Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Fake left, idiot! If that thing blasts you I’m not carrying your sorry ass home!” Katsuki shouts while he dodges a projectile thrown by the mutant villain. The thing is enormous, at least three stories tall with a bulging purple body, a humongous yellow eye, and long, scaly arms that shoot off its scales like missiles.

“Worry about yourself, huh?” Izuku shouts back before landing a kick to the thing’s bulbous yellow eyeball. It roars in pain and swings wildly toward Izuku who quickly flits away and summons the ropes of blackwhip. He wraps it around Katsuki’s waist in a rush and Katsuki doesn't think twice about readying his grenadiers to be flung directly toward the beast.

“Eat shit and die!” Katsuki screams while unleashing a howitzer blast directly into the beast’s eye.

“Raaaagh!” it howls, swiping at Katsuki in a blind rage. One of the tentacles flings him to the ground, stopping any of his attempts to dodge. He lands on the dusty ground with a loud groan.

The monster swings toward him again and Izuku stops it with blackwhip. Katsuki rises to his feet despite an aching pain in his ankle and shoulder. Before he can take off to return to the fight, muffled crying echoes through his eardrums.

His body rises on high alert within seconds. Without a glance at his husband still in the air, he stumbles forward to inspect a large pile of rubble.

“Dynamight, is everything alright?” Izuku asks through the comms.

Katsuki taps his ear, his shoulder twinging from the movement. He huffs, annoyed that he’d definitely bruised something. “Yeah, ‘m good. Hearin’ crying down here though. I’m gonna check it out unless you really need me.” He casts a glance upward to watch Izuku fly through the air and land a Delaware smash, knocking the monster back.

Izuku shakes his head. “Negative. I’ll be down there in a sec.” Then, after a beat: “Be careful.”

Katsuki smiles and nods up at his husband. He returns his gaze to the ground, realizing belatedly that as they had stood there talking, the crying ceased, leaving Katsuki with very little information to move forward. Even if it was just an animal mocking a child’s cry, he still wanted to find it, if nothing else but to confirm that very fact.

He moves to inspect the surrounding debris, lifting stray pieces of sheet metal and rock in spite of his hurt shoulder. After a moment, the search proves fruitless. Had he just been hearing things? His quirk explosions had a tendency to make his ears ring more and more. It also didn’t help that he’d been thrown around a couple of times. It was possible that through all the noise, his mind had made sense of it by imagining children's cries.

Shaking his head, he turns to return to battle but the swinging step he takes brings something bright green to his attention. It pokes out behind a large stack of rubble and seems to move up and down like it’s shaking. Katsuki’s face pinches curiously and he moves forward to investigate. The green is attached to one of two little boys kneeling down shaking in fear. One is bigger and obviously older with coal-black hair and bright orange eyes. He has a tan hand around the smaller one’s mouth who has pale periwinkle hair and matching teary eyes. They’re outfitted in nothing but rags that merely had the appearance of clothes; the older one’s green hoodie had been what had tipped him off and it was mostly intact despite a few holes. Their shirts and pants are torn and seem to hang in ill-fitting waves off their thin bodies.

Katsuki briefly wonders if they’d come like this or if they’d gotten swept up with the villains. Either way, the longer he observes them cowering, the more his chest pangs.

So, carefully as to not startle the two boys who had yet to notice him, he kneels down. The sound of his movement gets their attention and they turn frightened gazes on him. He holds up his hands, altogether ignoring the way his shoulder complains.

“Hi, I’m Dynamight. Can I help you two get out of here?” he asks with uncharacteristic gentleness. The last thing he wants is to traumatize them both even more.

Suddenly, as if closing the curtains on a brightly lit window, his vision goes completely black. “What the hell!” he says in a frenzy, rubbing at his eyes in hopes that he could bring it back.

“Stay away from us!” one of the boys shouts.

“Dyanmight, get outta there! Coming your way!” Izuku’s voice sounds out in the space.

Katsuki moves in a panic to press his comms to reply but a sudden spark causes the equipment to burst in his ear, letting out a deafening noise. He grasps his head in pain, his heart hammering as he kneels there with no sight and little to no hearing. Yet despite his aching ear, he can hear his husband’s grunts from the air getting closer. Katsuki knows neither he nor the monster is far away.

“Fuck,” Katsuki hisses. He takes a shot in the dark and springs, successfully grabbing the kids in one go. He runs blindly toward what he hopes is a building. The two boys kick and scream, every piece of electrical equipment on Katsuki’s body zapping him while their nails dig into his exposed flesh.

“Would you two stop it? I’m trying to save you! If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a huge villain who would love nothing more than to eat you! So give me my sight back and say thank you!” Katsuki yells, his patience worn thin.

“We don’t wanna be saved!” one boy says with a kick to Katsuki’s abdomen.

“They always say they’ll save us and then it’s worse! Don’t wanna be saved no more!” what had to be the smaller boy cries.

A loud bang reverberates through the air and Katsuki drops down to brace his back toward the interior wall and covers them with his body. “Hold on. It’ll be over soon. Just stay still please,” he instructs, holding onto their frail, stock-still bodies tightly.

As the booms get louder, the kids, surprisingly, oblige. Their hands grip his hero costume while Izuku’s screams and shouts echo throughout the building, the very foundation of it shaking with his voice. Slowly, whether because the kid had lost control or because he was too scared to hold it, Katsuki’s vision comes back, starting at the corners and then all at once. It’s disorienting but Katsuki rolls with it, immediately taking in their surroundings.

He’d somehow managed to find a safe place even while blinded. Something like pride swells in his chest. Soon enough, though, he hears his husband shout a special move and a swell of dust encapsulates their bodies. Katsuki holds on tighter while the children whimper loudly.

“It’ll be over in a second, you’re alright,” Katsuki murmurs.

Then, seconds later, Izuku’s tired voice rings out in the building. “Kacchan? Are you here?”

Katsuki spares a look at the trembling boys before he stands up, helping them both to their feet. “Yeah, ‘m in here. Will you help me out with the kids? I fucked up my shoulder and ankle,” Katsuki calls.

The boys look at each other then the bigger one raises his hand. Katsuki catches on quickly. “Look, I’m not gonna hurt you. There’s no need to use your quirk.” He shoots them a sharp look and after a beat says: “Either of you.”

The older boy narrows his eyes but lowers his hands in favor of grabbing hold of the smaller boy. They stand in wary silence in a strange stare down until Izuku rounds the corner looking a little worse for wear with a bleeding cut down the side of his face and his suit torn in several places.

Katsuki smiles at him. “You keep tearin’ them suits and Mei’s gonna kick your ass.” He doesn’t reach out for him but they knock shoulders gently.

Izuku rolls his eyes. “Sorry, not everyone can just buy a tank top and army pants and call it a hero suit,” he jokes. Then his gaze settles on the two children shooting them both death glares.

His husband’s face softens infinitely, eyes even sparkly as he regards the children. He walks forward slowly to kneel on the ground in front of the kids. “Hey kids, I’m Izuku. What’re your names?” he asks with a shining smile.

“What’s it to you, stupid?” the older boy says. It’s probably the first time in years that a child has insulted Izuku, maybe not since Kouta and his very creative insults and attacks when they were teenagers.

Katsuki watches in amusement, half expecting the technology on his husband’s body to start exploding but still finding it hilarious nonetheless. He claps his hands while he laughs at Izuku’s shocked face.

He points down at the blue-haired boy. “That one can do some type of freaky stuff with tech. Older one took my sight away and I had to do all that blind.”

“I didn’t make you blind, you just couldn’t see, asshole,” the older boy spits.

Katsuki’s eyes open wide and he tries his best not to break out into laughter at the kid’s choice of language while Izuku’s brow pinches down in disapproval.

“Hey, that’s not nice,” Izuku admonishes lightly. Having apparently decided the older boy is a lost cause for now, he turns his attention to the younger boy. “What’s your name, little one?”

The blue-haired boy squints before looking at the older one. Seeing the harsh tug of his mouth and brow, the little boy turns a venomous look at Izuku. “We don’t have to tell you shit!”

Izuku’s face flashes with something sad for just a moment. Heart tugging, Katsuki frowns too—they’re on the same page. Kids don’t fight like this unless they’ve had a reason to. His husband’s face goes back to his neutral “hero face” within seconds but Katsuki can still see the sadness behind the mask.

He places a hand on his arm and interjects before Izuku can make some sort of heroic speech about bad language or respecting adults. That won’t go anywhere with the tikes. “Look, you don’t gotta tell us anything. We just want to know your names and where you belong so we can take you where you want to go. So how about you two spit it out, huh?”

The boys share another look. “We’re gonna take ourselves. C’mon,” the older boy says, grabbing up the little one by his hand and tugging him away.

Izuku immediately stands and blocks their exit. “I don’t think so. You’re coming with us whether you like it or not. Now do you wanna walk or fly? I’ll only ask once.” Izuku settles his arms over his chest. Katsuki has to fight himself not to comment on how dad-like he looks.

“Oh boys, you’ve gone and done it now. You’re getting the Yagi Toshinori special right there. Look at that disapproving look, huh?” Katsuki says under his breath while herding the boys toward Izuku.

Izuku shoots him an unimpressed look before grabbing the smaller child. Immediately, the kid lets out a blood-curdling scream like the monster is still awake and specifically torturing him. The bigger boy springs into action but Katsuki covers his eyes. He isn’t sure how the boy’s quirk works, but he’s hoping it has Eraserhead-esque qualities.

“No sight stealing, little man. We gotta take you somewhere in case that ugly fuc—guy comes back, got that?” The kid continues to thrash against his hold, not at all affected by Katsuki’s words. He looks up at Izuku who is struggling just as badly with the little one. “Tell me this isn’t how I was.”

“You want me to lie to you?” he laughs and then rockets off the ground the little boy held securely against his chest.

“Alright, you’re gonna need to get onto my back. Izuku already took your friend so it’d be smart if you came with me. No sight-stealing, no kicking, no screaming. Just hold on,” Katsuki instructs, taking his hands off the boy’s eyes. He hoists him over his back and feels him begrudgingly hold onto his shirt while muttering something about “asshole heroes” under his breath.

“He’s not my friend, he’s my brother,” the boy corrects.

Katsuki considers their difference in appearance for all of five seconds. He would certainly never argue with the child about family, especially since he knew found family was sometimes better than true blood connection. It does make him wonder about how they found each other though and what situation they’d been in before they’d met. Based on how the two behaved, he knew it probably wasn’t very pretty.

“Okay, let’s go get your brother then,” he grunts and takes off with the boy held securely on his back.

They land after a fifteen-minute ride. Halfway through, he discovered the kid must’ve been scared of heights; he’d shook the whole way there. It made Katsuki feel such an odd sense of guilt and he’d tried his best to stay as low as possible but it got difficult with all the rubble. All he could really do was clutch the boy tighter and let him know it’d be over soon.

He sets the boy down with an apology on his tongue. But as he opens his mouth to speak, the other boy runs up to them brandishing a green lollipop.

“Hiro! Hiro! They gave me sweets. Look! Green flavor! Your favorite! And look, they had cool bandaids. Dinosaurs, Hiro! Do you want one?” The little boy shoves the bandaids and green candy in his brother’s face who looks down at him with tight lips and a set jaw.

Seeing his brother’s expression, the little one deflates and puts the items in his jacket pocket with a solemn look. Katsuki’s heart practically bursts from his chest, the apology in his mouth turning to disappointed sentiments. The little one deserves to be happy about something, even if it’s a silly little lollipop and bandaids. There’s something there—something indescribable that Katsuki has never felt before. He wants to protect the kid, but not in the normal hero way—like Masaru used to protect him.

He rubs the back of his neck. They aren’t his responsibility, and he’s sure the kids have someone at home to offer them paternal protection—it isn’t his place. Broken from his thoughts, he feels a gloved hand on his shoulder and turns to see Izuku. The cut on his face is bandaged and they’d cleaned off most of the dust from his hair. As Katsuki inspects his husband’s face further, he finds sadness clinging to the set of his eyes and lips.

“You alright, ‘Zuku?” Katsuki whispers. He leans into the touch, not offering him more than that simple action. They tried to keep the PDA to a minimum, at least when they’re in their hero suits. It makes moments like this one hard, but Izuku shrugs regardless.

His face morphs into a tight frown. “Little one’s name is Kouya. You know he was so excited to have something as simple as a bandaid? Like he almost didn’t even know what it was and the fact that there were dinosaur ones? Blew his little mind.”

He turns to Katsuki, his eyes wide and watery and Katsuki knows it’s taking him great discipline not to let the worry spill over. “He doesn’t even know how old he is, Kacchan. What kind of place did these kids come from?”

Katsuki pats Izuku’s shoulder and looks down to watch Kouya carefully place the bandage over a cut on Hiro’s hand. His lips meet it with a smile while his brother rolls his eyes and laughs lightly.

