Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"you guys have actually gone batshit crazy."

"katsuki," mitsuki began, her eyes softening as she placed a gentle hand over her son's across the table, only for him to swat it away in disgust. her expression wavered, but she continued, "you're 24 years old. you have everything; a successful career, your own agency, wonderful friends... but you've never even considered the possibility of romance-"

"because i don't need it." his fork and knife clattered against the table when he let them fall, an irritated vein protruding on his neck. he seriously could not believe what his parents were telling him. "if you called me out to have lunch with you to talk about my love life, i'm gonna do us all a favour and leave before i blow this whole joint up-"

"katsuki."

masaru's firm voice made bakugou glance up at his father, tongue poking against the inside of his cheek in brewing anger. even if he wasn't an impulsive, raging teenager anymore, he did have times where he blew his top. patience was a trait he recently acquired but had to actively work to maintain as a grown adult... but how could he not get upset with his parents for what they were insinuating?

his father took a sip of his wine, the casual action contrasting with the serious look on his usually cheerful face. "whatever we do is for your own good. we're your parents, we want what's best for you... and this arrangement—"

"is something straight out of the 1950's," bakugou snorted humourlessly, looking at his parents with blatant disbelief over their words. he truly felt as if he didn't recognise them.

masaru set his wine glass down with a sudden thud, his eyes snapping up to lock with his son's through his tensed brows. "this is a decision we've made as your parents. we're not forcing you into anything, of course; merely giving you an option. the girl we've picked is—"

"wayyy~ out of your league," mitsuki rested her chin on her palm and her elbow against the table, being careful to not raise her voice in the unusually crowded restaurant. "she's a model, for crying out loud—"

"let me guess," bakugou smirked, though it was full of anger and contempt. "a model who signed a contract with you guys?"

masaru and mitsuki said nothing in response, causing the blond boy to chuckle knowingly, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to remain calm. no yelling. "i'm making a blind guess here... you offered the girl a contract in exchange for— marrying me?"

before they could answer, his brow ticked and he spat, "and she fucking agreed?!"

"this is a discussion that's been on the table since you were a child," mitsuki explained. "her mother is a longtime friend of ours, and we've made promises. it's about time we kept them — for the girl's sake, and for yours."

all bakugou could see were a million different shades of red.

his stomach was churning with fiery balls of insults and threats, tongue poking against the inside of his cheek as he fought off his instincts that screamed at him to lunge across the table and blow his own parents up. sure, he loved them and all, but they were batshit crazy sometimes... this was his first time speaking to them in weeks, and this was what they brought up? he was blindsided — although he was aware of his parents's cutthroat and aggressive approach when it came to their careers, he never realised they'd end up using him for their own benefit.

i'm their only damn son, and they wanna marry me off without my permission?!

seriously, what fucking ERA is this???!!!

"right, the answer is no." bakugou said, gesturing for the waiter to come over with their bill. he didn't bother arguing; he knew there was no way to win a verbal duel with his stubborn and unrelenting parents. the best thing to do — if he wanted to maintain even the slightest bit of a civil relationship with them — was to walk away before things got ugly. "i'm not a kid, you can't just tell me to do something expecting me to blindly agree."

his parents exchanged glances without speaking, and simultaneously sighed. it was after a brief moment of silence that mitsuki muttered, "this isn't a conversation that needs a back and forth. we told you what we've planned, your job is to just meet her and take things from there."

when the waiter returned and handed bakugou the bill, the blond boy scoffed, shoving a handful of bills into it and roughly handing it back to the scared boy. "i'm not doing any of that shi—"

"please."

bakugou froze at his father's sudden plea, his shoulders tensing up and a foreign feeling passing through his body; hesitation. he glanced up to look at masaru, only to see that his face was downturned, his hands folded together in his lap as he mumbled, again, "please."

bakugou ignored his mother when she exclaimed, "we don't have to beg him, dear, for goodness' sake!! he has to do what we say—"

he didn't bother focusing on her words; bakugou knew the type of person his mother was, but it was his father that he was more concerned about. after a moment of intense staring and mental contemplation, bakugou sighed and stood up, shoving his wallet and phone into the pockets of his jeans.

his parents stared at him in confusion, with masaru's brows gently furrowing.

right before he turned and walked away, bakugou muttered, "let me know when you plan it so i can clear my schedule."

-

bakugou's parents were flailing all over the place to get the house to look perfect, and the blond did not understand why.

he sat at the neatly set dining table, his chin resting on his palm and his elbow against the desk, watching as his mother and father wafted in and out of the kitchen and living room over and over again whilst shouting instructions at each other — bakugou was sure they were telling him to get his ass up and help out as well, but he didn't particularly care to. this would be the worst dinner party of his life.

he was meant to be meeting a freaking model and her mother; a model that he would potentially marry. the whole thing was very backwards to him, but he felt like he didn't really have a choice in the matter. even if he was a rich and successful pro-hero who was #2 on the rankings, he hated to admit that his parents were an obstacle that he was never able to fully cross.

he had been told the girl was 22 years old, freshly out of college with a degree in god knew what, and had been modelling since she was a teenager.

bakugou didn't really care for the modelling industry; not enough to know their names, at least. he was aware of the few extremely big names because of his parents' fashion designing business, and even he had modelled for them occasionally, but he didn't really have an opinion on it. although he had always been told that if he wasn't a hero, modelling would have suited him as a career choice.

as if.

when the doorbell rang, bakugou glanced up to see his parents freeze on their way out of the kitchen, their expressions stiff and shoulders rigid.

"oh god, they're here," mitsuki muttered, then nudged her husband in the ribs and exclaimed, "go answer the door!!"

masaru shook his head violently and began, "have you seen how much of a mess the living room is in? this is already off to a terrible start—"

"jesus christ, i'll get it." bakugou said, with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. getting up from his seat, their boy casually sauntered towards the door and reached out to touch the handle when his mother yelled, "be polite, katsuki!!"

"yeah yeah," he dismissed her concerns and yanked the door open, and his crimson eyes immediately landed on a middle aged woman.

the first thing bakugou noticed about her was the colour of her eyes; a striking, bright purple. they bored through him for a moment, her expression completely stoic and unmoving, before her face broke out in a bright grin and she said, "my my, you've grown up to be quite the handsome young man!!!"

bakugou cocked an eyebrow, staring her down from head to toe, before he flatly replied, "hello. and thanks."

"no problem at all." the woman then glanced over her shoulder, to the steps that led up to the porch of his house, and called out, "hurry on up, y/n!"

that name rang somewhat familiar in his head, but he didn't say anything. instead, the boy only propped the door open further and gestured for her to come inside, not caring about the fact that her daughter was approaching.

bakugou glanced back into the house to check if his parents were going to come to the door or not; when seeing an empty entryway behind him, he rolled his eyes once again and turned back towards the woman on his porch. "you can come in—"

his words fell short when his gaze landed on a new woman in front of him.

she was undoubtedly the daughter. long hair, a round face with full flips and not a blemish on her skin; she was short, although her legs appeared quite long in the short black dress she wore, the sleeves of which were dangling off her shoulders to expose her perfectly sculpted collar bones. again, though, all bakugou could focus on were her purple eyes, the exact same as her mother's.

he was deeply engrossed in them when she smiled and began, "hi, it's nice to finally meet you."

he snapped out of the trance that her eyes had put him in, and his expression hardened quite suddenly. he acknowledged that she was pretty, but all models were — and another reason why he was so entranced was because he recognised her.

it was difficult to not know who l/n y/n was when living in japan, where almost every billboard was decorated with pictures of her endorsing clothes, perfume, chocolates and makeup. she was recognisable, and the colour of her eyes was what made her stand out from every competitor — numerous interviewers and showbiz personnel had started rumours that her eyes had the ability to enchant people, put them under her spell as if she were a witch, but no information about her quirk was ever disclosed publicly, so it wasn't known for sure.

even if it wasn't public knowledge, bakugou vowed to be vigilant. if she did have a quirk akin to mind control, he would rather be safe than sorry.

his calculating gaze turned into a glare almost instantly, his tone taking on a sharp edge as he stated, "you too. come in."

yanking the door all the way open, he carefully watched as her and her mother entered, with the older woman gushing about how lovely the house was and how she was excited to be seeing his family after so long. the daughter, on the other hand, was completely silent, donning a kind smile as she refused to make direct eye contact with the blond hero.

"akane, oh my goodness!!"

his mother's voice brought bakugou back to the present, and he quickly shut the front door to watch as the two older women embraced each other in excited hugs, with masaru soon joining in, a bright grin on his face as he too, greeted an old friend.

there, in the entryway, while the adults all caught up in the span of fifteen seconds, bakugou realised he was standing next to you, and it was awkwardly silent.

until you glanced at him and mumbled, "i'm l/n y/n."

"i know," he replied, looking down and to his side to meet your gaze in a moment of intense, almost uncomfortable eye contact. "i'm bakugou katsuki."

to his surprise, your smile faltered slightly as you responded, "i know."

mitsuki was next to approach you, her eyes gleaming with delight. "you look absolutely stunning, dear!"

"thank you, mrs bakugou," you mumbled with a small smile, allowing the woman to lead you further into the living room, her hand resting gently on the small of your back. "you have a lovely home."

"and you are just a darling!”mitsuki grinned, "call me mitsuki from now on, honey."

a foreign expression laced with hesitation passed through your face — but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. forcing your smile to seem as bright as humanly possible, you stated, "of course, mitsuki!"

bakugou watched the whole interaction from the entrance to the living room, hands tucked into the pockets of his sweatpants and shoulder propped against a nearby wall. he hadn't taken his eyes off of you since you had entered his parents' home, his gaze calculating and gears in his mind twisting and turning with thought after thought. as he saw his parents, you, and your mother interact, he allowed himself to stay in the background to contemplate on who exactly you were.

in terms of public image, you were very well liked. his friends gushed about you very often, and although your beautiful looks were talked about more than anything, he had heard that you were kind as well. it was rare for a celebrity to have little to no scandals, which was why people were so fond of you. you did your job, donated to charities, supported the causes you believed in, and rarely acted out. the only 'scandal' he had heard of was a tv show appearance you had done a few months ago. apparently, the host had been making flirtatious remarks about you, even going so far as to inappropriately touch you, causing you to leave whilst the episode was live on-air. you took to your instagram story hours later to apologise for the unprofessionalism, but stated that you would never do anything that compromised your safety or comfort.

of course, he knew all of this through mina. bakugou never kept up with pop culture, even though he was basically a celebrity himself.

the media was one thing, but if he were to judge you based just on first impressions, he hated to admit that he didn't have anything bad to say in that context, either.

you had been nothing but polite to him and his parents, and not once had your smile fallen. you appeared exactly the same way you did on social media and television; kind, composed and sweet.

but one question persisted in bakugou's mind.

does she even want to marry me?

there were no benefits to this arrangement outside of those that worked for his parents and your mother — of course, your father had never been mentioned, so he assumed he was completely out of the picture. then why? why had a rich, A list celebrity model with millions of fans bother getting entangled in the life of a pro hero with a terrible public image?

he narrowed his eyes at you, deciding that the only thing he could do to get answers was simply ask.

"katsuki!"

he snapped out of the daze he was in, eyes snapping to meet his mother's. raising an eyebrow, he waited for her to continue, but regretted it the moment he saw a sparkle of mischief appear on her expression.

"i just remembered we've run out of wine," she sighed, lips pursing together in a blatantly fake display of disappointment. "do you mind running to the store and grabbing a few bottles?"

before bakugou could respond, your mother — akane — chirped, "y/n can go with you! right, honey?"

bakugou winced. so this was planned.

he watched as akane turned to look at you expectantly, purple eyes darting over your face as she waited for a response.

a moment of brief silence passed, with you simply staring back at your mother blankly, before your smile reappeared and you nodded. "of course, i don't mind at all."

he cocked an eyebrow again. he couldn't figure out what exactly he found so strange about you, but he figured this was the perfect opportunity to get you alone and ask you as many questions as he possibly could.

so he sighed and turned around, calling out, "i'm taking your car, dad."

"have fun!" the three parents simultaneously called out, until you and bakugou were alone in the entryway to his house once again.

their voices continued to pool in from the living room, the dim lighting of the genkan creating an almost secluded, awkward atmosphere. you reached down to put your heels on, sweet tone still present in your voice as you said, "we can walk, i don't think taking a car is necessary—"

bakugou interrupted you by yanking the front door open — feet already slid into his slides — and stating, "walking in heels sounds like a pain."

he walked right out after that, leaving you standing there alone.

that was the only time you let your smile fall completely, a blank look returning to your face as you squeezed your hands into tight fists.

damn it.

Chapter Text

the car ride was silent and awkward.

neither you nor bakugou made an effort to speak, but he noticed that you kept a calm, small smile on your face at all times, even whilst staring out to window blankly. your hands were neatly folded on your lap, body angled away from him in a very subtle way; but he could tell. anyone could take a glance at you and notice that you were uncomfortable and wanted to leave.

which again, only made bakugou wonder even more why you had agreed to this.

suddenly, he slammed the brakes and stopped the car on a desolate sidewalk with not a single person or supermarket in sight.

you flinched slightly at that, expression turning confused as you muttered, "um... there isn't a store around—"

"why are you here?"

his question made your shoulders tense up, hands now clasped together tightly as you pondered on how to answer. still staring out of the window, you felt his stare on the side of your face, stubborn, unrelenting, and patiently waiting for any sort of answer.

deciding to just play it off in a funny way, you giggled and turned towards him slowly, allowing your shoulders to relax. "what do you mean—"

when your gaze landed on him, you went silent.

bakugou had both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, with the side of his face leaning against it as he stared you down with suspicion and genuine curiosity. his crimson gaze burned holes through you, but the reason you fell quiet wasn't because you were enthralled by the beautiful way in which he stared at you — no, it was because it felt like he saw right through you.

and it was startling.

there was no point in keeping up the facade with him, and you realised that with the way he said nothing and just stared, almost hoping that if he looked long enough, your thoughts would appear sprawled out on your face for him to read.

within an instant, you dropped your act.

smile falling and brows relaxing, you stared back at him blankly, knowing that this was what he wanted to see.

bakugou's brows jumped up only slightly in amusement, but he said nothing. the expression you were making to him right now was foreign; he hadn't seen you with anything but a smile. on magazines, on tv, on posters and whatnot; you were always smiling as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

but now, he realised that this was truly natural.

without so much as a beat of hesitation, you finally answered, "to marry you."

the answer caught him by surprise, so much so that he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

bakugou leaned back in his seat, looking utterly flabbergasted despite the shocked half-smile on his face. "are you serious?"

"it's happening whether we like it or not," you revealed, folding your arms across your chest and matching his gaze with an intense one of your own. "i've decided to accept it, but i take it you haven't."

bakugou's expression turned serious within an instant, glare hardening in your direction as he coldly spat, "i'm not marrying you."

you raised a singular eyebrow at his angry words. "then why did you agree to meet me?"

"cause my old man asked me to." he answered matter-of-factly. "meeting you doesn't mean i'm ready to marry you all of a sudden. it's the last thing i wanna do."

"you think i wanna marry you?"

the sudden switch of your tone to harsh made him start, his lips slightly parting to figure out what to say, only to get cut off by you stating, "i don't like you."

immediately, anger consumed his very being and he exclaimed, "i don't fucking like you either—"

"i don't agree with arranged marriages," you interrupted, purple eyes no longer vibrant, but instead dark and sultry. "but i don't believe in falling in love, either. what i do believe in, though, is advancing my career."

bakugou stayed silent, guessing that you weren't done.

"i just signed a contract with two of the greatest fashion designers in japan, whose company is known internationally," you flatly said, "and one of the clauses just so happened to include a happy marriage with you, their son."

bakugou's jaw almost fell right to the floor. how dare his parents use him as a fucking clause in a contract, just to hire some mediocre model to endorse their brand?! he was their son, not an asset! he had suspected something like this was up, sure, but having it confirmed left him enraged!

"i can't fucking believe this," he admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to process the information that had just been dumped onto him. "this is fucking absurd. i'm a goddamn adult, they think they can just control me like this?! i'm not spending the rest of my life married to someone i have zero fucking feelings for—!!"

"neither am i, which is why i found a solution."

bakugou paused at that, turning to look at you slowly with furrowed brows. "what are you talking about—"

"i was originally planning on telling you this after we got to know each other a bit better, but this works too," you softly said, huffing out a breath before you held up one finger in front of the blond boy's face.

bakugou stared at your finger in confusion, impatience growing in his gut as he said, with frustration, "what the fuck are you—"

"bakugou katsuki," you started, now smiling again — but this time, it didn't have any purity or innocence in it at all. your smile was cocky, almost fully laced with malice and devious intentions. before he could respond, you commanded, "marry me for one year."

he watched you for a moment, as if processing your proposal, and then flatly asked, "why?"

you looked back at him silently, lowering your hand back down to your lap as you waited for him to continue, not fully understanding his question.

bakugou shifted in his seat to lean slightly closer to you, his gaze full of suspicion. "why one year?"

you bluntly replied, "my contract is valid for a year."

he scoffed dismissively, going back to his normal position away from you while he rubbed a hand across the side of his face. "you do realise this situation doesn't benefit me in any way, right?"

you opened your mouth to speak, but he quickly continued, "you get your deal and your money, my parents get to see me get married — what the fuck do i get from this whole thing? if anything, it's a huge annoying fucking setback that could ruin my whole career—"

"you're right."

bakugou pursed his lips tightly, glancing back at you to see you staring at him intensely, your eyes full of a strange emotion the man couldn't quite recognise.

"you're right," you repeated, when seeing that he was stunned into silence by you acknowledging him instead of dismissing his concerns. "so what do you want?"

"ideally?" he asked, grip tightening around the steering wheel. "to stay single and happy."

"i would want that too," you admitted, your tone and eyes softening as you turned to look ahead of you, no longer willing to make eye contact with the hero. "but this is reality. there's no way for me to get out of this contract, even if i wanted to, so i'm trying to make this as easy as possible for us."

"this sounds like hell."

"if there's anything else you want in return, i'm willing to give it to you," you firmly said, "as long as it's within my capabilities, of course."

bakugou rolled his eyes. "there's nothing you can give me that i can't give myself, purple."

you furrowed your brows at that, wondering if he had just given you a nickname unintentionally. is it because of my eyes?

"but," he gritted his teeth together, hating the fact that he was actually considering this whole arrangement. "to be fair, it does get my parents off my case..."

your eyes lit up when you saw the way his eyes were darting across his lap and his fingers drummed against the steering wheel, as if he was deep in thought. realising that he genuinely might say yes, you sat up straighter, patiently waiting for him to say something; anything.

bakugou clenched his jaw tighter — then huffed out an annoyed breath and stopped tapping his fingers. "we need rules."

your shoulders fell in pure relief at his words.

you knew of bakugou katsuki — how couldn't you? he was notorious in the media for being loud, obnoxious and angry; the #2 pro hero, dynmight, who rarely did interviews or television appearances, didn't want to appear in magazines or news columns, and kept mostly to himself unless he decided to randomly make a scene. although it was his rude and violent personality that made him so well known and gave him a terrible public image, he had a lot of fans.

most of them were girls who found him attractive and had crushes on him; in fact, there were clubs and groups dedicated for his supporters. wherever dynamight's name was mentioned, thousands of fans spawned to defend his name and praise their idol, as if he were an actual celebrity instead of a hero of justice. they were hardcore, so much so that there had been times where they had bombarded pinky — another pro hero — with hate comments at death threats for simply being friends with the blond man.

you knew that they wouldn't take too well to finding out he was getting married, especially to a well known model.

as for first impressions, he wasn't friendly, that was for sure. you had expected him to be straight up rude, but to your surprise, he hadn't been impolite to you at all — his tone was rough, sure, and he did have a permanent glare in his eyes, but his words had been nothing but civil. he hadn't directed an insult towards you at all, unlike what you had prepared for when you heard of this whole arrangement.

this would be hard, but you were glad he wasn't making it hell.

"i think it should be private." you admitted. "i spoke to my mother about this before, too — i don't think it would do any of us good to have our marriage be publicised, so we can keep it under wraps. that way, when we get a divorce, there won't be major repercussions besides our families."

bakugou nodded, grateful that you had considered this. he knew his fans — they would definitely cause a scene if they found out about any of this, and he wasn't willing to deal with that. while he usually didn't care about public opinions, it would cause more harm than good for his agency, and he couldn't take that risk right now.

"are we gonna have a wedding?" bakugou asked, practically cringing at the very question. "i'd rather not."

you shrugged at that. "i think our parents are gonna be the ones deciding that, but i’ll push for it to be as small as possible if we do."

he glanced at you, a flicker of realisation passing through his wide, crimson eyes. "...does that mean you're gonna be... living with me?"

you dreaded the very thought of leaving your comfortable apartment to stay with a man you barely knew, but your mother had told you married couples lived together. it was unlikely that you'd be staying at your own home.

a sigh escaped your mouth as you sunk into the passenger's seat. "unfortunately, yes."

bakugou groaned — if there was one thing he was passionate about, it was his own personal space. his penthouse apartment was perfectly curated to be his home, yet it would now be invaded by a woman he was being forced into marrying. it was hindrance after hindrance. "this fucking sucks!"

"we can set boundaries in place so it'll be easier." you muttered, picking at your fingernails anxiously. "like no sex, no kissing—"

bakugou's face turned bright red as he interrupted with a scream, "why the fuck would we do that?!!!"

"i'm not saying we will, but it's just in case," you clarified, shrinking slightly under his sharp and intense glare — though you had to admit he looked cute when he blushed. "we both have to agree to keep our relationship as platonic as possible; if anything, we're business partners, not husband and wife. we'll give each other our own space, not meddle with each other's lives, and keep up the facade in front of our parents for exactly one year... then we walk away with no regrets."

bakugou could not believe he was doing this — he couldn't believe this was happening. when he agreed to the dinner party, he only did it to satisfy his father; he had made up his mind to shoot the whole idea down after it was over by claiming he didn't like you, but this was taking a drastic turn. if he agreed, it would change the course of his life and his career.

when he didn't reply, you stared deeply into his eyes and cracked an almost sad grin before asking, "so... will you marry me?"

bakugou couldn't believe his own mouth when he said, "damn it, i guess so."

Chapter Text

"we just knew you two would get along!!" mitsuki said, happily taking a sip of her wine as she patted her son, who was sat next to her, on his back playfully, her eyes full of delight. she recalled the way bakugou and you had walked into the house with the wine, all awkward smiles and flushed cheeks, and knew that things were getting serious — and she couldn't be happier.

across from her sat akane, her eyes glinting with excitement at the fact that things were going extremely smoothly. "of course they would, they have so much in common! this is working out so well!!"

you and bakugou, who were sat directly across from each other, refused to say anything, with the blond trying hard not to practically throw up at the comments while you shyly smiled and pretended to blush.

masaru, who sat at the head of the table and was cutting into his steak, chuckled softly. "i'm glad they seem to like each other... i guess we can finally start making the preparations."

bakugou's eyes shot up from his own plate of meat to lock with yours, and the man bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from making a rude retort. he still couldn't believe his parents were refusing to tell him the truth about the contract, but hardly any of that mattered. he had agreed to act as normal as possible with you and agree to everything they said for now so that there would the fake marriage would run smoothly with no problems.

and then a happy divorce awaits us.

"katsuki," akane began, snapping the blond out of his thoughts. he glanced up to meet his future mother-in-law's intense gaze, his shoulders turning rigid when he saw the cunning smile on her slightly wrinkled face. "you are agreeing to this, right?"

his eyes widened.

your throat tightened at her tone, smile faltering.

mitsuki laughed casually, not grasping the almost threatening tone akane had used in her rhetorical question. "of course he's—"

"yes i am," he said, sitting up straighter and squaring his shoulders, surprised look now replaced with one of certainty. his brows had tensed up, knife sharply cutting through the snake on his plate as he matched akane's disingenuous smile with a cynical one of his own. "i like her, i think we'd get along great."

it wasn't so much so wanting to keep up the facade he had agreed on with you that led to those words tumbling out of his mouth — it was more of bakugou's innate desire to prove this woman wrong. when she had asked him that question, it was as if she had completely seen through him and you; as if she knew of your plans, of your discussion in the car.

bakugou had underestimated this seemingly innocent middle aged woman, but he wouldn't do so any longer.

at his words, you relaxed slightly, smile turning casual once again as you added, "and i like him,
too. in fact, i'd like for this to be made official as soon as possible!"

so that we can get divorced as soon as possible.

the expression on akane's face returned to overjoyed as she clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "this is going to be such a wonderful wedding!!"

then, before anyone could say anything, the woman glanced at mitsuki and masaru and added, "although, y/n and i have discussed this at length and we'd like to keep the matter as private as possible — i think this would work out very well in katsuki's favour too. they're public figures, a marriage could lead to potentially big problems... that's also why there's no need for y/n to take his last name."

"we were thinking the exact same thing," masaru responded, smile dropping as he took on a more serious tone, "we don't want to do anything that could potentially jeopardise katsuki or y/n's careers—"

bakugou fought back the urge to roll his eyes. but you're basically ruining my life.

"—so it's best if we keep the wedding small and intimate." masaru continued, "just family and a few friends. how does that sound?"

"of course, we won't compromise on having it be as glamorous as possible!" mitsuki said warmly, her eyes turning towards you as she gave you a motherly smile. "you can pick out the most expensive dress you want, y/n — in fact, we can go shopping together! i've always wanted a daughter—"

"that sounds wonderful!" you giggled, all whilst mentally thinking, they're getting ready to blow a loooot of money on something that's gonna last a year.

"well, we'll get started on the wedding planning," akane began, cheeks swelling up with the wide grin that practically split her face in half, "and you two soon to be newlyweds can go on some dates, get to know each other a bit. how does that sound?"

bakugou stabbed his fork into a potato and gruffly mumbled, "amazing."

-

the next time bakugou katsuki saw you was when he walked into a photoshoot happening at his parents' company.

"you're a darling," mitsuki said, grabbing the coffee her son had brought her on his day off — she had invited him over 'just to catch up', but he realised that was just an excuse. there, standing propped in front of a white background with cameras blasting all around you and white light glinting off of your face, was bakugou katsuki's fiancé.

you were dressed in a long sleeved, off-the-shoulder black top and a miniskirt, tied together with a loose belt that hung around your waist. knee high boots climbed halfway up your legs, but left your thighs completely bare and visible, and your hair was curled and flowing down your back while you posed in front of all the flashing cameras without so much as batting even an eye.

while bakugou did acknowledge that you were pretty — since it was your job to be — he couldn't particularly understand the appeal surrounding you. your persona in the media was very different to how you were in real life. the seemingly kind and sweet girl was actually cunning and foul-mouthed, much to his surprise; while he preferred your actual personality more, he hated people who put up facades and weren't authentically themselves like he was.

so he knew he would find it difficult to get along with you.

"isn't she gorgeous?" mitsuki gushed, measuring tape hanging loosely around her neck and glasses resting on the bridge of her nose as she analysed you, taking a sip of her coffee. "to think my pieces would ever be worn by the l/n y/n!"

"this is why you called me here, then?" bakugou grumbled, trying his hardest not to roll his eyes as he unconsciously covered his face with a hand from the gawking employees.

of course, every employee that worked under his parents knew that the pro hero dynamight was their son, but none of them were aware that he was getting married to a model that wore their clothing — and he wanted to keep it that way.

"take 5!" the photographer announced, gesturing to you with a thumbs up.

immediately, your posture fell into a more relaxed one as people ran over to adjust your clothing and pat all sorts of sponges across your face, while another began finger curling your hair to make sure it stayed perfect. it was then that your eyes, which had been previously focused on nothing but the cameras, met his.

bakugou wasn't sure what would happen if purple mixed with red, but he knew it wouldn't be a good combination.

your brows jumped up when you saw him, taken aback — it was when you noticed the coffee in mitsuki's hand that you connected the dots and sighed.

the aforementioned woman gestured for you to come over with a bright grin. "y/n, dear, say hi!"

immediately, the employees scattered, giving you the freedom to saunter over to your future husband and mother-in-law. even though you were less than thrilled to have him show up at your workplace, you couldn't deny that you had expected something like this. he is the owners' son, after all.

"what brings you here?" you asked, faking a smile as you stopped in front of him, your gaze travelling upwards to meet his.

bakugou stared down at you, taking note of all your revealed skin — though not in a creepy way. he noticed that you were rather thin.

though it wasn't any of his business.

"dropped by to give the hag some coffee."

a smack to the back of his head. "don't call me that!!"

abruptly, mitsuki's phone began to ring, so the woman glanced at it and sighed, turning away from the two as she called out, "sorry, i have to take this. chat a bit while i'm not around!"

when she was finally out of earshot, bakugou noticed your smile fall and your soft look transform into something akin to a glare as you admitted, sharply, "i can't work with you here."

he raised an eyebrow. "why not?"

"it's just... awkward," you revealed, scratching the back of your neck and glancing to the side, trying hard to appear normal in front of all the employees that were watching the two of you interact with hawk-like intensity.

"oh, is it?" he sarcastically asked. "but getting married to me isn't?"

"keep your voice down!" you hissed, jutting your lip out in irritation as you swerved your head around to check if anyone had heard what he said; when seeing nothing, your shoulders relaxed and you turned back to him, only for bakugou to bluntly say, "you're too jumpy, purple."

you frowned. "my name is y/n."

he raised an eyebrow, scanning the extra annoyed look on your face. "what's got your panties in a twist today?"

your shoulders tensed at that, and a moment of silence passed as you pondered his question.

as if unable to come up with an answer, your posture relaxed and you softly muttered, "i dunno. sorry for being bitchy."

bakugou hummed in response, crimson eyes scanning every inch of your expression as if to read it better — but when he couldn't, he sighed and turned away. "well, to make it even, you could watch me work one day too."

you rolled your eyes at that, amused smile tugging at your lips. "i don't think i'm interested in watching a hero sit on his ass all day waiting for the bat signal to go off—"

"HAH?!" he spun back around, leaning down to align his face with yours, his hands clenching into fists within the pockets of his hoodie. he noted the amusement on your face and narrowed his eyes, defensively stating, "we do not sit on our asses all day. when you're in danger, begging for help, who d'ya think's gonna come runnin to save ya, purple?"

your teasing grin widened at that. "i'd hope somebody hot, like shoto, or chargebolt." then you spun around and waved over your shoulder, catching the absolutely enraged look on his face.

even though you were already walking away, bakugou shouted, "I'M HOT, TOO!!!"

giggles erupted throughout the room, and the blond couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

so damn annoying!!!

Chapter Text

you hated to admit it, but trying on wedding dresses turned out to be more fun than you expected.

your mother had rented out an entire boutique for the day and snuck you in with sunglasses and a hoodie on, so that no one could recognise you. if single model l/n y/n was seen shopping for wedding dresses, it would be impossible to cover up the scandal.

the fourth dress you tried on was, again, not your style at all.

but mitsuki, akane, and your best friend shoko seemed to think every single one you tried on was made for you.

"this one's it!" mitsuki exclaimed, "it's the perfect blend of elegant and chic—"

"but it's not... me." you muttered softly, staring at yourself in the mirror. when you were younger, you dreamed of the perfect wedding; the perfect man, the perfect dress, the perfect happily ever after.

while attaining most of those things seemed unreasonable, you refused to compromise on a dress — especially when you had no budget and no restrictions. when you were being forced into something against your will, the least you could get in return was a dress of your choice; you didn't care if you were here until nighttime, you would find exactly what you wanted and gain at least one blessing out of this messed up situation.

"could you give me some details on what exactly you'd like?" the saleswoman asked, hands pressed against her heard that was beating loudly against her ribcage; she couldn't believe that the l/n y/n was wedding dress shopping. if she hadn't been forced to sign an NDA, she would've been on twitter right now, squawking her head off about the things she had heard. man, i love my job.

"something bold," you admitted, folding your arms over your chest in thought. "frilly, but elegant. loud, but classy. lots of lace, some cleavage, really long at the back so it trails behind me while i walk down the aisle. you know,
classic princess."

"oh my goodness, she'd look absolutely stunning!" mitsuki gushed, cheeks going red at the very thought of you in such a dress. akane nodded from next to her, also smiling, "we can always check some more stores out if you don't find what you're looking for, y/n."

"there's no need, i have just the thing!" the employee practically squealed, taking off in search of the dress that came to mind.

minutes later, you were inside a dressing room with shoko as she helped you get out of the previous dress you had tried on.

all whilst pulling it down, your best friend mumbled, "so... you're still sure about this?"

"like i've told you a million times," you said, through a grunt, trying to squeeze yourself out of the tight corset and letting it slide down your bare legs. "i don't have a choice."

shoko reached up to grab the veil on your head, slowly undoing all the pins that held it in place as her mouth twisted into an expression of scepticism. "you don't even know the guy. sure, he's a goody two shoes hero and he's hot, but he's still a random man you've known for like, a week."

you huffed out a breath, staring at your annoyed reflection on the dressing room mirror. "he's actually not as much of an asshole as the rumours paint him to be, y'know. and he honoured my agreement; divorced in a year. all of this is temporary."

shoko suddenly spun you around and tossed the veil to the side, her warm hands gripping your bare shoulders. her blue eyes were full of an unspoken sadness, usually soft features appearing even more tender and filled with sympathy for a friend who was basically her sister. staring deep into your purple irises, she began, "y/n, i love you. i want what's best for you. while it has been my dream to be your maid of honour ever since i met you, as your best friend, i have to know if you're genuinely okay. you're giving away a year of your life— you're gonna be living with him, under his roof, where anything could happen. if you want out, say the word and i'll do what i can to help. you're my sister."

tears filled your eyes at that, but you quickly blinked them away. there was no point in showing vulnerability, because you had already made up your mind, and there was no turning back now.

"this is a decision i made after a lot of thought, shoko," you gently cupped her face, softly smiling at the way she leaned into your touch. "and i'm okay with it. in fact, i'm excited — i get to wear an expensive dress, have a fancy wedding... and it's only gonna last a year. i'm gaining more than im losing, so it's worth it. for now, can we just ignore the messed up aspects of it and just... be happy that i'm getting married?"

she stared at you for a moment... and then a grin broke out on her face and she nodded, warmth returning to her expression. "of course. you're getting married!!!!"

"that i am!!"

"found it!" the saleswoman yanked the curtain back, holding a massive bag in her hands. by the sheer size of it you could tell that the dress was huge — that, combined with the way she was struggling to hold it out to you, only made you excited.

a few minutes later, you stood in front of the four women once again, and grinned at your reflection.

while they gushed behind you, with tears even appearing in shoko's eyes, you glanced at the employee and softly stated, "i'll take this one."

-

"dude, this can't be real."

"it's real, all right." bakugou grunted, adjusting his bow tie in one of the many mirrors surrounding him. he was in a massive back room in a luxury store that made tuxedos, surrounded by three of his closest friends... and he was close to losing his shit with all the questions they were bombarding him with.

"you can't be serious!!!" sero exclaimed, collapsed on one of the velvet couches as he took a swig of the complementary whiskey, straight from the bottle. "you call us and tell us to help you with your suit fitting, only to say it’s a suit for your fucking wedding?! you haven't dated anyone since the dawn of time, dawg—"

"not to mention we didn't have a bachelor party or anything!!" kaminari yanked at the strands of his golden hair, practically rolling around on the fancy, carpeted floor. "damn it, how'd you get cuffed up before i did?!!! i'm actually so fucking jealous—"

"i think we're all not asking the main question," kirishima stated, his arms folded over his chest as he stood directly behind bakugou and watched him fumble with his suit through the mirror, his expression morphed into a mixture of shock and confusion. "who the hell is the girl?"

bakugou dreaded answering this question the most. "do i have to tell y—"

"bakugou." kirishima's voice dropped an octave and he placed a firm hand on bakugou's shoulder, his quirk causing it to harden and put immense pressure on him. "who. is. she."

"damn it, fine, stop touching me!!" the blond winced, moving away from his already annoyed best friend to slowly mutter, "l/n y/n."

silence.

and then kaminari approached bakugou, the corner of his lips twitching in disbelief as he cracked a half smile and asked, "...like, the model? the one i've been obsessed with since i fucking graduated highschool?"

bakugou rolled his eyes. "i don't know about your damn crushes, but yeah, the model."

"bakugou?"

"hmm?" he turned fully around to look at kaminari in confusion.

and then the lightning boy lunged at his best friend, tackling him to the ground whilst shouting, "YOU FUCKING TRAITOR—!!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" bakugou screamed, practically rolling on the ground as he fought to get kaminari off of him and win the struggle — the two were literally wrestling now, shouting profanities at each other with the soon to be groom yelling, "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!!!"

"the model, he said." kirishima glanced over his shoulder at sero, who had finished the entire bottle of whiskey in one gulp. huffing out a breath, he fell back on the couch and called out, "get a hit in from me too, denki."

"DAMN RIGHT I WILL!!!"

"GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!!!" a man — the manager of the store — rushed into the private room, sweat dripping down the side of his face as he desperately flailed his arms around and watched the two fighting boys with panic in his small eyes. "there's no fighting in the store — especially not when you have one of our most expensive suits on—"

there was an explosion, and then kaminari was thrown off of bakugou with one push, and the poor manager let out a yelp at the sudden movement.

"DAMN IT!!" bakugou exclaimed, sitting up on the floor to rub the side of his face, where kaminari had landed a sharp punch. "that was so fucking unnecessary—!!"

"NO!" kaminari sat up as well, glaring at his friend with an intensity in his gaze — though another emotion lingered there as well, one that bakugou couldn't quite recognise. "you're actually such a fucking ass—"

when realising suddenly that kaminari's feelings were genuine — and he was actually upset instead of just playfully acting out — bakugou's eyes widened and brows jumped up, disbelief lacing his features. "you're seriously crashing out over the fact that my fiancé is your celebrity crush—?!"

"OF COURSE NOT!!"

"THEN WHY'D YOU HIT ME?!" bakugou yelled back, completely ignoring the other three people in the room as he glared at his lightning quirked friend. "that fucking hurt, damn it—!"

"no, bakugou!" kaminari interrupted, fists clenching on the carpet as he continued glaring at the blond boy through his thick lashes, his eyes flashing with an emotion akin to sorrow. "what hurts more is when your best friend of almost ten fucking years meets someone and decides to get married— and doesn't tell you until it's time to fit his damn wedding suit!!!"

bakugou flinched, defensive stance immediately dropping when he saw the way kaminari rushed to hurriedly blink away his tears.

the blond boy clenched his jaw. damn it.

"can you not tell—" kaminari continued, breathing in sharply to stop himself from fully crying, barrier of emotions threatening to break down as he angrily gestured towards kirishima and sero, who were silently watching the scene unfold. "—that we're all upset that you didn't tell us?! we're your best friends— but we can't be unless you tell us the things that are going on in your life, bakugou!!! you disappear for weeks when you're working on something... you ghost us, don't reach out unless we do it first, don't even bother asking us how we're doing — and then you say you're getting married? are you fucking with us?!"

"i'm sorry," bakugou whispered, feeling his throat close up when he saw the sadness in kaminari's face. guilt consumed his entire being, and rightfully so. he had been a horrible friend to all of them. "i'm... i'm sorry, kaminari, i didn't... i should've thought it through—"

"we're not asking for much," he interrupted, rubbing his face with his hands before admitting, "just to be somewhat involved, bro. we could've at least thrown you a bachelor party, or something."

before he knew it, bakugou had lunged forwards to embrace his highschool best friend in a hug, the both of them still awkwardly on the floor.

kaminari froze, his hands awkwardly hovering midair for a moment. "uh... this is new."

"i'm sorry." bakugou said, burying his face in kaminari's shoulder — he felt warmth erupt all over him along with guilt, because all kaminari had said had just proven how much he truly cared about him... and bakugou hated to admit it, but he was happy.

while he wasn't the most emotionally mature, years of experience had turned him into a much better person than he was in his childhood. he could acknowledge his mistakes, be vulnerable in front of those he trusted, and could put his pride to the side to give his friend a well needed hug.

"you guys are my closest friends," he admitted, sitting up straight to glance around the room at kirishima and sero, who were also subtly wiping tears from their eyes. "and i want you to be involved every step of the way. i'm not gonna hide anything from you anymore."

but bakugou could not admit the one truth he was still keeping from his best friends.

and he never would.

Chapter Text

"this place is fucking huge."

you stared up at the massive building that stretched out over what looked like ten floors, with a bright orange sign that said 'blast zone agency'.

clearly, you had come to the right place.

it was dark outside now, the cool wind of december night causing you to shiver and pull your scarf up higher over your nose, covering half of your face. your hood was over your head as well, identity completely concealed so that nobody could recognise you walking into pro hero dynamight's agency at 10pm on a weekday.

the lights inside the building all seemed to be on, so you guessed that he hadn't gone home yet — originally, you had planned on getting here around evening time, but work ran late so you didn't have a choice but to get here now. still, if he wasn't there — and a small part of you hoped he wasn't — you would shrug and go home, since you were basically being forced to see him anyway.

well, not really; you had volunteered to get a list of all the friends he was planning on inviting to the wedding so that the invitations could be printed. while it wasn't really your job, you decided it would be better if you knew beforehand how many of his famous, pro hero friends were attending so you could prepare yourself.

with a sigh, you pushed open the fancy glass front door and entered, relieved that the inside was warm and cozy.

the lobby was empty, save for a young boy sitting behind a large reception desk. he had a head of fluffy blue hair, his features soft and cuter, making him appear fresh out of highschool.

approaching the desk, you prepared to come up with any sort of excuse or lie you could to see bakugou without giving yourself away.

"good evening, how can i help you?" he asked, glancing up with a bright smile to meet your gaze — although your appearance made him tilt his head in slight confusion, as if he was trying to figure out who exactly you were.

you flatly asked, "is ba— dynamight still in?"

"he is," the boy said, still scanning your covered face. "do you have an appointment? what name is it under—"

you frowned under the scarf. no, i don't have a damn appointment— and i can't give you my name.

"i don't... is it all right if you just—" you began, glancing towards the elevators that led upstairs, "call him down for me? this won't take long—"

his smile turned slightly apologetic as he started, "i'm sorry, i can't without proper identification."

you groaned, yanking your hood and your scarf down with impatience as you huffed, "my name—"

"oh my goodness!" the boy interrupted, jumping off of his seat after finally recognising you. his grin widened, pale blue eyes twinkling with excitement as he exclaimed, "don't you worry, you can head right on up!"

you froze at that, brows furrowing at his reaction. the way he acted made you think he knew about you and bakugou — had the hero informed his receptionist in case you decided to come?

there was no point in thinking about it.

"oh..." you glanced around, confused, "uh... where, exactly?"

he pointed at an elevator. "top floor, down the hallway, first door on your right!"

"okay," you stepped back and half-bowed politely, still confused as to why he looked so excited; although you couldn't deny that his youth was refreshing. "thank you."

"no worries!"

you approached the elevator, surprised when it dinged open the moment you stood in front of it. stepping inside, you waited for the doors to close before glancing at all the buttons — and then you hit the one for the highest floor.

as it began moving upwards, you tapped your foot against the ground and wondered where exactly the other heroes were. you knew he had some big names signed under his agency, so it was oddly empty, especially since you knew they usually worked until late hours.

but again, you didn't have much time to think before the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a ding.

following the receptionist's instructions, you found the first door on the right, even going so far as to retrace your steps and double check that you were correct. after a moment of contemplation, you sighed and entered, deciding that if it were his office, there was no need to knock.

however, when the door fully opened and you entered, you were shocked to learn that it was not, in fact, bakugou's office.

what you were standing inside was a huge locker room, with cubbies in the wall that had biometric locks on each one and names scribbled on top of them. stalls lined the very far back — presumably showers — and in the middle of it all, standing right in front of you, was bakugou katsuki.

and he was in the process of pulling his shirt off.

you did not react much outwardly, but on the inside, you were cringing so unbelievably hard.

bakugou threw the shirt of his hero costume off and turned to look at who had thrown the door open, a sharp glare in his eyes. "who the fuc—"

when his gaze landed on you, standing there with no hood and no scarf, his brows jumped up in surprise as he tried to process what exactly was going on. you, his fiance, were standing in the men's locker room, and you looked completely unfazed to see him half naked.

feeling his heart jump in pure surprise, he yelled, "what the fuck are you doing here?!"

the way you were staring at his toned and muscular body was shameless, but you didn't really bother hiding it. "i came to talk to you about something."

"i meant,” he interrupted, trying not to focus on you basically assaulting him with your eyes, "what are you doing in the men's locker room?! you can't just walk in here!!!"

finally tearing your gaze away from his defined abs, you locked eyes with his, not liking the tone he used to speak to you — even though you knew he couldn't help it. "your cute receptionist told me to come here."

bakugou's eyebrow twitched. damn that kid!

then he processed what you said, and the man rolled his eyes, moving to swiftly unbuckle his belt without a care in the world. he assumed you would walk out eventually — it just irked him that you didn't seem to care that he was in the process of changing. he wanted a reaction out of you; the same reaction most girls gave him when they saw his body. "cute? you into teenagers?"

"not really," you said, gaze shooting down when you saw his belt fully come off as he tossed it on a bench. heat threatened to rush up your face, but you tried your hardest to keep your cool. "you told me i could come watch you work, didn't you?"

he grabbed the top button of his pants that were now hanging quite low on his waist, exposing his v-line. he noticed the way your ears were flushed a bright red, no matter how much you tried to mask your embarrassment with nonchalance. "i didn't mean show up when i'm done for the day. how'd you get here anyways?"

it was when bakugou unzipped his pants that you spun around completely now facing the door that was still open and led to the empty hallway, deciding you would rather die than see anything else. you heard his amused chuckle, but you tried not to focus on it; not when your face was already threatening to explode with heat. "i walked right after i finished work—"

"what?"

all of a sudden, a hand appeared from behind you and slammed the door shut, changing your view of the hallway to that of beige wood. you could feel him towering over you from behind, staring down at the back of your head, and you winced at the sudden sound, whipping around to look up at him in confusion. "wha—"

"what kinda dumbass walks alone at 10pm?" bakugou said, his hand still resting on the door behind you, his body mere inches away from yours. "you ain't got security, or something—"

"i do," you admitted, shoulders going rigid at the closeness between you and him. your eyes flickered down slightly, widening when you saw that his pants were still on but the zipper was fully undone, revealing the waistband of his calvin klein underwear. forcing yourself to look back up at him, you continued, "i didn't want anybody to know i was coming to see you—"

he clicked his tongue. "is it so wrong for a wife to come see her husband at his workplace?"

deciding that that was your final straw, you pressed your hands to his chest and roughly shoved him away, face now a bright red. "for fuck's sake, can you put some damn clothes on?!!"

bakugou stumbled backwards, expression morphing into one of shock as he took in the absolutely flustered look on your usually composed face. your cheeks were a bright red, and your eyes were flickering from dark to light purple — he opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut when you began talking again.

"so annoying," you grumbled, yanking the door open and preparing to step out; but before you did, you glanced over your shoulder and exclaimed, "and you're not my husband yet!"

with that, you slammed the door shut and left.

bakugou stared at the wooden surface, his chest still warm in the spot where you had placed your hands on it.

and then he chuckled in amusement, turning back around to continue getting changed.

so she blushes, too.

when bakugou stepped out of the elevator fifteen minutes later and into the lobby on the ground floor, his satchel slung across his body and his clothes changed into a hoodie and sweats, he saw that you were happily making conversation with his receptionist. not only that, but you had been served tea that was meant only for the employees, which he found quite interesting.

as if sensing his presence, you turned to look at the approaching man, smile on your face faltering slightly. "took you long enough."

"i thought you'd gone home," he stated, holding his hand out towards the blue-haired teenager. the boy reached over and grabbed a set of car keys, quickly handing them over to his boss with a nervous smile.

"i told you i had to talk to you about something," you said, tone coming off annoyed as you set your empty teacup down and grabbed your phone off the counter.

bakugou looked frustrated. "can it not wait till another day—"

"nope."

the blond hero held eye contact with you for a moment, as if thinking over his options; while he definitely wasn't in the mood to talk about wedding planning, he also wasn't in the mood to stand here and continue arguing with you over something so trivial. his stomach was grumbling and his head was starting to hurt... so he sighed and turned towards his blue haired receptionist. "lock up by 11."

he nodded obediently. "yes sir!"

then bakugou headed towards the door, noticing you trail after him in confusion. he glanced over his shoulder, crimson eyes meeting yours, and said, "i'm hungry as shit, so you're welcome to join me for dinner if it really can't wait."

he pushed the door open and stepped out, not bothering to hold it for you— at the lack of manners, you rolled your eyes and walked out after him, letting the door shut behind you as you felt the winter breeze return, yanking your scarf and hood up, you replied, "i'd prefer if we didn't eat in a public place where we could get recognised—"

"don't worry," bakugou said, clicking a button on his car keys. the lamborghini parked in front of his company building unlocked smoothly, and the blond hero glanced back at you casually, pulling his mask up to cover the bottom half of his face. "i know a place."

Chapter Text

"are we seriously entering a restaurant through an alleyway back door?"

"if you don't wanna be noticed, shut up and stop complaining," bakugou muttered, yanking the door open and entering, not even waiting for you as he sauntered through the endless corridors. he heard your footsteps following behind him, but didn't bother glancing over his shoulder to check on you.

although he did hear you sigh. "we could've just gone to my house and cooked something."

he snorted at that, rounding a corner before a narrow staircase appeared in front of him, decorated in a traditional japanese carpet with wooden walls and paper lanterns draped above it. writing in kanji was all over the place, indicating that they were about to eat some japanese cuisine.  "you couldn't have invited me earlier?"

you followed him up the stairs, realising that it was probably a ramen place. feeling stuffy all of a sudden, you yanked your scarf down to inhale a deep breath and replied, "i'll think it through next time."

he finally emerged onto the first floor, covered in ambient red lighting. it was full of separate rooms, divided by shutters, for more private dining and an intimate experience. when a waiter approached bakugou and greeted him, the boy stated, "two people."

"right this way, sir."

you were led through the middle of all the private rooms to one of your own, the scent of noodles and broth lingering in the air and making your stomach grumble loudly. finally, the waiter held the shutters open for you and bakugou, revealing a small room with a table set up for two people inside.

"thank you," you softly said, with a half-bow, and soon both you and bakugou were sat at the tables, shutters now closed and menus set out in front of you.

with a sigh, you took your hoodie and scarf off, grateful to now be in a normal shirt. the heating in the room made you relax into your seat, relieved that you wouldn't be shivering because of the harsh december weather.

bakugou took his mask off casually as he flipped through the menu, muttering, "their miso ramen is really good."

you closed the menu and sighed, pulling your phone out of the pocket of your jeans. "i think i'll just get bread and a diet coke."

his eyes shot up to lock with your face. "i take you to a ramen place and you order bread?"

"i ate before i left."

he shrugged. "suit yourself."

not even half an hour later, the food was in front of you and bakugou, and the blond had already dug in without waiting for so much as a word from you.

he slurped his noodles, trying to stop himself from moaning in pleasure at the flavours that were taking over every corner of his mouth. after swallowing the bite, he asked, "so, can you start talking already?"

you took a bite of your buttered bread, trying extremely hard not to look at or smell the deciduous miso ramen that bakugou was scarfing down right in front of you. "it's about the wedding guest list. who are you inviting?"

his expression visibly grew more annoyed. "thought our parents were dealing with that crap."

"they don't know how many friends you're inviting," you clarified, pulling out your notes app so you could jot all the names he gave you down. "and i need a specific number."

clicking his tongue in annoyance, he stopped moving his chopsticks to focus and think about who he was planning on inviting. of course, his male friends had to be there; but he felt as if he'd be breaking mina's and jirou's hearts if they weren't invited — not to mention midoriya, who would probably simultaneously cry and beat bakugou up if he found out such a huge thing was kept from him. then there was todoroki — while they weren't the best of friends, todoroki had invited bakugou to almost every huge family event they'd had. it would be rude not to tell him.

"damn it!" he groaned, setting his chopsticks down to press his forehead in frustration, "this is too annoying to think about!"

you took a sip of your diet coke. "just think about the people you trust most and want there."

bakugou bit the inside of his cheek for a moment... and then sighed. "fine. shitty hair, sparky, tape dispens—"

"wait wait!" you tapped your screen so the keyboard would show up, and then hurriedly said, "give me actual hero names — i don't know any of these people!"

he rolled his eyes, but obliged. "red riot, chargebolt, cellophane, pinky, earphone jack, deku and shoto. that's it."

while typing all of that, you couldn't help the shudder that passed through your body. bro casually named 80% of the top ranking heroes. great. “you sure there's no one else?"

"nah," he firmly said after picking his chopsticks back up — because he had names all the friends he truly trusted and cared about. nobody else needed to know about any of this. curiosity flickering over his eyes, he glanced at you. "what about you?"

you tried to stop your expression from morphing with shock; you didn't realise he would ever ask you, because you didn't think he cared.

"uh, just a few friends," you began, "shoko, haruhi, akemi, minato, kenji—"

bakugou interrupted you with a blunt, "they sound really familiar. especially that last guy—"

"kenji? he's a pretty big model, too," you explained, awkwardly glancing down as you took another bite of your bread, hoping that bakugou could let the topic end there.

but to your dismay, he didn't — his eyes widened in realisation and he exclaimed, "isn't he the guy you had a dating scandal with?”

dread and embarrassment consumed your entire being as you groaned, hoping that he wouldn't have known about that; it did make headlines for a few weeks, but your management and his had worked overtime to dismiss any of the rumours... because it simply wasn't true. "we're just friends, we never dated. people just like to make shit up for views and likes."

bakugou furrowed his brows, remembering how passionate mina had been when news broke about the dating scandal — apparently, she had really shipped the two of you, so it excited her when her two favourite models had been involved in such a huge scandal.

but judging by the look on your face, there really wasn't anything romantic between you or him at all.

"i feel like we should've talked about this a bit earlier," you began, placing your chin on your palm, elbow resting against the table as you took a sip of your drink and watched bakugou closely. "do you have a girlfriend?"

he rolled his eyes at the very question, going back to focusing on his delicious noodles. "you think i'd be agreeing to all this if i did?"

"you've had dating rumours too, though," you reminded him, twirling your straw in your cup. "with pinky."

bakugou visibly cringed at the reminder; those few weeks were the absolute worst PR nightmare of his life, and he would rather die than relive them. "the fuckin' trolls on social media just can't grasp the concept of having friends of the opposite gender, and that's all it is."

his words resonated with you, and you nodded slowly. "right."

"what about you?" bakugou asked, amused half-smile appearing on his face as he took a swig of his beer. "you got a boyfriend you're cheating on?"

a snort escaped your mouth at the way he phrased the question. "no, i'm not interested in that stuff."

"alright," he said, though his voice remained teasing when he asked, "but what if you get interested after we're married?"

his question made you furrow your brows, the insinuation putting you off slightly. "you mean... what if i fall for someone else while i'm married to you?"

"mhm."

you tilted your head to the side, realising that you hadn't quite thought about that aspect. "but i could say the same for you. are you gonna cheat on me?"

"is it cheating if we don't even love each other?"

"so you would?"

"i wouldn't." he said conclusively. "because i've never fallen for anyone, and i'm not planning to."

you hummed. "feelings change."

"not for me, they don't."

you continued staring at him, slowly folding your arms over your chest as a staring contest of sorts ensued between you and him.

bakugou then said, "you didn't answer me on what you would do, though."

"because i wouldn't do anything," you stated, flatly. "i may not be in love with you, but once we get married, you're my husband. if i do fall for someone — though it's unlikely — i'll have plenty of time to be with them after our divorce. it can wait."

"so can we add that to to the contract?"

"what?"

"no cheating," bakugou clarified, leaning in slightly towards the table, amusement disappearing from his face as his eyes grew serious. "we have to respect the marriage."

