With irritation in his voice, the masked man asked, "Any progress?"

The other man was crouched down, fiddling with the door knob, and answered, "I told you this lock was complicated. It takes time. Especially if we don't want to trigger the alarm." His long, elongated finger made small but precise movements through the keyhole.

The lookout just grunted and cracked his knuckles as he started to pace back and forth.

Far in the distance on a rooftop, a heroine looked at the pair in the alleyway through her binoculars.

Her partner was leaning against the door leading to the roof and yawned before saying, "Man, they are slow. I'm surprised they don't just break down the door."

"Then the alarm would sound. Besides, we want them to think all is well before we jump them."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm glad the tip-off came through this time. If not, I would give our informant a piece of my mind."

Ochako sighed. "You know how delicate an inside job can be for the mole. We should be thankful they got this information and are safe."

Katsuki rubbed the back of his neck. The winter air was still making his joints stiff at times, and his neck was giving him trouble. His girlfriend had often joked that it was due to him becoming an old man; it would certainly explain why he was always so cranky. He recalled a conversation they had last week while on patrol.

Bakugo proclaimed, "Almost twenty-three isn't old, dammit! You just turned twenty-two yourself! Are you suggesting you're turning into an old hag?!"

"Oh, please. I'm going to age like fine wine. You, on the other hand? Like sake!"

"Hey, koshu (aged sake) is still good. And even if it's not that kind of sake, you can still cook with it. It has its uses."

Uraraka gave a playful jab to her boyfriend's shoulder. "Well, I guess you are the exception. You and koshu are quite yellow. You both also become more sweet as time passes."

Katsuki gave a soft chuckle at the memory. He didn't expect to be caught off guard with that last statement. Ochako surprised him at times, even the tiny things.

The woman put down her binoculars and stated, "It looks like whoever is breaking into the door fits the description of the primate mutant we were told about. I don't know about his lookout, though. He's pretty covered up."

"Oh right, the hai-hai."

"It's aye-aye. You know, the one with the weird fingers?"

Bakugo took a few steps forward and placed a foot on the roof's edge. "I don't care if he's a damn silverback gorilla; he doesn't stand a chance against me!"

"Leave me a piece of that pie! I've had enough paperwork lately. I need a little action tonight."

Katsuki had ideas on fixing that, but he knew she didn't mean it that way. He shrugged, "Well, your little pet project requires a lot of that pencil pusher stuff."

After a sigh, Ochako stated, "I knew it would require a lot, just not this much."

"Well, you're reaching out to these kids who need the help so they don't become like Toga-san. So it's worth it, right?" He reached out a hand and placed it on the woman's shoulders.

A halfhearted "Yeah" came from Uraraka.

Still a sensitive subject, Bakugo mused to himself. He offered to help with her program once he learned about it, but she insisted he focus on their agency for now. Their team was barely a year old at this point, anyhow. It was his twenty-first-year birthday present offer, which she happily accepted. Three years of being sidekicks to Best Jeanist and Ryukyu, respectively, had paid their dues, and he felt they were both ready to embark on their own. As a duoship.

Katsuki recalled how they spent a week solely filling out the second blank on the official form to start their partnership, the team name. His first suggestion was Ultra Hypersonic Cosmic Afterglow, which was immediately rejected by both Ochako and their sponsor. She wanted stuff involving their names, like Dynavity and KatOclysm, which he rejected aggressively. Their sponsor suggested making it simple, so they went through a few ideas like Team Rocket, Big Bang, and Supercluster. Eventually, they landed on Supernova, which Uraraka was a big fan of.

Katsuki looked down at Ochako and pondered how to cheer her up. They had both been busy lately trying to balance work and the holidays. Keeping up with family and friends always requires more time and energy. Still, though, he was drawing blanks about what they could do.

The heroine stood up suddenly. "They're in!"

"Alright, now the fun begins!"

Uraraka quickly put her binoculars in her backpack before applying weightlessness to herself and her partner and then jumped on his back. With bursts of explosion, he launched himself forward towards the alleyway. Within moments, they were there.

As Ochako jumped off, Katsuki asked, "So you want to chase their get-away or throw down?"

"Having a plan for once? How unlike you."

Bakugo shrugged. "You said you wanted some action, so I am giving you a choice."

Uraraka flexed her arms. "I could use a nice brawl."

"Heh, good. Give them hell."

Suddenly, an unmarked van appeared around the corner. Its side door opened just as the pair emerged from the back door. Their arms were full of electronic goods: smart watches, phones, laptops, and desktops. The lookout was carrying most of it. His arms were now quite large and had ripped through his jacket sleeves, revealing a sheen of reflective silver.

They let the thugs get a few rounds of electronics into the van until Ochako stated, "Showtime!" She leaped down and landed meters behind the robber pair. She pointed her wrist guards at both, launching a grappling hook at each. The smaller of the two fumbled to pull out a knife but was grabbed by the leg. The other dodged to the left. Then, the former was dragged towards the heroine, dropping his weapon. She proceeded to touch him in the chest with her free left hand, sending him floating upwards.

