Your voice feels beautiful ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 27: who knew dinner could be so weird!

Shoto Todoroki

Masaru, Katsuki's father, and I were left alone in the room for a brief moment, as Mitsuki ran off to stop a pan from boiling over, and Katsuki was dragged along with her. The evening so far had been pleasant enough, and all that had really occurred of note was Mitsuki showing me a bunch of embarrassing pictures, all of which were hilarious (and great leverage, if you ask me!)

They were mostly of Masaru and his...well, attempt at a cool style, but the ones I picked out the most were the ones of a young Katsuki. There was one where he was holding an ice cream - he must've been maybe 4 or 5 years old - and a fair portion of it was smeared all over his chin, but he wore the most adorable smile on his face, I just had to coo at him, causing the now 18-year-old to blush a bright red, once again burying his face from view. The next one was even better! Pictured was a 10 or 11 year old Katsuki, hanging off the couch upside down with a game controller in his hands. He looked like he was having so much fun, and it was truly heartwarming to get a taste of what his life had been like before I'd known him.

But anyway, Masaru and I were alone in the living room, both seemingly searching for something to say. There were a couple of times where he made as if he would say something, but seemed to think better of it. Eventually though, he spoke, as soft as the other two were.

"You know...it's been so long since this house was so quiet..those two are usually at each other's necks every hour of the day, so it's nice having it so peaceful"

I nodded along with his words, and he continued as he was, seeming pleased that I was paying attention.

"...especially Katsuki. I don't know what experience you've had with him, but he clearly likes you. I've not seen him be so calm around someone for years, so...please, it's not my place to say, but...stick around, would you?"

He looked almost desperate, and I made a note to find out exactly what Katsuki had put him through later on, but for now I simply said "o-of course, I'm g-going no-nowhere"

"Thank you, Shoto. He's got some good judgement to pick you"

That was amazing to hear. Approval, acceptance, permission from Katsuki's father was more than I could have ever expected from such a simplistic evening, especially on our first meeting. Masaru was definitely someone who heralded respect, and to gain his approval to be with his son was simply everything and more.

Mitsuki reappeared, summoning her subservient husband, and Katsuki rejoined me, crashing to the couch next to me.

"So, what embarrassing shit was my Dad saying?"

"J-Just that I'm a-a-amazing"

"Wh-"

"Don't b-bother tel-telling anyone t-that I said t-that, they w-won't believe you"

"You fucker!" he said, ruffling my hair playfully, a smirk on his face as I tried to wriggle out of his hold. He'd messed up my hair, which pissed me off, but it was in place of an affectionate gesture, so I let him away with it. The evening felt like it was about to properly begin, so I didn't want to tease him too much before we'd even started. Besides, I still wasn't too confident speaking, and wanted to save myself for when it was absolutely necessary.

Mitsuki announced that dinner was ready, and we all made our way to the table, Katsuki being awkwardly shepherded to sit opposite me rather than next to me, much to his annoyance. During this, Masaru whispered "if you weren't hear, he'd be screaming at her for bossing him around", which made me giggle, and earned me a confused, faux-accusatory glance from Katsuki. Overall, it was very...casual. Coming in to the evening, I had been worried it would be pretentious and awkward, but it was nothing like that at all! It was...weird, but I was having fun.

"So, Shoto. Katsuki has been telling me a lot about you. All good things, of course, and I think you're so incredibly brave to have those implants put in, it must've been so difficult!"

"Th-thank you, M-M-Mitsuki"

"And to be able to talk after, what, two days?! That's incredible!"

"Ka-Katsuki taught m-me..." I said, smiling softly over at the boy, despite his face being shielded by his hands, as if he'd melt if his mother saw his blush. Unfortunately for him, she did, and reached over to ruffle his hair, saying "knew you had a good streak, Kats!"

"Shut up. I didn't get it from you!"

"Well, thank you Katsu-"

"Shut up old man, I wasn't praising you!"

Masaru sighed, looking over to me with an exasperated look. He wore a wry smile for the rest of the evening, in which Mitsuki endlessly teased myself and Katsuki about how her son would propose to me, something which had me hiding my flushed face in my hands.

What happened next, however, caught me off guard completely. Mitsuki had asked for some assistance preparing dessert, so I had followed her through to the kitchen, where instead of being welcomed by strawberries and cream, I was instead engulfed in a hug, my second from her of the evening.

This was though...this one meant something. If the first was familial, this one was loving, and I felt myself relaxing into the grip, the will to fight it not there. It was a strange security that I wasn't sure I'd even ever felt with my own mother, and I felt like I never wanted it to go away.

"...Shoto, you're genuinely the most wonderful, polite, handsome young man I have ever met. Including Katsuki. I don't quite know how you did it, but I can tell he's truly fallen for you...and I think myself and Masaru have as well. I know this is early, and it's not my place to say this...but I think we already consider you family, and would be more than happy for that to become reality."

"...th-thank you, M-Mitsuki. I-I've had a v-very nice e-evening, and I'd l-like to do th-this again s-someday. I-it's very n-nice to h-hear that you c-consider me f-family, and...I th-think I'd v-very much l-like th-that as w-well."

"Of course. Any time you want to come over, please just ask. It's an absolute pleasure having you hear, really. And...if you're comfortable with it, you're perfectly welcome to stay the night. I mentioned it to Katsuki earlier, and he said it was up to you."

"T-that would be v-very nice, th-thank you"

"So polite! I'll never get over that, I swear. Now come on, we've got some dessert to get making"

...she's fun. I can see where Katsuki gets that playful cheekiness from, and it was almost contagious the way her energy rebounded around the room, creating auras of positivity and excitement all around her. It made her very easy to be around, a comfortable figure on an otherwise terrifying day.

It was a relatively simple process making dessert, simply consisting of chopping strawberries and pouring a little cream over them once they were in a bowl, but Mitsuki somehow managed to make it fun. We were tossing strawberries across the room into bowls when Katsuki came in to see what was taking so long, a horrified look on his face as we froze, like kids caught eating food after bedtime.

I made some sheepish eye-contact with Katsuki, and he tried to scold me, but couldn't take the situation seriously, and smirked as he did so. I shooed him out of the room, getting back to chopping the strawberries.

Not before challenging Mitsuki to Round Two!
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#WhyisMasarunotfreeyet

I really REALLY like this chapter. Mitsuki is just soooooooo fun to write.

Fact of the Day: I have a picture of my friend as a four year old with ice cream smeared all over his face, hence the inspiration for the picture of Katsuki mentioned in this chapter.