My Father's Son - Chapter 35

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Izuku fidgeted as they stood in the school courtyard, surrounded by other families, all with their own kids around the same age. There were staff all around them, fussing with paper packages on long tables, and a few parents interacting in quiet voices, their bored kids shifting from foot to foot as they waited for it to be over – Izuku knew the feeling well.

“Hey, do the kids have to be here?” Katsuki asked, before Izuku could voice it himself – though he probably would have said it quieter. “This is all paperwork and stuff, right? They should just go play.”

Izuku noticed that a few of the families didn't even have their kids with them, and he wondered if they should have enlisted a grandparent to take Hiroki and Yuuto for the evening. Before he could open his mouth, though, Katsuki was leaning over to talk to the boys, and Hiroki was smiling brightly – he wasn't sure exactly what he and Katsuki had talked about on the weekend, but it had gone on for a long time, curled up together in Katsuki's bed extra early, and whatever it was seemed to have done the trick. Hiroki was back to his normal self, and a weight had been lifted off Izuku's shoulders to see it.

“Come on, Yuuchan!” Hiroki grinned, grabbing his hand. “Let's get Ryou first, okay?”

Izuku blinked at their backs, stunned to see them run to a familiar set of faces, Mirio's dark eyes darting up to look at them. Izuku smiled awkwardly, and Mirio raised his hand in a wave, nodding when Hiroki took Ryouji's hand and continued on his path with his best friends on either side.

To his surprise, the boys didn't immediately head for the playground – instead, they stopped at the next family over, and Hiroki spoke up clearly and confidently.

“My name is Hiroki! This is Yuuto and this is Ryouji. Do you wanna come play with us?”

The little boy looked up at his family, getting a smile and a nod, and then they were off again, weaving neatly between people to reach the next bored-looking child.

Katsuki smirked when Izuku glanced at him, shrugging slightly, and Izuku managed a tiny smile in return. He should really have gotten used to the Bakugou antics by now, the ideas that most people would consider ridiculous, but somehow Katsuki and Hiroki were delighted by.

By the time he looked back, the courtyard was devoid of children, the little collection of them already making their way to the playground. When the school doors opened, the teachers seemed a little surprised to see no children among them, but they smiled and handed over sets of materials without a word about it.

“I didn't know Ryouji was coming here too,” Izuku said quietly, when they'd accepted their packages and filed into a classroom. “You never mentioned.”

“Course he is,” Katsuki shrugged. “Smart kid, good quirk, good family, where else would he be going?”

“Aww, Katsuki!” Mirio fawned, throwing an arm around Katsuki's shoulders and grinning wider when he tensed up. “Good family? That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!”

“You know what I mean,” Katsuki growled, pulling away stubbornly and pointedly taking the seat on Izuku's other side, away from Mirio's affections. “You have money and shit.”

“Good to see you, Midoriya!” Mirio grinned, unaffected by Katsuki's scowl. “How are you doing? How are the boys?”

“Oh, um, good! We're all good! It's good to see you!”

“That's good,” Mirio laughed, a hint of teasing in his expression as he sat down, waving Tamaki into the seat between himself and Izuku. “Ryouji has been a little worried about his Hiro.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm, said he seemed less talkative lately. Looked okay to me, just now, but what do I know?”

“Oh, yeah, he's been...” he trailed off, glancing at Katsuki.

“His mother showed up,” Katsuki explained bluntly. “Well, Yuuto's mother, I guess. Technically. She came looking for money and shit, Hiro didn't take it very well.”

“Understandably!”

“Yeah,” Katsuki nodded, glimpsing the surprise on Izuku's face as he looked over. “What, I'm not allowed to tell that shit to my f- coworkers?”

“Aww, he was gonna say friends!” Mirio teased. “I love you too, Katsuki!”

“Shut up.”

“I'm just surprised,” Izuku squeaked. “You're very... open?”

“If he's gonna be Hiro's father-in-law, he should know this shit.”