As the primate mutant shouted in terror, his partner shouted, "Go with the goods! I'll handle this, and we'll catch up later!" The man stood up with his arms, which increased in bulk even more.

The van then accelerated away, with Katsuki in hot pursuit. He then spoke into his communicator, "Have fun with the big guy." All he heard was Uravity's laughter in the mic. What was that about, he wondered as he flew through the night sky. It was the kind of laugh she would make when he made a fool out of himself. Well, Bakugo figured he would find out soon enough. He had a task to focus on at the moment.

Recently, there has been a spree of electronic robberies. The local heroes had no leads; even if they captured the culprits, it kept happening with different thieves. So, they figured it must be an organization instead of a small group. A man on the police force was able to dig his way into said group but not far enough to know their center of operations, just when and where the robberies would take place.

Supernova had been asked to jump a planned heist and follow them back to their hideout. A tracker had been placed on them both so the police could assist once found. To do this, Katsuki had to hold himself back. It would have been easy to catch up to such a slow vehicle. But they wouldn't lead him back to the prize if they knew a hero was in hot pursuit. It created a little game he somewhat enjoyed. He kept far enough back to not be noticed, but since he was so far behind, he almost lost them as they turned onto new streets. The risk made it fun.

Bakugo used the downtime between blasts to think again about what to cheer up his girlfriend with. His usual go-to was to do something big and extravagant. Sure, it worked initially, but he soon learned she liked more down-to-earth stuff. He had gotten advice from Midoriya some time ago to keep things simple, but simple was hard for him. Katsuki attributed it to her upbringing; it wasn't something he disliked, but it made it difficult to see from her point of view. Ochako was from Mie's backwater. He was from the streets of Shizuoka. She was the child of construction workers; his parents were fashion designers. She penny-pinched everything; he spent money like it was an endless supply. He mainly was funding their agency, plus his side project with his friend Izuku. She poured it into her parents and her quirk therapy program.

After a few kilometers passed, they arrived at a warehouse. A large garage door slid to the side, letting the van in. Bakugo checked for security cameras and noticed them only in the front entrance near the main road. He kept his distance and looped around a few buildings to get to the building's backside. The hero approached a large window near the roof to take a gander inside. The van was already open and currently being emptied. Up on the rafters stood a man with long white hair, pacing back and forth as he barked commands to those below.

"There's the ringleader for this building," Katsuki stated with a grin. It matched the info they had been given. He reached for his communicator and switched channels before saying, "I'm at their base. They are armed, but I'll have their main threat taken care of by the time you get here. They'll also be distracted, so use that to your advantage."

A gruff voice answered in his earpiece, "We'll be right over. Over and out."

The hero positioned himself and waited for the ringleader to walk just under a window panel on the roof. He then blasted forward through the glass, shattering it with one hand and launching forward with the other. The white-haired man was quick to blow a stream of ice from his mouth at the explosion, but Bakugo effortlessly dodged with a blast to his side and another to continue his approach. He caught the man with his right hand and used the other to go upward. With a kick, he broke the roof window and landed on the roof in style.

"H-How!? Why can't I produce any ice!?" The thug struggled to blow anything from his mouth, but all that came were small puffs of steam.

Katsuki held up the man by the neck as he explained, "Your throat can't take the heat. I love making huge ass explosions, but I can also make them pretty small as well. Small enough that they produce heat without damaging their target."

The ringleader looked down and noticed the glow emitting from his neck.

Bakugo slowly started to walk towards the roof edge, ignoring the thug's curses and the ruckus below them, the goons tried to reach their boss. Bakugo again thought about Uraraka.

Thinking back to the recent holidays. The two really didn't do much together. Trying to appease everyone else's attention. Sure, they were in the same building together during these holidays, but they were not spending actual time with one another. Work wasn't the place for such quality alone time either. Valentine's was too far away, and besides that was the time the girl had to work to show affection. He wanted to do it all, so White Day, which was even further away.

Then, a thought came. Wait, there was something much sooner they could enjoy.

Holding the white-haired man over the edge, Katsuki asked, "I'll make a deal with you. Answer my question, and I won't drop you."

A whimper came from the man's lips, but eventually, he nodded slowly.

"How do you treat a nice lady to a good time on the Lunar New Year?"

Silence followed, and shock was on the man's face at the absurdity of the question.

Bakugo groaned and loosened his group somewhat.

"OKAY, OKAY, I GET IT!" The ring leader took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Y-You take her to see the fireworks, or u-uh, visit a nice shrine like the one in Nagasaki."

The first was too on the nose for him, and the other was way too far to travel. Katsuki jostled the man and yelled, "Anything else?!"

"You, w-well, could take her to Chinatown in Yokohama or maybe just cook her a nice traditional Lunar New Year meal?"

The hero raised his free hand to cup his chin and considered the ideas. Yokohama was a lot closer, but he felt such a place would be overcrowded during this time of the year. Again, being alone would be an issue with such festivities. However, the last option did intrigue him.

Katsuki pondered; I haven't cooked for her before. After a nod, he stated, "That should do." He then brought the thug close and proceeded to knock the wind out of him with a punch to the stomach. The hero heard the goons and turned to see them try to get a ladder onto the broken window opening. He noticed at his angle that he could see the garage door entrance and, even further, the lights of police vehicles descending onto the warehouse.