Katsuki’s chest pangs again with that same need to protect. The important question isn’t where these kids had come from but where, exactly, they were going.

Katsuki turns over in bed, Izuku’s arms immediately reaching out to cuddle him back against his chest with a snore. Katsuki’s mind is far too full to consider sleep so it runs wild, haunted by orange and periwinkle eyes. It isn’t as if they’d never met kids in bad situations before; they’d saved plenty. But these kids, these kids were different. Their complete and utter trust in each other and the way that Hiro had guarded Kouya spoke to a level of necessity that Katsuki hated that they both knew.

He groans loudly, pressing the pillow against his face.

“Wacchan okay?” Izuku mumbles sleepily, his pillow-marked face coming into Katsuki’s view.

Katsuki normally would’ve smiled at his sleepy husband but his chest is a mess of too many feelings. All he manages is a tiny uptick of his lips. “Sorry, I’m just kinda fucked up about the kids.”

Izuku smiles sadly and pulls Katsuki tighter, his tired lips pressing against his forehead. “I’m sorry, Kacchan. Only reason I’m sleeping right now is ‘cause that monster got me pretty good today. Been thinkin’ about them all day.”

Katsuki’s fingers play with a thread of Izuku’s “sleep shirt,” the material soft against his skin. “I dunno what to do. But I feel like we should do something, right? I mean Izuku they just…”

Lips press against his forehead again, Izuku’s fingers gliding up to smooth the worry lines between Katsuki’s brows. Their heavy blanket wraps around Katsuki’s shoulders, effectively cocooning him in an anti-sad fortress. It’s something Izuku had done for him since they were teenagers and it felt the same at thirty-two that it did back then and manages to bring a small smile to Katsuki’s lips. Izuku always knows how to care for him.

“We can foster them,” Izuku says while pushing long blond spikes off Katsuki’s forehead.

Katsuki breaks out of his arms, his mind racing as he searches for something on his husband’s face. “What?”

He shrugs, sitting up too and tangling his fingers in Katsuki’s. “I mean they were at an orphanage, right? We could foster them.”

“We couldn’t…right? I mean shit…we live in a studio,” Katsuki says incredulously, his hands leaving Izuku’s to wave out at their tiny space. It’d been cozy when the idea was it’d be just them. But the idea of two more bodies in it? That’s sweltering.

Izuku shrugs again, his green eyes flickering with joy. “Then we’ll move.”

Katsuki’s mouth drops open. Could it really be that simple? They hadn’t even discussed kids outside of the one-off “kids would be nice” comment. They both knew they were interested in having them, but their careers had pushed any serious discussion to the backburner. They were unprepared, mentally, emotionally, and physically. But the beating in his chest didn’t care. The thoughts of the little boys who had clung together with hatred of the world in their eyes didn’t care that he and Izuku weren’t ready.

They aren’t ready. But they could be. They would be.

“Shit. I guess we’re moving,” Katsuki says breathlessly before surging forward to press his lips against Izuku’s.

Chapter Text

“Do you think they’ll like it? I mean, little one…he seemed to really like dinosaurs but what if he was just excited about it the first time? What if they would’ve wanted to pick out their own stuff? Fuck, Izuku we shoulda let them pick out their own—” Katsuki’s worried rambling is cut off by his husband pressing his lips to his own.

He leans back with a reassuring smile and a twinkle in his eye. “Kacchan, it’s gonna be great. Don’t worry.” He says it with such finality, with such warmth and understanding that Katsuki had no choice but to believe him. He looks at his husband then, a sure smile crawling onto his own lips and he nods.

As they wait for the care center to bring out the two boys, Katsuki can’t help but feel like their lives are about to change forever. They had already, of course; it was absolutely insane that they’d pulled off moving into and furnishing a house in the span of a month while also filling out the foster documents (and still keeping their number one and two spots). Things had gone undeniably smoothly.

But just staring at Izuku, he knew it would change even more. It wouldn’t be just the house, wouldn’t just be shifting work schedules, but them as people. Izuku is already the fathering type; he’d been their friend group’s “dad” for a long time and had been taking care of Katsuki for even longer. Stepping into that role for Izuku would be as easy as breathing. When it came to himself, Katsuki had the kind of worries that kept him up at night and made him press hot tears into Izuku’s shoulder. It got better as the time drew nearer, but standing there, the rush of nerves comes back tenfold.

Izuku squeezes his hand as if he could sense it and opens his mouth to say something but the sound of a creaking door opening interrupts him. Then in walks a woman neatly dressed in a pinstripe suit and sturdy black shoes that make god-awful noises on the tacky tile. Her face is pinched up like she’d been sucking on a lemon and when she speaks it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Nerves set Katsuki’s chest on fire, his knee bouncing up and down wildly from the overstimulating sounds.

“Mr. and Mr. Midoriya, do follow me. Your boys are giving the attendants trouble. We find it best for you to see the truth of their capabilities before you agree to take them home,” the woman says in a clipped tone.

Katsuki squints at her in wary disbelief while Izuku plasters a large smile on his face and squeezes his hand again, this time a little harder. He takes it to mean “not yet,” and stands up, trying his best to keep his expression from turning sour.

“Yes, of course. What seems to be the problem?” Izuku asks cheerily while they follow the woman down the hall.

“They do not wish to go. The younger one is inconsolable and the older…well…I suppose you will see,” she explains before stopping in front of a door and opening it fully.

Inside is utter chaos. It’s clearly their bedroom based solely on the blankets, pillows, and mattresses littering the floor. The boys are barricaded behind a tipped-over bed frame using it as a shield against the two men dressed in crispy white. With their little faces poked out of the other side of the bed, they’re screaming at the top of their lungs while their quirks power through the room.

All the lights in the room are flickering and the men themselves are yelling back. It doesn’t take long for Katsuki to guess that Hiro had taken their sight just like he’d done to him over a month ago. Utter and absolute rage fills Katsuki’s chest when his brain finally processes what he was seeing.

He springs into the room like a disgruntled panther. “What the hell is going on here?” he yells. The chaos halts instantly, everyone jumping back in shock at the boom of his voice. He stalks forward until he is in the faces of the two blinded men.

“What kind of place are you people runnin’ here? You’d come into this room to terrorize two children with nothing to curb their damn quirks? You realize that quirked children who overexert themselves can become sick, right? What the hell is wrong with you?” Katsuki shouts. A mixture of several emotions create a potent cocktail in his gut. Beyond it, though, is that paternal instinct he’d felt all those weeks ago.

As Katsuki waits for the men to provide him with an explanation, Izuku comes into the room and stands behind Katsuki, a serious look on his face when he bars his body in front of the children with his arms folded neatly against his chest. Through his uptick of emotions, Katsuki is thankful for the support, even if he’d fully expected that exact reaction. They’re a well-oiled machine, after all. Izuku’s support is never a question.

Katsuki watches the men slowly come into their sight with sharp crimson eyes. When their eyes widen in his and Izuku’s direction, Katsuki knows they’d registered the severity of the situation. They both drop into a deep bow, shoulders sagging and bodies seeming to quake. Katsuki’s chest swells with pride.

“That’s right, bastards. Bet you didn’t expect the two top heroes here, huh?” he thinks.

“I apologize sirs, we don’t have the sort of quirk-canceling technology that is able to cancel young Kouya’s quirk. And when we’ve tried in the past, young Hiro blinded us. We’ve found it is best to wait until they grow tired,” one of the men informs in a shaky voice.

Izuku raises an eyebrow as he turns to the woman. “And you’re the director, correct? Do you allow the children to be in these conditions? To be so thoroughly exhausted by quirk usage?” Katsuki shivers at his husband’s icy tone.

It’s her turn to bow in apology, the grey strands of her hair nearly touching the floor. “Our job is hard and thankless. We do not have the proper—”

Katsuki cuts off her excuses with a snort. “Don’t insult our intelligence. We researched this center at length. Your funding is going somewhere. I can’t wait to find out where the hell that is if it isn’t toward proper training for these oafs and equipment for quirked children.”

He turns on his heel to the boys who are staring back at them with open, wide eyes. As Katsuki peers at them, their expressions become guarded. He sighs and walks toward them before dropping down to their level with his hands out flat.

Swallowing once, he fixes his face to something more open and vulnerable, dropping the anger from mere seconds ago. “Listen, boys, me and Izuku would like it if you came home with us, but you have a choice here. Do you want to stay?” No mention of what they had at home waiting, no promises, no bullshit. Just a choice.

Kouya peers up at his brother. His tiny pale hand squeezes at the edge of Hiro’s shirt. Hiro’s lips draw into a tight line. The burden he and Izuku are imposing on the little boy’s shoulders is not lost on either of them. He’s not envious of the situation Hiro is in; he likely didn’t know what was best. How could he? But giving them the option is necessary for them to feel like they have a choice in the matter, that it’s in their hands and not anyone else’s. Because it is on them. If Hiro looked him in the face and told him and Izuku to kick rocks, they would, no matter how they felt about it. After a moment, hard orange eyes press into crimson, and Hiro seems to search him for something. He’d never been considered so seriously by a child, never had a kid look at him like he could see right through him. Katsuki can only stare back, hoping that whatever is present in his eyes is something the little boy finds agreeable.

“We’ll go with you,” Hiro utters like it’s painful to say. The tough exterior cracks for just a moment and Katsuki’s heart cracks with it. Uncertainty colors his little face for all of a second before his mask slips back into place. It makes Katsuki burn; he wants to hold him, to reach out to hug him close and let him know everything would be okay. He can’t. But that doesn’t stop his hands from twitching or his heart from aching.

Katsuki decides something then and there: if everything else was uncertain in their lives, the one thing that would be certain would be these little boys’ happiness. He’d make sure of it.

The corner of his lips push up as he rises to his feet and, without extending a hand, says: “Well, let’s go home then.”

“We picked out some things for you both. If you don’t like them, we can change them up however you want. Just let us know, okay?” Izuku says kindly. He’s much calmer than Katsuki who’s picking at his cuticles, far too anxious about what the children would think of their rooms.

Still, he knew he had to at least do a little talking. He steps forward, wrapping a hand around Izuku’s arm, and regards the kids with a smile. “This will be Hiro’s room,” he says with a wave as soon as Izuku opens the door.

Katsuki doesn’t need to look at the room, he’d anxiously poured over every detail since they’d started furnishing. So, instead, he watches Hiro’s face. His expression doesn’t change as he steps forward past the door but his eyes scan everything like he’s waiting for something to jump out of the corner.

They’d kept it relatively simple for him. He’s around ten years old so they could have gotten away with outfitting the room in hero regalia, cars, or the usual boyish items. It just didn’t feel like the sort of thing he’d have liked. In the short time they’d known him, he seemed like the type to want to make his own way. They still wanted it to be a comfortable, homey space for him, however.

There’s a twin-sized bed against the corner with a plush orange comforter, pillows, and a rug underneath that’s black with orange starbursts. Bean bags and comfortable chairs centered around a small tv with more video games than any little boy could ever play take up a corner of the room. A black bookshelf is in another corner. Izuku had filled the shelves with a few comic books, mangas, and magazines, unsure of what Hiro would find interesting. When they’d finally gotten all the things together in the room, something felt missing until Katsuki had the bright idea to make the wall closest to the door a huge chalk wall.

It’s a variety of different concepts rolled into one and Hiro regards it all with a scowl. “It’s fine,” he says coolly.

“Hiro! You can draw on the walls! You love to draw!” Kouya shouts excitedly, running in and slapping a little hand on the black wall that reads ‘Welcome Hiro!’ in a clumsy, chalk scrawl.

Izuku and Katsuki’s faces meet with happy smiles. It’s surely something Hiro didn’t want them to know if the acidic look on his face is anything to go by.

“Buy more art supplies,” he notes.

“Okay, next is Kouya,” Katsuki says while walking into the room. He makes his way to the door that joins the rooms, something they’d had to put in themselves with the help of All Might (who had been more of a project director, if anything).

Kouya rushes up to him and it’s only then that Hiro looks at all interested in what was going on. He follows behind his brother closely and Katsuki opens the door. Little feet run in immediately with a loud, joyous screech.

“This is awesome!” he yells, his toothy smile on full display as he blazes an excited path across the carpet.

They hadn’t thought as hard about Kouya’s room. He’s smaller, not more than five, so he’s be easier to please. The best way to describe it is an explosion of dinosaurs. Images of prehistoric creatures are everywhere, from the comforter to the decals on the wall. They’d gotten him toys and books and as much paper and crayons as any little boy could ever want. And he lost his little mind.

“Hiro! Come see! My bed! I get a bed for myself!” Kouya shouts, rushing to his brother and forcibly pushing him onto the green dino comforter. Kouya brings every single item he can find for Hiro’s inspection who just nods and makes little comments affirming he was seeing it too.