"that contradicts our 'stay out of each other's business' rule, though." you responded.

bakugou cocked an eyebrow and shrugged. "i'm not saying don't meet with guys or go on dates or have sex or whatever — i'm saying you shouldn't do anything to ruin my reputation or my family's. don’t let me find out if you do decide to get with anyone else. respect that, and i'll do the same with you."

you eyed him carefully, purple eyes flickering over his crimson ones as if you could see through them. and then you nodded. "okay, then."

Chapter Text

"thanks for driving me home," you said, unbuckling your seatbelt and reaching for the door handle. "i'll treat you to dinner next time."

"wait."

you paused before opening the door, glancing towards bakugou who sat in the driver's seat, his neck twisted around to he was looking at you. raising an eyebrow, you waited for him to continue speaking.

but you almost regretted waiting, because his words made your heart skip a beat in your chest.

"i think you should meet my friends before the wedding."

"why?" you asked, trying to mask your genuine nervousness with curiosity as your hand fell from the handle into your lap. now fully turning towards him, you wondered why he wouldve brought this up so suddenly.

bakugou pursed his lips slightly in contemplation before admitting, "they think this is real."

your eyes widened in surprise at that; if anything, you had thought bakugou would make it very, very clear to his friends that none of this was real and it was going to end after a year — but he hadn't. you wondered why he kept it from them.

"why don't you tell them the truth?"

"that's none of your business," he said rudely, turning away to stare at the empty road ahead of him. "but i wanna properly... introduce you to them."

the way he said it was sweet, and the sentiment behind it made a frown come to your face due to the fact that you hadn't thought of it before him. of course, you should introduce your friends to your fiance, too — it made perfect sense.

"do your friends know about our arrangement?"

"only one," you answered, scratching the back of your neck as you thought over what bakugou said. "but you're right. we can arrange a get together or something — a party with your friends and mine."

he furrowed his brows in distaste. "a party? i was thinkin' we get dinner, or something—"

"i've always wanted to throw a party," you admitted shyly, glancing out the window to avoid showing him your flushed face and excited, flickering eyes. "like an actual one, with music and drinks and everything."

he looked in your direction, but couldn't make out your face — although the red on your ears and neck was very visible. tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, he thought about the whole plan and how it was so... unlike him.

"of course, we don't have to!" you quickly said, swivelling your head back around to make eye contact with the blond man. "actually— you're right, i think dinner would work out better—"

"i'll find a place and book it for this friday." bakugou said roughly, already pulling his phone out of his pocket to set a reminder for himself. "my friends wanted a party too, so it works out. two birds with one stone."

when bakugou looked back up at you after not receiving a reply, he was startled to see the bright grin that was plastered on your face.

he had seen you smile a million times — in fact, it was extremely rare for you to not be smiling — but none of them had ever been as genuine or authentic as the one you were showing him right now.

"thank you."

unsure how to respond, the blond simply muttered, "whatever."

"oh, also, before i forget," you began, turning your phone on and tapping on the screen before holding it out to your fiancé in the driver's seat. "your number, so we can keep in contact."

his crimson gaze flickered between you and the phone for a moment, before he ultimately snatched the device away and entered his phone number into it, casually tossing it back to you after he was done. "there. now get out and go to bed, it's past midnight."

with a smile, you opened the car door and stepped out, calling out, "goodnight, bakugou!"

when the door slammed shut, bakugou waited until you disappeared into the massive apartment complex building before speeding off in the direction of his own home.

-

1:11am
bakugou katsuki

you
save my number!

bakugou katsuki
who's this

you
are you serious...

bakugou katsuki
i'm fuckin w you
i found a place
sent a link!
let me know what decor u want so i can get that arranged

you
okay!
also
my mom just called me
they've set a date

bakugou katsuki
oh
when

you
in two weeks, the 25th
they're really speed running this whole wedding thing

bakugou katsuki
crazy
alr well
see ya friday

you
gn!

Chapter Text

"there's the gorgeous bride!!!" shoko exclaimed, the moment she walked into the bar — that bakugou had completely rented out for the night — and saw you, her arms embracing you in a tight hug. "you look stunning, y/n!!!"

"hi, shoko!" you grinned, squeezing her back as you glanced around her and saw all your other friends enter as well, looking around the place in awe and muttering amongst themselves.

you and bakugou had arrived at the bar an hour or so ago, just to make sure everything was set up properly, only for you to absolutely enthralled when you saw how beautifully they had set up the place.

ambient purple, pink and blue lighting flooded the room, giving an ethereal, galactic vibe to the whole place. string lights were hung up around the bar, with sets of gorgeous flowers strung up all around the place to make it look as elegant as possible. there were dessert stands filled with cupcakes, cookies, tarts and pastries of all sorts, along with drink carts spread around the place. bowls with appetisers and snacks were stacked on each and every table, and the bartender, who was already behind the counter mixing up drinks, had arranged the alcohol display so the drinks were all colour coordinated — pinks, blues, and purples.

when you asked bakugou why those had been the main colours chosen, he looked at you blankly and said, "i thought that was your whole vibe."

he wasn't wrong, but it surprised you that he was able to consider that.

"y/n, you absolute bitch!!!" akemi screamed, jumping over to tackle you in a bear hug that was practically suffocating. "i go to france for a shoot and come back to my best friend getting married??!!!!! are you SERIOUS?!!!"

you hugged her back, inhaling her signature sweet, strawberry scent. "sorry, akemi, i meant to tell you earlier but—"

"i don't care about any of that stuff!!" she interrupted, letting go of you to hold your shoulders and stare at you lovingly, her brown eyes filling with warmth and tears as she breathed out, "i'm just so happy for you!!!"

your gaze softened at that, hands moving to hold her as you mumbled, "thank you. i'm so happy you came."

you met kobayashi akemi when the both of you were 16 years old and modelling for a very small, up and coming clothing brand.

her image was bubbly, cute and innocent — what with her curly, long light blonde hair, small build and big eyes — while yours was almost the complete opposite; dark, sultry and mature. still, though, those differences never stopped the two of you from getting along. you had been best friends since the day you met, and she had been one of the biggest pillars of support throughout your life.

"geez, lemme get a hug in on the bride-to-be, too."

when akemi moved out of the way, your gaze landed on haruhi, whose eyes immediately turned into crescents as she smiled at you. "you're glowing, babe."

"haruhi, you made it!" you said brightly, hugging her as tightly as you could — the woman chuckled and hugged you back casually, her tone soft as she admitted, "i'm just happy i was invited; who knew you'd end up tying the knot?"

"crazy, isn't it?" you sighed and released her, to which your friend nodded. "insane."

fujita haruhi was older than you by a good three years. she was tall and feminine, with short dark hair, deeply set chocolate eyes and tan skin that gave her the look of a foreigner; but her beauty did not mean she was a model a— no, haruhi was an actress, and a damn good one at that.

"where the hell is she?!"

you cringed at the loud voice, looking at haruhi with a terrified expression as you whispered, "save me."

haruhi shrugged and stepped away, throwing her hands up in surrender. "none of my business, sadly."

"Y/N, WHAT THE FUCK?!" kishimoto kenji shouted, running over to you from across the room to throw his arm around your shoulders and exclaim, "YOU'RE TYING THE KNOT?!!!"

"KENJI, MY HAIR!" you screamed with a groan, shoving the taller boy away by his chest — but all he did was hold you tighter and glare at you sharply, a crazed smile on his unnaturally handsome face as he said, "i'm actually gonna kill you."

"you can do that without ruining my entire look for tonight!" you grumbled, pinching him by his ear and grinning in triumph when that made him yelp and release you.

he stood to his full height besides you, whacking your hand away from him as he said, "you deserve it for not telling ANY OF US about this!"

kenji, shoko and you had been friends ever since you were children. you grew close as neighbours, went to the same schools, graduated together, and got into modelling together as well. all of you were majorly successful, with kenji recently becoming the brand ambassador for louis vuitton and shoko and you both getting spots at paris fashion week in a few months. these two were your ride and dies, basically your siblings, so you understood why kenji was so upset that he'd been left out of the loop.

he was tall, had a head of messy dark hair, and sharp, handsome features that made any girl swoon. that, combined with his amazing physique, made him one of, if not the most popular male models in japan.

"i'm sorry, it was a really sudden thing," you admitted, patting him on the arm. "but i'm really glad you made it."

"we'll continue this conversation later. as for right now," kenji's glare softened, his mother curling into a smile as he wrapped his arms around you lovingly and continued, "congrats, y/n."

your own expression softened at his words. "thanks."

all of a sudden, kenji was shoved away from you roughly, and a new man appeared, all messy brown hair, glasses, and an annoyed glare in his eyes as he said, "piss off, man, let me say hi to her too!"

"minato!" you grinned, jumping up to give him a hug.

yoshida minato was, like kenji, extremely attractive, though in a different way. while kenji had that bad boy, daredevil look, minato was more of an intellectual; and that made sense, since the man wrote screenplays for major films and television shows. even though he was amazing at his craft, it was his handsome looks that really made him stand out and garnered him such an extensive female fanbase.

and coincidentally, you also went to highschool with him.

"you're hugging me right now," minato began, yanking you away from him by your shoulders as he glared at you in annoyance, "when you've been keeping such a massive thing a secret from me?!"

you winced at his tone, letting out a nervous laugh. "well, you see, that's a long story in itself... but i'm glad you could make it!!!"

his eyes darted over your face for a moment, and you watched as the anger in his expression turned into a soft look of love within instants. defeated, he dropped his shoulders and sighed, ruffling your hair affectionately. "congratulations, y/n. i'm happy for you."

a wide grin split your face in half at his words.

and then kenji reappeared besides him, glancing around with furrowed brows as he asked, "so, where's the handsome groom?"

"right here."

bakugou appeared next to you, dressed in a black suit with the top two buttons undone. he didn't bother with a tie — he assumed this wasn't much of a formal thing in the first place — and had even chosen to wear sneakers instead of dress shoes.

he hadn't planned to match with you, but it certainly appeared that way with the short, black dress you had worn. it was cut on the sides to expose your waist and dipped down to reveal some of your cleavage, though not too much. on your feet you wore heeled boots, and you hair flowed loosely down your back.

bakugou had left to talk to the DJ about the music choices for the event, and when he returned, he saw that you were surrounded by people he had never seen before; your friends, presumably.

and most of them were somewhat familiar faces.

"what the hell?!" kenji exclaimed in shock, pointing at bakugou with pure awe as he asked, "aren't you... dynamight?!"

bakugou stood up the slightest bit taller, one of his hands casually tucked into the pocket of his formal pants. "i am, yeah—"

"no fucking way, dude!" kenji yelled, reaching out to dap bakugou up in a friendly way and give him a half-hug. the blond boy reciprocated, but stiffened at the sudden skinship and affection. however, kenji was completely oblivious to this and he continued, excitedly, "congratulations, bro, this is so sick!! i'm kenji, by the way!!"

bakugou's face relaxed in recognition. the guy from the dating rumours. "i'm bakugou katsuki—"

"of course we know who you are, silly!" akemi chirpily chimed, hitting bakugou on his back in a friendly manner. "you're famous!!!"

he raised an eyebrow at the short girl and said, "i wouldn't say all of you are far from it, either."

akemi giggled. "that's true! i'm akemi, by the way— y/n's friend!"

bakugou hummed in response, turning away from her to look at all the others.

haruhi was the next to hold a hand out in a civilised way and say, "nice to meet you, hero. my name is haruhi.”

after a moment of hesitation, bakugou shook her hand, his brows tensing in surprise when he felt how strong her grip actually was. he met her gaze with a fiery one of his own and stated, "nice to meet you, too."

"hello," shoko said next, after haruhi had dropped his hand and stepped away. she eyed bakugou differently though, he noticed, as if her eyes were assessing him in a judgmental way — but that look disappeared all too soon and she smiled brightly. "i'm shoko, y/n's maid of honor and best friend! it's nice to finally meet the man that stole her heart!"

you awkwardly laughed at that, deciding to punch shoko for making things tense later — you knew she was messing around, but bakugou didn't seem like the type to take jokes lightly.

but, to your surprise, the man simply cracked an amused smile. "its nice to finally meet you too."

his tone only created more tension in the air, and all you could do was hurriedly point at minato and say, "this is—"

"yoshida minato, great to meet you," the man said, sticking his hand out for a friendly handshake. even though he didn't outwardly smile, his expression was soft and welcoming. "please take good care of y/n."

bakugou took his hand and gave it a firm shake, cocking an eyebrow at his strange request. "of course i will."

after some of the tension in the room had been eased and the awkward introductions were over, you tapped bakugou on his arm to get his attention.

the music had started blaring over the speakers — that, mixed with the loud conversations your friends were having made it difficult for you to properly communicate with him.

his gaze met yours and he leaned down, aligning his ear to be at level with your face before he asked, "what?"

"when are your friends getting here?"

"probably soon," he replied, glancing down at his watch to check the time. "it's just gonna get louder in here."

you hummed at that, glancing down at your left hand with a relieved sigh. "i'm glad we decided to buy rings before this... it's weird for an engaged couple to not be wearing any."

bakugou stared at the silver band that wrapped around his left ring finger, yet he didn't have much of an expression on his face. the item felt foreign to him; he never expected to even have a girlfriend, let alone a fiancé or a wife. all he could do was watch the piece of jewellery blankly, deciding that he would have to get used to it.

"bakugou!"

your voice in his ear snapped him out of the daze he was in, and he tore his eyes away from the ring to send you an irritated frown. "i told you not to call me that in front of everyone."

but you weren't looking at him — instead, your eyes were set on the bar doors that have swung open and the bodies that had entered. "yeah, katsuki, whatever — your friends are here."

bakugou followed your line of sight to see the rush of heroes that entered the venue, cheering and screaming with excitement as they called out his name.

he sighed. this is gonna be a really long night.

"BAKUGOU KATSUKI, YOU CHEEKY BASTARD!" ashido mina screamed, tackling the blond male in a hug with a grin that was splitting her face in half. "HOW COULD YOU HAVE HIDDEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS FROM ME, OF ALL PEOPLE—"

"get off of me, raccoon eyes!!!" he screeched, arms awkwardly grabbing at her arms to push her away from him — but her grip only seemed to get tighter, so he eventually gave up and groaned. "i just couldn't find the right time to tell you—"

"who cares about that now anyway?!!!!" mina exclaimed, finally shoving off of him as she swerved her head around curiously. "where's the unlucky girl—"

when her gaze landed on you, she fell silent, lips parted and eyes wide. it was as if she couldn't hear anything anymore — not the sound of the music, the sounds of bakugou being greeted by all his other friends, nothing. all she was focused on was you, standing a few feet in front of her, with a confused smile plastered on your face.

but mina didn't acknowledge you.

instead, she leaned towards bakugou and whispered, "...is she real?"

he rolled his eyes, having expected this much of a reaction from his fangirl best friend, "of course she is, and you're being rude by staring like that."

"woah what?" jirou questioned, having already met bakugou and offered her congratulations, her gaze now landing on you. "is that—"

"wait." mina stated, grabbing the purple haired girl by the arm to stabilise herself from completely falling over. then, she slowly turned to make eye contact with bakugou and asked, "you're getting married... to her?"

he tried to ignore the heat and embarrassment that consumed his entire being. "you're making this fucking weird."

"oh my god, he is!" jirou exclaimed, slapping a hand over her flabbergasted mouth as her gaze finally travelled over all the other people in the room; more specifically, the celebrities, and she gasped even louder. "this isn't real."

mina could not believe any of this; her idol, a model she had adored ever since she graduated UA was standing right in front of her, live and in the flesh — not only that, but one of her best friends would be marrying her. this wasn't a small thing; mina was afraid she would pass out. "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—"

you recognised what was happening; it was a common reaction from fans when they met you, but this was a whole other level. she clearly liked you a lot, if she was rendered speechless at your presence.

deciding to approach her, you smiled and greeted, "hi, it's so nice to meet you. my name is—"

"l/n y/n, yes, i'm aware," she squeaked, her voice sounding foreign in her throat. "i'm—"

"pinky, right? ashido mina?" you interrupted, recognising her from broadcasts and the news. you also knew that she did some modelling on the side as well — she was a very diverse hero who was interested in all things fashion and beauty. "i'm a huge fan."

mina winced, tears filling her eyes as she admitted, "i'm gonna start sobbing."

and then, before you could even answer, the girl spread her arms out and jumped on you, embracing you in the warmth of her hug. she smelled like victoria's secret and chocolate chip cookies; homely, sweet and seductive at the same time. without giving you much time to react, she began, "this is actually the best day of my entire fucking life—!!!! you're marrying bakugou??!!!! OUR bakugou???!!!!"

"that i am," you chuckled, returning the hug — you were glad she took so kindly to you, but it was simply because she was a fan. you didn't know how any of bakugou's other hero friends would react to you.

"MINA, I WANNA SAY HI TOO!!" jirou yelled, shaving the pink girl away as she grinned at you and held your hands in hers, twinkling eyes meeting yours. "you're so gorgeous, and i've followed you ever since your first shoot!"

"thank you so much!" you smiled gratefully, recognising the woman with the earlobes, too. "jirou kyoka, right? your quirk is really cool!"

"you know me?!"

once again, you couldn't really respond before she was thrown to the side, and another man appeared in front of you. he had a head of golden hair — and of course, you recognised him. he was one of the very few heroes you found extremely attractive.

"you are much prettier in person, i must say!" kaminari sweetly said, winking at you flirtatiously before grabbing your hand and shaking it. "i'm kaminari denki — though you may know me as—"

"chargebolt, yes," you giggled, recognising his energy to be exactly the same as how it was depicted on television and in social media. "it's an honour."

the next people to greet you were kirishima and sero — while they did so, mina and jirou screamed in shock at the rest of the people at the party.

"YOURE KENJI!" mina yelled, to the dark haired man who was grateful to finally have some of the attention fall on him. he ran his fingers through his hair obnoxiously and said, "don't worry, ladies, i'll take as many pictures as you want—"

"i love your dresses!" akemi interrupted, shoving him to the side as she too, greeted mina and jirou — their jaws dropped when they recognised her as well. it felt as if they had entered a walking vogue japan catalogue.

“i didn't know there'd be so many pros around!" shoko chuckled, stepping forward to introduce herself as well. "my name's shoko, it's nice to meet you guys—"

mina and jirou squealed — that was it. their only reaction.

todoroki and deku stood by bakugou, waiting for kirishima, sero and kaminari to stop harassing you before they could greet you as well. in the meantime, the dual haired boy was staring at his blond friend's face with curiosity as he began, "so... is this all a sham or are you seriously getting married?"

"come on, todoroki, it's clearly real!" midoriya exclaimed, yanking bakugou's left hand up to flaunt it in his disbelieving friend's face. "look, kacchan even has a ring on—!"

"don't touch me!" he yanked his hand away, rolling his eyes as if annoyed with his friends' antics — though he did acknowledge that todoroki was definitely suspicious of the whole thing. "it's clearly real, icyhot. she's standing right there."

todoroki hummed. "never thought you'd tie the knot with a celebrity, of all people."

"she's beautiful, kacchan!" midoriya added, grinning brightly, "i'm happy for you!"

bakugou sighed.

Chapter Text

"can i see your quirk in real time?!"

"sure," todoroki shrugged, bringing his right hand up to form an icicle at the tip of his finger. he then broke it off, and handed it to the girl who had asked.

akemi's eyes were wide with wonder as she held the bit of ice, smiling widely. "that's so freaking cool!!!"

"dude, you're so awesome!" kenji exclaimed, poking kirishima's hardened fist with an expression filled with delight and enthusiasm.

"thanks!"

"oh my god, i saw you on tv the other day!" kaminari yelled, pointing at haruhi in shock and excitement, "in that movie!"

haruhi grinned at the fact that he recognised her, and she quickly realised that these heroes were much different to their social media personas. "really? did you like it?"

"i loved it!!"

"can we please take a picture with you?" mina asked, practically bouncing on the shores of her feet with her phone gripped tightly in her hand as jirou nodded besides her, the two of them appearing exactly like children who had just met their idols.

shoko giggled at their cuteness and nodded. "of course you can!"

"you're deku, right? midoriya izuku?"

midoriya stiffened at the fact that you had recognised him, his hand awkwardly going to rub the back of his neck. "yeah! it's great to meet you!"

"you too!" you smiled, eyes scanning his face; one thing was for sure, all these heroes were goddamn beautiful. even though you were in the modelling industry — which meant that you were surrounded by gorgeous people every single day — these people could give even the highest paying models a run for their money. their bone structure, physiques, everything; you felt like a scout, the way you were analysing every single one of them. "i saw you on the news recently. that takedown was really cool!"

"what, really?!" midoriya squeaked, his face immediately warming up in embarrassment; of course, he was intimidated by you. even though he didn't know much about celebrities and pop culture, he recognised your face from billboards and posters. to have someone that famous — and who was engaged to bakugou — acknowledge him felt really good. "thank you so much!"

"no problem," you smiled. "i also read somewhere that you're a film fanatic?"

midoriya was surprised you knew that. "uh— yeah—"

"great! i have someone to introduce you to, then—"

the green haired man panicked at that, thinking you were going to introduce him to an actor or something; he didn't know anything about actors! he was more interested in the filmmaking process! “wait— i don't—"

grabbing minato's arm, you yanked him towards you and midoriya and grinned. "here he is!"

he wanted to scream, because he couldn't recognise him! WHO IS THIS GUY?!

and then you said, "this is yoshida minato. minato, meet izuku midoriya!"

minato held a hand out politely for a handshake. "it's nice to meet y—"

"WHAT!" midoriya screamed, hands flying up in shock as he processed what you had just told him. "YOU'RE... YOSHIDA MINATO?? THE SCREENWRITER?!"

the brown haired man smiled at being recognised. "yes, i am—"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" he interrupted, grabbing his hand with both of his and violently shaking it up and down, eyes sparkling in delight. "i'm a huge fan of your work!!!"

when they began talking, you slowly slipped away, grateful to see that everybody was getting along and having casual conversation. you didn't really think it would be awkward, since most of your friends were social butterflies, but there were underlying intentions behind you trying so hard.

for some reason, you wanted them to like each other.

and it was weird.

"hey."

you turned to look up in surprise, seeing bakugou standing right next to you. he casually sipped a drink and had the other hand tucked in his pocket, as he watched midoriya and minato converse; of course, he had heard the entire conversation leading up to you introducing them to each other.

you frowned. "why aren't you mingling with everyone?"

"you know an awful lot about my friends, don't you?"

your shoulders turned rigid at that, eyes going wide like a deer in headlights. still, you chuckled and looked away from him, no longer holding eye contact. "what do you mean? it's mostly just public knowledge—"

"i can count on one hand the amount of times izuku said he likes films — even better, one finger." he flatly said, bringing his glass up to take another sip.

there wasn't really much you could do or say to argue with that; yes, he had only mentioned it once in an interview a few years ago; but obviously you knew that. "is it so wrong that i did my research?"

bakugou glanced down at you when you finally admitted to it. "not really. my only question is why."

"because," you started, smiling when mina looked your way and sent you a friendly wave. "i wanted them to like me."

bakugou's eyebrows tensed at that, his hand tightening around the glass he held. then he leaned down, until his mouth was aligned with your ear, and muttered, "why put so much effort into something that's bound to end?"

"this isn't about that," you said calmly, turning so your face was now a mere breath away from his; still, he didn't make an effort to lean away, only held firm eye contact with you and waited for you to continue. "it's so that when it does end, they remember the good things."

for some reason, he couldn't really find the correct way to respond to that.

and he didn’t need to, because you had walked off in the direction of the stage at the very front of the bar, having decided to do a small speech.

"can i get everyone's attention?"

the music grew quieter but didn't turn off as the sound of your voice echoed throughout the bar. you were standing on the platform with a mic held up to your face, right next to the DJ's booth, a grateful smile playing at your lips. it didn't take long for everyone to quiet down and look in your direction with curiosity.

bakugou took a sip of his drink, watching you carefully.

"i'm so grateful to all of you for coming," you said warmly, holding your glass of champagne to your chest as your eyes passed over everybody in the crowd on the dance floor. "i know this was all very short notice, and it may have come as a shock to you, but either way, your attendance and support means the world to me and katsuki."

bakugou tried to stop himself from cringing at that. well, at least she said my name right.

"there's all sorts of food and drinks," you began, gesturing towards the bar and the assortment of snacks, "so please, enjoy yourself to the fullest!!"

sero elbowed bakugou in the gut, a teasing smile present on his face as he mumbled, "i see why you kept her a secret."

bakugou sent his friend a glare in response to the elbowing, but turned back towards the platform to see that your friend — shoko — had now climbed up besides you and snatched the mic away, all whilst pushing for you to get back down to the dance floor. taking another sip, the blond man asked, "why's that?"

"look at her!" sero snorted, "she's a catch!"

the reason bakugou didn't respond was because he didn't agree nor disagree; in fact, he didn't even think he had a solid opinion on you.

when he had been alone in his bed at night, after agreeing to doing this whole thing with you, all he could think about was how absurd the situation was. a man who didn't care about romance, putting up the greatest facade of his life in front of friends and family just to make things a bit easier for himself? when the arranged marriage was first pitched to him by his parents, all he had done was roll his eyes and play it off as some unfunny joke.

but it wasn't a joke anymore.

there would be another woman living with him soon — and a model, at that — who was tied to him in the face of the law. you would legally be his wife, his emergency contacts, the face he would come home to every night instead of the peaceful silence of his apartment. it was jarring and sounded awful; this was something straight out of bakugou katsuki's worst nightmare.

were you thinking of it the same way?

"hello, hello! before you all start partying, i'd like to say something!" shoko exclaimed, her voice much louder and chirpier in comparison to yours. she was smiling widely — even though her eyes were blinking away tears — and her gaze refused to linger on one person for more than a few seconds. "when y/n came to me suddenly and told me she was getting married, i thought the whole thing was just a joke - and i'm sure you guys must have felt the same way with bakugou."

chuckles of agreement and acknowledgment passed through the crowd, and she continued.

"but no matter how sudden it was, i could tell that this was something she had agonised over and thought through for weeks before she came to this conclusion," she said, smile faltering slightly as her eyes locked with yours. "and as her best friend, i have faith in every decision she makes."

'aww's resounded throughout the room, and you couldn't help but place a hand on your chest, feeling warmth bloom throughout you at your friend's kind words. you knew she wasn't talking about your actual marriage; she was referring to the decision you had made to accept this deal for a year — and this was her way of showing you that she supported you 100%.

"bakugou!" shoko called out, earning the blond's attention. he raised his brows questioningly, and she pointed at him in an accusatory manner before shouting, "if you hurt y/n, not even the hero commission can save you from me!"

everyone laughed at that; all bakugou did was snort and roll his eyes, her threat not carrying much weight to him.

with a sigh, shoko continued, "before we get back to the party, i would like to remind everyone that we're keeping this whole thing under wraps, so we'd prefer it if no pictures or videos were posted from today's event. now let's get wasted!!"

cheers and applause rang throughout the bar, with everyone appreciating shoko's sweet gesture towards her best friend. you, of all people, were extremely grateful, to the point of tackling her in a hug the moment she descended from the platform.

"thank you," you whispered into her hair, and as she hugged you back, she replied, "i'm always in your corner."

Chapter Text

"what are you sayyyyinggg~" you slurred, cheeks flushed and body unstable as you leaned on mina, who was equally as drunk as you. "i looked horrible~~"

"no!" mina insisted, sniffling as she downed another shot and wrapped one of her arms around your shoulders to stabilise both you and herself. "you looked so hot!"

all of a sudden, akemi lunged at the two of you from behind, her arms draped over each of your shoulders and head appearing between yours as she shouted, drunkenly, "this stuff tastes delicious!!!"

everything had descended to utter chaos within hours.

kaminari, sero and kenji had their shirts fully unbuttoned as they screamed and danced on the dance floor, holding bottles of alcohol as they did so — the lightning quirked joy kept dragging kirishima over, only to groan in frustration when the redhead kept getting dizzy and slumping over every fifteen seconds.

minato, midoriya, bakugou, todoroki and haruhi were probably the most sober out of everyone in the gathering.

haruhi had her arm wrapped around jirou as she helped her to the bathroom, guessing that the girl was about to throw up soon — meanwhile minato and midoriya were calmly sat at a table, talking about all things films and heroes. bakugou, who had been silently listening to their conversation, was snapped out of his daze when he heard his name being called.

shoko appeared next to him, one finger placed inside her ear to drown out the music while the other tightly clutched her phone. "i think you should take y/n home!"

furrowing his brows, bakugou walked over to the bar, where it was relatively quieter, and gestured for her to follow. "why, what's up?"

"her mom called," shoko explained, mouth twisting into a frown. "she has a shoot tomorrow, and it's almost 3am—"

bakugou quickly interrupted, "i can't leave without making sure everyone else gets home first—"

"don't worry," she replied, waving his concerns off, "minato and i will wrap everything up here, just take her home. you know her address, right?"

bakugou nodded, his gaze moving over to you as he noticed you giggling wildly and shouting at mina and akemi, wobbling on your feet as you struggled to even hold yourself up. realising you might be fully incapacitated soon, he sighed and asked, "y'know her apartment number?"

"penthouse," shoko answered. "passcode is 0247. now go!"

-

"why are we leaviiinnnggg~" you whined, fighting against bakugou's grip as he dragged you out of the bar. you pouted, staring back at the closed doors longingly as he pulled you towards his car. "they're still having fun—!"

"stop fighting me, you need to get home." he flatly said, only to wince when he felt you yank your arm out of his grip.

now free, you kicked your heels off and spun around, excitedly squealing, "guys i'm coming back!!!"

"no you aren't!!!" bakugou yelled, immediately appearing in front of you and casually throwing you over his shoulder with one arm, as if you weighed nothing. "don't make this hard for me, purple, i have work tomorrow morning—"

"let me gooooo~~" you slurred, hitting your fists against his back in hopes that he would drop you; but of course, he didn't. all bakugou did was use his free hand to fish his keys out of his pocket and unlock his car, calmly pulling the passenger door open before replying, "you're a horrible fucking lightweight, y'know that?"

before doing anything else, he leaned down and grabbed your heels off of the ground, tossing them inside his car; then, with one swift motion, he leaned forwards and plopped you into the passenger seat, quickly slamming the door shut so you wouldn't find a way to get out.

a few seconds later, he was in the driver's seat with the door shut, leaning over you to grab your seatbelt; but you were making his job extremely difficult, because you wouldn't stop shoving and hitting him like a toddler. "stop it, i wanna partyyy!!!"

"damn it!!" bakugou finally snapped in frustration, holding both your wrists tightly, his face mere inches away from yours. he was losing his cool; all he wanted was to go to bed and dream of beating villains up, but instead he was being forced to do something akin to babysitting. "stop fighting me, you're being really annoying!!"

for some strange reason, you obeyed, now instead choosing to glare at him intensely with your bottom lip jutted out in irritation. "and you're being mean."

shifting both your wrists to his right hand, he leaned over and quickly yanked the seatbelt over your body before securing it in place. now satisfied, he released you and shifted back into his seat. "call me whatever you want, i don't give a shit."

you huffed out an annoyed breath, leaning away from him and resting your head against the window. "you're a meanie."

once bakugou had put his seatbelt on, he rolled his eyes and twisted the key in ignition. "and you're a real pain in the ass."

it took you approximately five minutes in the car to sober up, if only in the slightest.

"maybe i shouldn't have gotten so drunk."

"glad to see you're coming to your senses now," bakugou muttered, turning the steering wheel as he rounded another corner. the roads were dark and quiet, and the car had been too — before he had noticed that your excitement had died down and you were slouching now, your feet resting on the seat and knees pulled to your chest as you rested your chin against them.

still staring outside the window, you tried to stop yourself from swaying side to side, mind a foggy mess as you mumbled, "my head hurts."

bakugou didn't reply, unsure what to say — all he knew was that if it hurt now, it would be a lot more painful in the morning after you woke up.

it was silent for a while again, the blond man contemplating over the events of the night while you simply sniffled and stared outside blankly, cheek now pressed against your knees. nobody said anything, not even you, and bakugou wondered why they had picked a bar so far away from your apartment.

"did my mom call?"

bakugou was surprised at the question, but he nodded. "she called your friend."

you frowned. "she's probably so mad."

"for getting drunk?" bakugou snorted, absentmindedly driving without paying much attention to the conversation you were having. "you're 22, i don't think it's any of her business when you decide to drink alcohol."

"it is," you sighed, closing your eyes and trying to make the pounding pain in your head stop. "because she says i shouldn't do anything— like, to ruin my body."

bakugou furrowed his brows in confusion, now pulling up in front of your building. as he stopped the car, he asked, "why?"

"because," you yawned. "my body is an asset."

he pondered over that for a moment, trying to make sense of your statement in his mind; when he realised that he was just wasting more time, he sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt before stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut.

when he came over to the passenger's side and opened the door, he rolled his eyes in irritation to see that you had fallen completely asleep.

"oi," he said, shaking your shoulder. "wake the fuck up, you're almost home!"

you stirred, but refused to open your eyes.

bakugou grunted.

he knew being married would be a pain, but he didn't realise you'd be this annoying even before the papers were signed.

reaching over, he unbuckled your seatbelt in a rush and fumbled to lift you up in his arms, kicking the door shut behind him. the man, with a horribly angry expression on his face, then trudged into the building where he saw a receptionist — the woman glanced up, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw the scene in front of her.

bakugou approached one of the three elevators and called out, tone laced with frustration, "yo, you mind clicking the button for me?"

she immediately jumped up and rushed towards him, pressing the button. "yes of course! is miss y/n okay—"

"she's fine." bakugou grumbled in reply, tapping his foot impatiently against the ground as he waited for the elevator to come. the moment the doors opened and he entered, he shifted you slightly, using the hand underneath your knees to click the button for the top floor with just the tip of his finger, and then enter your passcode quickly.

when the doors closed, the receptionist almost squealed in shock. MISS Y/N HAS A BOYFRIEND?!

bakugou continued to tap — no, stomp — his foot against the ground, watching the floor number increase as the elevator went higher and higher. the man refused to look down at your face, even when he felt your face press against his chest and some unintelligible words tumbled out of your mouth.

finally, after what felt like hours, the elevator stopped and the doors dinged open, revealing your grand living room.

your apartment was dark and quiet, but he did not have the energy to look for a light switch. instead, all he did was walk aimlessly past the living room and kitchen until he found a hallway, one that broke into four different doors.

deciding that it would be a game of guessing, bakugou groaned and kicked the first door open, only to huff out an irritated breath when he saw that it was a bathroom.

the next door, however, was a success.

it opened up into a large master bedroom, decorated in a minimalistic style with a king sized bed, a messy vanity dresser, side tables, a desk stacked with books and a computer, and another two doors in the back that he assumed led to your  closet and bathroom.

with a sigh, he walked over to the bed and dumped you onto it, not caring about being gentle or helping you change out of the clothes.

he rolled his shoulders back in relief, taking one last look around the room before his eyes landed on your side table.

raising an eyebrow, the boy analysed the amount of pill bottles you had laid out on it, along with a picture frame.

he definitely was curious about the medication, but his brows furrowed more when he saw that the picture frame held a photograph of you and another boy within it.

you looked much younger, maybe in your teenage years, and the boy looked to be around the same age. he was tall with a head of fluffy, black hair and a bright smile as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you in close to him. bakugou did not recognise this to be kenji — but the blush on your face definitely made it seem like you had some history with the male.

deciding he couldn't really care less, bakugou glanced at your sleeping form one last time, and then turned and walked right out.

Chapter Text

"the hell do you want, hag?"

"don't be so rude!!” mitsuki screamed over the phone, her voice irritated and bordering on impatient. “where are you right now, katsuki?!”

bakugou sauntered over to his desk and slumped against the chair, having changed out of his hero costume and wearing simply a shirt and sweatpants. grabbing a protein bar from his table, he responded, "on my break. why?"

"the invitations arrived today," mitsuki explained, "i need you to go mail them out to everyone."

bakugou wanted to blow his phone up. "do it your damn self!!!"

"they're at home on the living room table. get them mailed out before evening!!"

and then she hung up, making the blond stare at his phone with a clenched jaw and wide eyes.

then he groaned and stood up, grabbing his keys off of his table as he yelled, "WHEN CAN I CATCH A GODDAMN BREAK?!"

-

it didn't take long for bakugou to drive over to his parents house and unlock the front door.

it was a saturday, but he knew they were probably still at the company doing god knows what. shoko had mentioned you having a shoot today as well, but bakugou didn't think it was with his parents' company — they didn't do any actual work on weekends, more so just reorganising and designing with just the two of them and no staff.

he trudged over to the living room table and yanked the stack of cream coloured envelopes off of it, wanting this to be over as quick as possible so he could change back into his hero costume and kick some villain ass.

just when he turned around to head back out, his phone rang within the pocket of his sweats.

hoping it wasn't his mother, he exhaled a sigh of relief when he pulled it out and saw mina's name on the front — however, he realised another annoying situation may be coming, so he grunted before hitting the answer button and attaching the device to his hear. "what?! i'm in the middle of something!"

"bakugou! are you with y/n?" she asked, the sound of water coming from behind her which sounded like a running shower.

he furrowed his brows in confusion, heading towards the front door. "what?! no, i've got work and i'm doing something for the old hag—"

"oh," mina interrupted, sounding distressed. "well, y/n left her purse at the bar last night and i picked it up, thinking it was jirou's or something— her wallet and phone's in there, and it's been buzzing all morning with alarms and missed calls."

bakugou paused for a moment, realising that he should've double checked that you had all your belongings before leaving the bar. walking out the front door, he slammed it shut behind him and headed down the porch steps. "well, i don't fucking know where she is 'cause she had a shoot or something today—"

"just drop by my house and pick it up,” mina suggested, "and like... i don't mean to cause any problems, but the missed calls... they were all from some guy called—"

bakugou widened his eyes, quickly interrupting her, "shut the hell up. we'll talk about it when i get there. give me ten minutes."

"huh? oka—"

he hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, then let out an annoyed and frustrated groan as he walked around to the driver's seat of his car.

as he sat inside and turned the engine on, he pondered over the information his friend had just presented him with.

bakugou could not care less if you had another man in your life.

even though you had told him you didn't have a boyfriend, bakugou didn't really care if that had turned out to be a lie — he knew he wasn't emotionally invested in you or this marriage, so it meant nothing to him whether you decided to be with someone else or not.

however, bakugou knew that you were a celebrity with a public image to uphold, and you had your privacy, too. he didn't want mina to go around talking about something she had seen on your phone, because it would cause unnecessary drama and problems — and it would be even worse if his parents got involved somehow.

bakugou had been so deep in thought for the whole drive, he hadn't even realised when he arrived outside of mina's front door.

ringing the bell in a hurry, his brows jumped up when the door was pulled open instantly; there his pink friend stood, still in her pyjamas, her arms folded over her chest as she glared at him irritatedly. "you didn't have to hang up on me—"

"give me the bag," bakugou flatly commanded, holding a hand out impatiently.

mina simply rolled her eyes, turned around and walked into her apartment, allowing him to follow after her as she made a beeline for her living room. "why do you have the communication skills of a box of crayons—"

"i don't have time to argue with you, raccoon eyes," he grunted out, slamming the door shut behind him as he entered ed her living room as well. the pink girl grabbed a black, sparkly purse that sat on her coffee table and held it out to bakugou with a frown, whilst mumbling, "i definitely think you should ask y/n about—"

"that's none of your damn business," bakugou said defensively, snatching the bag out of her grip and spinning around, having achieved what he came there for. "don't mention what you saw on her phone to anyone, or i'll fuck you up—"

mina replied, "i'd definitely be concerned if a man was spam calling my fiancé at 4 in the morning, bakugou."

"but i'm not," he answered — because he truly did not care about any of this — and headed out of the living room. when hearing mina's footsteps behind him, he groaned and continued, "just drop it, it's not that big of a deal. they're probably just friends, or whatever."

"why aren't you taking this a bit more seriously—"

"because," bakugou said sharply, yanking the front door open and glancing at his friend over his shoulder. "it isn't serious."

mina frowned, maintaining eye contact with him. "well, if you say so— but you might regret not talking it out before you two are legally married."

"yeah right," bakugou rolled his eyes once again and twisted his head back around, stepping out of mina's apartment; however, a thought suddenly hit him when he was halfway outside, and he stopped with a pause, chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment in contemplation.

mina raised an eyebrow at his hesitation, jutting her hip out as she patiently waited for him to say whatever he was thinking.

deciding he had nothing to lose, bakugou slowly asked, "what does it mean if someone says their body is an asset?"

mina's face twisted in confusion as she mulled over his question for a moment; then, as if a realisation dawned over her, her eyebrows relaxed and she asked, "did y/n say that?"

bakugou did not turn around to look at her, or even bother giving her an answer.

mina, taking his silence as confirmation, frowned once again, her eyes flashing with pity. "well, she's a model. it makes sense that she would see her body as her most valuable characteristic — still, though, that's kinda sad."

"why is it sad?" he asked, looking over his shoulder once again with genuine curiosity.

"'cause," mina continued, solemnly, "that's probably what she's been taught."

bakugou furrowed his brows, waiting for her to elaborate.

"like," mina huffed out a breath, trying to formulate an explanation in her mind. "people aren't born thinking their body holds all their self worth — they learn it. from a young age, or from people they trusted."

bakugou was reminded of the sadness in your voice when you had mentioned your mother, and how upset she would've been that you had gotten drunk.

"and when that happens," she continued, eyes clouding with an emotion bakugou couldn't quite place. "they stop thinking about who they are beyond that... like if you aren't beautiful, what's left?"

he turned back around, but heard mina's soft voice when she concluded with, "i hope she knows she's more than that."

Chapter Text

after successfully mailing out all the invitations and doing a lot of unnecessary thinking, bakugou was standing in the elevator once again, heading up to your penthouse apartment.

he knew you might've had a shoot — that was what shoko had told him — but he didn't know the exact timings, and he didn't have a way of getting into contact with you when you didn't have your phone. deciding that he would just take the chance and go to your apartment, he had ended up here.

if you weren't there, he would just leave the bag on your couch and just walk out — if you were, he'd give you your bag and also walk out. it was really a no brainer.

as the elevator headed up, bakugou felt your purse vibrate.

sighing, he tried to ignore it; whoever was calling you was none of his business, why should he even bother looking?

after a moment, the ringing stopped, and he exhaled a believed breath... until it started vibrating again.

damn it!

deciding to just take one glance because his curiosity was getting the best of him, bakugou unzipped the bag and yanked your phone out, only for his brows to furrow when he saw an unfamiliar man's name flash across the screen.

bakugou slowly mumbled, "shota?"

again, the ringing abruptly stopped.

the phone returned to its home screen, and bakugou saw that the wallpaper was a serene picture of tokyo, captured from above at night — all the lights from buildings and vehicles were visible, and he guessed that it was right above shibuya. what caught his attention, though, aside from the wallpaper, was all the notifications from the same person; shota.

of course, they weren't all just from him — he saw familiar names too, like shoko, kenji, minato, and your mother. there were some female names sprinkled in there that he didn't recognise, but overall, there seemed to be an abundance of texts and calls from the same, unfamiliar man.

he turned the phone off and slid it back into the bag, zipping it up. well, none of my business.

as if right on time, the doors to the elevator opened with a ding, and your huge living room came into view.

bakugou found it quiet, but it was something he was grateful for; if you weren't home, that was the best possible scenario for him. he wasn't in the mood to make conversation with the irritating day he'd had — all he wanted was to drop this off, and go back out on patrol so he'd feel like he wasn't wasting a perfectly good work day.

entering the apartment, he decided to call out — for good measure and, just in case you were home — a short, "yo, purple!"

there was no response.

now that he wasn't seeing your apartment in daylight, it definitely seemed less grim. you had posters of movies and magazine covers you had been on hung up on walls, and your floor to ceiling windows had their curtains drawn, letting the noon daylight pour in. your grey couches were neat and didn't have a single crease on them, and the magazines on your coffee table were perfectly kept as well. not a single speak of dust was on anything, and bakugou could appreciate that — he hated a mess.

walking over to the table, he set your bag down on it with a thump and turned around, ready to head back out.

and that was when the door to your bedroom opened and you walked out, ruffling your hair as you stared at the ground, wearing nothing but a bath robe.

bakugou froze, his head twisted to the side to stare at you awkwardly.

when you glanced up, a horrified scream left your mouth and you jumped. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK—?!"

bakugou winced as well, responding with a shout of his own. "CALM YOUR ASS DOWN!!"

"oh my god!!" you exclaimed, once you had calmed down — you clutched your palms to your chest and breathed in and out, staring at him, dumbfounded. trying to process what the hell he was doing here, you finally asked, "...how did you get inside?"

bakugou hated the fact that the picture being painted at the moment was of him being a creepy stalker freak — he hadn't done anything wrong. "i had your passcode — but i thought you weren't home—"

"that makes it worse!!" you replied, face practically a bright red as you pulled your bathrobe tighter around yourself. "you can't just walk into my apartment whenever you feel like it, asshole!!"

bakugou's entire body warmed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment at that, his hand going to the side to defensively point at the purse he had left on your table. "YOU LEFT YOUR DAMN BAG AT THE BAR SO I GOT IT BACK FROM RACCOON EYES!!! DID YOU NOT WANT YOUR PHONE BACK?!"

you winced at the loudness of his voice, harsh expression immediately softening when your gaze turned towards the coffee table. "oh... thanks. but still! you scared the shit out of me!"

bakugou rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest in a display of irritation. "i was just trying to help, but whatever."

you made a beeline for the table, feeling your heartbeat slow down and return to normal. grabbing the purse off of the table, you wanted to exhale a breath of pure relief at the fact that you had found it — when you had woken up to your mother's yelling and not your alarm, you had assumed you'd left your phone somewhere the night before, and decided to deal with it after your shoot was over. you had gotten home and hopped in the shower, ready to head out once you were done, but luckily for you, bakugou had brought it right to you.

unzipping it, you pulled your phone out and unlocked it, expression contorting into one of confusion as you saw all of the missed calls displayed on your screen.

"i'll get going then," bakugou said, turning back towards the elevator; he noticed the way your relieved expression immediately turned concerned when you saw your phone, which left him slightly curious — but he didn't pry. he didn't care enough to.

"wait." you called out, glancing up to meet his gaze with a frown. "i need to thank you somehow—"

"don't worry about it," bakugou said flatly, shoulders relaxing when the elevator doors opened. he entered casually, hands tucked into his pockets. "see ya."

Chapter Text

"this is much tighter than i realised."

"cmon, squeeze them cheeks in!" shoko exclaimed, yanking on the strings of your corset that tightened around your waist, to the point where you were positive you couldn't breathe at all. yelping, you replied, "i think that's enough!"

"ahhhhh, the day is finally here!" akemi screamed, running around the room excitedly with a bottle of wine in her hand. her hair and makeup was done, but she hadn't changed into her dress, much like the other bridesmaids. "you're getting married!"

"i'm getting suffocated at the moment, actually," you breathed out painfully, holding onto the wall in front of you for support as shoko laced up your corset and grinned, "it's okay, you only have to wear it for like, 12 hours."

"right."

"got the veil!" haruhi called out as she entered the hotel room, clad in jeans and a button down top with her makeup and hair perfectly done for the wedding ahead. she carried a dry cleaning bag in her hand, holding it up above her head so the bottom wouldn't drag on the floor. "wow, it is crazy loud in the grooms' section; those hero kids know how to party."

"tell me about it," you huffed out, blowing a piece of hair out of your face as you did so.

"i think it's even crazier that this whole hotel has been rented for the day," akemi said, finally falling onto the bed with a small bounce. "i've never heard of that happening, like ever!"

"to be fair, a pro hero and a model are getting married," shoko said, tying one final tight knot on your corset before sighing and stepping back, wiping a bead of sweat off of her forehead. "i'm sure they spared no expense."

"and they needed to make sure no one found out about this," haruhi interjected, opening the closets lined up in the back of the room to pull out three dry cleaning bags — the bridesmaids' dresses. gesturing for akemi to get up, she threw them onto the now empty bed and continued, "imagine other people at the hotel seeing something by accident — it would cause a lot of problems. all the staff were made to sign NDAs."

you stood up straight and moved in front of a floor length mirror, staring at your own appearance. your makeup was elegant, but you had specifically asked for sultry and dark eyes to make you appear older, and your hair had been left open in loose curls flowing all the way down to the small of your back. "unfortunately, we need to be cautious about this. i told mom we should've just done it in a smaller place, but no — her and the bakugous insisted on making it a big deal."

"their family is loaded," akemi commented, unzipping all the dresses and pulling them out of the bags.

they were all a lilac colour, albeit with different designs. haruhi's was long-sleeved and mature, flowing down all the way to her ankles and revealing the least skin possible. akemi's was the same length, but had a thigh-high slit in it, and short sleeves that fell off of her shoulders. shoko's had the most prominent differences — her dress trailed behind her like an elegant gown, with a sweetheart neckline and thin straps that acted as sleeves, though she had a similar colour shrug that she'd be draping over her arms and shoulders throughout the ceremony.

"where's y/n's dress?" haruhi asked, to which shoko disappeared into the bathroom. a moment later, she walked right back out, holding a huge bag in both of her arms that presumably had your dress inside.

"right," the maid of honour huffed, looking at the other women in the room. "let's get this show on the road."

-

"shouldn't you be panicking a bit more?!"

"why the hell should i?" bakugou exited the bathroom, his shirt loosely on with the top buttons undone, and not even tucked into his pants. he wore no blazer and no tie, instead simply lazily slouching on one of the hotel room chairs and taking his phone out of his pocket casually.

"you're fucking getting married!!!" kaminari yelled, yanking at his tie that felt like it was suffocating him — he huffed out a breath and turned towards kirishima and sero, who were both frowning at bakugou's nonchalance. "are you guys seeing this?!"

"bakubro," kirishima began, stomping over to his best friend and yanking the phone out of his hands. "focus."

"what the fuck?!" the blond exclaimed, only to scream when he felt kirishima yank him up by his arm and drag him in front of the floor length mirror in impatience. "stop manhandling me, dammit—!!"

"tuck your damn shirt in!!" kirishima yelled, although he didn't wait for bakugou to do much before stuffing his shirt into his pants himself, his expression morphed into an irritated one. "you're getting married, and you're laying here like it's another tuesday!!! lock the fuck in!!!"

"i am locked in!" he shouted in response, defensive all of a sudden — but his friends didn't give him a chance to say anything further, because sero had suddenly thrown a tie around his neck, and was now buttoning his shirt all the way up to his collar whilst yelling, "clearly not enough!!"

bakugou rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as his friends fixed him up for his 'big day'. he wasn't really bothered about his appearance or anything — all he cared about was getting this day over as soon as possible so he could forget it ever happened. he wasn't interested in making a spectacle out of an event that was running his happy, single life, and he didn't have the energy to pretend to.

"i wonder what all the girls are wearing!" kaminari said with a grin, having gown calm all of a sudden as he too, adjusted his blazer in one of the mirrors. "i bet y/n's wedding dress is gorgeous—"

"we should be more worried about the fact that there's half an hour left for the ceremony and our groom here hasn't even put his socks on," sero said with a roll of his eyes, having finally fixed bakugou's tie. heading towards a bag, he yanked a pair of socks out and threw them at the ash blond's head. "focus up!"

"don't throw shit at me!" bakugou yelled in retort, but snatched them off of the floor with a grunt nonetheless. "and it isn't that i don't care, i just think all this fussing is unnecessary!"

"it's your wedding," kirishima emphasised, grabbing onto his best friend by his shoulders and staring deep into his eyes. "we're allowed to fuss. we're allowed to want this to be the happiest day of your life, even if you're less than enthusiastic about it. let us be happy for you, bro."

the fight in bakugou's eyes died at that.

unsure of what to say, he grumbled something unintelligible under his breath — then moved over to the bed and began putting his socks on.

Chapter Text

when you walked down the aisle, it wasn't magical or amazing like you'd imagined.

it was monotonous and tiring, because you had to keep up an irritating act the whole time.

sure, your dress was beautiful, and the outdoor ceremony in the gorgeous garden was beyond perfect, but you didn't feel anything like you thought you would. there was no adrenaline, no enthusiasm or giddiness — just a small smile on your face as your mother held your arm and led you towards bakugou, standing at the end with a blank look on his handsome face.

his three groomsmen stood behind him, and they had on more excited smiles than you did.

when your mother released you, she gave you a small kiss on your forehead; you froze at that, but found yourself relaxing ever so slightly afterwards.

bakugou held out a hand to you — because it was what he had been told, what he knew was necessary — and you took it, grateful for his playing along as you moved to stand in front of him on the altar.

everyone sat down, and the ceremony commenced.

there were only two rows on either side of the aisle. on the right, where you were, at the very front sat your mother, grinning enthusiastically. besides her was your aunt, grinning brightly, and then your assistant, shiro. the row behind them had minato and kenji in it, grinning madly as they waited for the vows to commence.

on the left row sat bakugou's parents, with tears in their eyes as they gazed at their son, and midoriya sitting next to them. the row behind them sat jirou, mina, and todoroki, all of whom had excited glints in their eyes, mixed with impatience.

the guest list was small, but you preferred it that way.

behind you stood your three bridesmaids, holding bouquets of purple anemone flowers. your bouquet was a similar colour, but had hibiscus flowers mixed into it — your mother said it looked as if your eyes and bakugou's had been swirled together into flowers, making them the perfect combination.

you thought they didn't go well together.

the rings were soon brought out — by shoko — and you and bakugou hurried to put them on each other, not bothering to even make eye contact. it was a quick exchange, done with efficiency rather than affection, and you liked it that way.

the priest had begun talking, but you didn't really pay attention to what the balding man was saying, your gaze focused on the bouquet in your hands.

bakugou stared down at you, his head tilting to the side slightly as he took in your appearance. yes, your dress was beautiful and majestic, but it wasn't something he'd be greatly impressed by. you were gorgeous, as always, and yet again, he didn't find his heart skipping a beat or his face heating up. everything was so... mediocre and average, to the point where he had to force himself not to yawn.

but then you looked up at him, your eyes meeting his.

bakugou saw the mixture of light and dark purple swirling in your irises and filled with so many different emotions. he saw sparkles of silver in there as well, hypnotising him to the point where he felt paralysed and shaken; all outside noises had drowned out, and he was sure he was getting sucked into the portals that were your beautiful eyes.

and then he heard it.

smile.

bakugou's eyes went wide in shock, his lips parting; then he forced his expression to turn stoic again, not believing that what he had just heard — your voice in his mind — was real. surely he imagined that.

and then he saw the corner of your mouth twitch, and he heard it again.

jeez, would it kill you to smile, dude?! come on!<\em>

bakugou's brows jumped up. that was definitely real.

forcing a smile on his face, he thought, did you just fucking talk to me in my head?!

although the random revelation of your quirk had shocked him, what surprised him even more was when he saw your fake, performative smile turn into a real, amused one, your expression softening as you blinked up at him innocently.

maybe. did that catch you off guard, hero?

a bit, he admitted mentally, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue as he eyed you thoughtfully. you're full of surprises. couldn't have told me about this magical quirk of yours before?

i don't use it often because it's draining and invasive, you revealed, your expression now turning back into a normal, performative one as you faked a sweet grin at your soon to be husband. only when i really need to.

before bakugou could say anything else, the priest said, "could the groom please repeat after me?"

damn it, the stupid vows, he thought, trying to remain smiling, although his lips were twitching in brewing annoyance. as the priest said the same vows that had been used by millions of couples before him, bakugou repeated them flatly, not really bothering to think about what he was saying or agreeing to.

then it was your turn, and the vows went by just as fast, though your acting and faux enthusiasm seemed much more persuasive than the hero's.

