Katsuki was incredibly uncomfortable with the situation he found himself in. Wearing an uptight, perfectly tailored monkey suit with a tie that matched Momo's light orange dress and trying his best not to scowl, he stood in front of Mr. and Mrs. Yaoyorozu for the first time in his life.

He thought he was nervous to have her meet his family.

The two heads of the Yaoyorozu family stood prim and proper, looking five times as dolled up and well groomed as Katsuki felt and infinitely more comfortable doing so. Momo's mother was beautiful, smiling warmly at him in greeting. Her father appeared stoic and protective, scrutinizing every inch of this young man that he could.

Itsuki stayed behind with "Uncle Eiji" and "Uncle Deku" for the day. His two "parents" agreed wholeheartedly that it would be a rather terrible idea for the young boy to tag along to this particular event. Especially considering the older Yaoyorozu couple knew nothing of him in the first place.

He was rather upset with them for leaving him behind but was quickly and easily soothed with promises of going out to town the following weekend for movies and ice cream.

Momo's mother had been very confused at the sudden shift in opinion from her daughter. Going from saying "I'll find someone" to "I'm in a relationship" was jostling to say the least. Momo defended herself by saying the relationship had been so new and she hadn't wanted put any sort of pressure on it in its budding stages. Which was something that the older woman ate right up.

"Welcome!" Momo's mother took her daughter into her arms and offered a slim, delicate hand to Katsuki upon releasing her. He and Momo had trained for this. He had this in the bag. Katsuki grasped her hand - respectful yet firm - and placed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand. "Oh! What a gentleman!" her mother cooed as she retrieved her hand from him. "What a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Yaoyorozu."

"Oh! Call me Hanae, dear!"

"That will hardly be necessary, love," her husband interjected.

He offered an extended hand as Katsuki turned to regard him properly. He grasped it and found a surprisingly firm grip from the businessman. Guess CEO isn't as big of a wimp as I thought he'd be…

"Good to meet you, boy." The words were spoken in a charismatic enough of a voice that Katsuki almost didn't catch the steel-like sharpness in Momo's father's eyes. "I'm Yaoyorozu Akifumi."

"Nice to meet you, sir," he studied the man's face. "I'm-"

"Bakugou Katsuki. Quirk being explosions. Coming from parents who own a skincare company, correct?"

Katsuki hesitated. Looks like he wasn't the only one who had been preparing for this day. "Yes sir. That's right."

"Father," Momo interjected, looking nervous. "May we carry on the conversation over tea? I find it… rather awkward simply standing about the foyer like this."

Her mother smiled strongly, nodding her head along with her daughter. "Absolutely, my dear. Let's go to the parlor then."

The four of them settled into a sort of lounge sitting area as servants brought about tea and sandwiches and sweets. Momo's mother sipped delicately and tittered excitedly while her father sat stoic, not touching any of the drink or food offered to him.

Katsuki opted not to take part in the food, copying Momo as she took what he assumed was a calming sip of her own tea. He was somewhat astonished, even after all this time, that she could make something like just drinking from a teacup look so graceful. And he remembered that this was a battlefield; she was the image of composure. They could do this.

"So, boy," Momo's father regarded him again, eyes narrowed. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

He figured this was something that would come up, but Katsuki hadn't been prepared for it to be so soon! Straightening his posture more than he previously thought possible, he raised his chin in subtle defiance.

"I want to court her."

"Clearly," Akifumi seemed unimpressed. "I'm asking your intentions. You're not of wealth; do you hope to achieve something by pursuing my daughter? Is it the family name? Her quirk? Your quirks aren't very compatible, you know."

Katsuki fought not to snap at this fucker. As much as he wanted to rage - I'm not trying to breed with your daughter, fuckface! - Momo was counting on him to keep it together. And, while he previously wouldn't have given a shit, he needed to do this for her. She was important.

"She's important to me, sir."

"How so? This is the first I've heard of you outside of regular classmate interactions."

"Akifumi," Hanae placed a gentle hand on her husband's forearm. "Maybe that's something we should ease into. I know!" She clapped her hands, excited. "How did you two start dating? Who confessed?" Her eyes glittered. It seemed Yaoyorozu Hanae was a hopeless romantic. Katsuki could play off of that.