Katsuki feels Izuku’s arms wrap around his middle and his chin hit his shoulder. He squeezes him tightly. Katsuki turns to place a warm kiss on his cheek, fingers rubbing lightly at his arms.

“You think they like it?” Katsuki whispers, his eyes going back to watch Kouya beam his brother in the face with a dinosaur stuffed animal.

Izuku laughs, his lips pressing softly into Katsuki’s spikes. “Hmm, little macadamia might take a minute, but I think we did well.”

Katsuki snorts at Izuku’s name for Hiro. He’d definitely be a very tough nut to crack but as a tough nut himself, Katsuki felt up for the challenge. “He’ll come around,” he assures, leaning back against his husband’s chest while he watches the first inklings of a smile color Hiro’s lips.

Izuku flips the eggs in the pan, wincing as oil splashes against his hand. Katsuki is normally on breakfast duty, Izuku’s barely able to hold a spatula without setting something on fire. But Kouya woke up this morning and decided he hadn’t been swimming in a while. Consequently, their bathroom floor is flooded. So, breakfast falls to Izuku while the sounds of Katsuki’s colorful not-curses (he’d said motherflubber mere moments ago) and Kouya’s laughter filter through the house. He’s about five seconds from calling his mother about how long eggs are supposed to cook when he feels a small presence watching him.

He turns around to find Hiro staring at him with poorly contained amusement. His black wavy hair is a mess and his flannel pajamas are askew. He’d apparently had a fitful night if not an even more fitful morning.

“Did you sleep well, little man?” Izuku asks while internally panicking at how the egg is sticking to the pan despite the oil. He sticks his tongue between his teeth in concentration as he tries to scrape it off.

“You’re bad at cooking,” Hiro observes, walking in close to peer inside the pan. “You have the heat turned up too high, old man.”

Izuku ignores the name and cuts the heat off. He looks down at the boy appraisingly and offers out the spatula. “You wanna cook? You seem to know what you’re doing.”

He seems to consider it for a second, those warm orange eyes staring at the kitchen tool like the decision to take it would change the entire course of his life. Finally, after a moment and with a puff of air, he takes it.

“Only because I don’t want you to poison me or Kouya,” he huffs.

Izuku smiles to himself, watching while Hiro takes hold of the pan and changes the settings on the stovetop so the oil drops to a light fry. Over the past week, he and Katsuki had been surprised at how self-sufficient the child was. He cleaned up both his and Kouya’s rooms, groomed them, and even tried to do their laundry before Izuku insisted that they’d take care of it. Every time Hiro did things a child shouldn’t even be thinking about, it chipped away little pieces of Izuku’s heart.

Even now with the cooking, Izuku surveys him. He’s so painstakingly careful, every movement of his hands deliberate and nearly militant. It speaks to something larger that neither he nor Katsuki had the information to back up. They are slowly uncovering the truth, but the pace is killing them.

Izuku leans a hip on the counter and takes the bowl of pancake mix into his hand. He stirs it, eyes still watching Hiro. A nervous flame lights in his chest but he maintains his composure. He can find out information in an innocuous way. That was part of his job after all. He just has to be very careful about it. Hiro is deathly suspicious. If he catches on that Izuku is prying, he’ll clam up and refuse to speak.

Izuku clears his throat. “Where did you learn to cook?” he asks, giving the mix a stir, the ingredients billowing out over his hand. He huffs, turning his attention to the bowl, nearly missing Hiro’s shrug. “Did someone teach you?” Another shrug and another sweep of the flour from Izuku’s bowl onto the floor. Izuku takes a breath, biting his tongue in concentration.

Maybe he isn’t the best at getting information. He certainly isn’t very good at mixing pancake mix either, evidenced by the fact that Hiro plates all the eggs, cuts the heat off, and holds out his small hands for the bowl.

He looks at Izuku with a raised eyebrow. “Give it here,” he says. “How are you this useless?”

Izuku’s cheeks color and he has to remind himself that he’s the adult so he doesn’t get his feelings hurt by a ten-year-old. Hiro looks at Izuku warily when he says nothing and simply hands over the bowl. It’s obvious that he wants a reaction or had expected some sort of harsh reply.

Izuku offers a small smile instead and moves to stand near him but not too close. “Will you show me what I’m doing wrong?”

Hiro’s lips press into a tight line and his shoulders tense harshly. Izuku takes it as a sign that he’d gotten too close too fast and takes a large step back so they were a foot apart with Hiro settling the bowl on the counter.

“Watch and learn, I guess,” Hiro mutters. Whisk in hand, he starts stirring the mix and water, a look of pure concentration on his face. Except, as he increases the pace, flour begins to spill out of the bowl and onto the counter. His hands become covered in it, and the sleeves of his red pajamas start to look very Christmas-themed.

The look on his face quickly turns sour while more flour begins to flow out of the bowl, making an even bigger mess. His frustration slips out into the air, the tension palpable and choking.

“Stupid, stupid, this is so stupid!” he grumbles under his breath. The whisk hits the bowl harshly, the sound of scratching glass assaulting Izuku’s eardrums. Then, slowly, wisps of Hiro’s quirk take over Izuku’s vision until all he can make out is a very faint picture of Hiro imagining the mix coming together properly. His vision flicks off and on, making Izuku’s head spin.

“One heck of a quirk you got, Hiro. Here, let’s add some more water,” Izuku says, his stomach feeling queasy from the constant flickering back and forth.

Added water makes the mix smoother, the flour all but dissipating but tension still residing in Hiro’s small shoulders which practically cover his ears. The little boy grumbles a litany of curses, still apparently upset. His quirk is controlled, at the very least. Izuku, for his part, is momentarily at a loss for how to help him relax. He was never a particularly tense child, more likely to cry than to kick or scream. Few things ever caused him stress, but then again, what Hiro likely had to endure was more than Izuku could probably ever imagine.

He entertains the sadness that thought brings about for just a second before his brain gets moving on what to do. It’s no secret that Hiro is like Katsuki. Different in most ways, but their temperament, at least at that age, is comparable. Izuku knows in the back of his mind that showing Hiro kindness will work in the long run but not now. He can’t coddle him just yet. At least not until he relaxes around them a bit more.

“How would I have handled Kacchan as an adult?” Izuku thinks. He ponders the solution for a few seconds before an idea dawns on him.

“Bet you can’t make an All Might-shaped pancake,” he challenges with a smile. Hiro’s eyes instantly narrow to slits and he turns to Izuku to regard him with a smirk.

“Why would I wanna make a pancake out of that bag of bones?” he snorts.

Something in Izuku’s eyes glint. He couldn’t possibly defend his mentor as aggressively as he normally would. Hiro’s a child after all. Instead, he just sucks his teeth in a very Katsuki way and shrugs his shoulders. “So you can’t. I get it. Bet I can, though,” Izuku contemplates for a moment, scratching his nonexistent beard.

Hiro’s eyes squint even smaller but there’s a renewed light in them, a tenacity in the orange that makes Izuku giddy. Hook, line, and sinker, Hiro scoffs. “You’re on, old man.”

“That’s cheating! You can’t look at pictures! Why do you even need a picture anyway! Didn’t you grow up with him as your mentor? You should know what he looks like!” Hiro shouts, shoving against Izuku’s overgrown body, trying to get him to move away from where he stands over the pan carefully ladling different colored mixes. He doesn’t budge. It’d be an act of god for the kid to move him, he’s far too heavy.

A hearty chuckle bubbles out of Izuku’s chest. He plants his feet harder against the tile, undeterred by Hiro’s pestering. “I don’t recall you setting any rules, little man! Look at you, you’re like a little mosquito bumping against a tree! Try harder, huh?” Izuku challenges with a wide smile.

He regards the bubbling colors in the pan and looks at his phone to confirm the little scar over All Might’s left eye. Suddenly, his vision is stripped and all he can see is blackness. “Hey, that’s cheating! We never agreed to quirk usage!”

“We never agreed to not use them either!” Hiro yells. His tiny fists pummel Izuku’s side while Izuku laughs loudly.

“You’re right! Let me show you some of mine then!” Izuku bellows.

“I—Izuku, what the hell are you doing!” Katsuki shrieks. Izuku goes stock still, a bead of sweat rolling down his neck as he turns to look at Katsuki. Blackwhip is in the air, holding Hiro up by his ankle while the strands tickle his sides. Immediately, Izuku sets a laughing Hiro on his feet and dissipates the quirk.

Katsuki arches a brow at him. “I—well—” Izuku coughs sheepishly.

“Me next! Me next! Mr. Izuku, please! Me next!” Kouya shouts. His little feet pummel the floor and he launches himself onto Izuku’s arm, pulling it down and smacking his knuckles as if he could turn on the quirk that way.

Izuku shoots a look at his husband, asking silent permission. Katsuki looks amused but shrugs his shoulders. As soon as he gets the go-ahead, the whip is in the room once again, this time the strands wrapping around a screeching Kouya. Izuku laughs with him and starts up a game of “keep away” with Hiro who jumps up and down after Kouya in the air. Izuku gets the idea to mess with Katsuki too, allowing the whip to wrap around his husband and pull him into the fray.

“Hey! Let me go you damn—” Katsuki’s complaint is cut off by a strand of blackwhip digging into his sides lightly. Barks of laughter soon roll from his husband’s belly, so loud that they seem to echo off the walls.

Setting Kouya down, Izuku gets a truly evil idea. “Get him!” he shouts, commanding the children to attack Katsuki. Surprisingly, Kouya descends on him with deft, wiggling fingers. Blackwhip wraps around Katsuki’s body, holding him in place while other tendrils join Kouya in their attack. Hiro stands back with his arms crossed over his small chest watching with almost amusement on his small face.

“Izuku! I’m–I’m gonna kill you! Just wait! You’re sleeping on the couch tonight!” Katsuki yells through his laughter. He pushes against them half-heartedly, not enough to do anything substantial but enough that Izuku and Kouya both have to dig their feet in to keep attacking him.

“As if you could sleep without me Kacchan!” Izuku laughs, dispelling the quirk and quickly running around the other side of the island. He may be daring, but he isn’t stupid. Katsuki rounds on Izuku with a challenge in his eyes. Izuku knows that if Kouya wasn’t swinging wildly from his husband’s arm that Izuku would’ve had to deflect a pointed explosion by now. He thanks the presence of the children as he watches Katsuki’s brain work out the very thing Izuku had already figured out.

“I’ll sleep with you Mr. Katsuki!” Kouya yells, hanging off Katsuki’s arm like a little monkey.

Katsuki’s murderous expression softens, a hand coming up to pinch Kouya’s cheek gently. “Oh yeah? And what about Hiro? Who’s gonna sleep with him?”

Izuku’s heart melts while surveying the way his husband’s entire being seems to go lax when he speaks with the little one. There’s no doubt about it, Katsuki is made to be a father. Even if neither of them had ever considered it before, even if it scared Katsuki, he’s a natural. The roughness around his edges only made it that much better. Just like he always protects Izuku, Izuku knows he would die before the two little boys ever saw any harm again. Which is scary, sure, but makes warmth spread in Izuku’s chest all the same.

“Well! Hiro can sleep with us too! Right, Hiro?” Kouya’s tiny voice says. And that really makes his heart melt. Those big periwinkle eyes look at his brother with such genuine wonder and excitement. It’s devastating in the best way possible.

Izuku can tell by Hiro’s sour expression that he’d rather die than sleep in the same bed as either him or Katsuki, but he doesn’t want to ruin his brother’s gleeful expression. So he keeps himself quiet, just rolling his eyes slightly. A distinct urge to ruffle his hair like Toshinori would do to him when he was younger (and still would to this day if he could reach it) courses through him.

Slowly, he reaches his hand out like he’s approaching a stray animal and settles his hand in the soft black waves. Hiro goes still immediately, looking up at Izuku with wide eyes. Izuku smiles and scrubs his hand among the locks once. His vision stays intact so he takes that as progress and scrubs his head again.

“No, Hiro will sleep with me in the living room! We’ll build a blanket fort and neither of you can join!” Izuku shouts, pointing his other hand at Katsuki and Kouya. Immediately, Kouya starts whining and runs over to tug at Izuku’s sleep shirt.

“Wait please! I’m on your team now! What’s a blanket fort? I want to do it!” Kouya screeches, tugging the shirt so aggressively that Izuku is sure he hears the threads of it tearing.

Izuku strokes his nonexistent beard again. “Hmm, I don’t know…you turned on me so quickly. Hiro stayed loyal, right Hiro?” He turns to look at the other little boy.

Amusement plays in Hiro’s eyes, bright and sparkling. He sighs loudly. “True, Kouya. You can’t come to our fort! You can make one with that dustbag!” His voice takes on a teasing tone that Kouya pouts at.

