Warning: 3,814 words. For reference, my average chapter is about 2,000 words.

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"Now remember, the reason I'm letting you borrow this dress is because it's easy to lift up in case you two decide you want to fu-"

"OKAY, I appreciate the thought--I think?--but for the last time, Reo, we're not...doing that. It's just a dinner date", you reminded her. It had been pretty sweet of her to ravage her own closet just to lend you a nice dress after the short notice from Hitoshi but she had the crazy idea that the two of you would go to extreme lengths on your second date.

"Oh, please", she scoffed,"Don't pretend the two of you aren't living together. A luxury room? I have no idea how the two of you scored that from the boss but no way nothing's happening in there."

"It isn't and it won't", you rolled your eyes as you slid Hitoshi's hoodie over you. All your own clothes were still in boxes and you hadn't found anything to cut them open with; you'd debated using your quirk but chickened out when you thought of all kinds of side effects you could have during the date. You hadn't asked permission to take it before going to Reo's room but didn't want Hitoshi to get a look at the dress before it was time to go. Another voice agreed with you.

"It really won't, dear, so don't worry about it. I spoke with him about the short notice he gave you and took the chance to warn him about what'll happen if he touches you in a way he shouldn't", Sara spoke sweetly but there was an ominous undertone in her words. You shivered.

"You warned him?"

"I threatened him." 

"Got it."

Perhaps it was best you didn't involve yourself. The dynamic between Sara and Hitoshi was unique: she reprimanded him if she ever thought he made a mistake when it came to you and he just took it. Not once had you seen him have the courage to fight back. It didn't help that Aizawa was often around her, glaring at him as if daring him to do so.

You gave them both a genuine thanks for their support as you rushed out, not wanting to waste any time. There was only an hour left before the two of you were supposed to leave and you hadn't even put your heels on. You made it to your room without any issues thanks to Reo's directions. The hardest part, surprisingly, was getting in.

"Toshi?", you tried knocking again. You left your key card inside the room due to your excitement but you knew he was inside, which was odd considering the door wasn't being opened. It took a few minutes before Hitoshi finally opened the door for you. The man looked cautious for some reason.

"I didn't know you'd be back. I thought I was picking you up from your friend's room", he looked at you and stole a glance behind him suspiciously. You raised your eyebrow and shook your head.

"No, I was just getting dressed. Is something wrong?"

Your words distracted Hitoshi for a moment. He took a second to look at you 'dressed'. Were you planning on going to the dinner date in something so casual? He wanted to let you know that he meant for something a little more formal, but to be quite honest, seeing you dressed in his clothes was spurring something in his heart. His clothes never looked so good.

You took note of his silence and guessed what he was confused about,"I'm wearing the dress under this. I just don't want you to see it until we leave, y'know?", you blushed at how sappy you sounded. Hitoshi groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Princess, seriously?...My hoodie and a dress underneath? It's good that I respect you. Any other guy would probably let his thoughts run crazy right now. You didn't run into anybody like that on your way here, did you?"

His words made you flustered. He had a perfect balance of honesty and courtesy when it came to you, making you feel good about yourself without ever crossing a line and making sure nobody else did either. You loved that about him.

You smiled and teased,"I didn't, but I might if you keep me out here all day~."

He gurnted lowly, looking back in the room again before sighing,"You're right. I didn't mean to keep you out here, that's my bad. I guess I can't keep it from you now."

You tilted your head in curiousity as he opened the door. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary as far as you could see. Why was he acting so fidgety?He was never fidgety. Walking in, the only thing out of place was-

You paused when you spotted a purple bundle while scanning the room--not Hitoshi, once you double-checked. On his desk sprawled out were a couple of violet flowers and pruning shears at their side. Some flowers had their stems cut  properly and were in a vase while the remaining were still laid out. It was obvious what he was doing but your surprise didn't let you speak up so he did instead.

"Like I said, I didn't know you were coming back. And I wanted to get you flowers but when Sensei got Sara flowers, she mentioned to me that men should also fix them up before giving them so the women don't have to. I thought it'd be nice to show you when we came back and we could end the date on a good note that way", his words came out slightly dissapointed for the ruined surprise. You, on the other hand, were frozen.

Hitoshi was so sweet it was driving you insane.