"do you, bakugou katsuki, take l/n y/n to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

till the divorce papers come in, you mean, bakugou snorted internally — but he was surprised to see your grin widened at that; you must have heard his thoughts. "i do."

"and do you..."

the priest continued, but you had drowned his words out, only waiting until the end of his question to hurriedly answer, "yes, i do."

"i now pronounce you man and wife," he concluded, closing the bible he held in his hands. "you may kiss the bride."

immediately, both bakugou and you froze — this had not been discussed before.

but there was no time to think about it, because people were cheering excitedly and the priest had backed off — bakugou continued staring at you, panicked, the thoughts in his mind going berserk, but you didn't bother waiting for more than half a second.

you grabbed his face and yanked him down, pressing your lips to his.

and then more cheers, balloons, confetti, and screams.

-

"i'm married now." you breathed out, bursting into the hotel room with shoko trailing behind you. everybody was partying and eating downstairs, making the best of the celebrations for the day, and you had come upstairs to change into an evening dress so you'd be more comfortable.

closing the door behind her, shoko rushed to the closet and pulled it open, yanking out another bag with your outfit inside. "how does it feel?"

"honestly," you slumped down on a chair, yanking your veil off and pulling your hair up into a bun and allowing some strands to fall out casually, to give it an elegant look, as if it was done carefully instead of in a few seconds. "pretty normal. you saw the way he panicked when we were supposed to kiss?"

"oh my god, the way you grabbed him!" shoko chuckled, unzipping the bag and pulling the gorgeous, black dress out, laying in flat on the bed while she moved towards you and gestured for you to stand up. "that was hilarious, his whole body went bright red!"

"he couldn't even push me away," you snorted, remembering how bakugou had grabbed your shoulders tightly when you had forced a kiss on him, but he hadn't done anything to stop you in fear of giving himself — or you — up. when you had pulled away right after, his face was the colour of a tomato, smoke practically coming out of his ears as he shouted all sorts of profanities at you in his head. honestly, you didn't even hate it; the whole thing was amusing and... cute. "that had to be the highlight of this whole thing."

shoko unzipped your dress and carefully helped you out of it, her fingers wafting through the knots on your corset to undo them. "it was definitely something, i never thought i'd see a guy like him flustered."

"i used my quirk on him right before that," you revealed, "to tell him to smile. he was so shocked, he didn't even know about it."

grabbing the black dress, the woman helped you put it on, allowing you to use her shoulders for balance. her eyes went wide at your words, an amused grin breaking out on her face. "that must've shocked the hell out of him— no wonder his eyes went wide for a second."

"i hate to admit it, but it was more enjoyable than i thought," you said, pulling the sleeves up over your shoulders as shoko zipped it up from the back.

your maid of honour snorted and responded, "it was kinda awkward at the beginning, but it started to look like you guys were communicating with your eyes. i guess you really were."

little black dress now fully on, you slipped into your heels and took a look at yourself in the mirror, preparing yourself for a few more hours of intense partying and pretending, before you could just relax and drop the act.

"you're going to his house right after this, aren't you?" shoko asked, taking your previous earrings on to fit in some silver hoops that she grabbed off of the dressing table. "is your stuff there already?"

"mom had the last of my stuff moved yesterday." you said slowly, tone taking a sad dip and voice softening — you would truly miss your apartment. from this night on, all the way until next year, you'd be spending your days and nights in a man's home, with little to no privacy or opinion. it would be your own personal hell, and there wasn't anything you could do about it.

you hadn't even been to his apartment — ever — but you guessed that it would be boring and stressful, just like he was. still, as long as you were able to have your own bedroom and bathroom, you didn't care about anything else. there was no way you'd be sleeping with him; it was completely out of the question.

"don't worry, it's only a year," shoko reminded you, now standing in front of your changed form to take a look at your appearance. grinning, she embraced you in a tight hug, which took you by surprise. "you're genuinely the most beautiful woman i've ever seen, and i wanna see you happy and smiling all the time."

"i love you," you said warmly, wrapping your arms around her in an affectionate embrace, grateful that you had her through all the stressful events and situations. even when it felt like the world was against you, shoko was always by your side to help you with anything and everything, like a true sister. "thank you so much for being here. i'm glad i don't have to put up the act around you."

"you don't ever need to pretend in front of me, y/n," she said sternly, now frowning. "i've seen enough of you to know who the real you is."

Chapter Text

there was a lot of drinking, a lot of cheering, loud music, and a rush of very excited bodies.

the heroes, along with kenji, akemi, haruhi and shoko, had taken up the dance floor, all of them holding glasses in their hands; besides kenji, he held an entire bottle of champagne and chugged it, having the time of his life as on the floor by jlo played over the loud speakers.

the adults had decided the dancing wasn't their scene — the three of them had sat down on a table, laughing at the younger ones as they sipped their wine peacefully and popped whatever finger food that was served to them into their mouths.

todoroki and midoriya were also surprisingly dancing enthusiastically, although they had to be forced into it by mina and jirou. minato had been dragged to the floor by akemi and kenji, yet the boy simply smiled and swayed side to side, deciding he'd be a bit brave for the night and get out of his comfort zone.

you had finally escaped from the rush of sweaty bodies, making your way over to a table to pour yourself a glass of water; there was no way you'd get drunk after the other night, where bakugou basically babysat you. it was embarrassing.

as if summoned by your thoughts, the blond hero appeared next to you, leaning on the table as he took a swig of his beer and stared at all of his screaming, cheerful friends. "so, mind telling me why you didn't warn me about your quirk beforehand?"

you glanced to the side to look at him, unfazed by his question. turning around, you also leaned against the table behind you, standing right next to your now husband and taking a sip of your water. "didn't think i'd need to use it."

"still," bakugou insisted, left hand playing with his wedding band within the pocket of his trousers. "it caught me off guard; you're a fucking freak."

rolling your eyes, you muttered, "says the walking tnt."

he raised an eyebrow and side-eyed you, trying to come to terms with the fact that you and him were now legally married. the whole thing was beyond unbelievable to him; not only that, but you'd be going home with him tonight. it had bothered him to see boxes full of your things arrive at his doorstep, and he only had a day to clear up his guest bedroom for you.

of course, he couldn't tell his parents that you'd be staying in a separate room, so he'd set up the whole thing himself.

he didn't touch any of your things, of course; only moved everything to the room and left it there. you were self sufficient enough to do it yourself, he assumed; although he didn't particularly care if you weren't.

all of a sudden, a woman ran up to you, her expression morphed into one of concern. she was short, with brown hair tied into a bun at the crown of her head as she held out a phone to you and whispered, "y/n, it's been blowing up."

bakugou glanced down at the device, and recognised that it was yours.

you frowned and pushed her hand away, as if not wanting to concern yourself with it. "just turn it off—"

"no, you don't get it," shiro, your assistant, said, leaning in closer to say, with panic, "he's been blowing up my cell too — saying he needs to talk to you about something—"

"shiro." you said sternly, face turning serious and gaze transforming into a glare immediately. "do not answer; and don't bother me about this again."

she winced — but nodded in a hurry and scurried away, concerned expression never leaving her face.

you sighed, pressing a hand to your forehead, annoyed that she had to bring all of this up in front of bakugou. it truly wasn't any of his business, and you had wanted to keep him unaware of all of these happenings since the day you had met him.

bakugou eyed the side of your downturned face, feeling the urge to ask you what exactly that was about; although he had a feeling he knew who exactly had been spam calling you.

shota.

again, though, the fact that a man was blowing up his wife's phone didn't faze bakugou at all.

he simply pushed himself off of the table and got ready to walk away, placing his empty beer bottle on the surface behind him. "let me know when it's time to leave."

you watched his retreating figure as he moved towards kirishima and kaminari, who immediately pounced on him in excitement and dragged him to the dance floor, despite him screaming in protest.

and then you sighed.

-

"wow, your place is bigger than mine." you commented, stepping inside the dull and monochromatic environment that was bakugou's penthouse apartment.

while it was huge, the furniture consisted of greys and blacks, with the occasional sprinkle of white. he did have some huge posters of himself stuck up around the living room — and they didn't surprise you in the least — which were the only pop of colour in the whole house. besides those, the place hardly looked lived in.

"your room's down the hallway on the right, across from mine." bakugou said, stifling a yawn as he moved over to the kitchen that was connected to the living room; the main space was an open concept, and he liked it because it felt less suffocating.

"right," you said, glancing over your shoulder to see him open the fridge and pull out a bottle with some sort of drink in it. then he walked over to his island and sat down on one of the barstools, already casually scrolling on his phone without paying much attention to you. catching his attention with a cough, you asked, "so... shouldn't we put some house rules in place?"

bakugou glanced up at you with furrowed brows. "like what?"

"like," you started, scratching the back of your neck. "separate allotted times to use the kitchen so we don't bother each other, and different times where we can both use the TV—"

"to be very fucking honest with you," bakugou started, sliding his phone on the kitchen island and setting the bottle — that had his protein shake in it — down on the counter as well. loosening his tie, he undid the top few buttons of his shirt and continued, "i don't give a damn what you decide to do, as long as you don't make a mess or piss me off. use the kitchen whenever you want, but you're buying your own groceries and cleaning up after yourself — as for the TV, go ahead, but i had a TV put in your bedroom too, fyi."

"oh."

"listen," he huffed out a breath, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to put his thoughts together into coherent sentences within his mind. "it would be shitty of me to restrict you from doing certain things, since we're gonna basically be living together for a year. just cause the place is mine doesn't mean you gotta be confined to the bedroom — and for the most part, i'm barely home, so you'll get more time by yourself anyway to do whatever the hell you want."

"that's..." you began, fiddling with your purse, "...considerate of you. thank you."

he cringed, grabbing his protein shake as well as his phone and standing up, ready to head in for the night, "just don't do anything to annoy me and i'll do the same. alright?"

you nodded, but he was already walking off into the safety of his bedroom.

-

the room you had been given was spacious and well furnished, with a king sized bed, side tables, a gigantic vanity, and a walk in closet that connected to the bathroom. there was a huge flat-screen TV across the bed, and the walls had monotonous paintings across them, making a desperate attempt to liven the place up but failing considerably.

you took in the array of suitcases and cardboard boxes scattered on the floor and cringed when realising how long it would take you to unpack everything.

you had wanted to keep your original apartment; in fact, you had begged your mother for it, but in her mind, this marriage was permanent. there was no point in having your own home when you'd be creating a new one with the blond hero you married — but that was unrealistic, because you did plan on leaving, and the fact that you had all these things that you'd have to take with you when the time came only made the whole thing more tedious.

deciding you'd deal with unpacking tomorrow, you moved towards your largest suitcase and flipped it on its back, unzipping it to pull out your nightclothes and toiletries.

and then you disappeared into the bathroom for a well needed shower.

when you walked back out after half on hour, you felt instantly refreshed; the towels bakugou had left for you were soft, although you didn't like the brand of shampoo he had in there. heading over to what was now your bed, you flopped onto the comfortable mattress and sunk into it, feeling the tension from the night's events drain away.

lifting your left hand up until it was above you, you stared at the huge, diamond wedding ring that sat on your ring finger, practically weighing your entire hand down. it was weird to think about the fact that you were a married woman now — and to the strangest man possible, no less.

with the thoughts of tomorrow morning being a day off, you found yourself drifting off to sleep in the comfort of your brand new bedroom.

Chapter Text

when you stepped out of your room the next morning, you assumed the apartment was empty.

of course, you couldn't be too sure, since the door to bakugou's room was closed and you weren't planning on taking a peek inside, but you still thought he wasn't home. it was nearing noon, and you knew he hated taking days off from hero work.

deciding this would be the perfect opportunity for you to go grocery shopping and make this place feel a little more like home, you changed, shoved your wedding ring into a jewellery box, and headed out the door once your shoes were on.

-

bakugou was being sent home... forcefully.

"what the fuck is wrong with you?!" kirishima yelled, dragging his best friend by his left gauntlet towards blast zone agency. the redhead was furious — and anyone could tell by the way he was absolutely manhandling bakugou with no fear in the world. "it's the day after your wedding and you're at work?!"

bakugou didn't really try to resist much — because he knew once kirishima got agitated like this, there wasn't any point in fighting him — he just allowed himself to be pulled, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "it doesn't matter what day it is when you're a hero. i've got shit to do."

"you can do that later!" kirishima said, exasperated. yanking the glass doors open, he shoved bakugou inside, catching the attention of the blue-haired receptionist who simply yelped and hid behind the counter. "for fuck's sake, not even a honeymoon?!"

bakugou finally swatted kirishima's hand away, instead moving to scratch the back of his neck and say, "that sounds like a waste of money."

kirishima was stunned; eyes wide open and mouth dropped, as if he couldn't believe a word the blond was saying. "are you for real?! anyone would kill to bond with their wife on vacation!! how have you never talked about a honeymoon?!"

we have, bakugou thought, remembering one particular meeting with his parents and yours — he recalled both you and him denying anything to do with having a honeymoon, and instead opted for a more expensive wedding. still, mitsuki and masaru had told him they were willing to pay for it, but he wasn't planning on spending a week in the maldives with someone he wasn't even truly in love with... not to mention all the work he would miss. it's absolutely not worth it.

"right, okay," kirishima huffed out a breath, resting both of his hands on his hips. "you're gonna go home and spend some time with your wife — and at least ask her if she wants a vacation. are you gonna do that?"

"no."

"bakugou!"

"ugh, fine!" the blond yelled, storming off towards the elevator to head up, into his office. slamming the button, he glanced over his shoulder to send his friend an annoyed glare. "this is really unnecessary—"

"i don't care!"

-

bakugou huffed out a small breath, staring at the inside of the elevator doors. once they opened, he would be inside his apartment; the furniture would be the same, the layout would be the same, all his stuff would be where it usually was... only one thing would be different.

a woman.

bakugou katsuki had his fair share of one night stands — he was a grown man, he needed to take his stress out somewhere... yet there had never been a point in time where he had ever let a woman into his home. all of his endeavours were at hotel rooms or the women's' houses - after making them sign NDAs, of course - because bakugou couldn't risk having someone know his address. that, and also the fact that he hated having other people in his personal space; his apartment was sacred, home to just him. he rarely even let his friends over.

so when the elevator doors opened, and he heard noises coming from his apartment instead of the quiet peace he was so used to, bakugou fought the urge to grumble in irritation.

he could hear many things, as he took his shoes off and hung his coat up; the sound of a woman's voice, echoing throughout the apartment all the way from the kitchen — although it wasn't yours — and the clattering of dishes and utensils. feet pattered against the ground, and somebody was humming; this voice sounded much more familiar to him.

walking through the hallway with tense shoulders, he braced himself to see an absolute mess in his kitchen, only to stare blankly at the scene he had walked into.

a laptop sat on the kitchen island, blaring the mysterious woman's voice loudly as she talked about something to do with politics. the counters were clean, save for a bottle of orange juice and a plate that had something being tipped into it in real time... scrambled eggs. the empty frying pan was then taken over to the sink and placed under running water carefully, pale hand grabbing a sponge to scrub at the oil stuck to it.

you hadn't noticed his presence, he realised, seeing as you hadn't turned around to face him. you continued humming to yourself, sleeves of your long shirt rolled up to your elbows and hair tied into a bun atop the crown of your head, with multiple loose strands hanging out, baby hairs fanning the back of your neck. on your legs were shorts that barely reached the middle of your thighs, but your feet were clad in socks that climbed all the way up to your calves, allowing you to slide along the marble floors with ease.

as soon as you set the clean frying pan down on the drying rack and turned the tap off, the oven dinged.

your eyes brightened at that. "finally!"

it was only then — when you turned around to grab the oven mitts set on the kitchen island — that you realised bakugou katsuki was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, staring at you.

"oh my god!" you exclaimed, placing a hand over your chest to calm your erratic heartbeat, face burning at the thought of him simply staring at you while you made a mess of his kitchen. "how long have you been standing there?"

the toaster dinged, and two pieces of perfectly golden bread popped out.

"long enough to see that you're using the wrong frying pan." bakugou grumbled, walking over to hit the space bar on your laptop; the video stopped, and an awkward silence filled the room. he walked over to a cabinet, opening it up and yanking out a flatter, black saucepan. glancing over at you, he said, "use this one next time."

"sorry," you softly said, suddenly embarrassed. but then you remembered the oven, and you scrambled to open the door and stick your hands in, expression morphing into one of worry. "the muffins—"

bakugou's eyes widened; his fingers loosened around the saucepan, causing it to clatter against the ground, and then he lunged at you. "you fucking idiot, the mitts—!"

the cupcake tray was in your hands for barely a second before it fell and you hissed in pain, bringing your hands up to cradle them against your chest. "ouch—!"

before the dish could hit the floor, bakugou reached down and placed his hands underneath it, clenching his jaw tightly shut when feeling how hot it was. the man then slid it on top of the counter and huffed out an annoyed breath, turning over to glare at you sharply. "are you dense? we have oven mitts for a reason! stay out of the fucking kitchen if you're so incompetent!"

there was absolutely no way in hell you were going to cry in front of bakugou katsuki.

but the combination of the stinging in your fingers and his harsh words made it really fucking hard for you to keep a straight face.

biting the inside of your cheek, you took a few breaths to compose yourself, knowing that you were seconds from tipping over the edge. after successfully calming yourself down, you were finally able to walk over to the fridge and glance up, at the first aid kit he kept right on top of it. it's fine, i can grab a bandaid myself. i'm not incompetent.

your hand was able to reach high enough for you to hook your fingers over the top of the fridge, but not enough to grab hold of the first aid box. still, you didn't give up; you stood on your toes, arm stretched out as much as physically possible, yet it still seemed to be doing nothing.

that was until, a longer arm appeared above yours and lifted the box off of the fridge with ease.

you glanced behind you, at bakugou, who had quickly placed the kit on the kitchen island. looking annoyed and grumbling words of irritation under his breath, the man shoved the box open and yanked out a tube of ointment and a bandaid before barking out, "use these."

and then he slammed it shut and tossed it above the fridge once again, effortlessly.

you couldn't find it within yourself to say thank you — or anything— so you simply took a seat on one of his barstools and began to haphazardly apply cool ointment on your stinging, red palms and fingertips.

as you did so, bakugou walked over to the toaster and pulled the toast out, placing it on the plate with your eggs. the man then seasoned them with salt and pepper he grabbed from a shelf, and set it down in front of you without so much as even acknowledging your presence. he then moved towards the saucepan he had dropped in the heat of the moment and picked it up, placing it back inside its designated cabinet.

appetite now suddenly gone, all you could do was put your bandaid on and wonder how you were going to manage to eat your eggs when your insides felt like they were going to tumble out of your mouth any second. i feel ill.

"what's in these?"

glancing up, you saw that bakugou had taken a muffin out of the tray, eyes scanning it as he brought it close to his face for inspection.

as if remembering something, you frowned. "your hands touched the dish, too. you need ointment—"

"i'm used to the heat, i'll be fine." he said sharply, leaning against the counter, crimson eyes finding yours. "you didn't answer my question."

"blueberries."

he hummed in response, peeling away the wrapper to take a bite.

the action surprised you, so much so that your eyes widened in shock and your shoulders tensed up; as far as you knew, he didn't like sweets. you had simply decided to make them of boredom and anxiety — stress baking was something you did quite often, but never in the presence of others. you hadn't expected him to come home early, when he had explicitly stated that he worked late, so you were taken aback. that was why you had made the blunder with the oven mitts; you were normally very careful in the kitchen.

you hadn't realised that you had leaned forward, ever so slightly, as if anticipating his response.

but bakugou's face simply scrunched up in distaste. "too fucking sweet."

your shoulders dropped at that; somehow, you weren't disappointed. it was a reaction you had expected. a small smile made its way onto your face and you said, "yeah, i know you don't have much of a sweet tooth."

"i don't." bakugou said — but he took another bite then, his actions completely contradicting his words. "make something spicy next time."

"spicy muffins?"

he made a disgusted face at that, tossing the last bite of the muffin in his mouth. "that sounds gross."

hands no longer stinging as much as they did before, you sighed and agreed. "it does."

an awkward silence consumed the space once again, so you cleared your throat and asked, "so, what brings you home so soon?"

at the question, bakugou was reminded of the conversation he had had with kirishima prior to coming home, and he cringed in irritation. the blond stormed over to the fridge, yanking it open and pulling out his trusted water bottle before stating, dishonestly, "wasn't much to do."

"i thought there was always things to do." you responded, face stuffed with your delicious eggs and toast. obviously, you had to eat as much of it as you could; this was your only meal for the day.

he took a huge sip, adam's apple bobbing up and down as he chugged the ice cold water. once he was done, he swiped the back of his free hand over his wet mouth, feeling refreshed all of a sudden. "there is. just not today."

you hummed at that, taking another bite of your food as you continued to scroll through instagram. nothing new was happening as of late — a part of you was terrified, that one day you'd wake up to every news outlet in the country having published articles about your wedding, but since nothing had happened yet, you knew it wasn't likely. everything had been kept strictly under wraps, and NDAs were tossed around like they were STDs, so there was really nothing to worry about.

bakugou leaned against the counter once again, arms folded across his chest as he eyed you, sat at his kitchen island, on his barstool, in his home, eating food out of his plate.

everything was bizarre.

a woman, sat within his house, eating breakfast even though it was almost evening time. dressed in almost nothing, neckline of her shirt so deep he could make out she wasn't wearing a bra, hair tied messily and figure relaxed on the barstool.

you looked so comfortable — so homely.

it was all too domestic for his liking, and he knew he would never be able to get used to it.

clearing his throat, bakugou began, "so, about the honeymoon..."

you glanced up at him at that, brows furrowed. "thought we agreed we weren't doing that."

"we're not." he assured, hand rubbing his forehead. "but my friends are confused why."

"i guess it makes sense," you admitted, setting your fork down on your empty plate and standing up, bringing the dirty dishes over to the sink. "akemi kept asking me why we aren't going on a honeymoon too, but i just said we both are too busy."

"i told shitty hair the same thing, but he still thinks we should go," bakugou breathed out — to that, you replied, "akemi also had that reaction, so i told her we were planning on going later, once everything settled down and our schedules cleared up."

bakugou looked at you curiously now, expression no longer as tense as it was before. he watched your slender hands work expertly to wash the plate and fork, and found himself turning slightly to angle his body so it was facing yours instead of the island. "when is 'later'?"

a playful grin made its way onto your face as you twisted your neck slightly to look up at the man next to you. the purple in your eyes twinkled when you said, "like, a year from now?"

when we'll be divorced, bakugou thought, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head at you, ever so slightly. "you're cunning."

"among other things." you looked back down at the plate, passing it under the water for a final rinse.

bakugou hummed. "what're the other things?"

"smart, talented, funny, good looking—"

his hand reached out to grab yours and pull it out from under the tap water, causing you to fall silent. even though you were surprised at his sudden action, bakugou simply said, "you're describing me."

then he grabbed the towel that was hung on the oven's door handle and placed it within your hand, immediately moving to step away from you once it was done. "your bandaid got soaked."

then he sighed and moved to exit the kitchen, hands sliding into his sweatpants pockets as he called out, "don't forget to turn the damn water off!"

you frowned once he had gone, eyes snapping down to stare at the hand towel he had so roughly handed you. "i didn't even get a word in."

Chapter Text

"is it weird?"

"very." you slumped over in your seat, and all of a sudden four hands were instantly on you. two of them were prodding at your face, fixing your makeup and lashes, while the others threaded into your hair to untangle it from the mess that the humidity and wind outside had caused. the hairstylist was much more gentle, though — makeup brushes constantly dabbing at your face had grown to become extremely irritating over the years. "i still can't get used to being in someone else's house."

shoko was experiencing the same treatment next to you, though she looked much more relaxed. her thumbs tapped at her phone screen, playful smile on her face as she replied, "it's not just someone, though."

"that's what makes it worse."

"i hate shooting outdoors." shoko grumbled, suddenly turning her phone off and setting it on her lap. her gaze met the hairstylist's through the gigantic vanity mirror and she said, "can we put the pins in tighter? i seriously can't focus if my hair's in my face."

"my curls keep falling out," you complained with a frown, only for your hairstylist to sigh and admit, "the humidity is terrible today. an updo would've been easier—"

"but we need curls!"

at the new voice, your shoulders tensed up.

your mother appeared behind you, bony hand resting on your shoulder as she stared at you through the mirror, beady eyes as unwavering and intense as always. "how's my beautiful daughter?"

"perfect." you replied sharply, glancing at your vanity to see if you had left any protein bar wrappers around; when seeing that you hadn't, you almost exhaled a breath of pure relief. deciding to address the elephant in the room, you quickly asked, "what brings you here?"

shoko had gone completely quiet, returning to the safety of her phone; but occasionally, she glanced up at you, as if trying to read your blank expression.

"wanted to see how the shoot was coming along," akane revealed, glancing down at your attire — then her expression morphed into one of pure dissatisfaction as her finger looped around the strap of your top. "this colour is unflattering. can we try red instead?"

the stylist appeared — as if from thin air — holding a new selection of red shirts for you to try on. "i have some right here."

"perfect."

realising that today would be an extremely long day, you slumped into your chair even more and held back a frustrated groan.

damn it.

-

when you walked into bakugou's apartment at 12am, you had expected it to be completely silent and dark.

what you hadn't expected, however, was to see the aforementioned blond hero sitting on the ground in front of the couch, eating ramen on his coffee table whilst love island played on the tv in front of him.

you had never seen a man scramble to grab a remote this fast.

the tv turned off within an instant as bakugou yelled, "what the fuck, i thought you were asleep!!"

"it's hurtful that you didn't even realise i wasn't home." you admitted, untying your scarf from around the bottom half of your face and placing your keys on the key holder bakugou had hung on his wall.

"i got home like an hour ago myself, i thought you'd already conked out," he said, going back to slurping his ramen and trying hard not to dwell on the fact that you had seen him watching something super fucking embarrassing. he wouldn't be able to live this down — his nonchalant, angsty image was at stake.

the smell of delicious ramen wafted through your nostrils, but alas, you couldn't dwell on it for too long. if you continued eating the way you had been since the wedding, things would start to get troublesome.

so you pursed your lips together and headed towards your room, completely ignoring his previous comment.

bakugou noticed the pained expression on your face, yet said nothing — it really wasn't any of his business, he realised. it had been a week since the two of you had begun living together, and things had been going smoothly.

the two of you barely saw each other. bakugou came home in the late hours of the night, when you were already asleep, but somehow, he left after you in the morning. his mornings started at 5am, which he already considered to be the ass crack of dawn, but he had been surprised to see that every single day, consistently since he had been living with you, your keys had never been on their hook at that time. it was surprising to think that you woke up earlier than him, but given your gruelling schedule, he hadn't pondered over the impossibility of it too much.

in hindsight, he probably should have realised your keys weren't hung up before he started watching love island.

still though, this routine was tolerable. there were hardly any signs of another human being in his apartment, save for the extra pair of sneakers in the genkan, the silver keys on the key holder, and the entire left side of his fridge that had been filled with strange, gluten free, sugar free ingredients.

it was peaceful not having to interact with you, and bakugou didn't even feel like he was married.

he hoped it would continue like this for the next year, until the day came where he'd finally be free from this insane agreement.

-

"no."

"you haven't even heard me out—"

"mom." you muttered, pressing a hand to your forehead whilst the other tapped against your phone screen rapidly, texting shoko to ask her why she hadn't turned up for today's shoot.

this shoot had been going on for a few days now, and was a special promo that would announce yours and shoko's appearance at paris fashion week in a few months. it took top priority, even over bakugou's parents' contract, which was why you were so busy these days. everything had been off to a good start this morning... until your mother had barged into your dressing room uninvited, sent all the stylists out and dropped this sudden bombshell on you,

"wasn't the whole agreement to keep this marriage thing a secret?" you asked, rubbing at your forehead without even thinking about how much the makeup must've smudged underneath. ugh, i feel a headache coming on. "having katsuki come to a get-together with our 500 million relatives would be doing the complete opposite of that. none of them can keep their mouths shut."

"they can and they will." akane stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against your vanity so she was facing you head on, instead of through the mirror. her expression was serious, eyes snapping down to look at your phone as a signal.

tensing underneath her glare, you turned the device off and placed it on your lap, still refusing to meet her gaze.

"and it's not all of our relatives," akane continued. "it's jinah's birthday; it'll only be you, me, aunt isane and your grandparents. i'm sure all of them can keep a secret."

"even though jinah doesn’t like heroes, the first thing she’s gonna do is go tell all her friends her cousin married one." you grumbled underneath your breath, but your mother heard you. at your words, akane simply rolled her eyes dismissively and said, "she's 15 now, she isn't a child. she's sensible enough to know that some things are meant to be private."

"you have way too much faith in a teenage girl."

"what i say is final," akane concluded, pushing herself off of the vanity to head in the direction of the door that led out of your dressing room. "tell your husband that the party is this friday. i expect you both there at 5pm sharp — do i make myself clear?"

your lips parted to decline her invitation, but you knew deep down that you weren't in any position to refuse your mother. she had you in the palm of her hand, controlling you like a marionette. all you could do was zip your mouth shut and obey her every instruction, regardless of your own personal feelings.

right as her hand touched the door handle, akane paused.

"also," she began, glancing over her shoulder to send you a cunning look, the purples of her eyes growing darker with each passing second as she stared you down through her thick lashes. immediately, your body grew rigid in fear,

with a much heavier tone than before, she continued, "you can do a much better job at convincing me the two of you actually like each other."

once she had walked out of the dressing room, door slamming shut behind her, you dropped your head into your hands, releasing laboured breaths.

fuck, you thought, chest tightening in panic. she knows.

-

"keep an open mind to what i'm about to ask you."

"why are you sitting on the counter?" bakugou asked, the moment he stepped into the kitchen after a long day of work. there, he saw you sat on the counter next to the fridge, sipping one of your mysterious, zero-calorie juices and dressed in your pyjamas; a tank top and tiny shorts.

bakugou didn't see you very often when he came home because it was usually at the ungodly hours of the night, but the rare times he did, he noticed that you liked to sleep in as little clothing as you possibly could. it wasn't like it bothered him — he just thought you were way too relaxed in another man's home.

she's lucky it's me she got married to.

"why can't i? my butt is clean," you said with a frown, watching as he moved over to the fridge and yanked the door open. "so, will you keep an open mind?"

bakugou reached inside to grab an apple, deciding to just have a heavy breakfast in the morning; he really wasn't in the mood to cook dinner when it was past midnight. "i'm a lot of things. open-minded isn't one of them."

your frown only deepened at that, and you crushed up your — now empty — juice box inside your fist. "my cousin's having a birthday party."

bakugou slammed the fridge door shut, standing right besides you. you didn't take note of his close proximity; all you could focus on was the perplexed look on his face as he took a bite out of his apple, and, with his mouth still full, asked, "the fuck's that gotta do with me?"

"we're invited," you said simply.

bakugou raised an eyebrow, hurriedly chewing the juicy bit of fruit he had in his mouth and swallowing it. he then leaned one of his shoulders against the fridge, his body angled so he was facing you right next to him. with you on the counter, you were at face-level with him... it was strange to not be looking down at you. "this sounds like a pain in the ass."

"it is." you admitted. "but mom said there aren't gonna be a lot of people; just my cousin, my aunt, and my grandparents."

bakugou's expression flattened. "those are all people who have access to social media — well, except your grandparents. we can't blindly trust that they won't reveal our marriage to the whole damn world."

"mom said they wouldn't," you insisted.

"how old's the cousin?"

your shoulders went rigid at that. "15..."

"yeah, she's definitely telling everyone." bakugou said bluntly, taking another bite out of his apple.

his biggest problem when he became a pro hero wasn't the villains, or the hero commission... the biggest pain in bakugou's ass were teenage girls. they all loved him; they crowded around his agency to see him, harassed every female hero he interacted with, sent him shit tons of fan mail — hell, he'd even received bras and underwear. he'd had undergarments thrown at him after press conferences so many times he'd lost count; it got so irritating to the point where the man had lost his cool once, during an event, and yelled at everyone there.

"you fuckers need to have better control over your kids!” he'd said, sparking immediate backlash from the adults who'd been fans of him. it was a PR nightmare for his management, and it had proven to be useless too; instead, his outburst was trending on twitter because he looked 'hot'.

he had given up on the female youth. that generation is done for.

so the fact that your cousin was a 15 year old girl made bakugou distrust her already, no matter what you said to defend her.

"she won't," you said, suddenly looking quite confident. "i'll make sure she won't."

"you can't make sure of anything," bakugou said, rolling his eyes, "teenagers are fucking annoying and unpredictable, it's best we don't get them involved in the first place. go on your own; the last thing i wanna do is spend my day off at some awkward fucking birthday party—"

"please."

bakugou glanced at your expression, the desperation swirling in your purple irises. he felt himself falter then, ever so slightly; he didn't know why you were trying so hard to get him to come, but he assumed there had to be a reason for it.

"i promise nothing will get out," you said, free hand — that hadn't crushed the poor juice box — pressed against your chest. "if anything does, i'll take responsibility and say it was all a lie i made up for publicity and traction. your reputation won't be affected, i promise. just trust me."

he stared at you blankly, eyes flickering between both of your pupils, as if trying to read your mind. he wondered if you ever read his, when he wasn't paying attention; if you ever heard his muddled thoughts about work and the agency, if you ever heard him thinking about this whole situation. he wondered if you had ever heard his thoughts when he was wide awake, in the middle of the night, thinking about how there was a woman asleep in the room right across from his.

he hoped you didn't.

bakugou snapped his eyes shut and sighed. "fine — but this is a favour i'm doing you. you owe me something in return."

your eyebrows jumped up at that, happiness at his cooperation replaced with a sense of impending doom. "surely there's nothing i can give you that you can't give yourself."

he tossed the apple core in the trashcan and turned, heading out of the kitchen already. "go to bed, purple."

Chapter Text

"this is new."

"you're still here?" bakugou asked, scratching his hair as he walked past you, sat on a barstool at the kitchen island eating breakfast and watching keeping up with the kardashians on your ipad. the man immediately got to work on taking out everything he needed to prepare breakfast from the fridge, but he couldn't help thinking about how strange it was to see you this early in the morning.

while the blond was still in his pyjamas — a black tank top grey sweats — you were dressed in workout clothes. a black jumper hugged the upper half of your body while you wore leggings on the bottom, and black trainers hugged your feet. your hair was tied into a ponytail, front strands left out to curl around the sides of your face cutely. all you had in front of you for breakfast was a fruit bowl, and a glass of lemonade.

he wondered how you kept yourself fuelled for the day with such little food.

you paused the show you were watching, instead letting your gaze travel over to the contracting muscles in bakugou's back as he grabbed a saucepan out of a cabinet. it was awkward to see him early in the morning, since you made sure to be the out the door before him; you even took your clothes for the day with you, so you could shower and change at the gym instead of coming back home. you really only used his apartment to sleep, nothing else.

"i forgot to mention this yesterday," you began, popping a grape into your mouth as you shamelessly watched the man crack some eggs into the pan, with only one hand. "but i think my mom doesn't really believe our whole love at first sight shtick."

bakugou didn't look back at you, too busy grabbing bread and popping it in the toaster, but he did furrow his brows and ask, "what?"

his voice sounds deeper in the morning. "she told me to try to convince her we actually like each other. it's literally just her indirect way of telling me she knows we're full of shit," you explained, resting your chin on your palm and elbow against the island top.

he turned around then, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest. "i'm not tryna be an ass when i say this, but your mom's fucking weird."

you pursed your lips at that, not knowing what to say in response — because the truth was, you agreed. "what do you mean?"

"she acts more like your manager than your mother," he explained, only for you to quickly reply, "because she is my manager."

"she just gives me a weird vibe, is all i'm saying," bakugou said, rubbing both of his eyes; he wasn't used to having a conversation so early in the morning. it was always just him, alone, the most sound he could hear being from the birds outside his windows. "you seem scared of her."

your entire body froze at that, chewing now stopped.

your silence made bakugou furrow his brows in confusion — he glanced up at you, only to see that you had turned your face downwards completely, as if trying hard not to have him read the expression on your face. before he could ask what the hell was up with your reaction, you laughed and said, "that's the silliest thing i've ever heard! i'm not scared of her, i love her. she's my mom."

bakugou stared at you blankly. yeah, believable.

"i mean it." you said, causing bakugou's eyes to widen as he yelled, "get out of my head!"

"sorry." you apologised, going back to eating your fruit bowl. attempting to divert the conversation back to what you were originally talking about, you said, "going back to my mom not believing us, i think we need to work extra hard at this party to make sure everyone thinks we're this super lovey dovey happy couple."

bakugou cringed at that, turning around to check on his eggs. at the same time, the two pieces of toast popped out of the toaster, catching his attention as well. "that's impossible, we're not in love."

"but we can pretend.”you replied, taking a small sip of your refreshingly cold lemonade. "but to be convincing, we need to practice."

on his way to a cabinet to grab a plate, bakugou glanced over at you and asked, "what the fuck are we practicing? it's not that serious!"

"it is, though!" you insisted, chewing on the final bite of your fruit bowl. "we'd practice normal couple stuff... like holding hands, calling each other pet names, kissing—"

"i'm not kissing you." bakugou sternly said, already having returned to the stove and tipping the eggs into his plate from the saucepan. at the mention of the physical act, however, he remembered something, and his face burned bright red. the moment the last of the eggs had fallen into the plate, he turned around to point the empty frying pan at you, in an accusatory way. "speaking of kissing, who the hell said you could kiss me at the wedding?!"

the embarrassed expression on his face only made an amused smile break out on your face. you were surprised it took him this long to bring that up. "what do you mean? literally everyone kisses at their wedding. and you were just staring at me dumbly, so i took matters into my own hands—"

"you could've at least given me a warning or something!"

"okay, i'm sorry!" you chuckled, throwing your hands up defensively. "i didn't think you'd be that annoyed about it. it was only like, five seconds anyway."

"still!" he huffed out, turning the stove off and setting the frying pan down. "we agreed not to do shit like that, so there ain't gonna be any kissing—"

"on the cheek, at least," you said, pursing your lips ever so slightly in thought. "no one's gonna believe a couple that can't even kiss each other on the cheek."

bakugou hated every second of this. he couldn't believe that he was going to be forced into touchingyou — as if being under the same roof with a woman wasn't enough. his boundaries were really being tested by this whole agreement.

with an exasperated huff, he said, "fine— but that's it. nothing beyond that."

"of course," you reassured. "so when can we start practicing?"

he took the bread out of the toaster and placed it on his plate. "when's the party?"

"friday."

grabbing his plate, he gave you a dumbfounded stare. "that's two days from now."

you smiled awkwardly. "i am aware."

he set his plate down on the kitchen island, opting to sit on the barstool that was the furthest from yours. it was funny, but you didn't say anything; you only cracked an amused grin, watching as he grabbed the salt and pepper shakers before saying, "i've got a packed schedule at work; we're just gonna have to find time at night. you okay with staying up past your bedtime?"

"i’ll have you know i always go to bed after you get home."

his hand stopped midway through shaking salt onto his eggs, and he sent you a confused glance to the side. "what? why?"

immediately, you regretted admitting to it.

face burning a bright red, your smile fell and you stood to your feet as quickly as you could, grabbing your empty dishes and heading over to the sink so he could no longer make eye contact with you. voice suddenly higher pitched than before, you awkwardly said, "uh, my favourite show airs at that time."

bakugou set the salt shaker down, staring at the back of your head. "you think i believe that shit?"

you turned the tap on and softly asked, "can you at least pretend you do?"

he truly could not understand you.

and he never thought he would.

"..fine." he replied, after what felt like forever, and he couldn't help but think about how you were getting even more confusing as the days went on.

Chapter Text

"is it seriously that hard to hold hands?" you asked, sitting on the couch the following night with your legs crossed underneath you, and your hand held out towards the blond man.

bakugou sat facing you on the couch as well, one of his legs dangling off of the side of the couch and the other folded in front of him. he stared at your palm blankly, looking like he wanted to jump off the face of the earth. "it's a pain in the ass, that's what it is."

"it's literally not that serious." you rolled your eyes, suddenly reaching out to grab his hand within yours.

bakugou's eyes widened at the sudden action. "for fuck's sake, can you ever warn me before you
do something?!"

ignoring his outburst, you angled both your hands so it looked as if you were giving him a high-five, and then spread your fingers apart slightly. "now do the same thing i just did."

bakugou hated being told what to do, but he figured arguing with you right now wouldn't help him get out of this situation in any way— so he sighed, feeling his ears and neck grow warm, and then spread his fingers apart.

the moment he did, you curled your fingers forward between the gaps in his, and patiently waited for him to do the same.

even though it was physically painful, the blond mirrored your actions, staring at his fingers that were now intertwined with yours.

bakugou's hand was softer than you expected.

since it was the main place his explosions erupted from, you assumed his palms would be more textured and rough. sure, he had scars and scratches, but his skin was still soft and warm. his hand was much bigger than yours, but it didn't feel foreign or unwelcoming; strangely enough, it was comfortable to hold.

your hand was tiny inside his, he thought, but it was what he had expected. it was soft, slender and fragile, the complete opposite of his, and he wondered if your bones would break if he applied the slightest pressure.

bakugou found himself thinking about how strange it was that you were so weak. it wasn't in a condescending, insulting sense — he was so used to being surrounded by heroes; strong, superhuman beings that could defend themselves, he never had to consider that there were people that were so vulnerable. sure, you had a quirk, but in a true battle, there wasn't anything you could do. not to mention the fact that you were so frail and thin; you wouldn't stand a chance against a villain, should you ever encounter one.

surprisingly, this made bakugou feel unsettled.

"is it as bad as you thought it would be?" you playfully asked, lowering your hands so they wasn't floating between your faces now.

bakugou was snapped out of his thoughts, and his crimson eyes met yours. the softness within them vanished within an instant, transforming into a glare. "yes."

you laughed at that, now holding your other hand out towards him. "you'll get used to it."

he was less hesitant to hold your other hand, now that he realised it really wasn't that big of a deal unless he made it to be. this time, he was the one that took the initiative; he gently brought your hand up, forcing your fingers apart so he could thread his own between them, his grip tightening slightly.

somehow, the action felt strangely erotic.

trying not to give your inappropriate thoughts away, you cleared your throat awkwardly, forcing the warmth that had come up your neck to disappear. "see? it's not that bad!"

he hummed in response, not knowing what else to say.

"okay, well," you began, pulling your hands away from his quite suddenly — it was getting too awkward, and you couldn't control the straying of your thoughts. "let's practice pet names. what do your girlfriends call you?"

bakugou set his hands down on his lap, wondering why you had yanked yours away so suddenly. should i be offended? "never had one."

"...oh." your shoulders sank, but you quickly perked yourself back up so as to not let it become awkward again. "well then, what would you want to be called? babe, baby, love, sweetheart, honey, sugar, cupcake, muffin, banana bread, strawberry cake—"

bakugou interrupted you with a blunt, "those are all terrible. and why the fuck did you start listing desserts?"

"went slightly off track." you giggled, your mind now suddenly occupied with thoughts of sugary sweets and baked goods. shaking your head slightly, you forced the delicious images away, trying to focus on the task at hand. "there must be something that's tolerable enough."

bakugou paused for a moment, as if trying to think. he had always thought couples that used pet names were cringey and unbearable to be around; the thought of somebody using one on him hadn't even crossed his mind, but if it did, it would be straight out of a nightmare of his. "can we just not do this? everything's making me cringe. we can call each other by our fucking names like normal people—"

"come on, babe, it's just a nickname!"

he slapped his hand against his face. "don't ever fucking call me that ever again unless you wanna end up six feet under."

"okay, well, if those are too bad," you started, placing a hand on your chin in thought. "what about... kats?"

he slowly removed his hand from his face, his brows furrowing at what you had just called him. "huh? i've never heard that one."

"cause it's from your name." you explained, grinning as your chest swelled with pride at having come up with something he didn't hate immediately after hearing it. "katsuki... kats. no one calls you that, so it would be unique to just me. that's romantic, no?"

bakugou went silent for a few seconds, pondering over what you had just said... it was true that it was more tolerable than the others, since it was his own name, but it still felt strange to hear you be so familiar with him.

yet the thought of it wasn't that disgusting, so he assumed he was okay with it.

"sure." he replied. "and what should i call you?"

you shrugged at that, resting the side of your head against the couch cushion next to you as you blankly stared at him. it was past 1am, and the exhaustion from the day was finally catching up to you. "whatever doesn't make you cringe."

bakugou tilted his head slightly, his eyes flickering between both of yours, taking in the colour of your irises. "i already have a nickname for you."

you knew what he was referring to instantly. "purple?"

he gave a curt nod in reply.

"but that isn't a cute nickname, though." you frowned, thinking about how he only called you that because of the colour of your eyes — yes, it was unique, but it wasn't necessarily special.

"i thought it had to be something only we call each other." bakugou mumbled, placing his arm over the back of the couch and folding it so his fist pressed against the side of his face, allowing him to lean into his side and watch you carefully. before you could reply to him, he asked, "does anyone else call you purple?"

staring up at him through your eyelashes, you muttered, "nope."

"great," he said, still staring deeply into your eyes, as if memorising every different shade of purple that danced within them. "make sure you keep it that way."

-

"so, when we walk in, would you rather i be holding your arm or your hand?"

"how about none?"

"katsuki!" you groaned, impatiently balling your hands into fists at your side.

it was the next night, which meant that the birthday party was tomorrow, and the two of you still hadn't gotten on the same page. bakugou was sprawled out on the couch, tapping against his phone absentmindedly while you were stood besides him, your feet planted firmly into his living room carpet and refusing to move unless he agreed to cooperate with you. "can you get up?"

he set his phone to the side and stared up at you, looking as bored as ever. "i'm tired as shit and i wanna sleep."

"you can sleep after this!" you said, grabbing his arm and practically yanking him so he was sitting up.

the man groaned in irritation, looking to be seconds away from passing out, but regardless, he forced himself to stand to his feet,gesturing for you to hurry up and get on with whatever you were doing.

"okay, so," you wrapped an arm around his bicep, appreciating the fact that he hadn't shoved you away yet, like he had done three times before he collapsed onto the sofa in defeat. "this is more 'couple who's been married for 10 years'."

then you slid your hand down so your fingers interlocked with his, and once again, you were pleasantly surprised that he had reciprocated the action, his fingers curling around yours despite the yawn that escaped his mouth. "this is more, newly married and in the honeymoon phase."

"just do both." bakugou muttered, looking as if he was in a completely different realm and was simply waiting for the chance to fall into the comfort of his king sized bed. "arm when we walk in, hands when we leave. we done here?"

"fair enough." you said, releasing his hand and moving away from him slightly — you could tell that he was barely paying attention to anything you were saying on doing, since he was so clearly exhausted, which gave you an idea.

i hope he doesn't punch me in the face for this.

"there's one thing we haven't practiced."

bakugou blinked down at you, his eyelids drooping and heavy before he asked, "wha—"

and then you reached up, your hand cupping his cheeks from underneath his jaw, thumb and fingers digging into either side of his face; then you pulled it down before attaching your lips firmly to his cheek, giving him a quick peck.

you pulled away immediately after, shoulders tensed as you awaited an explosive reaction.

bakugou stared, his face still in the exact same place it had been when you yanked it down so it was at eye-level with you, and all the sleep vanished from his eyes. they were now as wide as saucers, and you watched as the entirety of his head slowly turned a bright shade of red, as if he were a cartoon character.

then he grabbed his cheek and stepped away, shouting, "WHAT THE FUCK—"

"i warned you before i did it." you said casually, reaching down to grab your phone from the coffee table.

bakugou shook his head, still holding his face, his crimson eyes flickering over your expression frantically. "there was no warning! this counts as assault— and it's the fucking second time, too—!!!"

"what do you mean?" you playfully said, sticking your tongue out at him in a childish manner. "i'm your wife."

bakugou grabbed a throw pillow off of his couch and launched it at your head. "PISS OFF!"

you yelped at the impact of the hit, grabbing it before it hit the ground — then you stared at him in disbelief, your jaw practically hitting the floor as you shouted, "that is assault, what if my head blew off?!"

right after saying that, you threw the pillow back at him... unfortunately for you, though, he caught it with ease, pulling his arm back in preparation to launch it at you once again, this time much harder. "i'm sure your head will be absolutely fine, princess—!"

you yelped, taking off in a run towards the hallway that led to your bedrooms; but before you even fully left the living room, the pillow connected to the back of your head, causing you to scream loudly in shock. "YOU BASTARD!"

before you could even process what was happening, a figure ran past you at lightning speed, heading in the direction of the bedrooms. "don't pick fights you can't win!!!"

you grabbed the pillow and ran after him, holding it above your head in preparation to hit him as hard as you possibly could with it. "YOU HIT ME FIRST!!"

but it was no use; by the time you threw it, bakugou had slammed the door of his bedroom shut, causing it to hit the wooden surface instead of the blond male.

you stared, in defeat, at the pillow on the ground, irritation only growing at the annoying cackling laughter that came from inside his room.

you huffed out a breath and shouted, "you're real mature!"

bakugou's cocky voice replied, from inside, "among other things!"

Chapter Text

"why are you wearing that?"

"what's wrong with what i'm wearing?" bakugou asked defensively, the moment he stepped into the living room and was hit with your blunt question.

one thing the blond hero couldn't stand was criticism of his fashion sense; he had damn good outfits, and he was proud of them, so he didn't know why you were frowning at the sight of him in jeans and a sweatshirt. he thought he looked great... although to be fair, he always did.

his eyes trailed down your figure to take in your clothes, though it wasn't to admire you — he was looking for something to criticise, to level the playing field.

you wore a white sundress with heels, the platforms giving you a good four inches and bringing you up to bakugou's jaw instead of your usual place near his shoulder. a chained, white purse was slung over your shoulder, dangling by your side, and your hooped earrings were almost as large as your face; but your dress was the real star of the show.

spaghetti straps went over your shoulders, connected to a neckline that plunged down your chest and tied up together in a corset at the front, pulling your breasts towards each other to sit perkily, cleavage peaking through the top. the bodice tightly hugged your small waist before opening up and flowing down into a white skirt that accentuated your hips and stopped right above your ankles, allowing your heels and neatly painted toenails to get an equal amount of attention as well. your hair flowed loosely down to the small of your back but had a few pieces in the front pinned behind your ears, making you look much younger than you actually were.

bakugou cursed mentally when he couldn't find anything to point out and make fun of you for. on the contrary, he ended up realising that his outfit looked very out of place next to yours. damn it.

"it's a kid's birthday party, why the hell're you going all out?" he asked with a roll of his eyes, tearing his gaze away from your figure.

your tone was slightly offended when you responded, "it's her 15th birthday, it's important. and my family loves dressing up."

"i can tell." bakugou grumbled, turning back towards the hallway that led to his bedroom, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he called out, "the most you're getting are khakis, and the sneakers stay on!"

your eyes brightened at that and you smiled. "perfect, thanks!"

-

"so there's aunt isane, mom's sister, and she's jinah's mother," you explained, seatbelt securely fastened around you as you watched bakugou turn the steering wheel, intently listening to the robotic voice that came from the gps on his dashboard.

your mother's house was quite far from his apartment, you realised, when you had first put it into his system and seen that it would take thirty minutes to get there. still, it wasn't like you were complaining, it would be enough time to give him a rundown of the entire family.

bakugou glanced in the rear view mirror. "where's the dad?"

"we don't talk about him," you said, folding your arms over your chest. "he walked out on aunt isane the moment jinah was born. your classic deadbeat 'went to get milk' story."

bakugou hummed. while he couldn't pretend to be enthusiastic to learn about somebody else's family drama, he had to admit that it interested him to see the environment you grew up in and the people around you. that was why he let you talk his ears off, even though he wasn't even replying.

"anyway, jinah's always been like a younger sister to me," you continued, gaze softening at the thought of your younger cousin. "she's not a fan of heroes, though, so you don't have to worry."

bakugou raised his eyebrows. that was surprising... a teenage girl that didn't care about pro heroes? he had discovered a needle in a haystack.

"my grandparents..." you began, tapping your finger on your chin in thought and pursing your glossed lips ever so slightly. "...grandpa's kinda eccentric... grew up in the states, so his mindset is very westernised and liberal. grandma's the same, though she's much sweeter and way more relaxed. he's always doing shit — fixing up the house, building furniture, everything — even though he's got a bad back and his doctor's told him to rest. grandma keeps nagging him, but i'm pretty sure she's given up."

bakugou didn't say anything... he let you talk.

"i think he does it to prove to us he's still young and capable," you admitted softly. "he can't accept that he's getting older and more fragile. working is how he keeps himself busy... i think grandma gets that, that's why she doesn't stop him anymore."

he couldn't relate to anything you were saying.

he didn't know his extended family. his whole life, it had just been him and his parents, nobody else. he didn't even have any siblings, let alone cousins he could bond with, because his parents refused to even talk about the rest of their family.

he hadn't ever cared about it before.

although now, he was starting to wonder what his childhood would've been like had the others been around.

"sorry, i must be boring you. i'll shut up now."

bakugou ignored your words. instead, he asked, "what about your old man?"

he didn't look at you, knowing you would have a reaction he wouldn't be able to decipher. he focused on the road ahead of him, despite the desperate urge to stare at you occupying his thoughts, and he simply waited for a reply.

it was something he had been curious about ever since he had met you.

his parents had never mentioned your father; neither had you or your friends. it was a mystery, and he hadn't bothered prying before because he truly didn't care. yet now, his curiosity was consuming him... and since you were on the topic of your family already, bakugou figured it couldn't hurt.

but it had been a good minute, and you hadn't said anything.

he opened his mouth, ready to say something to fill the awkward silence in the car... but that was when you said, softly, "don't know. never knew him."

bakugou hummed in response to that, deciding to not push the subject any further.

-

your arm was tightly hooked around bakugou's bicep the moment you stepped onto the front porch of your mother's house with your free hand holding a gift bag. breathing in deeply, you leaned into his ear to whisper, "remember — we love each other."

he scrunched his face up in a mixture of cringe as well as disgust. "this is gonna be a long fucking day."

and then you reached up and rang the doorbell.

almost immediately, it was yanked open and a middle aged lady appeared in front of you, short in stature but quite petite, short dark hair curling around her heart-shaped face as she yelled, "my beautiful married niece!"

"hi, aunt isane." you began, embracing her in a hug and breathing in her homely, sweet scent. you were genuinely happy to see her; she was one of the few people from your family you could actually tolerate.

"and there's my handsome nephew-in-law!" she exclaimed, moving you to the side to approach bakugou, and — to his utter dismay — give him a hug.

the blond boy froze, his eyes wide in panic and frantically searching your face for something, anything, but instead all he saw was you gesturing for him to hug her back as your voice rang through his mind, "you're being rude!"

so, even though it was awkward as shit, bakugou awkwardly patted the woman on her back twice, only to breathe out a sigh of relief when she finally released him; although she still kept a firm hold of his shoulders, her eyes assessing him carefully. like yours, they were purple, and the blond immediately cleared his mind of all thoughts, praying she didn't decide to take a peak inside his head. he didn't know if your entire family had the same quirk you did, but he couldn't be too sure... he had to be careful not to slip up.

"come in, darlings!" isane began, hooking her right arm around bakugou's and the left around yours, before she dragged you both inside the home and kicked the front door shut behind her.

she finally pulled you both into the living room, not even allowing you to take your shoes off, before shouting, "they're here!"

an old man was sat in the couch, reading a newspaper, though his attention immediately shifted from the article to the newlywed couple that had just entered his line of sight. he stood up and dropped the folded paper, hands hiking his pants up further as he walked towards the two of you with a stern, stoic expression.

bakugou stared back, his shoulders tensing up. does this old man wanna fight?!

and then your grandfather's gaze landed on you, and every harsh line on his face softened, expression transforming into one of pure warmth as he said, "you forgot about me the moment you got famous, huh, pipsqueak?"

bakugou watched as you hugged him warmly, and he realised that this embrace was much more emotional than the one with your aunt. he shuffled away, ever so slightly, to give the two of you your space.

and then your grandfather released you, and he moved to bakugou to give him a firm pat on his back. "so, i hear you're one of em' pro heroes."

