"Does this look ok?" Eijiro asks nervously on Saturday morning. He's changed his outfit about three times by now, super nervous about meeting my dad officially. I told him the last two looked fine, but he changed them anyway. I'm about as helpful deciding outfits for others as Mashirao is.
"This outfit makes you look super manly and charming and responsible, I like it." I lay it on a little thick, but also really do like his outfit. He's wearing a red button down shirt and dark wash jeans, and it makes him look a comfortable cross between casual and formal. I walk up to him and adjust his slightly crooked collar, then give him a light kiss on his cheek. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." He chuckles, but takes my hand none the less and leads me out of his room.
We walk through the dorms on the way out, Eijiro getting supportive claps on his back from our friends and bids of good luck while I giggle at them for their antics. My dad's intense, but he's not that bad to meet. Besides, he already let slip to me that he likes Eijiro, so I'm too worried, I just know he wants to do his over protective 'dad speech'.
It's Makoto I'm more worried about.
Once I texted I was coming home this weekend, Makoto already organized the whole thing. We couldn't even walk to my home together because we were being picked up by my caretaker. I think he doesn't want us to have any alone time together. Either way, Makoto's the one who's a stickler for tradition, even more so than my dad is. He still gets scandalized when I talk about hanging out with boys unchaperoned.
"Makoto!" I rush up to my caretaker when he steps out of the car at the school gates. I barely put the brakes on my wind enhanced speed before I launch into a tight hug with him.
"Ms. Irisa, you're getting sloppy with your timing." Makoto groans since I didn't slow down enough. "It's very nice to see you, but we really should be getting home now." He parts from the hug and glances behind me, a steely look taking over his eyes. "You can show your... friend into the car."
"Still bitter, I see." I tease him, but walk back over to Eijiro. "Eijiro, this is my caretaker, Makoto Honda. Makoto, this is my wonderful boyfriend, Eijiro Kirishima. Be nice." I glare slightly at the older man.
"It's wonderful to officially meet you, sir." Eijiro says politely, putting his hand out.
"A pleasure, young Kirishima." Makoto says stiffly, but still shakes his hand all the same. I can see him putting a lot of strength into the grip, but Eijiro's a hero in training, I know he can handle it.
It was a quiet ride to the house after that. I made idle chatter, but mostly about my dad's condition. I've called and checked in every day, but I wanted to hear from the household medic. Dad's been in pain, but is doing much better. He's able to walk a little bit now, so that's good news.
"Wow, this is your home?!" Eijiro asks in awe as we pull up to our estate.
"Yup, home sweet home." I grin broadly as we get out of the car. "This place was my mom's first baby, she designed it from the ground up." We walk up the steps, Makoto opening the door for us as we walk in. I take joy in seeing Eijiro's eyes light up even more when he takes in the interior.
"Irisa." My dad's voice cuts through Eijiro's awe, drawing our attention to where he's walking in from his study.
"Hi Dad." I say happily, walking over and giving him a very delicate hug. "Dad, this is my boyfriend Eijiro Kirishima. Eijiro, this is Izumo Yoarashi, my Papa Storm."
"It's an honor to meet you under better circumstances, sir." Eijiro says, walking forward confidently to shake my dad's hand. His confidence slowly wanes as my dad doesn't immediately reach for his hand.
"I thank you for all you did during the raid, young Kirishima." My dad says after a moment as he finally takes his hand. I noticed he waited until a bead of sweat formed on my boyfriend's head before taking his hand. "I will also thank you for being there for my daughter during the tragedies you both have faced at school. And... I will also thank you for making her smile. Though in our family, it is common practice to ask a young lady's father before courting her." He finishes with a steely glare, his grip tightening as well.
"Wow..."I hum out in amusement at my dad's antics. "Is that really what you did with mo-"
"Don't bring up how I met your mother, you know that doesn't count!" My dad says quickly to me with a huff, making me giggle. We both know he never asked my late grandparent's permission, my mom used to tease him about that when we were little. "Anyway, I realize our first meeting was unconventional, but we can remedy that now."