"Toshi, this is...", you breathed out,"...amazing. You have no idea how thoughtful this is, whether it's a surprise or not", you looked up at him and noted the way he untensed slowly with your praise. His lips turned up the slightest and knowing you helped make that happen made you incredibly joyful.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him slightly downwards to give him a small kiss that he indulged in immediately. The feeling of your lips meeting and speaking your feelings without words was wonderful every time. Despite the slow pace, he pulled away sooner than usual. You almost whined and he must've noticed your bummer because he explained himself.

"I can't see you if I'm kissing you and you look really good in my hoodie. I can't wait to see your dress", he smiled before letting you go, heading to another part of the room and leaving you dumbfounded. 

You decided, if he said one more sweet thing today, you may fall apart.

∴ ∴ ∴ ∴ ∴

Aizawa had offered you both a luxury room for your comfort. You figured you'd need to explain to him what a room was, because the 'room' had walls separating spaces that included a kitchen, a laundry room, a living room, and the actual bedroom. It was better than most fancy one-bedroom apartments you'd see online.

You heard Hitoshi knock on the bedroom door. It was time to go and both of you were ready but there was a churning feeling in your stomach that prevented you from actually turning the doorknob despite how long your hand had been hovering over it.

What you and Hitoshi had wasn't official yet. That was fine, you were working your way to it and taking things at a nice pace. Things were good. Great, actually. The two of you understood each other and had a connection deeper than what you could explain. However, knowing how close to something so important the two of you were, it had you scared. It was a weird feeling.

You weren't scared he'd do anything that would break your heart or anything like that. What was scary was that he now had your heart in his hands and the level of trust you had in him was so new to you. It really did feel like a connection between souls and the weight of the truth in that was terrifying but also liberating. You couldn't get used to it.

You finally turned the knob. Hitoshi was on his phone, leaning against the wall close to the door as he waited and when he looked up, you tried your best to act like nothing was wrong. Like the black vest paired with the wine-colored dress shirt underneath wasn't making your heart swell up or like his outfit wasn't complimenting the 'nonchalant attractiveness' atmosphere he always had. 

You deserved an award for pretending that feeling his gaze on you with those dark circles he always had under wasn't making your brain short-circuit.

Hitoshi, on the other hand, was having no trouble with controlling his expression. It worried you. The dress you had on wasn't your normal style considering it was Reo's: it was a light blue that hugged your figure with the collar being a straight line under your collarbone and a few strings draped across your chest. It was nothing revealing but it looked refined, especially with the puffy long sleeves that were transulcent enough for your skin tone to fade in.

You loved how it looked on you which is why his silence unsettled you. You tried to calm yourself down.

"So, Toshi, where are we go-"

"You're killing me."

Your words got caught in your throat at what he said. It wasn't specified but you knew very well what he meant. You smiled sheepishly after recovering,"Is this okay?I had to borrow it from someone so it's not something I wear usually but I like it."

"You look perfect. It might be a problem. I think I'll be tempted to remind you how good you look every five minutes, which isn't the best way to spend our date."

"Toshi", your face felt like it was boiling,"you're being WAY too generous lately. It's embarrasing me."

"Get used to it. A while ago, I told myself I would constantly remind you that you're beautiful when we were finally dating, so this was bound to happen."

"Toshi!!", you were scared the heat on your face was warming up the entire room. You finally calmed down the slightest when you found a way to retort and stuck your tongue out,no harm intended behind your next words,"We're not dating yet." 

Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck as he looked away. He started heading to the direction of the door and opened it for you as he spoke,"Let's not worry about that right now. We should get going."

Your words had been a bittersweet reminder. He couldn't call you his yet, but if all went well tonight...

You followed him out of your room(or apartment?you really had to check with Aizawa) and into the elevator. The mood was calm and you were happy to be able to enjoy even silence when it came to Hitoshi. Though, you were caught off guard when he pressed the elevator button.

You guys were going out to dinner, so why were the two of you going up?

"Um...do you need to get something from a top floor?", you questioned. Hitoshi glanced at you, not so subtly looking at your dress again which made you pout and he chuckled, before giving his blunt answer.

"No."

"...So maybe I should explain that by asking that, I meant, why are we going up?"

"For dinner."

"Up?"

"Yes."

"For dinner?"

"Mhm."

"Up?"

