"We're almost there," Katsuki muttered, his jaw tense as they continued down the street, walking beside the tree-lined stone walls. "My house is down this block."

"Katsuki, I think you need to chill out a bit," Kuri chuckled, gently patting his shoulder blade. The gift bag in her hand bumped against his back, the container for the roll cake inside poking him unpleasantly.

Katsuki made a sound of discomfort, prompting Kuri to apologize and switch the bag to her other hand.

"What do you mean?" Katsuki asked. "Am I not chill?"

Kuri shot him a disbelieving look and rolled her eyes.

"For the entire trip here, you've been acting like it'll spark the apocalypse if I meet your parents," Kuri said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"That's not it," Katsuki mumbled, embarrassed that his stress was obvious. "It's just weird because I've never done this before, and I have a feeling my mom's gonna do something weird."

"Like what?"

Katsuki glanced away, noting the entrance to his house was only a couple meters from them.

"Trick you into modeling some new design they're working on?" Katsuki shrugged. "They're in fashion, remember?"

"Of course, I remember! Why did you think I tried to dress cute today?" Kuri did a little spin to show off her lavender sundress and cream-colored cardigan.

Katsuki smiled at his adorable girlfriend, then guided her by the hand to round the corner to the path to his front door. He gazed up at his house in all its glory. The afternoon light bathed the sand-colored bricks in a warm, welcoming glow and Kuri said his house looked pretty.

Maybe dinner wouldn't be so bad after all. Kuri was easygoing and likable, so she'd navigate any situation with grace and charisma. It was just Katsuki who needed to get his shit together and be indifferent to his parents' teasing.

Katsuki took a deep breath as they stepped up to the door, and he went to ring the doorbell. Before he clicked the button, Katsuki's hand hesitated. He peeked at Kuri, who glanced back at him.

"You ready?" Kuri asked, smiling like her answer to that question was yes. She rocked their still clasped hands back and forth.

"No," Katsuki admitted, squeezing her hand. "But I want to be."

He rang the doorbell, hearing it echo inside his house from beyond the locked door. Not a moment passed before he heard a muffled but unmistakably excited shout from inside.

"They're here!"

Katsuki and Kuri eyed each other as the pitter-patter of footsteps approached the door, and it opened with a flourish, revealing his parents one step away. Katsuki's throat tightened. It had been a while since he'd seen them.

"Hi, Katsuki, Kuri, welcome!" his dad beamed, gesturing for them to come in. Katsuki's mom stood next to the doorframe, sporting as big a grin as his dad's.

Kuri nodded politely and stepped into the house, slipping her shoes off almost immediately. Katsuki hesitantly followed, suddenly feeling like a stranger in his own home due to his time away and Kuri's presence. Nothing felt normal, especially not his parents' cheery smiles.

Katsuki quickly slipped off his shoes and looked at his parents as he rattled off an obligatory introduction.

"This is Kuri Nakano," he said, almost robotically gesturing to his girlfriend before turning to address her. "Kuri, this is Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo, my mom and dad."

His parents and Kuri greeted each other kindly.

"Here's a gift from us," Kuri said, offering the bag she was holding. Katsuki's dad received it and peeked inside.

"Ooh, a roll cake!" his dad exclaimed with a childlike grin. "These are my favorite."

"Oh, Kuri, you're so thoughtful. Thank you for the gift!" his mom said.

"Well, it was Katsuki who suggested the cake," Kuri said, glancing at him with a smile. Katsuki's parents turned their heads to regard him, as well, a twinge of surprise present on their faces. However, his mom quickly buried her shock and replaced it with a genuine smile.

"Thank you for bringing Kuri over, Katsuki. Why don't you show her around the house for a few minutes until dinner is ready?"

Katsuki's mom stepped to the side, creating a clear path for him and Kuri to venture farther than the entryway.

"Sure," Katsuki muttered, shooting Kuri a glance before heading forward. His girlfriend followed quickly behind him, squeezing out another "thanks" before leaving his parents, who took their cue to finish preparing dinner.

Katsuki wasn't sure what to make of that whole interaction. His parents were acting uncharacteristically cordial. Where were the arguments with his mom that his dad would need to defuse? Maybe they were only acting properly because Kuri was here to watch.

Katsuki led her to their spotless living room, half-heartedly showing Kuri the space that was his mom's pride and joy in terms of interior design. Kuri whispered something about his house looking very big and fancy, evoking a chuckle from Katsuki.

Next, Katsuki let Kuri glance at the kitchen and dining area, where his dad was cooking and his mom was tidying up. He made sure not to linger long enough for his parents to notice them and spark a conversation. Katsuki knew he couldn't escape the talking during their meal, but he could prevent parent-to-Kuri interactions until then.

