Chapter 14

When the conversation between the three of them came to a halt, Katsuki went back to his room for a reason unbeknownst to Shoto.

Shoto mainly spent his day helping Mitsuki around the house, up until 5:30 pm when Shoto heard the front door open and close.

He walked over to inspect, only slightly surprised by who was there.

"I'm home!" A man the exact same height as Shoto called, taking off a jacket and hanging it up while simultaneously toeing his shoes off.

The man had a mousy face with similar spiky hair to Katsuki's despite it being brown. He wore black rectangular glasses, a sparse mustache, and tan skin, much like Katsuki's but slightly darker.

"Oh-" Mitsuki said, walking up behind Shoto, "Welcome home, Masaru."

"Is this him-?" Masaru asked, pointing a finger at Shoto while looking at Mitsuki quizically.

"Yes!" Mitsuki exclaimed rather excitedly before turning to Shoto and seeing his confused expression, "Shoto, this is my husband Masaru. You were already asleep before he got home yesterday, so you didn't get to meet him."

Ah. Shoto should have figured that out immediately, just like he had figured out that Midoriya was All Might's secret love child. He was getting rusty.

"Uh, I'm Shoto Todoroki, nice to meet you." He'd held out his hand for the older man to shake, which he took swiftly.

"I'm so glad Katsuki found somebody. With how he locks everybody out I was so afraid he'd be forever alone." Masaru sighed, clearly grateful.

"You're not wrong," Shoto replied nervously.

"Ooh! I know! Let's all have a family game night!" Mitsuki squealed abruptly.

"But I'm not family-" Shoto tried to argue before being interrupted.

"Oh, hush! You're family now whether you want to be or not!"

Masaru looked at Shoto sheepishly, "I wouldn't argue if I were you, her word is law."

"Damn right it is!" Mitsuki hollered, followed by her boisterous laugh.

A sudden voice intruded from the top of the stairs, "Shut it with all the racket! I'm trying to study up here!" said an angry Katsuki, stomping down the stairs.

"Oh, Katsuki! You're just in time! We're playing Monopoly!" Mitsuki grinned, grabbing both Katsuki and Masaru by the shirt collar simultaneously, dragging them behind her as she walked.

Shoto followed hesitantly until they made it to a plush, modern living room with a huge white carpet in the center. Masaru sat obediently on the carpet, cross-legged. He looked at Shoto and patted a spot on the carpet next to him, Shoto hesitantly walked over and sat down with his calves folded under his thighs, his hands resting atop them.

Mitsuki pulled out a board game with large words on it that read 'モノポリー' (Monopoly), "Let's play!"

Shoto hesitantly rose his hand, a little embarrassed, "Could we go over the rules? I've never played this before."

Mitsuki looked surprised, but knew it best not to ask, and she went over the rules.

…

"I HATE YOU!" Shoto screamed, giving Katsuki the death glare.

"OH?! WELL NEXT TIME DON'T STEAL MY MONOPOLY!" Katsuki screeched back.

Mitsuki, unfazed by all the yelling, mediated. "Katsuki, give Shoto your 28,268 Yen. You landed on his property."

"NO! HE'S IN JAIL! I'M NOT GONNA GIVE MONEY TO A CRIMINAL!" Katsuki created small explosions in his palms to emphasize his anger.

"THAT'S NOT HOW YOU PPLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shoto yelled back, a small flame lighting his hair.

"Mitsuki, why are all of you screaming?" Masaru asked his wife quietly.

"Shut the fuck up, Masaru. You don't get to talk after stealing my last railroad!" Mitsuki hissed at him.

"I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN!" Shoto yelled.

"ME TOO! YOU THINK I WANTED THIS!?" Katsuki screamed back.

"aaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

…

After Monopoly, Katsuki made dinner instead of Mitsuki and they all silently ate at the four-seater Western-style dining room table.

The dinner consisted of Hamburg topped with cheese and chives, sauteed vegetables (yams, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, etc), potato skins, a bowl of brown rice, and apple slices cut like bunnies.

Shoto didn't like the silence, as it reminded him of the last family dinner he had, so he decided to say something.

"That was pretty relaxing."

Mitsuki looked up at him, perplexed, before letting out a soft chuckle, "Oh? Was it, now? How come?"

"It was nice to have a way to let out my emotions freely without being afraid of saying the wrong thing."

Mitsuki's gaze softened, "Oh, Shoto… just know, even after you two go back to the dorms, you can come over any time."

"She's right, you know. I may have only met you tonight, but I appreciate your company." Masaru added in.

Shoto looked at Katsuki, wondering if he had anything to say on top of that.

Katsuki made eye contact with Shoto and scoffed, "Remember the time on Christmas when we were cooking as a class and I said that you do your sister shame?"

Shoto nodded slowly, wondering what turn this was taking.

"You better show up here for cooking lessons. I'm not letting an abomination like you loose in a kitchen without supervision."

Shoto, confused, asked, "Can't we just do that in the dorm's kitchen, though?"

Katsuki shook his head, "Nah, our annoying classmates will intrude, and then suddenly it's a class cooking lesson. Besides, I know the kitchen here better."

That makes more sense, "Okay, I'll try to come by, then." Shoto smiled softly at Katsuki, who quickly turned his head in the opposite direction.

"Shut up, you overprivileged candy cane."