A life outside this box we live in

Chapter 2: The decision

Three days. She only lived with him for three days, but those three days were less than stellar. Bakugou Ryou was at least kind enough to greet her whenever she passed him by the halls, and the men around the main house were polite enough to respond to her questions.

But the blonde prick? No, he was heavily insistent on ignoring her no matter what she did.

She usually stayed in the other house that was readied for her, but she ate breakfast and dinner with him and his family. Eating with his family was another ordeal itself.

Bakugou Mitsuki was another person who looked almost exactly like her father and son, with spiky blonde hair and bright red eyes, but Ochako definitely understood where her 'fiancée' got his attitude from. She was loud and domineering, fights broke out regularly at the dinner table because her and her son were always butting heads. Bakugou Masaru though, was an exact opposite of the two. He was quiet and polite, making small talk with Ochako as shouts reverberated throughout the table. If she had to pick a pro in this situation, it was talking to Bakugou Masaru. Bakugou Ryou was just calmly watching his daughter and grandson fight as he seemed to sip tea endlessly, never eating more than a few bites.

The only surprising thing about their lovely get-to-togethers was the fact that Bakugou Katsuki knew how to eat without causing a mess. Also, how was he able to shout all the time without damaging his vocal cords?

"Hag, the hell you're thinking inviting her?!" The blonde roared as Ochako felt herself being pulled by Mitsuki. She had been ambushed by the woman, leisurely chatting with Izuku on the phone and making plans before the woman had barged into her room, demanded her to join their family for dinner, and forced her into a semi-formal dress before practically being dragged all the way to the main house.

"Lower your voice, ungrateful brat!" Mitsuki slapped the back of Bakugou's head. Ochako stifled a laugh at the annoyed look on his face. "She's your future wife! Show some respect!"

"I'm not going to marry her!" Bakugou retorted angrily, still avoiding eye contact with Ochako. "I don't need a girl who looks breakable with a single blast!"

"You never got with anyone anyway, how do you even know your own standards brat?!"

"Shut up! I can fucking handle myself!"

"You couldn't even break up the feud between the Masakari Group and ours without shouting like a banshee the entire time!"

"But it worked didn't it, old hag?!"

"Uraraka-san," Bakugou Masaru stuck his head out of the fusuma, smiling gently at her as Mitsuki and Bakugou yelled in the background. "Come on in. We're glad to have you here."

Ochako slowly pulled herself out of Mitsuki's loosening grip and walked over to him. "Thank you, Bakugou-san. It's certainly…lively."

Masaru laughed sheepishly. "Ah, my wife and son are always like that, please don't worry. Mitsuki's just excited that you're here, after all, Seiji-san talked about you a lot the last time he visited us."

Ochako's eyebrows raised. "Grampa talked about me?"

Masaru nodded, suddenly an apologetic look in his eyes. "Ah, yes. He mentioned a lot of good things about you."

Ochako highly doubted that that was the case seeing how Ryou had started coughing slightly after hearing that statement.

Well, the relationship between her and the Bakugou's could be better. Especially with the banshee, but Ochako wasn't going to be the one to walk to up and strike up a conversation.

XXX

"So," Ochako sighed, finishing off her ice cream. "That's the summary of my stay so far."

"Ah," Izuku nodded deeply, licking his pistachio ice cream. "Sounds right."

Summer in Tokyo was hot, but it wasn't as bad as Osaka, Ochako had to admit that that was a plus. She had managed to grab ahold of Izuku during her short stay and meet up with him, to which he proceeded to take her on a short tour around Ueno Zoo. She wanted to see the famous panda, but people were crowding so badly she barely managed to get a glimpse of it. Cue to Izuku buying some delicious chilled snacks for the both of them as they took refuge under an umbrella table.

"Kacchan really hasn't changed, huh?" Izuku licked his lips. "I kind of wondered whether he did surgery on his throat once too."

