My Father's Son - Chapter 30

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"Papa, can we go shopping?"

"Hm?" Izuku looked up, a little surprised by the request. "Is there something you want to buy?"

"Yeah! I need a piggy bank for my New Year money!" Yuuto explained. "And maybe I wanna buy a present for someone too."

"Okay, sure, I guess we can do that," Izuku agreed. "Katsuki still has a few more hours of patrol, maybe we can buy something nice to make him for dinner too, since he's working so hard."

"Spicy meat!" Yuuto nodded. "I'll help cook! Is Nana gonna be home for dinner too?"

"Ahh, I'm not sure yet bud. If she's having lots of fun with All Might they might have dinner together too."

"Are they on a date?"

Izuku cringed, but conceded a nod all the same.

"Yeah, I think so. It's a bit weird, isn't it?"

"I think it's awesome!" Yuuto grinned. "All Might can be my Grandpa!"

"Maybe one day," Izuku agreed. "But that will take a long time, if it happens."

"I can wait!"

"You're a good boy. Alright, does Hiroki want to go shopping too?"

"Yeah! He wants to look at new toys!"

"Okay, you guys go put something warm on then. I'll meet you downstairs."

"Thank you Papa, you're the best!"

He ran out to tell Hiroki, and Izuku saved his file quickly, shutting his laptop to come back to later. Pulling his warm coat from the closet, he got dressed and nabbed the car keys from the kitchen bench, heading downstairs to wait for the boys by the garage. His headache was finally clearing up after a hazy morning, ready to face the day, although he was pretty sure his first port of call was going to be a coffee shop.

"Is Papa feeling better?" Hiroki asked, hugging Izuku's leg briefly.

"Yeah bud, I've just got a little headache, I'm okay. Thanks for caring!"

"Can we look at the hero store?"

"Of course we can, how could we ever go shopping and not look at the hero store?"

"Yay!"

"Do you think we should buy a whole bunch of merch to annoy Katsuki?"

Hiroki contemplated it as he climbed into his carseat, and Izuku couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Tempted?"

"It would be funny," Hiroki agreed. "But he'll be tired so that's not very nice."

"Good point, as always. Alright, you buckled in?"

"Yeah!"

"Good boy."

He looked back into the entryway to find Yuuto pulling on his shoes, fastening velcro and grinning when he found Izuku watching.

"Ready!"

"Good job buddy, come hop in your seat."

He helped get Yuuto belted in and then they were off, heading toward the little mall where Hiroki and Katsuki seemed to be regulars, and Yuuto and Izuku were quickly joining the team. The parking lot was busy, as he should have expected during the holiday period, but they managed to grab a spot as someone else pulled out, heading in to brave the crowds. In the kids' excitement, Izuku had forgotten about the massive sales going on, drawing long lines of people hoping to snatch a bargain.

He almost walked out, almost told the boys they'd come back another day, but the light in both of their faces stopped him in his tracks. The hero store, of course, because what else would it be? Out the front were huge signs depicting their special sales, blind bags full of merch and toys priced at only ten percent of the value of the contents. With a sigh, Izuku nodded, joining the long line to wait. So much for his coffee.

"Papa, I need to pee," Yuuto whispered, when they'd made it about halfway through the line.

"Now?"

"Yeah, now!"

"Okay," he sighed. "Um, do you boys want to go together and I'll wait here so we don't lose our place? I don't want to leave one of you here alone, so we'll have to start over in line otherwise."

"We can go!" Hiroki assured him, grabbing Yuuto by the hand. "It's just across the hall, see?"

He pointed at the door almost directly opposite them, and Yuuto nodded.

"Okay, we can go!" he agreed. "Thanks Papa!"

"Be safe and come straight back, okay? Don't go off and get lost."

"We'll be good!"

They skipped off together toward the bathrooms, and as he watched them go, an older woman behind them in line shot him a big smile.

"Are they both yours?" she asked. "They're very cute."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, smiling nervously. "Thank you. They're good kids."

"How old are they?"

"Just turned six, they're starting school this year."

