My Father's Son - Chapter 39

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Yuuto shivered when they stepped into the stone building, tangling his fingers in Izuku's pant leg for comfort. He kept a wary eye on Shouto as they walked, torn between fascination over the number seven hero walking beside them, and terror over the number seven hero walking beside them. Shouto didn't seem to pay it too much mind, though. He'd briefly introduced himself and given Yuuto a little wave – one that Yuuto shyly returned, though he didn't speak – but then he'd settled for listening to Hiroki babble, occasionally chiming in with a short answer.

Izuku knew all too well that he wasn't the chattiest person, after their night of drinks, and he hoped maybe it would bring Yuuto a little comfort, when he realised he wasn't going to be dragged into small talk. He was prepared for shy Yuuto – he was always prepared for shy Yuuto, honestly – but he hoped maybe Shouto's cool, collected attitude would set him at ease quickly.

What he wasn't prepared for was another familiar face, waiting for them outside the locker rooms. A much skinnier face, with slightly sunken features, but a smile as wide as he was.

“Grampa Toshi!” Hiroki beamed, diving at him for hugs. “You made it!”

“I wouldn't miss it, Little Prince. Gotta see how my boy is doing with his training, and I'm excited to see Yuuto's quirk for the first time, too.”

“It's super cool!” Hiroki assured him, competing for biggest smile when he looked up at All Might's face. “You're gonna love it!”

“Good, I can't wait.”

“Well you're gonna have to,” Katsuki snorted, nudging past them to unlock the locker rooms. “Boys, come get changed.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the new clothing hung alongside Hiroki's in his locker, pulling down two sets for hangers and handing them over. Yuuto examined his in awe, stretching the material a little to test it, and Katsuki just smiled at him fondly.

“They're nothing fancy,” he said, almost apologetic in tone. “Just something that won't burn.”

“Practice costume!” Hiroki grinned, already pulling his shiny, stretchy shirt over his head. “We match! But you got red!”

Both the boys had black leggings of the same stretchy material, like Katsuki's running tights only much thicker. Sure enough, though, Hiroki's shirt was a dark, chocolate brown, where Yuuto's was a deep scarlet, not unlike his eyes.

“Oi nerd, catch.”

Izuku looked up just in time for clothing to hit him in the face, spluttering as he fumbled to grab it. For a moment he just stared in silence, confused, but when he looked up again he found a smirk on Katsuki's lips.

“Wouldn't wanna miss out on matching, would you?” he teased. “Besides, we don't want you getting hit with a stray fireball and burning your ass.”

“O-Oh,” Izuku stuttered, nodding faintly. “Um, th-thank you, th-that was really c-considerate.”

With trembling hands, he set to getting changed, a little awkward in the clingy materials. His own shirt was a dark, forest green, clinging just a little bit to his waist and hips, not enough to be completely uncomfortable but enough to make him suck in his stomach when Katsuki looked over.

“Relax, nerd, it's for safety. Yours and the boys'.”

“Y-Yeah, I know.”

To his surprise, Katsuki changed into his own matching set – completely black, rather than his favourite colour. Then again, what was Katsuki's favourite colour? He wore a lot of black, that much was true, but Izuku had always kind of assumed the orange on his costume was his favourite. Maybe the orange was just to match his explosions, though. He seemed like a red kind of guy, really, but Izuku supposed he wouldn't have gotten red for both Yuuto and himself and left Hiroki feeling left out. Although he probably owned his own long before Yuuto's, so he already had the black set before Yuuto's red was even in the picture.

“The hell are you muttering about this time?”

Izuku blushed, clamping his mouth shut, and Katsuki raised an eyebrow at him, waiting pointedly. When he got like that, Izuku knew he couldn't get away with brushing it off as nothing – Katsuki was far too nosy to accept that.

“What's your favourite colour?”

“Haah? You were muttering up a damn storm about that?”

