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Ojiro adjusted his black tie and flattened the suit jacket over his torso. He kept checking himself in the mirror to make sure everything was in order. He’d been worried that the specially tailored slacks would arrive late and he’d have to cut a giant tail-sized hole in a nice pair of pants but thankfully they came in just in time.
Ojiro looked at the comb in his hand and his reflection, wondering if he should comb his hair back. But then came a knock at the door.
“Yo, Oji-whoa!” Kirishima grinned, when the door opened. “Who are you all dressed up for?”
The tailed hero let out a sigh, tugging on the tight collar. “Hagakure’s parents are in town and she wants me to meet them.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Well, actually they asked to meet me and she wants me to make a good impression.”
“Man, you guys are getting serious,” Kirishima chuckled.
It was strange but they were the first members of class 1-A to actually date each other. Then again, given Hagakure’s outgoing attitude, perhaps it was inevitable. They started going out around the end of summer when Ojiro stuck around her bedside after the poison gas attack. She asked him out since she felt they had something more. He ended up agreeing.
“Why are you here again?” Ojiro asked.
Kirishima scratched the back of his head. “Well… I was going to ask to spar but…”
“You see that I’m busy,” Ojiro completed for him. His phone buzzed, lighting up with a text from his girlfriend. He finished tucking in his shirt and stepped towards the hall. “Hagakure’s waiting for me downstairs so I should get going.”
Kirishima nodded as he waved off his friend. “Well, good luck, have fun!”
“Thanks,” Ojiro chuckled.
Pacing around in the common lounge was a floating white dress with a pink ribbon tied around the waist. Comfortably fit boot heels clicked against the linoleum as the invisible person absentmindedly played with the butterfly barrette—which Ojiro bought her—in her hair. Once Ojiro showed up, she clapped her hands together in delight.
“Oh my gosh,” Hagakure squealed. “You look amazing!”
“So do you,” Ojiro smiled.
Hagakure didn’t come from a high class family but they liked to pretend they did. They liked to plan outings at fancy restaurants and were even saving up money to get a membership at some country club. After their daughter got into U.A. it’s basically been bragging rights galore for her parents since there were so few back home that actually believed she could do it.
Hagakure pulled out a comb from her purse and made an assault on his head before he could protest. “Right, and that means showing my parents that you’re an intelligent and cultured young man. So do not give them any reasons to pull me out of school.”
“Pull you out of school?” Ojiro repeated, reeling away. “What do you mean by that?”
Hagakure hadn’t meant for that to slip out. “Look… they don’t like the idea of me living with everyone at the dorms. So they want me to prove that I’m actually focusing on my studies instead of fooling around with boys and such.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry!”
Their relationship was still fairly new. It’d only been a few weeks since they went out on their first date. So their feelings were still superficial and surface-level but their friendship was strong. Ojiro couldn’t stand the idea of Hagakure being pulled out of school for such a trivial reason such as dating someone. They may be aspiring heroes but they were also teenagers with their own lives.
Ojiro sighed. “Alright, well, I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“Yay!” Hagakure cheered. “Thank you for understanding!”
“Well, I don’t want you to leave,” Ojiro replied. “Besides, if we argue about the finer details, we’re going to be late. And I assume that your parents have a thing about punctuality.” Something that their daughter probably never got considering she came late to class half the time.
“Bingo!” Hagakure nodded. “We always arrive to appointments a half hour early.”
“Class doesn’t count?”
“Nope!”
Ojiro followed her outside to their cab, ruffling his hair back to its original form. “Remind me to tutor you when we get back.”
—X—
The restaurant wasn’t so high-class that the Yaoyorozu family would go to dinner there but the prices were still insane. The adults had promised to pay though. While Ojiro didn’t like having someone else pay for something so expensive, he wasn’t about to complain about a free meal.
Hagakure’s parents were visible at the front, and visible in general. Which meant their daughter didn’t inherit her Quirk from them.
Hagakure hooked arms with her boyfriend, wanting to make sure they looked like that classic loving couple. She waved excitedly to her parents who returned the gesture. Hagakure let go for a moment to give them both a hug and kiss each of them on the cheeks in greeting. Ojiro was expected to do the same for the mother.
