousness was slowly ebbing out of him. In just ten minutes, they'd be at her place and he'd meet her parents for the first time. Yes, he was still nervousness, but that was to be expected. She'd probably have difficulty not ascending to space if she had to meet Endeavor, but Shouto was in absolutely no rush for that to happen nor did he care for it to ever happen.

And then Shouto came to a skidding halt the second she pointed out her parents' apartment complex. "Wait a minute. Did they meet Midoriya?"

Ochako cringed a little, a sheepish smile on her face. "Yes."

Shouto groaned at that revelation, which would've made her laugh if he was clearly not so distressed. "How am I supposed to compare to that? He's excellent with adults and meeting parents."

"Oh my god," Ochako laughed, "he really is though."

"I bet your parents loved him."

"They did," Ochako admitted, "but they were completely understanding when we decided to end things too. Even my mom commented on how great of friends we made."

It had taken them a month to get back into the swing of their friendship after their break up, but almost a year later, she couldn't be happier where she and Deku were with each other. And what she had with Shouto was different.

"He sets such a high standard though," Shouto said as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was a habit that he didn't do often, only under extreme circumstances. She loved running her fingers through his hair. It was perfect and soft. Plus, once she figured out that he liked it when she did that, she'd melted a little.

Right now though, Ochako couldn't help but tease him a little as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You're right. I should have dated Bakugou instead. Then you would've only had up to go."

Shouto gave her something of an alarmed look. "Tell me you're joking." She blinked up at him innocently and he twisted his lips into a frown. "I honestly can't tell."

Ochako dissolved into giggles, pulling her hand away from his so that she could hold both hands over her mouth. Sometimes she didn't know how he put up with her or even liked her. Luckily he wasn't angry or disgruntled over her joke, although he had a look on his face that suggested he'd be keeping a closer eye on Bakugou. One thing she had found out upon beginning her relationship with Shouto was that he was not a jealous person whatever. It took a long time to build up trust, but once that was done, he was very loyal and maybe even too trusting at times. That wasn't to say he was naive. He just…truly wanted to believe in people, even if he didn't for the most part.

Once they reached the apartment building, Ochako jumped a few steps above of him and turned around, reaching out for his hand again. He gave it to her without question. "Relax," she told him. "They've already seen how great you are during the Sports Festivals."

Shouto winced at that. "Some of those were not my best moments."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ochako drawled. "You won the last one! It was pretty…attractive to me."

The look on Shouto's face told her that he knew exactly what she'd originally planned on saying. "You were going to make a 'hot' pun, weren't you?"

"It's too easy!" Ochako burst, a pout on her face. "And you make puns half the time without even realizing it, so to be frank, it's not fair." She loved cheesy jokes and she loved the ones that he made too. In their first year, she couldn't have imagined him joking around, but with their third year slowly coming to an end, he had gotten a lot better about, sometimes saying things that nearly had her and Deku almost crying with laughter. "Hey, seriously though, they're going to adore you, just like I do."

"But what if I say something stupid?" Shouto asked, standing stock still at the bottom of the steps. "Or accidentally insult them? Or come off as rude and distant?"

"You won't," Ochako reassured him. Slowly, his feet started to lift from the ground, her quirk having been activated on him, until he was horizontal in the air level with her face. It didn't seem to phase him one bit, her quirk being used on him. It had happened a few times on accident when they'd started holding hands and a few times before during hero training exercises. Every time he let out a slow breath like he could finally breathe. She smiled at him and took a backward step up. "You're smart. You're polite. You're very handsome and dress well." He rolled his eyes. "You're strong. You're loyal. You're perceptive. You're hard-working. You're funny."

Shouto frowned. "I'm not funny."

"Yes you are," Ochako insisted as she continued to carefully traipse backward up the steps with him floating in front of her. "But do you know what my favorite part about you is?" He looked at her as if he honestly couldn't fathom anything that she was saying, as if he couldn't reconcile those words with himself. "You're kind. All that power, all that strength, and you can be so gentle and soft."