Again, Bakugo turned on his communicator, "I'm about to make the distraction." With a tap of a mechanism on his shoulder, several retractable turrets extended from the back of his hero costume and proceeded to mount on his shoulders. He waited until he saw movement, and with the flick of his wrist, a few shots were fired. They whizzed past the man who had just popped his head out, gun in hand. As he fell onto his comrades as the ladder toppled, the garage door blew open from the explosive fire.

"I'm done here. The main target is unconscious and on the roof. Good luck with anything you find here to your case detective."

"Thanks again, Dynamight. Your partner should be on their way."

"Appreciate the update."

Katsuki proceeded to propel himself to the nearby building's roof. He sat on the edge and watched the police sweep the warehouse. Now, with time to spare once more, he could tackle the problem of figuring out what to cook. The man did not doubt his culinary skills; it was more the problem of what even was a traditional Lunar New Year meal. He knew of a few Chinese dishes but wasn't sure they had anything to do with the holiday. This may have been a question to ask Sato or even Rin. Bakugo wasn't well acquainted with the latter but asking wouldn't hurt. He was flying blind here.

There was also the problem of his tastes versus hers. Katsuki loved spicy dishes, but Ochako much preferred sweets. His girlfriend or her mother usually got around this by making two versions of anything they cooked. Or they just ate out someplace and chose their preferences. He wasn't too keen on making an entirely sweet meal; it wasn't exactly his forte to cook. Perhaps a balance? But that would entirely depend on what the others told him. So, for now, he needed to wait on that decision.

Suddenly, a grapple hook landed a few meters to Bakugo's left.

"There you are!" Uraraka reeled herself in and stood over her boyfriend. "Too boring to help out the cops?"

"I got their leader. The rest are a bunch of nobodies with guns, which most dropped after I made a distraction. They can handle that without my help." Dynamight then looked at the woman and raised an eyebrow. "What was with that laughter I heard from you as I left earlier?"

Uravity giggled. "Oh, that?" She sat beside her partner and explained, "It was about that guy with the massive arms I fought. His arms kept getting bigger and bigger to the point that he stood on them, letting his legs dangle below him." She then pulled out her phone to show him a picture.

"He looks like a reverse T-rex."

This sent Ochako into a howl of laughter. "I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THAT!"

Sometimes, Katsuki wondered if his girlfriend was part hyena, considering how much she laughed. Once she had calmed down, he asked, "So, you made quick work of him?"

"Nothing a little grappling moves that Gunhead taught me couldn't handle. That thug was pretty top-heavy, so easy to topple. His aye-aye partner just clung to the rain gutter to not float away while I fought the big lug. I cuffed them both before letting the police handle the rest."

"Sounds like you enjoyed yourself."

Uraraka shrugged. "Eh. Sparring with you is more challenging and fun, but it was enjoyable enough."

"For sure, but I've been thinking." Bakugo then cleared his throat. "Do you want to do something for the Lunar New Year?"

A spark lit in the woman's eyes. "Oh?! That's in, like, what, two weeks? What do you have in mind?"

"Just a dinner. Nothing too fancy."

"Well, you know my folks are always in town, or are we doing it with yours?"

Katsuki waved a hand. "Neither. Just the two of us."

"Hmmm, that should be enough time for me to figure out what to do."

"And I'll cook for once."

The heroine tilted her head to the side. "What's the catch?"

"Pfft. Nothing. I want you to be the one to relax for once and for us to have some quality alone time. Outside of work for once."

After a chuckle, Ochako stated, "So a long form of foreplay before some 'quality alone time," eh?"

The hero groaned. "Get your head out of the gutter. Just spending a holiday together without the stress of others around. We do plenty of that type of 'quality time' anyhow." He then stood up and offered a hand. "So, will you let me cook you the best damn meal in your life?"

The statement got a deep blush to creep onto Uraraka's face. Bakugo always found it weird, minus the first few times, his girlfriend wasn't bothered by sexual activity. But talking about feelings? Being upfront with one another? She crumbled like she was doing now.

Ochako took the hand and gave it a good shake. "S-Sure, but you better mean it! I won't take anything but 110% from this dinner."

"You know it, Cheeks."


"What are you doing tonight to need the assistance of my sidekicks to patrol your area?"

Bakugo stirred the pot once more before looking down at his phone, which was on speaker, and answered, "I just needed some time off to spend with my partner, Hakamada-sensei. You didn't question it when I texted you a week ago."

His former boss and mentor, Best Jeanist, responded, "At the time, I thought it was because you had been asked for another special task for Tsukauchi-san. However, when I brought it up during a run-in with him last night, I learned that was not the case."

Katsuki checked the pot full of boiling noodles before responding. "She's overworked, and the holidays really didn't help with that, I think. That or the whole thing is just a depressing mess. Family and friends can be a pain sometimes, even if they mean well. So I am making this dinner for her and maybe talking about what's bothering her. It's the least I can do."

Tsunagu sighed in relief. "You really have grown into a reliable hero and gentleman."

