I sat on Yaomomo's bed with the other girls, dresses sprawled across the room. The one dress I had was shot down instantly for being too plain. Mina's dresses were much, much too short. Jiro's were too small. Uraraka's and Hagakure's were shot down – for being too plain and too girlie, respectively. Tsu's dresses were cute but too casual for the beauty pageant. I fell back on the bed, hiding my face in my hands. "Why is this so difficult?"

"We just need to go shopping after class tomorrow," Hagakure bounced on the edge of the bed. "Maybe we just need some ideas."

Momo laid one of her dresses over me. "Worst case scenario – you have one for photos this weekend."

"We need to figure out a swimsuit for you, too," Uraraka puffed out her cheeks. "Did yours get replaced?"

I sighed. The school had thankfully already provided a replacement. "Midnight said we don't need a swimsuit, thankfully. Apparently, someone breaks into the server every year and edits the itinerary to include a swimsuit section."

Jiro laughed, "Mineta's going to be so pissed." Tsu shook her head in agreement. We all jumped as a knock sounded on Momo's door. I sat up. She opened the door, Kirishima, Sero, and Katsuki stood on the other side.

Kirishima smiled, instantly jumping onto the bed beside Mina. "How goes the dress hunting? What's the top contender?" The bed bounced as Sero joined him. Katsuki leaned against the closed door.

"Nothing really works," Mina frowned, putting her legs over Kirishima's lap. "We have an option if we can't find anything better when we go shopping after class tomorrow."

Katsuki scoffed, "it better not be that purple thing." I bit my lip, holding the purple dress in my lap.

"That's a perfectly acceptable dress," Momo pouted, crossing her arms.

"Bakugo's right," Sero hummed. "It works well for you since you're refined. Makoto's not at that point yet." Momo hung the purple dress from my lap in her closet.

"I'll just go in the dress that I have. Thanks for trying, though," I gave the room a defeated smile.

Katsuki stalked over to the post of the bed, unhooked a black dress, and tossed it to me. "Put that on. I'll be back." Then he left.

"What was that about?" Jiro eyed the door.

Kirishima laughed. "I guess he has an idea. Whose dress is that?"

"Mine," Mina giggled. Why did Katsuki have to pick the most awkward tube dress in the room? "Better go change – I wonder what he's thinking." I slunk off the bed reluctantly and into Momo's decadent bathroom. She did have a refined taste. Momo was like steak. I, on the other hand, was McDonalds. Maybe more like the Mcdonalds' trashcan. I locked the door and changed into the black tube dress. The dress just covered me. I stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing my face and shifting my hair into various places. How was I going to make myself presentable for the pageant? I yelped at a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" It was Katsuki. I saw the blush rise on my cheeks. I was so pale the pink was obvious. I unlocked the door and hid behind as I opened it. Katsuki walked in with my sheer white blouse. His head made a swift, unimpressed turn to me. He raised his brows and held out the blouse for me. I took it, slipping it on over the dress. Katsuki gently slapped my hands away as I started to button it. Instead, he tied it loosely at the bottom before returning to the main room. I did feel more comfortable with something over the top of the dress – especially if I were to spill out the top.

"Well?" Uraraka and Hagakure groaned. I took in a deep breath and exited Momo's bathroom.

"Bakugo's got style," Sero whistled. Katsuki's eyes snapped to Sero, glaring.

"That's so cute. I never would have thought of that," Momo placed a hand on her cheek as she studied me. "That suits you much better than my dress."

"Wow, Bakugo – how'd you get so good at styling people?" Mina cocked her head to him.

He shoved his hands into his jeans. "My parents are in the fashion industry."

Hagakure gasped, clapping her hands together. "I know a solution to our problem! Why don't we ask Bakugo's parents to help design a dress for Makoto to wear? I'm sure if they make a sketch, we can make it." Everyone began to chatter, excitedly badgering Katsuki.

"Fine," Katsuki snapped, teeth-baring, "I'll fucking ask!" Mina and Hagakure cheered. I returned to the bathroom and changed into my shorts and oversized t-shirt. I tugged at my shirt. Much of my clothing was old, baggy, and had been repaired a few times. I had spent the most time in my school and work uniforms – so I never had any need for other clothes. Maybe I should go shopping for some new clothes. I could afford to purchase a few things now.

[B&M]

I stood with my class in the Training Dining Land with Cementoss. I rubbed my hands over my arms. This was the first time I was wearing my suit after the raid. Cementoss wanted us to work on creating our second ultimate move – and, if we have more – on refining them. I needed to find a way to utilize my quirk for combat. Midoriya rushed to me, a large smile on his face. "I forgot to ask – how can you allow things to go through you?"

"Oh – uh. I vibrate my atoms instead of breaking them down." I held up my hand, letting my atoms fade in and out. "I haven't tried it since, though."