"I wasn't aware that was a good thing," Shouto said.

"It's a great thing," Ochako told him, stopping on the second floor. She wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss him, but she knew that he'd want to preserve modesty anywhere near her parents and keep any PDA to an absolute minimum. Later. She'd kiss him silly later after this was all over. He moved in the air so that his feet were pointed at the ground and she released her quirk on him so that dropped in front of her. "I'm not expecting you to chat up a storm like my dad - and he does talk a lot - or smile and laugh a bunch like my mom - she's like her own sitcom show sometimes. All I want is for you to be yourself."

The way he looked at her now was suddenly so intense that it turned her cheeks pinker than normal. He wanted to kiss her as well, but was refraining from doing so. A little smirk quirked onto her lips. Later, she reminded herself. He had been so tentative in the beginning, but once he'd started to thaw out…

Best not to think of that while standing out front of her parents' apartment.

Only a few seconds had passed after knocking on the door when it swung open to reveal her father. "Ochako!"

She barely had the chance to response, "Dad!" before he swept her up in his arms, holding her close to him as she hugged him tightly in return. "Mom!"

Her mother appeared seemingly out of thin air and pulled her into a hug that made her cross into the apartment. She could feel Shouto burning with some sort of strained curiosity. She had warned him that her parents were very affectionate, but it was a huge difference compared to what he was used to. This was definitely not how his dad greeted him when he came home. She had also told her parents to respect his boundaries. When she and Deku had met them for dinner, her mother had hugged him like he was already their son-in-law. Deku was used to physical affection though. Shouto…

It was a work in progress, one that she gladly took on.

Stepping out of her mother's arms, she waved a hand at Shouto, knowing that he wouldn't want to presume and even hold her hand in front of her parents just yet. "Mom, Dad, this is Shouto."

As expected, he gave a polite boy. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well, don't just stand out there, my boy!" her dad said cheerfully. "Come on in!"

"Dinner is almost ready," her mom added, turning on her heels and rushing back to their little kitchen with her dad in tow. "Why don't you set the table, Ochako? I hope you like soba!"

Her parents' exuberant responses must have startled him, but Shouto took it in stride, stepping inside after her so that she could shut the door. The hallway was a bit cramped with the two of them standing in it, so that Shouto's side was pressed into her. She gave him an encouraging smile and he took a little breath.

"Soba?" Shouto asked in a low voice.

Ochako gave him an embarrassed smile. "I may have told her that it was your favorite."

"How did you know that?"

"Because you took me out for some on our first sort of date and you slurped two bowls of it down like your life depended on it," Ochako giggled.

Shouto rubbed his face, looking tired already. "I was nervous."

"C'mon then, you can help me set up the table."

After kicking off their shoes (well, she kicked off hers; he carefully slid off his and set them to the side), they made their way into the dining room. It wasn't really a dining room seeing as how it was only separated from the kitchen by a counter and there was an invisible wall in between it and the living room, but Ochako had grown up thinking that it was one. She gathered all the bowls and such and passed them to Shouto, resisting the urge to use her quirk to make it quicker and more fun. Once everything was out, they worked together to set the table and she poured them both some hot tea. It had been chilly outside, not that either of them had been cold considering his quirk and her staying on his left.

"Can I get you anything else to drink?" her mother asked as she brought over the food from the kitchen.

"Tea is fine," Shouto insisted, still sounding stilted. It didn't phase her mom in the slightest nor did it bother Ochako. The first time he'd spoken to her that wasn't in a situation under duress had startled the hell out of her. She hadn't even realized that he was talking to her until she'd remembered that no one else was around her or could cancel out gravity.

"He drinks it all the time," Ochako explained as she filled her bowl. "I think he has an addiction."

