My Father's Son - Chapter 14

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Even with Izuku visiting his new job during the day, Yuuto attending his cram school private sessions to catch up on the things he'd missed in his test, and Katsuki getting involved in at least a dozen fights that made national news, the entire week passed with only one thing on their minds: Birthdays. Hiroki had requested a party with their friends from school, and Katsuki had agreed without hesitation. His kid was a social butterfly, he was used to hosting big events.

It was all scheduled for Friday afternoon, the day of their actual birthday. They would have some fun, eat some cake, maybe watch a movie, and all the kids would be picked up after dinner to head home. Then, Saturday morning, they would get up bright and early for Katsuki's special surprise.

Even before the science museum obsession began, Hiroki had been asking for one thing. He had seen Katsuki's photos from high school and heard all his stories, and he was determined that he needed to go on a camping trip.

The only person Katsuki had relayed his plans to was Inko, to see if she wanted to come along – she had gracefully declined, opting instead to remain behind and take care of the house. His parents had even agreed to check in on her, just to make sure they all had peace of mind during the trip. Then, after a thousand hours of research, he'd booked a cute little cabin at a campground around three hours away. It was only two days and a night in between, but hopefully it would be enough to satisfy Hiroki's urges – and some fun for Yuuto, too. they could roast marshmallows under the stars, warm up in the hot spring, then sleep in their cabin together and pray the cold wasn't too terrible. Because of course his kid wanted to go camping in the winter.

Katsuki was such a sap. He should have just told the kid to wait until summer, but no, he couldn't say no to that cute little pout.

“I asked Yuuto if he wanted to invite friends from his old kindergarten to the party,” Katsuki spoke up, when the boys were distracted by homework. “He said no, and didn't really build on that. I guess they probably don't have cellphones, so has he not kept in touch?”

“He didn't really have any,” Izuku shrugged, avoiding his gaze. “Friends, I mean. Um, a lot of them were scared of his quirk? Like, they thought it was cool, but they also didn't want to be anywhere near it. Or something.”

“Oh,” Katsuki mumbled, drumming his fingers on his thigh. “That uh... That makes sense.”

“Did you, um, have to deal with that too? As a kid?”

“A little, but it was my own fault. I was...” he trailed off, sighing. “I was a stuck up kid, everyone told me my quirk was brilliant and that I would make an amazing hero, so I was... Kind of a bully.”

“That's... Surprising, honestly.”

“Really?” Katsuki asked scathingly. “You saw my high school sports festivals, you know what a piece of shit I was.”

“I don't think you were a piece of shit,” Izuku said sincerely. “I thought you were powerful and confident and... Amazing. I always thought you were amazing.”

“Oh.”

“Like, that obstacle course in your first year? You and Shouto fighting for first place? It was incredible! Even Ingenium didn't stand a chance, and his quirk is made for speed! The way you used your explosions to propel you, and changed direction so quickly, it was insane! And then those one on one fights, when you got to fight him in the finals? I was on the edge of my seat! All we could do was wait and see which one of you would run out of power first!”

“Bastard never even used his second quirk. Just fuckin' gave up.”

“What? His second quirk?”

“He has a fire quirk too,” Katsuki grumbled. “In his other hand. His father is Endeavor.”

“Oh! Wow! That's amazing!”

“Mm. Flashy fuck.”

“So why didn't he use it?”

“Some stupid childhood trauma,” Katsuki pouted. “We, uh, we both failed our first license exam. Had to do an extra course to get our licenses. He told me all this shit about Endeavor being a shitty father or whatever. Still interned with the bastard though, got to spend his time with the number one hero while the rest of us went to shitty agencies.”

“Like Best Jeanist?”

“Exactly like Best Jeanist. The shittiest of agencies.”

“But you learned a lot, right? You seem to, um, respect him? Even if the hair and the jeans sucked.”

“Whatever. At any rate, half and half started using it a little bit after that course and the internship, mostly just to thaw himself out or like, melt through shit in a rescue. He still refuses to fight with it, and it's infuriating.”

“Oh. Because you feel like he won't fight you with all his power?”

“Mm.”

“But isn't that because he can't use all his power? It's not a reflection on you.”