"Princess...", you grinned at his tone. You were in such a good mood that you couldn't help but be playful even if you weren't sure where he was taking you.

The elevator doors opened after bringing you up to what must have been to the very top of the building. When you got a good look at the halls, you noted it looked the exact same as every other one you'd seen in the building but it wasn't what Hitoshi was looking at. He grabbed your hand and led you to the stairs beside the elevator. You finally got an idea of what was happening.

Hitoshi stopped right in front of the door to the roof. He looked at you with an uncharacteristically bright blush on his cheeks.

"Don't make fun of me for this, okay?"

The request was odd but there was one easy response.

"Of course I won't. I'm excited to spend time with you regardless of what's behind the door", you smiled at him. Hitoshi nodded, almost pushing the door open before pausing.

"Also...again, you look beautiful."

You laughed. He was staying true to his words and your laughter was all he needed to finally open the door. You grew quiet immediately.

You weren't too sure what to expect when he led you to the roof but what you saw was what you least expected. All around were familiar fairy lights that surrounded one table you recognized. It made your heart stop.

Hitoshi had made a small recreation of the diner you met at.

You were in shock. 

"Toshi...", you couldn't find any words. Nothing could've prepared you for this.

"Is it too much?", he asked with uncertainty,"Because I know I asked you out on a dinner date so I understand a 'diner' setting may not be appropriate. I won't take any offen-"

"Are you kidding me?This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. Oh my god, Toshi, you're secretly the most charming person in the world, aren't you?I can't believe this..."

Hitoshi watched in pleasure as you stared at his work with wonder. All the fairy lights you looked at were reflected in your eyes and gave you such a beautiful glow that he felt honored to be looking at you. The pure happiness you were showing as you started pointing out small details he'd copied from the diner was more than enough to reward him for the effort he put into making it all happen.

"How did you even get this table up here?And it's exactly the same as the diner, down to the weird little screws they had in the middle for no reason", you laughed with pure joy as you examined it closer,"Is this actually from the diner?Did you steal their table?"

It almost worried you that Hitoshi didn't actually answer your question but you were far too distracted. He came up behind you to pull your chair out and you took a seat, smiling as he brought a small cart closer and put a covered plate in front of you. He was going all out for something that was only a dinner date.

At least that's what you thought.

You gasped when he took off the cover. It was the meal you had at the diner both times you went and thanks to the material of the cover, the food was still warm and the pleasant temperature of its air caressed your face. It smelled as amazing as it did when you ate it at the diner. You wondered if it was authentic to the place but Hitoshi was too much of in a roll to let you think for too long; he was determined to make this night as sappy as possible for you.

You saw him pull out a bottle of ketchup out of the bottom of the cart before pushing it off to a random direction. The carelessness for it made you burst out in laughter and you only stopped to smile at the clear meaning behind the ketchup as he silently placed it beside your plate. It didn't even need words for the two of you to know that him handing you the ketchup had a greater meaning.

"Toshi...", you were sure this was about to be your new favorite memory of your life just for his efforts,"You're doing so much for me it's unbeliavable. I hope you know you don't have to do all this, right?I'm not complaining at all. This is great--no, this is awesome. I just want you to understand that what makes this perfect is that you're here", you smiled. Hitoshi had just taken his seat and you continued.

"Also, I think all you're doing here is giving me the courage to do something I never formally did", you felt your cheeks grow a blush but didn't stop,"You confessed to me the day we almost kissed and I haven't done it yet. It's not because I don't like you back because, and I hope it's at least been obvious, I really like you too. A lot. Like I said, it makes me so happy to share a moment like this with you but honestly any moment with you makes me incredibly happy."

You took a deep breath as you continued,"You've been such a delight since the moment we met. I mean, our first interaction was you helping me, even if it was in a small way", you laughed as you looked at the ketchup bottle,"and then there was the whole thing with you helping me out even when I wasn't talking to you, like the heater and my packages. And when I went to your home the first time too. You never once made me feel uncomfortable even though we hadn't known each other that long. Oh, and Smudge!!", your eyes were practically lit up as you thought of the kitten,"I love the little guy to death and I'm so glad you introduced me to him", you laughed.

"And when I accidentally showed you my soulmate mark, remember that?You were so nice about it. You respected my wishes about wanting to ignore it without actually ignoring me. You're awesome for that", you smiled.