“No fair! No fair! Hiro is mean to Kouya! Mr. Katsuki! Tell them to let me into their f-fort!” Kouya cries, going back to Katsuki to tug at the edge of his tank top. It’s undeniably adorable. Izuku and Katsuki share a pained look, there’s no way that either of them is strong enough to resist the full effect of Kouya’s watery puppy dog eyes.

Katsuki carefully picks up Kouya to settle him on his hip, the little boy clinging to him easily. Then a playfully dark look settles over Katsuki’s features. “Don’t worry, little one. Mr. Izuku will let us into his fort or Mr. Izuku will have to deal with doing patrol by himself all week!”

A smile tugs at the edge of Izuku’s lips and he decides to give Katsuki and Kouya a show. “Ah! No! My weakness!” he dramatically proclaims. His wrist rests over his brow like he might faint. “Anything but that! You can come to our fort just please, not the patrol!”

“Hah! That’s what you get, stinky old man!” Kouya shouts victoriously, sticking out his tongue in Izuku’s direction. Izuku can’t help but coo internally at the expression. He’d certainly have to get used to being called various childish insults, but Kouya’s too cute for him to really care. Besides, looking at Hiro’s shining expression as he regards his brother is more than worth every single insult the little one could throw his way.

Katsuki laughs and sets Kouya down at the table. He ticks an eyebrow at Izuku and Hiro before giving an exaggerated sniff. “Is something burning?” he asks in confusion.

Hiro and Izuku look at each other in shock. “Oh no! All Might!” Izuku bellows.

After Katsuki saves breakfast, they sit down to eat in near-silence. It’s comfortable, but it gives Katsuki too much time to think. There’s something important that he and Izuku need to tell the boys but he’s unsure of how to broach the subject. They’d all been through so much change, and even though it’d only been a week, they had a routine of sorts. Wake up, eat, play games or watch movies, go outside and play, eat dinner, bathe, go to bed. The fact of the matter is, though, Izuku and Katsuki are still heroes. They have to get back eventually. Even if they own their own hero agency with Shouto, they can’t both take off this much time at once.

Originally, Izuku was supposed to go back to work on the second week and leave Katsuki at home and they’d switch off. That didn’t end up happening because neither of them could stand to be away from the boys. But due to a rise in monster-type villains, their agency can’t spare them anymore. It’s the first time in his life that Katsuki has truly felt annoyed with his status as a hero. If he had a normal job, some lame pencil-pushing gig at an office somewhere, it wouldn’t be an issue. He and Izuku could take paternity leave and let the kids get more acclimated. This is the path he chose. He knows that.

He grinds his teeth anxiously, flicking his eyes toward his husband who is eating without a care in the world. He’s telling jokes and the kids are eating it up, laughing and smiling and bantering back. Katsuki doesn’t want to interrupt it. They’d just started to relax. That morning had been so wholesome…

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighs. Apparently quite loudly because Izuku meets his eyes suddenly, concern etched into the green. Katsuki tilts his head, pointing his eyes in the boys’ direction with purpose. Confusion mars Izuku’s features and Katsuki wants to make a comment about paying attention. He holds off because Hiro’s orange eyes turn to watch his face closely. There goes being discreet.

He clears his throat once, earning the attention of Kouya as well. “Boys, we have something to tell you, alright?” His voice is shaking slightly and yeah, that’s probably the worst way to start the news ever. Just those few words seem to suck all the air from the room, tensing the boys' shoulders until they're like little mini statues. In Kouya’s eyes is a watery fear but Hiro’s hold something else. A kind of disappointment that Katsuki never wanted to cause; it soon settles into acceptance. Though, for what, Katsuki is unsure.

“What I mean to say is that—Shit…Izuku…” Katsuki trails off weakly, turning to his husband with disaster written all over his face.

“What Mr. Katsuki is trying to say is that…you know how we’re heroes right?” Izuku starts just as nervously while the boys nod their heads.

“Mr. Izuku is the number one hero! And Mr. Katsuki is number two! You saved us the other day, ‘member? We know!” Kouya exclaims in his little voice that punches the wind out of Katsuki’s gut.

Izuku nods. “Yeah, well…those big monster guys? They’re all over the place now and me and Mr. Katsuki have to go save some people next week. Which means we won’t be here…” Izuku trails off as Katsuki swallows nervously. They’re both backing off the big thing they have to say, and they know it. Silently, Katsuki hopes the boys will fill in the blanks by themselves.

Hiro nods like he’s not understanding the big deal. His tense body relaxes minimally. “That’s alright, I’m okay with staying with Kouya while you are out. We’ve been left alone before.”

And shit if that doesn’t make Katsuki’s stomach hurt even more. Izuku looks like he’s swallowed a lemon and he’s looking at Katsuki with “save me” eyes. Katsuki lets out a shaky breath and swallows hard. They can do this.

“No, you’re not gonna be left alone with your brother anymore, little man. You’ll both be going to scho—” he can’t even finish the word, all hell breaks loose instantly. The light above them shatters, raining down sparks on the table. Before either he or Izuku can get their wits about them, their cellphones burst in their pockets and the microwave and stove start to go haywire.

“No school! No school! I don’t wanna go! No school!” Kouya shrieks, his hair is crackling and standing on end, blue eyes alight with electricity. Small fists bang on the table, the force of it knocking plates and cups to the ground which shatter into tiny pieces.

Katsuki recovers first, rushing forward to grasp at Kouya’s arms which are moments away from pounding on broken glass.

“Wait! Don’t! He’ll—” Hiro starts to shout, but it’s too late, Katsuki’s hand closes around Kouya’s wrist, and a bolt of pure electricity zaps through his veins. He grits his teeth. He’s felt it before. Denki had kicked his ass several times during training and so had Nejire. But this was different, it was pure, unadulterated electricity with nothing to curb it.

Katsuki holds on despite it, grabbing Kouya up into his arms and holding him tightly as he continues to zap him and wail wildly. “Kouya, Kouya, it’s okay, don’t worry, it’s okay,” Katsuki whispers into his hair. Blue locks lick against his face like a crackling whip, the tingling sensation of them making him nauseous.

“No school! No school!” Kouya sobs.

“Kouya, you’re okay, little one, it’s gonna be okay,” Izuku whispers. He’s by their side then with a blanket in his arms. He carefully hands it to Katsuki who wraps the boy up quickly. It works only as a barrier between Katsuki’s skin and Kouya’s electricity. It’s enough, but just barely.

Hiro sits in his chair with his fists clenched, a grim expression stealing the youth of his features. He watches the display of his brother’s emotions for all of a minute before he’s on his feet pushing past Izuku and taking Kouya from Katsuki. He struggles with carrying him to the floor and shakes off their attempts to help him. Then he pulls the flailing boy under the table and wraps all his limbs around him, the blanket falling off. There’s no pain on his face, no notion that he’s being shocked. Judging by how Kouya seems to relax in his brother’s embrace, it’s nothing more than static electricity.

Katsuki doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know how to support either of them. When Hiro starts singing and rocking his brother back and forth, it feels like he’s intruding. Like both he and Izuku are sitting there a million miles away from the two little boys. His lips pull into a straight line and he taps Izuku’s shoulder.

He can’t look at his husband right now, can’t bear to take his eyes off the two little boys. He’s mere moments away from running away from the sight, hiding in his room and crying into his own pillow. He won’t. He can’t, because it’s not about him, it’s about the kids. But fuck if he doesn’t want to. There’s a constant thrum of anxiety in his chest that’s only quelled by Izuku’s comforting touch and the sight of Kouya calming down.

He drops to his shaking knees, hands settling on his thighs to have something to grip so he doesn’t reach out too soon. “Hiro?” he asks weakly. Orange eyes are on him instantly, unreadable as always—serious as all hell.

Izuku crowds up behind Katsuki’s back, framing his legs on either side of Katsuki and resting his mop of green curls on his shoulder. It’s not lost on Katsuki that it’s an exact mirror of how Hiro is holding Kouya. It’s small under the table, or maybe it’s just that Katsuki has never felt this small. Tiny in the face of the roaring realization that he’s not equipped to handle this situation.

Eventually, Hiro sighs. “Kouya wasn’t treated right at school. The older kids liked to pick on the orphans. Bastards would beat him up and one day I saved him. That’s how come we’re brothers.” As he says this, Kouya nuzzles his face into his shoulder, turning his head just enough that one watery periwinkle eye is focused on Katsuki and Izuku.

“Hiro beat them up so bad he was punished for a long time. He b-blinded one of them with his power. They didn’t let him have outside time for two months, I sneaked back inside and played with him.” Kouya whispers hoarsely.

Hiro nods in confirmation. Katsuki doesn’t even know what to do with this information. He sags in Izuku’s hold while his husband grips him tightly. “I’m so sorry…” Katsuki says hollowly. He means it but he hates that he does, he hates that it happened, that the boys even have to convey it to them. It’s necessary, he knows that. It doesn’t make it any less killer to hear though.

Katsuki sits forward to carefully snake his hand out to thumb over the boys’ joined hands. Shortly after, Izuku’s fingers join them, the biggest and warmest in the stack.

“I’m sorry too, that’s not something either of you should have had to go through. But it won’t happen again, okay? This school, one of our friends runs it, it’s for quirked children just like you. She’s really nice and I know she’ll do a good job taking care of you both. We can go visit it first if you want,” Izuku offers. The sincerity in his voice warms the very air around them yet both boys look at him warily.

What Izuku doesn’t say is that it’s a school specifically for quirked children who come from tough backgrounds. Part of the end-of-war initiative was to pay special attention to those children like Tomura Shigaraki or Touya Todoroki who just needed someone there for them in their youth. Over ten years post-war and the school turned out more children to U.A. than any other in the prefecture. It helps that it’s run by their best friend’s sister and his entire family. Fuyumi had been overjoyed when they asked her. Katsuki had almost blocked her from his phone because she’d been calling him non-stop since they’d asked.

“Ms. Fuyumi is so excited to meet you squirts. She told me she’s got your uniforms, desks, and cubbies all picked out and everything. We just gotta buy you school supplies and stuff, books and colors, all that.” Katsuki squeezes their conjoined hands once while a small smile pulls at the corner of his lips.

Hiro looks down at his brother who peers up at him at the same time. “What do you think, Ko? You wanna try to go? I promise I’ll protect you. Might beat sticking around and playing with these old nerds all day.”

Izuku snorts as Katsuki’s nose scrunches in distaste. Never before had anyone called him a nerd. It was more of a term of endearment when he said it to Izuku but he can tell Hiro does not mean it like that. Kids definitely gonna give him a run for his money.

Kouya sniffles, and looks at his brother for a couple of seconds before he sits up. He extricates his hand from the pile and crawls out of Hiro’s lap. Two shaking pinkies extend toward Katsuki and Izuku. Katsuki’s brow pinches in question but he lets Kouya take a few breaths.

“You pinky promise no one will be mean to Kouya? Miss F-Fuy—Fumi will be nice.” His eyebrows are heavy over his eyes, the periwinkle of them unusually stormy. Gone is the goofy innocence that usually brightens his face. He’s serious, deathly so.

There’s a lump in Katsuki’s throat suddenly and he coughs a few times before he answers. He will not cry in front of them. “Fuyumi is so nice that you’ll probably wanna move in with her when you meet her, kid. She even got me to come around to Mr. Shouto’s when we were kids. I promise she’ll be nice to you,” Katsuki swears. His pinky meets Kouya’s and the tiny digit wraps around his finger tightly.

“Fuyumi has been dying to meet you both all week. You’re gonna like her, I promise. Mr. Katsuki’s right, she even got him to warm up when we were teenagers. You’ll have to ask her about the embarrassing tofu incident when you meet her, okay?” Izuku smiles, leaning over Katsuki to wrap his large finger in Kouya’s.

Katsuki then peers around Kouya to offer his finger to Hiro. “And I promise you, too, Hiro. You’ll be well taken care of, you won’t have to beat up anyone ever again. Not for Kouya or for yourself, that sound alright?”

He doesn’t know what to expect in that moment. A biting comment, a scathing look. That would certainly make sense. But the finger that wraps around his and the curt nod that is thrown his way is so sincere and open that it takes Katsuki’s breath away. He can only offer him a watery smile interrupted by a gasp from Kouya.

“Wait! Mr. Katsuki, can I please have a cool pack-pack? Um, one that’s green! That’s my favorite color!”

Izuku gives Kouya his shining smile and ruffles periwinkle locks while Katsuki pats him on the shoulder. “You two can have whatever you want.”

Chapter Text

“Hiro did what?” Katsuki shouts, his exploding fist pummeling through the mecha-monster’s chest while balancing his phone on his shoulder.