"Mind if I…?" Midoriya held up his hand and motioned to my shoulder. I nodded. He reached out and dropped his hand onto my shoulder. His hand fell into my body. "Whoa, that's cool!" He moved his arm out of my body and into my excited atoms.

"Midoriya, why is your arm in Makoto's stomach?" Kirishima gawked. His face took a moment of processing before lighting up. "Oh! Was this that ultimate move you used at the raid? I wanna try!" Kirishima stuck his arm in me, waved it around, and pulled it out before repeating the motion.

"Watch out!" Aoyama shouted; his laser blasted straight through me. Kirishima and Midoriya dove to the side. A soccer ball-sized hole in the cement pillars ahead of me. "Are you all okay?"

"Watch where you're firing that thing, you extra," Katsuki growled from a pillar above. I gave him a small smile before he turned away. "Kirishima, get up here and let me blast you."

"Hey, how about we work together today?" Midoriya stood, brushing himself off. "Is there anything you want to work on?"

"Sure. I kind of want to get better at combat." I puffed out my cheeks as we moved to a flatter and emptier section of the gym.

He started to murmur. "You utilize your quirk more for defence and infiltration than direct combat. Sure, you were moving a lot like Mirko during the raid – but your attacks didn't do much damage." I hung my head. It was that obvious, huh? Midoriya and I sparred against one another without my quirk activated. He, unfortunately, had me on my ass every single time.

After class, Katsuki and I rushed to his family home, not bothering to stop and change. I walked beside him; my heart hammered in my ears. A lump was building in my throat. I was terrified. "Do your parents know...?" The first time I had met his parents, I had a broken nose and plaster bandage all over my face. This time – I was dating their son.

"Know what?" Katsuki's hand brushed mine. A shock ran up my arm.

I stared at my feet, clicking against the cement walk. "That you and I…"

Katsuki stretched his neck to the side. "Yeah." I swallowed the lump in my throat as we came to his home. Katsuki swung open the door, "we're home." He kicked off his shoes before stalking into his home. I slipped mine off and hesitantly followed him into the living room. His father sat on the sofa, working in a sketchbook.

He looked up but continued to move his pencil, "ah, welcome home."

I bowed slightly, "thank you for taking the time to help."

He stopped, setting it in his lap. "Anytime."

"Where's the old hag?" Katsuki sat on the sofa across from Masaru, propping his feet on the coffee table.

"Just at the store – she should be back any minute now." He replied, tapping Katsuki's feet with his pencil. Katsuki groaned and took his feet off the table. He spoke with his son about school, his supplementary licensing classes, and the dorms. I let my eyes wander to the shelves adorned with dozens of awards for Katsuki and his parents. Katsuki's name was on trophies and plaques for top grades or perfect attendance, while his parents were on awards from Vogue or Fashion Weeks. The Bakugo family were all amazing. "Did you have any designs in mind?"

I froze and then shook my head. "No, I don't really wear dresses."

"Okay. I did look up what contestants had worn in past years and had a few ideas for you," Masaru tapped his pencil against his knee. The front door clicked open and then shut. We all turned toward the entryway.

Katsuki's mom turned the corner, a white box in her hands. Her face lit up, "welcome home, you two! Let me go put this down before I welcome you back properly." She rushed forward into the kitchen before coming back and wrapped me in a hug. "If Katsuki's ever mean to you – call me, and I will kick his ass."

"Hey!" Katsuki snapped, gripping the back of the sofa. "Don't assume I'm mean to my girlfriend." I stiffened. He called me his girlfriend in front of both his parents. Sure, they already knew, but it was surreal to hear.

Mitsuki ignored her son, stopped embracing me, and moved a strand of hair behind my ear. "Congratulations on getting your provisional license – you've already been in the news as a hero, too! Now, if only Katsuki could learn a thing or two from you." She laughed, hitting my shoulder playfully. "So, you decided to enter the beauty pageant? I remember when I won my first competition." She hummed, hands resting on her cheeks.

"Who would vote for you?" Katsuki scoffed.

"Remember where you get your good looks from!" Mitsuki snapped back at him before returning to smile at me. "You're going to wow UA with one of Masaru's designs. You must take some photos."

Katsuki rose from the sofa and moved to stand beside me. I looked up at him through my lashes. He was already taller than his mother. "She'll win no matter what she wears."

Mitsuki's eyes began to water. She clasped her hands together in front of her. "What a proud boyfriend. Good job, son!"

"I-it's okay," I deflected, waving my hands before myself. "I'm not going to win."

"You won't with that attitude," Mitsuki frowned. "I know – what's your shoe size? I'll give you some coaching." Coaching? How competitive was this beauty contest?