"I don't know about that last part, but thanks regardless, sir."

With a hint of concern, the older pro hero asked, "Is Uraraka-san still not letting you assist with her program?"

"Not as of yet. I've been told to focus on our agency."

"I see."

Silence followed as Katsuki turned over the pan of lobster.

"I'm sorry that I cannot provide an answer to such a dilemma. However, I am sure she will do this for a good reason. Please don't beat yourself up because of it. We all have our roles and places of expertise. Perhaps she feels yours is best spent on the duoship you have built together. It is unique, after all." There was another pause. "Best of luck tonight regardless, and if you ever need any similar 'help,' just call."

"Will do," Bakugo said with as much sincerity as someone like himself could. The two said their goodbyes and the man turned back to his dishes. He appreciated that Best Jeanist still checked up on him, but he hoped not to call the hero again for such a favor. At least in this instance. Katsuki wanted to solve this tonight if he could. Or, at the very least, figure out a path to a solution.

In the next few minutes, Bakugo made the final touches on his two dishes before moving them to the dinner table and setting the table. Just as he finished washing his hands, a knock at the door came. He swiftly put on his fleece trench coat before answering it.

On the other side stood a well-dressed Ochako with a surprised look on her face. She wore a red faux fur wool trench dress coat, black stockings, and cream-colored heeled ankle boots. Katsuki figured she was surprised to see what he was wearing: the light grey coat from before, a red turtleneck, and dark grey slack pants. It was a bit too formal for his taste, especially in his own home, but tonight was special. It seemed his girlfriend thought the same.

"You timed your arrival perfectly. I just finished setting up everything," Bakugo stated with a grin as he offered a hand. Uraraka took it before being pulled in for a quick peck to her forehead.

After a soft chuckle, Ochako said, "You're dressed like we're going out somewhere nice."

"What? My place isn't nice?"

"It's very much a bachelor pad, but I guess it does have its own charm." The woman parted from her boyfriend, took off her shoes, set them next to the man's brown dress shoes, and headed to the dining table that overlooked the cityscape as he closed the door. Her gaze became wide with wonder as she saw all the food before her.

The black round table had two dishes on either side of it. The table had a red cloth on top that divided the table in two. On top of the cloth rested mandarins and some form of pink flowers with a few lit candles in small rounded metal holders painted in gold. Each side of that table had a dish with a large fish that had chopped scallions on top of it. The other was a bowl of noodles mixed with parts of a lobster and various vegetables strewn about. There was also a white glass for each of them, and the woman guessed it was some variety of white wine.

As Uraraka gawked at it all, Bakugo walked beside her and began to explain: "Our main dish tonight is pan-fried kurodai (black porgy/sunbeam) with a side bowl of lobster yi mein with green onions, snow peas, and bell peppers."

Ochako turned to her boyfriend with puppy-dog eyes and asked, "You didn't forget about dessert, did you?"

"It's in hiding," Katsuki stated. His eyes became stern. "But that's for later, not now. I want to keep it a surprise." He knew very well of her weakness to sweets. His last year at the school's cultural festival was when he first learned of this. It was the first one they attended as a couple, and he had never seen his partner so sick with nausea before besides testing the limits of her quirk.

In defeat, the woman said, "Alright, later then." She then sat at the head of the table, which didn't bother Bakugo; she was his guest tonight. She quickly picked up her chopsticks, but the host barked out before she could begin.

"Let me at least cut the fish for you!"

Uraraka just stuck out her tongue and had a silly expression.

As Katsuki began to break it into bite-sized pieces, he said, "I swear you were about to pick up the whole thing in one go."

"You know how excited I get with food."

"I'd understand if we were still kids, but act your age. It was cute back in school, but it's weird now."

Ochako just giggled.

Bakugo knew she only acted this way when they were alone and sometimes when Asui, Ashido, Ida, or Midoriya were around. From what he had observed, he felt Uraraka did this because she felt most comfortable around them. Once he finished, she was quick to take a bite. As he sat down, he noticed his girlfriend had stopped chewing.

Ochako slowly finished her first bite before stating, "A bit of kick to it."

"Just some shichi-mi tōgarashi (seven-flavor chili pepper), nothing too special," Katsuki said while cutting his fish.

Uraraka noticed a small bowl of green paste by his plate. "Is that why you have that yuzukoshō (fermented yuzu peel and green chili) for yourself there? To get it closer to your preferred heat level?"

As he dipped his first piece into said bowl, Bakugo nodded but ate it in silence. After a few moments of taking it all in, he felt satisfied enough. He had only taste-tested it without the extra spice to ensure it was well enough for her first.

Ochako didn't mind. She had acquired a taste for the spicier foods since they started eating together. It wasn't near his level, but it made going out easier for them both. She thanked him for the meal and then happily ate it either way. Between a bite, she stated, "I'm glad I skipped lunch to make room for all this fish. I couldn't eat one of these on my own if I did."

"I did the same thing. Though we're supposed to eat just one and save the other for tomorrow if we want to follow tradition, I couldn't be bothered."

"Tradition?"