Mirio gasped, and Katsuki rolled his eyes as he looked away pointedly, watching the last of the parents trickle in to take a seat.

“Hiroki admitted he has a crush,” Izuku whispered. “Kacchan has been trying to be nice about it.”

“Finally! I'll start planning the wedding!”

“Give them another ten years,” Tamaki objected quietly. “It's not legal yet.”

“That's okay, it'll take me ten years to plan it anyway!”

Izuku smiled at the enthusiasm, even when Tamaki sighed at them, Katsuki still making a point of ignoring the trio altogether. When the staff stepped up to the front of the room, though, everyone fell silent to listen – Izuku was surprised by the level of respect, at first, but as he glanced around the room he felt like he began to understand.

Everyone just wanted it over and done with.

─────

The kids didn't even seem to notice when their parents returned from their meeting, absorbed in whatever game it was that they were playing, tiny bodies darting left and right as they ran and jumped and climbed. Izuku didn't catch on until he saw Yuuto pull out a familiar smirk, bracing his arm with the other hand and pointing it at some invisible enemy.

“Boom!” he yelled, surprisingly loud for such a quiet kid. “I got 'em!”

“Good work, Downfall!” another boy called, clambering up onto a climbing frame and flexing his stick-thin arm. “Good shot!”

“Thanks, Red Riot!”

Izuku cringed a little on their behalf, grateful for the sake of their teenage years that no one had pulled out a camera. Katsuki was a little less subtle, snickering into his hand, until one of the girls called herself “Lemillion” and he lost his self-control, coughing out a choked laugh.

“They're kids,” Izuku insisted. “Don't be mean!”

“I know that, nerd,” he spluttered. “But they don't know we're watching.”

Izuku understood exactly what he meant – unfortunately. As soon as one of the real heroes was on deck, the pretend games always ground to a halt. It was hard to pretend to be them when they were there, after all. He'd never thought twice about it when Yuuto was younger, always playing “All Might and Downfall” with him in the living room, but once they'd actually met the heroes, it had been a lot harder to get immersed.

He was pleased to know the boys still did it when they weren't around, though. That was a good start.

“Don't interrupt them,” Izuku pleaded, when he saw Mirio chuckling and Tamaki blushing at Katsuki's side. “They're having fun!”

“We're gonna go back inside,” Tamaki said quietly, nudging the other two along with him. “We'll give you a few minutes.”

To Izuku's surprise, the entire congregation of parents waited for them to be out of sight before they moved, approaching their kids with big smiles to drag them home for dinner.

Yuuto was the first to look up with alarm clear in his face, but Ryouji and Hiroki weren't far behind, eyes scanning over the group in a hurry. Izuku raised one hand in a wave, smiling as best he could despite his awkwardness, and Yuuto blushed when he saw.

“You boys ready to go home?” he asked, when they climbed down from the equipment. “Katsuki had to go to the bathroom, he'll be here in a minute. Oh, um, Ryouji, your Dads too. I said I'd come meet you guys so you didn't worry when no one was here.”

Yuuto breathed a sigh of relief, but Hiroki looked a little less convinced, eyeing Izuku sceptically.

“Dad never lets Dad go to the toilet without him,” Ryouji sighed. “It's weird. Hiro, you're not gonna guard the door when I pee, right? When we get married?”

“Shut up,” Hiroki blushed. “Stop saying that stuff, it's embarrassing.”

“Ryouji and Hiroki, sitting in a tree,” Yuuto whispered. “K-I-S-Ow! Hiroki!”

“No hitting,” Izuku frowned. “You know better, Hiroki.”

“Sorry,” Hiroki grumbled, looking away with a pout.

“And Yuuto, no teasing, that wasn't nice.”

“Sorry,” Yuuto huffed, eyes falling to his shoes.

When the heroes returned, the other parents shooting them knowing little smiles, Ryouji joined the little pout-party, lower lip jutting out as he gave Hiroki a sidelong glance.

