These Things Take Forever (I especially am slow)

Patrol

Walking the streets of Tokyo with Momo was a rare treat for Shouto. Something which brought a smile to his face, despite the irritation of the lack of any new leads in the case. It had also been a few days since his schedule had fitted with Katsuki's well enough for them to have a proper evening together, or any sort of time really, other than a hurried lunch the day before. Shouto felt like he was spending much more time with Katsuki asleep than awake.

While he did often work with Momo's agency when he was in town, usually they were placed with some of the younger or less experienced heroes at the agency, or left to their own devices. Despite Shouto's lack of consistency on the Japanese pro-hero scene, he remained well respected and his skills recognised enough that it was generally accepted that ignoring his ranking was for the best. Shouto actually wasn't sure what he ranked; when he'd left the country, it had been around the early twenties but a five-week gap was bound to have pushed it down somewhat. The only people he knew for sure kept track were Izuku, who always liked to know where his old classmates fell, and his father. Even Katsuki had given up after he'd made a special dinner for Shouto when he'd finally been around for a long enough period to break the top ten, only for Shouto to panic and think he'd missed an anniversary.

"So," Momo began, smiling genially at Shouto, "how's married life treating you?"

Shouto returned her smile, tilting his head as he tried to formulate an answer. "It's good. I'm not sure if it's very different practically, except all the name changing hassle, but I like it. I like being able to call Katsuki my husband, it sounds very authoritative."

Momo let out a gentle laugh, "I know what you mean. I can't wait for that part, even when me and Kyouka got engaged, 'fiancée' just felt so much better to say than 'girlfriend'."

"Yeah, I think Katsuki likes it even more than I do. A few days before the wedding, I heard him practicing introducing me in the mirror," Shouto's eyes widened slightly, "don't tell him I told you though."

Momo laughed, "no but I can see it! It probably appeals to his possessive side."

"He's not that possessive."

"He nearly broke Mina's nose catching the bouquet at Lemillion and Suneater's wedding, just because one of Mirio's cousins said he was going to give it to you."

"Well, sunflowers are my favourite," said Shouto. "Plus, we did end up getting married next."

"He once growled at a five-year-old for telling everyone she was going to marry you."

"Well, in his defence that would not have been a very good match for me."

Momo sighed as the two continued on their patrol route, it was a quiet day so they spent more time smiling at kids and trying to avoid spending too much time posing for photos while on duty.

"How's work with Aizawa's Angels?" Momo asked, as they turned from one of the busier streets down into one of the quieter neighbourhoods in Tokyo, heading towards an area with a higher crime rate.

"It's good. I mean, I'm keeping busy but it's worthwhile. Still, being away five weeks was difficult."

"Definitely, I don't get how you can manage those long stints. But you're really good at it, I know you can't say much about what you get up to, but I can read between the lines of what I hear on the grapevine."

"It's hard to keep things quiet when all your friends work in the hero industry."

"Shouto, you know, just because you don't do something for the recognition, doesn't mean it's bad to be recognised. You work really hard; you've always worked hard."