“You went out of your way to get the boys their favourite colours!” Izuku defended himself, pouting a little. “I just realised I didn't know, that's all! I'm guessing it's black, but that's so boring. Maybe orange or red?”

“Green.”

“Huh? Green?”

“Yeah, nerd. My favourite is green.”

“O-Oh.”

“Green like my gauntlets, my grenades, my belts, my gloves, my son.”

“And like the trees!” Hiroki chimed in. “When we go hiking and we see all the pretty leaves!”

“Yeah, green like nature,” Katsuki agreed, plucking at Izuku's shirt lightly. “You got a problem with that?”

“No! Of course not!” Izuku answered, a little flustered. “It just wasn't what I would have guessed, that's all!”

“We're adults, do we even need favourites?”

“W-Well no, but it's nice sometimes.”

“Papa likes red, like Yuuto,” Hiroki chimed in, as he laced up a pair of heavy boots Katsuki had set in front of him. “And other special colours!”

“Special colours?”

“Ones you don't see often,” Izuku explained, blushing a little. “Rarer hair and eye colours, that kind of thing.”

“Like blue,” Hiroki mused to himself. “Blue is rare.”

“Indigo, more specifically?” Katsuki smirked, watching Hiroki blush. “Mirio is bringing him in later, don't let him see you slacking off.”

“I never slack off, Daddy!” Hiroki protested. “I work hard!”

“I know you do.”

Katsuki set down another set of boots at Izuku's feet, turning to help Yuuto with his laces, and Izuku nervously switched his bright red sneakers for the much heavier shoes. Katsuki himself was wearing the same boots he wore with his costume, and Izuku suspected the rest of them had been modelled on the same materials and design. Despite being thick and heavy, they were still surprisingly flexible, easier to stand and walk in than he'd expected.

“You're not secretly roping me into something ridiculous, are you?” Izuku asked warily, as Katsuki nudged him toward the door. “I feel like I need to remind you that I have no quirk. Not a bad quirk, no quirk.”

“I'm not stupid, nerd. I told you, it's for your own damn safety. Don't need you catching on fire if half-and-half gets carried away or Hiroki misses a shot.”

“I don't miss!”

“You do miss,” Katsuki snorted. “Everyone misses, you know that, don't get so conceited.”

“Don't be mean, Daddy.”

“I'm not being mean, you're just being stubborn.”

Shouto and All Might followed them down the corridor, to a massive empty hall made of concrete and stone and metal, clearly designed to withstand whatever quirks were thrown their way. Shouto was in the jumpsuit from his costume, though he hadn't bothered with his belts and things, and surprisingly, All Might had also changed into something similar. Maybe it really was just a safety precaution – there was no way Katsuki was going to let All Might fight, after all.

“I don't have a quirk either,” All Might smiled, clapping Izuku on the back. “He just worries about us spectating.”

“Wait, what? You don't? Since when? Oh no, Katsuki said some people- Did you-? I'm so sorry!”

“Relax, my boy, it's fine. I used it up, that's all. Sometimes when you get old, your fancy quirks stop doing what you ask them to do.”

“You're not old!”

“Thank you,” All Might chuckled. “I lived a long life of fighting a lot, and in the end, I used up the last embers of my power. But it lasted me long enough to find people to take my place, and that's what matters.”

“People?” Izuku asked shyly, glancing at where Katsuki was already arguing with Shouto. “Not just one person?”

“Any one of them is more than good enough to be considered my replacement,” All Might laughed. “But I was lucky enough to find multiple, and I am eternally grateful for that.”

“Mirio?” Izuku prompted, looking away in a hurry when All Might's eyes widened. “Katsuki told me you trained him as kind of a new symbol of peace.”

“Yes, Mirio is quite a fine successor,” All Might nodded. “But let's be honest, Young Midoriya, if there were one hero in action right now that you'd call a symbol, would Mirio be the one?”

“Have you told Katsuki that?”

All Might's eyebrows knitted together, and Izuku found himself blushing, shaking his head frantically.

