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Uraraka didn’t particularly mind showing up to red carpet events alone. The press speculating why she was still single felt better than them inventing a relationship between her and whoever’s arm she showed up on. She very much did not want to deal with that, especially when she and her boyfriend were just starting out.
They had agreed to keep it a secret, because they weren’t sure how the press would react. She had looked at other hero relationships around them and seen the abundant media reactions. Kirishima and Mina had just made sense, everyone supposed, so there wasn’t too much fuss about it—to Mina’s chagrin, as she loved fuss. When Iida and Camie announced that they were together, there was quite a bit of interest at what people perceived as an odd couple. People bothered them for weeks upon weeks for interviews and photos. When Bakugou and Deku’s relationship came out, it seemed like the whole country descended into madness. It had been six months and people were still talking about it. Uraraka was pretty sure that the next time someone brought it up to Bakugou, which would likely be tonight, he would literally explode.
So Uraraka and Shinsou hadn’t known where they would fall on that spectrum, and neither of them were especially ready if it happened to be closer to the Bakugou and Deku side of things. But now they had been together for over a month, and they still hadn’t really talked about revealing their relationship. But for now, coming to events alone was fine.
Her blue and purple dress flowed around and behind her as she made her way to the first photo checkpoint. The beads and crystals placed to look like constellations glistened under the lighting, and she smiled at the memory of Shinsou helping her pick the colors of tulle. He had absolutely insisted upon the purple, of course. With the fond memory in mind, Uraraka smiled dutifully to the camera’s.
“Ochako!” she heard in a singsong voice. It sounded oddly like Kaminari and she turned to find that it was. Her heart jumped in her throat when she realized he was holding a rose and approaching her with a purposeful twinkling in his eyes.
Oh no. She had thought Shinsou had told Kaminari about them, but now she wasn’t so sure. Was Kaminari truly about to try to ask her out in front of all of these cameras, with no one having any idea that she was already spoken for? She probably looked incredibly pale right about then.
“For you, my sweet Ochako. And there’s more where that came from!” He took her hand and forced the rose between her fingers. Luckily the numskull had thought to clip the thorns.
“Kami, thank you, but I-”
“Well, see you around!”
With one cheeky smile to the cameras, he bounced right past her checkpoint to the next. She couldn’t help but stare in awed confusion as he went.
“Uravity, is there something between you and Chargebolt?”
“Uravity, has he ever made romantic gestures like this before?”
“How long have you been dating Chargebolt?”
She was going to murder Kaminari when she got her hands on him next. How could he be so stupid? While it was true that being an idiot was practically part of his brand, this was going too far.
But she didn’t have time to fume about it for too long, because she heard her name called yet again.
"Kyoka?”
With another rose in hand. Now she was more perplexed than angry.
“Hey, Ocha. Here ya go,” Jirou said simply, handing the vibrant red rose to her.
“Jirou, what exactly is-”
“You’ll see,” her friend said with a lazy wink.
The reporters and photographers were buzzing with flashing bulbs and dozens of questions, all of which Uraraka had no clue how to answer.
Next it was Tokoyami, then Shoji, each with a single red rose in hand. Then finally, it was Deku and Bakugou.
“Guys, can someone please just-”
“Shut up Round Face, the next guy will tell ya,” Bakugou said, rolling his eyes as Deku handed her the rose.
It seemed like Deku was priming to say something, but Uraraka had her eyes on Bakugou.
“Just give it to me straight, Blasty,” she said, knowing if anyone would just fess up, even if it meant ruining whatever surprise this was, it would be him.
“No fucking way, just wait for five goddamn seconds, all right? Let’s go, Izuku.”
Bakugou tugged his boyfriend along, who gave her a sheepish grin, and suddenly she was alone again, with five roses in her hands. The reporters were still going mad, but she wasn’t looking at them or even thinking about them anymore. Because now she watched Shinsou step from the limo the flower brigade had all come from, holding a final rose and wearing a tie that matched her dress perfectly.
“Ochako,” he said, a huge satisfied smile across his lips. He usually hid that from others, and her heart fluttered at the implication that he only cared that she saw him in that moment, not anyone else. Reporters be damned.
“Hitoshi,” she replied, an identical smile gracing her lips. The sea of media personnel that had gathered reacted to her use of his given name, but they weren’t paying attention to them.
“I thought it was about time everyone knew about us,” he said, finally coming close enough to take her free hand.
“And what happened to being lowkey, huh? I thought we were trying to avoid the media circus," Uraraka said, rolling her eyes but smiling at the same time. How could she not?
"I figured this would make a little splash at first, but then things would die down." He put the rose into the crook of her arm where the others laid. "So what do you say?"
She quirked a brow. "About what?"
"About being my in-public-girlfriend."
She giggled and the reporters, surprisingly, stopped asking questions. It was suddenly overbearingly silent as everyone waited to hear what she would say.
"Of course, my dummy. I love you." Both of their eyes widened and the reporters went crazy.
She hadn't meant to say that. She just felt it, and so it popped out. How could she possibly have contained it? When he was standing before her adorably and vulnerably?
"I love you too," he said, his voice tinged in awe. He looked as though he didn't think this could be real, and Uraraka moved in to wipe the look off his face.
When their lips connected, bulbs flashed wildly, but they were ignored. Every question hurled their way was left unanswered.
When they parted they were both smiling and she clutched her roses as they walked the remainder of the red carpet, together.