A/N:
Sorry it took so long; work has kept me busy! Thanks for the favorites, the follows, and especially the reviews! Do keep them coming, they are my fuel! :)
Chapter 3: The Jealous Gene
Katsuki's face is pressed into Ochaco's hair, their limbs tangled together in the narrow space of her bed, when the doorbell rings.
He's a deep enough sleeper that he doesn't actually hear it, but she does. She stirs from under the arm he has draped around her middle, and the movement wakes him up as well.
"Someone's at the door," she mumbles sleepily.
Katsuki squints against the patch of sunlight streaming from the only window in her apartment. From the birds chirping outside and the relative chill, he can tell that it's very early in the morning.
"What kind of asshole visits at this hour?" he asks grumpily, bringing an arm up to shield his eyes from the light.
"Dunno, maybe a neighbor wanting to say hi?" Ochaco replies through a yawn.
She rolls over so she can nuzzle into Katsuki's chest, and the thin cloth of his convenience store shirt muffles the rest of her words. "I haven't given any of my friends my new address yet."
"Ignore it," Katsuki instructs. "They'll go away if nobody answers the door."
His arm returns to her waist and his hold tightens, pressing their bodies even closer together. His eyes are closed and he's drifting back off to sleep when Ochaco suddenly gasps and practically throws him off of her.
"Oh shit, I did give someone my new address!"
It's rare enough to hear Ochaco curse that it wakes Katsuki up effectively. And even if that hadn't, her next words would have done the trick.
"My parents! I told my parents!"
Katsuki immediately sits up, and Ochaco's stupid old mattress makes a racket. The doorbell rings again, somehow sounding louder and more ominous this time. They look at each other in horror.
"Hide!" Ochaco hisses as she jumps off from the bed. The loose shirt she's wearing barely covers her underwear and she scrambles to find her discarded shorts on the floor.
Peering into a mirror resting against her closet door, she frets at the sight of the marks he had left on her skin the previous night.
"Katsuki, my neck! How am I going to hide these things on my neck?"
Katsuki grabs his own clothes and his backpack from the floor and bolts into the bathroom. Before he closes the door, he takes a towel from the rack inside and throws it at Ochaco.
"Hang that around your neck," he instructs.
"But that doesn't make any–" she begins to argue, but the doorbell rings a third time, and they both jump slightly.
"C-coming!" Ochaco calls out, the pitch of her voice becoming unnaturally high in her panic. "Wait just a minute!"
Katsuki retreats as far back into the small bathroom as possible and almost trips over the plastic stool sitting in front of the shower. Cursing silently, he picks it up and places it upside down on the covered half of the bathtub.
He sinks to the floor where the stool had been and hugs his backpack to his pounding chest.
Outside, there is wild shuffling as Ochaco goes about the apartment trying to erase any evidence of his presence and their activities the previous night.
Then, finally, the lock on the front door clicks open, and Katsuki hears the voices of Ochaco's parents for the first time.
"Surprise!" They exclaim ecstatically.
"Bet you didn't see this coming, Ochaco!" Her dad adds, and Katsuki finds himself unable to think of a bigger understatement.
"Y-yeah, you bet I didn't," Ochaco answers a little weakly. "You should have told me you were coming… I could have picked you up from the terminal."
"But that would have ruined the surprise," her mom points out.
"We thought you might get lonely living alone again after a long time at the dorms," her dad explains. "So we hopped on the overnight bus right away to give you some company."
"That's… really sweet, Mommy, Daddy," Ochaco moons. Katsuki can tell that she's sincerely touched, and he supposes she has every reason to be. But damn, this is some shit timing!
The bathroom has no windows, and the only one in the entire apartment is too small for Katsuki to fit into. Unless he blasts a hole in the wall, the only exit would be the front door, where Ochaco's parents are now standing.
Ochaco has to find a way to lead them away for a bit so Katsuki can escape, or else he'll be stuck inside her bathroom indefinitely.
"Um, listen, you took such a looooong trip to get here," Ochaco begins nervously. "I'm sure you're hungry, so why don't we go out for breakfast? I-i-it'll be my treat!"
"There's no need for that, Ochaco," her dad replies. "We've planned ahead and brought food! Let's all eat here."
Shit, there goes that plan. Katsuki grits his teeth.
"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Ochaco's mom asks. "You've been blocking the door all this time."
"I bet it's because she hasn't fixed up in there," her dad teases. "Don't worry, Ochaco, we're used to the mess, so no need to be embarrassed."
Her parents both chuckle lightly, and Ochaco joins in, though hers come out sounding more nervous than anything.
"Th-then please make yourself at home," she invites apprehensively, and the hinges of the front door whine slightly as it opens wider.
Katsuki can make out the sound of house slippers gently slapping the floor as Ochaco brings them out of the shoe cabinet at the entryway for her parents to change into.
It's then that he remembers something that makes his heart stop, and right that exact moment, Ochaco's dad makes the same discovery.
"Whose shoes are these, Ochaco? They're too big to be yours."