“What happened here?” Katsuki asked, eyes flitting across the trio. “You guys fight or something?”

“Yuuto was teasing too much, Hiroki hit him.”

“What?” Mirio gasped, before Katsuki could even open his mouth. “Hiroki, you know heroes don't hit nice people!”

“I said sorry,” Hiroki grumbled. “He was being mean.”

Yuuto looked away sheepishly, refusing to meet any of the adults' eyes, and with a little sigh, Mirio dropped a hand on Ryouji's head.

“What about you, huh? What are you pouting for?”

“Don't wanna go home yet,” he whined. “Do we have to?”

“Everyone else is going home, they won't all be here to play with.”

“I don't care about all of them.”

“Normally I'd say we could stay a little,” Katsuki said in his sternest tone. “But it sounds like my little brats don't deserve it tonight.”

Hiroki's face fell, turning to Ryouji with his best apologetic look.

“I'm sorry for hitting,” Hiroki whispered. “I know it was bad, I won't do it again.”

“Good boy.”

“I'll stop teasing,” Yuuto added, without prompting. “I know you don't like it, it wasn't nice.”

“Good boy,” Katsuki repeated. “But you guys know we're still not staying to play.”

“We know,” they chorused, chastised.

“Sorry, Ryou,” Hiroki added.

“Be good next time,” Ryouji smiled, trapping Hiroki in a tight hug. “I'll miss you.”

He planted a little kiss on Hiroki's cheek, and despite his blush, Hiroki returned the gesture, refusing to look at their parents even when they'd parted. Ryouji ruffled his hair fondly, rumpling the already -messy curls, and when Hiroki whined, he only grinned back.

“Talk to you later, okay? Be a good boy!”

“I'm always good, you're the one who gets in trouble!” Hiroki objected. “You be good!”

“I will if you do!”

“Fine.”

Finally satisfied, Ryouji turned to look at Yuuto, offering him a hand and a smile.

“It was fun playing with you, Yuuto! See you next time!”

“Uh-huh,” Yuuto nodded, giving Ryouji a little high-five. “Byebye.”

Ryouji clambered up into Tamaki's arms, demanding to be held, and then they were exchanging their last goodbyes, parting ways to their cars. Izuku found it oddly quiet – he wasn't used to the boys getting in trouble, the lack of chatter between them was just too strange.

“Hey,” Katsuki said softly, looking back from the driver's seat. “You know we love you even when you do naughty things, right?”

“I know,” Hiroki agreed, Yuuto nodding along. “I love you too.”

“Love you,” Yuuto parroted. “Didn't mean to make you mad.”

“I'm not mad. You both apologised, that's the important thing. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, okay? We don't expect you to be perfect.”

Katsuki turned back to face the windscreen, starting the car up and double checking Izuku's seatbelt – Izuku knew it was just a habit from checking on the boys, but he still thought it was kind of sweet all the same. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Hiroki opened his mouth again, cheeks tinged with pink.

“Daddy?”

“Hmm?”

“I need a haircut.”

“Yeah, you are getting a little messy,” Katsuki agreed, glancing in the rear-view mirror. “I'll book you an appointment. Maybe we should send Papa along with you.”

Hiroki giggled for the first time in a while, and Izuku couldn't help but crack a smile, too distracted to notice the way Katsuki glanced over at him.

“That's not a no,” Katsuki smirked, watching green eyes widen as they snapped to him. “It's settled, then.”

“W-Wait, what?”

“Papa will look so handsome!” Hiroki beamed. “We can go together!”

With a little sigh, Izuku caved, nodding faintly and pointedly avoiding Katsuki's eyes.

“Fine, but don't do anything ridiculous.”

“I would never.”

─────

Izuku shivered, flipping the collar of his coat up to keep the wind off his neck. The snow had started up again, a little more common in February than their earlier falls, but still relatively rare for the area. It had been the coldest winter in recent history, the newscasters were all raving about it, and Izuku shuddered to think how he would have managed if Katsuki hadn't insisted on buying him a new coat.