Makoto ushered us into the living room to talk. He made tea for us, and hovered above Eijiro to intimidate him the whole time. Dad commenced with grilling Eijiro on his entire life, past present and future. My boyfriend handled it like a champ, and eventually charmed my dad with his passion and his respect. It helps that they bonded over Crimson Riot, who has worked with my dad back in my dad's early days of his career.
We all had dinner after hours of talking, which eventually became more relaxed and eventually Makoto stopped hovering. I was asked to help Makoto clear the table after we ate, but really I think my dad just wanted one on one time with Eijiro. When I came back my boyfriend looked a little scared and my dad looked cool as a cucumber as he drank his tea, a slightly smug look in his eyes.
"Well, that went very well I think." I say happily as Eijiro and I walk hand in hand back to our dorms, Makoto having just dropped us off.
"Yeah, it was nice to see them both once they relaxed. But man, they're both scary on their own." Eijiro shivers slightly as he kisses my cheek.
"Both? Wait, when did Makoto get you to himself?" I ask in bewilderment.
"He managed to get in an entire very frightening warning while you went to the bathroom." He chuckles as I laugh openly.
"So, did they manage to scare you off?" I ask teasingly, but a little hint of worry. I can't imagine many people who would have sat through that intense of an interrogation like a champ like Eijiro did. He freezes our steps and spins me around so I'm in his arms.
"Nah, it'll take more than that to scare me off of you." He kisses me sweetly, then deepens it as I lean into him more.
"So should I be prepared for something similar when I meet your moms tomorrow?" I ask once we part, both our eyes half lidded as goofy grins are etched on our faces.
"From Ma, totally, she's gonna grill you." He grins at me. "But mom will dote on you just like she did at the hospital."
"I look forward to it." I grin confidently at him.
I've taken on the League of Villains, I can handle meeting my boyfriend's parents. Right?
"Ochaco, does it look ok?" I ask my friend the next morning, showing her the outfit I chose. I'm wearing a pastel blue blouse with a navy flowy skirt. My hair's tamed down and I have a few small flower pins on the right side. My eyepatch is a light blue color with a lace trim on the edges.
"You look super adorable!" Ochaco says happily, bouncing around as she takes in my outfit. "You're gonna be fine, just be your usual self... Well, I mean, maybe a little more filtered than your usual self... Then again your apologies are adorable."
"Silver lining?" I sheepishly say as I rub the back of my neck. "Alright, wish me luck!"
"You won't need it!" She cheers as I go down the dorms to meet Eijiro.
The other girls all compliment my outfit profusely and it starts to feel exactly like yesterday morning, only in reverse as I'm the one getting encouragement as we walk out of the dorms. Kaminari makes me bust up laughing though as he goes into over exaggerated compliments, mimicking the girls. Mashirao and Sero kept Mineta away from me, and my best friend saluted me before my boyfriend took my hand and we left.
Eijiro's parents had more faith in us traveling unsupervised, so we were allowed to take the train ourselves to their home. Aizawa was less than pleased with our back to back requests to leave campus, but I picked up a bag of his favorite coffee beans before I asked.
"Your home is cute, I like how bright it is." I say once Eijiro leads us into a little bungalow home. There are flowers on all the windowsills, and the home is painted a cheery yellow color.
"Thanks." He chuckles sheepishly as he opens the front door. "Ma? Mom? We're here!"
"Eijiro!" Saki says happily as she walks briskly over to him and he scoops her up into a hug. "Oh, Irisa-chan! You look so cute!" She turns to me and pulls me into a giant hug, just like she did at the hospital.
"Hello Saki-san, it's great to see you again. You have a beautiful home." I say politely once we part from our hug.
"Ah, so polite! How's your father doing, dear?" She asks, then we chat about my dad's recovery as she takes one of my arms and escorts me through an entire tour of the home, Eijiro trailing behind us with a soft grin on his face.