"yes sir," bakugou started, surprised to feel that his hand actually had some weight to it. although he had a slightly protruding belly now, the blond could tell that he had been quite muscular back in the day. "bakugou katsuki. nice to meet you."

"you're too uptight, son!" your grandfather exclaimed, with a loud chuckle, hand gripping bakugou's shoulder affectionately. "back in my day, all these heroes did was drink and bang—"

"grandpa!!" you yelled, face heating up in embarrassment over what he had just said; but surprisingly, bakugou didn't seem to take offence. an amused smirk plastered itself on his face and he responded, "no wonder the villain rate was higher back then."

another roaring laugh from your grandfather. "you'd be surprised to know it was the villains they drank with!"

you rolled your eyes at that, grateful for the fact that they were getting along; you hadn't expected your grandfather to take a liking to bakugou. the old man was traditional, in a sense, though not bigoted or prejudiced. he had been an officer, back in the day, when pro heroes were just starting out and it was the police force that ran everything. he had complained a lot, your grandmother told you, about how those quirked bastards were stealing policemen's jobs, but you also learned that he soon grew to get a long with a lot of them.

"y/n, dear!"

at the familiar, frail, feminine voice, your eyes turned to the entrance of the living room where you saw your grandmother, trudging over to you with a wide smile and open arms. "you look lovely!"

"so do you, grandma! did you get a haircut?" you asked, hugging her back, and the woman giggled, "yes, how does it look?"

"stunning."

"oh my word, there he is!" your grandmother said, releasing you to walk over to bakugou, who was in conversation with your grandfather. the old woman grinned at him, hand reaching up to ruffle his blond hair as she said, "what a handsome young man! i'm sure a lot of hearts were broken when you married our y/n!"

your face heated up at that once again.

bakugou relaxed under her touch, his eyes softening at how fragile she seemed. "none that i particularly cared about. it's nice to meet you, ma'am, i'm bakugou katsuki."

"ma'am?!" your grandmother said, exasperated as she shook her head and continued, "it's grandma to you, dear."

bakugou stiffened — while your family was welcoming, he couldn't deny that it would take some getting used to. all of this was new to him — he hadn't even met his own grandparents, yet he'd be addressing someone else's now? it was strange.

but he didn't hate it too much.

your grandmother hummed in thought, her hands trailing down bakugou's arm to squeeze his biceps.

your eyes widened at the action and you yelled, "grandma, what are you doing?!"

bakugou titled his head to the side in confusion, but didn't make an effort to move away from the old woman's touch. he couldn't sense any weird intentions from her... just genuine curiosity.

"perfect!" your grandmother said, shifting her hand to hold bakugou's wrist as she dragged him to the kitchen along with her. "you can lift all the heavy water bottles!"

"uh... okay."

and just like that, bakugou katsuki seemed to have adjusted to most of your family pretty well.

Chapter Text

he still hadnt seen your cousin and your mother that was the first thing bakugou thought when he made it out into the backyard, where the party would be taking place.

it was big — practically a whole garden in itself — and a round table was set up in the middle of it — stacked with dishes and dishes of sandwiches, chips, cupcakes, biscuits, pizza, you name it —with many plastic chairs surrounding it. fairy lights were strung up on the trees and bushes that lined the edges of the backyard, just ahead of the fence, and there was a separate table stacked with beverages like soft drinks and lemonade, as well as cups, plates and utensils for everybody to grab.

bakugou hauled the back of 1.5 litre winter bottles he had been instructed to place on the table and set them down with a huff, his eyes scanning over the way they had decorated the garden.

and then suddenly, bakugou felt it.

he swerved to his right, arm flying up to block a leg that had come flying towards his face in a kick, his eyes wide as saucers. "what the f—"

and then the leg disappeared, and he relaxed his posture but kept a defensive arm up, his eyes and ears on high alert as he scanned the garden for the person who had dared to so blatantly attack him in broad daylight. an amused smirk appeared on his face as he called out, "if you think you can hide from me, you're wrong."

and then his eyes swivelled towards the tallest tree, standing in a corner with lights strung on it, and he made out a shadow behind the leaves. hand going up, he pointed towards it and said, "gotcha."

then the leaves rustled, and the figure hiding behind them dropped to the grass in front of him.

bakugou folded his arms across his chest, unsurprised to see a short, teenage girl, her head stopping at his chest, dressed in jeans and a black top. her black hair was curled — though it had a few leaves tangled within it — and her makeup was dark, eyeliner heavy around her eyes to make her appear older than she actually was. still, though, the softness of her features gave her youth away, and all she did was frown at the blond before saying, "thought i could at least get a hit in."

"you thought wrong," bakugou said with a roll of his eyes, immediately recognising that this was your younger cousin, jinah... and he also realised that you failed to mention the small fact that she was a weirdo. "what kinda kid attacks someone they just met? i could've seriously hurt you, kid."

"please," she said dismissively, waving him off as she moved to grab a strawberry frosted cupcake off of the table. "number two on the hero rankings thinks way too highly of himself."

"HAH?!" bakugou snapped, stomping towards her; he was grateful nobody else was outside to see him explode at this 15 year old. "you've got too much of a mouth on ya'— where's your manners?!"

"jinah!"

your voice snapped bakugou out of the focus he was in, and he turned to see that you had stepped out into the backyard through the sliding doors as well, bright grin plastered on your face as you made eye contact with your little cousin. “happy birthday!”

bakugou didn't even notice her move; within a blink of an eye, jinah had appeared in front of you, arms spreading out to embrace you in a tight hug. "y/n, i missed you! why didn't you invite me to the wedding?!"

bakugou glanced down at the soles of her shoes, seeing them smoking ever so slightly, and he raised an eyebrow. speed quirk. that's how she got into the tree so quick.

"i'm sorry, we had to keep it as small as possible," you explained, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. once she released you, you glanced up to meet bakugou's gaze and said, "i see you've already met kats!"

suddenly, jinah pouted, her eyes dropping to the floor as she kicked at an imaginary rock and mumbled, "yeah... but he was mean to me."

"WHAT?!" bakugou yelled, in complete and utter disbelief — was he really being played by this child?! “no i wasn't!"

"katsuki!" you sternly said, frown appearing on your previously cheerful face. "don't be mean, it's her birthday!"

"BUT I WASN'T—"

"y/n, i can't believe you married the number two hero." jinah sadly said, placing a loud emphasis on the number as she shook her head in disappointment. "was deku not available—"

bakugou stormed over. "i'm gonna gut this kid—"

"lovely, everyone's already here!" akane announced, stepping outside into the backyard. your grandparents and aunt followed close behind, grinning cheerfully as they conversed among themselves.

bakugou was forced to zip his mouth shut, his only retaliation to the teen's words being a deadly glare he sent her; one that only got firmer when she stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

I FUCKING HATE KIDS—

-

"so, how's the married life been treating you, pipsqueak?" your grandfather asked, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded over his broad chest.

at his question, you looked away from jinah, who had been telling you about one of the boys in her class, and at the old man, quickly swallowing the cookie that was in your mouth. "it's pretty fun."

on your left sat bakugou, foot tapping against the ground in irritation as he chugged down the beer isane had kindly offered him; he was still reeling over the encounter with your cousin, and even though an hour had passed since then, he knew he wouldn't get over it.

the sun was starting to set in the sky, casting an orange glow over the backyard; the fairy lights had come on automatically, sensing the darkness, and some of the solar-powered lanterns hung up had also begun projecting their faint yellow lights. the atmosphere was cheery and peaceful, full of laughter and friendly conversations.

"katsuki," isane began, catching the blond's attention with a bright smile. "has our y/n been cooking for you? you probably shouldn't let her— i can't count the number of times she almost burned our kitchen down!"

"stop, it was like twice!" you defensively said, glancing at bakugou to await his response.

"i do the cooking, mostly," he revealed, grabbing a chip and tossing it in his mouth. salty. "i mean, the one time i let her use the oven she burnt her fingers. i prefer it if she just watches."

"that's so romantic!" isane gushed, pressing her hands together in front of her face as her eyes darted between the two of you frantically.

on the contrary , your grandmother frowned, sipping her wine as she began, "this isn't acceptable! i teach you all my recipes and you haven't cooked them for your husband? preposterous! how is he meant to taste my delicious food?"

bakugou snorted at that. "you can make it for me, grams."

it was awkward to use such an endearing term to refer to someone who wasn't even related to him... but bakugou relaxed immediately when he saw the soft smile that broke out on the old woman's face, eyes crinkling as she said, "of course, darling! anytime my granddaughter starves you, ring me up and i'll send something delicious."

you rolled your eyes at that. "wow, i'm right here."

"it's okay, y/n," jinah started, licking the frosting off of her fifth cupcake for the evening. "he's only good at cooking because he's got a lot of free time... he's number two, after all—"

bakugou's eye twitched, his head twisting to look around you at the girl who was so safely out of his reach. then he leaned in close and muttered, "how about i put you in the oven next—"

"katsuki!" you said, voice laced with shock at his words; all of his efforts to make a good impression would surely fly out the window because of this. you knew jinah was confrontational and blunt, but she was at that age — it was almost impossible to talk to her without her throwing around a backhanded, too honest comment, even for you.

but your grandfather simply laughed at their exchange and said, "ah, youth! back in my day—"

"i think we've all heard enough about your day." your grandmother interrupted him, only for the old man to frown and retort, "nonsense, these kids haven't even heard about that night i spent in shibuya with—"

"how convenient that this lighter is placed right in front of me," your grandmother said, lifting the object up and smiling wickedly, refusing to make eye contact with her now frozen husband who regretted his words immediately.

the old man chuckled, leaning over to wrap his arm around his wife's shoulders. "i'm kidding, honey. all i remember from my youth is falling in love with you."

akane scrunched her face up in disgust. "spare us the love story, please—"

"we've heard it a million times," isane added, looking bored as ever as she sipped her red wine.

"i've gotta use the bathroom," you said, standing up and turning towards the sliding doors that led inside; but before you walked away, you gave both bakugou and jinah a stern look. "no fighting while i'm gone."

the moment you left, conversations began once again between the older people at the tables, with bakugou occasionally chiming in with a comment of his own every time they glanced at him in acknowledgement. he was grateful they didn't leave him out, even when you weren't around... in fact he realised they were all quite fond of him, even your mother.

while he couldn't deny that there was something malicious lurking behind the woman's gaze at all times, as of now, she seemed to fit in perfectly around her family. everything was casual and warm, and it left bakugou wondering why you had been so nervous about this meeting in the first place.

before the man could say something in response to isane, he felt a presence appear next to him.

jinah had shifted so that she was now sitting in the seat you had previously occupied, right before your trip to the bathroom. she refused to meet his gaze, arms crossed over her chest as she stared down at her feet, refusing to say anything; though her pursed lips gave her slight embarrassment away.

bakugou furrowed his brows, wondering why she had done such a thing. doesn't this kid despise me?

finally, after what felt like ages of awkward silence, jinah asked, "do you actually love y/n?"

bakugou was expected anything except that. he visibly grew awkward, eyes shooting up to scan the rest of the people at the table. fortunately, none of them seemed remotely interested in the question jinah had mumbled to him, so he sighed and looked down at his left hand that sat on his lap, his thumb fiddling with the wedding band wrapped around his finger.

"why do you ask?"

"because she loves someone else."

bakugou's head snapped to the side to look at her immediately, brows knitting together in confusion. "what?"

"i've known her longer than you," jinah muttered, sending the man a blank stare. "seen what she looks like when she's actually in love. it's nothing like this."

for some reason, bakugou's mind immediately went to the picture he had seen on your side table; you and a boy, both in highschool, huddled close together and grinning widely. he thought of the phone calls you had been spammed with, by some mysterious person called 'shota'.

then he sighed and turned to face ahead of him once more, relaxing into his seat. "honestly, i don't give a fuck about her past. i don't care about who she loved — don't care about any other man in her life, really."

jinah continued watching him curiously, waiting to see where he was going with this.

"what i do care about," he said, voice taking on a sharper, more serious tone. "is our marriage. she's in my house, her name is next to mine on every single document, and she wakes up next to me every. single. morning."

he sat up straighter suddenly, leaning in closer to jinah to say, with a cocky smirk, "why would anyone else matter when she's my wife?"

jinah couldn't help but crack a small smile at his confident words and held her hand out for a fist bump. "y'know what hero, i fuck with you."

bakugou snorted, relaxing back into his own seat as he touched his fist against her's. it was in the weirdest way possible, but at least he had made her like him now — and he realised her words were coming from a place of care. she was worried her older cousin was in a loveless marriage — which she was — and that was why she targeted him. it was understandable, but it didn't make it any less annoying.

still, he took another swig of his beer, at least i can tolerate her now.

"you guys seem to be getting along."

both bakugou and jinah looked up to see you towering over them from behind, excited smile on your face; you were pleased to see them talking and sitting closer when you returned — you were worried about them hating each other, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case.

"you took a while." bakugou commented, still looking up at you; something was different, but he couldn't quite place what exactly. his neck was starting to hurt from how far back he had craned his head, so he rested it against the back of his chair and continued to watch you, crimson eyes moving over your face and trying to figure out what exactly was out of place. it was difficult, considering the fact that he was looking at you upside down.

"god forbid a girl have to pee," you playfully said, to which jinah added, "number two hero and a misogynist?!"

bakugou did not take his eyes off of you when he irritatedly said, "don't piss me off, kid."

jinah giggled in reply.

you met bakugou's gaze, tilting your head down and raising an eyebrow when you saw the way he was looking at you. perplexed by his intense stare, you asked, "is there something on my face?"

"oh," bakugou's lips parted in realisation, his eyes falling on your mouth. "you changed your lipstick."

confusion consumed your entire being at that, your ears warming at the fact that he had noticed — and pointed out — something so seemingly irrelevant. looking away from him, you awkwardly chuckled and asked, "why, does it look bad?"

"nah," bakugou looked back down, taking one final sip of his beer and crushing the empty can within his fist, looking unfazed by the blush had speared on your ears and neck. "was just bugging me."

jinah moved back to her seat, all whilst teasingly saying, "awww, he's so observant—"

"too observant." you mumbled, plopping yourself down in the chair next to his. but for some reason, for the rest of the night, you couldn't bring yourself to make eye contact with him, for whatever strange reason.

Chapter Text

"that was exhausting."

"i'm glad you ended up getting along with jinah," you said, looking out of the passenger window at all the buildings that flew by as bakugou drove back home. he had left with boxes of food — courtesy of your grandmother — and some cake isane had made; though he wasn't complaining.

"she's a brat, but she isn't intolerable," he replied flatly.

"thanks for doing this," you softly said to him, remembering how much he hadn't wanted to come along today. the fact that he hadn't agreed meant a lot to you, and he even made an effort to get along with your family. he was doing much more than he was obligated to... and strangely, it made you feel warm inside.

bakugou hummed, recalling how much he dreaded this whole thing before it happened. now that it was over, though, he realised it wasn't as bad as he was imagining it to be. "you still owe me a favour."

you furrowed your brows at the reminder, turning to stare at the side of his face. "and what would that be? i'm not massaging your feet or doing anything weird."

he gave you a perplexed look. "why the fuck would i make you touch my feet? that's gross."

"then what?"

bakugou paused for a moment as he turned the steering wheel, rounding a corner on the empty road. his index finger tapped against the wheel, and then he finally said, "i need you to use your quirk on someone."

immediately, your expression changed into one of irritation. you couldn't believe this was what he was asking of you. tearing your gaze away from his face, you crossed your arms over your chest, voice turning cold when you said, "i don't use my quirk. it's invasive and dehumanising."

bakugou raised an eyebrow at that, memories of the wedding coming to his mind instantly. "it wasn't invasive when you used it on me."

"that was different," you said simply.

"you agreed to do me a favour." bakugou reminded, sending you a sideways glance. "honour that, purple."

you didn't respond, your mouth twisting into an expression of distaste; but you couldn't argue any further. you'd agreed to do anything for him, after all.

at your lack of further resistance, bakugou's shoulders relaxed. "what time's your break tomorrow?"

"i work till 3."

"great." bakugou said, "i'll pick you up then."

-

"can you tell me why we're at a hospital?"

"just shut up and follow me," bakugou grunted, heading straight past reception and towards one of the many elevators inside the gigantic hospital building.

you followed behind him, hating every bit of it.

you never liked hospitals. the smell of disinfectant that lingered in the air always made you feel sick, and every light was too blinding. it was either eerily quiet or way too loud, never in between, and to you, the place reeked of death and sadness. you would never get used to it.

your sneakers pattered against the marble floors as you entered the elevator, watching bakugou casually click a button for the sixth floor. he didn't ask anyone for directions; just by that, you assumed he came here quite often. since it was a person he wanted you to use your quirk on, the only logical conclusion you came to was that it must be a patient.

this feels wrong, you thought, once the doors opened and you made it out onto the inpatient ward.

bakugou walked in front of you with nonchalance and confidence, past all the workers and other visitors, but you noticed certain female nurses stop to give him smiles, little waves that he didn't reciprocate, all whilst giggling and blushing like schoolgirls. surely, they had better things to do than get this excited over a hero showing up in their ward — you rolled your eyes, knowing that all this attention must probably make his already inflated ego even bigger.

finally, bakugou stopped in front of a certain door.

he didn't look back at you even once; his hand reached out to the handle and he pressed it down, pushing the door open and revealing a patient's room.

he walked in, waited for you to do the same, then closed the door behind both of you.

when you saw the person in the bed, your eyes softened.

an old man laid there, all thin and frail and wrinkly, cannula inserted into his nostrils and iv needles stuck inside his arms. his eyes had been shut when you entered, but at the sound of bakugou's footsteps getting closer to his bed, his eyelids slowly opened, and the corners of his lips curled up to give the blond man a warm smile, as wide as he possibly could.

"hey, old man." bakugou said, though his voice was softer than it usually was. he gestured towards you and continued, "hope you don't mind that i brought someone today."

you neared the bed, chest tightening with sympathy for the elderly man. he opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but only strained breaths came out. once you were standing next to him, on the opposite side from where bakugou stood, you saw that he had a pipe inserted into his throat — he had lost the ability to speak.

his gaze slowly turned towards you, smile faltering ever so slightly in confusion. his eyes were a dark brown, but despite their rich colour, they were void and empty.

bakugou seemed to pick up on this. he cleared his throat awkwardly before admitting, "uh... she's my wife."

your eyes went wide at that, lips parting in surprise. it was the first time bakugou had ever addressed you like that to someone; for some reason, it was unsettling to hear, and made you feel instantly awkward.

but it seemed the elderly man had a completely different reaction to you.

he looked back at bakugou, lips parting once again as his smile widened; the smallest of sparkles appeared in his eyes, as if he was happy at the revelation, and you couldn't help but feel sadness consume your entire being. how painful it must be for him to live like this.

"this man," bakugou started, finally addressing you, though he never once looked up to meet your gaze. "he was one of the civilians who got injured during a villain attack... while i was fighting him. pipe landed on his neck, crushed his voice box... i've visited him for weeks, every time his grandkids couldn't, and he's been trying to tell me something. his hands are too weak to write out anything, too—"

"so you want me to find out what he has to say to you." you interrupted, understanding the guy's of the situation. you instantly regretted thinking that bakugou wanted to use your quirk for heinous purposes; this was a heartfelt, genuine reason. he wanted to hear what the man had to say, and he was desperate enough to ask you to help him.

forcing the tightness in your chest to go away, you cleared your throat, attempting to compose yourself. of course you would help; this was the first time you'd ever been given the chance to use your quirk to help someone. you'd be an idiot not to take it.

"hello, sir," you bowed respectfully besides his bed, causing the elderly man to look back at you slowly, trying not to strain the muscles in his neck. you stood up straight right away, determination present in your gaze. "my quirk allows me to communicate with people in their minds. is it alright if i use it on you?"

his eyes widened, ever so slightly, and his lips parted again. it was heartbreaking, the way he kept trying to speak but failed over and over again.

taking that as a yes, you pulled a chair closer to the side of his bed and took a seat, inhaling a deep breath.

bakugou sat down on a chair of his own, across from you on the other side of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest as he patiently watched.

and then your eyes begun glowing brighter than bakugou had ever seen them.

"hello, sir." you said to the elderly man, within his mind. your lips didn't move, your expression remained blank as you watched him carefully for any sign of a reaction.

the moment he heard you, his breath shook, smile disappearing from his face.

and then you heard a deep, yet shaky voice.

"is this truly real? can you hear me?"

"yes, i can," you said, now smiling softly when seeing the pure disbelief painted on his wrinkled face. his eyes darted between yours, as if trying to understand what the hell was happening. "you have a lovely voice."

a tear slipped past the man's eyelashes, down the side of his face.

bakugou sat up straighter, looking at you in an accusatory manner as he demanded, "what the hell did you say to him?"

"shush." you mumbled, then focused enough to hear the man answer, "i never thought i'd speak to anyone ever again."

"you're speaking to me."

"and it is wonderful," he replied, his hands trembling atop his chest. "tell me, is it true that the hero is your husband?"

"it is," you admitted, warmth climbing up your neck at the fact that he had asked that; you didn't think you'd ever get used to being referred to that way. "we've been married for a while now."

"splendid!" he exclaimed, and the contrast of his lively voice to the frailness of his body was jarring. he continued smiling, weak though it was, enjoying the conversation you and him were having. "i didn't have much faith that he would, but i'm glad he proved me wrong."

you furrowed your brows at that. "why didn't you have faith?"

the man made a rather weak attempt to scoff. "look at him, all mean and rough. what woman would fall for that? his good looks are all he has going for him, the poor boy."

you giggled at that, glancing up at the blond; when he gave you a perplexed, curious look, you simply looked back down at the man and said, "well, i wouldn't say that. its true that he's rough around the edges, but he has a soft side."

"you think i don't know that?"!the elderly man smiled softly once again. "almost every day for the past three weeks, he's visited me. we didn't even know each other before the accident; all i remember from that day is a blond hero, lifting me up out of the rubble and staring at me with an expression full of guilt and sorrow."

you said nothing, and he continued, "i'm an old man, my life is bound to end anyway. he should've been focused on all the young'uns that had gotten hurt... but no, he brought me to the hospital himself, all worried and tense. the look didn't suit him, not when he has such a pretty face. he visited me often, sat down in that same chair; but he never said a word. he'd only greet me when he entered, and when he left. that was all, but it was enough."

your eyes were soft, heart filled with warmth — bakugou would never tell you this. you wouldn't have found out about his caring, gentle side if not for this old man, who was recounting the tale to you as if it was fictional and not something he had experienced himself.

after a moment of silence, the man sighed a shaky breath. "child, my time is coming to an end— i feel it."

your heart sank, expression dropping into one of concern. "what? how do you know?"

he smiled, though it was sad, stricken with grief. "i feel it in my soul. the god of death will come for me soon... i believe you've been sent here as my final gift in this life. you've given me a voice again... how could a dead man ever repay you?"

you tried to control the tightening of your throat, the sorrow that was seconds away from eating you whole. you had known this man for a few minutes, and he was already dying. tears filled your eyes, but you rushed to blink them away. "i'm sorry i didn't find you sooner."

another tear slipped out of his eye. "you have nothing to apologise for. be happy in your marriage with the hero... he's one of the kindest people i've ever known."

"he said you had something to tell him," you reminded, trying to control the intensity of your emotions so you could get through this calmly.

the old man smiled. his brown eyes were twinkling with joy as he watched you, and he looked alive again. "it's not your fault... that is what i've been meaning to tell him."

he then turned to look at bakugou, making the blond's eyes widen. he had said nothing for the past few minutes, instead watching as you and the old man conversed with your eyes, but the sudden acknowledgment was surprising.

whilst still staring at bakugou, the man said, "child, say everything i'm about to say to him... word for word."

you heaved out a shaky breath. "he... he wants me to tell you this."

bakugou looked at you in confusion, his brows knitted together. "what?"

"that day, the accident..."

"...it wasn't your fault." you said, patiently listening to everything the old man had to say and continuing, "i had stepped out onto the balcony when i shouldn't have, and i slipped. your explosion did not make me fall, it was my own mistake."

bakugou's entire expression morphed into one of pure shock.

"your presence with me, during the final moments of my life..."

"...has been greatly appreciated. you are the greatest hero i've ever known," you said, pausing to inhale a sharp breath when you felt a tear slip down your cheek. "thank you for giving me a voice, and thank you..."

"...for making an old man feel important again."

the man's eyes then closed completely, and the heart monitor flatlined.

tears flowed out of your eyes uncontrollably now, sobs escaping your throat as you pressed your hands to your face. it was too painful — everything was too painful. it wasn't just the sadness from witnessing his death, it was everything — your quirk didn't just allow you to get into somebody's mind... it allowed you to feel every ounce of their emotions if you used it for too long. everything weighed heavy on your heart, and your shoulders shook with every sob.

bakugou stared at the old man, who had passed on with a grateful smile. it looked like he had just gone back to sleep.

the blond man pressed his fingers to his eyes, creating a barrier preventing any tears from escaping. he heard your sobs, knew you were hurting, but he took a moment for himself.

to the man, who he hoped was listening from above, bakugou whispered, "you're welcome."

-

the elevator ride was silent, save for the occasional sound of your sniffles.

bakugou stared down at his feet blankly, not sure what to say. his heart was heavy with grief, but it took him by surprise... he didn't realise he'd be this affected by the death of someone he'd known for such a short period of time.

"katsuki."

bakugou finally looked at you, unsurprised to see the redness in your eyes and your wet cheeks. your nose had turned pink due to the incessant sniffling, and you gazed at him with nothing but pure sympathy and sadness.

he parted his lips to say something, to tell you he was thankful for your help, but he couldn't.

because you had wrapped your arms around his neck and embraced him before he could even get a word out.

bakugou froze completely, his eyes wide open. blankly staring ahead, at the elevator wall, he thought, what the FUCK?

"i'm so sorry," you whispered, into his neck. he smelled nice — he always did — and you didn't care that he hadn't hugged you back. you weren't expecting him to; this was your only way of offering him support, to show him that you were there for him if he wanted to openly grieve. to convey to him that he didn't need to hide his emotions around you. "i'm really sorry."

slowly, his eyes went back to normal.

he could smell your shampoo, the perfume you had sprayed on; it overpowered the scent of disinfectant in the elevator. your small frame meant you could only reach his neck, which meant he could feel your hot breath fanning his skin, but he was too focused on all the events that had just transpired to give the closeness of your bodies a second thought.

bakugou did not hug you back. his arms hung loosely at his sides, weighed down by sadness, and all he did was dip his face lower so it was buried inside your hair.

he didn't say anything; just breathed in and out, whilst accepting the fact that he'd never have to visit this hospital again.

but while their was the weight of his grief that pressed him down like a boulder on his shoulders, there was a part of him that felt relieved. all this time, he had blamed himself for the old man's injuries — he truly thought there was no way to rid himself of the incessant guilt. yet he had used his dying words to console him that none of it was bakugou's fault.

his eyes filled with tears once more, and he was grateful that the hug meant you couldn't see his face. he buried it down further into your hair, until his mouth was close to your neck as well, the warmth of your skin making him feel the slightest bit better.

he didn't hug you back... but he inhaled as much of you as he could, nose buried inside the hair near your neck, your proximity being his only comfort.

the tears finally slipped past his eyelashes then.

Chapter Text

the elevator ride was silent, save for the occasional sound of your sniffles.

bakugou stared down at his feet blankly, not sure what to say. his heart was heavy with grief, but it took him by surprise... he didn't realise he'd be this affected by the death of someone he'd known for such a short period of time.

"katsuki."

bakugou finally looked at you, unsurprised to see the redness in your eyes and your wet cheeks. your nose had turned pink due to the incessant sniffling, and you gazed at him with nothing but pure sympathy and sadness.

he parted his lips to say something, to tell you he was thankful for your help, but he couldn't.

because you had wrapped your arms around his neck and embraced him before he could even get a word out.

bakugou froze completely, his eyes wide open. blankly staring ahead, at the elevator wall, he thought, what the FUCK?

"i'm so sorry," you whispered, into his neck. he smelled nice — he always did — and you didn't care that he hadn't hugged you back. you weren't expecting him to; this was your only way of offering him support, to show him that you were there for him if he wanted to openly grieve. to convey to him that he didn't need to hide his emotions around you. "i'm really sorry."

slowly, his eyes went back to normal.

he could smell your shampoo, the perfume you had sprayed on; it overpowered the scent of disinfectant in the elevator. your small frame meant you could only reach his neck, which meant he could feel your hot breath fanning his skin, but he was too focused on all the events that had just transpired to give the closeness of your bodies a second thought.

bakugou did not hug you back. his arms hung loosely at his sides, weighed down by sadness, and all he did was dip his face lower so it was buried inside your hair.

he didn't say anything; just breathed in and out, whilst accepting the fact that he'd never have to visit this hospital again.

but while their was the weight of his grief that pressed him down like a boulder on his shoulders, there was a part of him that felt relieved. all this time, he had blamed himself for the old man's injuries — he truly thought there was no way to rid himself of the incessant guilt. yet he had used his dying words to console him that none of it was bakugou's fault.

his eyes filled with tears once more, and he was grateful that the hug meant you couldn't see his face. he buried it down further into your hair, until his mouth was close to your neck as well, the warmth of your skin making him feel the slightest bit better.

he didn't hug you back... but he inhaled as much of you as he could, nose buried inside the hair near your neck, your proximity being his only comfort.

the tears finally slipped past his eyelashes then.

-

bakugou didn't see much of you after that.

every morning when he woke up, you were gone. when he came back at night, your keys were on the hook, but the door to your room was shut, and he wasn't going to take a peek inside to check if you were awake or not. the apartment was silent and empty for the next week, and the man wondered if you were even home at all.

he also noticed something quite strange.

whenever he opened the fridge to make himself breakfast, bakugou noticed that all of your groceries looked untouched and unopened. his were on the verge of finishing, which meant he had to make a trip to the store, but your section of the fridge was stacked with all the zero calorie ingredients you chose to eat instead of what normal people ate.

is she eating at work?

he assumed you were; though right after, he smacked himself on the forehead for wondering such a thing. why would he care about your eating habits? that was the least of his concerns.

but the following morning, when he opened the fridge to grab eggs once again and he saw that nothing had changed, bakugou knitted his brows together slightly.

and then he heard footsteps.

he glanced up, surprised to see that you were still home — but bakugou wasn't focused on that. he took in your appearance with confusion and concern, crimson eyes scanning over every inch of you.

the bags underneath your eyes were prominent, despite the makeup you had tried to cake on to cover them up, and your skin was as pale as a ghost. the hoodie you wore was baggy, but the tight leggings gave away the thinness of your legs; even the hair on your head had thinned out considerably, tied into a loose ponytail. you looked completely different to how you were a mere week ago.

your eyes widened when you saw him in the kitchen, but you expected as much; you had slept through your alarm today, so meeting him was inevitable, even though you had truly hoped he'd be at work because of how awkward everything was at the moment. "...uh, hi."

you thought he'd bring up the hug in the elevator, the fact that he cried to you; you thought he'd be awkward and emotional, just like you were.

but bakugou looked angry.

he slammed one of his hands on the kitchen island, gaze transforming into a hard stare underneath his tensed brows as he sternly asked, "why haven't you been eating?"

you were expecting anything but that.

"i am," you said, though your voice came out rather squeaky. "i eat at work."

"clearly you don't," he replied, loosely gesturing towards you with his other hand. "look at the state of you. for fuck's sake, you look like you need a hospital."

that offended you, and your expression slowly turned into an irritated one as you turned to head out. "what i look like is none of your business."

bakugou opened his mouth to throw out a rude retort, but you had already left, leaving the blond staring at the entrance of the kitchen in annoyance.

bakugou grumbled profanities underneath his breath, wondering why you insisted on lying to him; anyone could tell you were sick. even if you weren't starving yourself, you clearly weren't eating enough.

why do i care again?

and then, to his surprise, the landline on bakugou's wall began to ring, which only meant one thing; the receptionist at the apartment building was calling him. nobody else ever used his landline.

stomping ever, he unhooked the phone from its hook and asked, "what?"

"sir!" the receptionist's voice called out, laced with pure panic and dismay, "the woman staying with you— she's passed out on the floor right now! i've called an ambulance but can you please—"

bakugou slammed the phone back onto the machine and stormed out. I FUCKING KNEW IT!

-

your head hurt like a bitch.

that was the first thing you thought the moment you regained consciousness, your eyes blinking as they adjusted to the bright lights of the hospital room. it was cold and stank of chemicals, just like it always did, and you immediately hated it.

staring up at the ceiling, you furrowed your eyebrows and wondered how the hell you had ended up here.

the last thing you remembered was getting off of the elevator and feeling extremely dizzy — then your vision blacked out, and you had woken up here.

grunting, you tried to sit up, only to frown when you saw the IV needles stuck to your hands and arms. surely, it couldn't have been that bad. you were still in the same clothes you were in when you left bakugou's apartment, which was a good thing.

glancing around once you fully sat up, you noticed that the room was empty, except for one of the chairs that had a black jacket slung over it and on the mini coffee table next to it sat two phones; one was yours, and the other belonged to bakugou. so did the jacket.

just when you began to process your situation and relax your confused expression, the door to your room opened, catching your attention.

bakugou walked in, one of his hands grasped around a cup of coffee whilst the other gently shut the door behind him; but the moment he saw you sat up in the bed, staring at him blankly, his eyes widened in surprise. "you're up."

"how long have i been out?" you asked, frowning as your eyes scanned around the walls in the room to look for a clock, only to ultimately fall back on bakugou when you realised there was none. "i had a shoot today—"

"respectfully," bakugou started, walking over to the same chair that he had been sat in since six am in the morning, annoyed sigh escaping his mouth. "i don't give a fuck if you had a meeting with the damn president today.”

your brows knitted together in worry as you watched him plop down into his seat and take a sip of his coffee. "you still didn't tell me how long i've been here for, and who brought me here."

bakugou gave you an irritated look. "ambulance brought us here at 6 in the morning, it's 2pm now. do the math."

"i'm literally fine," you said, rubbing your face with your hands — bought your arms felt like they weighed 10 kilos each. moving them was painful itself, and it was the same with every other part of your body. "i'm sorry for keeping you here for so long. you've got work... and so do i. we should get going—"

"we literally can't." bakugou deadpanned, taking another sip of his burning hot coffee; it was the only thing that had kept him awake for so long, his eyes had started to droop with boredom whilst you were knocked out. "you can't leave until you're stable again; means you're here till tomorrow."

you tilted your head slightly. "stable how?"

he turned away from you, not making eye contact. "your blood sugar's low, so are your electrolyte levels— and you're dehydrated. like, severely fucking dehydrated."

you glanced down at your lap, where you had folded your hands together. so it was that bad.

"but it's never been this bad."

bakugou's eyes shot up to glare at you harshly, grip tightening around his cup considerably. he looked pissed. "you do this often, then?"

you winced at his harsh tone.

when you refused to respond, the blond sighed and slumped further into his chair, setting the coffee cup down on the table. he rubbed his eyebrows with his thumb and fingers, trying to soothe his headache, and his foot tapped impatiently against the ground. he looked like he had so much he wanted to say, yet he kept his mouth shut. all he did was stare at the floor, his jaw clenched tightly, expression unfaltering.

gathering the courage, you were able to give him a quick glance to figure out how he was feeling; but you couldn't tell. after a moment, you mumbled, "you can go to work."

bakugou flatly replied, "i'm good."

"you should go." you rephrased your previous words, guilt consuming you at the fact that you had practically been the reason why he had taken the day off. he didn't need to babysit you — you were perfectly fine, in your opinion. "you don't need to stay here with m—"

"for fuck's sake!" bakugou snapped, finally sitting up straight to give you a proper, pissed off glare. while you did flinch at the sudden raise in his voice, you noticed that behind the anger in his eyes, there lurked other emotions; ones like concern, worry, even hints of fear. he couldn't control himself for any longer, and the words tumbled out of his mouth in a furious frenzy, "you're laying in a fucking hospital bed because you starved yourself for god knows how damn long, and you're telling me to go back to work?! your electrolyte levels were so low you went into cardiac arrest! you didn't just pass out, y/n!"

you pressed your lips together tightly as he continued, "jesus christ, where's your sense of urgency when you literally could have died?! do you think i give a fuck about work right now?! how the hell am i meant to go save other people when helping you is the only thing on my fucking mind?!!"

you rapidly blinked your tears away and whispered, "i'm sorry."

"why are you saying that to me?!" he demanded, his fists clenching tightly shut. "your body deserves the fucking apology!"

it was shocking; both the predicament you were in, and how upset bakugou had gotten by it. he looked genuinely distressed at the thought of something fatal happening to you... but why?

why does he care so much?

before your mind could find absurd ways to answer that question, you reminded yourself of something very important; bakugou katsuki was a hero. it was his job to help other people, regardless of what he thought about them.

that's the only reason why he's so upset.

a whole minute of silence went by as bakugou regained his composure, inhaling in a few breaths and shutting his eyes. he hadn't meant to crash out that badly, he'd never done that for anyone except midoriya before. he couldn't fathom why he reacted the way he did.

after he had calmed himself down, the blond leaned back into his seat once more and brought his coffee back to his mouth.

at the sudden silence, you softly began, "...you're not gonna ask me why?"

bakugou paused for a moment, as if processing your question.

then he revealed, "i don't need to."

Chapter Text

"your phone was blowing up, so i turned it off."

"it's probably my mom and my assistant," you recalled, forcing yourself to drink from the water bottle bakugou had given you. it was refreshing since your mouth felt unbearably dry, but it still felt strange to be swallowing something when you hadn't eaten in so long. "because i missed the shoot."

"yeah, thought so." he replied, scrolling through his phone casually; next to him, on the table, were stacks of endless coffee cults that he had acquired over the past couple of hours, as well as boxes of instant ramen he had been using to feed himself. he never ate mediocre, unhealthy meals like this, but he simply didn't have the energy for anything else. the sun had set, after what felt like ages, and bakugou had been granted special permission to stay with you regardless of visiting hours being over, so he was relieved he wouldn't be leaving you alone for the night.

somehow, he felt he needed to watch you eat and drink, despite there being nurses who came in to check on you every hour. it made him anxious to think that he wouldn't be able to check himself if he were to leave. weird.

bakugou looked up to see you staring at your phone — that was on the table next to him — with eyes full of longing, and the blond hero rolled his eyes. "i'm not giving it to you. seeing all that unnecessary shit will just stress you out."

"but i can't leave everyone on delivered."

"i told your mom you came down with a cold," bakugou casually revealed — when he saw the confused look on your face, he elaborated, "thought you wouldn't want anyone knowing the real reason."

"i don't, you made the right call." you said softly, fighting the urge to smile at how nice he was being to you all of a sudden. "thanks."

he grunted in response, then glanced towards the door to the room. "i'm gonna grab some coffee, i'll get you some apple juice—"

"i'm not really thirsty—"

"i wasn't asking." he said, with a dismissive roll of his eyes, and soon the man had disappeared out the door.

when he returned a few minutes later, he set his own cup of coffee down, then moved towards your bed with your bottle of juice, twisting the cap off and handing it to you wordlessly.

but while he did so, his eyes set on the way you were sitting, and he noticed that your back was placed against the headboard uncomfortably.

"sit up straight," he commanded bluntly, reaching behind you to lift your pillow up and rest it against the headboard, so you'd be leaning against the soft material instead. once you relaxed onto it comfortably, he hugged and walked back over to his seat, slumping down in exhaustion.

every single one of his actions was confusing you, but not in a bad way. somehow, you felt giddy. with a playful smile, you asked, "do i have to almost die every time i want princess treatment from you?"

bakugou raised a confused eyebrow and took a sip to his coffee. "giving you juice and fixing your pillow is princess treatment?"

"somewhat," you answered, with the tiniest of grins. "it does include other stuff though — things you haven't done."

he cocked his head to the side, amused glint appearing in his eyes. "like what?"

"like picking me up."

"done that."

"oh. carrying my shoes?"

he thought back to the dreaded night outside the club when you had ripped your heels off of your feet and he was forced to grab them. he sighed painfully. "did that too."

you paused for a moment, then said, "buying me stuff— like flowers."

"you want flowers?" he sat up straighter, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and squirming in his seat, as if the very thought of doing something like that made him uneasy. "that's something a guy who's actually in love with you should be doing."

"fair point," you admitted, tapping your chin in thought as you tried to come up with more things you had seen your friends' boyfriends do for them that fell under the umbrella of 'princess treatment.' "i guess it's mostly just acts of service."

he rolled his eyes at that, posture going back to the relaxed one from moments prior. "so you want a slave?"

suddenly feeling quite bold and playful, you sent bakugou a flirtatious smile before saying, "having you as my slave wouldn't be too bad."

both his eyebrows jumped up in surprise at those words, although his expression of shock quickly turned into one of pure irritation as he snapped, "the fuck's that supposed to mean?!"

"cause you're strong, obviously," you blatantly said, finally taking a sip of your juice; then you hastily added, "and you're not bad-looking, i guess."

his defensiveness diminished within an instant after hearing what you had to say, "if you're trying to compliment me, you're doing a terrible fucking job at it."

"but your ears are red."

he winced, glare hardening at you immediately. fingers tightening around his coffee cup, bakugou wondered if what you had pointed out was actually true — but somehow, he felt it was. he didn't need to check; he believed you, and he hated it. "you better shut up before i find a way to keep you in the hospital for longer."

his blatant threat made you gasp, though a smile appeared on your face shortly after. "how mean of you."

-

you were standing on a cliff, the backs of your feet lined against the edge, a breath away from slipping.

you looked around in confusion. where were you? this wasn't the hotel room; the cliff stretched out and connected to a dense forest, every tree a bright, healthy green, leaned scattered below them. you felt the grass underneath your feet, where you were stood, and you realised then that you were barefoot.

not only that, but you didn't seem to be wearing much clothing either.

all you had on was a swimsuit; a two piece that covered your important regions, but left every other part of you visible. parts that you didn't want to see.

staring down at your body, you poked at your visible ribs with your index finger, wondering when you had gotten so thin. your legs were practically the size of a stick, wrists skinny enough for a child with small hands to wrap their fingers around.

you grabbed at your head next, then, for some strange reason, only to pull your hands back down and see chunks of your hair on them, thin and damaged, just like you were.

"y/n."

you looked up at the familiar voice, unsurprised to see your mother standing ahead of you, right in front of the forest opening. she had appeared from within.

her arms were folded across her chest, gaze judgemental as she dragged her beady, violet eyes down your exposed body.

then she frowned.

"had a big lunch, did you?"

your lips quivered at that, unsure how to respond. you hadn't had anything to eat — how could any sane person see the state of you and make such a harsh comment, let alone one's own mother?

did she despise you so much?

if she noticed your saddened expression, she didn't make much of an effort to acknowledge it. "anyways, you have another shoot in an hour. what are you even doing here? get to work."

"i don't want to."

your mother's eyes narrowed. "what did you just say?"

"i don't want to get to work," you said, voice shaky yet determined the same time. your hair fell from your open hands, and you balled them into fists. "i wanna go to a restaurant and eat three bowls of ramen; then i wanna chug as much beer as i can. i'm not gonna do a stupid shoot, mom; i'm fucking starving."

she looked shocked.

an offended gasp left her mouth at the tone you had used with her, but she quickly composed herself. it was silent for a moment while she watched you... and then, to your bewilderment, she laughed.

her cackle was loud and unnerving, evil almost, and you felt it in your bones, inside you.

you almost faltered at that, but you kept your feet firmly planted in the soil, even when she began to walk over to you casually.

"what gave you the confidence to speak to me so rudely, y/n?" she said, laughter slowly dying down, though her evil smirk remained as she approached you. "i'm your mother. how dare you?"

you couldn't step away. glancing over your shoulder, all you saw was the rocky edge of the cliff and the ocean that slammed against it in waves, threatening to swallow you whole should you fall. there was nothing to do but to face her head-on... so you looked at her once more, wincing when you noticed she was now a mere breath away from you, her hands on your shoulders.

her glare was unwavering as she said, "i don't want a daughter who's both hideous and an ungrateful bitch."

and then she pushed you.

it happened painfully slow; slow enough for you to reach your hands out to grab her, enough for you to watch as she dodged your outstretched fingers and turned to disappear into the woods, enough for you to feel your feet slip out from underneath the soles of your feet and the wind whip at the back of your head.

now, all you could see was the sky.

you were resigned to your fate — the fall wasn't surprising, it was the words she had said before she'd pushed you. was that truly how she felt about her only daughter? was that all you meant to her, all you were worth?

you snapped your eyes shut, willing the tears to go away.

and then a hand wrapped around your wrist, the weight of your body making your shoulder ache painfully as you were dangled by your arm.

you screamed in pain, eyes opening to process what had just happened, when you were met with the sight of the rocky face of the cliff, sharp edges pointed towards your hanging body.

somebody had saved you, and that person was now holding your arm.

"stop squirming, purple!"

looking up at the sound of that voice, you saw bakugou katsuki, his front pressed against the grass whilst his hand firmly wrapped around your wrist and began pulling you up. it didn't look difficult for him; though you could tell that his eyes were wide with worry, a frustrated grunt leaving his mouth as he yanked you up one last time.

then you fell into his arms, safe once again.

and you heard him say, "relax, i've got you."

-

you awoke with a startled gasp at midnight, a result of your strange yet oddly symbolic dream.

bakugou, who had nodded off on his chair, jumped up at the sound, his eyes wide in panic as he shouted, "what— what happened?!"

now sitting up straight, your eyes fell on him, and you were reminded of the reason you had awoken in the first place. you didn't need to be an expert at decoding dreams to understand what yours had meant; it was quite straightforward. yet, if it was what you assumed it was, you wondered if it was really true that you had now accepted bakugou into your life as your supposed 'saviour'.

when you proposed the idea of a temporary marriage to him, the last thing you expected was to end up the way you and him were now. it felt like you were friends; you knew you cared for him, in an odd way, and his treatment towards you proved he felt the same. so while it was true that perhaps you and him had moved past the 'strangers' phase, you didn't know how to go about dealing with it, since you never expected it to happen.

it's much easier to cut off someone you have no attachment to.

that was why you tried so hard to keep your distance from him, after that hug in the elevator — it made you realise how much you truly cared and worried for him, just like how you felt about all of your friends.

the more you got to know him, the more you accepted that he wasn't as bad as you had previously made him out to be; or at least, he wasn't as intolerable as you'd assumed he was before. he wasn't a decent guy, and you got along with him.

but that complicated things, and you didn't like it.

"bad dream," you muttered, letting your head hit the pillow once again and forcing every strange thought about your dream out of your head.

"are you 5?" bakugou asked, tone laced with irritation as he slumped back into his seat, rubbing both of his eyes to stop the headache that had been bugging him since the start of the day. it was the middle of the night now, and he couldn't wait for tomorrow to come so he could return back to the softness of the bed in his apartment. "go back to sleep."

you eyed him, head twisted to the side, wondering how exactly he was meant to comfortably sleep like that. you had told him to go home for the night — begged him, in fact — but he had just ignored you, like he always did. it was annoying, but you knew it was his way of showing he cared.

feeling guilty when you saw the way he squirmed to try and make himself more comfortable, you said, "you're gonna have the worst joint pain in the morning."

he shut his eyes, arms folding over his chest and head resting on the top of his chair. "i've slept on rocks during recon missions before, i'll be fine."

"you could sleep on the bed, y'know."

his eyes snapped open in surprise. "the fuck?"

"yeah." you scooted over to your left, leaving the right side of your mattress empty — but you could tell he wasn't planning on taking your offer with the absolutely bewildered/annoyed look on his face. still, you continued, "it's big enough for the both of us."

"you've lost your shit," bakugou grumbled underneath his breath, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment; he couldn't believe what you were offering, and how casually you had said all of it as well — did you not understand how serious it was? "you realise you're literally inviting me into bed with you, right?"

even though the room was dim, the only light inside coming from the moon peaking through the large window, you could make out the faint redness of his cheeks and ears. his voice was stoic and rough, but his expression always gave him away.

you grinned, playfully rolling your eyes. "not everyone wants to have sex with you, hero."

he winced at that, face only burning even further as he sat up and defensively yelled, "i never said that!!"

"i'm only offering because you look uncomfortable," you said, teasing look now replaced with a softer, slightly guilty one. "and because you're here for me. you're already wasting two of your work days — i don't want you to sacrifice your sleep, too."

some of his embarrassment fizzled away at your words as well as how genuine your tone was. still, even if he was extremely tempted to lay down on a soft mattress, the man couldn't give in; he wouldn't. forcing his expression to flatten into a blank one again, he bluntly said, "i'm staying here."

having guessed he would say that, you sighed through a smile, rolling over to lay on your side as you watched him through your long lashes. "fine, be stubborn, but my offer still stands."

bakugou didn't reply for two reasons; one, because he truly didn't know what to say, and two, because your eyes had already drifted shut.

he stared at your peaceful, sleeping face for a moment, then his gaze drifted to the mattress next to you, and he imagined himself laying down there, on his side and facing you, watching you from much closer.

he forced himself to shut his eyes and leaned his head back.

this is gonna be a long fucking night.

Chapter Text

"i can walk on my own."

"shut up." bakugou grumbled, leading you into the house by your arm. his grip was firm, almost painful, but thankfully he wasn't forcing you to match his pace. instead, he shortened his strides to align with yours, despite the fact that he was walking in front of you.

you had finally been discharged from the hospital, and everything after had happened in a blur. bakugou had grabbed a bag of medication that he bought from the pharmacy while a nurse brought you to the ground floor in a wheelchair, your face covered with a mask and hood pulled up over your head in case anybody spotted you. bakugou's appearance was the same when he helped you into his car, and then in the span of ten minutes, you'd arrived back at his building.

the sweet man at reception had instantly run up to you to ask you how you were feeling, and you profusely apologised for making him see something so scary. you truly never intended for your actions to affect anybody else — you regretted everything you had done, but you knew it was more complicated than that.

even though you had been forcefully fed at the hospital by both bakugou and the nurses, the process of recovery was not a linear one. you were aware that it would take some time for you to build a healthy relationship with food, but strangely enough, you weren't dreading it that much. you wanted to help yourself.

"what do you want for lunch?" bakugou asked, once you had been pushed down onto the couch. your phone continued buzzing in your hand with texts and phone calls, but you didn't answer any of them — not yet.

at his question, you found yourself frowning. "i just had breakfast, i'm not hungry—"

"you had breakfast four hours ago." bakugou said flatly. he stood in front of you, arms crossed over his chest, crimson gaze unmoving from your own eyes. "you need to eat lunch."

"you need to go to work," you replied, glancing at the clock to check the time.

he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, wondering how it was possible for a single person to get on his nerves this much. surely it wasn't that hard to answer one question. "if you don't answer me within the next ten seconds, i'm gonna force feed you the most disgusting thing i can cook up."

"harsh." you mumbled, only for bakugou to begin, "8... 7... 6... 5–"

"okay, okay!" you interrupted, not liking how anxious the sudden countdown made you feel. "something i don't have to chew — chewing feels weird."

your words only prompted more questions within the man's mind, but he did not voice any of them. instead, bakugou turned and began heading into the kitchen, rolling the sleeves of his jacket up to his elbows. "soup it is, then."

-

"this is delicious."

bakugou sat down on the barstool next to you — he didn't leave one in the middle, this time — and watched you drink the soup he had made with a grin on your face.

he was sat facing you, elbow resting against the kitchen island and hand pressed to his cheek as he leaned against it. his gaze bore into the side of your face and he noticed some colour had returned to it; the darkness under your eyes had also lightened considerably, making him realise that you had probably slept well despite the bad dream you had supposedly had.

"are you gonna keep staring at me the whole time i eat?"

bakugou coolly replied, "yeah, in case you try to spit it out."

you frowned. "i wouldn't do that."

he hummed, still watching you intently, head slightly tilted as it rested on his hand.

bakugou had been feeling weird about everything.

firstly, he couldn't understand why he was so damn worried about you — in his mind, he didn't even consider you to be a friend. while he did acknowledge that spending time with you was less troublesome now that he had gotten to know you a bit more, he still couldn't wrap his head around having a potential friendship with somebody who stripped him of his freedom and solitude, albeit unintentionally.

he thought he would hate you forever; but those strong feelings weren't there anymore, making him confused.

and bakugou katsuki hated being confused.

he always needed to know the answers to everything; he had solid plans, routines, he made sure everything went his way at all times, no matter what. yet now, unexpectedly, he found himself worrying about a woman who had never been part of any of those plans— and the man didn't know why.

he could've walked out of that hospital room the moment you woke up, but he hadn't.

he could've called any one of your friends to stay with you at the hospital, but he hadn't.

he could've left you to cook lunch for yourself, but he hadn't.

he could've shoved you off of him when you gave him a hug, but he hadn't.

why am i doing things that are so out of character?

slamming a hand against the kitchen island, bakugou stood up off of his seat.

you looked at him in confusion at the sudden action, his frustrated expression catching you off guard. "everything okay?"

"i'm gonna go stock up on groceries," he mumbled, turning around to head out of the kitchen; then he stopped, and gave you a quick look over his shoulder. "you step one foot out of here and you're done for."

he didn't even give you a chance to respond before he disappeared from your line of sight.

-

"...is she serious?" bakugou mumbled when he walked into the kitchen, his fingers holding onto at least ten different bags filled with groceries. he stared at the kitchen island, where you had been sat when he left, and was surprised to see your arms folded atop it, acting as a pillow for your head. your eyes were closed, lips parted as the sounds of your soft breathing filled the room. "i left for like, twenty minutes."

he huffed and put all the bags down in a corner, realising that maybe you didn't sleep that well last night if you were able to get knocked out so easily. it was still only a bit after noon, so your deep slumber was something he'd been taken aback by.

he glanced between the grocery bags and you, over and over again, wondering if you'd be awoken by the sounds of him putting them away in the fridge and cupboards — but then once again, he found himself asking the same question he'd been asking ever since he'd walked out of his apartment a while ago.

why do i care so damn much?!

growing frustrated with his indecisiveness, the blond trudged over to you, hands wrapping around your shoulders as he pulled your head off of the kitchen island. he paused for a moment, to see if you'd wake up, but when you didn't, he sighed and continued pulling you further back until you were practically leaning into him, using him as a backrest.

then he adjusted himself so his arm was wrapped around your shoulders, holding you up, whilst his free one moved under your knees. effortlessly, he lifted you up princess-style, his shoulders turning rigid when he felt your face press against his chest.

this was his second time carrying you, yet it felt nothing like the first.

for some reason, now, he was extra aware of how light you were. an adult woman should not have been as easy to pick up as you were — before, bakugou had played it off as his own strength, but now he knew that you really did weigh the same as a pre-teen. it was concerning, to say the least, and as he walked towards your bedroom, he thought about everything to do with your current situation.

bakugou could tell from the beginning that you had a strange relationship with food.

he hadn't gone so far as to guess you had an eating disorder— but he knew you ate less than you should've. you were a model, so he assumed you were always on some crazy diets to maintain your figure, but he never thought it was to the point of starvation; he regretted not picking up on it sooner, even though there was no way he could have possibly known.

he wondered why you had developed such an issue in the first place, but he didn't really think about it for too long before coming up with an answer; in fact, he had already realised what it was when he was at the hospital right after your cardiac arrest, waiting for you to wake up. he had a lot of time to think about it, then, and he came to one conclusion; one reason.

your mother.

the whole thing was pretty generic; a model, her mother forcing her to watch her weight and eating habits to stay 'fit', all from a very young age — it was inevitable for an eating disorder to develop. how had your mother not known this?

or had she known, yet refused to stop making you feel that way?

either way, bakugou knew that having your mother around at this time was the worst thing they could possibly do in this situation.

finally, he made it to your bedroom door and kicked it open.

he hadn't seen this part of his house in almost two months now. it was strange to see the vanity stacked with makeup and perfumes and hair products, to see the random bits of jewellery on the side table or hung on the corner of the mirror, to see the door to the walk in closet propped open and shoes and clothes practically tumbling out of it, to see that this room was lived in. bakugou tried not to look at the bra strung on a corner of the TV — weird place to store it, but he wasn't judging — as he walked over to your bed and set you down, bringing the duvet all the way up to your shoulders.

the only light pouring into the room came from the hallway through the open door — your curtains were drawn, not letting any sunlight inside — allowing bakugou to see most of the contents of your side table fully illuminated. again, he saw pill bottles — but unlike before, when he had seen them in your apartment, he didn't ignore them.

he knelt down on the ground besides your bed and began reading the labels of every single bottle.

some were basic supplements — iron, vitamin D, calcium, etc — but others were unrecognisable. he committed their names to memory, deciding to google them... but again, he couldn't really figure out why he wanted to know.

just then, you turned over to lay on your side, eyes still shut as you snuggled further into the blanket.

you were now facing him as he knelt besides your bed, his body inches away from yours, his head almost at eye-level with your own. he didn't move, didn't dare to breathe too loud in case you woke up.

then he heard you whisper — so quietly he almost thought he imagined it — into the duvet, "katsuki..."

bakugou shot up to his feet and walked out of your room, slamming the door shut behind him; all of this happened within mere seconds, his body acting out of pure instinct.

once standing in the hallway once more, he inhaled a deep breath...