"Both of them?"

"Yeah. They're..." He thought back, remembering a conversation that had seemed ridiculous in the moment. "Twins. Not the identical kind, obviously."

"Oh, how sweet! Must have been a rough time for their mother!"

"Yeah," he agreed, his smile wavering a little. "It was."

Soon enough the boys were running back, hand in hand as always, and Izuku smiled as he patted them both on the head.

"All done?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Washed your hands?"

"Of course, Papa!" Yuuto pouted. "I'm not a baby, I know how!"

"You're a good boy. Look, we're almost there. Do you know what you want to buy?"

"I want the red and orange one," Yuuto pointed, and Izuku saw a shiny red bag in the collection of them, swirly orange fronds printed across the front.

"Yeah, I should've known. Your favourite and Downfall's colour, makes sense. How about you, Hiroki? Which one are you hoping for?"

"Mmm... Maybe the silver ones. I bet the plain bags have the best things in them, like it's backwards!"

"Yeah? I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

They finally reached the front, let into the store as part of a little group by employees trying their best to keep the peace, and then the boys were off to pick up their lucky bags. Yuuto reached for the brightly coloured bag, only to see another little boy reaching for the same one, both of them halting with their hands on the bag. Izuku was ready to step in and avoid an argument, already hurrying after them to catch up, but he fell still when Yuuto opened his mouth.

"Do you like Downfall too?" he asked, seeing the familiar smirk on the front of the kid's t-shirt. "He's my favourite."

"Mine too," the boy agreed, biting at his lower lip.

"You have it," he said softly, smiling as he let go of the handle. "I hope it has cool stuff in it for you."

"Really? Thank you!"

The boy's eyes shone as he ran off to show his mother, and Izuku stooped down to hug Yuuto, crushing him tight against his chest.

"Papaaa," he whined. "Let gooo, I gotta pick another!"

"I'm just so proud to be your Papa," Izuku whispered, squeezing him one last time before he let go. "You're such a good boy."

"That boy doesn't have Dad at home," Yuuto shrugged, searching among the bags for another interesting colour. "It's more special for him."

"Yuuchan, look!" Hiroki grinned, holding up a pretty bag of red and gold stripes. "This one is red too!"

Yuuto smiled, accepting it from his hand, and as they skipped up to the counter Izuku found himself reaching for his wallet.

"These ones are a present from me, for being such good boys," he smiled, putting cash on the counter while the boys were still reaching into their bags. "Just this once."

"Now you sound like Daddy," Hiroki giggled, hugging him tight. "Thank you, Papa."

"You're welcome."

He knew they were both eager to open their bags immediately, but they managed to keep some self-restraint and not pour them out on the floor to investigate. Instead they just clutched their bags tightly, weaving through lines to reach the next store they wanted to visit, and Izuku finally managed to grab his coffee from a vending machine as they passed. He stood at the doorway of a little toy store, letting the boys browse through the aisles as he drank.

Each of them picked up a few items, taking them up to the counter to purchase, and Izuku smiled again when he heard the little squeaky voices being so polite and kind as they made their purchases.

"Have a nice day!" Hiroki called, waving back at the staff as they returned to Izuku's side. "Thank you for your help!"

"You guys find some cool stuff to buy?" Izuku asked, as they returned with big smiles and another bag each.

"Yeah! I'll show you when we get home!"

"Sounds good. Anywhere else you guys wanna go?"

"Cake store!" Hiroki grinned "I wonder if there are lucky cake bags!"

"Probably not," Izuku laughed. "But we can take a look."

Thankfully, the store was nearly empty when they got there, just a little glass case on a corner full of pretty little cakes. Hiroki practically salivated as he looked over them, contemplating his choices, and Izuku couldn't help but laugh at him.

"I can't choose," he pouted. "Papa should I get the chocolate chip one or the chocolate swirl one?"

"Hmm, good question," he squatted down to look, eyeing the two cakes Hiroki was weighing up. "They both look good, don't they? You like chocolate a lot though, so the swirl one might be more chocolatey?"