If they were talking about change, Izuku hadn't changed much from Ochako's memory either. Obviously, he grew taller, but his fluffy green hair and shining green eyes were the same. Freckles littered his cheeks as his skin was still a shade lighter than tan, and he still listened intently to everything Ochako was saying.

"Deku-kun, you didn't really change much either, you know?" Ochako giggled, munching on the cone. "Your hair is still as fluffy as ever!"

"I can't help it, it's a gene thing!" Izuku laughed sheepishly. "Besides, you don't look too different either. Your cheeks are still round and soft."

Ochako paused, recalling a memory. Her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, but that doesn't really work out when you're a yakuza boss' granddaughter. People don't really take me seriously, you know? Not like I want people to fear me, but…people don't talk to me back at home because of my status, but I can't not be laughed at by random gangs when I pass by the alleys and stuff. At least I have Momo-chan, though walking next to her is a whole other can of worms."

"Ah…" Izuku smiled sympathetically, patting her on the back. "That isn't the only reason though, right? I'm sorry I had to remind you of…well, you know who."

Ochako felt a tick form on her forehead. "The first thing he said to me were insults. The next thing too! Can he not talk to others without some kind of degradation?! Who does he think he is?! Urgh, I can't wait to go back to Osaka, there's no way I can marry someone like him."

At that, Izuku paused slightly. Ochako tilted her head to the side, observing the way his eyes seem to take a faraway shade as his finger tapped on his knee. His lips were moving slightly, and if Ochako got closer, she could hear his murmurs spilling out. "Deku-kun, you're thinking of something. What's wrong?"

Izuku snapped back to attention. "Huh? Oh, sorry, I was doing it again, wasn't I?"

Ochako nodded. "Your bad habit? Yeah."

"Oh, well…Seiji-san sent you here to see Kacchan, right? He told you that you could break off the engagement anytime. But, isn't it kind of strange that Kacchan didn't break it off? If this engagement wasn't forced, and if Kacchan doesn't seem too keen on you either, no offense, wouldn't he have canceled this without consulting your family anyway? That seems more like a…Kacchan thing to do, to be honest. He was never really good with words compared to his actions."

Ochako stopped. The doubt that was buried at the back of her head slowly started to surface, whirring around in her thoughts. The doubt that this engagement was more than it seemed on the surface. Her grandfather was always goofy and generally laid-back, he did a lot of things that made no sense to her so she never questioned that this whole thing was just one of his whims. However, what about Bakugou Ryou? He didn't seem like the kind who would just go along with her grandfather's schemes…And if he told Bakugou Katsuki the exact same thing Seiji told her, there was no way she could have even stepped a foot into their territory.

"I think…" Ochako started slowly, getting up from her seat. "I need to talk to grampa after I get back."

Izuku followed, stretching his limbs as he did so. "You're going back on Friday, right? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded, pushing those thoughts away for now. Turning around to face her friend, Ochako mustered a genuine smile. "So let's just forget about all that and have fun for today! Come on, Deku-kun!"

She reached out to grab his hand. Izuku did the same, the two laughing as the sun shone in the sky.

XXX

The door to the Uraraka residence slammed open once more, on a sunny Friday afternoon.

"GRAMPA!"

"Miss, the boss is in the tatami room on the second floor," Shishikura once again said as he grabbed her belongings, handing the other doorman, Gunhead, her suitcase. Ochako smiled at them gratefully, laughing a little as Gunhead lightly patted her head.

"Welcome home, Ochako. How was your stay?"

"I'll tell you all about it after I see grampa!" Ochako kicked her shoes off, stomping inside. "Thanks for asking, Gunhead!"

Weaving through her house, Ochako climbed the stairs and entered the room Shishikura had directed her to, seeing her parents casually having tea with her grandfather. "Grampa!"

"Ochako, my little mochi! How was the trip?" Seiji asked, biting off a piece of rice cracker.