Katsuki had left his motherfucking shoes inside the shoe cabinet, and now it's on full display for Ochaco's parents to see!
"Oh, th-those shoes," Ochaco falters, her voice literally trembling. She has never liked lying nor has she ever been good at it.
His hands roughly grab patches of his hair in frustration, and all the while he bites the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from cursing out loud.
They're done for. They're fucking done for.
"K-K-Katsuki m-must have f-forgotten to ch-change out of his s-slippers when he left," Ochaco stutters.
"But it's cold out," her mom points out. "Wouldn't he have noticed he's still in slippers the moment he stepped outside?"
"H-he, uh, he's got really thick skin on his feet," Ochaco blurts out breathlessly. "C-calluses and such… he's got a reaaaaally bad case of it."
Katsuki slaps a palm soundlessly against his face. Ochaco, what the fuck.
"Is… is that so?" Ochaco's mom asks, sounding rather put-off. "That sounds unhealthy. Has he had that looked at?"
"It sounds disgusting," Ochaco's dad states plainly, and inside the bathroom, Katsuki bristles, offended even though he knows perfectly well that the calluses on his feet are entirely fictional.
"He'll lose fangirls if they find out he's got disgusting feet," Ochaco's dad continues. "But that wouldn't be so bad, would it? Frankly, I think he's got too many. I'm surprised you're okay with that, Ochaco."
"Well, Daddy, it's not like there's anything I can do about that," Ochaco replies, straight and honest for the first time the entire morning. "Katsuki's popular for a reason."
"Oh, speaking of that, we saw him on the news the other day," her mom mentions. "Something about a stalker? What was that again, dear?"
"He beat a villain who was sending threatening messages to some idol," her dad recalls.
"Oh, yeah, that one! The idol's manager hired Katsuki's team to catch the stalker," Ochaco gushes excitedly. "It was team effort, of course, but Katsuki did most of the work. He's amazing!"
Inside the bathroom, a grin finds its way onto Katsuki's mouth at Ochaco's eagerness to brag about what an incredible hero she thinks he is. His face grows a little warm, and he unconsciously hugs the backpack on his lap a little tighter.
Ochaco's dad doesn't seem to share her enthusiasm though. "That idol seems pretty infatuated with your boyfriend, blushing a ton in that interview where she thanks him," he deadpans.
Katsuki frowns. Throwing shade first at his fans and now his client? Wow, it's becoming obvious where Ochaco gets the jealous gene.
"Really? I didn't see that interview," Ochaco says, sounding a little alarmed. "B-but anyway they're not working together anymore, so it's no big deal!"
She doesn't sound thoroughly convinced, however, and Katsuki's willing to bet that this is not going to be the end of it.
He grimaces in impatience. Ochaco tends to overthink these things, and it can easily be as annoying as it is ridiculous. It's not like he has given her any reason to think his eyes stray.
For the moment though, it's fine. At least the issue of his shoes and his supposedly disgusting feet seem to have been forgotten.
"Ochaco, why do you have your towel like that around your neck? Are you cold?" Her mom asks curiously, and Katsuki feels knots of tension return to his stomach.
"N-no, I, uh, I was about to h-hop into the shower when you rang the bell," Ochaco wheezes. "Th-that's why it took me so long to open the door!"
"This early?" Her mom sounds amazed. "You didn't use to wake up until close to noon. I'm glad that things have changed!"
"W-well, you know what they say… early to bed, early to rise makes a hero healthy, wealthy, and wise!" Ochaco recites with an awkward chuckle.
Inside the bathroom, Katsuki muffles his own snorts of laughter against his backpack. What the hell, Ochaco!
"I can't agree more!" her mom approves. "Why don't you shower now then? While I set the table for breakfast."
Shit. Wait. No. If the bathroom door is opened, Katsuki will be revealed. The space is too small for him to hide any further. It's a dead end.
"No, it's fine!" Ochaco says hurriedly. "Let's eat first!"
"You say that but you're not putting down the towel. We can wait, you know."
"I just really like this towel!" Ochaco insists. "I can shower after breakfast."
Katsuki hopes she has a back-up plan because he's not going to miraculously become invisible after breakfast.
"All right then, if you're sure," her mom finally concedes. "Can you show me where you keep the table and cushions?"
For a while, Katsuki hears nothing but sounds of the family preparing to eat.
A closet door slides open and shut as the low table is brought back out and set up. Plates slap lightly against its wooden surface, and ceramic cups clink as tea is served. Plastic bags rustle as Ochaco's parents bring out the meal they've brought with them.
When conversation resumes, Katsuki is both intrigued and alarmed to find himself the topic once again.
"Going back to your boyfriend," Ochaco's dad begins flatly. "When are you going to introduce him formally to us?"
Ochaco takes a while to answer, and when she does, it's also a question. "Are you really ready to meet him, Daddy?"
"I've always been," her dad replies promptly.