"Remember, Aizawa said he'd come to pick them up after dinner, dear," Masaru interjected. "She looks about a twenty-two." He could tell my shoe size just by looking at my feet. Wow.

"Kats – come help me make dinner," Mitsuki pulled him out of the living room by the collar. Katsuki snapped at her but allowed her to pull him with her.

Masaru sighed, picking up his sketchbook. "Sorry about them. They're very passionate. Come stand in the middle so I can get your figure."

I followed his instructions, awkwardly standing there as he examined me. Katsuki was very driven and passionate about his goals – that was one of the things I admired about him. I looked up at Masaru as he sketched. He was the opposite of both his wife and son. He was calm and collected. "How did you two meet," I asked after a long quiet moment. Masaru asked me to turn slowly, and I complied.

He pursed his lips as he scribbled in the sketchbook. "Mitsuki and I met at work. She was a new shoot director, and I was an assistant to the designer. The day we met, she asked me out. She refused to take no for an answer and kept asking me every day to go out. I admired her for her dedication and ambition and eventually agreed. Katsuki said he asked you out five times before you agreed. Like Mother like son."

I froze before spinning to face Masaru. "F-f-f-five?"

He looked up for a moment before returning to the pad. "Yeah – you didn't know? That's one thing about the headstrong members of our family: when they know what they want, they'll keep going until they reach that goal."

If we counted the boot camp and the night on my balcony – that was just two incidents. When did the other three happen? I bit my lip and slowly turned as Masaru directed. Was I that dumb that I never noticed the other three times Katsuki tried to tell me he liked me? I faltered over my feet. Did Katsuki see me as a stepping stone toward his goal? Did he have someone else in mind that needed me as an intermediary? Why was I still second-guessing things?

"Why did you enter the pageant?" Masaru didn't look up.

"I didn't." I stopped spinning. "One of our classmates entered me."

He turned the sketchpad toward me. My brows rose in awe. He had sketched a gorgeous dark dress, floor length with a slit in the side. The top was a simple halter that wrapped around my neck. I was speechless. "I'm going to measure you." He rose, taking a tape measure from the keyring in his pocket and began to measure me, jotting down notes here and there. Once he was done, we left the living room for his home office. I peeked into the kitchen as we walked by. Mitsuki and Katsuki were side by side at the stove, speaking peacefully. I smiled before following Masaru. Once we arrived at his office, I was in awe. One wall was lined with row upon row of bolts of fabric. A sewing machine and a serger sat on a long marble desk.

"You must love what you do," I examined the office in awe. He had corkboards covered in sketches; there were a few sewing mannequins in varying stages of production. A few photos of his wife and son were mixed in on the corkboards. No wonder he had insisted on making the dress rather than giving us the design to work from to do it ourselves.

"I do," Masaru took a few bolts off the wall. "This fabric reminded me of you, so I got a few just in case. Do you like any of them?"

I looked at him for a moment before gazing over the bolts. Masaru had met me once and then decided to purchase fabric with the thought of me. They were beautiful. One of the bolts was a satin that shifted just like my hair. Another was ebony with silver threaded throughout. The last bolt caught my eye – it was also black but had glittering black strands woven through. "Could we do this one?"

He smiled, "course. Let's see what Mitsuki and Katsuki are up to." I nodded, following him into the kitchen once he had squared his work away. Katsuki was setting the table while Mitsuki finished at the stovetop. "Dinner almost done?"

Mitsuki turned to smile at us, "just adding the finishing touches. Katsuki, can you pour the drinks?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes slightly as he pulled out a chair. Masaru sat himself in the chair. "That wasn't for you!" Katsuki snapped at his father. He huffed and pulled out another chair. He eyed me until I clued in. It was meant for me. I sat down in the chair, thanking him. Masaru watched his son as he retreated with a smile. After filling the glasses, he returned and set a pitcher of water on the table. I watched as the two placed the dishes in the center of the table: seared steak, watercress salad, pan-fried eggplant. It looks delicious – and so fancy. Katsuki sat beside me while his mother took the empty seat. We ate, the three of them primarily conversing about how empty and quiet the house was without Katsuki, what life was like in the dorms, and my work study. No wonder Katsuki was such a fantastic cook – his mother was a wizard in the kitchen.

"What's your class doing for the cultural festival?" Masaru spoke as Katsuki and I cleared the dirty dishes.

"A concert," Katsuki responded as he loaded the dishwasher.

"Oh?" Mitsuki stood from the table and removed the white box from the fridge. It had the logo for the café I used to work at on the top.

"Y-you went all the way there?" I stammered as she put the box down.

Mitsuki nodded with a devilish grin. "Katsuki spent so much time here I just had to get us a treat so we could try it too." He slammed the dishwater shut. "What are you two doing for the concert?"

