This is the final chapter, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda emotional. This story has gotten me through some rough times, and I'm so grateful for all the love and support it has gotten. Next Sunday, there will be an epilogue + a first look at the Shinsou story!

So, for the second to last time, please enjoy!

Izuku thinks about proposing to Asagao a lot. Like, probably more than normal considering they've only known each other for ten months now.

He pushes aside the thoughts when he can, and more often than not, they are passing thoughts like "wonder what kind of vacations she'd like to go on in the future?" or "wow, I hope this never ends."

But then March brings Momo and Iida's wedding, and well…that doesn't exactly help.

Asagao and Izuku are there several hours before the ceremony to ensure she has plenty of time to set up the flower arrangements. Izuku follows her commands to the letter, but his mind can't help but wander. What…what would this be like if it was…them? What kind of place would it be at? Had she ever thought about what kind of flowers she herself would want? And worst of all, what would she look like in a pretty white dress?

The thoughts became more insistent when the ceremony started. The second Momo entered, Iida was crying, and when Izuku's own tears began to fall, he felt a petite hand entangle itself with his own.

There was a shift, then Asagao was whispering in his ear, "I brought tissues for you— they're in my purse. Do you need one?"

And just as had been happening so often lately, he fell a little deeper in love with her.

Izuku had seen Asagao in many outfits. From day one, he'd found her work apron weirdly adorable. Whenever they went out on dates, he swore her latest outfit was better than the last. And while he would never be one to tell her what to wear or look like, he had confessed that sleepy Asagao (messy hair, a t-shirt she'd stolen from him, and a relaxed smile) was his favorite look.

This, however, was pulling at new heartstrings.

The hero leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her pretty pink lips— ones that were as soft as the newly blooming cherry blossoms of April. "You're so cute," he murmured, to which she giggled.

"It's just my yukata," Asagao replied. "You've seen it hanging in my closet before."

Yes, but obviously it was much more different on.

Izuku liked many different colors on Asagao, but his favorite was always purple. It made her eyes pop, and this yukata certainly did that. It was a pale yellow satin, covered in various violet and cream blooming flowers. He could feel his heart swelling just looking at her, and so, he gave in and pecked her again.

"I know, I know, it's just—" You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. "I love you!"

His girlfriend was laughing again, now shaking her head. She took his hand in hers and began to make their way through the park. "Come on, silly, or we'll be late."

The hero let himself be tugged along, not at all paying attention to the cherry blossoms like he was supposed to. They were here for hanami, after all. But no, he just couldn't resist staring at Asagao. She was a much prettier sight in his opinion, anyway.

Izuku only broke out of his daze when he heard Kacchan yelling, "OI! WE SAID THREE ON THE HOUR, DEKU!"

And then Asagao was grinning, saying, "It's only a few minutes after, Bakugo-kun, calm down!"

To the surprise of most of their friends gathered under the trees, Kacchan just huffed and crossed his arms. "Tch, whatever. Come on, flower girl, I made the cheesecake like you wanted! Happy?!"

"Yes, very!" Asagao nodded. "Thank you!"

The florist sat down next to Bakugo, who started rambling through the recipe with her, and Kirishima and Izuku shared a knowing grin. At some point in the last few months, Asagao had become almost as good of a Kacchan-wrangler as his fiancé. No one quite knew how or when, but he'd gained this strange respect for her, and who were they to complain?

As they watched their significant others chat away, Kirishima leaned over and commented, "I've said it before and I'll say it again, Midoriya-kun— you really found a good one."

Izuku's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, I really did."

May brought the day they'd been waiting for forever, but it wasn't quite going as planned.

They were currently resting off to the side of the path, Asagao leaned up against a boulder as she chugged more water. In hindsight, Izuku probably should've thought this through more. It wasn't that Asagao wasn't in shape, but…hiking up one of the most difficult trails just outside of Tokyo was probably not the best idea for her.

To be fair, she'd agreed when he'd proposed the idea, though maybe that was just because of the arrangement they'd come to. After revealing he hadn't been on a vacation in literally years, she'd decided that simply wouldn't do. It had taken a lot of convincing on her part, but Izuku was comfortable with the terms and conditions they'd agreed on.