Katsuki put his chopsticks to the side before explaining. "Yú means fish, a pun of a similar word that means surplus in Chinese. Serving fish during the Lunar New Year represents abundance, so you eat one the first night and another the next to show this."

"You sure did your research!" Ochako shouted with glee.

Bakugo shook his head. "Nah, just had a good source. Do you remember Rin-san from class B? I got all my help choosing dishes and their background information from him." He now owed Long Weizi a favor involving hero work, but Katsuki didn't mind. It was a fair enough trade in his eyes.

"Oh right, Rin-san moved here from China while still in primary school. I guess he would be a good person to ask." Ochako then eyed the bowl of noodles before asking, "So what's the story of this dish? I've only ever heard of lo mein, not yi mein."

"Both are terms in Cantonese Chinese, with lo mein meaning stirred noodles and yi mein as longevity noodles. Yi mein are uncut noodles that are chewy, spongy, and fragile compared to lo mein because of using lye water in the dough. It's meant to symbolize long life, so it's also eaten during the New Year and birthdays."

Ochako looked puzzled upon hearing this. "Are you sending me cryptic messages here with all these themes?"

Bakugo chuckled. "I'm not that crafty. Whatever they meant didn't affect my decisions; I just went with what sounded tasty. Anything else was just extra. I'll follow tradition until it's inconvenient. For example, if I wanted to be strict, I should have cooked everything yesterday. Using knives and fire on the first day of the new year is considered taboo. So many families go full vegetarian that day, which isn't our preference either."

"Yeah, it wouldn't have tasted as good if you had to reheat this." The woman looked at her yi mein and stated, "So, is lobster in these noodles normal?"

The man once more picked up his chopsticks. "You can do a bunch of stuff with it. I just went with lobster to provide a balance. The fish could be spicy to my liking. The noodles are a nice neutral and are just overall flavorful for us both, with the inclusion of lobster. And the dessert is to your tastes."

The two continued their meal. Just as Katsuki moved on to his bowl of noodles, Ochako asked. "Is there anything special about how you decorated the table?"

Bakugo pointed towards the center of the table with his free hand. "Oh, this? Well, mandarines are considered lucky in China because of their gold color, but you don't have to eat those if you don't want to. I plan to use them with mint another day to make lemonade."

"So the same goes for the gold candles?"

"Exactly."

"And the flowers?"

"Spring orchids, but their meaning ties into the dessert in a way, so I ask that we save that for later."

The mention of sweets again caught the woman's attention, but Katsuki ignored it and focused on his food. Once he took his first sip of wine, Ochako followed suit. Her reaction was priceless.

"Peaches!?"

With a smirk, Bakugo explained, "It's called Osmanthus wine, which is made from flowers of the sweet osmanthus. It's also used in dumplings, jam, cakes, soups, and soda." Just as he saw his girlfriend about to take another sip, he said, "Careful there, it's got a decently high amount of alcohol content." Uraraka had a high tolerance to alcohol, even more than him, despite his larger body size. He attributed it to the nature of her quirk, having to deal with nausea regularly. It was not something Katsuku would openly admit to. Either way, he wanted Ochako to enjoy it throughout the meal over chugging it as if it were water.

Thankfully, Uraraka complied with his request, and the two dug in once more. Their conversation at this point was light, and both enjoyed the meal to the fullest.

By the time Bakugo was finished, Ochako still had a good portion of yi mein left. His girlfriend's eyes lit up as he got up to put up his plate. He sighed and shook his head. "Just washing my dishes. We will have dessert after you finish." The woman pouted but said nothing more.

Bakugo turned to clean his plates and was happy to hear Uraraka had returned to her food instead of inquiring about something else. He needed time to think anyhow.

For the most part, their relationship didn't have too many hurdles yet. But it seemed like this would be one of them, and it scared Katsuki somewhat. He thought asking someone out would be one such hurdle, but Ochako had been the one to pop the question. He later learned this was mainly from Tsuyu and Mina's pushing for it. Not long into their second year at U.A., they had become actual friends rather than simply classmates who respected one another.

Bakugo attributed it to seeking to rekindle his friendship with Midoriya, especially since they would no longer be rivals due to the latter's waning quirk powers. He didn't want to ignore him just like before because of his impending quirkless status. Considering all the baggage, it was an awkward few months, but Uraraka and Ida helped. By association, the other two would get involved if Katsuki tried to get closer to Izuku, as they were his close friends. In Ochako's case, it evolved into a friendship, which, by the third term of their second year, had turned into a crush between them.

However, Bakugo never acted upon it and thought it was just one-sided. Considering what he had observed in his first year from a distance, he thought Uraraka had feelings for his friend instead. At this point, Midoirya's happiness mattered more to him, considering everything he had been through and sacrificed for everyone else's sake. At the time, he wrestled with whether he even wanted such a bond with another person. But to his shock, his earlier assumption was unfounded.

Izuku had already grown close to someone else, Mina Ashido. They started seeing one another shortly after moving into the dorms. Katsuki never asked for the minute details, but he figured it happened around the time they all prepared for their first cultural festival. He chuckled at the thought of 'private dance lessons' being the reason. It wasn't until much later that he thought both couples were examples of opposites attracting. However, he always figured Ashido and Midoriya's differences were much more pronounced than his and Ochako's.