"You'll have to fight Ochako over it then since she's a little tea fiend," her dad added as he sat down at the head of the table. It put Shouto directly across from him, which she knew would make him feel awkward but wouldn't back down from. Oh, those boys of hers… Every little thing was something with them.

Her mom sat down as well on his right across from her. "If you want something else, let me know. We've got a bunch of flavors from when they were on sale last summer."

Ochako couldn't help but blush at the comment, but Shouto merely nodded and said, "Thank you." Her parents didn't even seem to notice her response. She knew that he had caught it, but did nothing to point it out as she took his bowl from him to get him a helping. For some reason, it made a rush of affection towards him sweep over her, which was unfortunate since there was nothing she could do to show it right now.

Despite the addition to the table, dinner was a pretty normal affair. Her dad talked about how the business was doing (much better actually, but under the unfortunate circumstance of the recent bump in villain attacks that caused collateral damage, which neither Ochako nor Shouto commented on since they'd sort of been involved in them too) while her mom questioned them both about school (again they didn't talk about a few of the things that had gone on not directly tied to school). Neither one of her parents asked him about his family, not like they had with Deku, who could rave about his mom for hours. She'd specifically told them not to, despite their burning curiosity over the fact that Shouto was the Number One Hero's son.

As expected, Ochako did most of the talking for the both of them unless Shouto was asked a direct question. She could feel the alternating relief from him when she jabbered at length and then the spike of anxiety when he was brought to the forefront of the conversation. It couldn't be avoided, which he knew, but he took it in stride, looking all to the world except for her like he was absolutely collected. Yes, he was quiet and, yes, sometimes he gave short answers that could be misconstrued as rude. But her parents were her parents. If he thought that she was social and bubbly, they were on another level entirely.

"Graduation is coming up," her father said as her mother hopped into the kitchen to get dessert. "Do you have any plans?"

This question was for Shouto, as Ochako had already talked about hers with them before, and he knew it. She watched as he slowly twirled a chopstick in between his fingers, probably because he was out of soba to eat. He really was a nervous eater or at least hid behind it. "A few of agencies have offered me positions."

"Multiple offers?" Her dad raised an eyebrow. "That's impressive!"

The chopstick twirled a bit faster. "I'm not the only one. You should see Midoriya's list." Ochako nodded sagely. Ten offers? Bakugou had almost blown a hole through the U.A. dorms when he'd heard that.

"Anyone in the top ten?" her dad asked teasingly, as if he was trying to figure out just how popular Shouto was already. She knew that hero popularity meant very little to him. Outside of the whole 'your boyfriend's father is Endeavor' debacle, he didn't much pay attention. She'd nervously explained one day that she didn't know how popular she would get and he'd hugged her and swore that her simply being a hero like she dreamed was enough for him.

On the other hand, Shouto had quite a few big named contenders seeking him.

"Hawks' agency sent me an offer, although I don't know how sincere it was," Shouto slowly answered. She didn't like the idea of someone using Shouto as a prank, but it was kind of amusing at the same time. He had told her upon being surprised by the offer that Hawks and his father were often at ends with one another. Joining his agency would be a direct slap in his father's face. Even if it was a joke, he had considered it for that reason alone.

Another thing she'd learned about Shouto over the years: he could be casually petty. One time, when Bakugou was in a particular mood, he had loudly slurped on his noodles every time Bakugou tried to yell, interrupting him at least five times before he finally exploded. It had to be one of her favorite memories.

"Then there was one from Ryukyu," Shouto continued.

"Oh, that's the one our Ochako accepted!" her mom exclaimed excitedly as she gave everyone some green tea mochi. "Wouldn't it be sweet if you could work together?"

Ochako blushed. "I think the number two hero's agency is a much better fit for his goals."

"Ambitious, are we?" her dad prompted, leaning forward on the table.