“Sorry, that's none of my business!”

“No, please, why do you ask?”

“W-Well, I mean, surely you know Katsuki is... I mean, he works so hard, of course he gets... But...”

“Anxious,” All Might finished knowingly. “Has it been bad again?”

“it comes and goes, I try to help take care of him but he doesn't like letting me in often, won't let me help him with anything.”

“He does have a habit of taking on too much,” All Might agreed. “He's the number one hero, though, he knows he's done well.”

“I just think, um, I know it's none of my business, but I think he'd... Appreciate it? Hearing it, I mean? I don't think he knows as much as you think he knows?”

“Oh no,” All Might sighed, his body going strangely limp. “I messed it up again, didn't I?”

“W-What?! No!”

“It's okay, Midoriya. Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it. I can be a little blind to him sometimes, it's hard to decipher him emotionally.”

“Yeah, he doesn't use his words much,” Izuku agreed, looking out at where he held Yuuto to his side, letting tiny hands cling to his leg. “He wears it all on his face, though.”

“You think so? I can never quite figure it out in his face, maybe I'm just going blind in my old age.”

“You're not old,” Izuku repeated. “Katsuki looks up to you a lot, I'm sure you know that.”

“He grew up watching me fight,” All Might nodded. “It was only natural for him to emulate me, I suppose. When I became his teacher it turned more into a 'I'm going to surpass you' than an 'I want to be like you' though.”

“I think that's just how Katsuki shows his love.”

Izuku could feel All Might's eyes burning into him, but he didn't look up, wringing his hands as his face burned.

“He likes to protect everyone, right? So maybe... Maybe he wanted to surpass you so that you wouldn't have to worry. So he could take care of you, and everyone else.”

“You understand him in a way I never could,” All Might smiled, reaching out to pat Izuku's shoulder. “You're good for him, I hope you know that.”

“I just try to stay out of his way.”

“I mean it. I spent years teaching him and his friends, and I'm not sure any of them came close to understanding him the way you seem to.”

“I try my best. I live with him, after all.”

When Yuuto glanced back at them, Izuku was on his feet immediately, excusing himself as he moved to crouch at Yuuto's side.

“Everything okay, little man?” he asked quietly. “Shouto seems really cool, huh?”

Yuuto nodded, transferring his trip from Katsuki to Izuku, and Izuku hugged him obediently.

“You don't have to be brave just yet,” Izuku assured him. “We can watch Hiro for a while, yeah? Wanna come sit with me and All Might?”

Yuuto nodded, and Izuku scooped him up, holding him close as he buried his face in Izuku's chest.

“You guys get started,” Izuku smiled warmly when he met Katsuki's eyes. “We're just gonna watch for a bit first!”

“Okay,” Katsuki nodded. “Call me if you have any questions or anything, okay, Yuuto?”

“Okay.”

Rubbing his back, Izuku carted Yuuto back to the little bench with All Might, letting him settle comfortably in his lap. He snuggled in, resting his cheek on Izuku's chest, but keeping one eye free to watch as Hiroki and Shouto got set up. They started out slowly, Katsuki backing away to a safe distance as Shouto raised fire in his left hand, but the moment he moved his hand, the fire pulled away. Before he could even aim his stream Hiroki, his control was taken away, the fire pulling easily into Hiroki's hands.

Izuku watched in awe as Hiroki shot it back at him, one hand deflecting everything Shouto shot while the other aimed it back. They both moved like it was effortless, though he could see the concentration in Hiroki's face as he ducked under bursts he couldn't snatch away, even peeling off little pieces to shoot back like bullets, reminiscent of Katsuki's AP Shot.

“Hirokun is amazing,” Yuuto whispered. “He's so fast.”

“Wait until the ice starts,” All Might grinned. “He's pretty versatile, especially for a kid.”