“Yeah…I guess the kids were joking around on the monkey bars and he…well you know how his quirk is touchy, he showed them all a monster nightmare. Have you been letting him watch the news?” Fuyumi’s sweet voice asks. They hadn’t, but it’s not like Hiro didn’t have a lot of firsthand experience to be able to craft something truly terrifying.

He lands a kick in the monster’s chest, watching with satisfaction as Cellophane catches it and gently lowers it to the ground. He sighs into the phone and flies downward, his boots landing and immediately starting up an anxious tap.

“Shit…sorry, Fuyumi. I don’t know what’s up with him. I’m gonna come get him, alright? Give me the names of the kids so I can give ‘em some hero baskets or somethin’.”

“Don’t worry Katsu-chan, it’s totally okay. The kids weren’t hurt, they just cried a bit. We had Hiro write them apology notes. He’s a bit mad, so be warned,” she says.

Katsuki huffs a goodbye and hangs up. Cellophane looks at him inquisitively and he shouts, “kids,” before blasting off while dialing Izuku’s number.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, unsure of how he’s even supposed to go about a conversation with the kid. He’s in the sensible sedan Izuku had made them buy to tote the kids around trying to psyche himself up for the dad-like words he knows he has to spew. Truth is, of the two, Hiro had been giving them absolute hell. Kouya had adjusted to the school beautifully. He’s got a bunch of friends that send him home with little notes and snacks. His folder is full of gold stars and Fuyumi has had nothing but compliments about him.

Hiro…well Hiro had no gold stars to say the least. It’d only been a month and Fuyumi had sent home more “just you know Hiro did…” notes than he could count. Their junk drawer was littered with the things like some kinda parental hall of shame.

He leans his forehead against the steering wheel. He’s at a complete loss. Can’t be like his mom, she woulda just yelled. But he couldn’t exactly be like his permissive dad either. He bangs his head against the wheel.

The starred number in his phone is dialed after a couple of minutes of distraught headbanging. His head pulses with a headache while the dial tone sounds loudly in his ear.

“Problem adult, what’s up?”

“Is Eri ever a complete asshole?” he groans.

Aizawa chuckles into the phone. “Not now, no. She’s an adult, kinda grew out of that. But when she was a teenager?” he lets out a low whistle. “When she was a teenager, the slightest thing would set her off. One time I left my scarf out after telling her she had to do her homework before she left to the mall and she rewound it so it was just a pile of threads.”

Katsuki would laugh along if he wasn’t feeling so damn uncomfortable. “And how did you handle shit like that? I swear, this kid reminds me too much of myself. But I don’t wanna yell at him like my old lady would’ve, y’know? He keeps acting up at school though, and I dunno how to…help…I guess. ‘Zuku doesn’t know what to do either and he’s on an all-day mission anyway. I feel like I’m fuckin’ failing here…” he doesn’t realize he’s close to crying until his voice breaks and hot tears start to prick at the corner of his eyes.

“First of all, take a deep breath. You’re not failing because you don’t know the best way to handle your child. No parent knows what the hell they’re doing. I was your age when I got Eri. Trust me when I say I was scared shitless every single day that I’d somehow unknowingly make her worse and she’d hate me forever.”

Confusion clouds Katsuki’s brain. That couldn’t be right. “You always seemed like you knew what you were doing, and you were good with us. Hell, you straightened me out more than All Might or my damn parents ever could.”

Aizawa snorts. “Yeah, take that as a testament to my impeccable acting skills. I was scared with you all too. Difference is, I wasn’t responsible for you all twenty-four seven. Truth is, kid, you just gotta do what you think is best. It’s not always gonna be the best decision, but at the end of the day, all you can do is treat the kids how you’d would have wanted an adult to treat you as a kid. Sorry, I know that’s not the definitive answer you were probably after.”

An obvious-feeling realization dawns on Katsuki. Treat the kid like you’d have wanted to be treated. Huh. “No shit. That’s awesome. Fuck, thank you, Sensei. I gotta go!” He hangs up, not even bothering to wait for Aizawa’s goodbye. He’ll undoubtedly get a text from the man in a couple minutes admonishing him for his rudeness but he’s too determined to care.

“Dynamight! Dynamight! Hiro, your dad’s the explosion hero! That’s so cool!” a child shouts.

“Wait! That means your other dad is Hero Deku! No fair! Hiro has two hero parents and they’re super freaking cool! My mom can only bend metal spoons!” another child pouts.

“They’re not—” Katsuki interrupts Hiro’s correction by hugging the boy close to his side and dropping him a wink.

“Yup, that’s right, tikes. Both me and Hero Deku are his parents! That’s super awesome, ain’t it? Be sure to ask him all about it the next time you see him, alright?” The look Hiro throws his way at his cheery tone could curdle milk. Katsuki lets it roll off his back with an Izuku-esque smile. Call it payback for the tongue-lashing he’ll receive from Shouto for walking off the clock earlier.

Fuyumi comes to Hiro’s rescue with a pointed look at Katsuki. “Katsu—I mean Dynamight, the children have to get back to their lesson now. Maybe you can come back on career day and tell the kids about your job?” Leave it to Fuyumi to turn a joke into an obligation. Judging by the little uptick of her lips, she’s done it completely on purpose. She’d been trying to get him to come to career day for years. Now he’s trapped. Katsuki grinds his teeth but maintains the smile. “Sounds good. Who knows, maybe Deku will come too.”

“Wonder Duo! Wonder Duo! Wonder Duo!” the kids chant. Hiro’s scowl pushes deeper into his cheeks at the cheering, Katsuki wondering if the kid might suffer permanent disfigurement from the severity of the expression. “Alright kids, gotta get going now. Thank you, Ms. Fuyumi. Hiro, thank Ms. Fuyumi,” Katsuki instructs, giving Hiro a little nudge.

Hiro looks at him with a scathing glare that might’ve made Katsuki shiver any other day. But today? Nah. Today he’ll be a super dad and take the kid’s sass with a smile. Silence hangs in the room for a few awkward breaths. Fuyumi starts shifting from foot to foot in the little nervous ticky way she does. But Katsuki holds out, crimson cool against burnt orange.

Eventually, Hiro gives in. Unhappily, but he does. “I guess…thank you, Ms. Fuyumi.” He doesn’t look at her in the face, and his voice is barely above a whisper. Progress is progress though and Katsuki’s just glad the kid didn’t resort to a blind-and-escape route (something he’d become somewhat famous for around the elementary halls).

“You’re quite welcome, Hiro-chan,” Fuyumi chirps before ushering them out of the classroom. “And Katsu-chan, make sure we see you for dinner soon, okay? Dad’s been complaining about not seeing any of our friends recently. Retirement doesn’t look good on the Endeavor.” She says the last bit in that hyper-masculine voice she does for her dad and Katsuki can’t help but cackle while Hiro continues walking down the hall.

Katsuki waves her off through his laughter. “Yeah, yeah. See ya later, Fuyumi!”

He turns around to see that Hiro has somehow already made it down the long hallway and is impatiently waiting by the door. Katsuki takes his time, eyes tracking all the artwork littering the walls. There’s a few done by Kouya, bright colorful things of him and Hiro mostly. But there’s one of Izuku and Katsuki that makes Katsuki pull his phone out to take a picture before he can even think twice.

When he hears Hiro’s exaggerated huff, he’s thirty texts deep to Izuku and about twelve crying emojis into Izuku’s responses. He pockets his phone with a watery sigh, wiping his eyes because apparently he’s the sort of sap that cries at children’s drawings now (a verified and tested statement). “Alright, alright, hold your horses, squirt. You’re in a rush and you don’t even know where we’re going,” Katsuki drawls while hustling down the hallway to meet the irritated child.

“Anywhere is better than here. I can’t deal with these damn idiots anymore today,” he grumbles.

“Gonna owe the swear jar for that one,” Katsuki says matter-of-factly. He shoulders open the door, waving goodbye to the office attendant before shuffling the boy out into the bright sun.

“You literally said fuck this morning!” Hiro protests, jabbing an accusatory finger in Katsuki’s direction.

“And you just said it now so you owe the jar twice!” Katsuki laughs. The jar was pretty ingenious. Bad for Katsuki, but damn did Hiro hate owing it. In lieu of money, every time someone swears they owe a written compliment about someone else in the house. Special rule that it had to be a different person every time.

Katsuki’s favorite part of the week is watching Hiro gnaw on the end of his pencil as he tries to find something nice to say about him and Izuku. Once he’d written to Izuku: “you don’t suck” and Izuku just about cried. Katsuki had gotten: “you make good eggs,” and crowned himself the egg king specifically to spite a sour Izuku. Hiro breaks Katsuki out of his head by tugging on the car’s door handle about a hundred times. “Jeez, relax, little man.” He unlocks the door and helps Hiro with his bag before hopping into the driver's seat with nerves starting to bubble in his chest. His plan isn’t exactly an amazing one… but there’s really only one thing he would’ve wanted from his parents in Hiro’s situation.

“We’re gonna go to the arcade, that alright?” he asks, all of a sudden he’s feeling a little timid and unsure.

The kid’s eyes practically bug out of his head. “The arcade? But aren’t I…”

“In trouble? Nah. I mean, we’re gonna talk about it probably. But you’re not in trouble, little man, don’t worry.” Hiro’s apparently too shocked to keep up his indifferent act and if Katsuki didn’t know any better (he doesn’t) he’d say there was genuine excitement starting to buzz in his eyes. He schools it after a moment but that brief flash tells Katsuki everything he needs to know.

“I wasn’t worried. I don’t care if I get in trouble,” Hiro retorts haughtily, his eyes go back to dim orange, and arms settle over his chest. Katsuki sighs internally, he’s the most teenaged ten-year-old Katsuki had ever met.

Katsuki just hums and pats the kid on his knee. “Well, even if you don’t care, was just lettin’ you know. Now, arcade, right?” He presses the push to start and immediately makes sure the air conditioning is set off and the music is all the way down, mindful of the way Hiro always jumps when either turn on when he isn’t expecting it.

“Whatever.”

“Cool.” Car in drive, Katsuki starts mentally fretting instantly. It lasts for all of a few moments before he decides to just… have a normal day with the kid and worry about everything else later. He can do this.

“Being a top hero seems like it sucks,” Hiro states while eyeing the ridiculous get-up Katsuki disguised himself in.

Katsuki doesn’t know what to say, cause, yeah, sometimes it really does. It’s not really that people don’t respect his privacy, it’s just that they expect a whole hell of a lot from them when they’re in public. Not just for heroics, but decorum, language, or shit like kissing babies. He just wants to have a normal day with the kid, no photo-ops or being guilted into a line of autographs. So, black medical mask, Red Riot hat, and dark lensed glasses it is. The hat is backwards at least…as if that made it any better or cooler (it doesn’t, he asked).

“What, you don’t like this shirt? It’s vintage Chargebolt merch, kid. Look, that dumba—guy even signed it,” he retorts, pulling at the shirt to show off the signature that Denki had done like…right after his debut. He was a bit more confident than everyone else in their class that he’d have soldout merch within the first six months. He hadn’t been right, but that just meant Katsuki had a bunch of shirts to clean the house in. Hiro snorts. “You know that says ‘to my favorite kitty kat’ right? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Katsuki’s cheeks color. Right. He forgot about that bit. Only shirt he’s got though so… “Nah. Stupid nickname from the guys. You’ll get some too later on. Hmm, I’ll have to think of one for you. I was the god of nicknames,” he says, pursing his lips in thought.

“God, can we get out of here before I catch your lame old man germs?” “Sure, I’m starting to come down with little-nerd-itis anyway,” he grins, faking a cough and waving in front of his face like he could dispel the imaginary sickness. Hiro gives him an unimpressed look but gets out of the car regardless.

“How do we only have five tickets?” Katsuki breathes while patting down his pockets hoping he misplaced them somewhere. “We came in here with 2,800 tokens!”

Hiro shrugs. “I don’t think we’ve been playing the right shit…” His eyes bug out of his head and he sighs. “I mean…” he gulps. “Your shirt is cool.” Hiro’s face is pinched like he just sucked on a lemon but Katsuki can’t deny himself a little “whoop” at the compliment.

He pats Hiro on the shoulder with a triumphant smile. “I freakin’ knew it!”

Trying not to gloat too much, he swivels his head around. They’d made good progress on the arcade, he doesn’t think they’d missed anything and Hiro had been having a good time. The little guy had even smiled a few times. It was progress even if that smile had quickly dispelled the instant Katsuki had looked. That was enough to call the day a success.

But then he sees an orange and red machine tucked away in the corner. It’s back behind a myriad of claw machines, hidden away like some dirty little secret. Katsuki knows what it is though and he can’t stop his feet from pounding on the sticky arcade floor while Hiro chases after him with a surprised yell.

