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“Shouto, I’m not too sure about this.” Tenya had a worried look on his face, paling at the idea of disappointing Shouto’s family.
“Don’t worry,” Shouto waved off his fears, “It’s just the old man wants to meet you properly, don’t be scared of him. And, besides, Natsuo and Fuyumi are so excited to see you that they wouldn’t hate you, even if you were as feral as Bakugo.”
Tenya let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head, “Ah, I’m definitely no Bakugo, that’s for sure, but I’m still a little worried that they won’t like me.”
“Please, Tenya, they’re going to love you,” Shouto reassured him, “My mother has heard lots about you, even before we began dating, and there’s no way she’d dislike you.”
“But—”
“And, besides, if the old man hates you, then who cares?” Shouto said, smirking, “If anything, that bastard disliking you will be a sign to the others that you’re good, and I’m pretty sure something like that would make Natsuo absolutely adore you.”
“Well, alright,” Tenya replied, looking less pale than he had been before. “It surely can’t be that bad, right?” He said that under his breath, hyping himself up to finally knock on the door and face his fears; his boyfriend’s family.
They were waiting just a second, but it got Tenya’s pulse racing, immediately regretting knocking so soon.
He really didn’t want this meeting to go bad.
Although he’d seen Endeavour in passing before, during the Stain incident, and saw the others during the battle with Dabi—no, Touya—that ended quite badly; they needed their time together as a family to take the situation in, and to deal with the scars, both physical and mental, that Touya’s death had caused.
“My gosh, we finally get to meet.” Fuyumi was smiling up at them both with a wide grin, making Tenya’s fears quickly fade away.
“Come in.” He heard Natsuo say beside her, stepping aside to let Shouto and Tenya settle in the hallway entrance, taking their coats and shoes off.
Tenya let out a smile, “Nice to meet you.”
He turned to watch the look on Shouto’s face; he looked quite pleased. They took their winter gear off, hanging their scarves on the coat rack, ready to step in and greet the others.
Shouto was silent, watching on as his siblings seemed to immediately accept Tenya.
“Please, just step right in,” Fuyumi said, “Mom’s just finished cooking up, and Father’s helping her set the plates out.”
“The old man’s helping? That’s a shocker.”
“Shouto,” Fuyumi hissed out, stifling Natsuo's laugh, “He’s trying his best. Especially after—”
“We get it, sis.” Natsuo was trying to change the subject, keep it away from any mentions of Touya, which Tenya presumed would disrupt the family dinner quite a lot, just like how he had to walk on eggshells during family moments when it came to Tensei’s run-in with Stain. “Anyway, I’m more interested in hearing about the guy that has my little brother so hooked on love!”
Tenya perked up at that, seeing Shouto’s face redden, almost matching the left side of his hair.
“Aww, look how you’ve made poor Shouto.” Fuyumi was back to smiling, acting as if nothing had ever happened. “Quit teasing him.”
“Fine, fine, Yumi.” Natsuo relented to her request, deciding to instead walk off to the dining room, with Tenya and the others quickly following suit.
“Look, there he is, Shouto’s first boyfriend,” Natsuo said, upon them all entering the dining area.
“Hmm,” Endeavour grunted, neither sounding happy nor showing great discontent; he was perfectly neutral, probably not wanting to upset Shouto. “I see.”
“Is that good?” Tenya discreetly whispered to Shouto as they all began to sit down.
“I think so. The old man’s trying to stay on my good side after everything, so that’s probably his attempt at being nice,” Shouto replied, as they both looked at Endeavour, who was not-so-discreetly observing them with a look Tenya couldn’t discern.
They were all silent for a moment, everyone awkwardly glancing at the others and trying to gauge when to speak.
“Ahem.” Fuyumi let out a loud-sounding cough, clearly purposeful; she doesn’t want to keep this stale atmosphere going. “So, Natsuo, how’s it going with your partner—”
“We’re good,” he cut her off, “I won’t say too much because someone here doesn’t deserve to know all about my life, but we’re happy. She accepted my proposal and has been looking at her childhood wedding dreams in her old diaries, preparing to make the best wedding ever.”
“Oh,” Tenya smiled, ready to relate to Natsuo with his own experience, knowing he had to chime in and stop the conversation from turning awkward with Natsuo’s clear hatred for Endeavour. “That sounds perfect! I’d say I’m something of a wedding planner myself now, haha, I’ve been helping Tensei, my brother, and his fiancée with their own wedding plans. His fiancée has been saying that instead of her being a bridezilla, I am the one who is crazy about making things perfect!”
Shouto chuckled at that, likely remembering the crazed look in Tenya’s eyes as he explained how the decorations and seating plan were to go.
“Oh, I get that,” Fuyumi responded with a soft look in her eyes. “I love wedding planning, I remember doing some of my own as a kid in school, sitting with my girlfriends and planning the craziest things, like a rainbow flower bouquet and candy for all the guests!”
“Oh, are we talking about weddings?” Someone came out of the door they had entered through, carrying a few full bowls; it was definitely Shouto’s mother, she had the same striking features as him. “Wait, is that Shouto’s darling? I didn’t know you both would arrive so soon!”
Mrs Todoroki was grinning, a joyful light emanating from her, which only made Tenya feel more relaxed; it seemed that the Todoroki family did indeed like him, or at least, did at first glance.
“Yep, this is Tenya, Mom,” Shouto said bluntly, yet with a happy tone.