Starting this month, he would take off (at the very least, she'd begged) one day. It wasn't a full-on vacation, per se, but it was a start in the right direction. And though they'd had the right spirit…yeah, looking at how exhausted Asagao was right now, maybe this wasn't a great idea.

"Just…a few…more…minutes," she huffed, and he winced. After all these years of having One for All, he'd slowly forgotten what it was like to not have all of these abilities. Hiking this mountain may have been a stroll in the park for him, but clearly not for her.

Suddenly, a metaphorical light bulb went off over his head.

Izuku knelt down and made deliberate eye contact with Asagao. "You're dying, aren't you," he said, less a question and more a statement. When she bobbed her head up and down, he gave her an awkward grin. "Sorry, I didn't— well, here, I have an idea."

"I'm all ears," she croaked.

Smiling a bit wider now, the hero turned around and signaled for her to climb up on his back. She did immediately, and when he felt a satisfied sigh against his neck, he knew he'd done the right thing.

"Next time, I get to choose our day-off activity," she mumbled.

Izuku chuckled, starting back up the path again. "Whatever you want, Asagao."

He vaguely wondered if she knew how much he meant that.

He knew his colleagues were staring (or rather, had been staring on and off for the last thirty minutes), but he couldn't stop his leg from bouncing up and down.

Logically, he knew it had only been a week and a half. He knew that if anything had gone awry, he would've been contacted immediately. But that didn't keep him from feeling anxious.

One thing he hated about secret missions was that they were that— secret. No one on the operation was allowed to tell anyone anything (unless, of course, they were married, in which case they could tell their spouse who would be sworn to secrecy, but Izuku tried to not linger on that caveat too much).

Missions like this also meant zero communication, and for someone who had gotten used to the near constant affection Asagao poured out…it was hard. Not being able to talk to her on the phone or even just text felt so foreign.

But thankfully, the beginning of June was finally over, and now he could spend the rest of the month with Asagao.

The wheels of the plane finally touched down. Izuku began to fiddle with the hem of his shirt restlessly. She said she would be there, unless there was an emergency at work. And Todoroki was going to escort her to make sure she didn't get ambushed by paparazzi. So she would be there. He would see her again in just a few minutes.

The time it took for the airplane to taxi to its disembarking zone felt like hours. Some of his colleagues were talking now, their eyes still flicking to him occasionally, and Izuku just shot them a strained smile. They knew why he was anxious to get off this plane— it was hardly a secret.

Some of them even chuckled when he dashed out of his seat the second he could. He shouted back a hurried "see you soon!" and would feel bad about not being very polite later, but right now, he didn't care.

As soon as he got through the disembarking tunnel, he ran through the airport towards the baggage claim. She would be there. Asagao would be there.

Izuku could hear excited screaming and the clamoring shouts of fans. He blocked it all out. Because when he rounded the final corner toward the exit, she was there. She was there.

He would contemplate later how nice it felt to come home to someone, how different it was from meeting up with his friends or even his mother. But for now, all he focused on was her glittering eyes and beaming smile as she ran to meet him halfway.

Wordlessly, Izuku picked her up and crashed his lips into hers. There were cameras clicking, lights flashing, reporters shouting— nope, he didn't notice any of it. It was just him and her and home.

"It's a big deal, dear."

"It's really not—"

"It's a big deal, Izuku."

The hero sighed and gave up. With the two most important women in his life in agreement, there was no arguing.

His birthday had always been met with…mixed emotions. Every year, July fifteenth rolled around. And every year, his dad still wasn't there to celebrate it with him.

Izuku had gotten over not having his dad in his life a long time ago. Going to UA and finding other father figures to fill the position had helped especially, but…there was just something about his birthday that always brought a tinge of sadness.

His mother went back to cooking dinner, but Asagao noticed his silence. Throwing out some random excuse about going to look through an old photo album, she lead him out of the kitchen to a quieter area of his mother's apartment.

They stood there for a moment, neither saying a word. Then, she took both of his hands in hers. "Do you need to talk about it?" she whispered.

Swallowing, he made to shook his head— then hesitated. "Maybe," he sighed. "I…yeah, maybe."