Either way, Bakugo felt knowing how those two got together wasn't his business. It was a secret relationship, after all. It was not so hidden for Uraraka, as she already knew about it early on. It was during her confession to him that he found out. It came up as he tried to argue about her feelings for Midoriya. He wasn't prepared at all to be as wrong as he was. Unlike Mina and Izuku, however, they made sure to make their relationship public before the end of the year. The other couple became known to the rest of the class early in their third year.

Their first genuine hurdle, however, was when they both went pro. They had spent just over a year together as a couple, living under the same roof at the dorms. The separation during everyday life had been tough, but they got through it. It's why Bakugo had offered the duoship to Uraraka, so they could, at the very least, work together. He even offered to get an apartment for themselves, but she took residence in a small loft above their agency instead. At the time, he respected the decision. Living life together was a big step forward. Besides, she was still working hard to get her quirk therapy program off the ground.

But it then circled to this current predicament with Ochako's refusal to let Katsuki assist with the project and her growing stress with it. He let it slide at first because any talk of Toga was a sensitive subject for her, and it seemed like this was her solution to dealing with her trauma. From what he had seen, it looked like a fantastic program. Bakugo also felt guilty that Uraraka wasn't aware of his project to get Midoriya back into the hero world with a high-tech suit that had been in production for years. Sure, his classmates and even the U.A. staff were pitching in as well to fund it, but it wasn't something he felt his partner should concern herself with at the time. Nowadays, he feels different about keeping this secret from her.

Ochako stepped to his right side. "I think those are as clean as you can get, Katsuki."

This startled the man, but he composed himself and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I got lost in thought." He rinsed his dishes and set them on the drying rack before stepping aside. "Here you go."

"Thanks! I'll also get the pots and pans to thank you for making this. Then we can dig into the sweets afterward, okay?"

"Sure thing, Cheeks." Katsuki ruffled his girlfriend's hair a moment before heading over to the couch in front of the TV and laid back. He thought he could use this time to formulate how to tell her about his concerns, but he felt like he had done enough thinking by this point. Whatever happened would happen. Besides, he had the dessert as a backup plan if things didn't turn out well. Sweets tended to improve her mood; if all went well anyway, it was just another bonus in cheering her up. A win-win. Still, he was nervous and tried to use this quiet time to calm his nerves.

Bakugo got so lost in the comfort of his couch that he didn't notice Uraraka until she touched the scar on his right cheek. However, unlike before, he wasn't startled. "You done?"

"Yeah, all squeaky clean. Is everything alright with you, though? You've been quiet over here for some time."

Katsuki groaned internally. Ochako knew something was up. Her go-to thing when she was worried was to go for his scar. Well, at least we can get straight to it, he thought. "I'm not sure."

Uraraka leaned in and leered her eyes.

Bakugo gulped but stated confidently, "I made this dinner because I was concerned for you and wanted to cheer you up. It's just us two, not with the family and friends as distractions. I'm just worried if this won't be enough."

The woman brought herself back and leaned into the couch. "You're concerned that my quirk therapy is too much for me," she said.

"I wouldn't say that, I feel you can handle the physical workload because it's not affecting our regular work. Our duoship is doing damn good." Sure, they weren't number one yet, but being in the top ten at their age and considering they were a duoship was quite a feat. Katsuki was fine with that. He then put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "However, I am worried about what it's doing to your mental state. Even if you are not working directly with each kid, heroes have to report to you about their own assignments. It has its toll. Maybe if I shared that responsibility, I could share the burden with you if you'd let me. We already work together with this agency, why not with our side projects as well?"

"You know I don't want you to. You didn't make it a big deal before."

"I know, but this time I insist. Before, you seemed fine, but as of late, something feels off."

Ochako hung her head. "I don't want to force you to do something you'll hate doing."

"Even if it is a drag, I'd rather be inconvenienced than you having to do this alone. All the other pros can only help so much, but I am your partner, remember? Nothing the two of us can't handle together."

The woman sighed and turned to face her boyfriend, who pushed his hand aside. "Katsuki, it's not about you liking kids, it's about being able to get through to them. Letting them know their quirk is not a curse. That they have a place in this world and that we will support them. That's the whole point. Something you would struggle with."

Katsuki groaned softly. Well, she had a point there. Sure, I'm a bit obtuse in how I handle children, but it's not all that bad." He recalled getting through to the small children in his make-up provisional license exam many years ago.

"Your time as a sidekick with Best Jeanist already slipped your mind?"

Now, it was Bakugo's time to hang his head. He would rather not recall that. There were many instances while under his mentor that he had fumbled his handling of the younger generation, whether it was making them uncomfortable during work, dealing with scared kids during rescues, or taking part in charity or photo shoot events that involved them. "Look, that was some time ago. I've changed."

Uraraka crossed her arms. "I'm still the one handling any interaction with children nowadays, too. Avoiding incidents still doesn't mean you've improved with kids."

Now, Katsuki was struggling to think up a response. Being blindsided by this flaw never crossed his mind about why he had been refused help. It was just something he thought he would need to live with.