...and slapped himself in the face.

for fuck's sake... what the hell am i doing?

Chapter Text

when you finally opened your eyes again, the sun had set outside your curtains and your room was pitch black.

climbing out of bed, you rubbed your eyes, wondering when exactly you had fallen asleep and how you had gotten to bed; the only logical conclusion was that bakugou had carried you there, which was slightly embarrassing — but it had happened before, so it wasn't implausible in the least.

you yawned, navigating your dark bedroom through the darkness by focusing on the light that streamed in through the bottom of your door from the hallway. once close enough, you yanked it open and squinted at the bright light, taking a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to it.

when the feeling of being suddenly blinded went away, you walked down the hall, straining your ears to listen for any sign of life; to find out if bakugou was home or not.

strangely, you hoped he was.

fortunately for you, the moment you neared the end of the hallway, you heard the tv running, signalling that he was home.

when you stepped out into the living room, you saw the blond hero sat on the couch, his legs crossed underneath him as he watched what looked to be a documentary about how the hero commission came to be, his crimson eyes locked on the screen intensely while one of his hands gripped a dumbbell and curled it towards his bicep, over and over again.

you almost rolled your eyes. he has to work out even while watching tv? heroes are a different breed.

it was as if the man sensed your presence, because not even a moment later, his head had snapped towards you, arm lowering slightly once he saw you standing there.

you stared back at him, tilting your head to the side slightly. "...hi."

"glad you finally decided to get up," bakugou muttered, turning his attention back to the TV and resuming his casual exercise, though he had switched the dumbbell to his left hand.

"how long was i asleep?"

he glanced at the clock. "five hours."

"you should've woken me up." you said with a frown, only for the blond to flatly say, "i tried, two hours ago, and you kicked me in the stomach."

"oh my god, i'm sorry!" you gasped, though your lips were curling into an amused grin at the thought of the great bakugou katsuki being kicked by a woman so much weaker than him. you wanted to try it again, this time while awake, so you could commit the look on his face to memory.

"if you think you're strong enough to hurt me, you need a reality check," he grumbled, though he was still annoyed at the whole ordeal. then, as if forcing himself to change the subject, bakugou started, "i know you're gonna say some dumb shit like you're not hungry, but for dinner—"

"can we get ramen?"

he turned to look at you in genuine surprise, now completely lowering his arm to rest on the couch. the redness of your cheeks and lack of eye contact meant you were embarrassed to ask him that, but he couldn't fathom why you would be; it was the first time you had requested food.

his lips parted to respond; then you added, with your fingers strung together awkwardly in front of you as you shifted from foot to foot, "at the same place we went to before— when i only ordered bread."

he was flabbergasted; though not in a bad way. he was just wondering what brought about this sudden change in heart... and appetite.

bakugou grabbed the TV remote and turned the device off, quickly standing to his feat and lifting his dumbbell up with him. the man stretched casually, his eyes quickly going up to check the time once more — and then he said, "you've got five minutes to change."

your eyes widened at him as he walked past you, heading to his bedroom. "i need more time than that—!"

"too bad. five minutes."

"katsuki!" you said, exasperated, but all he did was send you a smug look over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall.

still, though, you couldn't help but smile in excitement.

-

"this was so worth it." you mumbled through a mouthful of miso noodles, relishing in every single flavour that caressed your tongue and slid down your throat. it was spicy but not too spicy; the perfect balance of taste. you couldn't believe you'd never had ramen from this place before.

then to wash the bite down, you reached towards your huge cup of beer and took a sip, exhaling a sigh of satisfaction right after.

bakugou had brought you to the exact same restaurant and exact same private room as before; but even thought he location was the same, the vibes were immensely different.

he took a sip of his own beer, his gaze on you as he watched you scarf down the noodles passionately; then he snorted. "they're not going anywhere, relax."

"i didn't realise how much i'd been craving this."

bakugou slurped his noodles — the same kind — and almost groaned at how delicious they were. this truly was his favourite ramen spot for many different reasons, with the main one being their food. the second was the staff; they knew he was a hero that often frequented their establishment, so they let him use the back entrance whenever he liked and made sure a room was always separately reserved for him; and it didn't matter who he brought along, they always knew how to keep a secret. he liked that.

"y'know what i realised on the drive over here?" you began, though it was a rhetorical question. you didn't want for him to answer and instead continued, "we don't even really know each other that well."

he furrowed his brows. "the hell does that mean? i know you enough."

"oh really?" you teasingly smiled. "when's my birthday?"

bakugou blanked at that.

he waved a dismissive hand at you, looking genuinely stumped. "okay, you never told me that."

"you never told me yours, but i know it's april 20th."

his eyes widened in surprise at your words. "how the fuck do you know that? you're a stalker!"

"i'm not a stalker!" you defended yourself, frowning at the accusation. "was it so wrong for me to have researched the man i was gonna marry?! i'm offended you don't know mine!"

he couldn't argue with you on that. "fine. when's yours?"

you told him your birthday with a grin, chuckling when you saw the way he rolled his eyes in response.

"great. now i know." he said conclusively, then went back to devouring his noodles without sparing you so much as a second glance.

"that's not the only thing we have to share!" you said, taking another sip of your cool beer. "i wanna know more stuff about you... like your time at hero school and your family — major life events."

he scrunched his nose up, cringing ever so slightly. "why? you don't need to know that shit — and all of my major life events are a google search away, anyway."

"hearing it from the source is different."

"you're being pushy."

"you're being evasive," you quickly retorted, only to shrink a bit under the sharp glare he sent you. "i'll tell you things, too, so we'll be even."

bakugou sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no point in arguing with you any further. he'd rather get this over with quick than continue to let you annoy him while he just wanted to enjoy his ramen. "fine, purple. ask away."

"okay. we'll take turns," you began excitedly, ready to get to know bakugou properly — now that you realised you considered him to be a friend, you didn't want to continue knowing absolutely nothing about him or his life. "i'll go first. tell me about your time at UA, and your friends."

bakugou frowned. "that would take forever."

"summarise."

even though he looked like it was an actual pain to do any of this, bakugou sighed and started, "got accepted into UA when i was 15. the entrance exam wasn't hard, even though i came from a shitty public middle school— izuku was the same."

"you guys went to the same middle school?" you asked, surprised.

he nodded, though you could tell he didn't want to elaborate. his chopsticks poked at his noodles, twirling them around in his bowl, and then he continued, "same elementary school, too— but i digress. anyway, my first year... i was an asshole. didn't wanna get along with anyone, didn't even try to. i'm still surprised i have any friends because of the way i treated them back then."

you hummed in acknowledgment, somehow able to visualise that; he wasn't the most friendly person even now, it made sense that he was worse during his teenage years, when he was more immature.

"even though i was an ass to them, those extras continued to annoy me until i became friends with them," he said, though there was a hint of warmth to his tone. "i became friends with kirishima first, the others followed soon after."

"midoriya and you hadn't been friends?" you questioned. "i thought you guys went to school together."

bakugou paused at that, having expected such a question from you; still, he didn't know how to respond. his relationship with midoriya was a strange one, filled with ups and downs... but mostly downs. he had bullied him relentlessly for his entire childhood, and even though he had apologised for it, bakugou did not feel comfortable bringing it up in front of others.

if you saw him for what he was — an asshole bully— he had a feeling you'd loathe him.

"we went to school together but didn't talk much." he lied through his teeth, eyes staying trained on his food. then he hastily added, before you could ask any questions, "but that's a story for another time, so don't ask about that."

your brows knitted together in confusion, but you obeyed his request nonetheless. "okay."

"anyway... my first year at UA was hell," he continued. "the league of villains began their attacks, all might went into retirement, and i even got kidnapped."

it was impossible not to know about that incident.

when you had learned of the man you were arranged to marry being the pro hero bakugou katsuki, a quick google search gave you every bit of information about his life that was public, including the time he got kidnapped as a 16 year old. you could vaguely remember watching about the disappearance of a hero student on the news when you were in middle school, but you hadn't given it much thought. it surprised you to learn about such a traumatic event, but you had assumed hero students went through these things all the time.

you also knew about one of his worst injuries — when he died and practically came back to life. he was a menace as a teenager; it was inevitable that he'd climb to one of the top spots on the hero rankings. he was pretty cool.

"i'm sorry you went through something like that," you said, eyes softening. "it must've been tough."

"it wasn't really," he casually revealed with a shrug. "my friends saved me, like almost immediately, so it wasn't even that long."

"your friends are amazing."

"but i'm better."

you snorted. "right."

"anyways, then the war happened with the league," bakugou continued, but he seemed eager to finish his story and not dwell on the details. "and we ended up winning, obviously... then i graduated, worked with best jeanist for a bit before starting my own agency... and then i got married, i guess."

his short addition at the end made you giggle; it seemed so insignificant compared to everything else that had happened in his life. no wonder he wasn't tied down to anyone; he seemed to have too much on his plate as a hero to even give romance a passing thought, and you understood that... somewhat.

nodding at his story, you asked, "what made you become a hero?"

"my innate belief since childhood that i was destined to be the best."

you smiled. "real humble."

he took a sip of his beer, corner of his lip twitching into a playful smirk. "it's one of my best qualities."

you hummed in response, thinking about how ironic it was... still, you couldn't deny that he truly was one of the best. you'd watched clips of him in action, come across fan-made edits of girls thirsting over him, seen how serious he was about his job. he deserved whatever he had, he worked hard for it.

but at the same time, you thought about how it seemed like he neglected his personal life.

"why don't you hang out with your friends more?" you asked, twirling some noodles onto your chopsticks and blowing on them. "you should take some time off of work and have some fun with them."

he waved your suggestion off carelessly. "we're all too fucking busy. there's no time to do shit like that when there's villains crawling around."

"i'm sure the other 300 heroes in the country can deal with them," you responded, only for him to give you an annoyed glare as he answered, "i'm stronger than all of them combined."

you slurped up the noodles on your chopsticks, then raised your hands up in surrender as you chewed and swallowed. "my bad."

"anyway, my turn's over," bakugou said, bringing his own chopsticks to his mouth to take a bite. "your turn. start from the beginning."

"uh... i went to your average public middle school and high school with shoko and kenji," you started, your bowl of noodles now empty and all your focus on the second glass of beer you had ordered. leaning back i your seat and taking a sip, you continued, "we'd all been interested in modelling since we were kids; i just never pursued it until i was in my first year of highschool, when my mom sent my headshots to this small, up and coming clothing brand."

bakugou didn't reply. he ate his noodles and listened intently, deciding interrupting wouldn't do him any good; your explanations were always detailed, anyway.

"they hired me, and i met akemi there." you recalled, warmly. "around the same time, shoko and kenji modelled for a different, new clothing brand too."

"that one shoot opened so many doors for me," you admitted, the memory being so distant yet so clear in your mind. "the photographers got me in touch with talent agencies, and i finally got signed under one when i turned 18; the two years before that i'd just been freelancing, doing whatever job i could get my hands on."

he hummed.

you continued, "i got my big break when i was 19 and calvin klein contacted me to be in their campaign; i think it's still one of my most viral shoots to this day."

he knew exactly which one you were talking about; mina had gushed about the shoot for days on end, reposting it on her instagram story and gushing about how beautiful you looked in calvin klein underwear. it had been slightly problematic because it hadn't been long since you became of legal age, but the criticism was overwhelmed by the support. everybody loved your unique and different look; the youth of japan were invested in you immediately.

"that was all it took for all these other big brands to start signing me," you said, taking another sip. "but it wasn't easy... it took a heavy toll on my body and self image. there was this one shoot, with a brand i'm not allowed to name..."

bakugou glanced up at you finally, realising the story was taking a grim turn.

"...the stylists, they wouldn't stop making comments about the way i looked," you said, but despite the lowness in your tone, you had a sad smile on your face as you remembered it, your mind working to replay the scene exactly as it had happened two years ago. "it got so bad that i went into a bathroom and threw up right after it was over. that was one of the worst days i've ever had."

"you shouldn't let crap like that affect you so much," bakugou grumbled. he hated bullies, more than anything in the world... and it was ironic, since he'd been one. "the best solution is to punch em in the face if they say shit like that to you."

"i don't think i could do that," you chuckled.

bakugou rolled his eyes. "then call me, and i'll do it for you."

"you'd hit a bunch of defenceless wardrobe stylists for me?" you asked with amusement, expecting him to say no or cringe at your teasing tone laced with implication... but to your surprise, bakugou simply said, "i would."

every bit of playfulness disappeared from your face, having been replaced with shock, and you knew your face had begun to heat up at his blunt admission. glancing away, you awkwardly laughed and replied, "i don't think heroes should be promoting this much violence."

"it's fine if the bastards deserve it."

"right..." you cleared your throat, forcing yourself to stop thinking about his words and their possible deeper meanings. "but yeah, then more and more stuff happened, and i eventually got to where i am today... and then i also, ended up getting married, coincidentally."

he snorted. "funny how both our stories end the same way."

"isn't it?" you chuckled, taking another sip.

"so what's next?" he asked, finally having finished all of his noodles after your recap of your life so far. "in terms of your career, i mean."

"paris fashion week's next month," you began, thinking about how stressful it was going to be to have to deal with that. your team had been prepping you for months since you'd gotten the position along with shoko, and since it overlapped with your contract with the bakugous, too much packed into your schedule at once. still, it worked out for them, since they wouldn't be styling you during those two weeks you'd be out of the country. "it's my first time walking for an event this big, it's scary."

bakugou couldn't get behind all of this showbiz stuff— he'd never even watched paris fashion week, let alone been interested in it. still, he knew it was a big deal because of how stressed your expression had become as a result of being reminded of it. the man sighed and said, "it's just walking back and forth, it can't be that damn hard. anyone could do it."

some tension disappeared from your face at that and you smiled. "so you think you could do it?"

"i'd never want to," he said, cringing at the mere thought of doing something so embarrassing. "but i could. it's not rocket science."

"you'd make a good model, to be fair," you started, gaze moving over his facial features, then down his shoulders and arms, lingering for a moment on his biceps that showed through the short sleeves of his shirt. "you've got a nice face and a good build. if you want some extra cash, you should consider it."

he felt himself grow tense under the intense stare you were giving his entire body. "stop checking me out like a creep— i know i'm hot, doesn't mean i gotta show it off to everyone though."

"you're not wrong about that." you said with a grin, amused by how confident he was in his good looks; you could appreciate a man who knew he was attractive, yet didn't make it his whole personality. if anything, the only thing he cared about flaunting was his strength. "on the topic of me going to paris..."

he hummed questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"i really do think you need a break," you started, knowing he'd shoot down the idea the moment you presented it. "maybe even a vacation. so y'know, if you're up for it..."

when you trailed off, bakugou shook his head conclusively; he was surprised that you thought of inviting him with you to such an important event, but he couldn't take any time off of work. he'd feel extremely guilty and annoyed the whole time if he did. "i've got shit to do here."

"it's only two weeks." you said, trying to convince him it was a good idea. "we're gonna be in a five star hotel in paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. you don't have to watch me walk down the runway— i know it'd bore you — but you can do other stuff."

bakugou paused, as if considering it for the briefest of moments, then he shook is head once again. "not my scene. thanks for offering, though."

having expected as much, you smiled and relaxed your shoulders. "okay. but like always, my offer still stands."

Chapter Text

i need a nap.

that was the only thought in your mind as posed in front of a camera that was a mere few inches away from your face, your hand resting on your face and eyes focused on the lens. the photographer shouted words of praise, but you were honestly zoned out; you couldn't wait to get home and collapse into bed.

finally the photographer stood, his gaze set on the screen of his camera as he flicked through all the pictures he had taken so far. deadly focused on his task, he called out, "can we get an outfit change?"

immediately, a woman rushed over to you and began leading you towards the dressing room in the corner of the building, her hand resting on your lower back as she too, gushed over how beautiful you looked. you smiled and thanked her in gratitude, and then entered the dressing room to find bakugou mitsuki standing there, grinning.

"that top looks wonderful on you!" she complimented, with all sorts of clothes hung over her arms. she watched you shut the door behind you, a warm smile on your face as you said, "thank you! i'm honestly so exhausted."

mitsuki helped you out of the jacket you were wearing, her brows knitting together in worry. "katsuki told me you came down with a cold. feeling better?"

"much, yeah." you said, grateful to see that she was so worried about you, even if the whole 'cold' thing was a blatant lie. you took your top off next, blowing some stray hairs out of your face. "katsuki looked after me so i recovered quick."

"my son being considerate?” mitsuki sarcastically said, helping you put on a different shirt that she had picked out for you. "am i going to see flying pigs in the sky?"

"he can be very considerate," you said, though even your own tone was laced with disbelief, your sentence ending like a question. "...surprisingly."

she grinned. "that's how i know he's fond of you."

"maybe not fond enough," you awkwardly laughed, trying to stop thinking about how thoughtful he was; it really wasn't helping how much he was starting to grow on you. "i asked him if he wanted to come with me to paris... i'm sure you know what he said."

"that boy and his hero work," mitsuki grumbled, holding a safety pin between her lips as she moved behind you to pull your shirt tighter at your lower back so it cinched your waist, flattering your figure more. through the safety pin, she spoke, "do you want me or masaru to speak to him—"

"no, i don't wanna force him into anything he doesn't wanna do," you answered firmly, staring at yourself in the mirror while the woman worked her magic. "he'll just get pissed off... and i'm not particularly in the mood to find out what happens when a pro hero who lives with you gets mad."

mitsuki's brows jumped up at that, as if she had just recalled something. "oh, i completely forgot to mention this! masaru and i want to have you and katsuki over; we'll cook you some food, set you up in the guest bedroom for the night... what do you think?"

the sudden idea confused you. "why?"

"we never really did much for the two of you after your wedding," she started, securing the pin in place. her tone had turned sadder, laced with hints of guilt, and she continued adjusting your shirt when she said, "and it'll give us a chance to speak to you more... ask you how the married life is going, blah blah blah. basic stuff. of course, you don't have to if you don't want to, but i think it would be great. you're my daughter in law and i barely even know you!"

she did make a compelling argument... one that you couldn't say no to immediately.

so you gave her a polite smile through the mirror and said, "i'll ask kats what he thinks, but i'd love to."

-

"no."

"but your mom asked so nicely!"

"there's a reason i was eager to move out of that damn house," bakugou grumbled, sat on the couch and reading a news article about a certain villain attack on his phone. you stood in front of him in your pyjamas, arms crossed over your chest and a frown plastered on your face. "it's only one night."

"that's too damn long," bakugou said, refusing to look up at you. he hated the thought of even stepping foot inside his parents' house; staying the night there was out of the question.

but you were awfully persistent. "you literally never speak to your parents and they're upset—"

"i fucking wonder why!" bakugou snapped, turning his phone off and tossing it on the sofa next to him. the man then stood to his full height, towering over you, making you crane your neck upwards — still, you weren't intimidated. you continued frowning at him, even as he said, "they're the reason we're in this damn situation in the first place— or did you forget?! god forbid i don't wanna talk to the people who casually made me a pawn in their fucked up showbiz industry game!"

your brows tensed. "i know more than anyone how that feels, katsuki— in case you're forgetting, my mom damn near did the same fucking thing; but we can't cut them out of our lives forever."

"i can at least choose when i wanna interact with them," he took a step closer to you, chest a mere inches away from yours; then he leaned down to glare at you, his nose a push away from touching your own. "and right now, i don't fucking wanna."

a staring battle ensued.

bakugou wasn't going to back down. he saw the purple swirling in your irises, the irritation in your expression, the way your bottom lip jutted out slightly as you stopped yourself from throwing a tantrum. he would've found the expression you were making funny, had he not vowed to keep a straight face.

the glaring persisted, even after 15 more seconds, but bakugou no longer looked angry. he simply blankly stared, hands tucked into his pockets, neck still craned down and face in front of yours.

then bakugou heard you say, in his mind,

"this is why you have no bitches."

his eyes widened and he yelled, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!"

you stuck your tongue out on him, spun on your heel, and ran towards your room. "ASSHOLE!"

-

you were being a brat, and bakugou hated it.

the morning after last night's argument, bakugou had been preparing breakfast in the kitchen when you walked in. the moment he turned to look at you, you turned away, nose tilted up, frowning as you made an irritated, "hmph!"

he was bewildered by your childishness.

he watched you disappear into the living room, presumably to grab your laptop that sat on the coffee table, and the man followed behind, eager to yell at you for how immature you were being. spatula in hand, he stormed after you, parting his lips to say, "oi—"

but once again, you interrupted him with another "hmph!", refusing to even look at him. hastily, you shoved your laptop in your bag and walked past his flabbergasted form within an instant, and it wasn't long before you were in the elevator, heading downstairs.

bakugou groaned loudly. "is she five years old?!"

-

"what's got you in such an awful mood today?"

"nothing." bakugou muttered blankly, squatting on a rooftop as he watched pedestrians and cars move on the street below, all whilst angrily chewing on a protein bar he had picked up from a vending machine.

he had agreed to partner with kaminari on his patrol today, and on a day when he was already annoyed, it couldn't have been a worse choice. the lightning quirked boy hadn't shut up once.

"ooh, i know what it is," kaminari said teasingly, playful smile playing at his lips as he stood behind bakugou with his arms folded over his chest. "lovers' quarrel, huh? what happened?"

"there is no damn quarrel," bakugou spat, wishing he'd drop the subject already. "mind your own business, sparky."

"man, how could you have a wife like that and still do stuff to piss her off?" kaminari shook his head in disappointment. "if i were her husband i'd be worshipping the ground she walks on—"

"yeah, well, you're not." the blond flatly responded, sending his friend a glare over his shoulder. "i told you to mind your business."

"word of advice," kaminari started, crouching next to bakugou with his hands on his knees, a soft smile coming onto his face. he could tell that he was distressed about something; bakugou had been distracted ever since they set out on patrol, which was very unlike him. as his friend, it was kaminari's job to help him out — even if he didn't want to be helped. "do what she asks. you ever heard that saying: happy wife, happy life?"

"i can't listen to what she's fucking asking this time," bakugou muttered, unintentionally giving some of the details of the argument away without meaning to. he zoned out whilst staring at a cat on a sidewalk, nuzzling its head against a child's leg. "she could've literally said anything else and i wouldn't have put up this much of a damn fight; and what gives her the right to ignore me like she's a toddler? i swear i'm sick of—"

"even if you can't listen to her," kaminari interrupted, sensing that his friend was about to go on an annoyed rant. "the least you can do is show her you care. when was the last time you bought her flowers?"

"i'm not doing that shit."

"trust me, bro," kaminari said, stretching his arms out as he stood to his full height. "all women want is consideration. don't be a dick to her and you're good; though to be fair, if my wife asked me to bring her the moon i'd figure out how—"

"that's easier than what she wants," he replied bluntly, crushing the wrapper of his protein bar and stuffing it into his pocket— he never littered.

"it can't be that hard," the lightning quirked hero said. "if anything, imagine the look on her face when you do it for her; she'd look so adorable—"

bakugou gave his friend a disgusted look, as if regarding him with disdain. "sounds like you love her more than i do." that's the realest thing i've said in a while.

"nah, you're her man," kaminari waved him off. "and you're a softy deep down, too, so you should just surrender and keep her happy. it's not you vs her; it's both of you versus the problem."

"you're the problem right now, get out of my face." bakugou sent a small explosion over his shoulder at kaminari, making the lightning boy yelp and back away.

"whatever, you know i'm right!"

Chapter Text

bakugou was making a midnight run to the corner store down the street because he had, unfortunately, run out of eggs.

he entered the store in his hoodie and sweats, yawning and wondering why he simply felt like he had to do this right now; then he remembered that he wouldn't have the time or energy to go in the morning... and he needed his breakfast if he wanted to stay fuelled for a day of hero work.

as he walked over to the produce isle, he thought about how strange it was that you hadn't come home yet.

usually, he'd see your keys when he walked in — and he did — but then he thought about it for a moment and realised that he hadn't seen you take your car this morning. that could only mean that somebody had picked you up, or you decided to walk; of the two, the former seemed the most likely, as there had been instances when your assistance had drove you places when you couldn't be bothered getting behind a wheel or if the drive was too long.

whatever, why do i care?

he picked up a carton of eggs and headed to the cashier, all whilst thinking to himself, she's a grown woman, who gives a fuck about her not coming home? i sure as hell don't.

bakugou paid in a hurry, eager to get out of there and get a well needed eight hours of sleep. grabbing the grocery bag, he turned and headed out of the store, eyes trained on his phone as he looked through his emails one final time for the night.

he walked through the dim street, lit up by the occasional street lamp, empty save for the two cars that drove by. after that, there was only the sound of the wind howling in his ears.

but then he heard something troubling.

"i've seen you somewhere, haven't i?"

bakugou glanced up at the sound of a deep, masculine voice, his gaze landing on two figures many feet ahead of him. they hadn't noticed his presence yet.

the man who asked the question was tall — yet shorter than bakugou — and towered over the smaller figure, streetlight above him illuminating the creepy smile on his face. he leaned down, hand placed on the smaller one's shoulder, then said, "you're probably a TV star or sumn', huh, seein' as you look like that!"

bakugou could only see the smaller person's back, yet it was enough for him to see that she was a woman. her hair trailed down all the way to her lower back and she wore a hoodie and sweats, her body language coming off as uncomfortable as she tried to get the man's hand off of her and walk away. he kept her held in place, though, much to her dismay.

bakugou sighed.

seeing how uncomfortable the woman was only made bakugou walk towards them faster, realising that he'd have to get involved. he couldn't count the number of times he had stopped men from harassing women on the streets; it was a real problem that he addressed with his hero friends. seriously, these guys need to get a fucking life.

there was no surprise on bakugou's face, not even when the man said, "c'mon, baby, stop playing hard to get! i'll take you for a nice dinner — then we could go have a different kinda fun, y'know what i mean— "

bakugou cringed, yet he still strolled rather casually, not feeling a sense of urgency yet.

but that was before he heard the woman speak.

"get the fuck off of me, loser," you said, swatting his hand away while your own moved your mask up so it was resting on the bridge of your nose, covering the lower half off of your face. you looked beyond annoyed, glare hardening in his direction as you spat, "i'm not interested."

bakugou widened his eyes when recognising your voice.

the man's whole demeanour changed from playful to irritated within a second. he grabbed your arm tightly in anger, saying, "you dumb bitch, i offer to spend money on you and this how you treat me?! ungrateful wench—"

it only took a second for bakugou to appear next to you. his fingers tightened around the man's wrist, forcing him to let go of your arm, and he shoved him backwards before stating, "i'm gonna fuck you up if you don't get lost, old man."

your eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the blond hero, yet you couldn't deny that there was a part of you that felt relieved to see him.

the man stumbled backwards in shock, but the anger on his expression only grew more prominent. "what the hell are you getting involved for, brat?! this is none of your damn business—"

bakugou's hand wrapped around the man's throat within an instant and lifted him off of the ground, causing him to yelp in shock. his legs kicked rapidly below him, trying to find the floor, but it was no use. "what the fuck are you doing—"

bakugou's glare had never been more full of pure hatred and rage. with his fingers practically tight enough to choke the creep, bakugou spat, "you're harassing my wife right in front of me... how the fuck is it not my business?"

your stomach turned at the way he had said it, ears heating up as your hands clutched tighter around your tote bag slung over your left shoulder. you had never seen bakugou look so pissed off — and because of you, nonetheless. your face was bright red, you assumed, eyes wide in awe as you stared at the blond hero's enraged face and burning, crimson eyes.

shamelessly, you thought, no wonder girls love him.

then bakugou dropped the man wordlessly, causing him to scurry off with pure fear present on his face. he murmured some thing about 'letting this slide for now', but anyone could tell he was scared shitless.

"disgusting," bakugou muttered, wiping his hand down the side of his hoodie. he glanced at you — still staring at him with twinkling eyes — and asked, "why the hell are you walking home in the middle of the night?"

you snapped out of the trance he had put you in... and suddenly remembered that you were meant to be annoyed with him today. spinning around on your heel, you continued your walk to bakugou's building, hearing his footsteps beside you. "felt like it."

"you, of all people, should know how dangerous this is," he responded, staring down at you and noticing that you refused to make eye contact with him, your mouth still twisted into an irritated frown. "you should've called me if you needed a ride—"

"i didn't need one."

"this whole thing could've been avoided—"

"i didn't ask for your help just now," you interrupted, hastening your speed; but bakugou's strides were long, and he caught up to you with ease, even as you spat, "i had it under control."

he laughed humourlessly, rolling his eyes. "you didn't have shit under control, purple, and you know it. how long're you gonna give me this pissy attitude for?"

you didn't answer. maybe the silent treatment is more effective on him.

it seemed your thoughts had been right, because bakugou's brow immediately twitched in irritation when you hadn't replied. "real mature of you, acting like a child."

again, no reply. you just kept walking.

his patience was reaching its limit; he hated being ignored in general, yet by you, it riled him up even more. your very obvious rage bait was working too well, and he didn't know why — all he wanted to do was grab you by your shoulders and force you to look at him, since it felt like you hadn't properly looked him in the eye in so long. "are you really not gonna answer me?"

nothing.

"for fuck's sake!" bakugou snapped, stopping. he watched you continue to walk ahead of him without a care in the world, not even sparing him a glance, and the man's fists balled at his sides as he inhaled a sharp breath. i can't believe i'm doing this... what the fuck have i become? "stop walking and talk to me, purple!"

you ignored him once again.

bakugou had had enough. finally, he shouted, "okay, we'll go to my parents' fucking place!! you happy now?! is this what you wanted?!"

you stopped walking suddenly, shoulders tensing up.

bakugou's chest heaved up and down and he felt his entire neck warm up in embarrassment and shame — he couldn't believe he had just given in to your request, all because you were ignoring him. he hardly recognised himself.

the man continued staring at the back of your head, waiting for you to turn and say something.

then suddenly, you spun around, finger pulling your mask down so it rested under your chin. a bright grin broke out on your face, the apples of your cheeks turning pink in excitement... but despite all that, bakugou noticed your eyes the most. how they twinkled a bright purple, fluorescent and neon, as if glowing, specks of silver dancing within them like stardust. he clenched his jaw tightly, allowing his gaze to travel over your ecstatic expression.

and then you asked, "really?"

he grunted, glancing down at the sidewalk to cover how red his face had gotten. reaching up, he slapped both of his cheeks to snap himself out of the weird daze he had dipped into whilst watching you, and he mumbled, "yeah, whatever."

he didn't even have a chance to look up before he felt your weight on him, arms wrapping around his neck to embrace him. "thank you!"

he froze, the close contact not doing much to help the blush on his face. stammering as he figured out what to say, he landed on, "get off me!"

so you did release him; but your hands stayed on his shoulders as you looked up at him with the same, excited brightness as before and repeated, "thanks, katsuki."

his eyes flickered between yours, face seconds away from exploding; he couldn't wrap his head around what he had just done, and why exactly every part of him felt like it was on fire.

then he remembered his friend's words from earlier in the day.

"it can't be that hard," the lightning quirked hero said. "if anything, imagine the look on her face when you do it for her; she'd look so adorable—"

bakugou snapped his eyes shut at that.

…damn it.

Chapter Text

"i'm so happy the two of you made it!" mitsuki greeted you at the door, arms instantly wrapping around you as she planted a kiss on your cheek. "i don't know how you convinced my son to do this—"

"i don't know either." bakugou muttered, pushing past his mother and you towards the genkan. he kicked his shoes off, expression set in a permanent scowl, and hiked his duffel bag further up his shoulder; it had everything he needed for the night in it, despite the fact that he knew his parents would just make him sleep in his old room. they hadn't touched anything in there; not the posters, the action figures, his bookshelves... nothing. his younger self was preserved up there forever, and he hated it. he didn't want any reminders of his childhood or teenage years, when those had been the times of his life where he hated himself the most.

that was why he dreaded the thought of coming back home.

"katsuki!" masaru greeted, ruffling his son's hair playfully. "i honestly can't believe she made you do this—"

"yeah well, she presented a good argument," bakugou replied blankly, permanent scowl etched on his face — although he knew that there wasn't an argument. just that stupid look on her face. "what's for dinner?"

"mr. bakugou!" you greeted, hugging masaru warmly the moment you took your shoes off. you too, had a bag hiked on your shoulder, stacked to the brim with clothes and toiletries. the man hugged you back but frowned in disappointment. "i told you to call me masaru, y/n."

"sorry, masaru," you grinned, allowing them to guide you further into the house while mitsuki told bakugou, "we made a lot of different things; fried chicken, pizza, lasagna—"

bakugou gave his mother a disgusted look. "you tryna make us fat?"

she smacked him on the back of his head. "shush!" then her gaze travelled to you, and she warmly said, "y/n's gonna try everything, won't you, sweetie?"

your shoulders awkwardly tensed up at that, the sound of all of that food making your stomach churn in a nervous way. "...uh, it seems like a lot—"

"she will." bakugou stated firmly, not even sparing you a glance. he would make sure you ate everything, even if he had to force it down your throat. then he stretched his arms, walking towards the stairs as he called out, "what rooms are we gonna be using?"

"rooms?" masaru's brows knitted together in confusion. "aren't you both gonna share your bedroom?"

you and bakugou froze completely at that one question.

the blond man turned to give you an irritated look, practically screaming profanities at you within his head. the moment his gaze locked with yours and he noticed the awkward smile on your face, he yelled internally, you didn't think about how they'd make us share a damn room when you convinced me to do this?!

mentally, you shouted back, no, i failed to consider that! sue me!

i just might!, he replied, clenching his jaw tightly.

mitsuki, not understanding why a sudden staring competition was taking place between her son and his wife, said, "go on and get freshened up! we'll have dinner ready in an hour or so."

so bakugou and you both stormed up the stairs, your mental argument continuing until you reached the door to his bedroom.

and then when the two of you entered, he started screaming in real life as soon as the door shut behind him.

"you didn't think about the fact that we'd have to share a damn room?!"

you spun around to glare at him. "you didn't, either!"

bakugou winced at that, falling silent; he couldn't really find an argument. he should've considered it before he'd agreed to do it, yet he hadn't; he'd been too focused on the way you were ignoring him to think about anything else.

twirling around, you allowed your eyes to move over the entirety of bakugou's bedroom.

in the centre sat a large, king-sized bed, its sheets white and pristine with not a single crease on them. mounted on the wall behind it were many posters, all of them depicting the pro hero all might. across his bed, lined up with the wall, sat a huge TV with a playstation underneath it; he had games stacked in the shelves below, along with other books. a bookshelf in a corner was filled with manga and figures of different fictional characters as well as various pro heroes, and it was attached to a study desk that had been cleaned out. the chair was tucked in neatly, no signs of anyone having used it for a long time. lastly was a dresser, lined against another wall, also empty save for a few perfume bottles and containers of hair products stacked atop it. his closet was built into one of the other walls, sliding doors tightly shut, and next to it was another door that led to what you assumed was his bathroom.

"wow, you were a nerd." you commented teasingly, when seeing how much merch he truly had.

bakugou clenched his jaw in irritation, tossing his duffel bag onto his bed. "i was not! i wish they'd clear out this damn room already!"

"why?" you asked, approaching the bookshelf that had all his manga and trinkets laid out on top of it. "it's cute."

"are you making fun of me?!" he shouted; though once again, he could feel his face get warmer at your words and he didn't understand why.

"a little." you admitted, still gripping onto your own bag as you turned to look at him. "so... we're both sleeping here?"

"we have no damn choice." he answered painfully, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. oh how he regretted agreeing to all of this in the first place; if he had been thinking straight, none of this would have ever happened.

to his surprise, you didn't protest much, simply mumbling a small, "okay."

bakugou looked up at you, slightly confused. did you really not care?

you walked over to his empty study desk and set your bag down on top of it, eyeing all the pen marks etched into its surface. math equations were scribbled in one corner, whilst another had random words in english carved into it. running your fingers over them, you smiled softly, imagining a younger bakugou sitting here studying, his brows tensed up in focus and concentration. cute.

the daze you were in meant you had failed to see the man walk up behind you, his figure towering over yours as he asked, "you're really okay with this?"

"hm?" you turned around, smile dropping when you saw how close he was standing to you. when his question registered in your mind, you shrugged and answered, "yeah, i mean, nothing's gonna happen. we're not attracted to each other—"

you were forced to stop speaking when bakugou took a step closer to you, causing you to inch backwards, your hands gripping the edge of the desk behind you. all logic flew out your brain at his proximity, and your eyes only widened further when he placed his hands on the table on either side of you, caging you between his arms. ummm, what the FUCK—

then he leaned down, aligning his face with yours, not failing to notice how red your cheeks had gotten as you made a pathetic attempt to lean away from him but failed miserably.

"i'm still a man," he said lowly, crimson eyes flickering over your surprised expression. he knew doing this was unnecessary, but for some reason, he couldn't help it; it annoyed him to think that you treated him with such disinterest when other women would faint at the thought of sharing a room with him... yet you didn't even care. worst of all, you didn't find him attractive.

he didn't know why it pissed him off, but it did.

"you shouldn't trust me so much," he muttered, poking his tongue into the inside of his cheek.

"uh..." you stammered, unsure of what to say or do. your mind was short-circuiting under his closeness and intense stare; it was as if he was peering into your mind, trying to hear every indecent thought you'd ever had about him and his insanely attractive body... and there'd been a lot, even if you wouldn't like to admit it. "you're a hero... don't i have to trust you?"

he sighed, letting his head hang as his gaze dropped to the ground. he didn't know why your answer disappointed him so much.

you saw the way his head fell and you furrowed your brows, tapping one of the spiky strands of his hair as you asked, "umm... was that not the right thing to say?"

"no, it was." he answered, grabbing your wrist so you'd stop poking his hair. then he looked up, fingers still tightly wrapped around your thin arm, and continued, "you should trust me."

"great." you said awkwardly, feeling your entire body warm up under the touch of his skin. wriggling your hand slightly, you asked, "can you let me go now?"

bakugou released you with an annoyed huff and turned away.

then he thought, what the fuck is wrong with me?

-

"this has to be the best fried chicken i've ever had in my life," you said with a groan, mouth stuffed to the brim with meat that you rushed to down with a cold can of coke. bakugou sat next to you, rolling his eyes at your words as he replied, "mine tastes better."

"you learned my recipe!" mistuki reminded him, digging into her own meal of alfredo pasta; she didn't like oily foods, especially not for dinner, and neither did her husband.

"whatever." bakugou grumbled, angrily chewing on his food. everything that had been happening for the past few days had been completely against his will. first with the silent treatment from you, then with him agreeing to do this, and now with being forced to share a room. nothing was going his way, and the blond wasn't used to it... he made sure everybody accommodated to him, it was never the other way around.

yet now, he had agreed to do something for somebody else and asked for nothing in return... and he didn't know why.

bakugou was a lot of things, but he was not selfless. he didn't want to be, either; he knew his job was to save people and protect the peace, but his contract said nothing about going out of his way to do good deeds that didn't benefit him whatsoever. that was why he had been so unpopular in the hero rankings when he first became a pro — his complete lack of care for appealing to anyone and participating in 'fan service' caused hero fans to look down on him.

yet ultimately, his good looks had one them over in the end. bakugou realised that as long as he was hot, his personality didn't matter; so he continued to do whatever the hell he wanted, without so much as a care for others. sure, he made a few exceptions for close friends, but strangers? he would never do something for someone he didn't consider to be close to him... let alone somebody he was forced to marry.

but here he was now.

he took another angry bite of his chicken. ugh.

"we can tell that you seem to have grown on each other a lot over the past couple of months," masaru said with a warm smile, twirling his wine glass around ever so slightly. "i'm glad."

"of course!" you answered brightly, taking another sip of your ice cold soda. you were too focused on how delicious the food was to think too deeply about what the bakugous were saying; it was much easier to just go along with it. "we have a lot of fun together."

bakugou refrained from rolling his eyes. as if.

mitsuki's kind smile then turned into something more playful, a teasing glint appearing in her eyes as she glanced at bakugou for a brief second before looking back at you. "so can we expect grandchildren any time soon?"

you spat out your coke.

bakugou choked on his chicken.

masaru frowned at his wife — who had begun cackling loudly at yours and bakugou's reactions — and said, "honey, don't tease them."

"i'm sorry, just look at their faces!" mitsuki said through her demonic laughter, pointing at how red her son and his wife had gotten.

you wiped your face with a tissue, face burning at the question mitsuki had so suddenly asked you. of course, there would be no grandchildren — this marriage wasn't even supposed to last! so why did you get flustered? it should've been easy to casually play it off with a lighthearted joke.

bakugou hit his chest repeatedly with one hand, the other reaching over to grab a glass of water that he chugged in one go. his entire body had lit itself on fire, eyes glaring at his mother sharply for daring to bring up something so awkward. it doesn't help that she says this right before we have to share a fucking room together!

"we haven't thought that far ahead yet," you revealed, scratching the back of your head nervously. "we both have careers to focus on, after all."

good answer, bakugou internally thought, yet he would never outwardly show that he was impressed by you.

"of course, honey, i was only joking!" mitsuki admitted, once her laughter had finally died down. "but we won't be alive for long, y'know! don't make us wait ten years!"

bakugou cringed. "hag, you're making us uncomfortable. stop."

"you're so boring," she teased, sticking her tongue out playfully at her son.

but bakugou didn't seem to take it as a joke. the man rose to his feet and turned to leave the table immediately. "yeah, that's about as much of a conversation i can handle with you freaks. see ya’ in the morning."

"don't be rude, katsuki!" mitsuki called out with a frown, but her son had already disappeared up the stairs.

the atmosphere turned heavy and tense with bakugou's departure, and you awkwardly picked at the chicken in your plate, appetite having suddenly disappeared. you wanted to leave yourself... but judging by the dejected looks on their faces, you felt it wasn't the right time to make a run for it, even though every part of you was screaming to get out of this awkward situation.

"we're sorry, y/n."

masaru's words made you look up at him in confusion. "what for?"

"we know you worked hard to convince him to come tonight," the man continued, staring down at the untouched food on his plate with a sad smile. "it must've been a lot of work. thank you for doing that... even though we just ruined it."

"i don't think you ruined it," you honestly said, feeling your chest tighten when seeing the look on his face. bakugou masaru was a good man — and you knew that bakugou respected him a lot, seeing as how the main reason he had even agreed to meet you was because of him — so seeing him upset only made you feel guilty. "i think the fact that he's even here is a huge win. we can celebrate that instead of focusing on the negative stuff."

"you're a lovely girl," mistuki complimented, smiling warmly at you. "much too good for our son."

"on the contrary," you began, tone laced with honesty you hadn't used in a very long time. "i think it might be the opposite."

Chapter Text

"you shouldn't have disappeared like that."

"don't tell me what to do." bakugou grumbled, already laying in bed with his pyjamas on and casually scrolling through his phone when you entered the room, slamming the door shut behind you.

seeing that he had taken up the right side of the bed, you realised the left was yours by default. sighing, you walked over to your duffel bag and began pulling out your clothes as well as your skincare and toothbrush. "they were really upset."

"and i should care because?"

"they're your parents." you answered flatly, heading towards the bathroom without sparing him so much as a glance. "isn't that reason enough?"

"not for me, it isn't."

his dry response made you huff out an irritated breath and enter the bathroom, closing the door shut behind you. getting to work, you pulled all your clothes off and changed quickly, deciding to just take a quick shower in the morning; your muscles were aching, and you were eager to get into bed and relax after a long day of work and tiring social interaction.

once fully changed, you began brushing your teeth, staring at your own face in the mirror.

and then you thought about bakugou and how strange he had been acting ever since he had come back home.

one thing you had immediately noticed upon arrival was that bakugou seemed to hate his bedroom. he refused to look around it, to even check if things were exactly as he had left them; but something else stood out to you more. whilst it was obvious that he had decorated the place with posters, there wasn't a single picture hung up anywhere.

it was normal for teenagers to have pictures of them and their friends hung up, especially if they had friends like bakugou did. mina had a polaroid of the whole group stuck inside her phone case — one from their time in highschool, you assumed, because of the uniforms — and you had noticed that kaminari had a similar photo as his wallpaper when he had showed you something on his phone the other day. kirishima had keychains of all of his friends hung on his backpack or attached to his wallet, and jirou wore her ex-classmate's merch from head to toe; even sero had an inconspicuous red-riot pin on his belt.

yet bakugou had nothing.

though it didn't seem like it was because he didn't want to have anything to do with his friends; it seemed like bakugou did not want anything to do with his time at UA, or even his childhood for that matter.

even whilst you were getting to know each other, bakugou had completely left that part out of his recount of his life story, leaving you more curious than before. you came to two conclusions; either the man was severely bullied as a child, or he was super cringey and didn't wanna associate with that version of himself anymore.

either way, you could relate to him somewhat.

but there was no better way to get answers than to ask the man himself.

by the time you'd finished your skincare and stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts, bakugou had turned the lights to the room off. the only thing that lit up the space was a lamp on his side table, casting an orange glow to the side of his face as he continued scrolling through god knows what on that phone of his.

he didn't look up at you as you dipped into bed next to him, far away, practically at the edge.

"you want me to turn the light off?"

"we can leave it on, if you want," you said, the reality of the situation hitting you suddenly. you were sharing a bed with your husband, in his childhood bedroom, while his parents slept in the next room over.

never thought i'd ever be in this position.

to your surprise, bakugou flicked the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness.

it was silent until you heard the sound of bakugou's phone clicking shut, followed by it being placed on his table. and then you felt movement next to you as he pulled the duvet cover over his shoulder, his body turned away from yours to face the opposite side.

you stared up at the ceiling blankly, eyes wide open, too busy thinking about the situation you were in to feel sleepy.

and unbeknownst to you, bakugou was feeling the same way.

he hoped you weren't reading his mind at the moment; because his thoughts were spiralling against his will, much to his dismay. it was as if being in his teenage bedroom turned him back into his younger self; pumped full of unstable hormones and way too much energy for his own good. he couldn't sleep, no matter how much he tried to clear his thoughts or count sheep.

"katsuki."

your voice made him snap his eyes open. "what?"

you wasted no time in ripping the bandaid off. "why do you hate your younger self so much?"

the randomness of your question made his eyes widen.

maybe it was the fact that you were sharing a bed, or that he could feel your body heat no matter how far he tried to lay away from you; maybe it was how silent it was as you waited for a response, or maybe it was how genuinely curious and soft your voice had sounded when you asked that question.

bakugou didn't know what the reason was, but the honest answer tumbled out of his mouth before he could control it.

"i was a shit person, that's why."

you frowned, still staring up into the darkness. "i find that hard to believe."

"believe it."

"why were you a shit person?"

"why do you wanna know?" he asked, still facing the other way. even if it was pitch black, he couldn't risk turning over and catching a glimpse of your face. it was already awkward and embarrassing enough.

"curiosity, interest," you admitted, playing with the wedding ring on your left ring finger. "i won't judge you, don't worry."

"other people's judgement doesn't affect me," bakugou replied — somewhat dishonestly, because the thought of you deeming him to be a bad person did unsettle him slightly — his thumb also fiddling with the wedding band that wrapped around his finger. "only my own matters."

"which is more reason for you to tell me."

"what do you wanna hear about then?" bakugou asked, finally turning over to face you, only to see that you were already looking at him, purple eyes glowing in the darkness so they were all he could see. he stared into them, propping his arm up against the pillow so he could rest his head against his palm. "how i bullied a quirkless kid till i was in highschool? how i said he'd never achieve his dreams in this lifetime — or how i told him to take a swan dive off of a rooftop?"

you went silent at that, processing his words.

at your silence, bakugou felt his stomach churn in anxiousness. he hadn't talked about this with anyone, let alone a woman in his bed. he was waiting to hear what you would say; to hear you swear at him, turn over in disappointment, say you wanted nothing to do with him. he expected it all.

but to his surprise, all you stated flatly was, "wow, that is pretty shitty."

he looked into your eyes, that blinked at him innocently, and huffed out a breath, letting the back of his head hit the pillow behind him. now laying on his back, he looked up into the darkness and mumbled, "yeah, sherlock, it is."

"so..." you began, forcing your eyes to glow brighter; it was something you learned to control when you were a kid, and it turned out to be a cool party trick; but it also meant that you were able to illuminate the area around you in darkness, which had proved to be beneficial many times. now being able to see some of bakugou's face, that had tinted purple due to the hue from your eyes, you saw that his jaw was clenched and he looked distressed, even as he stared up into nothingness. "...did you apologise?"

bakugou's face relaxed slightly at the question. after a moment of silence, as if he was replaying everything from the past in his mind, the man admitted, "yeah... yeah, i did."

"and did he forgive you?"

his brows tensed. "...yeah."

"great." you yawned, laying on your back once again and shutting your eyes. "then you're not such a shitty person after all."

his eyes went wide at your words, neck twisting to the side to stare at you; but the purple glow was gone, and all he saw was darkness. what you had said left him stunned, the simplicity of your sentence making him question how harshly he had judged himself for the past ten years. was it really that simple? could an apology really solve everything?

without realising it, the blond mumbled, "...do you really think that?"

your eyes were still closed, voice coming out slurred and tired when you replied, "of course."

bakugou pressed his lips together at that, and finally turned his face away from you.

when he closed his eyes, he found that he drifted off to sleep the quickest he'd ever had since he was sixteen years old.

-

when bakugou woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see that your side of the bed was empty.

he climbed out of bed painfully slow, eyes still fighting sleep, and trudged to the bathroom to brush his teeth. as he did so, he thought about how he had never slept in this late before; he could hear voices downstairs, mixed with laughter and the sound of the TV, and he wondered how anyone had this much energy when he had forced himself to wake up.

once finished freshening up, bakugou opened his bedroom door and began heading down the stairs.

but he stopped on the staircase, out of sight from his family in the kitchen, when he heard something he shouldn't have.

"—we always had behavioural problems with him," mitsuki said, though bakugou hadn't heard the rest of her sentence before that. "but he got better over the years... though he still has too much of a mouth on him, that brat."

a giggle; your voice. "to be fair, i think he's good at controlling his mouth. i can't count the number of times he was gonna cuss me out but stopped himself."

he leaned against the wall, still on the second last step, and folded his arms over his chest, stifling a yawn. he knew it wasn't right to be eavesdropping, but he couldn't help it; the conversation seemed to be heading in an interesting direction between you and his mother. his father, he assumed, was the culprit behind the blaring loud sounds of the TV — bakugou wanted to hiss at him to turn it off so he could hear you and his mother better.

"don't ever let him cuss you out, y/n," mitsuki sternly said. "don't ever let him disrespect you— he gets angry sometimes, sure, but don't let it get to the point where—"

"it would never get to that point." you confidently said, enunciating every word properly. "he's never disrespected me, and he never will."

bakugou clenched his jaw at your sentiment, yet felt his chin dip as he stared at his own feet. how could you be so sure? he had said a lot of mean things to you over the past few months, most of which he had regretted, so how were you able to so confidently claim that he would never disrespect you?

you had too much faith in him; he didn't have enough in himself.

"if he does, you let me know," mitsuki scolded, though there was a warmth to her voice. "or you could give him a slap or two yourself; see how he reacts."

you loudly chuckled at that, finding the image of a stunned bakugou to be quite amusing. "i might do it just for the sake of it."

"no you won't," bakugou finally interrupted, walking into the kitchen and casually scratching his head. he appeared as nonchalant as possible, not wanting you or his mother to realise he had heard everything.

and it seemed to have worked; because mitsuki instantly greeted, "katsuki! it's unlike you to wake up so late!"

bakugou glanced at you, sat at the dining table, a plate of half-eaten waffles laid out in front of you that you were in the process of stuffing down your face. he had appeared from behind you, causing you to awkwardly look over your shoulder with a mouthful of food, eyes widening in surprise. still dressed in your shorts and shirt, your hair was tied into a bun atop your head, face bare and youthful, yet there seemed to be the slightest of pink on the tips of your ears.

"piss off, hag." he muttered, but took a seat at the dining table right next to you, avoiding eye contact.

"good morning."

he finally looked at you when you spoke to him, realising how close you were sitting. unintentionally, his mind filled with thoughts of the previous night, causing him to awkwardly clear his throat and look away suddenly. "morning."

you furrowed your brows at his strange reaction, swallowing a bite of your waffles. "sleep well?"

bakugou grumbled, "decent."

"waffle?" you asked, holding out your fork — that had a piece of a syrup-coated waffle stuck on it — towards him, even though he was facing the other way. "your mom's food is the best."

he turned to look at you then, coming face to face with the waffle you had shoved in front of his mouth. the sweet scent of maple syrup wafted through his nostrils, almost making him sick due to how overbearing it was; yet he couldn't ignore the growling of his stomach or his urge to taste his mother's waffles, that he hadn't eaten in years.

so he leaned forwards and wrapped his mouth around the fork, biting the piece off.

when he pulled back, now chewing on the sweet food casually and relishing the flavours, he looked at you to notice something very strange.

your face was right red, lips parted as you stared at him in surprise, holding the fork exactly where it had been moments ago when he had leaned forward to take a bite without so much as a warning, "uh... you could've just taken the fork—"

"why?" bakugou asked, suddenly feeling the urge to tease you, all whilst ignoring the blush that was crawling up his own face. "you were feeding me, weren't you?"

"awww!" mitsuki gushed, and simply because of that, you couldn't deny his claim.

defeated, you went back to eating your breakfast, trying your hardest to ignore his stare that shot lasers through the side of your face.

Chapter Text

"that was so fun!"

"that was hell," bakugou admitted from the driver's seat, grateful that the night at his parents' had come to an end. he hated being anywhere near his childhood home, because he was always flooded with unwelcome memories of his past that tormented him.

yet somehow, he found that it wasn't as unbearable as he thought it'd be.