“They have my damn game! Look at you! How could they do this to you? Shoved behind everything! Mei would fritz out if she saw this…” he bemoans, stroking the control pad of the arcade machine. It’s something he and Mei had come up with—Dyna’s Dynamite Adventure. It wasn’t particularly difficult, the objective was just to get a flying Dyanmight through several obstacles to earn his prize (a stupid little extra spicy version of a cup-of-noodles). He was excited when it came out and sold out within the first couple minutes. Seeing it like this was tragic… “You’re drawing too much attention to yourself, old man. Though, I guess you could be some sort of otaku mega-fan. You sure look the part. What’s so good about this stupid game anyways? Isn’t this playstyle outdated?” Katsuki’s heart sinks to the deep recesses of his chest. He clutches his chest in mock-pain.

“You’re wounding me, little man. This is the best game ever made. Here, give it a try. The high-score on this thing is criminally low.” He strokes the machine’s orange and black sides. “I should save you from this place…” he finishes wistfully.

Walking to the machine with a grimace, Hiro inserts a token and watches in boredom while the screen lights up with the start-up animation. The pixel Dynamight flies onto the screen followed by a series of tiny explosions into a brick wall that reveals the title. Little Dynamight shouts “Die!” before blasting into a building and thus begins the game.

Hiro’s hand grasps the joystick lazily, guiding pixel-Dyna through the obstacles. It’s simple at first, just a few boxes pixel-Dyna has to blast through or jump over and then some monsters rising from the ground here and there. But then it shifts to the flying portion where Hiro has to control the flying with the joy-stick, press the jump button, and also the attack button to destroy flying obstacles. He starts faltering, the little wrinkle between his brows becoming deeper.

He leans in closer to the screen, orange eyes intent on the little character. Katsuki watches him just as intently, knowing what’s coming but not wanting to spoil the twist. After a moment of more flying, a giant fire-breathing lizard pops out of thin air and says some sort of lame villain speech before hurling balls of fire at pixel-Dyna. Hiro sits forward even further, fingers mashing the buttons quickly. It’s no use because the firestream gets faster and one of the balls takes out pixel-Dyna.

The edges of Katsuki’s vision start to black from Hiro’s frustration. Katsuki taps his shoulder. He turns on him with an acidic look. “Your game is stupid. How is anyone supposed to dodge all that? It’s in the back because it’s unfair!” he all but pouts.

Hand patting his shoulder consolingly, Katsuki pouts with him. “Right, right. Want me to show ya, kid? You know I beat Izuku’s high score back when it first came out and his was like in the hundred thousands.” He’s not gloating. He just wants Hiro to think he’s cool for once. He had gloated when he’d originally beat Izuku’s score though. Then they’d bickered so much over it that they had to put the game in storage. Though…with the two little boys in the house, there might be an excuse to take it out again…

“Tch, like you could. Let’s see it, old man,” Hiro glowers. His little pout is fucking adorable. Katsuki wants to pinch his little cheeks so badly. He won’t but damn do his fingers itch to. Instead he settles in front of the machine, caressing the lightly sticky joy-stick like a long-lost lover.

“Watch and learn!” he bellows.

“I don’t understand, what the fuck! How does this bastard keep throwing me? This shit is bugged! I’m calling Hatsume again!” Katsuki yells. By now they’ve amassed quite the crowd, Katsuki not at all mindful of it as he grows more and more frustrated. Between him and Hiro, they must have put about a hundred bucks worth of tokens in the machine.

“Sirs, uh, other people would like a chance to play,” a pimply teenage worker says to them. Hiro turns a crazed eye at him before reaching into Katsuki’s wallet and placing a bank note in the guy’s sweaty hands.

“No they don’t. Leave us alone,” Hiro says cooly. Katsuki would grin pridefully if he wasn’t busy dialing Mei’s number.

“You’ve reached Iida Mei, or Hatsume Mei, or if you’re my neighbors downstairs ‘that crazy girl,’ leave a message if my inbox isn’t full—No, Tenya! Not my baby, stop! Oh my fuck—I told you not to—” Katsuki clenches his jaw, hearing the voicemail message for the thirteenth time in the past hour.

“She’s not answering her damn phone!” He swings around at the teenage worker, an accusatory finger pressing in between his eyes. “What kinda scam you runnin’ here? You think you can just take good money from people on a faulty game?”

Hiro grips the side of Katsuki’s shirt and points up at the teenager too with glare. “Yeah! That’s my old man’s hard-earned money you’re stealin’!”

Katsuki has to steady himself from the realization that Hiro just used “my” and “old man” in the same sentence to describe him. He feels like he could burst into tears, but he holds back, if nothing else because he’s pissed.

“Um, I-I just work here…I make m-minimum wage, I have nothing to do with these machines, please don’t yell at me…” the kid warbles.

“What seems to be the problem here, boys. I heard quite a ruckus while I was patrolling outside!” a bubbly voice exclaims.

“Oh my god, it’s Pinky! What’s she doing here?” someone shouts.

“Maybe she’s here to take care of those two hoodlums!” another voice replies.

Katsuki rushes up to her, placing her hands on his shoulder. “Thank god you’re here, Pinks. They’re running some kinda scam arcade business here! Can you believe that? That machine ate like three-hundred bucks!” He shakes her just a bit, wide-eyed amusement settling over her features.

She flicks him in the nose. “Dude, you have to get a grip! You’re lucky you have this mask on, your PR manager would murder you.” She turns to the crowd and waves them off with a wide, dramatic motion. “No worries everyone, I’ve handled the situation, go back to having fun and remember I have a special performance next week, kay?” She’s so sparkly when she says it that everyone does as she says, turning away from the brightness of her smile and movements in seconds.

Then she crouches down in front of Hiro, grabbing his hands excitedly. “You must be little Kat! I thought you were supposed to be the reasonable one, you’re really letting him act silly in public, huh?” Surprisingly, Hiro doesn’t say anything about her touch, he doesn’t even pull away. He just stares at her with surprised orange eyes. Katsuki wants to huff, leave it to his dumbass friends to be able to break past the kid’s defenses in a matter of seconds.

“You think I can stop him from being dumb… He’s wild, Miss Pinky,” Hiro breathes like he’s in some kind of trance.

Mina scrubs her hand through his hair. “My god, you’re adorable! Call me auntie instead, okay?” she cheers before pulling the kid in for a tight hug. “So, so cute. Katsuki, how could you hide him from me like this, look at his little face!” she coos while pinching Hiro’s cheeks together in one pink hand.

He rolls his eyes trying to pretend like he isn’t sickly jealous. He wants to hug Hiro too! The only one who accepts hugs is Kouya and it’d taken a few weeks to get there. Even now, Hiro’s looking at him like if he says anything he’ll murder him in his sleep. Katsuki snaps a photo regardless.

“C’mon, get offa the kid, Minnie. Didn’t you hear me when I said this place is running a scam operation? As an on-duty hero, you should be reporting this place!” He tugs at Mina’s arm until she stands with a giggle.

“You’re a hero too, yanno. Besides, just because you suck at this game doesn’t mean I should report the place,” she laughs. “Anyways, you know Izuku’s been spamming the groupchat for hours asking if anyone’s seen you? Did you forget you have a husband and another kid?”

Katsuki scoffs, offended. “Izuku knows where we’re at! He’s just jealous that me and Hiro are here having fun!” He grows puzzled, though, when he checks the setting sun. “Say, what time is it anyway?”

Mina makes a show of checking her watch. “Six o’ seven.”

The gasp the leaves Katsuki’s chest is loud. He pivots on his heel to a startled Hiro. “Six? Hiro, we’re in deep shit. Come on, kid, we gotta jet right now!” Without ceremony, he grabs Hiro up, flinging him over his back, Hiro letting out a scared squawk. He hangs on though and Katsuki leaves the place like he stole something, tickets and tokens dropping from his pockets like he’s some type of Super Mario villain.

“Where are we going? Why did you grab me like that?” Hiro stutters, shaking hands digging into Katsuki’s shoulders.

“I haven’t messaged Mr. Izuku all day. I’m gonna be in so much trouble, fuck,” he hisses. He’s almost to the car when he hears an unmistakable crackle in the air. “Hiro, protect me, kay? You see Mr. Izuku, you blind him, got that?”

Hiro makes a noise of affirmation as they turn to face Izuku who has Kouya on his back too. Izuku’s expression is dark, voice even darker when he speaks. “Kacchan.”

“Hey, Baby,” he says nervously. Then, “Hiro, now!” Katsuki side steps blackwhip at the same moment as Hiro points and Izuku’s eyes go white.

“Mr. Izuku, did he take your eyes? Mr. Izuku, don’t worry, I got it!” Kouya shrieks, pointing his fingers at Katsuki. The only thing tech-related on Katsuki’s body is his phone in his pocket and that thing explodes in his pocket, ruining his pants and shocking his skin.

Hiro gapes. “Kouya! Don’t attack Mr. Katsuki with your quirk!”

Kouya shoots them an icy look. “You used yours on Mr. Izuku! Mr. Izuku was worried about you both, you didn’t say anything all day! Plus you didn’t take Kouya with you to have fun. Kouya is mad at you!”

Katsuki shifts foot to foot as he sees the genuine ire on the boys’ faces. “Alright, alright, kids, no more quirks. Neither of you should be using them. Hiro, give Mr. Izuku his eyes back, please,” Katsuki instructs. He’s feeling more than a little guilty when Izuku blinks in disorientation seconds later.

Less so when blackwhip wraps around him and Hiro and it drags them down the sidewalk until Izuku’s face is inches away from his own. “Any reason you neglected to let me know what you were up to all day, Kacchan?” His voice isn’t that serious, Katsuki knows Izuku isn’t genuinely mad at him. Still, his green eyes are hard—more worried than anything else.

Katsuki grins nervously, scratching the back of his neck. The kids are still glaring at each other and he doesn’t want to add more fuel to the fire. “We were being scammed! You know Dyna’s Dynamite Adventure, right? Well they have a machine here and we couldn’t get past the lizard. Baby, we put like three hundred bucks in the machine and we couldn’t do it. Then Mina was there and wow, Hiro loves Mina, don’t you, squirt. C’mon tell Mr. Izuku all about it,” Katsuki rambles.

Hiro says, “I don’t love her!” at the same time as Izuku excitedly shouts, “They had Dyna’s Adventure there? Is it still open? Can we go back?”

They all pause before Kouya juts out his lip. “Kouya is still mad at all of you. I want to have fun too!” he cries.

Blackwhip dispels and Katsuki lets Hiro off his back before taking Kouya into his arms. He balances him on his hip, the kid’s lip trembling with poorly contained emotions. “Oh, Kouya, Mr. Katsuki’s so sorry.” Arms wrapped around his back he presses Kouya’s head against his chest, petting blue locks.

Izuku strokes the kid’s back softly. “There’s a comic store nearby, wanna go there? They might have those cool cards you like. How about that? You could take them to school and show everyone if you want!” his husband murmurs.

Hiro had been watching the entire exchange closely, something different in his eyes than normal. It’s puzzled, like he’s trying to figure out how to feel about something. Then it shifts again and he looks content for once—happy. Katsuki doesn’t stare too long, not wanting to break the spell. But then Hiro joins him in hugging Kouya and, well, Katsuki can’t help but grasp Hiro’s back tightly. Izuku’s mouth drops open but he recovers quickly, running his hands through Hiro’s soft locks as he too begins to tear up.

“Kouya, we’re sorry. I got a little in trouble at school so Mr. Katsuki wanted to make me feel better, right, Mr. Katsuki?” Hiro says softly. Fingers tangling in both Katsuki and Kouya’s shirts, he sounds genuinely sorry.

“Yes, that’s right. Let’s go get those action cards, huh?” Katsuki replies, nuzzling into Kouya’s hair. The little boy is jelly in his hold, eyes coloring Katsuki’s shirt a deeper yellow from his sniffles and tears.

“O-Okay. But you promise you don’t hate Kouya?” he hiccups. That’s when Izuku joins them in the hug, bringing them all into his arms with his scary One-For-All strength. Katsuki can’t see his face but he suspects his husband is crying. His theory is proven correct when Izuku’s frame shakes around them.

“We could never hate you, Kouya! Never! We love you both very much!” Izuku sobs.

“You love us?” Hiro says, shocked. Katsuki raises a brow, pushing off Izuku’s chest so the big oaf drops them. Immediately, Katsuki drops to his knee to Hiro’s height, Kouya still clinging desperately to his chest.

“Of course we do, are you kidding? Look, it hasn’t been very long but we love you both very much. You don’t have any idea how much better you have both made our lives. You’re both everything to us. We love you, Hiro. And you, Kouya,” Katsuki says seriously.