Sure enough, when they'd settled into a steady rhythm, Shouto disrupted it with his other hand. The ice shards were much more familiar, a quirk he used much more often – Izuku wasn't sure he'd ever seen the fire in battle, he only knew it existed because of Katsuki. Hiroki didn't seem remotely put off, though, keeping a ball of fire in one hand to help keep the ice at bay, stretching it between his hands into a little wall that instantly melted a barrage of icy bullets when they got close.

“He's really only trained with Shouto,” All Might filled them in. “He can read Shouto like a book, at this point. I'm not sure how he'd do with other fire quirks, but he's gotten very good with Shouto's.”

“Mr. Shouto is number seven,” Yuuto mumbled. “If Hirokun can fight Mr. Shouto, he can fight anyone.”

“I think Shouto is being a little bit nice,” Izuku chuckled, kissing Yuuto's hair lightly. “It might be different if it was a villain. But he'll get there, he just has to keep practicing like this!”

“Alright, break,” Katsuki called, glancing at the stopwatch running on his phone. “Drink water.”

“What should I do different?” Hiroki asked, breathing hard. “I need feedback.”

“Drink first.”

“Water isn't important, Daddy!”

“Water is super important. Drink.”

Grumbling, Hiroki accepted a bottle, giving his Dad a pointed look as he took a sip.

“You stand still too long,” Shouto spoke up, when Katsuki glared straight back. “You plant your feet every time you take control, you need to practice taking it while you're moving.”

“Okay. And?”

“If I used bigger ice chunks, they would get through before they fully melted. Work on heat production. If you can fuel it, you can adjust the temperature. I know you can.”

“I'll try. How do you do it?”

“Mine is different, I use my other side to balance out. You'll have to figure out how it works for you.”

“More fuel makes bigger fire,” Hiroki mumbled, eyebrows knitted together. “Less fuel makes smaller fire, but I can't make different fuel, so maybe bigger fuel in a small space? If I can make it bigger and smaller at the same time...”

“Oi, nerd,” Katsuki called across the room, Izuku's eyes darting up in alarm. “I blame you for this muttering nonsense.”

“Sorry,” Hiroki blushed, clapping his hands over his mouth. “I was just thinking lots!”

“It's okay, you don't need to apologise,” Katsuki assured him, ruffling his hair. “Just be aware, remember?”

“Uh-huh! Not on the trains or in class so I don't scare people!”

“Good boy. Are you okay staying here with halfie? I'll take Yuuto next door for a little bit, see what we can do with his booms.”

“Yeah! Uncle Shouto will take care of me, right Uncle Shouto?”

“Of course I will, Leftie. You know I would never let you get hurt.”

“Yeah!”

“I'll leave the nerd and All Might with you too, I think maybe just me and Yuuto for now.”

“Okay! But Grampa Toshi wants to see too, so maybe when Yuuto feels brave you can ask him?”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks buddy, you work hard. And drink water!”

“Fiiiine.”

The pair went back to work the moment Katsuki stepped away, and for the first time Izuku noticed the smiles. Behind the walls of ice and flame and steam, Shouto and Hiroki wore matching grins as they fought, having the time of their lives with each other, and izuku softened as he watched. He'd been concerned when Katsuki had explained the process, but it had all sounded so serious and clinical – he'd never realised how much fun Hiroki would have with it.

“I have another room next door,” Katsuki began, kneeling in front of Yuuto to find his eyes. “It's a bit smaller than this one, just for you and me, so we can play with your explosions. Does that sound good?”

Yuuto nodded faintly, and Katsuki held out his arms, the relief clear in his expression when Yuuto accepted.

“We're gonna leave All Might here to watch Hiro, and Papa to make sure they're being safe. This is our first Daddy-Son time, I think, isn't it?”

“First?”

“Well it's not gonna be the last,” Katsuki snorted, pulling him into a hug. “We'll do it lots. Not just training, other stuff too. I've had lots of time with Hiro and not you, it's about time I got to have just you, too.”

“And Papa-Hiro time?”