His girlfriend smiled up at him gently. "We have all the time in the world, Izuku. I just want you to enjoy your special day, you know? You're turning twenty-six! You're practically ancient," she teased.

Green eyes rolled, but he found himself laughing.

"Dinner's almost ready!" his mother called from the kitchen.

Feeling a bit better than he had a minute ago, Izuku snuck a kiss before they made their way back. And when they sat around the table talking about plans for his birthday…he actually started to believe he would enjoy it this year.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Asagao quirked an eyebrow. "Because Kaminari-kun is in the water."

"DON'T WORRY, HE'S GOT A QUIRK INHIBITOR BRACELET ON!" Jirou shouted from her position next to her boyfriend.

Still, Asagao looked hesitant, but that seemed to be a good enough explanation as to why no one else was refusing to get in the ocean with the electric hero.

Though the couple usually liked for his monthly day off to be spent alone, they'd made an exception when the idea of going to the beach with others came up. As many of them that could took the day off too, and thus, the majority of Izuku's graduating class was now at Momo's family's private beach.

The August day was hot, and Izuku was frankly glad that Asagao had finally agreed to get in the water. He didn't like leaving her alone on the shore, but he also didn't like standing there sweating in the sun's relentless rays.

Izuku tried to not stare too much as Asagao stripped off her coverup. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her body before— he just felt like he might have trouble controlling himself. And they were around others, so right now really wouldn't be the time to carry her off and kiss her senseless.

As soon as she was down to a blue bikini, Asa surprised him by saying, "Race you there!" and darting off toward the sea.

Needless to say, he beat her. And as soon as she caught up, he promptly picked her up and tossed her straight into the water, both of them laughing the whole time. At one point, some seaweed got tangled around her foot and she squealed. He probably deserved her throwing it in his face in retaliation for chuckling at her.

At the end of the evening, the two managed to get some quiet time to themselves. They sat out on the dock wrapped up in each other's arms, lips moving slowly, and for the millionth time, Izuku thought, 'This. This is what I want forever.'

Having their usual positions switched felt…weird.

Asagao looked like she was half a second away from a panic attack at any moment, and Izuku felt almost the same way because he'd never seen her so anxious before and didn't know how to handle it.

To recap, after an incident involving a robbery and a high speed chase that Asagao helped to stop by using the roots of a tree, she sort of…had to go get a hero license. His girlfriend or not, her continuing to act (even though it was in emergency situations only) had classified her as a vigilante. One more move, and the police would be required to get involved to regulate her quirk.

Therefore, this was really the only option left.

The past month had been spent training her every moment they could spare. At this point, she'd sparred with almost everyone in his graduation class, plus a few other pro heroes and sidekicks that were willing to lend a hand. Asagao wasn't trying to be a pro— she'd told him as much, even though he already knew that. But dating him came with risks, and she needed to be able to use her quirk when dangers arose.

So here they were, in a waiting room at the hero license agency, sitting in deadly silence.

Apparently the process for an adult to get their license was much different than what he'd gone through in high school, though no less intimidating. She would be pitted against various opponents in a variety of settings, measuring her ability for combat, decreasing collateral damage, and rescue efforts.

Izuku was just beginning to run over all of the training they'd done to prepare her for this moment again when a shaky hand touched his, and his eyes snapped up to see violet ones filled with tears.

"I-I can't do this," she stammered. "I'm not strong enough, there's no way I'll pass, I can't—"

He cut her off by tucking her head against his chest and wrapping his arms tight around her. "You forget, Asagao, that you're here because you're already strong," he murmured. "People have seen that. In fact, I'd argue that you're here because some people are afraid of you."

Sniffling, his girlfriend looked up. "What do you mean?"

Izuku shrugged and began to stroke her hair. "Well, the way I see it, you're powerful enough to make people want you under regulation of the law— getting a hero license means you'll be held to a certain standard, and if you don't meet it, people can take action. If you hadn't already proven yourself, they would've have insisted so much that you become legalized."

Glassy violet eyes widened. "I-I…I hadn't thought of it that way before."

The hero nodded, then leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. "You've got this," he promised. "I'll be waiting here for you, and as soon as it's done, we'll go out for crepes with lots and lots of fruit, okay? Does that sound good?"