After exploring the first floor, Katsuki took Kuri to the stairwell. As he ascended the steps, debating whether or not he should show her his room, he heard Kuri's footsteps suddenly halt.

"Aw, is this all for you?"

Katsuki turned his head to look at what she was talking about, and his stomach sank.

There, right in plain view, was the baby photo wall—the borderline shrine his parents had constructed on the wall next to the stairs.

"Yeah…" Katsuki said, his face reddening as his eyes flew over the various pictures of him as a child. There was baby Katsuki at the park, going to the zoo, playing outside, going to preschool, and… in the bathtub. Katsuki's entire existence cringed. "I forgot about this thing."

Kuri studied each photo carefully, and Katsuki wished he could pull her away and tell her to forget about the pictures, but he knew she wouldn't budge.

"You were a cute kid," Kuri finally said with a soft smile. Katsuki eased a bit at the sight of her expression. She seemed to have no intention of teasing him this time.

"That's what everyone thought before I started talking," Katsuki said, making Kuri laugh.

"So you're combative by nature?"

"Pretty much."

"Hm, I think I was the opposite," Kuri said, leaning the small of her back against the railing as she contemplated the wall. "When I was little, I was apparently very friendly and sweet. I was the golden child to both my parents and teachers."

Kuri chuckled wryly. Her eyes fell to the floor, and her mind seemed to travel elsewhere. Katsuki could only assume she was thinking about those "golden child" expectations her parents held for her. He knew his girlfriend struggled under their pressure in a way he couldn't fathom nor truly assist, but every day he hoped that she'd get the strength to oppose them. Kuri didn't need to conform to her parent's desires, and he wished she would fight for that truth.

The air was thick in the silence, and Katsuki wasn't sure how to improve the mood, so he blurted out the first child-related sentence he thought of.

"Would you ever want kids?" he asked, immediately regretting his question as it left his mouth. Kuri looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and a tilted head. Her cheeks tinged pink.

What an awkward thing to ask his girlfriend… Although, he was a tad interested in her answer, so maybe it wasn't worth it to backtrack and change the subject.

"I'm not sure," Kuri shrugged awkwardly, regarding the wall again. "They're a lot of work, and I don't really wanna pop a person out of me. Though, I might adopt."

Katsuki appreciated her input and was glad they shared similar opinions. Not that he really harbored strong feelings on the topic of children.

"Yeah, kids are difficult, especially if they're little shits like I was," Katsuki muttered. A funny thought occurred to him, and he chuckled.

"What is it?"

"We're the reason Japan's birth rate is declining," Katsuki smirked.

"Well, I'm American, so it's not my problem," Kuri giggled before stopping short in her laughter and adopting a sullen look. Katsuki didn't understand what had depressed her until the meaning of her words sunk in.

Kuri was American; she wouldn't stay in Japan forever. Cold, bitter reality always found a way into their conversations.

Katsuki swallowed his rising heartache and stepped down to be closer to Kuri. He reached out to hold her hand.

"Have you talked to your parents yet—"

A head of spiky brown hair suddenly appeared next to the banister—Katsuki's dad. Katsuki raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Kuri turned her head to look at who was behind her. His dad glanced at their clasped hands, and both Katsuki and Kuri yanked their arms away.

"Sorry to interrupt you two," his dad said sheepishly. "Dinner is ready."

Katsuki gulped and shared a glance with Kuri. A playful smile tugged at the corner of her lips as if she were questioning his willingness to step into battle. He suppressed a sigh and walked down the stairs, Kuri beside him as they followed his father into the dinner of a lifetime…

Or so he thought.

Contrary to every assumption Katsuki had, the first meeting between his girlfriend and parents was surprisingly civil. Katsuki had expected something more akin to the call with Kuri's parents, where he'd have to use each breath to defend his girlfriend from his parent's lofty expectations, and they'd leave dinner early with a slam of the front door.

None of that crazy shit happened, and Kuri got along quite well with his parents. They chatted happily about school and work while Katsuki silently ate. He hadn't spoken as much as two words since they started eating, and a shouting match hadn't occurred yet, so Katsuki felt he should stick with what was working.

"How did you two get to be friends?" his mom asked Kuri. "Katsuki hasn't told us anything about you, so we wanna know the story!"

Katsuki's mom seemed too eager to ignore her son on his birthday in favor of a much sweeter child. To be fair, Katsuki would also rather talk to Kuri than himself, but he was right there to answer the question! Whatever. Thoughts like that would start an argument, so Katsuki kept eating and gave Kuri the floor.

"Ah, well, it's a long story…" Kuri said, seeming hesitant to go in-depth on the topic. Katsuki knew Kuri was prone to rant about things she was passionate about, so offering her a chance to talk about Katsuki could lead to an extended monologue. He wasn't just saying this because he was full of himself—Mina once made the mistake of (jokingly) asking Kuri to list her favorite things about Katsuki, and she actually tried to do it. Her speech lasted over fifteen minutes, and Kuri seemed like she would keep going, but Katsuki's classmates successfully cut her off before he could die from an affection overload and before they could die of secondhand embarrassment.