Ochako reached over and grabbed her boyfriend's right hand. "This problem of yours also concerns me about our future. And it's what's been bothering me as of late."

"Huh? What the hell does that mean?"

Uraraka didn't like that answer and puffed her cheeks, giving him a dagger's glare.

Bakugo tugged at his collarbone with his free hand and tried to brainstorm what she meant as quickly as he could. How could this problem affect our future? So, not work but like our relationship? It's not like they dealt with children outside of work. None of their friends have had kids yet. Maybe she meant kids in her extended family? Even amongst what family he had met of hers, there wasn't any… Katsuki paused. Family. As in us having a family. "AS IN US HAVING A KID?!"

"NOT RIGHT NOW BUT EVENTUALLY YEAH!"

The sudden outburst surprised them both. They both looked away in embarrassment but continued to hold hands in silence for a while.

Eventually, Katsuki gathered the courage to say, "Sorry, I didn't notice earlier."

Ochako sighed. "It's alright; you're not always that forward-thinking."

Bakugo turned towards the woman and now held both her hands with his own. "Ochako. You know I would treat our own child differently."

"Slightly better than the current you isn't enough."

Katsuki was quick to retort, "Well, if you want me to get better, then let's help with those quirk therapy kids. I'm not just gonna magically become a saint."

Ochako pulled her hands away and stated, "Children with potential issues are not the best place to start, especially for their sake." She then placed a hand on Katsuki's chest. "So you really want to improve?"

"Yes!"

"And you're okay with the idea of us having a child?"

"Uh, yeah."

"That didn't sound that confident."

Frustrated, Bakugo responded, "It's as you said before. I wasn't really thinking about such things that much. We just started our agency a year ago, you're busy with your project, and we're still young. It was just too early in my mind to consider anything." He cleared his throat before confidently saying, "But yeah, one day I want to have two kids with you."

"TWO?!" Uraraka flailed her arms at the boldness of it all.

"What are two not enough?!" The man thought two was a conservative estimate.

"TWO IS PLENTY!" It took a moment for the woman to calm down. "Here I was worrying about having a child at all, and you throw out having two kids."

Katsuki shrugged. "Well, we don't want them to be lonely, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't want to retire after having kids do you, right?"

"I want to be a hero as long as possible!"

Bakugo crossed his arms as he explained, "Well, that means our kids are gonna need a lot of daycare. And doing that alone sucks, trust me. I could handle it when I was young because my parents just worked that day, like any typical adult would. However, we work day and night, depending on the circumstances. That's not fair to them, but it's not so bad if you have someone else with you. Besides, even not considering all that, I might not have been so rough around the edges as a teenager if I had a brother or sister to look up to or look after, you know?"

Uraraka blinked in silence. Eventually, she asked, "Where's this coming from?"

After rubbing the back of his neck, Katsuki stated, "Izuku-kun made it bearable, at least while we were still friends. I hope our kids will be friends if we raise them right. They can help one another."

Ochako considered this for a moment but then smirked. "Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps you do think ahead."

Now fighting a small blush, the man responded, "It's just something I considered on the side. You never brought up children, but I have thought about it somewhat."

"I'm glad."

"Well, what should I do if you want me to do better?"

Uraraka was quick to answer, "Why not ask Tenya-kun or Todoroki-kun? They both do great with children."

Ida probably only catches kids' eyes cause his hero suit is pretty cool, Bakugo pondered. Children love robots, and that speedster pulls off that look. He then recalled reading an article that Todoroki had one of the highest approval ratings amongst his fans, which probably extended to the young ones, too. Maybe I should start with him, Katsuki mused. He then sat up and walked over to the window by the dining table, looking down to the streets below. There was still something on his mind.

"If I hadn't brought this up today, would you have confronted me at some point about this subject?"

"I've been thinking about it since November."

So that's why she was acting the way she was, Bakugo pondered.

Ochako got up and went to stand beside her boyfriend. "Though, as you can see, it didn't pan out. I was too nervous or didn't feel like it was the right time." She then sighed. "Though I talked to Deku-kun about suggesting it to you. We didn't get past the planning stage, considering not enough time has passed since I brought it up."

"Why him?!" The man's friend was quite busy with schoolwork anyway since it was his first year teaching. They used to hang out a lot while he was in college, but they rarely met up lately.

"Well, Mina-chan is always talking about how she and him have discussed having kids at length. If anyone had long planned such a possibility, it would be Deku-kun. He could be a great resource. Besides, if you would listen to anyone about relationship advice, it would be Deku-kun. He's the first to date anyone in our class, and he's been married for almost two years now."

Katsuki chuckled. "That guy has birthdays and holidays planned years in advance for his wife; that checks out." Still, the idea that his friend would be the one to break the news to him left a bad taste in his mouth. As much as he knew Izuku meant well, this was something he and his girlfriend needed to figure out. What advice he had received before, he greatly appreciated it, but this was much more personal. Bakugo was glad he acted upon his hunch rather than let it happen the other way.

Uraraka leaned on Bakugo's side. "All this serious talk has left me hungry."