Izuku drops down with them, his tears now dry. “We do, both of you. You’re like our missing puzzle pieces. Everything makes sense now.” He pulls Hiro against his chest and suddenly it hits Katsuki that Hiro’s crying too. Izuku swipes the tears off his cheeks and Hiro turns to hide his face in Izuku’s shoulder.

“I love Mr. Izuku and Mr. Katsuki very much. A-And Hiro. So much,” Kouya cries into Katsuki’s shoulder.

“Love ya more, kid,” Katsuki sniffles, ruffling his hair. “Now how about that comic store, boys? We’re putting on a bit of a show here and Mr. Izuku isn’t exactly disguised…” Katsuki trails off, pulling them all to their feet, Kouya refusing to be set down. He holds onto him tightly and then holds his hand out to a sniffling Hiro.

Hiro regards his hand seriously for a second before taking it and then offering his other one to Izuku. Izuku looks like he’s about to burst into a million green fireworks but he takes it anyway, smiling brightly.

“Love my boys,” he says quietly. And then he tugs them all down the street quickly. Katsuki knows that they’ll leave the store with more for Izuku than the two boys, but he’s willing to spend whatever so long as they’re all happy. For Katsuki, well, he couldn’t be happier than he already is, new comics or not (though, he had been eye-ing the new issue of teenage All Might…maybe he’ll get something for himself too…).

“Izuku, I’m telling you, you’re wrong. When All Might went to high school he never took English! It wasn’t part of the curriculum!” Katsuki whispers aggressively while unlocking the door and toeing it open. He shuffles in with Hiro in tow, mindful not to make too much noise so he doesn’t wake up the sleeping Kouya resting over Izuku’s shoulder.

He sets all the bags down (they’d somehow managed to get out with only six) on the floor and turns to his husband with his eyebrow arched.

Izuku matches his expression, shaking his head. “Wrong. He was fluent when he met Mr. Shield. There’s no way he learned it on his own, he was too busy training!” he whispers back, though louder than Katsuki had. Kouya stirs in his arm and they both freeze.

“Can you two idiots shut up? You’ve been at this for hours. Who cares when that relic learned English!” Hiro whispers in exasperation while rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“We do!” they say in unison.

Hiro sighs. “I’m going to sleep…” he trails off, shaking his head in quiet disbelief before walking down the hall.

“See what you did, Izuku, now Hiro left us!” Katsuki hisses.

“What I did? You totally started it, Kacchan!” Izuku shouts.

Suddenly Kouya shoots up and grabs Izuku’s cheeks. “Mr. Izuku is too loud! Shut up!” he mumble-yells then snuggles back into Izuku’s neck.

Izuku shoots daggers at him while Katsuki chokes with laughter. “Yeah, shut up, Mr. Izuku,” he jokes. He then turns around, waving Izuku off. “Put Ko to bed, I’m gonna go check on the little man.”

“You’re laughing now, wait ‘til I get a hold of you during training tomorrow, Kacchan,” Izuku grunts, letting a rope of blackwhip flick out against Katsuki’s butt. Katsuki jumps, still laughing. He lets Izuku get away with it for the sole reason that he doesn’t want to rile the kids up into another storm of their joint antics.

He toes off his shoes before padding into the hall, intent on making sure Hiro’s alright before he goes to sleep. Emotions had gotten pretty high at the end of their little outing and Katsuki knows it can be a lot for anyone, let alone someone so young. Someone who had gone through so much too. Undoubtedly Hiro has a lot to think about and process. If he needs to do that alone, Katsuki will let him, but not before he makes sure he’s alright.

Knocking on the door softly, he waits to hear Hiro’s voice telling him to come in. He sounds tired, exhausted, really. Part of Katsuki feels bad for having them both out so late, but they’d both been smiling the whole time, even when he and Izuku had started bickering. It’s worth it, if anything.

Now he opens the door with an open look, seeing the boy in his mismatched pajamas sitting on his bed. He’s got a sketchbook balanced in his lap, not even bothering to hide it when Katsuki comes in like he normally might. The sketchbook had been a source of his and Izuku’s curiosity for a while; they’d left it alone because they didn’t want to invade his privacy.

“Can I show you something?” Hiro asks with uncharacteristic openness.

Katsuki doesn’t jump up and down in excitement like he wants to, instead just nods his assent and joins the boy on the bed. “What’s up, squirt? Got a little masterpiece to show me?”

A blush rises on the boy’s cheeks, black locks flowing wildly with his shaking head. “It’s not much, I’m not a very good artist but… you remember how you and Mr. Izuku saved me, right? Well, me and Kouya? I keep thinking about it…and those kids today I was trying to show them that, how you both did that because they were… being mean about you or whatever. I didn’t mean to show them only the monsters, you two were there too but they got scared and I—” Hiro chokes off, shaking his head more aggressively. “I didn’t mean to scare them, Mr. Katsuki. I never wanted to hurt anyone!” he finishes in an earnest shout.

Nodding in understanding, Katsuki pulls the shaking boy into his lap, forgetting the sketchpad for now. “I believe you, Hiro, don’t worry. What were those little shi—kids saying?” he asks, patting the boy's back who shifts until he’s leaning his head against Katsuki’s chest.

“They were saying that there were better heroes than you and Mr. Izuku, that their favorite heroes deserved the top spots more than you did. I think they were talking about someone named Grape Soda? Or Grape Juice or, I don’t know. It annoyed me because I’ve seen you and Mr. Izuku fight, you really are the Wonder Duo!”

Katsuki bites back the snide comment he wants to make about Minoru in favor of holding the boy closer to his chest. “That’s very sweet of you to say, little man. But don’t worry too much about defending me and Mr. Izuku, okay? People will always think what they want but me and Mr. Izuku deserve to be where we are. We know that, so what other people say doesn’t matter.”

Truly, he’s more than touched that Hiro had been trying to defend them. He makes a mental note to tell Fuyumi the truth of what happened and let her know to keep a closer eye on how Hiro is “misbehaving.” If he’d gotten in trouble today for a good reason, how many other times had something similar happened? Hiro wasn’t a trouble-maker at his core, just a troubled kid with a strong sense of justice.

“I know, they’re just so damn annoying! And it was so embarrassing feeling like I wanted to defend you; I felt like Mr. Izuku with All Might!” Hiro groans.

“Hmm, well, that’d be sorta fitting, right? I mean, All Might basically helped raise Mr. Izuku and that’s what we’re doing here. It’s alright to feel defensive of the people in your life. But with your quirk, you gotta be careful. How about you just show people drawings or pictures of us fighting instead of trying to show them in their heads?” Katsuki offers calmly.

“That reminds me, here!” Hiro leans forward to grab the sketchbook, shuffling off Katsuki’s lap as he does so. “Don’t make fun of me or I’ll tell Mr. Shouto on you,” he huffs.

A laugh bubbles from his chest. If there was one person Katsuki might be a little scared of, it’s definitely Shouto when he’s pissed. So, Katsuki raises his hands in surrender. “Scouts honor!” Then that sketchbook gets dropped in his lap and Katsuki bursts into tears for probably the hundredth time that day. It dawns on him that he’s cried more in the past few months than he ever has in his life. But how could he resist the awesome cuteness of the boys? Or the heart-wrenching pictures they draw?

On the clean white paper is clearly a well drawn family in crayon. Two men and two boys all holding hands. There are monsters in the background, fire, and destroyed buildings, but the family is wrapped together tight. There’s a large green man, a shorter orange one, a medium sized red kid, and a tinier blue one. They have no faces, but Katsuki knows who it’s meant to be.

He asks still for no other reason than to hear Hiro say it. “This is us?” he warbles.

“Hey, why are you crying? I didn’t mean to make you sad, Mr. Katsuki. Please don’t cry,” Hiro frets. He drags his sleeve over his hand and roughly dries the tears soaking Katsuki’s face. The irony of the action isn’t lost on Katsuki. He’s definitely supposed to be the one drying the kid’s tears, not the other way around.

His hand grabs at Hiro’s and he holds it in his own, squeezing a bit. “‘M not sad. I’m just really happy. We look like a little family. Is that what you want?”

“I-I don’t know. I’ve never had a family before. I don’t even remember my parents. They dropped me at the orphan place before I could remember them… All I know is that they didn’t want me and that they had tried to sell me for my quirk but it hadn’t come out yet so no one wanted me. Then I had foster parents for a while but they were bad people who wanted me to do bad things,” Hiro informs him as simply as someone might talk about the weather.

This is all news to him and in the face of it, Katsuki’s having yet another moment where he feels like he’s drowning, not knowing which way to go or the right thing to say. Aizawa’s advice echoes in the back of his mind, but there’s only so much it applies to. As a child, Katsuki never experienced something like Hiro or Kouya. He opens his mouth a few times, breathing heavily like a gasping fish.

A question is the only thing he can manage. “Did they… how did you get out?” he asks weakly, looking at the little boy in shock.

Hiro breathes out once. “Someone tried to save me. I’m not sure if he was a villain or a hero that was secretly bad. But he promised he would come for me. But then he never did. I hate him, Mr. Katsuki. I don’t know his name but I hate him,” Hiro swears, voice dripping with acid.

Katsuki’s vision blacks at the corners and he immediately jumps into action, pulling Hiro to his side and wiping off the hot tears that spew from his eyes. “I know, honey, I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have promised you if he couldn’t do it.” He rocks them both back and forth, Hiro’s stiff body eventually relaxing in his hold.

“I knew a boy like you once, except I only met him as an adult. He became a hero, you know? Even though the mean people never really let go of him, he was a good man. You’ll be like that too, even if bad things happened to you, even if people were mean to you, you’ll become a good man too, Hiro,” he mutters, smoothing down the boy’s black spikes that refuse to lay down.

Hiro nods as Katsuki’s story, the pained look still remains on his face, however. “Mr. Katsuki, I want a family, but it is hard to… believe that everything will be okay. I like it here, Kouya is happy, and you and Mr. Izuku take good care of us. It’s just… I have a hard time…” he admits.

Katsuki wants to praise the kid for being so emotionally intelligent. What ten-year-old knows himself like this? Then again, there’s a distinct reason for it that sours the impressed feeling. Only through pressure can there be a diamond-like Hiro, that’s for certain.

He brushes the hair off the boy’s forehead. “You can go at your own pace, little man. Kouya’s littler so he doesn’t understand as much, it’ll be easier for him. For you, it’s okay to take your time. You can let us know when you’re ready for things just by doing them, alright? We’re never gonna be mad at you for being more reserved. We just want to love you.”

Hiro searches his eyes for what feels like a very long time. Katsuki isn’t sure what he’s looking for, or what he ends up seeing that makes him nod. “Okay. But you have to pinky swear you’re not gonna leave me. Mr. Izuku too. I-I don’t want to go back to that place ever again.” A small pinky extends in the space between them and Katsuki takes it in earnest.

“I swear it, on my life,” Katsuki utters seriously. He’s never been more serious about anything else in his life. He would die for these kids, dramatic as it sounds. And maybe it’s only then that he understands what a parent’s love truly is, why his parents always seemed to take everything with him so seriously. How he feels now… he’s never felt it before. It’s different than the love he has for Izuku or his folks, it feels soul-crushing yet strong and lasting.

He lets out a ragged breath as he pulls the kid into another hug and kisses the crown of his head. “Love you, little man.”

Hiro’s fingers fist in Katsuki’s shirt. “Thank you, Mr. Katsuki.”

Chapter Text

“Wake up, wake up! C’mon me and Hiro have a surprise for your birthday!” Kouya shrieks. He jumps up and down on Izuku’s stomach, knocking a groan from his chest.

“Alright, alright, you’re gonna end up killing the old man, Ko. Off you go,” Katsuki chides, smoothly sliding his hands under Kouya’s arms to deposit him on the floor. Kouya pouts and kicks him in the shin before sticking his tongue out and running from the room. Izuku laughs at the “what can you do” shrug Katsuki gives him.

“Ya gonna get up or are your old bones prohibiting you from moving?” he jokes, peering over Izuku’s frame. The man lets out a heavy sigh, fingers tangling in Katsuki’s too-big sleepshirt.

“Mm, can you be my gift please?” he mumbles sleepily, pulling Katsuki down until he’s in range to receive a barrage of kisses.

Katsuki entertains it for at least a minute, enjoying his husband’s attention. He pulls back after a moment, much to Izuku’s dismay. “We are very fortunate to have two beautiful sons who have prepared a surprise for you, ‘zuku. That’ll be your gift, but maybe if you’re nice and sit through all their things, I’ll give you another kiss after they’ve gone to bed.” Katsuki winks dramatically and Izuku snorts.

His husband salutes him while sitting up. “Heard. Just one more, though? C’mon I got home late, I miss my Kacchan!” he makes grabby hands at Katsuki and juts out his lip. Stupid adorable bastard, Katsuki gives in, letting the man’s lips capture his again.