"We have time," his dad said with an innocent shrug. Those three little words put a smile on Kuri's face, as she now had permission to go on a tangent, and she sprung into a rehash of the last year and a half.

Kuri began with her arrival at UA and their rough first meeting. She called him annoying, then he tried to fight her, yadda yadda, they didn't get along at first, but Katsuki eventually warmed up to her, and they became friends. They ended up at Endeavor Agency together after the sports festival and underwent a hectic months-long investigation on vigilantes. Kuri told how amid that mess, they went through some drama where Katsuki asked Kuri if she liked him, and she confirmed her feelings. Then things got awkward due to a lack of communication.

At that point in her retelling, Katsuki felt Kuri was revealing too much information, but the words were already out of her mouth. He continued eating and avoiding his parents' looks as Kuri continued.

"Then the vigilante investigation ended when we found them again and fought them for a couple hours," Kuri said. "That day was crazy for a lot of reasons, and one of them was because, while we were in the dreamscape, Katsuki and I ki—"

"Ah, wait—!" Katsuki blurted. All eyes turned on him, and his face reddened. He hadn't meant to speak, but it felt too embarrassing to listen to her go on.

Kuri raised an eyebrow at Katsuki's unintentional proclamation but shrugged and didn't continue her sentence.

"Never mind, it's a secret. Anyway, after the fight was over, we went to the hospital because I got stabbed. Fun day."

Katsuki's parents made faces of concern, understandably, and shared a look.

"We went to see Katsuki that day at the hospital!" his mom recalled. "We didn't know you were there too."

His mom shot Katsuki an accusatory glance, silently scolding him for never telling them anything. Katsuki ignored her, wondering why she would expect him to mention Kuri before they had even started dating.

Kuri chuckled and said it was probably because Katsuki felt awkward after the redacted event and that they didn't interact much for the weeks following that day. Things all came to a head on Kuri's birthday, but Katsuki resolved their feud with a sweet apology letter that inadvertently let Kuri know he liked her too.

Katsuki dug his nails into the palms of his curled fists, hoping the pain would abate the blush that wouldn't leave his cheeks. Seriously, she didn't need to tell them everything! Luckily, his parents were eating it up and not questioning him, so at least they spared Katsuki the ordeal of stumbling through his side of the story.

"Then, during the school festival, we performed a play, and Katsuki went off script and confessed onstage," Kuri giggled.

"He did WHAT?!" Katsuki's mom nearly screamed. His dad made a face of utter shock. "Damn it! Honey, why'd we have to miss that? I knew we should've left that stupid fashion show!"

Katsuki's dad regarded his wife carefully, sharing her disappointment but needing to rationalize with her.

"But, we were the designers. We couldn't just leave," his dad said. He turned back to look at Katsuki and Kuri. "Did anyone record the play?"

"I think I could find someone who did," Kuri said, tapping her chin as she thought.

"Kuri!" Katsuki interjected, looking at his girlfriend in disbelief. His volume surprised him, and apparently, everyone else as well, since Kuri and his parents swiveled their heads toward him, startled. He lowered his voice before directing a question at Kuri. "Why are you letting them see it?"

"For fun…?" she mused, a sly grin pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Katsuki, lighten up," his mom said. "We need to make up for the fact that we missed it. Anyway, Kuri, you've told us so much about your relationship that we haven't heard much about just you."

"Oh, I guess I haven't really introduced myself," Kuri laughed sheepishly. "Well, there's not much to say. I'm Kuri Nakano, sixteen years old and Katsuki's classmate. My parents are pro heroes, and I'm originally from San Francisco, California."

"What brought you all the way out here for school?" Katsuki's dad asked.

"My dad's from Hokkaido, and he's a big All Might fan, so when I got an offer to come here, he didn't let me say no," Kuri said, earning laughs from Katsuki's parents. He knew she wasn't joking, though; Kuri really didn't have a choice.

"Is school much different here than in the United States?"

"Only a little," Kuri shrugged. "The practical hero training we do is similar, but the actual classes are different, so it was hard to catch up at first. My grades still aren't that good."

Kuri laughed self-consciously, and Katsuki couldn't believe his ears.

"She's exaggerating," Katsuki scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Kuri is super smart, just not number one anymore like she was back home."

"What are you talking about? All I'm good at is English because it's my native language."

"You're also doing better in math and literature than most people in class," Katsuki countered. "Even me…"

"Since when were you so complimentary?" his mom smiled, raising an eyebrow. "I wish you'd be this nice to me and your dad."

"Oh my, Katsuki, have you been mean to your family?" Kuri asked with a coquettish smile.