"Princess, I think you're not aware of the rant you're going on", there was something in Hitoshi's voice you couldn't pinpoint, but it sounded like he was controlling himself.

You ignored him,"And then you let me sleep on your bed after we were apart for a while. It was really sweet of you. You really have been treating me well since way before we had anything romantic", you smiled. You knew you were getting carried away but this feeling of joy as you looked back to the path you took to get where you now were with Hitoshi was overwhelming.

"And there's been so much more but I wouldn't finish if I kept going. My point is you're such an amazing person and I should tell you more often", you thought you heard his chair scrape but were too blinded by your feelings,"I'm not sure whether you know how great you are but I do, so if you're planning on constantly telling me how beautiful I am, I'm planning on you how ama-"

"(Name), get up."

You jumped at the sound of his voice. He wasn't sitting in front on you but instead standing right beside you with his hands down his pocket, patiently waiting for you to did as he said. So you got up, nervous about his serious demeanor. Hitoshi was a quiet person but right then, he was too quiet. You'd gone from hearing your own rant to absolutely nothing.

He made you feel better when he wrapped his arms tightly around you and enveloped you into a hug, pushing your head against his chest for a few seconds before he pulled slightly away to look at you. In those short few seconds, you could hear his heart beating faster than usual. He was nervous.

"When we first tarted talking...", with only those few words, you knew the tables were being turned,"you asked me to ignore our soulmate marks and I did. It was a reasonable ask so I had no problem going through with it. I had you as a casual friend, then someone closer, then the person I had feelings for", he looked at you straight in the eyes. Unlike the times he looked away from you whenever he wasn't comfortable with the truth, he wasn't shying away this time,"But when I realized my feelings for you, I didn't ignore it. I let the mark convince me that everything would work out. I decided that the mark defined us: we were soulmates, and therefore, that was all it was to it. We'd be together because of that and I didn't have to worry about anything."

He hesitated before continuing,"But clearly that's not the case. It wasn't a smooth sailing. We ended up distancing for a while and at one point...you could've lost your life. That's what showed me I was wrong to blindly trust the soulmate mark. It didn't mean we'd spend the rest of our lives together and I couldn't let it define what we were. I have to let both of us define that. It brings me to my next question."

You knew what was coming next and it brought your heart up to your throat.

Hitoshi took a deep breath before shooting a sharp look to the door. It caught you off guard after all the vulnerability that was in the air.

"Uh, is everything okay?"

"I'm checking that Sensei isn't about to burst out here."

The suggestion and his seriousness behind it made you brust out into laughter. It was the best laughter you'd had in years and it brought Hitoshi back to you. 

"(Name), I want you to be my girlfriend, if you'll have me."

Knowing what was coming wasn't enough to keep your heart from bursting at him officially asking you to be a couple. You couldn't help the joy filling your entire body, mind, heart, soul. 

You smiled,"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Toshi, because..."

Your own 'because' caught you off guard. Without having been aware of it, you had been right about to confess a stronger set of feelings you hadn't actually bothered to confess to yourself yet. But now it was too late. Hitoshi heard the 'because' and he knew what was you almost followed it with.

"Because...?", he smiled. You pouted as you pushed down your nervousness. He wanted you to finish your sentence and as childish as you wanted to be and claim it was unfair, not only had you started it, but he had been the one to confess first when it came to having feelings for you. But at least you could take this confession slow.

You leaned up, a silent ask for something that Hitoshi didn't hesitate to meet you halfway for. His hands stayed around you, keeping you flush against him as he pressed his lips on yours, the feeling of it as invigorating as always. Each movement of his lips was so full of love. It was so slow, each second appreciated for all that was shared: your feelings, thoughts, warmth. Nothing else mattered during the kiss because it was the physical confession of what he was about to hear from you. You pulled away.

"Because...", you smiled brightly at him,"I love you."

Hitoshi was staring down at you with the warmest smile you'd seen on him througout the entire time you'd known him. Unlike all his other smiles, you didn't feel like putty this time. You felt stronger than ever for what you said and prouder than ever for the smile it got on him.

"I love you too, beautiful."

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HEADS UP: The next update will not be a chapter, it'll be an author's note. I'll really appreciate it if you guys take a few minutes of your time to read it <3