The watery laugh that came out of her lips had his heart beating faster. "Sounds like a plan."

Three hours later, they were eating crepes, a newly laminated hero license in her purse.

"It's totally a thing!" Hiro cried. "I've been watching videos on Youtube about it— tell them, Eri!"

"It's a thing," Eri repeated in her usual drawl.

Asagao was staring down at the round orange squash quizzically, and Izuku was resisting the urge to pull out his phone to snap a picture.

Instead, he laughed out, "It's, ah— well, to clarify, it's an American thing. All Might told me he did it in October when he was over there."

Now confused violet eyes were landing on him, and he was really having a hard time containing a sigh at how cute she was.

"But…but pumpkins are small," she said. "How are they big enough to carve anything out of them?"

"No no—" Hiro shoved his phone in her face, "See, they grow bigger there! They can be huge! So what I was thinking is—"

"Hiro—"

"—you could take the ones I got—"

"This is not why I got a hero license."

"—and make them bigger!"

Asagao shot her boyfriend an exasperated look, and he merely shrugged. "I don't get it either, but hey, maybe it'll be fun?"

Her eye roll told him that she clearly didn't believe him. But regardless, she placed her gauntleted hand on the tiny pumpkin Hiro had thrown on her greenhouse table and closed her eyes. She repeated the process with the other three, and in a minute, they had four decently sized pumpkins ready to…do whatever it was Americans did in October.

Hiro was cheering, and even Eri was breaking from her usual neutral demeanor as she pulled tools out of her backpack with a grin. Wait, was that a knife? Where did she— never mind, she probably stole it from her dad.

"Well, guess there's a first time for everything," his girlfriend decided.

When Asagao posted a picture on Twitter of his terrible All Might carving two hours later, he couldn't even be mad. Not when she was smiling like that.

"Do we have enough cupcakes for everyone tomorrow?"

"Yup, Hiro finished them last night. In fact, you could say we have—"

"Don't do it—"

"—one for all!"

Izuku groaned while Asagao snickered.

"Come on, you know you love my jokes," she teased, elbowing him lightly.

The hero just shook his head. "If only I'd known how much you loved puns before we started dating."

"You still would've asked me out."

"I would've."

With the final item on their birthday-party-planning to-do list complete, the couple moved from his kitchen and settled down on the couch. As Asagao grabbed the remote to flick through movies to watch, Izuku let his mind wander back to this time last year.

This time last year…had been horrible. He'd been caught in the throes of jealousy, villains had been plotting their relationship's demise, and he'd frankly given her the worst birthday ever. Now that November had rolled around again, he was determined to make up for it all, no matter how many times she had assured him that all was forgiven.

"I can hear you thinking about it again."

Izuku startled, but was unsurprised to see the knowing look on his girlfriend's face. He could only meet her eyes for a second, though, feeling guilt rising up in his chest. "Sorry, I just…" he sighed heavily. "You know what I'll say because I've already said it a million times, but I just want this year to be better than last year."

Asa gave him a half-grin. "That's a pretty low bar to pass."

The hero snorted. "True."

There was a brief silence, during which she turned off the tv. He felt her shift, and a moment later, she was straddling his lap, peeking up at him through her eyelashes.

"I think I have an idea of something that might help," she said casually, although the way her fingers began to drift over his chest wasn't casual at all.

Izuku could already feel something deep and warm stirring inside him. "O-Oh?" he replied, breath hitching. "What's that?"

She responded by leaning forward, dropping her lips to the crook of his neck, and—

"Mmmn," he sighed, melting back into the couch cushions. He was more than happy to let her treat him like this, especially now that she'd learned all his weak spots.

They awoke tangled up in his bed the next morning, sunlight streaming through the windows. And when he leaned over to peck her lips and wish her a happy birthday, he was rewarded with the beautiful smile he wanted to wake up to every day.

It wasn't often that he hid his desires from Asagao, but right now, they were so strong that it was almost embarrassing.

He could still see it so clearly: her, standing there, ruby red dress ripped, ash on her face, and vines hovering around her protectively, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

It…it affected him in ways that he hadn't expected, and he'd been trying to hide that fact ever since.