"Reaaaally? Why do I get a feeling that you're still going to be judgy?" Ochaco asks suspiciously. "You too, Mommy."
"Hey, we're not unfair, Ochaco," her dad defends. "We see his good points. We acknowledge that he's a talented hero, and that he's attractive, I guess, if that kind of wildness is what young people like these days."
"But of course we can also see the bad," her mom continues. "There's his temper, for one. Is he really that… angry… all the time?"
"Mommy…" Ochaco sighs.
"We're just telling you what we see on TV," her dad points out. "When Bakugo's on the news, half of it is just bleeping! Does he talk to you with that mouth?"
"And the violence…" her mom adds, sounding concerned. "We know you're a strong girl and you can hold your own, but are you absolutely sure he treats you okay?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Ochaco asserts, obviously peeved. "Katsuki's not a bad person. The media just likes to present him that way!"
"You're saying it's all a lie, is that right?" her dad asks, sounding highly doubtful. "Bakugo doesn't have a temper or a foul mouth? He hasn't got aggressive tendencies?"
"Well, he does, but what I meant was…" Ochaco begins to defend, but her dad cuts her off, having already heard enough.
"Are you sure about that guy Ochaco?" he finally asks bluntly. "Why don't you try to find yourself someone nicer?"
Inside the bathroom, Katsuki feels his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach. Just a bit apprehensive, his ass. Ochaco lied, and this proves it. Her parents are not apprehensive; they downright dislike him!
And as though to add insult to injury, her mom pipes up with a recommendation that sets Katsuki's temper ablaze.
"Midoriya-kun seems nice," she says. "And you two are such good friends, Ochaco. Can't it be something more?"
That dipshit Deku!
Katsuki grinds his teeth in silent anger. Fucking nerd was All Might's favorite, and now he turns out to be Ochaco's parents' idea of a perfect boyfriend for her? Fuck that!
Damn asshole must have sucked up to them somehow. Katsuki swears he's going to find out what that fuckstick did to be showered with this much approval and he's going make him pay for it.
Katsuki is lost in his thoughts of revenge when it happens.
From somewhere within the backpack he's cradling on his lap, his phone starts to vibrate violently with an incoming call, and the acoustics in the tiny bathroom are just perfect to magnify the sound.
Katsuki's breath leaves him. He clamors to find the phone within the black hole of his bag, struggling to bite back the top-tier cursing that has settled on the tip of his tongue.
Outside the bathroom, the conversation comes to a sudden stop.
"Do you hear that?" Ochaco's mom asks, sounding puzzled.
"No," Ochaco answers too quickly.
"I hear it too," her dad asserts. "It's coming from the bathroom. I should go check."
"Wait, no, I'll go check!" Ochaco practically shrieks, overcome with panic.
"Why?" her dad asks suspiciously. "What's in there you don't want me to see?"
Katsuki finds his phone then. 'Old Hag' flashes on the screen as it continues to vibrate in his hand. Fuck, maybe he shouldn't have ignored her calls the previous night after all.
He slides his finger against the decline icon on screen and mashes the power button before another call can come in, but it's too late. The knob on the bathroom door is already twisting.
Shit. Fuck! They're done for! Katsuki waits with bated breath and clutches his backpack in a death grip, his eyes glued to the knob as it slowly turns…
"It's locked," Ochaco's dad announces.
"I… I… must have locked it accidentally," Ochaco rasps. She sounds almost breathless. "I'll get the key later from my landlord, so let's… leave it alone for now?"
Her words are followed by a beat of silence, during which Katsuki hears nothing but the pounding of his own pulse in his ears. Then, finally, the knob twists back to its original position, signifying that Ochaco's dad had let go from the other side.
Katsuki releases the breath he's been holding. His heart is thrashing wildly against his ribcage, and he feels like he's about to throw up from the tension.
Holy shit, that was close. That was too fucking close.
All his strength leaves him in his relief. He lets his shoulders sag and he rests his head on his backpack, suddenly exhausted.
He's like this, vulnerable and completely unprepared, when the bathroom door is forced open. It folds in on itself as though crushed under a huge weight, the knob falling to the floor with an earsplitting thud.
Katsuki's head snaps back up in shock, and he finds himself staring through the empty doorframe right at Ochaco's dad.
A/N:
A few notes on Japanese houses:
1) As everyone who watches anime would know, there is an entryway where people change out of their outdoor shoes into house slippers. Some houses have a cabinet right at the entry way where shoes and slippers are kept.
2) The toilet is usually in a separate room from the bathroom. The toilet is viewed as a dirty place, and there's even a special pair of slippers you're supposed to use when you enter the toilet. Meanwhile, the bathroom is viewed as a place of cleanliness. So the two areas are kept separate traditionally. Some newer apartments have broken off from this tradition due to lack of space, but in this fic, I imagine Ochaco's apartment to be an older one since it wouldn't be so cheap otherwise, so her toilet and bathroom are still separate. Katsuki was hiding in the bathroom, so even if anybody had to pee, he wouldn't have been discovered.