"Alright, alright, dessert time."

The woman bobbed up and down excitedly as if a child. Katsuki didn't know whether to be amused or sigh at her behavior. He walked over to his cupboard where he was hiding it and pulled out an aluminum pie pan holding the last dish. After grabbing a knife and two spoons, he placed them on the coffee table in front of the couch they both had previously sat on.

Ochako studied what was before her. It was a thick brown cake with a yellow hue to it. It had no visible frosting and didn't look to be made from flour. Instead, it looked to have had a glutinous texture. Its only feature was a large kanji of the word haru (春) molded onto it. "So it is a mochi cake?"

As he cut square slices for them both, Bakugo answered, "Close. It is made of glutinous rice but drier and more dense. It's called nian gao, which means year cake. This specifically is the Guangdong variety, as suggested by Sato-kun. It is sweetened with brown sugar and steamed until it solidifies. Nothing too fancy."

Once she was given her plate, Uraraka inspected it some more by poking it with her spoon. It was indeed quite thick. "So if it's Chinese, why the kanji?"

"Well, that is chūn in Chinese; like haru, it means spring. Officially, in China, the holiday is called the Spring Festival. The cake looked too plain from what I saw online, so I added this."

Ochako took a piece of her dessert and pointed the utensil at her boyfriend. "So that explains the spring orchids from earlier. So then, what good will this nian gao bring us?" She beamed a smile after stating this.

Katsuki smirked. "Nian Gao sounds identical to another word, 'higher year,' which means a more prosperous year, year after year.

"Ah, so we are wishing one another prosperity and good fortune going forward." The woman then took a bite of her slice. As she chewed, she soon learned how sticky-sweet the dessert was—it was stuck to the top of her mouth!

Bakugo chuckled before explaining. "And now you are learning about its origin story. It's said that this was created as an offering to the kitchen deity so he couldn't talk shit to the royal family while visiting the Jade Emperor since their mouth was glued shut. You could also interpret it as serving sweets during the holiday to bribe the deity to report good things about your family."

It took Uraraka a bit to chew and swallow it. Once finished, she said, "Hey, you did that on purpose!"

"Maybe. I did wonder if it was going to glue your mouth shut. Oh well."

Ochako laughed—a good, hearty one. One Katsuki hadn't heard in some time while outside of work. He figured he had gotten through to her. Now, he just needed to work on his issues to help her with her own. He'd give it 110% to make that happen. Bakugo also figured that, with this out of the way, he might be open about his little project for Uraraka. Though not today, visiting Hatsume's workshop would be a smoother explanation than here and now. Instead, he joined in the laugh. This Lunar New Year would be one to remember for both of them.


Oh hey, another Kacchako oneshot! Now that's three of them! And it's my longest one-shot to date! Each time it's been for an event, it's weird how that works—this time for an exchange event called the Kacchako Lunar Love: 2025. In my instance, I worked with an artist, CherryChocoalate, on Blue Sky to create a fic and art with the prompt of Lunar New Year + traditions (and I guess itadakimasu sorta cause food).

Speaking of food, that was my idea going into this by the time I had my partner chosen. Before that, I considered a lot of options. The fireworks prompt seemed too easy and lacked depth, at least if I wanted to make it into the length I did here. With the Moon prompt, I had already done a chapter on astronomy with my Iichako side stories, so I didn't wanna repeat that. I had also considered doing a shrine visit but felt I would need more time to research that correctly, and as busy as I am during the Christmas break with other writing, I skipped that idea. Year of the Snake I did consider (reptile bias + I am of the earth snake year) and would have been more just a discussion between the two comparing their animals (Katsuki a horse if Ochako was the snake, and Ochako a rabbit if vice-versa) but again would have been too short for my taste.

So, I chose traditional Lunar New Year meals as the plot hook while the couple dealt with their issues. I had lined up a list of possible meals to do, and I let Cherry choose from said list (not chosen included: Peking duck, jiaozi (dumplings), Lo Han Jai (Budda's Delight), spring rolls, tangyuan (sweet rice balls), and Ba Bao Fan (Eight Treasures Rice). I also let them choose the outfits for the couple, and it was the first thing drawn to give me something to work with. From there, I wrote everything before they began to work on the piece for the event.

My first Kacchako fic was from Bakugo's PoV, the 2nd from Uraraka, so I switched back to him this time. Again, I aged up because I always felt the couple needed some advancement years before getting together, and it's when they were the most interesting to me. This is something Cherry and I quickly came to agree to do. I also considered splitting it into two scenes early on as I didn't want to info dump the setting and let it gradually build up between both scenes. I let the recent ending of the manga heavily influence the topics of inner dialogue and discussion between the pairing. Writing this has given me more foresight of what I want to do at this stage of the timeline for my IzuTooru longfic, and I greatly appreciate doing this piece for that alone. ;p

So, thanks to the Camp Kacchako discord once again for letting me flex my writing muscles beyond the long-winded nature of Cubicity and its side stories. Special thanks to Cherry for dealing with me during our time working together. And thanks to you, reader, for taking the time to read this and maybe leave a review. I like those. Positive or negative!

Happy Year of the Snake!