"And then…" Here Shouto hesitated and the chopstick stopped moving. Ochako knew exactly where he was going with this. Her heart skipped a beat and she yearned to reach out and take his hand on the table, but instead, she clenched her hands into fists in her lap out of sight. "There was one from Endeavor."

"Oh." Her father sat up straight. "Your father, yes?"

The air immediately changed in the room. Her mother slowly sat down in her seat, suddenly quiet and hesitant. She looked ready to comfort like any mother would, but hung back out of respect. Her father tried to remain only faintly interested, but it was difficult to do. Shouto had been the one to bring it up, but it was obvious now that she had warned her parents to not do so. Ochako truly hoped he wouldn't be upset with her for presuming.

"He's the number one hero, so - ambition-wise - it would be the best offer to take." Shouto spoke in such a removed tone that Ochako's heart ached. He didn't have to talk about this. He knew that. He was trying to be open with her folks the way that they had welcomed him into their home so warmly. She had seen his head spinning at their freeness with physical affection and laughter. The only way to get involved was to open himself up to it, but that meant could be difficult for him. "He can't be the number one hero forever though. That's just fact. Eventually, he'll have to retire. I suppose he expects me to take over the agency after him."

"But do you want to do that?" her father asked.

Shouto blinked, looking a bit startled. "I…"

"Why did you decide to become a hero?"

A small grimace crossed Shouto's face. "I wanted to prove him wrong - that I didn't need him in order to become a better hero than him." He flexed his left hand on top of the table before relaxing it again. "I was young and stupid, not seeing the big picture."

Her mother smiled gently. "So why do you want to be a hero now?"

"I guess…" Shouto scrunched his face up a tiny bit in thought. "I guess because I want to prove to myself that I can be a better person, not just a hero. Maybe. I don't know. Do we need some profound reason?"

Ochako snorted. "Don't look at me: my reasoning for applying to U.A. was to make a lot of money."

"It was so you could help us better our lives, dear!" her mother admonished. "You've done so much since then."

Her father started to cut into his mochi with a stick and then pointed it at Shouto. "You do what you feel is right in your heart and that's all that matters. That includes which agency whose offer you choose to accept. It doesn't even have to be one of the current top ten heroes. Who knows? Maybe you can help propel someone more deserving to greater heights. Isn't that a part of being a hero? Being supportive of others and raising each other up?"

"Like a support beam," her mother teased, patting her father on the hand. "Listen to him, lecturing like this." She tsked fondly and shook her head. "It's been too long since you've visited, Ochako."

It had been too long, but not for that reason. She could tell that her dad, loving but firm as he'd always been, was getting worked up over mere implications. Ochako had obviously not told them why they shouldn't rave about Endeavor or bring him up, just that Shouto didn't like the conversation to revolve around him. They must have picked up on Shouto's hesitance and that distant voice that she didn't even realize he knew meant that he was protecting himself.

"Why don't you two finish up your dessert while your dad and I clean up?" her mom piped up. "It's getting late. You'll need to head back to U.A. soon."

"No, you cooked dinner," Shouto cut in. "The least I can do is help clean." He glanced at Ochako. "Only…I don't know where anything goes."

Her father laughed. "He's offering to clean? Oh, Ochako, he's got better manners than you."

Ochako stuck her tongue out at her dad and shoved her last bite of mochi in her mouth. As she stood up from her seat, she leaned over to pluck some of Shouto's off his plate with her chopsticks and ate it before he could even protest. She gave him a smile and then started to gather the dirty dishes from the table. He simply shook his head at her and started following her lead. Their relationship aside, after two years of friendship, he had to be used to her sneaking food off his plate.

It was easy work to gather everything with the use of Ochako's quirk so they could carry everything into the kitchen all at once. Back when she'd been a little kid, she had tried to do this and unceremoniously dropped all the dishes in the sink at once, which had broke half of them. She was much more careful about it this time, pressing them down into the sudsed-up water before releasing her quick so that they only floated to the bottom of the sink. As she and Shouto stood next to each other, one washing while the other dried, she playfully bumped her hip into his and smiled up at him when he peered down at her.