"Ochako, welcome home!" Her mother, Hana, greeted her, walking up to give her a hug. Her father followed with a greeting of his own, engulfing the both of them with his wide arms. Ochako hugged them back, saying her greetings before breaking out of their hold to stomp towards the one person she needed answers from.

"Grampa!" She dropped her hand onto the table, making a loud noise as the cups clattered. "I need to talk to ya!"

"What's the rush?" Seiji said, tilting his head while he was still biting off his cracker. "Did ya like ya future groom?"

"I need to talk to you about that," Ochako sighed, crossing her legs as she sat down. "Bakugou Katsuki is horrible. I don't want to marry him, and I want to cancel the engagement, but there's something bothering me. And no beating around the bush, I need a straight answer."

Ochako breathed. "Please."

Seiji finally stopped munching. He started to sit up slowly, brushing the crumbs off his mouth. The lightness in his eyes darkened when he heard her tone, his smile slowly fading away.

"If I can cancel the engagement, why can't he?" Ochako asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "The entire time I was there, he really, really didn't like me at all. The way you spoke of the arrangement gave me an impression that you were the one who offered this. Normally, shouldn't the receiver be the one that's able to call this thing off? So, is there-"

"Ochako," her father cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder. His voice was deep, serious, causing her to pause.

"Yuji, don't worry about it," Seiji intervened, rubbing his eyes. That action alone suddenly made him seem like he was his age, like he was an old man. "Ochako."

Ochako sucked in a small breath. "…Yes?"

"I know that we've never really talked about this, but I think you should know," Seiji picked up a ceramic cup, closing his eyes as he drank the green tea in it. "The feud between the East and West have been going on ever since I was a kid. The reason is a whole damn mess, lots of things happened between us that we've never really seen eye to eye. Drug dealing, massacres, the whole package. The fact that Ryou and I managed an attempt to mend that is a miracle itself. But there are a whole lot of people against it. We ain't the only group under the Yaoyorozu, and the same is for the Bakugou's over there. So, after meetin' with Ryou, we've decided on two things."

Seiji held up a finger. "One, we're going to make the bond stronger between the East and West with a marriage, essentially, merging two groups together."

He held up another. "Two, it's gotta be our groups first."

Ochako's ears perked up. "First?"

Seiji nodded. "Recently, rumors been flying aroun' that the head of the Todoroki wants his son to marry your precious Momo-chan. But cuz them groups are the biggest aroun', they got the most opposition, meaning-"

"It's gonna be harder for the groups to merge together," the words spilled from Ochako's lips. The edges of Seiji's mouth quirked up a little.

"Exactly, my little mochi. The other members of them groups aren't so gung ho about this whole ideal. But me and Ryou? We go way back, we were friends for most of our young lives. After we both became heads though, we weren't allowed to mess around anymore, but we have a good history together. It would make more sense for the Uraraka Group and the Bakugou Group to merge rather than the Todoroki's and Yaoyorozu. That's why you and that prick are in this situation."

"So you mean- wait, prick?"

"So technically, I lied to ya. Ya can't break this engagement off, or at least, not now. Ya hafta marry the porcupine until we find some other option to bind the East and West together." Seiji let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his chin. "M'sorry, my little mochi."

Ochako was speechless. The whole time he had made light of the situation, slowly chipping away at her wariness of marrying a person she'd never met, only to tell her that everything was on a much, much bigger scale than she thought it would be.

"So you're telling me that…the entire fate of the East and West are depending on us…?" Ochako slowly started.

"Yeah, basically." Seiji sipped his tea.

Ochako slowly grabbed a rice cracker in the basket sitting in the middle of the table.

And threw it at her grandfather with all her might.

"Why didn't you tell me all that befor'?!" She yelled, feeling a vein pop. "Ya should 'ave said that at the start!"

"Ochako!" Hana reached out, grabbing her hand. "Don't waste food!"

"That's what you're worried about?!" Seiji shouted, rubbing a red spot on his head as he bit into the cracker. "I'm eatin' it, ain't I?"