“Ew! Old dudes kissing! Kouya, I told you they were gonna be disgusting if we left them alone too long!” Hiro shouts from the doorway.

He and Izuku jump apart like two teenagers caught making out. Katsuki counts down from five in his head and… yeah, just as he thought, Hiro blacks their vision and jumps in between them, landing with a harsh thud on Izuku’s lap.

Izuku groans loudly and Katsuki lets out an exasperated sigh. “Get back, evil-doer! Unhand the birthday man, right now!” Hiro shouts, shoving at Katsuki surprisingly pretty hard. He stumbles back blindly while a frown mars his features.

“Young man, how many times have I told you that you can only use your quirk in emergency situations outside of school?” Katsuki says with his hands on his hips. He hopes he’s looking in Hiro’s direction, but he really doesn’t know. Hiro had gotten surprisingly good at using his quirk over the past few months.

“Yeah, remember what happened last time, little man? We don’t want any accidents to happen, okay?” Izuku says, backing him up.

“But this is an emergency! You old guys are taking too long! Come on! Come on!” Katsuki thinks he hears Hiro jump up and down but he can’t be sure until he hears Izuku groan loudly.

“Eyes back, please,” Katsuki sighs.

“Fine, but you have to come out! Promise?”

“Of course we promise, I was just coming out when you came in here!” Izuku says, voice still a little pained.

“Really? Cause it looked like you were smooching this other old man!” Hiro shouts. Despite his protests, their vision comes back fully—another thing they’d been working on with him.

Katsuki shakes his head and tuts. “Ya better hope I don’t tell Sensei that you used your quirk on us again! Remember what he said last time?”

Hiro gapes at him before he rushes forward (standing directly on Izuku’s stomach. Again.). “Please no! Sensei Toshi told me if I do it again that I won’t get to play with Princess Sparkles! I love her so much, please daddy don’t tell him!”

Katsuki takes a step back, all the color leaving his face while Hiro slaps a hand over his mouth. “Daddy?” Katsuki whispers softly. Hiro’s entire face goes pink, body moving quicker than Katsuki can catch him. He flies from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Katsuki immediately turns to Izuku. “He called me…” he can’t even finish it. Izuku’s looking at him like the sun just crashed into their bedroom.

“Holy shit, Kacchan,” Izuku curses, his mouth gaping. He stands up, arms encircling Katsuki’s waist tightly.

It goes without saying but for the last couple of months, they’d still been going by their names with both kids. They didn’t want to rush into anything and were letting them both decide on it. It would have been fine by them if the kids only wanted to use their names for the rest of their lives. Hearing it now, though? God, Katsuki never wants to hear his name from either of them again. He’s so happy he could sob.

But instead of tears, only excited laughs bubble out. “Baby, this is huge. Holy shit,” Katsuki murmurs into Izuku’s shoulder. “I’m sorry that I got a gift on your birthday.”

Katsuki’s body shakes from the rumble of Izuku’s laughter. “That’s alright, Kacchan.” His husband pulls back to look at him, eyes shining. “It is huge. And exciting. We should probably get out there, huh?”

Nodding his head, he lets Izuku lead him out into the living room where the two boys are standing on the sofa. Kouya has his little hand on his brother’s shoulder and he’s whispering into his ear quietly. They jump apart, though, when the two adults enter the room. Hiro doesn’t make eye contact with either of them but Kouya looks on in determination.

From somewhere behind him (Katsuki isn’t sure where) Kouya pulls out a foam sword he won at the arcade. “Mr. Midoriya Izuku and Mr. Midoriya Katsuki, please kneel in front of your kings!” Kouya commands, small voice unwavering and periwinkle eyes serious.

Katsuki shares a look with his husband whose lips are ticked up in a smile, he shrugs and nods his head.

His husband kneels in front of the sofa. “Yes, of course, my liege, anything you say, my liege,” he says, falling into the little game of theirs.

Giving into the play, Katsuki does the same. “King Kouya, what is it that you and King Hiro desire from us?”

Kouya nudges Hiro who clears his throat. Although still not making eye contact, he looks down at them from his position on the sofa. “We’re gonna knight you! You two have been the two most noble c-countrymen in our kingdom! We’d want to reward your loyalty,” he says in a noble accent.

Izuku clutches his chest, eyes shining. “Oh, my lords, this is such a high honor. We don’t deserve it at all.”

“Quiet! Of course you do, Mr. Midoriya!” Kouya shouts, brandishing that foam sword so it's pointed in between Izuku’s eyes. Katsuki watches in amusement as Izuku’s eyes cross looking at the tip of it. “Speak badly of yourself again and taste my blade!”

“Sheesh, who will stop his reign of terror,” Izuku mutters under his breath. Then louder, “I’m sorry, my liege, as you wish.” Truly, maybe they’d been letting them watch too many regency-era movies, Kouya had been a right terror with everything he’d learned from them.

Kouya nods, accepting his apology. He’s so cute when he’s playing seriously, Katsuki wants to reach up and pinch his little cherub cheeks. He won’t because Kouya hates when people interrupt his games, but he really, really wants to.

Hiro clears his throat and looks at them fully, meeting their eyes for the first time since the incident. “With your knightly status you will be granted new names! Would you like to hear them?”

Katsuki and Izuku nod in tandem. “Yes, sire, please tell us. We’re honored that you even thought to give us new names!” Katsuki exclaims.

“Yes, yes. Now, first is the birthday-man. King Kouya, will you do the honors?” Hiro says, nudging his brother.

Kouya nods and moves on the couch so he’s standing directly in front of Izuku. The man’s so massive that Kouya still has to reach up to rest the foam sword on his shoulders. It makes it cuter, but it’s obvious that Kouya hadn’t planned for this because he gets a little wrinkle between his brows. Eventually, the frustration passes and he lets out a breath.

“Mr. Izuku, for many months now you have been a very good countryman. You’ve tucked us in every night, chased away the closet monsters,” Kouya pauses to shiver in fear, “and most importantly you tell us you love us all the time. Kouya never had a family before, neither did Hiro but, Mr. Izuku has helped show us what one is. So, it is my honor to dub you as papa!” Kouya cries in earnest before smacking the foam sword on each of Izuku’s shoulders.

After that, the only thing that hangs in the air is the sound of Izuku’s cries and Katsuki’s hand rubbing up and down his back. “I-I are you sure?” Izuku sniffles once he’s caught his breath.

The two boys nod enthusiastically. “More sure than anything, papa,” Kouya replies, knocking Izuku with the sword as he flings himself into his arms. Izuku catches him with a quiet “oof!” He crushes the little boy to his chest and Hiro looks like he wants to join in so Izuku ropes him in too. Katsuki lets his husband have his moment, lets the gravity of the kids’ decision rest on his shoulders. A wave of contentment passes through him. There’s definitely nothing more fulfilling than this, not one thing. If only he had known when he was a kid that he’d get to have something like this…god, he would have rushed to grow up.

Soon enough, Hiro jumps out of the hug pile, his cheeks colored red and stained with happy tears. Katsuki melts at the sight and melts ever still when he repositions himself on the couch and grabs the foam sword from where Kouya had discarded it.

“And I, King Hiro, dub you, Mr. Midoriya Katsuki, daddy! I’m sorry I said it on accident earlier, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise but me and Ko had been so excited. I’m not as good at words as Kouya, but daddy, thank you for loving us so much and always being patient no matter what,” he whacks Katsuki on either shoulder. “We love you forever.” Something unspoken passes between him and Hiro then, their conversation from months ago heavy on their hearts. Katsuki isn’t sure he’s been so successful in showing Hiro what a family was supposed to be. There’d been many more arcade days after that first one, for both good and bad reasons. Ups and downs, lefts, and rights, it was incredibly disorienting. Yet sitting here, watching as the boy cries for him and flings himself into his arms and murmurs his love, Katsuki’s sure they’d done something at least a little right.

His lips press into black spikes, arms holding the boy tenderly. “I love you too, little man. You too, little one,” Katsuki whispers, just loud enough for the other boy to hear. Slowly, they form one big hug once more, a tangle of limbs, a foam sword, and tears.

A few minutes of sniffling goes by before Izuku extricates himself and pads away. Katsuki looks up curiously, the boys settling around him on the floor and starting up some handgame they’d learned at school. He wants to call out to his husband but before he can even get a chance to, Izuku’s back carrying a large manila folder.

He seats himself on the floor next to Katsuki, expression unreadable. “Hey, boys. I actually think I can add to this new name thing, if you want,” he says, near breathlessly. Katsuki’s brow puckers but he reaches out a hand to comfort him regardless.

The boys turn to him curiously, eyes wide and perplexed. “What names?” they ask at the same time.

Izuku just smiles, opening the manila folder and sliding out two long forms. On top there’s two names, Midoriya Hiro and Midoriya Kouya written in bold-faced lettering.

Katsuki’s mouth drops open. “Izuku…” He searches his husband’s face for something, anything to reveal when or how he’d had the time to get these drawn up.

“M-Midoriya?! But that’s papa and daddy’s last name! You want us… you mean you’re keeping us forever?” Kouya shouts, taking up the papers like he’s even able to read more than just the names (he isn’t, but they’re working on it).

“Midoriya Hiro…” Hiro whispers slowly. He takes the papers too, reading them fully. “You’re gonna adopt us. We’re…we’re gonna be real brothers?” Then he turns to Kouya who’s just had the same realization.

“Brothers! Kouya we’ll be real brothers!” Kouya shouts. The papers get crumpled as they attack each other in hugs, swinging each other around in unbridled joy. Neither he nor Izuku bother to save the documents from their wrinkled fate, they just enjoy the boys’ happiness.

“Baby, when did you do that?” Katsuki whispers, knocking shoulders with his husband.

Izuku just hums, throwing his arm around Katsuki’s back, rough fingertips pressing against his waist lovingly. “Hmm, I didn’t. I mentioned it to All Might exactly once and the other day at lunch he dropped these off. He said he was too excited to be a grandpa that he couldn’t wait for the process. He apparently pulled some strings,” Izuku whispers back, his cheeks wide in a smile.

Laughter bubbles from Katsuki’s belly. “Grandpa All Might, huh? Could you imagine if we knew as teenagers that our kids would be calling All Might grandpa? You woulda lost your shit.”

A hand squeezes his side, “No, I woulda demanded we get married at sixteen and adopt as soon as we could, are you kidding? You don’t even know how I reacted when he called himself grandpa…” he laughs.

“Oh man, I’m mad I missed it. You cried didn’t you?” Katsuki teases, laying his head on his husbands shoulder as he observes the two boys chatter animatedly about how they’re going to announce their new names at school.

“You don’t even know. He had to call mom to calm me down!”

“She cried too, didn’t she?” Katsuki murmurs.

“So much, Kacchan. I could practically feel my cheek getting wet through the phone. She also demanded she finally get to meet them. She said your folks have been hounding her for pictures too ever since she heard we sent her some.”

Katsuki groans at that. “God. You know they’ve been planning a whole kids line in our colors in preparation? Are you ready for that?” He pinches the bridge of his nose. His parents were a lot of things, but mostly they were insanely ready to be grandparents. His mom had gone so far as to contact Fuyumi for the kids’ measurements.

Chuckles reverberate through Katsuki’s shoulder from Izuku’s body. His husband drags his hand up to kiss his knuckles. “Oh, come on, Kacchan. They’re gonna have so many grandparents. Between All Might, mom, auntie, uncle, Aizawa, Endeavor-san…they’re gonna end up fighting over who gets to come to grandparents day! Might as well work the boys up to it as soon as we can so they’ll be nice and calm at least by their high school graduation,” Izuku jokes.

“Not to mention their aunties and uncles. My pack of dumbasses and yours…jeez. They’re gonna be so loved, ‘Zuku,” he says through a watery smile.

Izuku’s curls settle in overtop Katsuki’s spikes. “So loved and the most protected children in the entirety of Japan.”

Katsuki’s heart warms tenfold, his being flooding with happiness as he imagines their boys’ futures. They’re so small now, it’s hard to imagine them ever getting older, but Katsuki knows what Izuku is saying is true. No matter what, no matter who the boys become, they’re going to have a pack of people who will love and protect them. They’ll always have a support system, someone to talk to, someone to hug them and dry their tears when they cry.

It’s the most fulfilled Katsuki has ever felt in his life, but not in the way that he feels like some kinda savior. No, he just feels genuinely complete. From his head to his toes, his entire body thrums with contentment, happiness, and a serious, breathtaking kind of selfless love.

The start of their journey was uncertain, and there’s still a lot they don’t know, still a lot of problems and issues to work through with their little boys. But sitting there wrapped up in his husband’s arms, the boys crawling across their laps to chatter aimlessly about their new names…Katsuki knows they’ll get through it together as a family.

Together with love, forever and always, the Midoriyas.