It made sense to try to cover up his arousal while they'd still been at the formal gala. The annual December event honoring heroes wasn't exactly the place for it. But now, sitting in the bathtub with her in his arms…he felt silly. It shouldn't be so embarrassing to admit to her that he was staggeringly attracted to her.

And of course, she's known that for a while. But tonight—

Tonight she was hot.

Asagao was many things: beautiful, cute, adorable, pretty. But throw in a sudden villain attack, and apparently, the end result was an angelic creature that made him feel anything but angelic.

He wanted to ravage her, to show her off, to take her to bed and hear his name, to—

"Izuku, you're hilariously obvious."

Oh. He'd forgotten about trying to not think those thoughts, hadn't he?

Swallowing hard, the hero tried his best to douse his arousal with cooling thoughts, but— nope, it just wasn't going to work. Giggling, Asagao turned in the bath, a twinkle in her eyes.

"What do you want right now?" she asked innocently.

His heart was pounding in his chest. "You."

And that would always be his answer.

"Please make yourself at home, Nakano-san!" Iida burst as soon as he opened the door.

Momo hid her amused smile behind her hands. "I'm pretty sure she's said Asa-chan is fine with her, dear."

Izuku watched his girlfriend nod her head. "I'm honestly good with whatever!" she replied, grinning brightly. "Thanks again for the invitation!"

Iida waved a stiff hand. "Nonsense! Why wouldn't we invite you? I almost feel like you're one of our classmates, now!" Izuku's heart couldn't help but warm at his friend's words. Asagao really had integrated so well into his friend group, and it made him so happy.

Attending Momo and Iida's New Year's Eve party felt like the final step of her acceptance (even though she'd been largely accepted as soon as Kacchan gave his approval).

The couples made their way through the foyer, and Izuku watched Asagao stare at the crystal chandeliers and artwork out of the corner of his eye. The chaotic noise coming from the living room got louder with each footstep, and when they entered, there were cheers.

"Midoriya-kun!" Ojiro greeted. "We're just starting a round of Mario Kart— grab a controller!"

"Oui, we're all very excited to see who the champion of this year will be, mon ami!" Aoyama winked.

The number one pro hero's eyes turned to the woman at his side. "You wanna join?"

Asagao immediately shook her head. "Nope, I suck. I couldn't even beat Hiro when we were kids. I think I'll just watch—"

"Psh, come on!" Mina interjected. "The only ones here who are actually good are Bakugo-kun, Kirishima-kun, Midoriya-kun, and Kaminari-kun when he's a little tipsy."

"Hey!" said electric hero cried in indignation.

With his girlfriend now giggling, she relented. "Alright, I'll play in a bit. Care to show me where the desserts are, Mina-chan? Momo's been going on and on about this chocolate cake she got—"

"Ooooh, yes! It's the best! Follow me!"

Izuku stared after his girlfriend as she was lead over to the kitchen. She was smiling brightly, chatting easily, and he just— he just loved her so much, and she was such a big part of his life now, but at the same time it was so natural, and he really really kept thinking about making it official.

"Lost in your thoughts, Midoriya-kun?" a deep voice rumbled next to him.

The hero startled, his head whipping around. "W-What?"

Tokoyami lifted an eyebrow. "You should ask her. I have the feeling she wouldn't say no."

Izuku found himself sputtering, genuinely wondering how Tokoyami had figured him out, but really, it wasn't that hard. Everyone could see it— even Bakugo was starting to grouse at him about how he should just get down on one knee already, dammit.

He swallowed hard, green eyes flicking down to the game controller in his hands. "I'll…I'll think about it— n-not that I haven't already, but— thank you, Tokoyami-kun."

His friend nodded his feathered head sagely, and with that, the game commenced.

"You're so pretty," the little girl cooed at Asagao.

The florist laughed and said thank you, and Izuku really, really couldn't do this. Well, he could, just— watching the scene in front of him made his heart want to explode.

The fundraising event for the charity his agency supported came just after Valentine's Day, and maybe it was the lingering romantic feeling in the air causing it, but seeing her with children just—

She was so beautiful and he wanted to marry her so bad.