"Makoto's on the special effects team," Katsuki responded, slumping back into his seat. I stayed beside Mitsuki as she sliced the fluffy cheesecake and took the slices to the table. "I'm in the band." I brought the plates to the table before sitting again.

"Hell yeah!" Mitsuki beamed, "told you those music lessons would be useful! That's my son!" She put her slice of cheesecake down before ruffling her son's hair. He swatted at her. We all dug into the cheesecake. It was so good.

"You should record the performance for all of your parents," Masaru hinted between bites.

"And Redemption," Katsuki added as he polished off his slice.

"Redemption?" Mitsuki blinked as her son stole her empty plate, "who's that?"

I put my fork down on my plate before Katsuki stole it was well. "He's my godfather. I did my internship with him. He's a pro-hero on the south side of town." I stood as well, clearing the rest of the dishes. Masaru excused himself to start working on the dress while Mitsuki followed to get a peak.

"We're going outside," Katsuki called over his shoulder as he opened the sliding door to his backyard. I stared over his backyard in awe when he closed the door behind me. It was gorgeous. Large bushes of flowers and a large maple lined the perimeter. Katsuki grasped my hand and led me across the grass to a swinging bench that hung from the maple. He fell onto the bench, steadying it with his feet. He waited for me to sit beside him before letting us rock. The foam on the bench was so thick and cozy that I melted into the bench.

"Your home is beautiful." I let my eyes wander to the immaculate gardening. Katsuki leaned against the backrest, resting his arm on the edge behind me. "Both of your parents are so kind."

He clicked his tongue, "they like you." He pumped his legs. I swiftly turned my head away from him, embarrassed. We stayed in silence as the bench swayed for a long while.

"I'm sure my grandfather would have liked you too." I bit my lip, staring at the swaying grass. We fell into conversation with one another. His body turned toward me while I shifted toward him. He would smile down at me occasionally as he poked fun at me or our classmates. Even though I was still grieving Sir, he had me smiling too.

"Your teacher's here," Masaru called into the yard. Katsuki's head fell back as he yawned. We stood from the bench, gathering our things before we got our shoes on at the entryway.

I bowed my head to his parents, "thank you for having me – and for helping with the pageant."

"You are welcome anytime," Mitsuki stressed before turning to Katsuki. "Take good care of Makoto, Katsuki." Katsuki scoffed before exiting his home. I bowed again before following to Aizawa's awaiting vehicle. He leaned against the car, kicked off a foot, and got into the driver's seat. We got into the backseat of the car.

"I hope it was productive," Aizawa said as he drove.

Katsuki grunted, pulling out his phone. I noticed the tops of his cheeks flush as he turned the screen toward me. It was a photo of Katsuki and me on the swing in his backyard, looking at each other and smiling. "Damn, hag." I felt heat rise on my cheeks. Mitsuki had been spying on us. The photo was minimized as a new message came in.

Old Hag: Remember to use protection. I'm too young for grandchildren!

Katsuki looked at his screen, immediately locking his phone. He flushed, his ears darkening. He rolled down the window and screamed, "stop spying on us, you old hag!"

"Keep your head in the vehicle if you want to keep it," Aizawa glared at him in the rearview mirror.

[B&M]

"Stay," Katsuki yawned, pulling me closer into his chest. His blanket hugged us both.

I sighed, letting myself relax beside him. "I'll stay for a bit longer. Mina and Momo are popping by my room in the morning to help with photos." It would lead to more questions if they found my room empty. He let out a muffled groan, his leg hooking over mine. Was he trying to make it hard to leave? He was so warm, too. I relented and listened to his breathing until it slowed. Once he was asleep, I reluctantly unhooked myself from Katsuki. I covered him with his blanket. He moved his pillow in his sleep, so he was hugging it instead. I felt an ache in my chest. I backed out of his dorm, quietly closing the door behind me. I let out a breath before turning down the hall.

"Makoto?" Mina stood, her hand on Kirishima's doorknob. She had a bruise on her chest. I froze. She and Kirishima were dating. She was slinking out of his bedroom in the middle of the night. We were doing the same thing. Her face lit up after a long moment of processing. "Wait. Are you and Bakugo…dating?" She whispered; a large smile spread across her face.

I clasped my hands together, hiding my face as much as possible. She saw me leave his bedroom – there was no misunderstanding. "Please don't tell anyone."

She grabbed my hands in hers, smiling. "So, you're why Bakugo's not as big of a meanie as he usually is. Why didn't you tell me sooner? We could have gone out on cute double dates together." She puffed out her cheeks, pouting. We both jumped as Shoji's bedroom door opened.

He yawned with a hand over his mouth, "It's late – if you're not staying with your boyfriends, can you please be quiet on your way back to your rooms?" Mina and I both bowed, apologizing.