“Exactly. Sometimes it's nice to do stuff with just the two of us, yeah? All the fun stuff that Papa and Hiro are too boring for.”

Yuuto finally cracked a smile, and Katsuki grinned back, ruffling the fluffy blond spikes that almost matched his own.

“Papa is gonna be so impressed when he sees what we learn today. All Might too.”

“Yeah!”

Izuku watched with a smile as the pair disappeared into the next training room, catching a fond look on All Might's face too.

“He's so paternal,” All Might explained, when he caught Izuku looking. “I'm still surprised every time I see him with Hiroki, so seeing him be so sweet with another son is...”

“Scary?” Izuku finished with a laugh.

“No! It's sweet! Just...”

“Scary.”

“A little,” All Might admitted, chuckling to himself. “Unusual, maybe. It doesn't quite fit, even though I know it does.”

“I feel that way a lot. Every time I see him cuddled up with a blanket or in his fluffy pyjamas after a bath, looking so soft and... Unintimidating, I guess.”

“That's how you know he's really become a symbol for the world,” All Might smiled fondly. “When you're surprised to see that there's another side to him.”

“Is that what my Mom thinks about you?”

All Might blushed, and Izuku couldn't resist a little laugh, covering his mouth in a hurry to stifle it.

“I'm sorry. She's just so fond of you, she's always so happy when you've been together. I couldn't help it.”

“You're more than welcome to tease,” All Might chuckled, his cheeks still pink. “She's a lovely woman.”

“Yeah, she is. She hasn't really seen anyone since my shitty father, so I'm glad you can make her happy.”

“Thank you, it means a lot to have your blessing.”

“If you hurt her, Katsuki will murder you.”

“I'm well aware.”

─────

“You've got a fantastic quirk there,” All Might praised, as they all headed back to the locker room. “So versatile and useful, it'll be perfect for being a hero.”

Yuuto swelled with pride, and Izuku smiled fondly. He'd heard all too many complaints about people telling Yuuto he could use his quirk for anything, that he didn't have to be a hero – Izuku understood, their teachers and counsellors needed to make sure the kids knew they had options, but for a kid who only dreamed of heroism, it was infuriating. All Might might have been the first adult who had jumped straight to heroics, and Izuku knew that meant a lot to Yuuto.

“Look, Daddy,” Hiroki insisted, tugging at Katsuki's leg. “There they are.”

Izuku stopped to peek too, looking through the narrow windows into another hall. He was pretty sure it was even bigger than the one they'd used, but somehow it seemed full. It took a minute for Izuku to even acknowledge that it was Ryouji inside, his brain had somehow settled on an older sibling that he knew didn't exist – but no, this was the same little six year old who rolled around with Hiroki on the floor and shared goodbye kisses.

He moved at lightning speed, ducking beneath tentacles and avoiding small projectiles Izuku couldn't identify from so far away. When one hit him in the face he stumbled, and Tamaki barked something out that seemed much more direct than the man he was used to – though he supposed it made sense that he'd be less shy around his own son.

“I can't,” Ryouji insisted, finding his feet just in time to jump over a talon that lunged for him, emitting some kind of gas from his hand that Tamaki quickly swiped away with a wing. “You know that, Dad!”

“What's he been eating?” Katsuki asked. “You wanna analyse it?”

“Tea,” Hiroki answered right away, eyes darting back and forth as he watched. “With caffeine. For the speed. The gas was maybe chillies or onions. Uncle Suneater got rid of it super fast so probably chillies, they hurt more. I dunno what he's gonna fight back with though.”

“Does he have milk in his tea?”

“Oh, yeah. Maybe he'll make fires? If he had oranges he can make fire oil.”

“What did he use to take that projectile hit? He doesn't look bruised.”

“Probably iron. He likes spinach and seaweed.”

“You're good at this.”

“We do lots of studies on things he can eat. Nuts are good, they make armour, but they make some scarier stuff too.”