"Ochako, calm down," Yuji soothed her, patting her on the head. "I know that ya don't like this, and to be honest, I wouldn't want my daughter to marry someone she don't like either. If worse comes to worse, the entire group's just gonna 'ave to kick all them who try to ruin the bond between the two forces' asses to oblivion."

Ochako squeezed her eyes shut. If she canceled this marriage, the already shaky relationship between Kansai and Kanto would get worse. Her grandfather was saying that the bond between the two heads were not enough, they needed the future generation to secure it too. If the marriage wasn't undergone, there was a higher chance of the other groups riding into each other's territory and trying to create a reason for the two forces to oppose each other again.

On the other hand, if she did marry him, the only minus would be the fact that she had to deal with a jerk of a husband, and if they played their cards right, she wouldn't have to be stuck with him for the rest of her life.

Letting out a deep, heavy sigh, Ochako made up her mind.

XXX

Bakugou Katsuki let out a frustrated groan as he threw her belongings inside the house. The roundface was silent, or well, trying to be. Katsuki could see the occasional twitch of eyebrow, the small scowl, the irritation coming off her in waves that made the blonde feel a little better about himself.

Katsuki finished unloading her things, dumping them at the entrance of her quarters. She would be living in the small house apart from the main, it was the hag's 'kindness'.

"She'd probably feel a whole lot at ease if she wasn't surrounded by you bloody people all day," Mitsuki said as she wrote down the renovations. "So give that thing to her, she deserves it for having to put up with your ass everyday. Be sure to send her a house warming gift!"

House warming gift, his ass. She should be the one grateful for him having to put up with her, Katsuki scowled as she let out a huff.

"So, what? No 'thank you'?" Katsuki said snidely, turning away as her gaze sharpened at his words.

"…Thank you," she muttered, walking to her door and taking off her shoes. "…Do you want to come in for some tea?"

Katsuki paused. She was inviting him in…? For what, he lived just across her. Literally. His room was just across the garden from hers, they could see each other at any time, much to his irritation. "No. I'm going back."

He turned his back on her, ready to walk away, before he felt a hand grab his upper arm. He was ready to pull it away until the grip tightened enough for him to let out a small hiss. He turned around, ready to tell her to fuck off, when the look in her eyes stopped him from doing so.

"Look," she let out a heavy sigh. "I don't like you, and I know you don't like me too. When I first came during last year's summer, I held back from doing anything I thought I would regret. But I'm now, officially, engaged to you, so let me say this; I won't sugarcoat my words and actions, but if there's a chance, a small chance that you'd be willing to cooperate with me, can you please treat me like I'm not just a thorn in your side? I don't want to have such a strained relationship with you if I'm going to be living with you. Can we shake on that?"

Katsuki stared. He stared at the pleading look in her eyes, the tight grip she had on his wrist, and reflected on the words she said. He then slowly put a hand on the hand on his arm, and faintly heated up his palm. He saw her eyes widen as she hurriedly ripped her hand away, an emotion that he was familiar with entering her orbs in the process.

"You are a thorn in my side. If it wasn't for you, everything would have gone my way," Katsuki started, stuffing his hand in his pocket. "I don't care if gramps forced this. If we have to play nice when we don't mean it, I'd rather you do something that'll contribute to the fucking group."

A wicked idea entered his mind. A grin split out on his face, and a small rush of enjoyment entered his veins as he saw her step back, wary of him. He leaned forward, being the closest he had ever gotten to her, feeling her brown locks tickle his nose. He saw a shiver rake her body, his hot breath fanning the side of her neck. He brushed his lips against her ear, speaking slowly, tauntingly.

"If you really want me to treat you better, why don't you work at one of the shops? You've been raised by yakuza weren't you? I'm sure you know how women get money in this industry, huh?"

He cackled inwardly, seeing the horrified expression on her face. He pulled away, the grin fading into a small smirk as he turned around, walking back.