"no it wasn't," you said through a chuckle, biting your thumbnail as you scrolled through your phone mindlessly, waiting for the drive to end. your gaze then fell on an instagram post with an aesthetic picture of somebody's breakfast, and your eyes widened in realisation. "oh shoot, we're out of eggs. can we stop by the grocery store?"

bakugou groaned. all he wanted to do was get home, grab his stuff, and head to the agency for another productive day at work. detours were not part of the plan. "we can get them later—"

"we're already out!" you frowned at his hesitation, shutting your phone off and placing it in your lap. then you pulled your hood over your head, securely stuffing your hair underneath it, and grabbed your purse to take your trusty black mask out of it. "i'll run in and buy them super quick, just stay in the car."

bakugou groaned once again in response, but found himself turning the car towards their new destination.

-

it was annoying having to cover every inch of yourself from head to toe whenever you went out, but you knew it was necessary. the paparazzi were relentless — and so were your fans — to the point where you knew a single misstep could lead to a PR nightmare the following day. that was why you made sure your hood, mask and sunglasses were securely on before you stepped into the grocery store and headed for the produce isle.

it didn't take long for you to grab a carton of eggs —and a box of milk— while you were at it, with a satisfied smile. turning, you began heading towards the checkout, only to freeze in place when you saw somebody standing a few feet ahead of you.

the man stared at you, with wide eyes and parted lips, his hands gripping his own crate of eggs.
his fluffy, neatly styled black hair, his soft facial features, tall and muscular build — everything was exactly the same as you remembered it. he looked older, sure, but he was still the same guy he always was...

but you couldn't acknowledge him.

despite the eye contact you had made, you quickly turned your gaze away from him and cleared your throat, picking up the pace so you could walk past him in a hurry. i'm wearing a disguise, there's no way he recognises me.

but the moment you came close enough to get a whiff of his scent, you heard him mumble, "i know it's you, y/n."

you stopped walking at that, snapping your eyes tightly shut. your backs were facing each other now, since you'd walked a few steps past him, but you could hear him turn to look at you. shit.

there was nothing you could do to get out of this situation. of course he recognised you, how couldn't he? he'd known you your whole life. he knew you before you were l/n y/n, superstar model and A-list celebrity. he knew you when you were a little girl, sneaking into his tree house to eat junk food with him. he knew you when you were a dumb middle schooler with a kpop phase, he knew you when you were a highschooler, dumb and in love. he knew every part of you, enough to recognise you by your build, your scent, the same disguise you used whenever you left the house, the hoodie you'd had since you were 16; even the milk you were holding. he knew you only liked that brand.

he knew you like the back of his hand.

you slowly turned to face him as well, sliding your sunglasses off of your face and hanging them around the neck of your hoodie.

he was watching you differently now, shock having been replaced by pure sadness and yearning. his gaze had softened considerably, pupils scanning yours as if trying to find the girl he once knew within them. the girl he loved.

you awkwardly began, "hi, shota."

"hi," he replied softly, tone laced with warmth and familiarity. "you stopped answering my texts."

"a lot's been going on." you said, averting your gaze from his. your chest was starting to get heavier with every second that passed, memories of your youth consuming you in a way that made you want to crawl into bed and lay there, crying.

"i know." he admitted, glancing down at your left hand to take note of the ring that hugged your finger tightly. "i heard about the wedding. congrats."

subconsciously, you found yourself yanking your sleeve down to cover your hand. "from who?"

"jinah." he revealed, and you weren't surprised. he had been close to your niece before everything happened, you had assumed he'd pestered her to tell him everything about your life after you cut him off.

"and what about you?" you questioned, trying to come off as relaxed as possible, even though your throat was starting to close up and your heart was threatening to leap out of your ribcage. "how's... mikoto?"

her name tasted bitter on your tongue, even now.

he continued staring at you, expression betraying none of his internal dialogue. "we broke up. you'd have known if you read my messages— or answered my calls."

isn't it obvious why i didn't?, you wanted to retort, now suddenly annoyed. he always played by his own rules — never considered how you were feeling or why you did what you did. he was selfish, and you hated him for it.

"...i have to go," you began, inhaling a sharp breath and taking a step back. "it was nice catching up with you."

before he even realised what he was doing, shota leaped forward and wrapped a hand around your wrist, stopping you from turning.

your eyes widened at the sudden action and you started, "what—"

"please talk to me," he said, expression completely transforming into a desperate one. his brows knitted together, eyes glossing over as he started at you pathetically, yearning for your response, your acknowledgment — yearning for you. body now mere inches away from yours, he leaned down and continued, "i'm sorry for everything. i was fucking dumb, i was an idiot. nobody can ever compare to you, y/n, and i realise that now— please talk to me. i know you don't love him, i know it's an arranged marriage; we can try. you and me can try, and we can make it work—"

you watched him ramble with wide eyes, your body frozen in shock and bewilderment. everything he was saying, you'd wanted to hear it for years — the old you would've jumped into his arms happily... but the current you wanted to leave. you knew it was too late, that there was no point in trying; that train had left the station, and if you tried getting on it again, it wouldn't go well. he had picked his side, and you had picked yours.

"please," he whispered again, grip tightening around your wrist. "i lo—"

a figure appeared then, yanking you backwards and shoving shota away from you effortlessly.

"why the fuck are you putting your hands on my wife?"

bakugou katsuki stood between you and shota, blond spikes peeking out of his hoodie ever so slightly — he wore no sunglasses to conceal his furious glare and tensed eyebrows, though he did have a black mask covering the lower half of his face. his stance was dominating, covering you defensively, but still trying his hardest not to cause a scene. still, how couldn't he? after everything he had heard when he came in to check why you were taking so long, he felt like he would explode.

but he didn't know why he was reacting this way.

shota regained his composure, now a considerable distance away from you. his pathetic expression changed into an irritated one, brown eyes snapping up to meet bakugou's glare with an intense one of his own as he muttered, "this doesn't concern you."

bakugou's brow twitched. "i'll concern your face with my fist soon if yo—"

"y/n." shota said, completely ignoring bakugou's blatant threat. he glanced at you, standing safely behind the blond, and his harsh glare softened immediately. "i just wanna talk, please—"

"does it look like she wants to talk to you?" bakugou responded, hands clenching into fists at the interaction. he didn't look behind him, didn't dare see what kind of face you were making; he couldn't bring himself to. "don't go around putting your dirty hands on what isn't yours."

"she isn't yours, either," shota finally snapped, glare returning to his previously warm eyes. even if he knew who bakugou was, he didn't seem to care or be afraid of him; that only pissed the blond hero off even more. "a fake arranged marriage doesn't mean shit. me and y/n—"

"shota, stop." you interrupted, aware of the gathering crowd and trying not to have the situation escalate any further. you stepped around bakugou then, staring at the brunette boy with little to no affection in your blank eyes. "everything that happened, the way we are today— it's because of you. so you can't expect me to move on and forget everything so easily. that part of my life is over... so leave me alone."

you saw the hurt in his eyes, the drooping of his shoulders and the devastation on his face; and you couldn't lie, it did make chest ache ever so slightly... but it was fine. it needed to be said.

all shota could muster was a quiet, "y/n..."

"let's go," you mumbled, tugging on the sleeve of bakugou's hoodie as you turned around. he didn't protest, giving shota one final glare before trailing after you silently.

-

"you're not gonna ask?"

"should i?" bakugou answered, once the two of you were back in the car. he drove mindlessly, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible — he couldn't have you know that his curiosity was absolutely killing him. of course, he was dying to know what the history was between you and that guy; bakugou immediately recognised his name to be the same as the person blowing your phone up all the time. before, he didn't care enough to ask or know... but now, for some strange reason, he felt he needed to know.

"...i don't know." you replied, having taken your mask off. your hood remained over your head, as if shielding you from everything that had just happened, and you planned on keeping it there, grateful for the comfort it provided. "on one hand, you're my husband and you have the right to know. on the other, we promised to not interfere with each other's personal lives... what does that mean, then?"

bakugou was quick to respond, "it means it's none of my damn business."

you pursed your lips at that and nodded. it makes sense that he wouldn’t care...

but you couldn't help remembering how bakugou had gotten so angry at shota — his harsh words reprimanding him for touching you, the way he had shielded you with his body after shoving him away. the way he had called you his wife so casually, as if it was nothing to him. as if he cared about you.

you pulled your hood further down when you felt your face heat up. damn it, that was so hot.

"but..." bakugou began, when noticing your downturned expression — he mistook it for displeasure with his reply, suddenly feeling guilty that you thought he didn't give two shits about you when he so obviously did. "...i trauma dumped on you last night, so... you could tell me, just to make shit even. whenever you feel like it."

his attempt at being considerate made an amused smile break out on your face. "thanks. you can be nice when you want to, huh?"

he rolled his eyes at that, finally pulling the car up in front of his apartment building. "i'm nice always."

"you have to know that's not true."

"i do," he admitted, turning the engine off and glancing sideways at you. "but you seem to think
i'm nice enough, so i must be doing something right."

gaze meeting his, you playfully asked, "when did what i think of you start to matter?"

he undid his seatbelt, crimson eyes still burning holes into yours. "not sure. it just did."

Chapter Text

"you're home late," bakugou said, glancing up from his phone to watch you enter way past midnight, his brows furrowed slightly when taking in your appearance.

you stumbled into the apartment, kicking your shoes off and giggling maniacally, as if you had just heard the funniest joke ever. you swayed side to side, bag loosely hung over your right shoulder, and it was only when you took the mask off of your face that bakugou realised why you were acting so strange. your flushed cheeks and pink nose, the giddy smile on your face and the hiccups that left your mouth every few seconds led him to one conclusion.

he raised an eyebrow. "are you drunk?"

"katsuki!" you called out enthusiastically, dropping your bag onto the floor with another drunk giggle. then you stumbled into the living room, collapsing onto the couch and adding, "man, that party was so fun!"

he eyed you, laying on the couch next to him, your feet so close they were almost touching his legs, and he turned his phone off. "what party?"

"i'm," you began, only to interrupt yourself with a hiccup, "leaving tomorrow, for paris~ so we partied tonight~"

his brows jumped up in surprise at that; he hadn't realised your flight was this soon. "you're gonna have a shitty hangover in the morning."

"it's fineee~" you slurred, waving him off and staring up at the ceiling in a daze. "you're really not— gonna come with me?"

he stared at you blankly, arms folding across his chest. he realised this was the first time the two of you had sat together like this, as it was rare that you'd even see each other at home at the same time. "i told you i've got shit to do."

"do it later!" you whined, kicking your legs in a mock tantrum. the blond hero grew annoyed, grabbing your ankles and pinning them down on the couch whilst huffing, "stop being a brat. and go to bed, you're drunk as shit right now."

you sat up suddenly at his words, hair a mess of curls that framed your face and forehead cutely, your purple eyes flickering all sorts of different hues as you glared at him with a frown. he continued holding your ankles, concerned of you suddenly kicking him in the face, and you didn't seem to mind. instead of addressing his words, you said bluntly, "you need to do some fun stuff too, once in a while."

he scoffed and let go of your legs, dismissively looking away from you. "i'm a hero—"

you interrupted him with a groan. "look at me, i'm the number two!hero~ i can't have friends!or a social life or a girlfriend because i'm a boring square!!"

his brow twitched at that and he sent you a deadly glare, crimson eyes burning holes into yours. "first of all, i have friends and a fucking social life.  secondly, no, i don't have a girlfriend — because that's fucking unnecessary and a waste of my damn time. and i'm not a boring square."

your expression flattened his words. "you need to get out of your hero costume and get laid."

your unexpected retort had his entire face turning a bright shade of red, almost the same colour as his eyes, and he wondered how you could've said that so casually. shoulders tensing up, he shouted, "that's none of your fucking business—!"

somehow, he thought you were extra annoying when you were drunk — your boldness and unfiltered words knew no bounds, and he hated it.

"trust me, that would solve all your problems~" you revealed, collapsing back into the couch and rubbing your eyes, feeling them start to droop as lethargy washed over you. "i know it would definitely solve mine."

he froze at that — for some strange reason — the tips of his ears still a bright crimson colour. glancing at you with furrowed brows, he asked, "getting laid would solve your problems?"

"not all of them," you admitted, through a yawn. "it's a good stress reliever, though."

bakugou thought over every sexual encounter he'd had; it'd always been a result of his desire to get some stress taken off of his tired and exhausted mind, but it was never anything more than that. he detested emotional commitments; but sex was okay, as long as the other person knew it was a one time thing. so yeah, he did agree that it was a good stress reliever, though he hadn't done anything of the sort for a while now.

to his surprise, he heard you snort and mutter, "not that you'd know anything about it though, virgin."

"WHAT?!" he yelled, in shock and rage and frustration. straightening his back, he glared down at you with a look of pure disbelief and raw anger. "i'm not a virgin!"

"oho, really?" you giggled at his defensive reaction, enjoying the look on his face thoroughly. drunk you was not the most rational or logical, which was why she always did and said whatever the hell she wanted. you knew you wouldn't remember any of this when you woke up, so you acted out of pure instinct; your priority at the moment was having fun and teasing the blond hero, because the look on his face was just so. cute. pointing your foot towards him, you trailed your toes over his thigh slowly, grinning when you noticed his whole body tense up in pure, unbridled horror. "doesn't look like it."

bakugou felt you teasing him, the warmth of your toe travelling up and down his thigh sensually sending a jolt of absolute shock through his body. he couldn't believe you were doing this; he knew it was a result of too much alcohol and not enough rationale, but still. his entire body was getting hotter by the second, filled with embarrassment and something else.

WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING?!

"stop." he mumbled conclusively, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop himself from crashing out on a barely conscious drunk woman. "you need to go to bed before you do some dumb shit you're gonna regret later."

your foot went further up his thigh. "all i hear is a defensive virgin changing the topic—"

bakugou's hand shot out to wrap around your ankle once again... and the next few seconds happened way too fast for you to process what the hell was going on.

he had shifted so he was on his knees in front of you, hand yanking you towards him by your leg so you were laying underneath him. he crouched over you, one hand still holding your ankle whilst the other propped besides your head, holding himself up above you so as to not crush your weight. his hand slowly travelled form your ankle to underneath your knee, pulling your body even closer to his, your bottom half practically on top of his knees and crotch aligned with his.

he stared down at your bright red face, finding your expression amusing. he noticed your breath hitch, your chest heaving up and down ever so slightly as your purple irises flickered between his, trying to comprehend the meaning behind his sudden actions. after a moment, you murmured, "um... what the fuck—"

"i'm not a virgin." he repeated, leaning down so his breath fanned your mouth, amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "want me to prove it to you?"

"no, i'm good." you squeaked, voice suddenly high pitched, feeling your entire body tense up. you were hyper aware of his closeness, the strength in his grip as he held your knee and pulled you towards him, the muscles peeking through his t-shirt and the scent of his cologne wafting through your nostrils. fuck, this is gonna give me a girl boner.

bakugou's eyes went wide, his face turning bright red. "...what?"

"what?" you stared at him, confused, only to widen your own eyes in shock and slap your hand over your mouth. "...did you hear that?"

"the girl boner thing? yeah." he said, newfound confidence suddenly diminishing, replaced by heat pooling in his stomach and making him feel like he was seconds away from throwing up.

you cursed yourself for unconsciously projecting your own thoughts in his mind, but when you got drunk, you had a hard time controlling your quirk. "sorry... and sorry for calling you a virgin."

"okay." he said, releasing your leg and sitting up straight, deciding that it wasn't worth it to tease you anymore. his mind was going feral, and he needed to get away from you before something highly inappropriate happened. "go to bed now."

you rolled out from underneath him, subsequently falling onto the carpeted floor, and grabbed your purse before making an absolute beeline for your own bedroom. "goodnight!"

bakugou pressed his palm to his face and sighed.

i'm gonna pretend none of that ever happened, and i hope she does the same.

-

"got all your luggage?"

"yeah, i sent it downstairs." you responded to bakugou's question, quickly popping a painkiller into your mouth and gulping it down with a glass of cold water. "shiro's picking me up in a bit."

your head was throbbing in pain from last night and you had immediately woken up regretting every decision you'd made. all you remembered from the previous night was going out with your friends and then returning home — the details were all lost, but you had a feeling there was something quite important you couldn't recall. still, though, you had too much on your plate to concern yourself with something so irrelevant.

bakugou quickly realised you didn't remember anything from the night before when you had casually walked out of your room in the morning like nothing happened, and he was grateful for it. he himself was choosing to omit all knowledge of the night before, simply because of how embarrassed he was that he had made such a lapse in judgement. you were drunk and unaware of what you were doing, yet he had taken advantage of that and done something highly inappropriate; he was pissed off with himself for letting his instincts control him as if he were some animal.

so he chose to forget everything, and he vowed to never bring it up to you.

the man leaned against the kitchen counter, watching you rub your forehead in pain and groan. you were dressed for the airport, in a sweatshirt and leggings, a hat placed on your head and sneakers hugging your feet. your backpack was slung over one shoulder, making you look perfectly put together and ready to go, but the dark circles under your eyes and your insistence on using the kitchen island to support your swaying body said otherwise. you were clearly terribly hungover.

bakugou cleared his throat and asked, "what's the schedule gonna be like?"

"i'm gonna land pretty late so i'm not gonna be doing much today," you answered, occasionally glancing at your phone — that was placed on the island — to check for shiro's or shoko's calls. "the next few days are gonna be clothes fittings and practice walks; i'm a dior exclusive, which just means i'll only be walking for dior and no other brands. of course, that means my schedule's gonna be jam packed from the 27th to the 29th, cause i'm walking all three days. 30th is a rest day, and then on the 31st, i'll be back."

"sounds fucking annoying," he grumbled, thinking about how much he would hate to do any of this. it seemed like a waste of time; yet he couldn't deny that it was a big deal, especially to a model like you. "so you're gone for two weeks total?"

"little under two weeks, yeah." you corrected, picking up your phone when you saw it vibrate with a text. seeing that shiro had messaged you to come down to the car, you hiked your backpack over your shoulder and looked at bakugou with a smile. "time to go."

he hummed, watching you head towards the door whilst absentmindedly tapping against your phone screen. the man thought about how strange it would be, coming home and knowing he was the only one there — he hadn't experienced that in a long time. it felt slightly unsettling, to his dismay.

"oh."

he looked up at you when he noticed you stop and glance over your shoulder, tilting your hat up ever so slightly to send him a bright grin. "make sure to cheer for me, yeah?"

he didn't reply. not even as you giggled, said goodbye and walked away, the sound of a door slamming wafting to his ears.

then bakugou turned and hit his head against a kitchen cabinet.

ugh.

Chapter Text

"so... how does it feel not having her around?"

"the fuck are you doing here, shitty hair?" bakugou retorted, surprised by his friend's sudden intrusion into the sanctity of his office that resided within his hero agency.

kirishima, who had casually strolled in without so much as a knock, was dressed head to toe in his hero costume, his mask pulled up to rest on his forehead as he grinned at his blond friend, sat behind his desk with paperwork sprawled out in front of him. approaching the desk, kirishima plopped down on one of the seats across from bakugou and stated, "you didn't answer my question."

"because it's none of your damn business." the blond answered, wishing for peace and quiet to return so he could get back to sorting out paperwork. it was his least favourite part of running his own agency — looking at the finances, the legal data, all the boring shit that he didn't care about; unfortunately, all of those extra jobs fell on him to do as the owner and founder. "now get out, i've got shit to do."

kirishima leaned back into his chair, presumably having no plans of leaving his friend alone. a knowing smirk tugged at his lips and he asked, "so you don't wanna see what's been going viral on social media recently? hint: it involves y/n."

bakugou glanced up from his spread of papers then, brows knitting together in confusion. he was never one to scroll on social media mindlessly because he knew he could be making better use of his time, so this was foreign information to him. "the fuck?"

"seriously, dude, you live under a rock." kirishima snorted, fishing his phone out of his pocket and rapidly tapping against its screen. "ya' heard of yamazaki kaito?"

"the actor, no shit." bakugou grumbled, because of course he'd heard of him; the man was an A list celebrity, known not only throughout japan but internationally as one of the best looking men on the planet. it was impossible not to know him. "the fuck's that gotta do with her?"

"well," kirishima tapped on his screen one last time, then slid his phone across bakugou's desk towards the blond hero. "take a look for yourself."

bakugou snatched the device off of the table, his eyes going wide in surprise when he saw the array of news and tabloid articles that had been posted over the last hour, all of them talking about one specific thing.

'yamazaki kaito names model l/n y/n as his ideal type— could love be in the air?!'

'spotted: yamazaki kaito touches down in paris ahead of fashion week— will sparks fly with a certain model?!'

'from runway to romance? yamazaki kaito and l/n y/n rumoured to cross paths at paris fashion week!'

the blond hero's eyes scanned over the frenzy of articles, his finger rapidly working to scroll further and further down with tensed brows. finally, he clicked on a specific link, eager to understand what exactly was going on.

'fans in frenzy after yamazaki kaito mentions l/n y/n in recent interview— just admiration, or something more?!'

bakugou quickly read the article, getting annoyed the longer it went on, until finally he found the source video attached towards the very end. with a huff, the man clicked on it, and the extremely attractive actor's face appeared on his screen, smiling after being asked a question about who his celebrity ideal type would be.

"that's a question that could get me in trouble," kaito chuckled, rubbing his chin with his hand as he eyed the interviewer off screen. the man then glanced upwards, as if considering his answer for a moment, and then ultimately sent the camera a cheeky grin before responding, "i've admired l/n y/n for a long time. she's beautiful and kind."

"woah!" the interviewer exclaimed, presumably aware that the answer would send tumultuous waves through the showbiz world and rumours would definitely start to spread. "have you ever met her?!"

"once." kaito revealed, smiling as if he were a giddy highschool boy. however, he seemed to ultimately decide against telling the story, and the man simply waved a dismissive hand in the camera's face. "but that's between me and her. next question please!"

"what the fuck?" bakugou muttered, glancing up at kirishima with a look of pure perplexity. he was ticked off by this, sure, but he couldn't exactly comprehend why he was so affected by another man complimenting you so much. his rational side told him that drama like this was inevitable; it came with the job, and dating scandals would come and go without a doubt. getting upset about it — when it had nothing to do with him, since he didn't even like you — was unnecessary and purposeless. but on the other hand, a different side of him wanted to deal with this in a different way... and he hated it.

kirishima giggled mischievously, as if enjoying bakugou's reaction thoroughly. "jealous, huh?"

"no. why would i be jealous?" bakugou said through gritted teeth, casually tossing his friend's phone back to him. the blond hero then crossed his arms over his chest, tongue poking against the inside of his cheek before the words started tumbling out of his mouth in a rambling frenzy. "it's not like she's legally married and has shown no interest in this freak whatsoever; seriously, have you seen his fucking face? that pretty boy wouldn't last a second in a fight with me, what makes his dumbass think he can just—"

kirishima whistled and stood up, sensing bakugou had begun to spiral. "yeah, clearly not jealous. well, don't worry too much about it; it's all on his end, after all — y/n hasn't even mentioned the rumours or the interview."

bakugou hummed in response, unsure of what else to say. he watched kirishima send him a playful wave and then exit his office, seemingly having fulfilled his purpose for the sudden visit.

once the redhead was out of sight, bakugou found himself leaping towards his phone, grabbing it, and searching up the dreaded name of the irritating actor who had ticked him off.

fucking yamazaki kaito.

-

"i'm exhausted," you muttered, collapsing on the soft, queen-sized bed within your hotel room. with your hair freshly washed and your bathrobe hugging your body, you were ready to cozy up for the night and get a good 10 hours of sleep before the chaos that would be tomorrow morning.

shiro, who was still in your room going over a few logistics and other unnecessary stuff that you were tired of talking about, slumped further into her seat across your bed, slamming her laptop shut and sighing. "only a few more days to go."

bringing your blanket up to your shoulders, you mumbled, "it can't go by fast enough."

"by the way," shiro began, grabbing her phone from besides her and unlocking it, the screen reflecting onto her square-framed glasses that suited her round face. "have you checked social media lately?"

"i haven't looked at my phone since i landed," you revealed, too exhausted to turn over and pick the device up off of the side table. "why, what happened?"

shiro smiled, having guessed you'd say that, and tapped her screen once before adjusting her fingers to increase the volume to its highest. "take a listen."

"i've admired l/n y/n for a long time. she's beautiful and kind."

your head jerked up at that, eyes snapping wide open as you stared at your assistant in confusion, brows knitting together. "who said that?"

"i'm surprised you don't recognise his voice," she replied, tucking one of her loose strands of hair behind her ear. her messy bun had gotten even looser throughout the day, and now that it was dark out, all the strands had begun falling out, fanning her neck and framing her face, only seeming to annoy her more with every passing second. "it's yamazaki kaito."

at the mention of his name, you couldn't help but roll your eyes and sink back into your pillow, as if you weren't surprised at all by the revelation. "of course it is."

"he mentioned you guys meeting once," shiro giggled, having listened to the entire interview and finding it hilarious — simply because he made it seem like there was something romantic going on between him and you. "but he conveniently forgot to mention you throwing a shoe at him."

"okay, in my defence," you began, shuddering in remembrance of that night — it was at a bar frequently visited by high end celebrities, and you'd been invited for somebody's birthday. ultimately, you'd met yamazaki kaito there, and it hadn't been a cute, romantic interaction like he suggested it was. "i was drunk and he wouldn't stop pestering me for my number. i did what anyone would have done."

"well, he's started a lot of rumours," shiro explained, yawning as she shut her phone off. "you gonna address them?"

"why would i?" you said blankly. "i'm married."

"of course." shiro stood up finally, laptop tucked underneath her arm and phone securely in her pocket as she fought back another yawn, beginning her walk to exit your hotel room. "it's best to let them settle on their own — but just as a warning, he's attending fashion week as a guest, so be on the lookout."

"got it." you mumbled, feeling your eyelids start to droop.

shiro then suddenly stopped walking, as if remembering something. glancing over her shoulder, the exhausted woman said, "and speaking of your marriage, you should probably call your husband."

at the mention of the blond hero, you froze up completely, suddenly feeling awkward. looking over at your assistant in confusion, you asked, "why would i do that?"

"because," shiro said, casually shrugging as she continued to walk away from you, heading to the door so she could retreat into her own hotel room for the night. "he probably misses you. goodnight, y/n!"

no, he doesn't, you thought internally, pursing your lips together in the slightest; then you hastily added, "goodnight!"

once you heard the door to your hotel room close, you turned over and grabbed your phone, unsurprised to see the flurry of notifications and texts that had blown it up. you hated checking it in the first place, especially when you were so busy, but feeling pressured to reply to everyone definitely made it worse.

scrolling through your notifications, you weren't shocked in the least to see that your hero husband hadn't reached out to you at all. and why would he? it wasn't like you two were obligated to speak; those weren't part of your conditions for your fake marriage. but still, a part of you couldn't help but wonder...

did he see yamazaki's interview?

what did he think?

you stared at his contact name for a moment, eyes flickering between the text icon and the phone icon. surely, it wouldn't be bad to reach out to him once to ask him how he was doing? glancing at the time, you realised it was nearing 1am — so in japan it was early in the morning, around 8am, and the fact that it was a monday meant that bakugou would be at work.

should i really bother him while he's at work?

but to be fair, he didn't even check if i landed safely! i mean, that's the nice thing to do isn't it?! i would've definitely checked up on him if he was travelling!, your thoughts began to spiral, a frown now decorating your face and making your brows tense up.

aren't we friends now?

"okay, fuck it." you muttered, and hastily moved your thumb to the call button, your heart skipping a beat in your chest as you pressed the device to your ear and and held your breath, hearing the ringing on the other side.

he probably won't even answer.

you clenched your jaw, still hearing ringing and forcing yourself to glance up at the ceiling to regulate your thoughts.

yeah, he's not answering. maybe i should just—

the moment you began to bring your phone away from your hear, you heard a familiar, deep voice on the other end of the line.

"hello?"

Chapter Text

OH MY GOD HE ANSWERED.

bakugou’s voice made your heart skip a beat in surprise, your entire body flinching as you sat up straighter in your bed. inhaling a deep breath, you mumbled, "...hi."

there was momentary silence on the other end of the line, and you thought that was it. the conversation was over before it even begun—

and then, "isn't it late over there? shouldn't you be asleep?"

like always, he masked the concern in his voice with rough callousness, trying to appear as if he was reprimanding you instead of being worried about you. the familiar cadence made your shoulders relax and a small smile appear on your face; you hated to admit it, but hearing his voice after so long felt nice.

leaning back into the backrest of the bed, you replied, "i should be. are you working right now?"

"yeah. at the agency."

his short reply made you press your lips together tightly, attempting to come up with something else to say; ultimately, you settled on a blunt, "cool."

bakugou waited another brief moment, as if he was thinking over something, and then asked, "why the sudden call?"

annoyingly enough, you felt your face begin to heat up at the sudden question, simply out of pure embarrassment. you didn't know why you'd chosen to do this — perhaps you'd been worried about him, or perhaps you'd been offended he hadn't been worried about you. either way, you could never admit the truth to him, ever; so instead, you forced a playful tone to your voice and teasingly answered, "nothing, just thought you might've missed me."

"WHAT?!" he yelled suddenly, seemingly offended by your words despite them being a simple joke. "no i didn't! if anything, your dumbass probably misses me!"

you chuckled at that, now fully laying down in bed, your free hand twirling one of your damp locks of hair around a finger. "i miss your breakfast, that's for sure."

"of course you do," he said bluntly, tone having returned to its calm one from before his flustered outburst. "even food from a damn five star hotel can't be better than mine."

"i'm not gonna argue with that." you said, another short laugh leaving your mouth, and you marvelled at his ability to lighten your mood within just a few minutes. suddenly, as if remembering why your mood was weird in the first place, yamazaki kaito's words from his interview came to your head, and you couldn't help the question that tumbled out of your mouth next.

"katsuki, do you know who yamazaki kaito is?"

immediately after you said it, you regretted it.

bakugou went silent on the other end of the line, and you cringed at yourself for bringing up something so irrelevant. it was highly likely that he didn't know anything that had been going on, given his nature to stay off of social media. but even if he did know about the interview, why would he concern himself with something like that? he didn't like you, dating rumours should be the least of his concerns!

you internally groaned at his continued silence, pressing your palms to your face. great. i'm gonna crawl into a hole and die now.

but then, to your utter surprise, bakugou answered your question honestly.

"the pretty boy actor who said you're his ideal type? yeah, i know ‘em."

the way he had phrased it, and the sharp tone his voice had taken, made your face suddenly heat up. "o-oh... so you've seen the interview—"

"shitty hair showed it to me." he said, way too fast, as if he wanted to prove to you that he wasn't the one doing the lurking. "apparently meeting you once was enough to make that guy fall in love with you."

you rolled your eyes at that. "he conveniently left out what exactly happened when we met that one time."

"enlighten me then, purple."

"it was at this club for a friend's birthday," you revealed, the memory making you cringe because of how rashly you had acted that night. "yamazaki wouldn't stop asking for my number. i got super duper drunk and lost my shit... and i threw a shoe at him."

bakugou was silent for a moment.

and then he cackled. as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard in his life.

the sound of his laughter made your expression morph into a puzzled one, and you quickly realised that, in all the months you had known him, this was the first time he'd ever genuinely laughed at something you said.

it felt good.

"the fuck?! that's hilarious!" he said, once his laughter died down and he'd stopped reimagining the scenario in his head. "he made it seem like you guys made out or something."

"as if." you grumbled, finding the actor to be quite annoying; sure, he was good looking, but that was all he had going for him. in reality, he was entitled and cocky — just an irritating and unlikeable guy in general. he wasn't very popular with the women in the showbiz industry because he had the reputation of a womanizer, and female celebrities tended to keep their distance from him.  "i don't know how he can still compliment me after that happened, though. thought he hated me."

"clearly he doesn't." bakugou said flatly, and you swore you heard him mutter something else under his breath that you, unfortunately, couldn't hear. "anyway, i think you should go to bed."

"i probably should." you murmured, chewing on your bottom lip in thought. you stayed silent then, for some reason, as if you hoped he'd say something different... but bakugou simply stated, "goodnight, purple."

"katsuki." you said quickly, before he could hang up. "don't forget what i told you before i left."

"...what, about cheering you on?"

"yeah."

"don't think you need me for that," he said, though his tone had turned slightly amused. "the pretty boy actor's there to do all the cheering you want."

your expression fell. "not funny."

you could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "goodnight."

and then he hung up, causing you to huff out a breath and snap your eyes shut.

although, you couldn't deny that you were left feeling much better.

-

"IT'S TIME!!"

"wait, who has the snacks?! where's my redbull?!"

"GUYS SHUT UP, IT'S STARTING!"

bakugou katsuki stood in his living room, slack-jawed, taking in the scene in front of him. after a moment of him mentally processing what the hell was going on, the man finally lost his cool and yelled, "THE FUCK ARE YOU EXTRAS DOING HERE?!"

"we're here to watch y/n's first show, duh." jirou answered, wrapped up in one of bakugou's blankets and comfortably snuggled into a chair, her hand working to press the buttons on the remote control as she brought the livestream up on the TV.

the others were spread out similarly. mina, kirishima and sero had taken up bakugou's biggest couch, whilst kaminari sat in the recliner that he loved oh so much and was his favourite thing in bakugou's whole apartment.

pressing a hand to his face, the blond hero immediately regretted giving kirishima his passcode for 'emergency purposes'. this was clearly not an emergency. "you guys can watch it from your own damn houses!"

"shush!" kaminari shouted, taking a swig of his redbull and gesturing for bakugou to sit down. "it's starting!"

the blond hero sighed and walked over to sit himself down on one of the couches, folding his arms over his chest to come off as casual as possible. he couldn't show his friends — or anyone — that he cared about this dumb fashion show. "you dumb extras realise it's three different days right? you can't show up at my house tomorrow or the day after."

"we've got missions the next two days anyway," mina grumbled, angrily stuffing her face with salted chips. "that's why we decided to watch together today."

"...right."

"okay, shush!" jirou exclaimed, when she noticed that the host had finally appeared, holding a microphone and waiting for the audience's cheers to die down. "it's starting!"

bakugou folded his arms across his chest and watched, his expression blank and emotionless.

-

"quick, y/n, get out!"

"i am, i am!" you yelled, frantically pulling your dress on and rushing to exit the changing room. as soon as you stepped out, the dior stylist who had previously spoke rushed to zip you up in all the right places, whilst a hairstylist checked that your hair was perfectly in place.

another woman rushed towards you and crouched down, her hands working to intricately tie the tops of your shoes around your calves. the heels were extremely tall and you could already tell you'd have the worst foot pain by the end of this, but it wasn't like you cared — everything needed to be perfect.

"water?" shiro asked, approaching you with a cup that had a straw poking out of it.

"ugh, thanks." you said, quickly taking a sip and being careful to not ruin your lipstick. there was no way you'd sit in a makeup chair again when you'd already spent two hours in the same spot a few minutes ago. "where's shoko?"

"hair." shiro responded, pushing her glasses up slightly since they were sliding down her nose. she frowned, glancing around the packed backstage area, her nose scrunched up in irritation and sweat dripping down the side of her face. "i hate how everything's so rushed."

"me too." you acknowledged, turning towards a nearby full length mirror and analysing your appearance. the dress you wore was short in the front, displaying your long, toned legs, but flowed behind you in the back with a train that spanned a few feet. the top was tight and fitting, strapless to display your shoulders and collarbones, and your hair had been done up into a perfectly imperfect bun, curled strands falling out and fanning both your neck and your forehead, as well as the sides of your face. the accessories were a whole other story; the garter on your thigh, cuffs on your arms, the diamond earrings and necklace, the swarovski crystals that had been woven into your hair and the front of your dress; all of it made you sparkle and shine, as if you were a walking theme park attraction. sure, it was overall uncomfortable, but you felt beautiful. you had no criticisms.

suddenly, the show coordinator rushed in; a short woman wearing an in-ear piece, holding a clipboard, dressed in a flannel and jeans with her hair tied into a ponytail and her expression set into one of permanent panic. her gaze found yours quickly and she shouted, "you're on!"

"okay." you inhaled a sharp breath, calming yourself for a moment. you'd done this dozens of times; sure, the stakes were higher since it was the biggest fashion event in the world, but it was no biggie...

"y/n." shiro said, holding onto your shoulders firmly. "you'll do great."

that one sentence was enough to shake your anxieties away.

nodding, you forced a smile onto your face and muttered, "thank you."

and then you left the changing rooms, heading towards the stage whilst your heart drummed against your ribcage frantically, as if to the beat of the music blasting throughout the event.

Chapter Text

walking the runway wasn't difficult.

you strutted down the pathway, heels pattering against the marble floors and arms swaying only slightly, not too much. you kept a straight face, aware of all the cameras and eyes on you, focusing on the sound of the music rather than all the attention you were receiving.

the crowd looked endless. the only lights were on the runway, which meant that even if you tried, you wouldn't have been able to make out any faces in the audience — the darkness, combined with the flashing lights that came from cameras lined up all around you, made it impossible for you to even attempt to look at who had shown up for your first night.

you finally reached the end of the runway and paused, legs spacing out as you hit a few poses for the cameras, not compromising your stoic expression. finally, you turned, still looking over your shoulder at the audience, and cracked the smallest of smirks — as you had been instructed to — and then finally turned, hyperaware that all the flashes had gotten much quicker because of your change in expression. you knew that that would undoubtedly be the most famous shot from tonight.

shoko was walking out now, and both of you reached the middle of the runway at the same time.

her expression was softer and it matched her outfit — soft pastel pink and white, her hair curled delicately around her face, and she had a bright smile plastered on. as you walked past her, she sent you a grin, her hand reaching out towards you.

you gave her a casual high-five, as if tapping her in, and heard the shutters of the cameras grow louder.

and then you disappeared backstage once more, exhaling a relieved breath as people rushed over to you to get you ready for a quick outfit change.

okay. half done.

-

"THEY BOTH LOOK AMAZING!" jirou shouted, pressing a hand to her mouth as if she was baffled by yours and shoko's beauty. the woman had abandoned her chips, her sole attention on the screen in front of her as shoko disappeared and a bunch of other models started appearing.

"y/n's outfit was so good!" mina exclaimed, her eyes practically morphed into hearts. "who's she wearing?"

"she said dior or something." bakugou muttered, having remembered that you mentioned that specific brand. the blond man still looked bored with the whole thing; he couldn't deny that you looked beautiful — he never could — but he wasn't going to fangirl over you the way his friends were. he was too grown for that.

it's just a damn show.

"is it bad that i don't know any of these other people?" kirishima awkwardly asked, frowning at the other models now walking down the runway.

to his question, sero replied, "no, i don't know them either."

"that's because you guys are uneducated." mina retorted with a roll of her eyes — she knew every single person on that runway, because she loved the modelling industry and followed a lot of the big names on social media. however, she was only loyal to one specific celebrity; and that woman just so happened to be her best friend's wife.

"oh, y/n's back out again!" kaminari announced, now leaning forwards on the recliner to analyse the TV closely.

bakugou sighed, watching as you appeared from backstage, looking completely different to how you did minutes ago.

your hair was now openly cascading down your back, woven with crystals and gems that made it sparkle under the stage lights. you wore a black skirt, the train long and covering practically half of the runway, with the front short and exposing your legs as well as the knee-high black heels on your feet. your top was silver, much like all the accessories you wore, and fell off of your shoulders with a cape attached to it that also floated behind you, glittering and shining in an almost blinding manner. you had a smile on your face now — a confident, poised one — as you strutted forwards, glancing around you as you did so, a complete contrast to the previous walk you had done. stopping at the end of the runway, you did a twirl on one foot, still staring over your shoulder, and then resumed walking back to the other end of the runway. like before, shoko appeared next, and she blew you a friendly kiss as you passed her, causing the cameras to go wild once more.

kaminari looked at bakugou and asked one simple question.

"how does it feel to be married to that?"

bakugou, who was still staring at the screen, had sat up much straighter than he'd been sitting before. contrary to his blank expression, his crimson eyes were burning brightly, as if full of passion and longing and other things he couldn't quite place. his friend's question barely processed within his mind for a moment before the blond hero carelessly replied, "not bad, that's for sure."

his friends began squealing at his response, with kirishima even elbowing him in the ribs and mina gushing over how lovestruck he was — but bakugou was zoned out. he hadn't been focusing on anything except the TV for the last five minutes.

then his face heated up, as if he realised what he'd just said, and the thoughts that had started plaguing his mind.

he slapped a hand on his face and groaned.

damn it.

-

"oh, i thought it was over!" mina said, surprised to see that the host had appeared on the screen once again.

the catwalk had ended fifteen minutes ago, and the designers had come to the stage to say a few words. a few critics had shared their thoughts, but the models were nowhere to be seen; that was what left the whole group thinking that the first night was over — however, then, the host — an actress by the name of sophia — had returned to the big screen, all bright smiles and flushed cheeks, standing in front of what looked to be a red carpet.

bakugou raised an eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be happening next.

"hello, hello!" sophia began, holding a microphone in front of her face and staring right into the camera. "we've all but wrapped up night one, and it was amazing! everything we've seen today was extraordinary; not only the designers and their work, but the beautiful models who brought their visions to life. it's nearing 10pm now, so you know what that means?!"

"we don't, actually." kaminari mumbled in response.

as if hearing him through the screen, sophia grinned and continued, "our lovely models are going to be passing through here to get to the afterparty! we're going to see their final looks for the night, do some interviews on how we think the night went, and maybe meet some other celebrity guests who received invitations to attend!"

"oh my gosh!" jirou shouted, looking beyond excited. "y/n's gonna do an interview!"

"do we have to watch this?" bakugou mumbled, because it was way past his bedtime and he would rather be sleeping, getting ready for another day of hero work; watching his model wife do interviews talking about things he didn't understand was not part of the plan.

"yes we do." sero replied, grabbing the TV remote and increasing the volume. "now shut up!"

"and our models have begun arriving!" sophia exclaimed, gesturing towards the expanse of carpet behind her. the camera swivelled with her action, and a flurry of beautiful, famous men and women were seen posing in front of cameras, widely grinning and appearing as if they were having the best time of their lives. some of them had begun being interviewed by other magazines and news outlets, whilst others were talking to actors and actresses that had attended the event as esteemed guests.

"where's y/n?" kirishima asked, impatiently.

again, it seemed as if sophia was listening to everything they were saying, because her eyes lit up as she spotted someone and she shouted, "there, we have our ladies of the night! making their first ever debut on paris fashion week, please welcome nishimiya shoko and l/n y/n!!"

both you and shoko appeared in front of sophia, arm in arm, grinning widely as you exclaimed, "hello, hello! you look stunning, sophie!"

"stop, i'm blushing!" sophie giggled, as if reduced to a giddy fangirl in your presence. "may i ask who the two of you are wearing right now?!"

bakugou watched as you described your look for the after party, his eyes scanning your outfit. you wore a burgundy gown, cut deeply in the chest to display your cleavage, spaghetti straps over your shoulders to reveal as much skin as they possibly could. your hair was curled and open once again, though it was parted to the side and hung over the right side of your face, even as you kept adjusting it to move away; the curls always bounced right back into place, with each action, as if wanting to stay there. you looked much more animated than when you had been on stage, red lips never dropping their signature bright grin and dark, sultry eyes brightly watching shoko as she begun explaining her outfit for the night, too.

"how is it possible for two people to look so ethereal?" mina groaned, rubbing her hands down her face. to her question, jirou simply added, "tell me about it."

"so girls, how was your first night at fashion week?!"

"exhausting," shoko answered, with a small sigh, though her smile was as bright as ever. "but super fun. it helped that i had my best friend with me through it all!"

"shut up, you would’ve done fine alone too." you replied sharply, then turned back to sophia and added, "i hope the next two days go as great as today did! it's our honour to be invited to a huge event like this, and we hope we get the opportunity to come again in the near future!"

"judging by your performance tonight, you definitely will!" the host grinned, and then quickly asked, "before i let you two go and party for the night, anything you have to say to your friends and family watching at home?!"

shoko, who had the mic given to her first, smiled and said, "we wish you guys were here with us, but regardless; i hope you all enjoyed our show!"

when the mic appeared in front of you next, all you did was look into the camera, purple eyes glowing with secrets, and smile softer than before.

bakugou tensed up, suddenly getting a strange feeling in his stomach — it felt like you were watching him; directly addressing him. his ears began to heat up, for some strange reason, and he tried to prove to himself that there was no way you'd use such an important interview to address only him. it was just impossible.

but he was proven wrong the moment you opened your mouth and exclaimed, "you better be cheering for me!"

his entire head lit on fire, practically the same colour as a tomato, and bakugou sunk into the couch as if his limbs had melted. placing both his hands on his face to cover his obvious blushing, the man groaned and thought, piss off.

when he looked back up to the screen, he noticed that you had begun giggling, as if seeing his reaction.

that only made him get redder.

"of course we're cheering for you!" kaminari yelled, followed by mina who added, "how can we not?!"

bakugou wanted to yell at them, wanted to tell them to shut their asses up because she's talking to me. not you.

but he zipped his mouth shut and said nothing, still watching you. watching you and shoko crack a few jokes with sophia, watching as she began to say her words of goodbye — and then, watching as somebody appeared behind you. a very familiar face.

that familiar face made bakugou sit up straight once again, especially when that person said, "y/n?"

you turned around, confused, and bakugou couldn't see the expression you made when you saw yamazaki kaito standing behind you, holding a bouquet of flowers and smiling handsomely, as if he were congratulating his girlfriend on her debut.

the entire room went silent and turned to bakugou, itching to see the look on his face.

kirishima, kaminari, sero, mina and jirou were unsurprised to see bakugou's hands balled into fists, his crimson eyes glaring daggers into the TV screen.

Chapter Text

"there's actually no way." kaminari muttered, only for sero to add, "we knew he liked her, but giving her flowers in front of everyone?!"

"it's like he's starting rumours on purpose!" mina exclaimed, bewildered at yamazaki kaito's appearance with a bouquet of red roses. their reactions were more vocal; but bakugou simply stared in pure awe and simmering rage, shocked that something like this was even happening.

shoko froze, her eyes darting between kaito and the camera, as if she could tell exactly what was happening on the other side of the world.

sophia gasped, bringing the mic up to her lips and looking at the camera once again, her mouth twisting into a grin. "i'm sure all of us know exactly who that is — i mean, i knew he had the hots for her, but it takes real guts to do this! camera, zoom in—!"

the camera swivelled and zoomed in behind shoko, who had begun shaking her head and awkwardly laughing under the tenseness of the situation. "oh, maybe we shouldn't—"

but her words were ignored. the camera picked up everything — you forcing a smile onto your face the moment you saw him, opening your mouth to greet him (though the mic was too far away to actually pick up any of the words exchanged between you two), and finally, everybody saw what happened next.

they saw kaito spread his arms out expectantly, staring down at you with twinkling eyes. then they saw you do the same with your own arms until you had embraced him, whispering something into his ear as you did so.

"oh shit." kirishima sat up straighter, glancing towards jirou and hissing, "change the damn channel!"

jirou fumbled for the remote, only to yelp when bakugou darkly muttered, "no. i wanna see what happens next."

the four heroes in the room turned to look at their blond friend, unsurprised to see him leaning forwards, elbows on his knees, glaring up at the screen through his tensed eyebrows as if mentally burning holes into the device. he began rolling his wrists — something he did before a fight, to help with his punches — though he didn't seem to realise it. he didn't seem to note the blatant jealousy he was displaying, the anger simmering behind his crimson pupils; all he could focus on was you hugging that man.

once you pulled away, you took the flowers from him and said some more things that the microphone didn't quite pick up — kaito laughed, as if amused, and opened his mouth to say something else, only for you to spin around and walk away quickly, waving a quick goodbye over your shoulder.

the last thing the camera picked up was shoko jogging after you, smiling awkwardly at the photographers and other people at the event.

"well, folks, you saw it here first!" sophia exclaimed, once the camera was back on her. "yamazaki kaito handed l/n y/n a bouquet of roses — what could that possibly mean?! well, i'm sure we'll find out soon enou—"

jirou pressed a single button and the TV turned off, plunging the living room into awkward silence.

the heroes looked between each other for a moment, as if contemplating what to say to their very obviously angry friend — until finally, kirishima was the one who spoke up first.

"...bakubro, you good—"

"fine." he sharply replied, rolling his shoulders back as he stood up. "why wouldn't i be?"

"another man just handed your wife flowers and hugged her on live television." kaminari recapped, flinching under the intense glare that bakugou sent him. "...i'd be pissed, dude."

"well, i'm not." bakugou blankly replied, trying to force his mind to get rid of all the annoying thoughts that had begun filling it. he inhaled a deep breath, looked up, and continued, "it's none of my business."

"the whole world thinks y/n and kaito are dating now." mina stated, already flicking through her phone, unsurprised to see that tabloids and gossip pages had already begun posting clips and articles about the situation, despite it having been mere minutes since its occurrence. the pink hero chewed on her lip, looking quite distressed. "i mean... it could be a good thing? since you guys wanted to keep your marriage a secret and stuff. nobody's gonna suspect her of being with you if they all think she's dating—"

"shut up."

mina winced, glancing up at bakugou with furrowed brows. "i'm just saying—"

"stop talking, all of you." bakugou said, tone taking on a sharp edge and tongue poking against the inside of his cheek. he was thinking about so many things, yet nothing at all; he wasn't sure what was wrong with him. "if she wants to take flowers from other guys, she can—"

"she didn't really have a choice." sero stated, his mouth twisting into a frown. "handing her flowers in front of cameras and news outlets was a calculated move on his part — he didn't give her the chance to say no or reject him."

"her reputation is literally that of a saint," jirou added. "rejecting him would go against that."

"rest assured, bakugou," kirishima stood up as well, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "she didn't accept them because she wanted to. in fact, she looked uncomfortable."

all bakugou had to say in response to that was, "roses are dumb."

kaminari furrowed his brows. "what—"

the blond hero moved to his bedroom, muttering underneath his breath, "she doesn't even fucking like roses."

-

"i can't fucking believe he did that."

shoko and shiro trailed after you as you entered your hotel room, practically fuming with smoke coming out of your ears.

you hadn't even been able to enjoy the afterparty properly; all you could focus on was the annoyingly huge bouquet of roses yamazaki kaito handed you in front of the whole world, without so much as hint of care for how the action may come across. in fact, you were positive that he wanted everyone to think the two of you were dating! the audacity had your insides twisting with rage and disbelief; but most of all, the thought of bakugou watching the whole exchange plagued your mind the most. you wondered if he would care enough to get even the slightest bit upset... although you were positive that it wouldn't happen. he probably rolled his eyes and moved on with his life.

falling into bed, you thought to yourself, that stupid hero.

"that was fucked up of him." shoko acknowledged, sitting down besides you and sighing as she worked to take her earrings off. "in front of everyone as well? he definitely did it on purpose."

"of course he did." you retorted, scrunching your face up in disgust. "he's an idiot, but he's not dumb."

"i don't mean to make this situation worse," shiro started, beady eyes trained on the screen of her ipad that she had begun desperately scrolling through the moment they'd left the afterparty. "but all anyone can talk about is those flowers... and the hug. do you wanna issue a public statement—"

"no, i'm not gonna give that bastard any more of my attention." you flatly said, rubbing your eyes to rid yourself of the sleep that threatened to take you over. "it was an asshole move on his part; not to mention him doing that literally overshadows my actual walk? instead of my achievements during this show, people are gonna be talking about a dumb dating rumour instead. that's so frustrating."

"i get it, y/n. don't think about him for now." shoko said, heaving a deep breath in as her shoulders dropped. "i think what you should be wondering is how your husband must have reacted to it."

you tensed up at that. there was no point in thinking about it — you knew he didn't care.

it's not like we're really in love. why would he care? our stupid marriage is ending in half a year anyway. he probably didn't even bat an eyelash.

you knitted your brows together, mouth twisting into a confused frown at your thought process — and the strange feeling pooling inside of your stomach. ...why does it annoy me then?

"you should give him a quick call." shoko smiled and stood up, gesturing for shiro to follow her out of the room as well. the woman could tell you needed some space to think... though she still wasn't sure exactly about what. "goodnight, y/n."

"goodnight, you two." you said with a sigh, sitting up straight once you heard the door to the hotel room close.

now alone, you went through your routine like normal — you hopped in the shower to clean yourself off, making sure to get all the glitter and sparkles off of your body, then did your skincare and brushed your teeth, reading your emails as you did so. but even whilst your body was occupied, your mind remained busy, filling with thoughts of your annoyingly uncaring and impartial husband.

but every time you started to think about him as how he might've reacted to the situation, you're forced to remember that none of this was real. it wasn't a marriage built on unwavering love and unparalleled affection; it was an agreement, a contract, based on mutual interests and a shared goal. thinking any differently would lead you nowhere; you were not planning on going down the road of actually falling for him. it would never happen.

at most, he happened to be a friend. somebody you could rely on and not feel uncomfortable around. somebody who showed you kindness, even when he didn't have to, when it wasn't a requirement. somebody who treated you as an equal, with respect, and never overstepped your boundaries.

with thoughts of bakugou's irritatingly kind character in mind, the first thing you did when you snuggled up into bed was grab your phone and call him.

what's the worst that could happen? he doesn't pick up? boo hoo, who cares. we're grown ass adults and we're capable of having normal conversations.

you continued to spiral, diving so deep into the works of your own mind that you didn't even notice his voice when he answered.

not until he said, "purple? you there?"

"oh!" your eyes widened, phone almost slipping out of your hands. choosing to play it safe and see the device on speaker, you laid it down on the mattress besides you, snuggling into your duvet as you answered, "yeah, hi. how are you?"

"fucking great."

you pursed your lips together, recognising the harshness in his tone. "...okay. are you at work?"

"no shit."

okay, he's definitely annoyed, you thought to yourself, realising how different he sounded now to the last phone call you'd had with him. although the reason why was still unknown to you; you had a few theories, though, and testing them was your next course of action.

"...so," you started, trying to control your voice from getting too squeaky. "did you watch my show?"

a pause. only for a few seconds, but enough for your eyes to widen and for you to exclaim, "did you actually not watch it?! that's so mean!"

"shut yer trap, i watched it." he quickly breathed out, as if admitting it was painful. you realised now that it was quiet around him; that could only mean he was within the sanctity of his office instead of out on patrol, like he usually was.

while it did make you happy to know that he watched your catwalk, you immediately tensed up upon remembering what else he might've seen broadcasted on live television.

"i'm glad." you said firmly, trying to force your voice to not sound so strained. "...what did you think?"

"since when do you care about my damn opinion?"

you rolled your eyes at his deflection. "that's unimportant."

"it's important to me." he stated gruffly, once again, sounding rather pained, as if he was forcing the words out of his mouth. "why'd you call me again, anyway? i've got shit to do."

"what's sad is that both times we've called, i've been the one initiating it." you said with a frown, though tried to play your words off as teasing rather than serious. you knew he wasn't the type to shoot you a casual text or — worse — give you a call, and you didn't expect him to. still, you thought mentioning it would be fun. "do you hate talking to me that much?"

he hesitated.

then, "a little, yeah."

"wow, rude!"

"piss off. why would i call you? there's better things you and me could both be doing than spending time yapping about nonsense."

the corner of your lips quirked into a smile. "yet you haven't hung up on me."

"i can change that in a second."

"point taken." you sighed, still dancing around the topic of yamazaki kaito — though by the way this conversation seemed to be going, you doubted any of you would ever bring him up.

that was, until you heard the next thing out of bakugou's mouth.

"you and that pretty boy actor seemed pretty chummy."

"why do you keep referring to him that way?" you said through a chuckle, the question only tumbling out of your mouth to conceal your blatant shock at him having mentioned the situation at all. "and we're not. chummy, i mean."

"chummy enough for him to get you flowers, seems like."