“Like what?”

“Poisons. Like um. Sy- Sai- Sidean?”

“Cyanide? Like in apple seeds?”

“Yeah! It's in apple seeds? It's in almonds! I should tell him about apple seeds.”

“It's not much, but he could probably produce more of it to use. Is that gonna poison him by making it, though?”

“I dunno, that's why he doesn't try.”

“Clever. Would make his life a lot easier if he ate meat.”

“He knows, but he has his other quirk too, so he says it's not important.”

“He says two quirks?” Shouto asked, eyes widening a little.

“Uh-huh! From both Dads, cause of the way they made him! But he can't use both at the same time,he needs a break to use the other one.”

“I couldn't either, for a long time. Took a lot of practice.”

“Uh-huh, he tries. Maybe when he's big.”

Katsuki smirked when he caught Izuku staring, shrugging one shoulder as he leaned against the wall.

“He's a talented kid, much more than his Dad.”

“Which one?”

“Which one do you think?” Katsuki scoffed. “Tentacles is okay.”

“Ryou is amazing,” Hiroki sighed, softening a little as he watched. “I gotta work harder.”

“You're amazing too,” Katsuki assured him. “And so is Yuuto.”

“Hirokun and Ryouji are much more amazing,” Yuuto mumbled, pushing his face into Izuku's pant leg. “I can't keep up.”

“They've been practicing a lot longer,” Izuku reminded him. “With people who know their quirks and can help them lots.”

A hint of an apology sneaked into his tone as he said it, and Yuuto just shook his head, still not looking up.

“I'm gonna work harder,” he mumbled.

“You're already working hard, you worked so hard today.”

“Harder than Ryouji,” he amended. “If Ryouji works hard, I'm gonna work harder.”

“Good attitude, little man,” Katsuki praised, snatching him up for a hug. “You're doing such a good job, you'll be better than Ryouji in no time.”

Izuku glanced back to see Ryouji landing a punch in Tamaki's stomach, sending him skidding back on some shiny substance, and Hiroki's face lit up as he watched. Tamaki's hands were up immediately, clamshells out as shields, but Ryouji's hands hardened with some dark material, and the room shook when their blows collided.

“Ryou is amazing,” Hiroki repeated softly. “I'm gonna be amazing too, one day.”

“You're already amazing,” Izuku assured him. “But Ryouji looks pretty incredible too, huh?”

“He's better than me now, I'm not silly. It's okay, he's allowed to be. Especially when he has two quirks. I'm gonna beat him though, one day.”

“I know you will, sweetie. As soon as you get your first official rankings, you'll be able to prove just how awesome you are.”

“Yeah!”

“Are you gonna stay and say hello when he takes a break?”

“Ryou doesn't take breaks.”

“Even for water?”

“Nuh-uh.”

Izuku felt like he was beginning to understand the debates finally, and he hugged Hiroki close, rubbing his back lightly.

“It's important to take care of yourself, we don't need to get carried away just for practice.”

“I know. Ryou gets ub- ab- absorbed?”

“Yeah, they look like they're pretty absorbed in what they're doing. That's why you and Shouto have Katsuki to make you take water breaks.”

“Uh-huh! But one day I'll be able to go for a long time like Ryou.”

“I know you will, I can't wait to see it. So you're not gonna say hi?”

“No, I'll text him after.”

“Okay. Shall we go get changed, then? Or do you wanna watch a bit longer?”

“Changed!” Hiroki agreed. “I'm hungry.”

“I'm not surprised! We'll make Katsuki stop for snacks on the way home.”

“Yeah! And milkshakes!”

“And milkshakes,” Izuku agreed, grinning. “Need that calcium to make sure your hero bones are strong.”

“Strong bones!” Hiroki agreed, waving goodbye to Ryouji's back. “Thanks for watching, Papa. I'm happy you got to see!”

“I'm happy too. Thanks for letting me watch, I'm excited for next time.”

“Me too!”

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