She would leave him alone for a while at least, he thought faintly. He didn't need distractions in his life. He would be the best yakuza ever, and a wife was useless no matter what his mother said.

He took his hand out of his pocket, lightly tracing the skin on the arm that she had gripped. He could feel a bruise forming. An unconscious shiver ran down his spine.

XXX

"What a horrible, vulgar man!" Momo's voice rung out loud, the anger in her tone matching Ochako's. "How could he say that to another human being?! A lady nonetheless?!"

Ochako buried her face in her pillow, muffling her scream. What had happened during today's afternoon could only be summarized by one word: horrible. She had tried to make peace with him in the most non-lethal way ever, and he had the nerve to call her a…a, slut? Who did he think he was, God?

So, she had to vent her frustrations to one of her best friends that she knew who'd understand the delicate inner workings of a girl; Yaoyorozu Momo.

"I cannot believe this! If I knew that you had to put up with such a man, I should have just persuaded father to accept the Todoroki Group's offer!" Momo ranted angrily.

"I know right-wait, what did you say?" Ochako sat up on her futon, blinking. "Did ya say, Todoroki approached ya?"

"Yes, Todoroki Enji came to us a year ago. He proposed that his son and I marry to show the merging of the East and West, but my mother…has bad blood with the Todoroki Group. They were the ones that almost brought our group to oblivion, until mother's great grandfather decided to move to Kansai…" Momo let out a sigh over the phone. "I'm so sorry, Ochako-chan. I wish I could do more to help you…"

Ochako bit her lip. The rumors that her grandfather had heard were right. The situation that she was placed in seemed very, very real now. "No, it's okay, Momo-chan. I'll…I'll call you tomorrow, okay? My first year of university starts tomorrow."

Yes, she was eighteen already. It seemed like time was moving so fast. Since that her move to Tokyo was a closed matter, Ochako had to study long and hard to enter the university her fiancée was going to, just so that she and him could spend time going to the campus together. Was it worth it? She could've just gone to a local university instead.

The face of a certain blonde popped into her head, and a frown overtook her face instantly. To think that she tried for this prick…

Momo was quiet for a while. "Momo-chan?" Ochako tried again, an eyebrow raised.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off a bit!" Momo laughed nervously. Ochako could almost see her playing with her hair, a nervous habit of hers. "Yes, I suppose that it is time for us to head to bed. Goodnight, Ochako-chan."

"Yeah," Ochako smiled softly. "Goodnight, Momo-chan."

The phone beeped. Ochako let out a small sigh, closing her flip phone and putting it down. Time ticked on slowly as she absentmindedly played with the futon sheets, trying to organize her thoughts. She glanced next to her, seeing a photo stand. The light reflecting off of it made the photo a little hard to see, but she knew that that photo was one that she had taken on her high school graduation. She turned her head away, refusing to look at it any longer.

She stood up, heading towards the light switch. The more thinking time she had to herself, the more she would think about unpleasant things, like the fact that Bakugou Katsuki was an absolute jerk, or the fact that she found herself missing Osaka more than she thought she would've.

The lights turned off, and Ochako slid into her futon, closing her eyes.

She dreamed of dark, ruby red eyes and a toothy smile.

Boom, I really am on a roll! Ochako and Katsuki are now officially engaged, but neither of them like it. Izuku makes an appearance, Momo's voice as well, and more characters will be introduced in the next chapter, cause well, it's the start of a new school year.

Ochako and Katsuki are now 18, going to be 19 this year, by the way.

Now, the word of the day:

Bakugou Group: A group directly under the Todoroki group, the largest yakuza group in the Kanto region. Their trademark is their explosive hair and temper, which usually are the reason they are involved in most yakuza fights. Pyromaniacs might be a thing in this family. The head is Bakugou Ryou, the grandfather of Bakugou Katsuki.

See you next chapter!

~LunaricFairy12~