"That's true," he agreed. "The chocolate chip one is so pretty though!"

He sighed, fogging up the glass a little and quickly wiping it with his sleeve.

"If I get both, can you not tell Daddy?"

Izuku laughed, ruffling Hiroki's curls.

"If he asks, I have to tell him, but I won't rat you out. What if you eat one today and one tomorrow? Then he might not mind as much."

"I can do that!"

He stood on his tiptoes to look over the counter, beaming at the lady working, who gave her the same soft smile as every other adult who ever encountered the kid.

"Can I please have one chocolate chip and one chocolate swirl?"

"Of course, one moment please!"

She boxed up one of each, stacking them carefully in a little bag, and Hiroki handed over his money and flashed her another bright smile.

"Thank you very much! Have a nice day!"

"You too! Thank you very much!"

With the boys both satisfied, they made a quick run through the grocery store and piled back into the car to head home, the boys finally tearing into their bags of merch to investigate.

"Papa!" Yuuto gasped, holding up a fancy figure with changeable parts. "Look Papa, I got Suneater!"

"Yeah?" he asked, glancing back as they stopped at a red light. "Wow, look at that! That's awesome!"

"He's so fancy," Yuuto said gleefully, playing with the little moving arms. "I'm gonna put the octopus on first!"

"I got Uncle Number Two!" Hiroki grinned, pulling a Lemillion plushie out of his shiny silver bag. "Now they can be together in our room!"

"Yeah!"

A few blocks away from home, near the largest of their local train stations, Izuku spotted a familiar shock of blond hair. He quickly indicated and pulled over at the side of the road, into a parking bay a few metres ahead. The boys looked up in surprise, but spotted him immediately when they looked up, rolling down the passenger-side window with big grins.

“Daddy!” Hiroki called, Katsuki whirling around immediately. “We went shopping!”

“Hey, little man,” Katsuki smiled, moving closer to bend down and ruffle his hair. “You get anything exciting?”

“Yeah! Look, I got Uncle Number two!”

“Oh yeah? You still like my plushie better though, don't you?”

“Of course! Daddy is always Number One!”

“Good boy. How about you, Yuuto? You buy anything cool?”

“I got a fancy Suneater in my lucky bag!” Yuuto beamed, holding it up to show him. “See the octopus arms? I just put them on!”

“Wow, that's awesome. Let's take a photo when we get home and I'll send it to him.”

“Yeah!”

“Are you finished work, Daddy?” Hiroki asked.

“I am. Are you guys heading home now?”

“Uh-huh! You should get in too!”

“Yeah, a ride would be awesome.”

He pulled the front door open and slid inside, and Izuku took a moment to rake his eyes over the battered costume, the various scrapes and bruises.

“I'm good,” Katsuki assured him, pulling his seatbelt on. “Just minor cuts.”

“Alright,” Izuku nodded warily. “If you're sure.”

“Uh-huh.” Katsuki smirked, eyes narrowing a little. “How's the head?”

“It's fine, shut up.”

“Good.”

Izuku pulled out again when the road was clear, smiling when Katsuki turned a little to watch the boys explore their purchases.

“How long did you have to wait in line?” he asked, eyeing the fancy bags. “Must have been a while.”

“Mm... A little but it was fun waiting together!”

“Maybe an hour and a half,” Izuku clarified. “Could have been a lot worse.”

“Yeah, you did well. You guys buy some toys, too?”

“Uh-huh! We'll show you everything at home, there's lots!”

“Awesome, I can't wait to see.”

He relaxed into his seat, softening with a little sigh, and Izuku found himself reaching over. At the last second he caught himself, turning his affectionate touch into a little shove, forcing a smile back onto his face.

“You stink,” he grinned. “You need a bubble bath.”

“Yeah!” Hiroki answered on his behalf, beaming again already. “Bubble bath with Daddy!”

“Yeah, okay,” Katsuki agreed. “We'll take a look through your cool new stuff, then go relax in the bath while the nerd cooks us dinner.”

“Fine,” Izuku chuckled. “Just this once.”


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