"Saki, my love, let the girl breathe for a moment." Ren says to her wife indulgently, coming out of the kitchen carrying a tea tray and cutting off Saki's nonstop commentary. "Eijiro, come make yourself useful." She turns to her son with their shared identical grin, but he's already on his way to take the tray from her before she even finished her sentence.
"Hey Ma." Eijiro says while grinning and heading into the cute sitting room. There are more plants in this room, probably the most out of the whole house.
"You have some beautiful plants in your home." I compliment Ren as I take a seat next to Eijiro. "We can't really have plants in my home, they don't survive for long." I add with a sheepish chuckle, remembering how desperately both my mom and later Makoto tried to keep flowers alive in our home.
"Oh, no green thumb in your home?" Ren asks boisterously, her voice similarly loud as Eijiro's.
"Aha, well we have three wind users with too much energy, small delicate things don't usually survive around us. Especially around me and my brother." I grin sheepishly at her as I rub the back of my neck.
"Let's not tell Saki then, it would break her heart." Ren grins at me with a laugh. "Her quirk is Nurture, she can practically speak to plants in order for them to grow healthy. These plants are just as much her baby as Eijiro is." She turns her head to check to see that her wife is still in the kitchen before turning to me with a conspirator whisper. "Between us, I don't have a lick of skill in keeping these plants alive. She says I even water them wrong, so I just leave them all alone." I giggle at her confession, feeling more comfortable at the relaxed tone. "So tell me, what are your intentions with my Eijiro?" She asks abruptly.
"Ma!" Eijiro sputters, spitting his tea out of his mouth a bit at the sudden intense stare down that occurred between his mother and I. "You promised!"
"It's fine Eiji, you had to get checked out by my family, this is only fair." I quietly reassure him as I pat his knee before returning my attention to his mother. "My intentions with Eijiro are pure. I plan to love and protect him, to encourage and motivate him, probably occasionally scold him or tease him, but ultimately I plan to faithfully give him every bit of myself that he can handle accepting. Your son was one of the first people to ever see me as a real person, to see past my flaws and make me feel whole. He's done a lot to boost my own self-esteem, a habit I feel that we share. You've done a wonderful job raising such a kind and considerate young man, I thank you for that." I finish with a polite bow of my head, raising myself back up to see Ren's guarded look melt to a soft smile.
"Thank you." Ren says genuinely, relaxing into her chair as she takes up a lighter tone. "So, tell me more about yourself. I've heard plenty from Eijiro, heck he won't shut up about you, but I want to hear it from you."
The afternoon went by with a lot of laughter and fun stories. Ren was relentless with her embarrassing stories about Eijiro, which made me very thankful that no one in my own family had told him any embarrassing stories about me. Then again, maybe Inasa is just waiting to tell them, he does have all the worst stories about me. Saki was entertained learning what it was like for me growing up with a twin, she herself having no siblings. Ren was impressed with how I trained myself growing up.
The Kirishima's were all very cute together. Saki and Ren would spontaneously break into a slow dance together if they liked the song that was playing on the radio in the kitchen that was constantly on. Eijiro would sometimes get grabbed into a dance by both of his mothers as well, and he had some pretty smooth moves of his own, even if his face was bright red. He's probably never danced in front of someone other than his parents, which both his mother's likely caught onto and exploited as I giggled and watched. Eijiro got even with my giggling though and dragged me into a couple dances. Makoto made sure that Inasa and I could both dance properly, so I surprised him by being able to keep up.
When Eijiro and I were finally heading home, we both felt like an invisible weight had been lifted off our shoulders. We both received the other's family approval and made better first impressions than what the raid had done.
Inasa ended up calling on a video chat on the walk back to the dorms, then the three of us chatted away as we walked. I love that Inasa likes Eijiro, it would have been very difficult for me if my brother didn't like him. Then again, I've noticed that Inasa video calls more in the evening now instead of his usual texts he sends. And it's always when I'm hanging out with Eijiro alone. Oh well, I love talking to him anyway, so I don't mind his calls interrupting us at all. For now.