Her violet eyes were lit up, sparkling as she bent down and talked with the children. A tote bag was hanging from her shoulder; it had been filled up with flowers when they got here, but she was almost done passing them out now. She interacted with the children easily, listening attentively to their stories, asking about their interests, and encouraging positive views on quirks like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Izuku knew that he also should be interacting with the children, but he kept getting sidetracked admiring Asagao. Which is why he's at her side when another child comes up and says:

"I bet you and Deku would have cute kids!"

He swore his heart skipped several beats.

But while he was just standing there frozen like an idiot, Asagao let out a laugh that sounded like bells on a crystal clear morning. "Not as cute as you, I'm sure!" she replied, tapping the child on their nose.

Yup, he was going to marry this woman if it was the last thing he did.

It happens in late March, and it's nothing like he wants it to be.

They're cleaning up his house, which had gotten pretty messy after several back-to-back missions out of the country. Izuku had taken to throwing things wherever he felt when he unpacked and repacked his bags.

But they had stopped organizing for now. He wasn't sure how it happened, but Asagao had re-entered his bedroom wearing one of his sweaters, and he dropped everything else in favor of holding her. They'd been playing jazz in the background as they'd worked, which now provided a steady, gentle pace for them to sway back and forth to.

He had her in his arms, and her hands were linked behind his neck, their foreheads touching together, and they'd already shared a handful of sweet kisses when he murmured, "Marry me."

Lashes fluttered against his. He opened his eyes to see violet ones staring back, wide and disbelieving. And for some strange reason, he didn't feel the anxiety he'd expected to in this moment (probably due to the fact that it had slipped out, dammit, he'd really wanted something special and magical and grand and—)

"A-Are you serious?"

Izuku snapped back to attention, and yup, just kidding, there came the anxiety. "Is it too soon?" he asked. "I've thought about it a lot, and— but, if you're not ready, it's— I just really want to know if I can marry you? Not for a while, even, we could have as long of an engagement as you want if that would make you more comfortable, because maybe it is a little early, but—"

Suddenly, Asagao was grinning knowingly. "Do you even have a ring?"

Oh, she had a good point. He snapped his mouth shut to cut off his ramblings. "I…thought you might want to pick one out?" he offered.

She blinked. "...you're serious."

"I—" he swallowed, then cleared his throat. "Yes, yes I am."

Something in the air shifted. She was stepping back, her eyebrows scrunched together, and Izuku told his heart to not break. "I'm— are you sure?" she asked. "I'm, well…I, we— I don't know, I'm just—"

"Just what?" he whispered.

There was a deathly silence before she sighed, "I'm really focused on my work, and sometimes I still don't say the right things when you're anxious, and I have a really bad temper, and my parents— that's a whole other story, and…I don't know!" Asagao looked torn, her hands grasping at her hair, and Izuku moved to pull her in again.

Part of the pain in his heart eased when she nuzzled her cheek into his chest. "I've got a lot of flaws," she mumbled.

"And I mutter to myself all the time, but you don't seem to have a problem with that," he rebutted.

Asagao's head whipped up— there were tears in her eyes. "I think it's cute," she laughed, voice watery.

Izuku grinned. "I'm glad someone does." She giggled, and the pair let themselves stand there in silence for a moment, both processing.

After a minute had passed, Izuku softly said, "If you don't know right now, it's fine. But I'm probably not going to stop asking until you give me a straight answer."

"I haven't said no," she pointed out.

He tilted his head. "But you haven't said— mmm."

She'd cut him off by kissing him. He always liked it when she did that. And though she only stayed pressed against his lips for a few seconds, he knew what her answer was.

When Asagao pulled away, her eyes were shining. "Like I'd ever want anyone else," she whispered. "Together. Good and bad."

Izuku beamed, about to swoop down and capture another kiss, when a thought hit him. He groaned, "Shit, now we have to announce this to the press."

"Hmmm, we could elope?" his now fiancée suggested.

"I think both our moms would kill us," the hero replied flatly. "I know mine would."

The florist in his arms giggled. "Yeah, probably."

Izuku chuckled in return, shaking his head. "You know, you still haven't said—"

"Yes, you idiot!" she cried, bursting into a fit of laughter.

They ended the night curled up on the couch Googling potential places to go shop for rings. And after a year of thinking he wanted to marry her…yeah, yeah this moment was worth it.

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