“Wow, you really do look like your mother,” Mrs Todoroki said, turning to Tenya, “I—I mean, the pictures Shouto showed me of you really show how you look so much like Tomoe, but wow, you are her clone.”
“Really?” Tenya was shocked. “You know my mother?”
“Oh, yes, she was wonderful in helping me settle in with the other wives of heroes at galas, back when I first married Enji and was new to the hero scene.”
Endeavour grunted, confirming Mrs Todoroki’s words.
“You know, she even gave me advice back when I was pregnant with—back when I was first pregnant,” Mrs Todoroki clearly tried to evade bringing up the taboo topic of Touya, and Tenya couldn’t blame her for it. “She even held you once, Fuyumi!” She said, turning to her.
“Wow,” Fuyumi responded, clearly surprised, “I never knew that!”
“I’m pretty sure you had quite the crush on Tensei back then when we brought you kids over to galas,” Mrs Todoroki began to say, “Always running after him, only to hide between my legs and the ballroom pillars, taking a secret look at him!”
“Instead of this Todoroki-Iida couple, it’s actually Tenya and Shouto who got together,” Natsuo joked.
“And we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Fuyumi grinned, “Though I can’t believe I liked Tensei! I’m friends with a friend of his, and we both had no memory of meeting before.”
Natsuo began to smirk,“Yeah, friends—”
“Natsu—”
“Oh, I recall Tensei,” Endeavour cut in, a contemplative look furrowed on his frame, his face resting in the crevice of his fist. “It’s a shame that the Idaten legacy was struck by such a blow, what with him becoming completely unfit for work.”
Tenya didn’t know what to say; it felt awfully callous to bring up one of the tragedies that struck Tenya’s family, especially when so many more occurred in the Todoroki family, by someone who idolised Stain, the man who hurt Tensei, no less.
“Huh, what are you saying, old man?”
“I—I think he meant my brother, Shouto—” Tenya tried to cool the conversation, yet Shouto only seemed to get more fired up.
“Well, talking like that hero died,” Shouto snapped at his father, cutting Tenya off, “He’s right here and alive.”
“Right, my apologies,” Enji replied, sounding quite meek, relenting to Shouto, giving him leeway regarding his harsh tone, since he had done much worse to Shouto, and thus, this harsh tone was more than well deserved.
“Anyway,” Fuyumi clapped her hands together, once again trying to steer the conversation away from arguing. “How about we all eat? Mom and I spent a while cooling this up for you all.”
“Sure, sis,” Natsuo got right into it, pouring the food onto his plate, readying up his utensils with a grin.
The meal left Tenya feeling full; it was completely perfect. Fuyumi and Mrs Todoroki really worked hard on it, and this showed in the delectable taste.
“So,” Natsuo began, turning towards Tenya, who had just begun to rest. “How exactly did you get together with Shouto?”
“Ooh, yes!” Mrs Todoroki smiled; it was ethereal. Endeavour sure was really lucky to have been with a woman so kind and beautiful. “I’d love to know that.”
“A horde of girls attacked me,” Shouto said bluntly.
“Shouto—!” Rei gasped in shock, as did everyone else present, except for Tenya, who knew the whole story and Endeavour, who was too busy still eating.
“It was quite crazy, I had to step in,” Tenya’s hands were waving as he explained this to Rei, who was looking on in incredulity. “He was being chased all over the campus!”
She let out a cheery laugh, looking happier than Shouto had ever imagined was possible. From the faint memories he had of her as a child, he had never seen her with a smile as bright as the one she was wearing in this moment. “Oh, that sure does seem like a wild tale.”
Fuyumi looked like she wanted to know more. She had a curious look on her face right as she began to speak, “How did this lead to you both dating? I can’t see how girls crushing on you would cause this?”
“Ah, well,” Tenya began, reminiscing on that day. “I saved Shouto from the schoolgirls and ran with him in my arms, rushing into the janitor’s closet.”
“Was it a bridal carry?” Natsuo jokingly barked out, “I bet Shouto love that—wait? Janitor’s closet, how interesting.” Natsuo’s face seemed to redden as if the mention of the closet was taboo, which Tenya simply could not understand; it was just a simple supplies closet for the school faculty, after all.
“What happened next?”
Shouto responded to his mother, “I thanked him for helping me.”
“Yes, of course, but then what?” Mrs Todoroki seemed to be quite nosy, perhaps that was where Natsuo and Fuyumi, even Shouto too—what with his theories on Midoriya and All Might’s relationship—got their inquisitive nature from.
“I told him that I can’t understand why these girls go for me when they don’t know me enough to know me,” Shouto said. “He told me that he knows me and likes me, so he understands why all these girls want to know me.”
“And?” Natsuo was impatient, wanting more from Shouto’s explanation.
“I told Tenya,” Shouto looked right into Tenya’s eyes as he said this, “That the only person I want to know me like that is him.”
Fuyumi squealed. Mrs Todoroki’s hands clapped together, and Natsuo let out an exaggerated cheer. Endeavour even glanced at them, grunting with an appreciative nod at Shouto.
“Oh, how wonderful!” Mrs Todoroki grinned.
Tenya felt so accepted; his fears were for nothing since Shouto’s family were so welcoming.
“You really are quite the couple!” she continued.
He looked aside to glance at Shouto, who was blushing bright red at the comment.
“Thanks,” Tenya replied to her, eyes unable to not look at his partner—at Shouto, his true love.
He really did love Shouto.
So goddamn much.
Tenya grabbed Shouto’s hand, clasping it beneath the table and lit up with a smile.
Everything was perfect.
Just like Shouto.