"Well…" Momo trailed off, looking to him. They had come up their story.

"I've been interested in her since first year," Katsuki "confessed". He scratched the back of his neck, hoping to give off the impression of a shy adolescent boy. He even gave a sheepish smile. "She's always been so smart, you know?"

And Hanae nodded along, agreeably. "Oh certainly! Pretty too, don't you think?"

"Well of course," he laughed, a low rumble from his chest. "But I know she prefers to be admired for how capable is, don't you love?"

Momo wasn't expecting this day to be so hard to deal with. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire from all the praise - fake or not - from Katsuki. "I… certainly appreciate it, yes."

"All I'm hearing is about how capable my daughter is," Akifumi shifted his crossed hands from his lap to the table. "How are you to prove that you're worthy of her?"

"Father-"

"There are plenty of suitors lined up for someone like Momo, I'm sure you're aware. Why should we allow someone like you to be with her? Compared to the other gentlemen we have lined up, you're… well."

"Father, that's so rude of you-"

"I'm in love with her."

Momo blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I, Bakugou Katsuki, am in love with your daughter. I believe that makes me more qualified than any of my competitors on how much we would value her alone." He grinned, some of his cockiness showing through. "Besides, while I don't come from a super fancy family with a lot of money, I'm going to be the number one hero one day. I won't settle for anything less. I admire Momo as both a woman and as a hero. None of these other schmucks will make her happy like I can."

Akifumi looked contemplative while his wife was practically glowing with glee. He offered his partner a cautious glance and felt his heart skip a beat with the look of wonder he received from Momo. He… wasn't sure how much of that was a grandiose display of acting and how much of that came from a deep part within him. He wasn't compared to come to terms with any of that quite yet.

Fighting a strong blush, he turned back to Momo's parents. "And if you don't like that, then you can deal with it. I don't like sharing, so she's mine."

For the first time since arriving, Momo's father smiled. He smirked, seemingly pleased. "Alright, son. You pass."

"Oh good!" Hanae cheered. It seemed she was just happy with the entire situation from start to finish. "Oh, Katsuki!" He jolted somewhat at being addressed so directly. "You must come to an event we're holding later this month!"

"Mother…"

"It'll be a good opportunity, Momo!" she chided. "The gala will be a perfect place to show off your new beau! Oh dear, I'll have to contact all the previous suitors about this… Oh well!"

A teeny tiny fraction of Katsuki felt bad that a bunch of guys were going to be rejected by the end of the day by this new, fake relationship. But a huge part of him was thrilled that they succeeded and that Momo wouldn't be pressured anymore to get married to some random fucker.

"Of course we'd love to attend, Hanae," he shook his head at Momo's displeased expression. Later. And she nodded.

"Perfect! We'll arrange for transportation and attire, so don't even worry about it! We're so happy to welcome you into the family!"

Glad to know my old folks aren't the only ones too eager for us to get married…

"Ah!" Hanae looked like she just realized something. "I would love to meet with your parents as well, Katsuki!" Ah. Yeah…

"You're right. We'll be sure to arrange something with them, then," Akifumi relented, curious to see where his daughter's new boyfriend came from. "Perhaps lunch sometime soon?"

"Certainly…" And there went Katsuki's hopes of keeping his parents entirely out of the situation. He'd have to have a strong, firm talk with them about how fake this relationship was supposed to be. Knowing them they'd be too on board with the prospect of marrying off their son, especially after having met Momo. She was irresistible and was perfect daughter-in-law material. If Mitsuki and Hanae got anywhere near each other… Katsuki feared the outcome.

After the initial tension was cleared, the afternoon with the Yaoyorozu's was rather peaceful. They asked questions and he answered as best he could - as properly as he could. He was rather proud of himself for not having cussed out either of them. Especially when the conversation turned towards Momo's own hero work.

"You must agree, Mr. Bakugou," Akifumi had been saying. "A young woman as a working hero is much too dangerous. It would be better for her to settle down in order to care for the home and children, as it were."

Hanae nodded along. "He's right, dear," she turned to her daughter, as if giving the young woman some sort of sage advice. "I'm sure Katsuki would prefer you staying at home and making sure dinner is prepared for him."