“You must be Ojiro-kun!” Mrs. Hagakure smiled. “Oh, you look darling!”
Ojiro respectfully lowered his head. “Thank you.”
Mr. Hagakure held out a firm hand and shook the younger male’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“You too, sir,” Ojiro nodded.
The inside of the restaurant was filled with smooth jazz coming from a live band. The patrons were dressed in formal nightwear as they talked in low voices, clinking their glasses, and laughing at little jokes. It had a pleasant and mature atmosphere which was in direct contradiction with Hagakure’s personality.
After confirming their reservation, the hostess led them to their table. Ojiro had been trained day in and day out about how to behave with her family. He had to pull out his girlfriend’s chair first, allow her to sit, and then seat himself afterwards. Unfortunately, the chair was not designed to properly fit his particular Quirk.
“This is an outrage,” Mrs. Hagakure gasped, turning to a waiter. “You need chairs that accomodate everyone!”
Ojiro was sure he just heard Hagakure scoff. “It’s fine, ma’am.” His tail went up, the tuft resting on his shoulder as he lowered himself onto the edge of the chair. It wasn’t the most comfortable position but he was accustomed to this. “Thank you for the concern though.”
“My, aren’t you just a gentleman,” the woman giggled.
Her husband chuckled, nodding along. “Our daughter could learn about manners from you.”
If Hagakure had a face to be seen, a forced smile would be there. “Of course, Dad.”
Ojiro was growing increasingly curious about her relationship with her parents. He couldn’t imagine it being good considering her strained reactions. But it wasn’t like he was going to ask her about it in front of them. So he just quietly opened up the menu and searched for the cheaper items.
Dinner was satisfying overall. The parents mostly asked about the food and how school was going. The fact that Ojiro was in the better half of the class for academics and that he was helping Hagakure study seemed to have gone over well with the parents. So the teenagers omitted that they had barely made any progress because she refused to sit still.
Hagakure excused herself to wash her hands after eating barbecue ribs, leaving the others to decide on dessert. She said that she trusted Ojiro to order something for her before heading towards the restroom. Ojiro couldn't believe how well this meal had gone. Just a couple more minutes and they’d be seeing the parents back to their hotel and then go back to the dorm.
“Don’t tell Tooru this,” Mrs. Hagakure whispered, “but you’re my favorite of her partners so far.”
Ojiro blinked in surprise. “Oh, uh, thank you.”
“At least you’re a guy,” Mr. Hagakure chuckled.
The dessert menu slipped from the boy’s fingers as Ojiro looked up. “Excuse me?”
The adults glanced at each other like they had just made a big mistake. They tried to brush it off but Ojiro wanted to know what they had meant. Just then, Hagakure returned and immediately took notice of the sudden change in the air.
“What’s wrong?” asked Hagakure. She turned to her parents. “What did you say to him?”
Ojiro was starting to piece things together. He was beginning to realize why Hagakure didn’t seem to like her parents.
—X—
Their first date was at a cat café. Ojiro was waving his tail over the heads of the mewing feline as they jumped for the tuft. Hagakure was cuddling with one large purring maine coon while laughing at the sight of the cats treating Ojiro’s Quirk as a toy. Their forgotten mugs of coffee had become lukewarm, still on their table.
“Ojiro-kun,” said Hagakure. “I should tell you something.”
Ojiro noticed that her tone had suddenly become quiet. “What is it?”
“Well,” she muttered, turning her head in all directions, looking at anything other than her classmate. It was clear that she was nervous even though just seconds before, she had been laughing so much. “It’s just… I’m… never mind. It’s not important.”
Ojiro’s tail stilled and a tabby pinned it down. “It sounded important…” Hagakure tensed up. Most people probably wouldn’t notice but after spending so much time together, Ojiro could identify what some of her subtle shifts in motion meant. “But I won’t force you to say something you don’t want to.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “No, it’s… better if I say it now rather than later.”
“Okay…”
Hagakure played with the sleeves of her blouse. “I’m… you see, I’m… bisexual.”
“…Oh.”
It was such a lackluster response that Ojiro wished he could do over. It must’ve taken a lot of mental hyping and courage for Hagakure to say it. She was usually so cheery and expressive so it was rare that she would become so solemn. But then the girl exhaled in relief. She must’ve been expecting a worse reaction.