"why do you care?" you found yourself asking, rolling onto your stomach and staring down at your phone, your eyes spinning with a million questions all at once. in hindsight, you probably shouldn't have asked him something so blatant like that — but you couldn't help yourself.

everything be did confused you. his words were, on the surface, meaningless, but there were undertones of emotions there you couldn't comprehend the blond man having.

emotions like concern. empathy.

even jealousy.

bakugou seemed to be stunned into silence by your question — and you couldn't blame him. the man was notoriously terrible at expressing his feelings, you didn't think that would have changed.

just when you opened your mouth to dismiss your question, the pro hero answered it in the worst way possible.

"i don't. do what you want."

and then he hung up.

Chapter Text

bakugou did not watch your second night.

he dodged his friends' questions about you the whole day. he worked and worked and worked; he put villains behind bars, cleaned up the streets of Japan, worked out, trained his quirk, became stranger. that was what he was born to do. that was his life's purpose, his reason for living; as a child, he dreamt to be everything he was today. dreamed of a future like the one he was living. dreamed of being the strongest, the noblest, the coolest and the most dedicated of them all.

a woman was never part of that dream.

after the morning's conversation with you, bakugou had spent the whole day trying to get your words out of his head, yet he found himself unable to... simply because your question was something he couldn't answer.

why did he care?

why did he care about anything to do with you? you were a stranger he had only recently accepted as a potential friend, nothing more and nothing else. he didn't care about mina and jirou receiving flowers from other men, didn't care even a little bit about who they dated or got involved with. he listened to their stories of one night stands and past relationships with boredom and distaste, but he never reacted the way he had reacted last night. he had never loathed another man the way he'd loathed yamazaki kaito, for something so seemingly insignificant. a hug? seriously? mina hugged guys all the time, that was how she expressed herself. why did that not piss him off? what was wrong with him?

none of this made sense to him. bakugou was confused, irritated, wanting to run away from everyone and everything, including you... so he did. the man resolved to no longer watch any of your TV appearances, stop checking social media; hell, he even made up his mind not to answer the phone if you called. he was completely and utterly dedicated to ignoring the shit out of you.

was it a terrible idea? yes. did bakugou know it was nowhere near a solution to his dilemma? of course. but he still did it. he didn't care. he was desperate to go back to hating you, resenting you for simply entering his previously peaceful life.

he hated you. he wouldn't forget that.

he couldn't.

so even though ever part of him was desperate to turn on the TV and watch your catwalk on the second night, he didn't.

bakugou katsuki despised you, and he wanted to make sure you knew it.

-

his resolve only lasted until the following morning, when the doors to his office were busted down by ashido mina and kirishima eijiro, both dressed in their hero costumes and looking utterly infuriated as they stormed towards bakugou's desk.

"can you extras never knock?!" bakugou yelled, irritable mood only getting worse with every breath he took. today was going to be a terrible day, he could just feel it... and his so-called friends weren't making it any better.

"have you checked socials?" mina said, stomping over to him angrily, one of her hands clenching her phone tightly whilst the other remained balled into a fist.

bakugou immediately knew what this was about, and he cursed himself for the way his shoulders tensed up and his eyes narrowed in her direction. "no. why?"

he shouldnt have asked, he realised. but that realisation came to him only after the word had tumbled out of his mouth.

"listen bro," kirishima started, looking much calmer in comparison to the pink hero beside him. "i'm sure there must be an explanation on y/n's end for all this—"

"yamazaki kaito," mina began, slamming her phone down in front of bakugou with fumes practically erupting from her pink ears. "was seen walking out of your wife's hotel this morning!"

bakugou knew, in hindsight, that he shouldn't have reacted.

he should've shrugged, said he didn't care, told them to fuck off so he could get back to sorting out annoying documents. he should've suppressed whatever he was feeling — in fact, he shouldn't have been feeling anything at all!

but bakugou did none of that.

instead, he picked up his own phone, stormed past mina and kirishima, and began making his way up to the rooftop.

all whilst dialling a number on his phone.

-

"shiro, i told you to fucking kick him out!!!!"

"i tried," your assistant began, frantically tapping against her keyboard as her eyes stayed trained on her laptop, reading over everything that had been posted on the internet as of a few hours ago. it was impossible to deal with the surge of posts and frenzy — everyone now believed that yamazaki kaito and l/n y/n had slept together.

"i can't believe that fucker fell asleep outside my fucking room!!" you yelled, exasperated, pacing back and forth in your room just as shoko rushed in, holding two coffees and a bag filled with what you hoped was something to eat for breakfast.

"i'm here, and i've seen the news." shoko said, setting everything down on your vanity as she stepped out of her shoes and sighed an annoyed breath, looking quite disheveled. "i can't believe they're spinning the narrative like this— he followed you here last night, drunk as shit, and when we tried to get rid of him, he planted his ass down in front of your hotel room and fell asleep! that's the only thing that happened, and both me and shiro were there to witness it, so how can they warp the story this badly?!"

"i'm actually gonna kill that bastard." you announced, beginning your rage-fuelled walk over to the door, only to have yourself stopped by your best friend tugging at your arm.

"that's only gonna make the situation worse, y/n." she reasoned calmly, glancing back at shiro who was tirelessly typing against her laptop. "shiro, release a statement saying that nothing happened."

"i'm already on it."

"you," shoko looked back at you with reassurance and authority, as if telling you off. "need to cool your head and focus on the show tonight; it's the last one, and then we're going home. that's all that matters right now. don't ruin this amazing opportunity because of an idiotic manchild, y/n."

pursing your lips, all you could do was nod in response. she wasn't wrong — she rarely ever was — and arguing with her would you no good.

just before you could head into the bathroom, the ringing of your phone broke the tense silence in the room.

expecting one of your friends to be calling you asking about the news — since that had been the only thing happening all morning — you picked up your phone with a sigh... only to widen your eyes when seeing the name of the person on screen.

"i'll be back." you muttered, grabbing a robe to toss over your bare shoulders and making your way out onto the balcony, where the cool breeze wafted through your hair... though you couldn't focus on any of that.

not when bakugou katsuki was calling you.

preparing yourself mentally for a second, you pressed the green button and held the device up to your ear, muttering a quiet, "hello?"

you hadn't expected him to call; not after the last one had ended the way it did, not after he'd hung up on you after insisting that he didn't care. you had believed him, understanding that he was the last person who'd ever give two shits about your love life, and you'd also gotten his indirect hint to fuck off and leave him alone. so you'd made up your mind not to call him, to give him his space... that last call was everything you needed to confirm to you that bakugou katsuki still thought of you as nothing more than a hindrance to his peaceful life, an annoying anomaly that wasn't part of his original plan.

so then why was he calling you now, after everything had circulated around the internet?

did he believe that you'd slept with another man whilst married to him, even when you told him you'd never do that?

you expected him to say a lot of things; to say he called you by accident, to tell you he wanted out of this marriage sooner than previously agreed; all sorts of negative things that made your heart sink and dread fill your mind.

what you did not expect was your hero husband to ask you a blunt, shocking question.

"did you sleep with him?"

the way he had said it, as well as the words themselves had left you stunned, lips slightly parted as you processed everything. it didn't take you very long to state, flatly, "no."

what was even more shocking than his initial question, though, was his reaction to your answer.

"...okay."

is that it?!, you asked yourself mentally, wondering a million things and yet nothing all at once. how could he have said he didn't care yesterday, then asked you such a jarring, blunt question, only to then accept your answer with the utmost trust? what was going on?!

"is that all you called me to ask?"

"yeah." he replied honestly — which was shocking, but everything about the past few days had been — and cleared his throat on the other end of the line.

you glanced down at the ground, bare feet starting to freeze up due to the coldness of the air. "...you're not gonna ask me what actually happened, then?"

"don't need to." his answer was short. straightforward. as always. "just wanted to know if you slept together."

"what if i said yes?" you questioned, feeling your insides churn with nerves at his potential response. you didn't know why you'd been feeling so curious about the inner workings of bakugou's mind recently, but you couldn't help yourself. you wanted to know what he thought of you, why he did certain things, why he often contradicted himself. "what if i told you we did sleep together? what would you do?"

he answered in a heartbeat.

"crash the fuck out, probably."

your heart skipped a beat, though you tried your best to completely ignore it. "why would you do that?"

"cause you told me you wouldn't... back when we talked about this shit." he reminded you, though it wasn't like you needed to be reminded; you remembered that conversation very well. "i was pissed off initially because i thought you lied to me. i don't want you to lie to me, purple."

"but why—"

"jesus christ, stop asking me all these damn questions!" he exclaimed, clearly frustrated, but you only cracked a small smile at his outburst.

"to answer the question you were about to ask," he started, voice now calmer than it was before, "i don't like it when my friends lie to me."

the world stopped around you. everything went quiet and calm, save for the wind that continued to blow through your hair and brush against your bare legs and feet, sending a shiver through your body. still, you didn't focus on any of those physical sensations... well, except one. the sensation of your heart drumming wildly against your ribcage.

did he just—

"the fuck did you go quiet for? you're that shocked i said we're friends?!"

"you said it again!" you gasped, feeling your cheeks warm up. your hand slapped over your mouth in bewilderment, smile threatening to break loose on your face any second now. "you really think we're friends?"

even though you couldn't see him, you knew he rolled his eyes. "i'm not fucking repeating myself. i'll kill you."

"oh my god." you practically squealed, anger and resentment from earlier having completely disappeared the moment those words had left bakugou's mouth. you couldn't believe he'd admitted it... he'd admitted that you were friends! you thought the day would never come!

"what?" he scoffed. "you think we aren't?"

"no no," you quickly began, panic setting in. "i've considered you a friend for a while now— i just never said anything because i was sure you didn't think of me the same way."

"i..."!he stopped, as if considering his words, mentally saying them in preparation. it really seemed like he was trying hard to not say the wrong thing, and you were proud of him for it. "i... didn't. until a while ago. i'm not sure when it changed, it just did. no more questions, you're pissing me off."

"okay, i wasn't gonna ask anything else." you said with a smile, practically giddy because of this entire conversation. "thank you... for the call and for saying i'm your friend, katsuki."

"fuck off. go do your damn show."

and then he hung up; although this time, the action made you giggle with warmth.

Chapter Text

the last show went smoothly.

everybody seemed to have dismissed the rumours as being completely false after shiro issued a statement on your behalf, so you went into the whole thing feeling relatively calmer than when the day began. yamazaki was nowhere to be seen, much to your pleasure, and everything was smooth sailing from there. the outfits were gorgeous, the catwalk was perfectly done, and you were proud of yourself by the time it was all over. you returned to your dressing room at the end of the show feeling relieved and excited to go back home after an annoyingly tiresome trip.

changing into sweats and a top, you decided to take off your makeup and undo your hair once you reached your hotel room, eager to leave the venue for now. shiro sat behind you on a chair, again, scanning her laptop, and you finally asked, "is shoko coming with us?"

"she's going to the afterparty." shiro revealed, glancing up at you through her glasses questioningly. "you sure you don't wanna go?"

"i'm exhausted, and i'm not tryna have any more unnecessary rumours spread." you admitted honestly, grabbing your bag and stuffing your phone and wallet inside. slinging it over your shoulder, you looked into the mirror one last time to check if your appearance was decent, in case there were any cameras when you left the building.

but to your surprise, a woman walked in — wearing all black with an employee lanyard, so someone who worked backstage — looking apologetic. "i'm so sorry, there's a man here to see you? he got through security by saying you're close, and he was holding—"

"bakugou?" shiro asked questioningly, standing up and stuffing her laptop into her own bag.

you frowned at that. there was no way he would've come to see you, not after he had so persistently denied your offer for him to join you. ditching hero work to come to paris just to see you? yeah, no chance. so who else could it be? "let him in."

the woman nodded, walking out immediately to go call the mysterious man.

shiro yawned, moving to exit the room through the same door, bag slung across her body and eyes practically drooping shut. "i'm gonna go wait in the ca—"

when she stepped past the door, she went quiet, her eyes going wide in shock at who she saw standing there. she froze completely, immobile, a blockade between your dressing room and the hallway.

her sudden quit demeanour made your brows furrow and you glanced in her direction, being able to make out a taller figure standing in front of her. "who is—"

you cut yourself off when the man pushed past shiro to enter your dressing room, looking all too familiar, a bouquet of roses clutched in his arms. he stared at you with a soft smile, looking completely natural despite knowing he wasn't meant to be there.

you froze completely, gaze trained on his face, utterly perplexed at his presence. surely there was no way he had come all the way from japan just for you? not after you'd so clearly set boundaries, told him you didn't want anything to do with him from now on — not after bakugou had told him to fuck off.

breathlessly, you mumbled, "..shota."

the sound of the door shutting had you glancing towards it, realising that shiro had rushed off, presumably to give the two of you some privacy.

but you didn't need privacy. you wanted him to leave you alone.

"hi, y/n." he greeted warmly, as if this whole situation wasn't crazy, as if he wasn't acting like a literal stalker by showing up like this. he jutted the bouquet in your direction, now standing directly in front of you. "you did great out there."

you ignored the flowers, still staring at his face with furrowed brows and parted lips. "...what are you doing here?"

"isn't it obvious? i came to watch the show and congratulate you." he said, as though it was the most casual thing in the world. again, he wiggled the bouquet towards you, urging you to take it.

you did not take it. instead, you inhaled a sharp breath and stepped back, looking utterly pissed off at his sheer audacity. "i don't want to see you. this is crazy. if you do something like this again, i'm gonna take legal action—"

"can't an old friend just be supportive?" he frowned, his arm dropping as he set the flowers down on one of the vanity dressers. then he glanced around the dressing room, squaring his chest proudly, and declared, "i don't see your husband here for support, though."

you glared at him sharply. "that's none of your business."

he looked back at you, expression blank, showing no sign of reaction at your rudeness. "i thought you would've been happy to see me."

"you thought wrong. get lost." you concluded, hiking your bag up further over your shoulder and walking past him, ready to walk out the door and leave this stalker behind.

as soon as your hand reached towards the handle, you heard shota ask, "you and that actor... is it true?"

you held the handle tightly, knuckles practically turning white in pure rage. how dare he ask you such a thing, as if it were any of his business?

"tell me." he reiterated, eyes burning holes through the back of your head, as if trying to read your thoughts. "is it true, y/n?"

"no it isn't." you stated firmly, giving him a sharp glare over your shoulder. "because i'm married,!and i would never cheat on my husband."

then you threw the door open and walked out, slamming it shut behind you.

-

shoko was livid, furious, enraged. it took every ounce of yours and shiro's strength to drag her to the car, far away from shota, and she put up one hell of a fight. after what felt like way too much time, the woman was finally sat in the back of a van, right next to you, all buckled up and ready to go back to the hotel room. shiro sat in the front, next to the driver, completely silent, aware that speaking now was dangerous.

you glanced at your best friend next to you, a frown plastered on your face. "you should go to the afterparty—"

"with the terrible fucking mood that freak put me in?!" shoko exclaimed, pulling her jewellery out of her ears and off of her neck, a frustrated grunt escaping her mouth. "following you to a whole other country is despicable! someone needs to set him straight for good—"

"let's just forget about it." you groaned, sinking into the seat and turning your gaze away, opting to look out the tinted windows instead. the scenery of paris flew by as you made your way to the hotel, ready to get a good night's sleep in preparation for your flight tomorrow afternoon. "i'm going straight to my room and conking out after this."

"same." shoko responded, with a sigh of her own.

-

bakugou had the day off today.

it was a rare occurrence; even when he did have days off, the man usually ended up going to work anyway, simply to patrol or to check on the heroes at his agency. he believed he didn't need vacation days, because he wasn't a weakling who needed time to recover from gruelling hours or injuries. he was strong enough to work as long as he wanted, so he did.

but today was different.

bakugou had just finished watching the live stream of your final catwalk on his laptop, in the comfort of his own bed. he usually never laid around in bed doing nothing, but this was different. due to the time difference, the show had ended at 5am for him, so he'd basically been up all night watching the stupid thing, though he had already resolved to not go to sleep, because he had something very important to do.

the man reached over to grab his phone and unlocked it, checking on a certain something that he had arranged a few hours prior.

he didn't know why he bothered doing this — it was extremely out of character for him, and he never envisioned himself going out of his way to do something so intimate for another person.

what sparked the idea in his mind, originally, was that whole thing on the TV with yamazaki kaito. it had ticked him off, so much so that he'd thought of something as absurd as this; but what solidified his resolve to go through with the idea was his most recent phone call with you.

when he'd admitted that he considered you a friend.

it was hard to say it, bakugou recalled, especially when only hours before that he'd made up his mind to hate you, but seeing the news and everything people were saying about you and that actor made him realise something very scary.

bakugou katsuki cared about you.

he didn't want to. he wanted to continue hating you, to count down days until your inevitable divorce and bid goodbye to you, happy as ever. he wanted to despise you with every fibre of his being— but he couldn't. and that caught him off guard.

before, he ignored it; the warmth in his chest when you were nearby, his acceptance of your presence in his life, the discomfort he felt when you were hurt or upset. he ignored the way he felt about you... until he couldn't. until he was staring at a photo of another man leaving your hotel, and he felt betrayed. he thought he'd been lied to. he thought you spewed nonsense about waiting until the divorce to get with other people, and then went back on your word.

he hated the feeling.

so he accepted it. he accepted that he cared about your opinions, the way you felt, your presence in his life — he accepted that he cared for you the same way he cared for kirishima or sero or mina. that was all it was.

nothing more, nothing less.

-

you walked into your hotel room, feeling utterly relieved that the day was over. what you were most grateful for, though, was the fact that you were alone, since shoko and shiro had headed off to bed, too.

with a sigh, you kicked your shoes off, pulling your hair into a bun atop your head as you walked down the hallway, ready to enter your bedroom. you noted how clean everything was, and figured that housekeeping must have dropped by while you were away, and you were glad; the place had been a dump when you left this morning.

yawning, you entered the space where your bed was, only to freeze immediately when you saw something that definitely shouldn't have been there.

something on your bed, looking out of place, making your heart jump in your chest, your expression contorting into one of confusion and slight fear.

a bouquet laid on the mattress in a vase, overflowing with all sorts of purple flowers; crocuses, wisteria, petunias, hyacinths, and asters galore, erupting and draping over the vase as if unable to keep themselves contained. it was an explosion of different shades; lavender, lilac, plum and fuchsia, all reminding you of something.

your eyes.

your breath hitched in shock, a million thoughts running through your head at once. had shota found your hotel room, broken in and placed these there after you rejected his roses? this was definitely a bouquet of flowers you preferred — they were beautiful and captivating, and deeply personalised to you. you wanted to be grateful, but knowing they could be from shota only put a pit in your stomach.

your eyes spotted something then, a piece of paper sticking out from the middle of the floral eruption. a card.

please don't be from shota, you pleaded internally, treading on the carpeted floor towards the bed. once close enough, you reached out and grabbed the cream envelope, opening it and pulling a card out.

sprawled on it were two sentences, and a single initial.

i cheered. don't get used to it.
-k

Chapter Text

you had transformed into a middle schooler.

high pitched giggling with a bright red blush on your face, you had returned to the days of your youth; a little girl giddy over a simple bouquet and a note. but it wasn't simple, though, was it?

bakugou had done something nice for you.

and you were ecstatic.

grabbing the vase, you carefully lifted it off of the bed and placed it on your desk, smiling down at it with twinkling eyes as if it were made of gold. the first flowers you'd ever received from your hero husband, after six months of marriage — you'd cherish them properly.

"i can't believe him!" you exclaimed, rereading the note over and over whilst simultaneously bouncing on the soles of your feet. you didn't think you'd ever get over this act of kindness, especially when it came from someone like bakugou. perhaps you'd cracked his stone cold heart, after all!

setting the card down, you grabbed your phone and plopped into bed, hurriedly dialling a number with a grin still practically splitting your face in half.

it only rang once before he picked up.

"fuck off."

"you can't say that after doing something so sweet!" you said brightly, voice having turned high pitched and squeaky as a result of your excitement. "seriously, this is the nicest thing you've ever—"

"i know i know, shut up!" he groaned, and you realised then that he sounded rather groggy and tired. perhaps he'd stayed up all night watching your show — that itself made your heart skip another beat. "don't talk about it. forget it even happened."

"but it did happen, and i'm looking at them right now." you said softly, still eyeing the bouquet of flowers the same colour as your eyes. "they're beautiful."

a grunt. "of course they fucking are, i picked them out. don't get used to it, these are the only ones you're ever getting from me."

"i'll cherish them with my whole heart." you said dramatically, though it was true. you would cherish them. "thanks, katsuki."

another grunt, but no response.

"you're probably tired, so i'll leave you alone now." you concluded, smile unwavering, permanently etched onto your face. "goodn—"

"wait. when's your flight?"

"tomorrow afternoon." you answered. "by the time i land it'll be early morning for you."

"who's picking you up from the airport?"

"a driver." you replied, not understanding where this conversation was heading. "mom offered, but it's too early in the morning."

"oh." he paused, as if deliberating over his words for a moment. then, with a huff, he started, "...i'll be up; y'know, for work."

you grinned again, completely understanding him now. your insides had practically been reduced to mush due to how soft he was suddenly acting; you knew it would take some getting used to. "...and? what are you saying?"

he groaned painfully. "you know exactly what the fuck i'm saying, stop messing around."

"i don't actually," you teased, shamelessly lying through your teeth. "care to tell me, kats?"

"fuck you."

"come on!"

"i could..." he began, though immediately cut himself off to groan as if he were being forced to do something terrible against his will. heaving a deep breath, the man continued, quietly, "...pick you up, or whatever— fuck you! i take it back, actually! GET HOME YOUR DAMN SELF!!!"

his sudden change of mind made you laugh heartily, warmth erupting throughout your entire body. "thank you for the offer, but i'm coming with shoko and shiro, so we hired a driver— and people know i'm arriving, which means there's gonna be paparazzi all around the airport, and if one of them spots you, it could be bad."

"i'm not dumb, i get it. whatever. i'll leave some leftovers in the fridge in case you're hungry. bye."

and then he hung up, like always, without waiting for a reply.

you smiled, clutching your phone to your chest and glancing at the bouquet of flowers once more.

cute.

-

"flight FR104, from paris to musutafu, is now boarding. please make your way to the gate immediately."

you, shoko and shiro finally stood up, groaning and stretching after half an hour of sitting in the business class lounge doing absolutely nothing, waiting for the flight to board. finally, the time had come, so you grabbed your backpack, made sure your mask was on securely, and began making your way over to the line— only to freeze when you heard a very familiar voice.

"y/n! wait!"

shoko was the first to spin around, her eyes going wide in shock as she pulled her sunglasses off and stormed towards him, enraged expression hidden by the black mask she wore over her mouth. "you fucking stalker—!!"

"stop!" shiro exclaimed, quickly grabbing the woman's arm as she glanced around the area, noticing people were sending stares their way. "there's eyes everywhere, shoko—"

she yanked her arm free. "i don't give a flying fuck—"

"it's okay, shoko." you placed a hand on her shoulder, gaze still trained on the man who had suddenly shown up in front of you once again. he was a demon from your past, haunting you wherever you went, and it was time to put that demon to rest. "go on. i'll be right there."

your best friend's expression softened. "are you sure—"

"i'll be fine."

shoko huffed out an irritated breath, and sent shota one last glare before walking off towards the gate, shiro trailing right next to her with a worried frown.

shota approached you slowly, looking as depressed as ever. the bags under his eyes were evident, his skin looked ghostly, paler than usual, and his shoulders were drooped, defeated. "please talk to me, y/n."

"i am talking to you." you stated, once he was close enough to hear your low voice. grabbing onto the strap of your backpack, you continued, "our friendship, everything we've been through together; i'm grateful for all of it. you were my best friend, my first love— but that was before. we're adults now. i want nothing to do with you anymore, and need you to respect that decision."

he looked physically pained by your words. "i can't accept it. i need you in my life, y/n—"

"from now on," you started, taking a step away from him to signal that the conversation would soon be coming to its end. "i need you to leave me alone, shota. i have a husband. i have a successful career. i can't let you jeopardise any of that. i wish you the best."

and then you turned and walked off, leaving him behind.

shota stared at your retreating form with pure hurt and sadness in his dark eyes, looking utterly inconsolable and seconds away from bursting into tears... but then, he suddenly felt his body fill with a different emotion.

rage.

white hot and seething, rendering him irrational and acting out of pure instinct.

he yanked his phone out of his pocket and clenched his jaw, unlocking it.

and then he started writing out an email.

-

the moment you stepped off the plane, something was weird.

you had just gone on a ten hour flight with no wifi, no access to the outside world, absolutely nothing. that was why it felt like something was weird — especially when your phone started immediately blowing up the moment you got your baggage and began heading towards the exit.

"what's going on?" you mumbled, about to turn on the device, only for shoko to roll her eyes and say, "save it for when you get home, i bet it's something that'll just stress you out right now. that goes for you too, shiro."

the aforementioned girl flinched whilst in the process of opening her laptop, then sighed and slammed it shut, stuffing it back into her bag. "sorry."

all three of you began to walk towards the exit, surrounded by security guards, because you knew the moment you stepped outside, it would be mayhem. the sun was only just starting to rise, yet you could already hear cheers and chants, all calling yours and shoko's name; fans and paparazzi that must have been camped outside for hours, waiting to catch a glimpse of you.

when you stepped out, you realised just how many people there actually were.

the crowd was much larger than you had anticipated — it was way too early for there to be that many people gathered outside. you knew it was strange, especially since they all rushed towards you immediately, causing your security to step in and begin barking orders.

"something's off." shiro muttered, sandwiched between you and shoko, nervously glancing around at the crowd that had now surrounded all of you as you moved through them, towards the road where your car was parked. your assistant frowned, looking concerned. "there shouldn't be this many people here. something happened."

now that they were closer to you, practically trying to claw at you through your security and bodyguards, you could vaguely make out what some of them were shouting.

"L/N Y/N, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!"

"ARE THE RUMOURS TRUE?!"

"WE'VE SEEN ALL THE PHOTOS! WE WANT ANSWERS!!!"

shoko and you both turned to each other with furrowed brows and puzzled eyes. your best friend leaned forward to mutter, "what the fuck is going on?!"

all of a sudden, a reporter broke through the security blockade in front of you, her cameraman right besides her as she shoved a mic in your face.

you reeled back, startled at the abrupt appearance of the passionate woman, your eyes darting between the camera and her in confusion. from behind you, shiro urged, "don't say anything!!!"

you were beyond confused. "but i don't even know what—"

"l/n y/n!" the reporter shouted, grateful to finally be in front of you. with her mic shoved right into your face, the woman continued with wide, frantic eyes, "IS IT TRUE THAT YOU'RE MARRIED TO PRO-HERO DYNAMIGHT?!"

the world stopped around you.

you stared blankly into the reporter's eyes, every part of your body going absolutely rigid. you were caught off guard, bewildered at her question, and utterly horrified. your mouth moved beneath your mask, yet no words came out. nothing at all.

shiro and shoko gasped, looking between each other. the latter looked around frantically, realising that everyone seemed to be shouting the exact same question now, and her eyes were wide with terror.

slowly, she whispered, mostly to herself, "...everyone knows."

you continued staring at her, finally finding the words to mutter, "who... who told y—"

"fuck— Y/N!" shiro interrupted, yanking you backwards as she stepped between you and the camera, her confusion transforming into fury. she glared at the reporter and firmly stated, "we will not be answering any questions at this time."

the reporter did not protest. instead, she smiled. a crazed, excited grin that split her face in half, and she looked at the camera with confidence before stating, "i guess we know what that means—"

shiro grabbed you with one arm and shoko with the other, forcing herself through the crowd with frantic, desperate eyes. "we need to get away!"

after what felt like hours of you being dragged around but was merely a few minutes, you were finally sat down inside a car, shoko next to you and shiro in the front seat, her laptop set on her lap whilst she flicked through her phone with a clenched jaw, pure panic present in her eyes, sweat dripping down her face.

shoko pressed her hands to her face and said, "how do they know?! how the fuck do they know, shiro?!"

"i'm trying to find out!!" the assistant declared, just when the driver began driving away.

you sat there, eyes wide, staring at absolutely nothing. it was as if the world moved around you while you remained frozen, your mind a mix of thoughts and emotions, shocked at everything that had just taken place.

within the hours that you'd been on that plane, somebody had leaked pictures and information to the entire internet, and now everybody knew. that was why your phone had been vibrating.

as if listening to your thoughts, the device rang again.

breath hitching, you pulled it out of your pocket, unbridled horror overcoming you when you saw bakugou's name on your screen.

shoko looked at you expectantly.

immediately, you pressed the answer button and held the device up to your ear. and then you desperately began, "katsuki, i promise i didn't tell them anything—"

"i know, dumbass. calm down. where are you?"

your breath hitched again, shoulders dropping in relief that he wasn't mad at you. tears pooled your eyes and you blinked them away, breathing heavily to calm yourself down. "in the car with shoko and shiro."

"don't panic and get home quick. everyone's waiting."

Chapter Text

you were trying so hard not to hyperventilate.

shoko and shiro had tried their best to calm you down the entire car ride back, with your best friend reassuring you that they would find a way to resolve this situation. shiro, who had been bombarded with calls by your mother, was stressed the fuck out herself, yet still glanced at you with sympathy and told you everything would be okay.

now, you were finally in the elevator, heading up to yours and bakugou's shared apartment. you constantly chewed on your thumbnail, mask and sunglasses abandoned and shoved into your bag, your expression contorted into a panicked one. while bakugou had said that he knew you didn't leak anything, you were still afraid — afraid of him being angry, of his reputation being tarnished, of him hating you for this whole mess. it terrified you.

just then, the doors to the elevator dinged open, causing the three of you to immediately rush into the apartment with shoko calling out, "we're here!"

when you stepped into the living room, you were unsurprised to see that it was packed to the brim with people.

mina, jirou, akemi and haruhi sat on the carpet around the coffee table, their sunken eyes travelling to look at you with worry. leaning against a wall in the corner were todoroki and minato, both of whom immediately straightened up the moment you entered. on a single sofa sat sero, with the one next to him occupied by kaminari. the recliner housed kenji, looking completely and utterly stressed out as he turned to stare at you, too. behind the largest couch stood three people; bakugou mitsuki and bakugou masaru, their arms folded over their chests and brows creased in worry, as well as your mother, who looked furious, seething with rage.

on the biggest couch sat bakugou katsuki, elbows on his knees and gaze set on the floor, though he immediately looked up the moment shoko announced your arrival. the paleness of his face and the darkness under his eyes made it evident to you that he hadn't slept at all, presumably occupied by everything that had just happened. on his right sat kirishima, frowning, and on his left was midoriya, his hand placed on bakugou's shoulder as a means of providing comfort.

"you're back." kenji announced, forcing a smile onto his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "how was your flight?"

"are you really asking us that right now, kenji?" shoko grumbled, allowing her bag to drop to the ground as she made her way over to where the girls were sitting and collapsed besides them, pressing her hands to her face.

"i'll... be here." shiro muttered to herself, sitting down in a corner with her laptop and ipad laid out in front of her. the woman seemed to practically be glued to the devices, reading over everything that was being posted, analysing the pictures, all of the sources, everything that would give her answers.

"welcome home, y/n." midoriya greeted, sliding over to a corner of the couch so that there was a gap between him and bakugou. the man then gestured to the empty space, sending you a soft smile. "take a seat."

you took a deep breath and walked over, sitting yourself down next to the blond male who hadn’t taken his eyes off of you at all.

you didn't greet him, and he didn't greet you; although you could feel his stare into the side of your face, even when your mother walked over to the centre of the living room and began talking.

"you three have just got here, so you're probably shocked by everything happening right now." the woman ran her fingers through her greying hair, stress making her contort her face into a tensed expression. "but we've been here all night ever since the news was leaked."

"the bottom line is," masaru took over, both him and his wife now standing besides akane. "everybody knows. all we can do now is damage control—"

"why can't we just say it's a lie?" shoko spoke up, finally having calmed herself down from the rush of the airport.

"i'm guessing you haven't seen the photos." kirishima softly said, scratching the back of his neck.

"i haven't, either." you revealed, looking around with furrowed brows. "surely they can't be that bad? we were so careful in public—"

"they're pretty bad." shiro announced, causing all the attention to fall on her. she winced slightly when she glanced up to see all the eyes turned in her direction, but nonetheless, cleared her throat and stood up as well, grabbing her ipad off of the ground and spinning it around so both you and shoko could look at the screen. "see for yourselves."

she swiped through the pictures, and each one made your eyes widen.

there were pictures of you and bakugou in the car, a wide smile on your face as you spoke to him and him intently listening. another picture seemed to have been taken outside your old apartment building, as bakugou carried you inside when you passed out from drinking too much. another image showed you in public, mask covering your face, though it was carefully zoomed in to focus on a ring on your left finger. besides it, another photo was taken off bakugou, seemingly entering the agency — it was zoomed in a similar manner, the ring on his finger being out on display too.

finally, there was another picture.

you and bakugou in a grocery store, you holding onto his sleeve and dragging him away from shota.

shota.

your eyes widened and you slapped your hand over your mouth in disbelief, remembering the brief conversation you'd had with him before you got on the plane.

you didn't want to believe that he'd be that petty, didn't want to make him out to be a villain when you'd looked up to him for practically your entire life — but the evidence were hard to ignore. it was damning, in fact, staring you right in the face.

bakugou analysed your reaction carefully, biting the inside of his cheek, as if he also knew.

"i don't think there's a way out of this." shiro mumbled, clutching the device to her chest as she glanced between you and bakugou with sympathy.

"i still think we should deny it." mina piped up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "we can say they're just good friends, the rings were just a coincidence, yadda yadda. it's not that hard to lie—"

"lying could be a bad idea in the long run," todoriki said monotonously, though the slight crease in his brow gave his concern away. when everyone looked at him in confusion, he continued, "if other pictures come out — something worse — then everyone will know you lied. that'll make the public angrier."

"i second that." sero began, rubbing his chin with his fingers before adding, "your fans don't want lies. they want the honest truth—"

"the honest truth is gonna fuck their lives up." jirou interrupted, her own brows knitted together as she gave sero a glare. "me and mina get harassed for being friends with bakugou, imagine what they're gonna do to y/n. it isn't worth it—"

"but how long are they gonna keep hiding everything?" minato intervened, arms folded across his chest, his expression much calmer than everyone else's. he then turned to look at you and bakugou, gaze unwavering. "how long do you two plan on keeping this a secret? your whole lives? are you planning on running away from public opinion forever?"

akemi frowned, interrupting, "minato, that's harsh—"

"but he's right." haruhi added, playing with the wool on the carpet. "it all depends on where they're planning on going with this marriage."

you glanced down at your lap, fiddling with the strings of your sweatpants. how were you meant to tell them that you and bakugou had made this arrangement knowing it'd be over in a year? this marriage wasn't meant to lead anywhere, that was why it was essential that nobody found out. now that whole plan was ruined.

"look, i think that's for both of them to discuss," kaminari started, earning the room's attention. "we're not here to criticise their marriage—"

"of course not," mitsuki said, having finally decided to speak up. "but we are here to figure out a way to fix this mess and ensure both katsuki and y/n can walk out of this with their careers still intact."

"which is why i think it's time we ask the real question," akane said, beady eyes glaring daggers into you across the room. you glanced up then, frightened gaze meeting hers, and your mother darkly asked, "how did everyone find out?"

"we've discussed this already," kenji interrupted, sounding rather frustrated with your mother's words. "some fans probably spotted them and—"

"no," akane interrupted, still glaring at you, thin arms moving up to fold themselves across her chest. her eyes were glowing now, shooting into yours, as if trying to read your mind. "it's all too calculated. some of the pictures were from months ago, when they weren't even together. why not release them then? why wait so long to come clean about everything?"

the room was stunned into silence, and you were frozen with fear, staring into your mother's eyes, knowing that she knew everything—knowing that there was nothing you could do to defend yourself.

"i'll tell you why," she continued, taking a few slow steps over to you. "it was all calculated. done as a petty act of revenge, fuelled by a personal grudge. so tell me, my dear daughter... who exactly did you piss off now?"

your breath hitched, words caught in your throat. you tried to clear your mind, afraid of her reading your thoughts; you couldn't tell her. you didn't want to tell her.

"there's no way you're blaming her for this!" mistuki intervened, placing a hand on akane's shoulder. "we need to stop passing the blame and focus on figuring out a way to solve this!!"

"what i need to know," akane started once more, completely ignoring mitsuki's plea. "is how you managed to mess this up, y/n."

your shoulders were shaking now, tears pooling in your eyes at the look of pure hatred your mother was giving you. it was your fault. you pissed shota off, and that was why this whole mess was happening.

it's my fault.

"tell me, y/n." akane continued, her eyes glowing even more now. "who did you tell? what happened? be honest or else—"

"that's enough." bakugou announced, standing up and sending akane a sharp, enraged glare. he hadn’t said anything so far, took his time to articulate his thoughts and think about the situation logically, but this woman was starting to piss him the fuck off. the man was sick of all these people in his house — and he was sick of seeing the terrified look on your face.

akane tore her gaze away from you then to look at your husband, her eyes narrowed. "this is between me and my daughter—"

"actually, it's between me and my wife." bakugou corrected, glancing around the room with his shoulders squared and crimson pupils simmering with annoyance. "thanks for taking the time to come here, but i think me and her need to discuss all of this in private. so, respectfully, all of you need to fuck off."

"go to sleep."

that was the first thing bakugou said the moment his living room had been cleared out and everyone had gone home. it was just you and him now, your butt still planted on the couch and him standing in front of you, refusing to meet your gaze.

you were astonished at his words.

"what? no!" you stood up in front of him, looking at him with furrowed brows and an erratic heartbeat. "did you not just say we have to talk about this—"

"you've just been on a plane for ten fucking hours and you've got bags under your goddamn eyes." bakugou announced, finally locking gazes with you, though he seemed to be glaring rather angrily. "go to bed."

your feet stayed planted firmly in place. "no."

he sighed, as if he expected that, and rubbed a hand down the side of his face in frustration. "can you not argue with me for once—"

"you know what's going on, don't you?"

your question made him tense up, his eyes darting to glance in a different direction, as if he couldn't stare at you any longer without giving himself away. "i don't know what you're talking about."

"you know what happened." you said flatly, clenching your fists at your sides and looking at him with eyes full of hurt, anger, as well as pure guilt. trying to fight back the tears that filled your eyes, you choked out, "you know this is all my fault."

his eyes snapped back to stare at you, expression hardening. "it's not your fault."

"it is, though!" you heaved, the dam holding back your emotions now coming undone. tears spilled form your eyes down your cheeks, your shoulders shaking with sadness and guilt as you continued, shakily, "i told him to fuck off, he got pissed, and he leaked all the pictures! he had them like a fucking stalker, and he only leaked them because i made him mad! it's my fault, katsuki—"

"shut up." he interrupted, not looking the least bit surprised by everything you'd just said. the moment he'd seen the pictures, he made an educated guess as to who was behind them, though he never told anyone; he needed you to confirm it first. the man placed his hands on your shoulders as an attempt to snap you out of the panic you were in, his jaw clenching when he saw the tears you had already spilled. "it's his damn fault for being a fucking stalker in the first place. he took those pictures, waited to see if you'd take his sorry ass back, then posted them when you rejected him. he's the one at fault, purple. not you. so get that stupid idea out of your goddamn head."

"but— but—" you sniffled, only for him to quickly interrupt, "no fucking buts. you didn't do this. he did."

"i'm sorry," you breathed out, using your sleeves to wipe at your face, aware of all the makeup you were smearing off — though who could blame you? you were a mess right now, and you knew bakugou probably thought the same thing. "i'm really sorry, katsuki, i never meant for this to happen—"

"if you apologise one more time i'm actually gonna fucking kill you."

"i'm s—" you stopped yourself, pressing your lips tightly shut together when you realised what you were about to say. "...that was the last one."

bakugou scoffed, moving his hand up to ruffle your hair. "stop losing your shit over this. honestly, it was bound to fucking happen anyway, i'm surprised it took this damn long."

"so what do we do?" you asked softly, noticing that he kept his hand on your head, as if trying to comfort you. "deny it... or admit it?"

"...i'm not sure." bakugou honestly responded, poking the inside of his cheek as he glanced around his living room, presumably thinking over everything once again. he truly did not know what to do in a situation like this, and he realised he would need some assistance with coming to a conclusion.

you sniffled, patiently staring up at his face and waiting for him to say anything else.

as if sensing your stare, bakugou looked back down at you and sighed. "right now what you need to do is get some damn sleep."

"i can't sleep with everything happening—"

"try." he commanded bluntly, finally taking his hand off of your head then. "i'm not going to the agency today, i think there's other shit i need to be more concerned about."

you sniffled again. "...so you'll be here when i wake up?"

he stared down at you, eyes softening ever so slightly, and then mumbled, "yeah, purple. i'll be right here."

-

bakugou stood in his kitchen a few minutes after you'd retreated into your bedroom, staring down at his phone with hesitation in his eyes.

he knew what he needed to do, yet he couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed; asking for help was not his forte, especially when this whole situation was already embarrassing enough. he'd had calls and texts from his old classmates, old friends, all asking him the same thing.

YOU MARRIED L/N Y/N?!

he was sick of hearing it, sick of talking about it; but for both his and your own sake, he knew that he needed to come to a conclusion quickly.

so he grunted and hit call, pressing the device to his ear.

i wonder if he'll even pick up—

the man answered within seconds.

"never thought you'd be the one calling me, bakugou."

the blond hero huffed, leaning against the kitchen island and muttering, "long time no talk, sensei."

"heard about the wedding," aizawa replied over the phone, sounding as bored as always. "i was offended i didn't get an invite at first, but with everything happening now, it's understandable that you wanted to keep it a secret."

"sorry." bakugou said, feeling rather guilty. "and sorry for not calling much—"

"you're a big shot pro now, you haven't got time to be callin' up your old homeroom teacher." aizawa said, though there was a hint of playfulness to his tone. "now tell me, kid, what's the real reason you called?"

bakugou sighed. "i need advice."

"then you've come to the right person."

Chapter Text

you strolled into the kitchen at noon, yawning and fighting off more sleep that threatened to consume you. it had taken you a while to pass out, but when you did, you had slept for hours on end, the exhaustion of the past week finally catching up to you.

bakugou katsuki stood in front of the stove, seemingly cooking something, and he glanced over his shoulder when he felt your presence. "you're up."

"i am." you mumbled, still rather down from everything that had occurred. pulling out a barstool, you sat down on it, resting your elbows against the kitchen island and sighing. "i shouldn't have slept at a time like this—"

"you needed the rest." bakugou mumbled, turning the stove off and turning around to face you, his arms folded across his chest, expression now serious and stoic. "i've thought about what we should do."

your whole body tensed up at that.

there was only one thing you were expecting him to bring up, and that was divorce. it would make sense for him to want to end the agreement earlier after everything that had happened; that way both of you could freely announced that you had nothing to do with each other. it was logical.

but somehow, you weren't too fond of that idea.

being separated from him was no longer as appealing as it sounded a few months ago, and you didn't know why.

"what should we do then?" you finally asked, dreading his answer.

bakugou stared at you for a moment before fluently stating, "admit it."

your eyebrows jumped up in surprise at that — you definitely had not expected that to be his conclusion after hours of gruelling over the topic. "...but it would just cause more problems—"

"it would solve a lot of problems." he grunted, scratching his neck as if uncomfortable by the whole discussion. "we come clean, tell the whole world we're married, move on with our lives. then in six months... divorce. say we got bored of each other."

you frowned. "it's not that easy. people are gonna—"

"i don't give a fuck about people, y/n." he stated flatly, glaring at you with simmering rage. "i don't give a fuck about my fans or yours. they can't even call themselves fans if they lose their shit over any of us getting a goddamn partner; they're parasocial freaks who need to get their ass off of twitter and get a fucking job. i've never cared about what they think, and that isn't gonna change now."

you understood his sentiment, looked up to it, in fact, but you couldn't deny that you were still afraid. afraid of what people would say about you, about bakugou, afraid of how so-called 'fans' would react. your socials had already been blown up with comments calling you a slut and a cheater for allegedly seeing kaito whilst married to bakugou, and you couldn't imagine how much worse it would all get if you and him both came out and admitted it.

you stared down at your hands now, contemplating over the entire situation, your brows tensed together in worry.

bakugou watched you, noted the hesitation on your face, then sighed to himself. "take some time to think about it. i know it's a tough decision, but i really think—"

"i just," you started, voice cracking ever so slightly, making your ears flush in embarrassment. "i just want everything to be okay."

"everything will be okay." he assured with a grunt, as if he was annoyed by this whole conversation — which he was. he hated thinking about what other people thought of him; that was why he had originally been unpopular. bakugou was not the type to worry about the opinions of strangers on the internet, but he understood that things were different for you. your whole career depended on those opinions. "just— think about what you wanna do. we have to agree before we do anything drastic."

"i think we should come clean." you admitted, having pondered over it enough—and because you trusted his judgement. your gaze finally darted up to meet his, and you continued, "todoroki, minato, all of them — they were right. we can't keep running away from this."

"my thoughts exactly," bakugou said, approaching the kitchen island until he was standing directly across from you. he leaned forwards, palms pressed flat against its surface, and stared you down with pure determination. "if we're gonna do this, we need to do it properly."

you raised an eyebrow. "what're you thinking?"

"a press conference." bakugou announced, as if he'd already worked out all the details in his head before even presenting the idea to you. "i'll coordinate it with my agency and talk to your mother about it—"

you frowned at the mention of the woman. "i don't think mom would—"

"leave it to me." he commanded, rather gruffly. "you don't have to do much of the work. we just go up there, speak our truths, and it'll be over."

you sighed, rubbing your forehead with your fingers, the stress of planning getting to you. you never thought you'd have to resort to this, but it seemed like the best option. and for what it was worth, you trusted bakugou's decision-making. "okay."

the blond hero stood up straighter and nodded. "okay."

-

herowatch global was a top-tier news agency, known for covering everything from pro hero activity to celebrity drama. they were the first to do everything; the first to announce the hero rankings, the first to comment on new hero debuts, and — most recently — the first to publish dynamight's marriage scandal after receiving an email with all the details.

tsukishima kanae groaned at her desk, her legs kicked up on its surface as she repeatedly threw a ball in the air and caught it, over and over again, looking utterly bored. nothing new had happened, as of recently — in fact, the biggest thing was the marriage scandal. the moment she'd found out, she'd raced over to the airport to catch you the moment you landed, and managed to get a snippet of an interview with you that had immediately gone viral. that was yesterday, but since then, nothing. radio silence.

"surely they have to make a statement or something, right?" she muttered to herself, occasionally glancing at her desktop monitor and refreshing the page, waiting for any new emails, whilst her phone remained open on your instagram page, waiting for a post or a story — anything to get her out of this slump.

kanae was a tall, smartly dressed woman who always sported a ponytail and carried her trusted silver tablet around everywhere. as the senior correspondent for pro-hero affairs, it was her job to be the first to report on everything that had to do with their lives, and it was usually a rather fun job. most heroes had dirt on them, something they didn't want others to know, like a secret girlfriend or secret drug addictions. yet the one hero she never found anything on was pro-hero dynamight, aka bakugou katsuki.

the man was an open book. being the number two hero did not change the way he acted in public — in fact it only made him even more authentically himself. his fame was a result of his hard work and good looks, and had nothing to do with him having a false persona. he never hid anything from anyone, because he truly did not care enough about public opinion to bother with it.

at least, that was what kanae thought.

but she had been proved wrong the day she suddenly received an email from unknown person. attached were photos — clear, high quality ones — containing bakugou katsuki with another woman; and that just so happened to be A-list model l/n y/n.

the evidence was all there. she had screamed in shock, and then hurried to write out an article at the speed of light before publishing it — and of course, it went viral within minutes. it didn't take long for other news outlets and publications to post their own versions of the story, taking the pictures from her article and using it for themselves — but she didn't care about that. she had been first; and she had also been the first and only reporter to see you when you exited the airport, and ask you if the rumours were true or not.

she would never forget the dumb, flabbergasted look on your face.

"tsukisihima!!!" her assistant — riku — barged in through her door, looking disheveled and panicked. his light brown hair was tussled and matted on his head, the bags under his eyes prominent due to days of no sleep. his tie was loose, buttons on the top of his shirt undone, and his glasses were tilted on his face. in his hand, he held a card.

kanae rolled her eyes, still throwing the ball up and down. "i told you to knock, riku—"

"you need to see this!" he exclaimed, rushing towards her and holding out the card for his boss to take.

kanae knitted her brows together, set the ball down, and then grabbed the card, her beady eyes scanning over its contents. it was an invitation.

once finished reading, the woman practically fell out of her chair. "WHAT?!"

riku was bouncing on his heels, rushing to grab kanae's bag and silver tablet, all whilst shouting, "we need to go quick!!"

"i can't believe this!!" kanae yelled, shooting up to her feet and dropping the invite. opening her drawer, she took out a notepad and a pen, her eyes wide and frantic in disbelief, and then ran towards the door, her assistant got on her tails. "he's holding a press conference?!"

riku rushed out behind her as the two of them wafted through hallways, the boy violently nodding his head. "his agency said it was about—"

"i know what it's about!!! grab the goddamn camera, riku, let's go!!! i'm pretty sure everyone else got invites, too, we have to be first!!"

"yes, ma'am!"

-

"oh my god, i can't believe we're doing this." you breathed out, one hand placed over your heart as you tried to control your erratic heartbeat. you were standing in one of the rooms connected to the conference hall, where all the agency staff and your own had gathered, making sure everything was perfect before the event began.

shiro placed two hands on your shoulders, her smile reassuring. "it'll be okay."

outside, you could hear the chatter of news reporters, magazine editors, journalists — everyone gathered ten minutes before it was scheduled to start, anticipating what exactly was going to happen at a press conference dynamight had scheduled. it was rare for the man to even entertain reporters, so such an event was huge.

bakugou, who had changed into a suit — as ordered to by kirishima — walked over to you, adjusting the in-ear piece placed inside his ear, where staff could talk to him in case he needed guidance. he wasn't exactly the best at speaking for himself — since he ended up crashing out or swearing at people — so his PR department had to take extra precautions when it came to his public speaking events.

shiro stepped away once your husband appeared, instead disappearing towards the back to talk to your mother about the event.

"i'm scared." you admitted, when bakugou stopped in front of you.

he glanced down at your outfit — a professional button down top and black pants that were quite similar to his own suit — and then met your gaze. "it'll be fine. don't freak out."

"there's so many people—!"

"purple." he started, leaning down so his face was aligned with yours. you winced at the closeness, feeling your face heat up due to reasons unknown to you, but it didn't seem like he noticed. with a determined look in his eyes, he continued, "follow my lead, and we'll be fine. i'll be up there with you the whole time."

you couldn't understand how the same man who once caused you so much turmoil had somehow become your greatest source of peace.

Chapter Text

kanae tapped her foot impatiently against the ground, squirming in her seat as she watched the stage. there was a long table stretched out on top of it that held two microphones; behind the mics were two chairs, ones that were completely empty, much to kanae's dismay.

"can they start already?" she grumbled, glancing at her watch. she held her notebook in one hand, her other holding a black pen that she made sure was full of ink, ready to scribble down everything that was soon going to take place. glancing at riku, sat next to her, she asked, "camera ready?"

"perfect." he replied, holding the device up to the stage and looking deeply concentrated.

the door behind the stage, then, was suddenly yanked open, causing the crowd of a hundred or so journalists to gasp and immediately go quiet, their cameras ready and rolling to record everything that would soon happen.

kanae was unsurprised to see bakugou katsuki walk out, looking rather professional, a blank expression on his face.

nobody else walked out with him.

the man approached the stage, slowly climbing the stairs, and then took a seat on one of the chairs. he then reached out, pulling the microphone slightly closer to his face, and cleared his throat, his eyes scanning over all the unfamiliar faces in the audience.

everybody sat up straighter, waiting for something. anything.

and then bakugou began, "thank you for coming."

it was shocking to see the usually angry and irrational hero act so calm and composed, but it made sense. this was a serious deal.

"against my will," he continued, folding his arms across his chest. "some stuff was recently posted. something that caught me off guard, which doesn't happen very often. all of you sitting here must already know about everything circulating the internet, and i'm sure you're here for answers."

his eyes narrowed. "well, i'm here to give you some."

the door behind the stage opened once again.

everybody gasped when you walked out, looking as calm as bakugou, tucking your hair behind your ear as you made your way over to the stage to sit down in the seat beside his. camera flashes went off, murmurs were heard throughout the crowd; your appearance there meant one thing.

the rumours were all true.

the moment you sat down next to him, kanae mumbled, "i can't believe they're admitting it."

riku continued snapping pictures of you and bakugou together, and he found himself unintentionally muttering, "they do make a good couple."

"hi everyone." you started, with a smile on your face as you scanned the crowd, feeling your stomach churn with nervousness and anxiety. "i'm glad you could all make it."

"now," bakugou began, elbows flat on the table as he leaned closer to the microphone, his crimson eyes burning with many different emotions all at once. "to address the elephant in the room — our marriage."

gasps, cameras zooming in, reporters waiting to scribble notes down, practically on the edge of their seats.

bakugou flatly announced, "it's true. we've been married for half a year now."

astonished gasps resounded throughout the crowd, and before anyone realised what was happening, people had begun shouting questions. it had gotten so loud to the point where you felt yourself shrink under everything, your vision starting to swim as dizziness overcame you.

"shut up." bakugou commanded bluntly, and the room was plunged into silence once more. "that's all you wanted to hear, didn't ya'?"

"we hope," you started, now leaning in towards the microphone as well, attempting to make your voice as stable and confident as possible. "that all of you will respect our privacy going forward. to our fans, we're sorry for keeping such a big part of our lives a secret from you all; we just weren't sure if we wanted our relationship to be public yet."

bakugou glanced at you, almost proud of the way you properly articulated your words, but then once reporters began shouting again, the man rolled his eyes and glared at the audience once more. "for fuck's sake, can you guys let her speak?!"

again, silence.

"and, um," you glanced around, forcing another smile onto your face. "we hope that you'll continue to support both of us, together, as a couple. thank you."

"great." bakugou sat up straighter, looking impatient, as if he was waiting for all of this to be over quickly. "any questions? ask something stupid and i'll get you kicked out."

kanae's hand shot up at the speed of light. "mr. dynamight! you've built a reputation on independence and focus. how does marriage fit into that image?!"

"i'm still the same damn person i always was," he snapped, glaring at kanae as if he recognised her. "marriage didn't change me. it just means there's someone i trust enough to share the weight with."

your heart jumped in your chest, and you tried to control it. no, he was just bluffing. it was all rehearsed. he didn't mean that.

another reporter then asked, "mr. dynamight! will this marriage impact your ability to operate in the fi—"

"HAH?!" bakugou interrupted, looking utterly pissed off. he then glanced at the security guards at the back of the hall and commanded, "take this dumbass out! what kinda shitty question is that?!"

nobody batted an eyelash as the reporter was dragged out of the hall — it was quite a common occurrence during bakugou's rare conferences.

another hand shot up; though this time, the journalist seemed to choose his words more carefully. "uh— did any of your friends or fellow
heroes know about the relationship?"

he rolled his eyes. "course they fucking did, we even had a wedding. what are these dumbass questions, did you guys seriously go to school for this shit?!"

kanae shot her hand up once more and stood to her feet, her expression tense as she asked, "how do you feel about the leak? do you plan on taking legal action against the person who exposed it?"

bakugou winced, hesitating for a moment as if he was coming up with something to say. when he finally leaned forward to bluff his way out of this question, he was interrupted by your hand suddenly touching his bicep.

the man froze and looked at you, strangely feeling warm under your touch.

the camera flashes went wild.