Katsuki felt his eye twitch. It felt like these two were trying to advertise some sort of servant to them, not their daughter's hand in marriage! He huffed and tried to keep the familiar, heavy scowl from his face.

"I definitely don't want that."

"Huh?" Both Momo's parents looked confused. "Whatever do you mean?"

Katsuki shook his head and let out a breath of air. "She's a great hero. I'm not tryin' to take that away from her. She's worked hard as hell to achieve her goals. Momo will never have to give up on her dreams to be with me. She shouldn't have to do that to be with anyone. Respectfully speaking," he added, seeing their incredulous looks. "I want Momo to be happy."

"Being a hero makes me very happy…" Momo said in a quiet voice, while giving Katsuki a warm smile that made his stomach tie itself in knots. "Thank you, Katsuki."

The older Yaoyorozu couple exchanged a sort of heavy, meaningful glance before returning to the conversation. After several hours, the two were seen off and driven back to UA with Katsuki ripping off his neck tie the moment the door to the limousine closed shut behind them.

Itsuki had already eaten dinner by the time the two of them returned home to the dorms. It seemed that he was being kept busy, at the current moment, by board games with Midoriya, Kirishima, and a couple of the others. Tsuyu waved languidly as they entered.

"Hey, you two. How did things go?"

"Good!" Momo answered, cheerful, as Katsuki sauntered past to try and join in on the game of Monopoly going on. She - and everyone else in the room - knew that wouldn't end very well. "Everything's going well, but they still haven't found Itsuki's records."

They hadn't told their friends or even Itsuki about their fake dating scheme. Katsuki had been avidly against it, not wanting to deal with even more teasing than the two already got from spending so much time together as of recently. And Momo had to agree; the girls had been increasingly aggressive with their questioning on Momo's relationship status.

The rest of them all thought that they were going to meet with some of the officials about Itsuki's status. Which they'd been keeping up with, of course, but was a suitable excuse for the occasion. They explained the fancy attire in that they decided to meet at a restaurant instead of the usual office this time around.

Momo felt somewhat bad lying to her friends and family like this, but she felt it a necessary evil. If it could even be considered that.

Itsuki jumped up and darted towards her with a cry of, "Mama!" as the boy seemed to just notice the arrival of his caretakers. He threw himself at her, wrapping arms around her waist.

"Hello, Itsuki. Did you have a fun evening?"

"Yeah!" He grinned up at her, ear to ear. "It was so fun! Uncle Denki showed me video games and Uncle Deku brought out this fun board game! I don't know why they call it that because I'm not bored at all!"

Momo fought back a laugh at that. "I have to agree. They're rather fun."

"Is it bedtime?"

"It certainly can be," Momo suddenly felt very tired.

Itsuki nodded. "Okay. It's late and I'm sleepy, so let's get papa and go to bed."

"Sounds like a plan, little man." She received another smile at the fun little rhyme as she gathered herself to head to her room. Katsuki grumbled but followed after, bidding the others a good night.

When they got up to her room, they quickly went into their nightly rituals and got Itsuki into bed quickly. They both decided that, despite having so much tea time earlier, it would be best for them to at least partake in their nightly discussions.

"Momo…"

"Katsuki," she interrupted, out of character. "Thank you for today. I…" she blinked in surprise at the sudden swell in emotion she felt in her chest. "I'm very grateful."

"Nah, Ponytail," he waved her off lightly. "It wasn't much… your parents are possessive people, though, huh?"

She tilted her thought, rolling the thought around in her head. "Not quite possessive… but certainly old fashioned and overprotective. But I didn't mean getting them off of my back; though I am grateful for that as well."

He quirked a brow at her, signaling for her to elaborate.

"I… Appreciate your praise, from before. I didn't know you thought about me that way. Forgive me if it was all part of the act-"

"I think the world of you."

She felt her cheeks flare with a sudden heat that spread through her entire face and neck. If the coloring mirrored on Katsuki's face was any inclination, it was fair to say he was just as embarrassed.

"Don't go overthinking shit, alright? You're a badass hero and you've become a good friend of mine. I don't let people push around or talk shit on my friends, alright?"

Then, suddenly, the warmth left. That reminded her of another conversation they'd never gotten around to having.

"Katsuki… what did your mother mean by… not letting Itsuki bully other children?"