"You didn't have to do that," Ochako murmured to him, content to be in his space again. His right side was a little colder, but not by much. She relished it anyways, wanting to lean her head against his arm.

"Do what?" Shouto asked. Ochako narrowed her eyes at him. He knew exactly what she was talking about and let out a sigh. "Your parents were so polite and friendly and I… Every response I gave as impersonal and I knew it. How can I win their approval if I don't even give them an inkling about who I am?"

"You're more than that though," Ochako pointed out.

"I know," Shouto replied, "but it's a big part about how I got to where I am today." She was holding onto a wet bowl, a towel hanging over it, and Shouto laid one of his hands on hers. "And that includes why I'm here with you."

Ochako tilted her head. "Oh?"

"That first time you ever used your quirk on me," Shouto told her. "I had never felt so free in my entire life. I had never known it was possible to feel like that."

"You just like me for my quirk," Ochako teasingly harrumphed, hip-checking him again and starting on the bowl again. She knew that wasn't it, but it was either joke or blush like crazy.

Shouto's hand fell away from hers, returning to wash the dishes. "It wasn't until a month later that I realized it wasn't your quirk that made me feel that way. It was you."

Ochako gave him such an embarrassed smile, desperate to bury her red face in his chest. "You say the cheesiest things sometimes!" But she adored it. Considering how tight-lipped and impassive he could be, there were also those times when he was so straight-forward with how he felt that she didn't know what to do. How was she supposed to respond to something like that?

"Thank you," Shouto said.

"Eh?"

"For inviting me to dinner to meet your parents - for convincing me to come," he continued. "It…means a lot. You trusting me like this."

"I've trusted you for a long time," Ochako pointed out.

Shouto took the wash gloves off and set them aside. "I never met Momo's parents when we were seeing each other." That caught Ochako off guard and her sudden pause must've alerted him to that. "She brought it up and they asked about me, but I…I made every excuse in the book. It hurt her feelings."

"Why didn't you?" Ochako asked. Shouto and Momo had dated around the same time as her and Deku, although they had ended he and Momo had ended things first. It had been an awkward breakup, which had made her appreciate what she had with Deku even more. They were much better now and Ochako counted herself very lucky that Momo had never once begrudged her for falling for her ex.

Gods, sometimes she forgot how ridiculous just being a teenager could be. They were about to graduate and just months ago she'd been fretting that Momo was going to hate her and Shouto had believed that he'd betrayed his best friend.

"I don't know," Shouto admitted. "Momo never pushed the topic - she's kind like that - but I took advantage of it. Maybe I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough - that somehow my past would be a stain that they couldn't overlook. Maybe they would think I was broken because of my behavior."

Ochako turned to face him. "Shouto." With her parents out of sight, probably in the living room so they could compare notes about dinner, she took his hands in hers. "You are more than good enough, but more importantly, your past doesn't define you. It's not a stain. It's not you. Of course it shaped you. Life does that. But I wouldn't have you any other way than what you're comfortable with."

Shouto closed his eyes and sighed again. "You're making it very difficult not to kiss you."

She giggled a little at that and said, "Later."

He opened his eyes to peer at her. "I'm holding you to it."

Still holding his hands, Ochako tugged him out of the kitchen. "C'mon, we've still gotta say our goodbyes now. It takes about fifteen minutes." He gave her a look that was both surprised and wary. "We don't want to miss the last train or we'll have to stay here."

"Oh no." Shouto quickened his pace. "I'd rather not."

Because if they had to stay at her parents' place, then he definitely couldn't kiss her and he wasn't about to do that. This was one of those moments when Ochako thought she could love him. His occasional yet intense need for physical affection was just so heartwarming. As much as he had enjoyed dinner with her parents, he still wanted time alone with her that wasn't spent on a train. She could agree with that.