“Didn't you bring a scarf?” Katsuki huffed, muffled beneath his layers of wool and fleece. “Idiot.”

“I didn't think I'd need one!” Izuku pouted. “We're not going that far!”

“Idiot,” Katsuki repeated, grabbing him by the sleeve and dragging him into a convenience store. “Never remotely prepared, you dumb nerd.”

He flipped through a rack of cheap winter supplies near the door, ignoring Izuku's quiet protests in favour of picking up a scarf and marching to the counter with it in hand. Izuku waited in the doorway, still pouting a little, with his hands wrapped around his body to regain some warmth.

When Katsuki returned, he came with a little bag of items, much fuller than Izuku expected from just a scarf.

“Katsuki, what did you-”

Katsuki cut him off with a thick woolen scarf, shoving it over his mouth first before he wrapped it around the back of his neck, ignoring the splutters and whines it produced. It was a deep burgundy in colour, a little christmas-y against his hair, Izuku thought, but he kept that thought to himself – Katsuki would bite his head off if he dared to question his fashion sense. A matching hat came out of the bag next, and Izuku sighed his resignation, letting Katsuki force it down over his thick curls.

“I'm booking you in for that damn haircut,” he grumbled. “You haven't had one since we met.”

“It's curly, it doesn't need it as often!” Izuku protested. “I don't turn into a dandelion like someone I could mention.”

“Haaah?! The hell is that supposed to mean, you damn nerd?!”

“I've seen the photos at your parents' house,” Izuku teased. “Your first day at U.A.?”

“Shut the hell up.”

“I will when you do.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes in a stubborn glare, but didn't bother to push it further, instead opening a plastic wrapper and shaking up the little package inside. He slipped it into Izuku's pocket and started on a second one, ignoring the little smile that peeked out from a new scarf, and soon there were two matching warm spots in Izuku's coat pockets, spreading their heat quickly across his body.

“Thanks, Kacchan,” he said softly, when Katsuki tucked the rest of the packet into his bag. “For taking care of me.”

“Someone has to,” Katsuki snorted, turning to leave the store but failing to hide the pink tint to his ears as he moved. “Come on, we're gonna be late.”

“Since when do you care about being late?”

“Shut up.”

Pulling his scarf up to cover his nose and his little smile, Izuku followed him out the door, giving him a minute to calm his blush before they returned to walking side by side. They walked in silence, the wind whistling around them, only stopping when they reached a road to cross.

Gloved fingers laced through Izuku's as they stopped to check for traffic, then Katsuki was leading him on ahead, still watching for sudden traffic until they made it safely across.

It took Izuku almost an entire block to realise that the kids were at home, that the hand in his was Katsuki's, and his heart started beating extra hard as he stumbled over half-words.

“What, nerd?” Katsuki growled, glancing back and freezing in his tracks. “Oh shit, I'm not- I didn't-”

“It's okay!” Izuku assured him, squeezing lightly in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. “I'm used to the boys doing it, I didn't even realise until-”

“Yeah, shit, I- I don't- I mean, I normally-”

“It's okay! Really!”

“Fuck.”

They fell silent, faces flushed equally red beneath their scarves, taking a minute just to breathe and get some semblance of composure back into their systems. When Katsuki began to walk again, izuku followed in a hurry, almost tripping over his own feet in his desperation to not be left behind – sure, he was a grown man, but it was also dark and cold and a part of town he didn't know that well, having Katsuki nearby made him feel significantly safer.

By the time they reached the restaurant doors, a warm glow radiating out into the streets, Izuku's heart seemed to have finally returned to normal. It was just a normal dinner in a typically fancy restaurant, Katsuki's pick as usual, a chance for the two of them to catch up and get to know each other a little better without children or parents around to interrupt.

Except, Izuku realised, as they wiped their shoes and stepped inside, Katsuki still hadn't let go of his hand.

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