Ojiro stood up, causing a bunch of kittens to meow in distress because their favorite toy was suddenly too high to reach. He approached the girl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re still you, Hagakure. Regardless of your sexuality, I still like you. It only affects how you feel about me.”
“Yeah,” she chuckled. “I guess so…”
They sat back down to talk. That was when Hagakure revealed that it was always difficult coming out to her girlfriends or boyfriends. Usually, the girls would become afraid that she’d leave them for a guy. The guys would constantly ask to add another girl to their relationship. It became easier for Hagakure to just pretend she only liked one or the other.
At the time, she never mentioned anything about her parents. She didn’t say how they felt about her being bi. At present, sitting across from them at dinner made it all too clear to Ojiro why. They didn’t approve whatsoever and wanted some guy to come along and change her.
“I already know,” said Ojiro. “If you were afraid of revealing your daughter’s sexuality, I know.”
Mr. Hagakure frowned, cocking his head to the side. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ojiro retorted, trying to restrain himself from raising his voice. “She’s still Tooru to me.”
Hagakure seemed surprise that he referred to her by her first name. But then she turned back to her parents, stomping her foot indignantly which seemed to get the attention of some nearby tables. “Exactly! Ojiro-kun likes me for me. The fact that I like girls as well doesn’t change that!”
Hagakure must’ve had this argument multiple times with them. The frustration was palpable.
“Tooru, don’t you dare embarrass us here,” Mrs. Hagakure hissed.
Mr. Hagakure nodded in agreement. “We’ll talk about this later.”
It was hard to see but Hagakure raised her arms and furiously grabbed fistfuls of her hair. She grunted in annoyance and her mother scolded her for being unladylike which of course led her to groan. Every head was turned to the group now and a waiter was trying to find an opening to ask them to leave.
“No, you guys always say that,” Hagakure snapped. “But we never talk about it!”
“Because it’s ridiculous,” said Mrs. Hagakure. “You’re sixteen, you’re just—.”
“ Confused ?” Hagakure spat.
Mr. Hagakure slammed his palm onto the table, causing the wine glasses to fall to their sides. “Tooru, don’t you talk to your mother that way! We told you we’d pull you out of U.A. if you’d continue your abhorrent behavior!”
It wasn’t her grades but her sexuality that her parents wanted to change. They couldn’t see things from their daughter’s view at all. The waiter finally got a chance to tell them to vacate the premises and Hagakure snatched up her things before stomping out of there.
“Ojiro-kun,” Mrs. Hagakure started.
“Do you know?” asked Ojiro, interrupting as he stood up. “Do you know that your daughter cried when she came out to me?” The parents became silent. “She was so afraid that I would treat her the same way as others had in the past. She thought I’d say she was greedy or too young to know or that she was gross. Do you know that the way you treat her has that effect on her?”
“Well she—.”
“I’m bi too,” said Ojiro, turning around. “Just to let you know.”
The adults still had to pick up a check and they were left stunned as the boy followed in his girlfriend’s footsteps. Hagakure hadn’t gotten very far. She was standing out front, back to the door, her shoulders convulsing as she sobbed into her hands.
“Tooru,” Ojiro called. “The reason why they were going to pull you out was because…”
Hagakure wiped at her tears. “Because I was going to be living with the girls, yeah.”
“Well if they’re going to try,” said Ojiro, “they’ll have to get through me and the rest of the class first.”
Hagakure giggled, leaning into him. “Thanks… but I can’t just renounce them…”
“Can’t you? My family would be more than willing—.”
“Thank you, but this is my problem.”
Hagakure’s parents stepped out of the restaurant but they didn’t say anything at first. As a matter of fact, they pretended not to even see the kids as they walked down the street. Under their breath, they said something about talking about this later. Considering what Hagakure said, that probably meant she would have to initiate the conversation while they tried to forget about it.
Ojiro didn’t know where it was but on the first try, he took Hagakure’s hand in his. “If you ever need anything, I’m here.” He planted a kiss on her head. “If you decide to live away from them, don’t be afraid to tell me.”
Hagakure sniffed. “Thank you Ojiro-kun, really.”
“I’m here for you.”
“I know.”