"That's not…! I mean—" Katsuki struggled to form a comeback.

He knew his girlfriend's question was rhetorical, but he still didn't want her to think badly of him. Katsuki complained to her about his mom before, but he hadn't mentioned their crazy fights yet. After all, he hadn't been the best son, and that wasn't something he wanted to brag about.

"He wasn't at all like this before," his mom giggled. "Though I'll admit Katsuki gets his grouchy genes from me, you should've seen how he spoke to me the last time he was here to visit!"

"Why're you trying to make me look bad?" Katsuki frowned.

"Katsuki, it's alright. I've already seen your worst sides," Kuri patted his shoulder, grinning as she delivered her cheeky joke. She turned to face his mom. "You should've seen how he talked to me when we first met."

His mom and girlfriend cackled in unison, and Katsuki sunk into his seat as the two continued chatting. He couldn't wait for the dinner to come to a close, but a sliver of his heart was still glad Kuri got along well with his family.

After several minutes of everyone else having an enjoyable conversation, his mom seemed ready to wrap things up. Katsuki stopped slouching in his seat, ready for the signal that they could go home. It was already eight, somehow, so he was eager to depart. However, his mom's next words would catch him off guard.

"Kuri, it's getting late, so why don't you two stay the night?" his mom asked. "Masaru and I wouldn't mind."

Katsuki's eyes widened at the suggestion. There was no way in hell they would sleep over.

"No, we're good," Katsuki answered quickly. "The trains are still running so we can get back."

He eyed his mom suspiciously, wondering what her goal was in proposing that they not return to UA just yet.

"It's too much trouble to travel at night—" she continued.

"It really isn't."

His dad gave him a look for interrupting his mom.

"We'll just drive you back tomorrow."

"As much as I'd like to stay over, I don't have any toiletries," Kuri said. "Or a change of clothes, for that matter."

Katsuki winced, knowing immediately that Kuri had said the wrong thing. To his dismay, Katsuki's mom laughed at her excuse.

"Oh, honey, we work in fashion! There are a lot of spare clothes around our house. Don't worry, we'll find you something to wear. Toiletries shouldn't be a problem either."

"Stop it, Ma. Leave her alone," Katsuki said through gritted teeth. He turned to address Kuri in a softer tone. "She's trying to make you model something."

"I don't mind," Kuri shrugged.

"Sounds like it's settled then," his dad said, wrapping up his meal. "I'll set up a place for you to sleep while you look for an outfit."

"Wait, what the hell?!" Katsuki exclaimed. His mom rose from the table, ready to go on a clothing hunt, and Katsuki groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sure this'll be fun," Kuri grinned. Her gaze flitted to Katsuki's mom, beckoning her away to rummage through storage. She stood and gave Katsuki a little wave goodbye, but he jumped up and grabbed her hand before she could turn away.

"If she tries to put you in something weird, turn it down," Katsuki said. If Kuri insisted on humoring his mom, he would at least impart his advice to her.

Kuri chuckled, and Katsuki let go of her hand.

"No promises," Kuri said, and with another grin and a wink, his girlfriend was gone.

Katsuki was wrong. Kuri wasn't just humoring his mom; she was doing this for her own enjoyment. He sighed and sat down again. Not only had he been born into a teasing family, but he also found himself a teasing girlfriend.

Katsuki placed his elbows on the table and rested his forehead atop his folded hands in hopes of warding off an oncoming headache.

He heard his dad scoot out of his seat and circle the table to be by Katsuki's side. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You've found yourself a wonderful partner," his dad said. "Looks like your mother and Kuri get along well."

"I figured they would," Katsuki sighed. "They both care about me."

"Your girlfriend seems to have made quite an impact on you," his dad chuckled. "After seeing that picture from yesterday, I could tell you were a lot happier than before."

Katsuki's gut reaction was confusion.

Dad, what the hell do you know about my mental state?

Then it hit him: his dad didn't know anything. Katsuki hadn't opened up to his family in… ever, so it was no shocker they were making conjectures based on a picture that he didn't even send them.

Now that Katsuki was here, his dad standing behind him with a comforting hand on his back, he felt a pang of guilt. Ever since he escaped to the dorms, he didn't bother to share his life with his parents, because they'd been too involved for ages. His main desire was to break free from their supervision, but he'd gone overboard and completely shut them out. No wonder they were so prying, considering he refused to let them know the most innocuous things.

Katsuki was eighteen, a legal adult, yet he still dodged his mom's questions and gave his dad the cold shoulder like he did when he was little. Perhaps, it was time to grow up and let his parents back into his life. Or, at the very least, he could give his dad a glimpse of his heart.

"Yeah, I am happier with her," Katsuki said. He chewed on his words before he got over the embarrassment of saying them to his dad. "She's the love of my life."