"i'll answer this one." you calmly said, with a reassuring smile, and then removed your hand from his arm to bring the microphone closer to your face. within an instant, your expression dropped; you now looked angry, glaring at the all the cameras in the audience, hoping one of them would be live streaming this for somebody to see. "the person who leaked this will not get away scot-free. i will personally make sure that they face the consequences of their actions for violating both mine and my husband's privacy."

bakugou stared at you, eyes softening, as if he was entranced by your sudden confidence. but then the crowd began screaming once more, and the blond hero had finally had enough. slamming a hand down on the table, he stood up and shouted, "right, conference over!! all of you can fuck right off!"

and then he grabbed your arm, pulled you to your feet and walked off, dragging you next to him.

"that was so good!" shiro announced, once you and bakugou rendered the room with relieved sighs. the girl had been watching the livestream on her laptop, though she kept glancing at her ipad to check for new articles being posted about the situation — and, just as she had thought, the moment it ended, pictures and clips were being uploaded discussing the entire situation. she stood to her feet, still staring at her iPad, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"but how're people gonna take it? that's the real question." your mother mumbled, pacing the room with a stressed hand pressed to her forehead. the woman had watched the entire thing, but she still dreaded public opinion — especially that of the young fans.

"i don't think we need to worry about that." shiro began, glancing up at you and bakugou — who looked beyond confused — with wide, excited eyes and a big smile. "you're trending— for a good reason!"

"hah?" bakugou questioned, perplexed; sure, he didn't think it went badly, but he didn't think it went all that great either. he'd yelled and lost his temper again, said many rude things and even swore a lot — whenever he didn't that at press conferences, it would always get clipped and posted. nobody cared about the genuine stuff he had to say, they only shared his angry moments, the insults that tumbled out of his mouth and how 'unheroic' he was. it pissed him off, but that was how it had always been.

"what's trending?" you asked, confused for a similar reason — when you agreed to do this, you weren't expecting a lot of positive feedback. in fact, you were a hundred percent sure your socials had been flooded with hate comments already.

shiro approached you and bakugou, flipping the ipad around so you and him could see the screen. "for some reason, this is the only thing going viral right now!"

plastered on the screen was a picture; an image captured when you had placed your hand on bakugou's bicep and gave him a reassuring smile. he was looking at you with soft eyes, his lips parted in surprise, not a hint of his usual anger or aggression present in his expression. your face heated up immediately — it almost looked like you were a real couple.

bakugou's eyes widened. he hadn't realised he'd been looking at you in such an affectionate way— he hardly recognised the person in that photo. it sure as hell wasn't him.

"don't you guys get it?" shiro exclaimed, spinning the screen back around and scrolling down, looking extremely pleased with this turn of events. "they think you guys are cute! here are some comments: 'congrats on y/n for taming the world's largest tsundere!' 'if you told me last year that DYNAMIGHT would be the first to settle down, i would've laughed in your face!' 'not him looking at her like she hung the damn moon!' see?! the people love this!"

bakugou went bright red at some of the comments, his brows tensing in annoyance. "TSUNDERE?! i'm not no fucking tsundere—!!"

"let me read some!" you said enthusiastically, taking the device from your assistant and scrolling through it. you failed to notice bakugou peeking over your shoulder to read them as well, his curiosity piqued.

'this is the same man who screamed at a child for touching his gauntlet?!'

'she touched his arm and he activated wife mode 😭😭'

'i was today years old when i found out bakugou was capable of being in a relationship AND owning up to it 💀'

'they went from caught in 4k to 'hey lol we're married' in 24 hours WHAT i need a minute 😭😭'

'the way he looks like he's in love and shocked about it at the same time?! holy character development 🙏'

bakugou read that one comment, his entire face turning bright crimson, the same colour as his eyes. there was no way he was looking at you like that — these people were just exaggerating. he didn't like you that way; he thought you were a tolerable friend, just like his others.

THEN WHY THE FUCK AM I LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT?!

AND WHY'S EVERYONE SAYING IT'S OBVIOUS I'M IN LOVE?!

he huffed out an annoyed breath, leaning back to continue reading some more comments. he couldn't help it, the curiosity was killing him; he knew he'd spend the next few days scrolling through posts, looking at how people were hyperanalysing their 'marriage'.

whilst most of the comments were about bakugou and revolved around the sheer shock factor of him having settled down, you noticed a lot were about you as well, from your fan base. it warmed your heart that the haters seemed to be little to none.

'y/n walked for chanel, dior— and down the aisle too, apparently 😭😭❤️❤️'

'i thought she'd end up with like... an actor. not japan's angriest pro-hero 😭⁉️'

'the duality of this couple is actually insane. like she's such a goddess and he's one bad headline away from a press ban.'

'this wasn't the endgame i saw coming... but I LOVE IT!'

'i need to lie down.'

you grinned widely at the overwhelmingly positive response, all stemming from that one simple action you'd done without thinking. yet, still, you yourself couldn't help thinking about the way bakugou was looking at you in that photo, and the way these people were describing it. did he truly look so in love? when you knew he had only just started tolerating you?

there's no way.

at the same time, both you and bakugou glanced at each other, ignoring all the chatter in the room.

then both of you turned bright red and swerved your heads away, unable to hold eye contact.

Chapter Text

things had been going smoothly for the past week.

yes, occasionally, your posts had been swarmed with comments of bakugou's die-hard fan girls, calling you all sorts of rude names and making insulting remarks, but the support was much greater. you were able to ignore it peacefully and move on with your life. in fact, you had now started wearing your wedding ring in public — something bakugou hadn't done, though you didn't expect him to. it simply made sense for you to do so, now that everybody was aware of the marriage.

yawning, you walked into the kitchen on a tuesday morning, dressed in your workout gear for the day. you'd stopped waking up earlier just to avoid bakugou — now, you woke up around the same time he did, and without the two of you realising, you'd built a routine of having breakfast together every morning.

"morning." you grumbled, pressing the back of your neck and sitting on a barstool, setting your workout bag on the floor besides you. "my neck hurts like a bitch, think i slept wrong last night."

"don't care, didn't ask." bakugou mumbled, grabbing a plate filled with eggs, toast, sausages and a side of fruits before sliding it over to you. he then moved to grab his own plate and set it down next to yours, legs working to go over to the fridge to grab something to drink.

"wow, mean. but i'll forgive you since this looks delicious." you grinned, grabbing a fork and immediately digging into your delicious eggs. you couldn't deny that the best part of being married to bakugou was the amazing food he always cooked; the man was a culinary genius.

"’course it does." he answered flatly, taking his protein shake out of the fridge, along with a carton of orange juice. setting the shake down, he pulled a glass out of a cabinet and poured some OJ into it. "how're the fans doing?"

swallowing the bite in your mouth, you began, "...its been decent so far. i've noticed there's a lot more hate comments recently though, but i can ignore them."

"they're just bored with their lives. pathetic." he grumbled, placing the glass of juice in front of yours and then taking the seat right next to yours, prepared to dig into his own breakfast. "if it gets bad just restrict your comment section."

you frowned. "i can't do that. they'll think they've won."

he cracked a smirk at that, taking a sip of his protein shake. "that, i agree with. let them say whatever the fuck they wanna say, you don't need to acknowledge shit."

you hummed and nodded, mouth too stuffed with food to bother with giving him an answer.

it was silent then, for a few minutes, whilst the two of you ate your food peachy besides each other. it was nice, calm — strangely domestic — and neither you nor bakugou did anything to break the silence.

until your phone started ringing.

it was on the kitchen island, between you and bakugou, vibrating against the surface. you picked it up, sighing when seeing the words plastered on it — no caller id.

you declined it and set the device down, going back to eating your food.

somehow, your number had gotten leaked — you had a feeling you knew who the suspect was — and you'd been receiving annoying spam calls from bitchy fans, all of whom had a lot to say about your marriage. it was annoying, but no matter how many numbers you blocked, they just kept on coming. you'd resorted to just ignoring them, and made a mental note to stop by a store on your way to work and change your number.

it started ringing again.

bakugou stared at the device with furrowed brows. "you not gonna get that?"

"don't know who it is." you said blankly, though it was obvious by your tone that you were lying.

bakugou looked at you for a moment, as if trying to read your mind, then rolled his eyes and mumbled, "weirdo."

the phone stopped ringing.

then it started again.

"for fuck's sake!" bakugou slammed his hand down on the device, resorting to answering it himself. he picked it up, pressed the green button and attached it to his ear.

you winced, fork dropping. "stop—"

just when bakugou opened his mouth to question who the hell was calling you, he heard a high pitched feminine voice on the other end of the line.

"i hope you know how big of a whore you are, l/n y/n— seriously, one man wasn't enough?! you're fucking hideous next to our katsuki—"

bakugou's fingers tightened around the phone, his knuckles going white. "care to say that again?"

silence.

then, "FUCK, THAT'S NOT HER—"

"listen here, dipshits," bakugou started, his eyes having darkened considerably, veins now protruding on his forehead and jaw from the sheer anger he felt simply by hearing those words. "you or any of your little friends call this number again, and i'll make sure your sorry ass is put in jail for harassment. you got that?!"

they hung up.

bakugou grunted, setting the phone down and turning to glare at you with ferocious, enraged eyes. "how long has this been happening?"

you winced again under his scary look; you hadn't intended to tell anyone about those phone calls. you'd resorted to solving it yourself — after all, you'd already dragged too many people into this mess already. but now that bakugou knew, there was no way around it. "not that long—"

"change your damn number." he growled, having completely abandoned his breakfast and now intensely watching you. "before doing anything else—today. the moment you leave this building."

you gulped, trying to ignore the loud pounding of your heart in your ears and the flush that threatened to break out on your face as a result of your close proximity to him. "...okay."

-

with a new phone number now installed into your phone, your day was getting better and better. you'd arrived at mitsuki and masaru's studio, ready to model for them some more, only to be swarmed by a crowd of fans and paparazzi in front of the building; apparently, news had since leaked that you were working with your husband's parents, and there were now fans constantly around the building.

as you entered, you heard lots of things; some shouts of support, some mean remarks, but you didn't bother listening. you sent them all a polite wave and a smile, wedding band on full display, and then entered the building with a grunt.

you'd finally made it to the styling rooms when mitsuki greeted you with, "y/n, dear!!"

"hello." you smiled warmly, taking your jacket and shoes off with a sigh, ready for a day of work. "it's wild outside."

"it's been like that ever since the press conference." mitsuki frowned, gesturing for a makeup stylist to enter so they could get started on your glam. "did they say mean things?"

"some of them." you chuckled humourlessly, slumping down into the chair in front of the mirror whilst the makeup artist began working her magic on you. "it's fine, though! nothing i can't handle!"

"dear, if it gets bad," mitsuki started, looking down at you with eyes filled with sympathy and warmth. "please talk to us. we'll figure out a way to help. don't deal with everything alone."

your smile wavered slightly at that, enticed by her offer, but you quickly forced it to get wider. there was no way you'd ask anyone for help, not when this whole situation was your own fault in the first place. you needed to deal with shota yourself once and for all, without getting any of your friends and family involved. sure, the derogatory words thrown at you on the street and typed out under your photos on instagram did hurt you slightly, but you tried not to focus on it. everything would be okay. "i'm honestly fine."

i'm fine. stuff like this happens all the time. the hate's gonna die down soon, and then everything will go back to normal. it'll be okay.

that was what you told yourself, at least.

-

bakugou katsuki was home at 11pm from a long, hard day of hero work, and he was surprised to see that you hadn't arrived yet.

the man changed into a comfortable set of pyjamas after showering and then got to work on dinner in the kitchen. he hadn't realised when he'd started making two portions for every meal, it kind of just happened, and he didn't seem to mind it.

whilst working, bakugou thought over how annoying it was that his fans seemed to be getting more persistent. the front of his agency was always crowded now, with irritating fangirls and paparazzi itching to get a picture of you inside, with your husband. it annoyed him to an unimaginable extent, to the point where he'd had to station security at the front to keep the entrance clear, and he'd resorted to using the back exit to come and go. seriously, he was another day away from bursting out and swearing at all of them, and telling them to get a fucking job!

it was only when bakugou had successfully placed his potatoes to boil that his phone started to ring.

expecting it to be from you — for some strange reason — bakugou took it out of his pocket, only for his brows to furrow in confusion when he saw kirishima's name plastered on his screen.

the blond hero answered, pressing the phone to his ear, his tone coming off as blatantly irritated. "the fuck do you want, shitty hair, i'm in the middle of somethin—"

"bakugou!!! have you not checked your texts??!!!"

he raised a concerned eyebrow, now stepping away from the stove. "no? what's up—"

"look at the video i sent you! it's making its rounds all over the internet!!”

bakugou hurried to put the phone on speaker and opened his texts, his brows furrowing when he realised that a lot of his friends — and his parents — had blown his phone up, all of them having forwarded him a certain video. opening kirishima's text, he clicked on it, watching it carefully.

he recognised the building that was being filmed; his parents' studio. the person recording was shouting, along with everyone else in the huge crowd, and the camera was swaying side to side with every movement, since people seemed to be shoving at each other violently. they were all shouting your!name.

since it was dark, bakugou presumed the incident had only recently occurred.

and then the doors opened and you appeared, walking out with masaru and mitsuki escorting you to your car.

the screams got louder, so you pulled your mask down, casually sending everyone a smile along with a wave as you forced your way through the crowd, until suddenly, something shocking happened.

a woman — quite young — pushed through, and shouted, at the top of her lungs, "YOU FUCKING SLUT!!!!"

bakugou's eyes went wide with fury, but the next thing that happened was worse.

when you turned to look at the woman in confusion, she raised her hands up...

and launched eggs straight at your head.

one of them cracked against your skull, it's sticky contents flowing down your hair, whilst the other collided with your shoulder, dirtying your shirt. gasps resounded throughout the crowd, with some people attacking the girl, whilst others simply laughed and said things along the lines of, "serves you right!!!"

bakugou watched the whole thing with simmering rage, his hand clutching his phone tightly. he saw the way your smile slowly fell, the way your eyes widened in shock, the way your hand went up to touch the egg in your hair, as if in disbelief. he watched as his father helped you to your car, all whilst muttering words of comfort, and he watched as his mother lost her shit, yelling at everyone in the crowd to go home and threatening legal action for that act of harassment.

bakugou was furious.

kirishima, who was still on the line, questioned, "did you watch it?! where's y/n—"

"she hasn't come home." bakugou darkly mumbled, glaring daggers into his screen, as if that would change anything — it wouldn't. it had already been done. "we know who the girl in the video is?"

"her name's been revealed—jirou's working on getting us more details."

"great." bakugou muttered. "i'm gonna need an address.”

Chapter Text

bakugou heard the sound of the door opening, and he realised you were home.

the blond man stood in the hallway, a few ways away from the entrance, watching you enter. he noticed that you were dressed in different clothes than what he'd seen in the video; you had on sweatpants and a hoodie, covering every inch of your properly. hanging your keys up on the hook, you pulled your hood and mask down, only for him to notice that your hair was wet.

this led him to the conclusion that you'd dropped by someone's place to shower before coming home.

looking up, you flinched in surprise at bakugou's menacing figure standing down the hall, arms crossed over his chest and eyes staring you down. "jesus— what're you doing there?"

"you're late." he mumbled in response, watching you kick your shoes off and enter the house, looking rather casual despite everything that had taken place.

"i stopped by shoko's house." you revealed, still standing there, aware of his eyes on you. just by the way he was looking at you, you could tell that he'd seen the video — but you weren't in the mood to talk about it.

not until his eyes softened ever so slightly and he asked, "are you... okay?"

your shoulders tensed up at the bluntness of his question, and you forced a wide smile onto your face. "of course!"

"really?" he asked, tone dripping with disbelief. "because you look awfully fine for someone who's just had eggs thrown at her in the street."

the way he put it so bluntly made your jaw clench, but your smile never wavered. you wouldn't show weakness in front of him; you had barely even processed the situation yourself. you'd gone to shoko's house, dodged all of her questions, showered, and then ran out. you were fine.

i'm fine.

"i'm fine." you lied through your teeth, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, your bag clutched in front of you protectively, as if acting like a shield between you and the hero.

bakugou began walking towards you slowly, analysing your expression, the forced smile, the hollowness in your eyes, the way the purple had all but dimmed. anyone could tell you weren't okay. "you don't need to lie to me."

"but i'm not lying." you softly said, aware of how close he was getting to you, yet you made no effort to move away. not even when his body was mere inches away from yours, not even when he leaned down so his breath fanned your mouth, not even when he opened his mouth to say, "y/n. no one's watching. you don't need to lie."

"but—" you started, only for your voice to suddenly crack, your eyes pooling with tears. quickly, you blinked them away, attempting to step away from him. "i'm fin—"

he placed his hands on your shoulders, stopping you from running away from him.

all he did was stare into your eyes then, not saying anything, waiting for you to admit it.

but you didn't.

instead, that crimson gaze of his made you drop the bag in your hands. it hit the ground with a thud, no longer shielding you from bakugou. and with the dropping of the object, all your defences dropped too.

within seconds, the tears spilled from your eyes uncontrollably and your smile fell, strangled sobs escaping your mouth as you allowed yourself to finally cry. bakugou simply watched you break, watched every emotion you were feeling spill out in the ugliest way possible, yet he didn't say anything.

"i'm not fine," you admitted, through sobs, trying not to choke on your own words. you wiped at your cheeks, still sniffling away, completely broken under the weight of the hardships you'd faced.

"i know." he mumbled softly, his gaze full of sympathy and warmth.

then bakugou pulled you into him, your face colliding with his chest, and wrapped his arms around you in an awkward embrace.

you didn't freeze, didn't stop crying — you simply hugged him back, fingers gripping at his shirt, your tears wetting the fabric of his tee as you buried your face further into his solid chest. you could hear his heartbeat — that was rather erratic — and smell his cologne. it was comforting enough for you to sob into him freely, enough for you to feel protected in his arms.

bakugou hugged you tighter, feeling nothing but pure rage, anger and desire for some sort of revenge; not just against that woman, but against the man who had leaked all of this information in the first place.

having his privacy violated didn't hurt. having his fans suddenly turn on him didn't hurt. what truly hurt was watching you break part within his arms, and him being unable to do anything about it. how was it that he considered himself so strong, yet when it actually mattered, he felt so powerless?

bakugou didn't wonder why he felt this primal urge to protect you, to embrace you and comfort you.

he didn't care enough to worry about that right now.

he knew he would have to sit down and sort his feelings out eventually, but today was not that day.

"i'm—" you hiccuped, uncontrollably bawling your eyes out now. "i'm sorry, katsuk—"

"i told you this before," he mumbled, resting his chin on top of your freshly washed hair, your scent wafting through his nostrils. "you don't have to apologise, purple."

"y'know—" you choked out, "it fucking hurt!!! eggs are hard, man—"

his lips twitched into an amused smile. "oh really?"

"hell yes!" you said through sniffles, clutching onto him like your life depended on it. "it was so painful!"

"should we get your head treated, then?" he playfully asked, attempting to liven up the tense atmosphere — which was rare for bakugou to do, but he couldn't help finding it slightly funny. the man had practically died and come back to life once, he couldn't imagine eggs hurting him.

yet they did seem to hurt you, so he forced himself to sympathise instead of making cocky remarks.

for now.

"yes, great explosion murder god dynamight," you sniffled, breathing having finally calmed down, though the sniffles still continued. "please treat my injuries."

bakugou cracked another smile, some of his previous anger disappearing within instants. he leaned back to stare down at you, hand caressing your forehead, and teasingly mumbled, "sure. i'll nurse you back to health real gentle."

-

the last thing you remembered from that night was trudging to bed, collapsing into your soft sheets, and falling asleep — you didn't bother setting an alarm; you weren't too keen on the idea of waking up, after all.

but it seemed your desire to remain unconscious the whole day was unfulfilled; by noon, you could hear the annoying sound of your phone ringing.

at first, you ignored it, groaning and covering your ears with your pillow. to your relief, the ringing then stopped.

however the silence did not last very long. it was now dinging with notifications, texts, vibrating against the surface of your nightstand, and before long, it was ringing again.

"oh piss off!" you grumbled, turning over to slam your hand down on the device. you didn't even read the name of who was calling before you brought it over to your face, pressed it against your ear, and mumbled, "hello?"

"y/n!"

"akemi?" you said softly, stifling a yawn. "can this wait? i was having a really good dream—"

"no, it can't! why are you ignoring all our calls?! haven't you seen what's been posted on insta?!!!"

"oh god." you sprung up in bed, back straight, suddenly wide awake. you had begun to have severe ptsd when it came to these conversations and the mention of social media posts; your anxiety couldn't help wondering if it was something crazy again, or if more angles had come out of your egging from the day prior. either way, you knew it was probably something negative, and you were dreading it. "what is it now?! god forbid a woman catch a break—"

placing her on speaker, you opened your phone just as your friend said, excitedly, "no no, it's nothing bad— surprisingly— just check!"

scrolling through your dms, you found that the same post had been sent to you by hundreds of people, and you'd been tagged in it as well, over a million times. your brows furrowed in confusion and you clicked on it, not recognising the name in the account. "what's this?"

it was a video, posted by a girl—and when her face appeared on camera, you knew exactly who she was.

your eyes went wide. "she's the one who egged me!!"

the camera was propped up on a table and the woman sat in front of it, looking utterly scared and distressed, her nose and eyes red as if she'd been crying nonstop; the glistening wetness on both her cheeks only confirmed that. she sat uncomfortably, her hands below and out of frame, squirming in her seat as if she'd was uncomfortable.

and then she began, "l/n y/n, i'm sorry for doing that to you. i've lost my scholarship, i've lost all my friends, and everyone hates me now— especially my idol... so please accept my apology."

then her hands finally appeared in frame.

you gasped.

she was holding eggs; two of them.

one she smashed straight onto her head, flinching as it cracked against her skull, its insides mingling with her dark hair. the tears filled her eyes once more, but all she did was sniffle and slam the other egg against her shoulder, with zero to no hesitation.

"oh my god." you muttered, in shock, bewildered that such a thing had been posted for the world to see. not to mention her losing her scholarship over this? you almost felt bad for her.

almost.

she sniffled and reached for the phone, presumably to end the video. "i'm sorry for all this. and just fyi— you guys should probably leave her alone. dynamight's really mean."

the video ended.

"DID YOU SEE?!" akemi yelled, and that was when you realised she was still on the line. "your husband dealt with it!"

"he did this?" you whispered, still in a state of disbelief, heart violently drumming in your chest, threatening to leap out of your ribcage and take a lap around your room. your cheeks were beet red, warmth flooding your entire body— he had done this for you.

katsuki did this for me.

"akemi, i'll talk to you later."

"OKAY—"

you hung up the phone and stumbled out of bed, still in your shorts and tank top, then sprinted for the door. as you opened it, you wondered if he'd be home right now; you knew the chances were slim, since he'd probably be at work, but you couldn't help hoping he wasn't. you needed to see him.

you ran down the hallway and made a beeline towards the kitchen — since that was where he always was, for some reason — your breath caught in your throat.

please be home!

you skidded to a stop, shoulders dropping in relief when you saw that familiar tall, muscular build, standing over the stove, cooking god knew what for lunch. he hadn't noticed you'd entered.

so you ran up to him, all wide smiles, and wrapped your arms around him, burying your face into his back.

"WHAT THE FU—" bakugou screamed, twisting the top half of his body around to land an explosion on whoever had touched him; though he immediately froze when seeing you, staring up at him with your twinkling, purple eyes, looking awestruck.

bakugou flushed a bright red. "what the hell are you doing?!"

"you're home." you mumbled, tightening your grip around him, fingers holding onto the fabric of his shirt that rested around his mid-section.

bakugou turned back towards the stove, face still the crimson of his eyes, attempting to calm his erratic heartbeat down. you were hugging him, he could feel your whole front against his body, pressing into him, way too closely to think straight.

the man pressed a hand to his face and mumbled, "yeah, i told you i'd nurse you back to health."

"did you do that?"

bakugou took his hand off of his eyes, but kept it around his mouth, still trying to fight off the terrible blush consuming him. "what?"

"that girl apologised." you mumbled, still grinning. "did you tell her to?"

bakugou rolled his eyes and grumbled, "no, i had nothing to do wit—"

"liar!" you exclaimed, squeezing his torso tighter.

bakugou flinched, twisting his head back to send you a glare. "DON'T YOU DARE—"

"thank you," you said blankly, eyes deeply gazing into his, purple swirling with crimson, a million things being said through the silence.

bakugou held eye contact with you, unable to move himself away; he felt all of your body on him, felt your hands pressing against his chest, your breath fanning his neck, everything; and he tried to fight off every thought he was having, because he couldn't guarantee their appropriateness.

still, though, he pushed everything aside, and stated, "you're welcome."

Chapter Text

shoko and akemi shared a penthouse apartment in one of the nicest parts of the city, one that had direct access to a swimming pool on its balcony and was huge enough to house dozens of people inside it.

which, obviously, meant that whenever there was anything to celebrate, the two of them were the first to send out invitations, welcoming people into their home.

that was why you were sat at the poolside, feet kicking at the water and eyes gazing up at the starry night sky that you only occasionally got to admire, wearing a bathing suit and sipping on some super expensive wine.

in the pool lounged akemi, wearing a float around her waist — she hadn't learned how to swim — and splashing water at shoko, who immediately launched a ball at her head in retaliation. their laughs were loud and music to your ears, perfect for a night of relaxation and bonding. behind you, on one of the many lounge chairs, lay haruhi, reading a book and sipping her own white whine, occasionally glancing up to giggle at the two girls in the pool.

after everything that happened, shoko had begged you to leave the house; she claimed you needed a break, needed to get out of your own head and hang out with a few friends. thus, a girl's night was proposed; the four of you gathered at shoko and akemi's apartment right after work at six, and you'd even texted bakugou to let him know you might be home late.

surprisingly, he had simply said, same.

you didn't ask why; not when you were being dragged inside your friends' massive closet and being forced to change into a bathing suit. no, you assumed you'd find out why he was late eventually... bakugou had seemed to have gotten a lot nicer to you, after all.

at the thought of your husband, your relaxed smile fell and you sighed, taking another swig from your glass. the alcohol was cool against your tongue, slightly on the strong side, but went down well. you hadn't even begun to feel tipsy.

whenever an image of bakugou katsuki came into your head, you felt confused.

you knew you cared for him, and you knew he also cared for you — to some extent — but things were strange now... the way the way the two of you were acting with each other was almost too intimate. not very platonic, as much as you hated to admit it.

but you couldn't figure him out.

"hey, pretty lady," akemi floated over to you, wiggling her brows in a teasing manner, "what's got you lookin' all grim?"

within instants, you found yourself smiling again. "nothing, really."

"liar." shoko waded over as well, a knowing smile on her face as she pulled herself up to take a seat next to you, stretching her legs out and groaning. "probably thinking about that handsome husband of yours."

you froze, like a deer caught in headlights.

"awwww!" akemi giggled, making her way over to the steps in order to get out — she was too small to pull herself over the ledge, even though she'd tried many times — and added, "you guys are so goals! i mean, to think that he did all that for you!!! it's so adorbs!"

"it was... nice of him," you mumbled, warmth blooming in your chest, gaze dropping to the water below you as you swung your feet back and forth.

shoko eyed you wordlessly.

"ouch, i think a mosquito bit me!" akemi yelped, running for the sliding doors that led back into the apartment, all whilst sliding the pool float down her legs and jumping out of it. "haru, where's the repellant—"

"it's your apartment and you're asking me?" the older woman chuckled. despite her teasing, she did shut her book and stand up, heading inside with the shorter girl to find the mosquito repellant.

now that it was just shoko and you, enjoying the quiet, cool night air whilst gazing at the stars, you sighed once again.

your best friend wasted no time in asking, "so when're you gonna admit you actually fell for him?"

"WHAT?!" you all but screamed, wine glass almost slipping out of your hand in pure shock at the randomness of her words. you felt your whole body flush then, the chill you were feeling before suddenly disappearing, and you hoped she couldn't make out the change in complexion in the dim lighting. "what're you talking about?! that's silly!"

she gave you a pointed look, leaning back on her palms. "i don't know if you're trying to fool me or yourself, but either way, it's not working."

"i don't like him." you started, setting your glass down besides you and turning fully towards your best friend, furrowing your brows before you continued, "okay, that's not true; i like him as a person and because he's a friend now! there's nothing romantic there at all, i promise you that! sure, he did nice stuff for me—like getting me flowers and defending me and threatening that girl—but like, that doesn't mean i'm just gonna fall for him!! we're literally gonna get divorced in like, a few months, dude; and i went into this whole thing knowing that! falling for him despite that would be so stupid—"

"y/n." shoko interrupted, still staring at you with that same, pointed look on her face.

she didn't have to say anything else.

you froze completely in horror, a terrifying realisation dawning over you, enough to turn your entire body to stone. lips parting, you stammered, "n-no, i don't— how could i?! that's so fucking dumb—"

shoko did not interrupt you this time.

you stopped speaking yourself, slamming your hands over your mouth and widening your eyes, the purple in them glowing brighter due to the darkness. you stared at your best friend, the one watching you blankly, waiting for you to finish having your self discovery, and felt wind blow through your hair, brushing against your bare body.

but despite that, you felt hot, as if you were on fire.

shoko raised an eyebrow at you impatiently, still refusing to say anything.

you shook your head finally, eyes still wide, brows still raised, hands still covering your mouth. the word sounded muffled when you said, "no."

"yes." she snorted, grabbing your unfinished wine and downing it all in one go, rather casually. once she was done, she set it back down, rolling her shoulders back as her gaze found the sky once again. "to be fair, you held out for a long time. i expected it to happen within a week of the wedding."

"no." you repeated, still in disbelief.

she sent you a warm smile then, a genuine one that reached her eyes and made the apples of her cheeks rise. "your secret's safe with me."

you shrieked, completely burying your face into your palms, as if ashamed to even look at her right now. "oh no."

shoko simply smiled, turning her gaze back to the stars once more. "god, i love being right."

Chapter Text

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

you chanted that in your head like a mantra over and over again, from shoko's apartment all the way to your own. you continued chanting it even as you showered and changed, as you blowdried your hair, as you grabbed an apple from the fridge for a quick midnight snack, as you made note of the fact that he wasn't home yet.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

there was just no way you did. the quickening of your heart, the blushing — those could all be symptoms of a much greater health problem! yes, in fact you would make a visit to the doctor first thing in the morning. with one hand typing vigorously against your phone screen and the other bringing the red fruit to your mouth, you hurried to google your symptoms, nervously tapping your foot against the kitchen floor.

you gasped at the first result that popped up. "tachycardia?! oh my god, i need to see a doctor!!!"

hurriedly, you finished your apple and tossed the core into a bin before shutting the lights off and heading towards the living room, still scrolling on your phone to look for anything that could give you a reason to doubt your feelings.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

the apartment had been plunged into darkness now, and it was eerily quiet. the curtains in the living room were draped open, allowing the silver moonlight to pour in and shed its light on you, enough for you to conclude that you preferred this to the overhead lights. sitting down on the couch, you folded your legs underneath yourself and glanced at the time; 1:01am.

he was still not home.

you frowned, wondering if you should cal—

immediately, you shook your head. it was none of your business. you never cared where he was before, it wasn't like you'd start doing it now.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

still scrolling through your phone, you kept repeating that sentence over and over again in your head, until it had begun to sound strange, the words jumbling up into a nonsensical mess. even then, you didn't stop.

you were on your 112th 'i don't like bakugou katsuki' when you heard the sound of a door opening, and the man himself entered the house.

you heard him before you saw him; his grunting, the sounds of his boots hitting against the floor as he took them off, the jingling of his keys— but something was off. he never made this much noise when he entered, he was usually rather graceful.

and it didn't help that his breathing sounded terribly erratic.

you furrowed your brows and set your phone down, hearing his footsteps approaching the living room— even those sounded strange; as if he were limping.

when he finally entered your line of sight, your eyes went wide. "katsuki, what—"

"what the fuck?!" bakugou jumped, surprised by your presence; the apartment had been dark so he assumed you'd have gone to bed by now, but your sudden voice had left him caught off guard.

but his reaction didn't concern you. rather, your gaze was set on his appearance; he still wore his hero costume — save for the huge gauntlets that he’d let clatter to the ground — and it clung to him perfectly, in all the right places— though you weren't worried about that right now. he was sweating profusely, hunched over, his breaths ragged and uneven, the occasional grunt escaping his mouth as his hands hovered neared his stomach yet never fully touched it. he looked like he was in pain.

"for fuck's sake," he breathed out, and it took him a while to even manage the words. he didn't look at you, turning to walk to his own room, though he stopped briefly after every step to catch his breath, and to prevent himself from doubling over. "you scared... the shit outta me..." he winced. "go to be—"

you slowly stood up, eyes never leaving his stomach, concern painted all over your face. "what's wrong with you?"

he scoffed, not looking at you, forcing a pained smile. "that's... how you welcome your husband after a long day o—"

he cut himself off with another wince, resuming his walk towards his bedroom.

his pathetic excuse of a joke only made you angrier. you stormed over to him, stopping him in his path, your eyes filled with rage as you commanded, "stop."

he tried to stand up straight, though he ended up looking rather silly. his eyes went wide with fury at your word and he began, "don't fucking tell me what to d—"

before he could finish, you shoved his hands out of the way — he was too weak to protest much — and grabbed the bottom of his shirt before yanking it upwards to take a look at his skin underneath.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he shouted, hands reaching for you in an effort to get you away from him, but you did not move. you stayed staring at the gash on his lower stomach, the wound that spanned several inches and continued to ooze blood, dripping onto his pants and was undoubtedly the reason for his shirt being so damp within your grasp.

your eyes went wide at the sight of the fresh wound, fingers tightening around the fabric of his top, your bottom lip trembling in a mixture of rage and concern. he was hurt, yet he'd tried to hide it from you. how dare he?!

"let... go of me!!" he finally shouted, pushing you away by your shoulders rather weakly, though it was still enough for you to stumble back and release his shirt.

"you're hurt." you mumbled, voice heavy with worry and anger and pain. his pain. "you need to go to a hospital—"

"fuck— i'm fine!!!" the hero exclaimed, nostrils flaring with anger, his pride the only thing on his mind. "i don't need a hospital— i don't need you to look at me like i'm so fucking weak!!! i didn't go to the agency because of that goddamn look that people give m—"

"okay, no hospital." you quickly interrupted, not really paying attention to his words; you were too focused on the bleeding that didn't seem to be stopping. meeting his gaze, you reached out and gently asked, "can i... help?"

he froze, looking at you with a dumbfounded expression. "…by doing what?"

"okay, first, can you just sit down?" you asked, holding his arm — luckily, he did not push you away this time — and leading him towards the couch slowly. he grumbled words of protest underneath his breath but still followed, his energy depleting with each passing second.

as soon as he made it over, he collapsed onto the couch, his back against the armrest and head thrown back as he grunted in pain, one of his legs sprawled out on the sofa in front him while the other dangled off the side. he ran out of energy to lift it up.

you sat in the space between both of his legs, brows creased in worry as you saw the way he threw his head back over the armrest and stifled a groan, his hands clawing at the wound, pressing his shirt further against it.

"katsuki," you softly started, hands awkwardly held out, though not touching him quite yet. he was so close to you, his crotch and stomach the closest to your body since you sat between his open legs, both of yours crossed underneath you.

he grunted in response, but said nothing.

"can i lift your shirt up?"

he looked back down at you then, panting, and you swore you saw the tips of his ears go red. "the fuck are you gonn—"

"just answer the question." you snapped, tone laced with impatience.

his chest moved up and down with the next few breaths he took... until ultimately, he gave you a nod.

you reached forward, pulling the soaked top of his hero costume up to reveal the bloody wound. reaching out, you allowed the pads of your fingers to softly graze over it, only to soften your eyes when hearing him suppress a pained cry, his body twitching underneath you. yes, the positioning and the atmosphere was thick with tension, but you couldn't focus on that right now. if it were a different day, you would've spent some time drooling over his abs and defined upper body, but not today.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

"what the hell are you doing, purple?" he breathed out, suddenly grabbing your wrist in his. he gazed down at you, lips parted, eyes glossed over, and you cursed him for looking so good even when in pain.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

"just trust me," you whispered, leaning over his body, waiting for him to release you so you could continue.

and he did.

he let your wrist go and watched you, despite the debilitating pain and the dizziness that suddenly threatened to consume him.

you stared down at the gash and carefully pressed your hands to it, aware of the blood staining your skin but unbothered about it. slowly, you moved your palms around, fingers spreading out over his warm, hard skin, and inhaled a deep breath, steadying your erratic heartbeat and inappropriate thoughts.

bakugou watched you touch him, felt your hands all over him, and it felt like the pain was suddenly forgotten.

shutting your eyes, you forced yourself to do something you hadn't done in years.

bakugou threw his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, his face burning, unable to look at your face any longer. his chest heaved up and down faster now, heart rapidly drumming against his chest, his stomach swimming with feelings he didn't want to address.

then, quite suddenly, the pain disappeared.

when he reopened his eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion to feel absolutely nothing.

the simmering pain was gone, his sweating had reduced, his heartbeat had slowed, all out of nowhere. your hands had done that?!

bakugou snapped his head down to stare at you in confusion, only to see that you had now moved your hands away; though they still lingered near him, you yourself hovering over his body, eyeing his stomach.

his stomach. when bakugou looked at it, his jaw dropped at what he saw.

it was spotless, pristine even, with no signs of any scarring, let alone the wound that had been so deep it could've killed him moments ago. his pale skin stared back at him now, still warm to the touch from the heat of your palms and fingers, and the hero was forced to lock his eyes with yours, all as he muttered, "...how? your quirk is—"

"i have two." you admitted, sitting back on your haunches, shoulders dropping in relief when you saw that he was okay. a small smile graced your features when you said, "from my absent, deadbeat dad."

"like icyhot, huh?" bakugou mumbled, adjusting himself to sit up straight, a low grunt escaping his mouth. the man could hardly believe it— you were full of so many surprises. "thanks, purple."

you stayed perched between his legs, expression slowly turning into a worried one again. "what would you have done if i wasn't home, or if i was asleep—"

"i was hoping for both of those things, actually," he answered honestly, gazing deeply into your eyes. "i don't have the best track record when it comes to asking people for help."

"i know that very well." you stated, frowning, "but that was a deep cut. if you lost any more blood—"

"i know exactly what would have happened." he interrupted, reaching down to fully pull his shirt over his head. the thing probably stank of sweat and it was dripping wet with his blood—he needed it off. tossing it to the side, he continued, "but a little blood loss ain't enough to kill me, princess."

the nickname — combined with his sudden nakedness — made your face flush and your heart jump in your chest. it didn't help that you were inches away from him, enough to see the small details on his face, like the scar underneath his left eye and his blond eyelashes. even though he'd been sweating, he didn't stink... he always smelled good, excruciatingly so. even now, your mind was reduced to mush from both his smell and his appearance; it was as if you were being tested.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

"you're still human." you finally said, tearing your gaze away from his broad chest to look back at his face, only to see that he had the smuggest of looks plastered on it— as if he knew you were checking him out. "you may be strong, but you could still die."

"what's it to you?"

you clenched your jaw, waiting for him to elaborate.

he did, but not before bringing his face slightly closer to yours, crimson eyes filled with so many emotions and thoughts, yet none he gave away. "why do you care, purple? don't wanna see me die?"

"why would i ever want to see you die?" you asked, the thought itself sounding preposterous.

he cocked an eyebrow. "before we got married, you might've."

"you might've, too." you shot back, staring back at him with the same intensity, the same confidence and cockiness.

he did not answer.

the air was thick with tension, the scent of blood and bakugou's cologne and your body wash. moonlight continued to stream in like ribbons from the windows, highlighting every beautiful thing on his bloody face.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

"that's true, i might've." he confessed, unaware of the fact that with every passing second, he was getting closer and closer to you. "see? i can admit it. why can't you? why do you always need to be nice?"

"doesn't cost anything to be nice."

"doesn't cost anything to be a bitch, either," he retorted, cracking an amused smirk, crimson pupils scanning your expression for what, you didn't know. "so why not be a bitch? swear at them. hit them. get angry at them—"

you bristled. "at who?"

"that bitch who had the balls to egg you in broad daylight," he snapped, smirk dropping. "those wardrobe stylist assholes who insulted you. your fucked up stalker ex—"

"i am angry at them." you revealed, sensing that the conversation was now much more intense than it'd been moments ago. "i get angry at everyone, katsuki, i just don't use it as an excuse to hurt people. and i don’t even get why we’re talking about this right now—”

"do you ever get angry at me?" he asked, tone suddenly changing.

you replied within a heartbeat, "yes."

he smiled. "then why not hit me?"

"i'm starting to think this may be a kink of yours," you joked, an attempt to hide the heat pooling in your stomach, the desire that was minutes away from making you do something dumb.

you expected him to snap at your joke, to roll his eyes and dismiss you with a rude retort.

but he simply snorted. "you're just deflecting."

"you want me to hit you?" you asked genuinely, inhaling a deep breath. "swear at you and call you names?"

bakugou's smirk got deeper, and he breathlessly — though rather sarcastically — said, "more than anything else in the world."

"okay. you're an asshole."

he rolled his eyes. "real original."

"you're an asswipe, too.” you continued, balling your hands into tight fists, forcing all the anger to return. "you're always so angry, you have no idea how to talk to women— and you're a bitch.”

he grinned, thoroughly enjoying this. "and what're you gonna do about it?"

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

you slapped him on the cheek.

bakugou did not even flinch. he stared at you blankly, an eyebrow raised as he asked, "really? a noodle could've done more damag—"

you punched him in the gut then.

bakugou winced, but again, didn't seem to be in that much pain. still bearing an amused smile, he said, "wow, where i was just injured. that's low—"

"you're... the bane of my fucking existence," you breathed out, gazing into his eyes, your chest heaving up and down with each breath you took, heated from everything that had just taken place— and from the way he was looking at you.

that sentence made his eyes go wide, though they filled with something quite akin to pride. "am i?"

"you're conceited, irrational— and you've got your head so far up your own ass you can't see shit!" you exclaimed... and then you took a long, deep breath before shouting, "and you're a fucking virgin with a shrimp dick!!!"

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

that was what played in your head when he grabbed you by your nape and pulled you in, his mouth smashing against yours hungrily, as if he'd been waiting too long to get his hands on you.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

that was what you thought when you closed your eyes and kissed him back, your arms snaking around his neck and fingers threading into his hair—as if you'd also been waiting too long.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

the chant continued when he held you by your waist and pulled you onto his lap to straddle him, his growing bulge pressing right against you in a way that made you squirm, his hands travelling from your waist to your ass to your thighs back up to your waist, squeezing you as if you were his. holding you close, your chest moulding with his own, his tongue fighting yours in his mouth while he groaned against you.

i don't like bakugou katsuki.

by the 121st time, the sentence had lost all meaning.

Chapter Text

bakugou katsuki did not have a shrimp dick.

his bulge was huge, pressing against you in a way that sent jolts of pleasure through your spine; it didn't help that he was holding you by your waist, pressing you down onto him even further, as if he couldn't get enough; as if he needed you to be closer.

your mouths moved in sync, tongues battling against each other until ultimately the blond hero won and smirked through the kiss, triumphantly.

slightly annoyed, you bit down on his bottom lip, wanting a reaction out of him; but all he did was groan like he enjoyed it, his fingers tightening around the skin on your waist as he pulled you further into him, your chest rubbing against his.

his hair was softer than it looked, you realised, when your hands were entangled with them and your fingers tightened around handfuls of his locks, holding his head close. his hair was soft, and so were his lips, but that part wasn't really too surprising, because of course bakugou katsuki had soft lips.

his bulge grew bigger with each passing second until it was pressing against you almost torturously, causing your breath to hitch and your underwear to grow damp with your own slick.

you knew this should've ended there. you knew it shouldn't have even happened in the first place; it was a dumb mistake caused by the heat of the moment and a little too much wine on your end— even though it was him that kissed you first and you didn't quite get why—you wanted to believe it was due to everything he’d been through on the job. he needed a stress reliever, perhaps, something to take his mind off of everything, something to distract him.

that was all this was.

slowly, he began guiding your hips to move back and forth, rubbing against him, the friction making you shudder with pleasure, desperate for more. a soft moan escaped your lips, but that only seemed to encourage him more. he grunted, bucking his hips upwards into you, his lips parting at the action.

you finally pulled away from his kiss, breathless, fingers still buried in his hair and hips still moving on top of him, pleasure shooting up your spine when you felt his bulge press again your clit in a way that had you shuddering. "we... had rules against this."

"fuck the rules, i need to touch you." he growled, before kissing you again.

you gave in all too easily, knowing it was wrong, knowing this would have dire consequences, repercussions that couldn't be fixed with a press conference. this was really happening, and you didn't stop it.

you melted into him, unaware of how long you'd wanted this, yet having a feeling that it was quite a while. you'd been reduced to a brainless young girl in his arms, desperate to have him; desperate for everything. you weren't the type for one night stands, you never were, so you knew this was drastic—but you didn't care, not when it came to bakugou katsuki and his annoyingly attractive body, annoyingly perfect face and annoyingly considerate actions.

you kissed him hungrily and he treated you the same, grunts and moans leaving both his mouth and yours as you grinded against each other, your underwear now soaking wet, needing more.

he pulled away from you, softly panting, and lowly asked, "where do you want me to fuck you, y/n?"

his hands travelled up your thin shirt and rested on your bare waist, pressing into your skin so hard you'd wondered if it'd leave marks.

his lips brushed yours again and he whispered, "right here, or on my bed? where d’you want me to make you mine?"

the correct answer was, none of the above. i'm gonna go sleep in my own room, you sleep in yours. tomorrow, let's pretend none of this ever happened.

instead, you whispered desperately, "bed."

the corner of his lips twitched into a pleased smirk.

he moved his hands under your thighs and stood up, causing you to gasp and wrap your legs around him completely.

"relax," he whispered, trailing kisses down your neck and jaw, all whilst carrying you to his bedroom. "i won't drop you."

you knew he wouldn't.

it didn't take long for the bedroom to arrive, and the man practically tossed you onto his bed and climbed over you, crimson gaze scouring your body shamelessly.

if it were any other day, you'd have looked around his bedroom — since it was your first time in it — and snooped to your heart's content. through his dresser drawers, his closet, his bookshelf, anything you could get your hands on just to get a peek into the mind of your pro-hero husband. well, you technically could get into his mind without doing anything to invade his privacy, but there was no fun in that.

he was on top of you, caging you between his arms while he kissed you as much as he wanted; on your lips, your jaw, your neck, until eventually the man reached your chest. he glanced up at you, eyes burning with desperation and lust, one of his hands tugging at the hem of your shirt.

you shouldn't have, but you nodded.

it was off within a second.

your bra came next, expertly being unhooked by the man as if he'd had a lot of experience. now bare-chested with your shorts still on, you stared up at him, chills running all over your body, your breath catching in your throat and face turning a bright shade of red.

bakugou stared down at your exposed chest, a grunt escaping his parted lips, and he cupped one of your breasts within his huge hand, gently massaging it as if testing if it was real first—if you were actually in front of him, half naked, blushing a million different shades of red all over your body, your hands pressed to your face to now hide your embarrassment.

"stop staring," you grumbled, suddenly self conscious under his intense gaze.

"no." he leaned down, flicking his tongue over your nipple, causing you to flinch at the sudden sensation. "i'm gonna do whatever the hell i want tonight, purple, and you're not gonna stop me."

he didn't give you time to reply before his lips closed around your hardened nipple, his fingers pinching and squeezing the other. you whimpered, butterflies erupting throughout your stomach, making you feel nauseous in a rather good way. his wet mouth, his tongue on your skin, his hands that claimed you— you couldn't do anything to fight him off. you didn't want to.

once he had given your chest enough attention, leaving you covered in blue and purple spots, he travelled further down, until his hands hooked themselves around the waistband of your shorts.

this time, he didn't look up at you for permission.

he slid them off with ease and your underwear along with it, his hands pulling your thighs apart as he got on his knees between your legs. your nakedness stared back at him, red and dripping, desperate to get even an ounce of his attention.

you flushed even further at the way he simply watched you, his own ears a bright red, a contrast to his cocky and arrogant confidence that he'd been sporting the last few minutes.

"tell me, purple," he began, leaning down to align his face with your womanhood, one of his eyebrows twitching— though not more than the other thing of his that had been twitching since the couch. "that fuckwad ex of yours ever seen you like this?"

the randomness of his question had you glancing at him with furrowed brows. "...shota—"

without warning, he thrusted a finger inside of you.

you cut yourself off with a gasp, eyes going wide and back arching with pleasure.

"answer my question." he commanded, flicking his tongue over your sensitive clit, gaze still trained on your face. "he seen your pussy wet like this, your pretty little tits all perked up for him?”

his fingers curled inside you, making you moan and throw your head back, his words barely processing inside your mind. the pleasure was deafening.

bakugou's gaze darkened. "answer me."

"no!" you breathed out, panting heavily, feeling him move his fingers inside you with expert precision and skill. "no, he hasn't— i never slept with him, katsuki—"

"good girl." he muttered, holding onto your thigh with his free hand to stop your from writhing too much underneath him. "and good answer. i would've had another reason to hunt the bastard down and slit his throat open."

his violent words did not scare you; rather, they made you excited, your body only getting hotter with every word that came out of his pretty little mouth.

the pretty little mouth that suddenly dipped down and began devouring you whole while his fingers thrusted inside you, making you throw your head back. his tongue lapped at your clit before sucking on it, crimson eyes watching every reaction you had closely. your hands moved towards his hair, gripping it tightly, your back arching as you moaned, "ngh, katsuki—"

he only moved his lips away once to comment, "god, you're sweet."

before you could get too embarrassed, he returned to eating you out, itching to make you feel good. with every moan that left your mouth, bakugou's pants got tighter and tighter, his face grew warmer, and he knew he loved your voice. he loved your voice as you moaned his name, as you said it felt good, as you gasped when his fingers curled and hit just the right spot. you were getting close, he could feel it.

he went faster, his own hips now rutting against the bed underneath him, eyes glossing over at the friction that had his own precum oozing out, making a mess of his underwear—but he didn’t care. it felt so good; watching you quiver and shake and moan breathlessly underneath him was enough to get him off, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

"katsuki, wait, i'm gonna—" you started, pleasure making your head spin.

he didn't answer. he kept going, watching you through his lashes, analysing the way you writhed, the way your breasts bounced lightly with every thrust of his fingers, the way your hands got tighter in his hair every time he sucked your clit. you were so close.

before you realised it, white-hot pleasure jolted through you as the knot in your stomach finally came undone. you screamed, practically shaking, your thighs wrapping around his head — and he didn't push them down — whilst your back arched and tears blinded your vision, a few of them slipping down your cheeks. he didn't stop moving; his fingers continued working inside you as he helped you ride out the orgasm, feeling his underwear grow wet and his own stomach churn, rutting his hips against the mattress faster and faster. the man groaned against your clit, his eyes snapping shut, as he too, was consumed by the pleasure of an orgasm that had his head spiralling, a result of simply making you cum.

when he pulled his mouth away to see your panting form, pure embarrassment consumed him. i can't believe i came FROM WATCHING HER—

you breathed heavily, regaining your bearings after what was possibly the best head you'd ever received in your life, when you felt bakugou slide his fingers out of you and return to hovering over your body.

you stared up at him, face red and eyes glossed over, your lips parted in awe. his expression was similar, though his gaze swam with an affection that you couldn’t quite comprehend.

and then you mumbled, "can you fuck me already?"

his boner was back in seconds.

"working on it, princess," he said with amusement, pulling his pants and underwear off in a hurry before reaching down to align his length with your entrance, its tip touching you in a rather torturous way.

but then you shoved him off by his shoulders.

his eyes went wide. "what—"

before long, bakugou had been flipped over until he was the one laying on the bed now. it took him a second to process what exactly happened, but when he did, he realised he was staring up at you now, straddling him, one of your hands on his stomach to stabilise yourself whilst the other held his cock in it, aligning it underneath you, a breath away from entering your body.

bakugou flushed bright red at the view of you on top of him, your exposed breasts, your swollen lips, your messy hair and the array of hickies and marks he'd left all over you;his proudest work yet.

you moaned, placing his length between your folds and gently moving back and forth, coating every part of him with your slick and his precum. bakugou shuddered, face only getting a deeper red as desperation consumed every fibre of his being.

"i'll—" you stifled a moan, pushing his tip inside you and slowly lowering yourself onto him. "i'll take over—"

bakugou groaned at the feeling of your walls around him and he suddenly reached up to grip your waist before yanking you down. you yelped, a jolt passing through your entire body as you completely took all of his very large length inside you, twitching and throbbing, oozing precum.

"oh fuck." he groaned again, overcome by nothing but lust and animalistic desperation. "you're so fucking tight—"

slowly, you began moving on top of him, up and down and front and back, every movement making you shudder with delight. he helped you, hands guiding your waist and helping you stay upright, the sounds of skin slapping against skin filling the room.

it didn't take long for impatience to grow inside you.

you moved faster now, moaning and panting and riding like your life depended on it. it felt so good. how had you kept away from him for this long? you needed him. you needed him to fuck you hard and fast, to claim you as his. it didn’t help that he kept moaning your name, one of his hands moving up to massage your breast as his lips parted, looking utterly awestruck by the view.

he watched you move above him and the man slapped a hand over his eyes, feeling how hot his face had grown. "fuck, you feel so damn good, i’m gonna finish—"

"it's okay," you breathed out, leaning down to rest your palms on his solid chest, forcing him to look at you. "come inside me, katsuki."

his eyes went wide, and everything he’d been holding back inside him tumbled out in a moment of pure animalistic instinct.

bakugou fisted your hair with one hand and yanked you down until your lips met his. his mouth worked against you tirelessly, fingers holding onto your nape roughly to keep you from moving away. you moaned into his mouth and the hero swallowed the sound with pride. his other hand moved to cup your ass, squeezing so tightly you knew there'd be marks left by the end of it all, but it only turned you on more.

that same hand then hooked itself under your thigh as he flipped you over until you were underneath him once more, and he took the liberty to fuck you as hard as he could now, feeling that familiar knot of pleasure in the lower half of his body. your nails scratched into his back with every thrust, the moans having now turned into screams as you called his name like it was a mantra, chanting it over and over, and he realised then how much he loved when you said his name.

“you’re so fuckin’ pretty, taking all my cock like this,” he groaned into your ear, kissing down your jaw and your neck, suckling and licking any bare skin that didn’t have his marks all over them. his hips moved desperately, thrusting into you so deep you felt him inside your stomach, and he grunted every time he felt your walls clench tighter around him and your nails dug further into his back, tears slipping past your eyelashes.

leaning down with one hand, the hero massaged your clit fast and hard, smirking triumphantly when you twitched and exclaimed, “shit, katsuki, stop—it’s too—”

“you’re doing so good, god, i love it when you say my name,” he said, completely ignoring your pleas for him to go slower, for him to stop touching you because you were overstimulated, insides on the verge of exploding from pleasure that was practically blinding all your senses. “c’mon, y/n, say my name—fuck, i’m so close, gonna fill you up with my cum, gonna make you feel so good ‘till all you can think of is me—”

“i’m—” you cut yourself off with a moan, tears streaming past your lashes as his thrusts got more intense and his thumb rubbed faster and faster, making your thighs twitch and your back arch. “katsuki, i’m gonna cum—”

he kissed you again, like he'd never get sick of it, hungrily devouring every sound you made and then finally, with a few more thrusts, bakugou groaned into your mouth, his eyes practically rolling back into his head from how good it felt to release his seed inside of you.

at the same time, you reached your own release, biting down on his lip so hard you could taste blood, your legs wrapping around him tightly and pressing him to you, refusing to let him go. you felt him fill you up, the pleasure making your back arch further and your eyes snap shut, and you moaned into his mouth one final time, hugging him close to you with weak, shaking arms.

he was still inside you about five seconds later when you came down from the high of the orgasm and thought, shit.

i fucked up.