“I wasn't good enough to draw it out of him.”

“I don't think trauma works that way,” Izuku hummed. “Maybe you should listen more when he talks about it, you might be surprised.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean, asshole?”

“It sounds like he wanted to be your friend! You should have let him!”

Katsuki grumbled something inaudible, and Izuku tilted his head in confusion, watching the pink flush that tinted his cheeks.

“We are,” he said finally, oddly quiet. “Friends.”

“Really?!”

“Mm. Spent a lot of time together.”

“That's so cool!”

“He um, he made Endeavor take me. For the next internship. Endeavor was trying to get back in his good books or some shit, so half and half got Daddy's credit card to play with and pretty much asked for anything he wanted and he'd get it. He said he wanted me to intern with him, and Endeavor delivered. It was... It was alright.”

“Did you learn a lot?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Then that's good!” Izuku grinned. “I'm glad you had such a good friend with good connections! And Mr. Kirishima seems like a really good friend too?”

“Are you really gonna start this sappy shit?” Katsuki groaned, shoving him as he stood up. “Yeah, fuckin' asshole top hero Downfall has friends okay? Get over it.”

“Okay, okay!” Izuku laughed. “I'll stop prying! I was just curious!”

“Whatever. Gonna go help with homework, sit your nerdy ass down and do your paperwork, get that job finalised.”

“Fine, fine, I'll stop getting distracted.”

“Damn right.”

Izuku smiled at his back as he left to help the kids get through the trickier points of their work, ever the doting Dad even with academia constantly on his mind.

“Everything okay, sweetie?” Inko asked, as she returned from the bath. “You're staring a lot.”

“Everything is good,” Izuku assured her with a wide smile. “Just thinking how lucky we are!”

Katsuki glanced back at him from the table, rolling his eyes, and Izuku's smile softened.

“Yes, we are,” Inko smiled back, touching his shoulder lightly. “Very lucky.”

─────

Izuku gaped at the crowd of kids flooding through their front door, all the sweetest and politest of kids, but a massive pack all the same. Hiroki stood aside with Izuku and ushered them all up the stairs with a polite “thank you for coming!” to each, and Yuuto brought up the rear, making sure no one had been left behind on their walk home.

Inko and Izuku had spent all afternoon preparing, decorating the living space with balloons and streamers, making snacks and preparing dinner foods to cook later, and most importantly, baking and decorating two massive cakes – one vanilla with brightly coloured fruit and berries, the other chocolate with plenty of sprinkles and cream. They sat in the fridge to wait for after dinner, for when Katsuki got home.

Mitsuki and Masaru had shown up bright and early too, ready to help wrangle the herd of children. A pile of brightly wrapped packages had come along with them, which Izuku was ready to protest about until Mitsuki had wrapped him up in a hug.

“This is such a big day!” she'd exclaimed, as she squeezed the life out of him. “I hope you don't mind, we wanted to set them up for school! It was just too exciting!”

So the gifts sat in a corner with Inko's and Izuku's, and as the kids climbed the stairs many of them dug their own little packages from their bags, slotting them into the pile with no hesitation. Izuku felt bad for accepting them, but he could hardly begrudge the children their efforts, nor take those gifts away from his boys. He would just have to swallow his guilt, bury it down deep and hope he eventually forgot about it.

Izuku had brought the gaming console down from the boys' room earlier in the day, setting it up at the main living room television instead, and the kids went to it immediately. They set up some party game, taking turns passing the controllers around, and Izuku returned to the kitchen with a smile to start laying out snack foods. They'd decided on putting all the sweet stuff at the beginning of the afternoon, so hopefully the sugar would wear off by the time they went home – and by the time Katsuki got home, for that matter – so he laid out cookies and mini-muffins, fresh fruit with chocolate and cream, although he threw in some chips and popcorn too, for kids like Yuuto with more savoury tastes.

When Katsuki came home it was with torn clothing and a gash down his cheek that looked deeper than Izuku was particularly comfortable with. Their eyes met as he sneaked past the doorway to get changed, and with a little nod from Inko, Izuku followed his path.

“What happened?” he asked, as he hurried up the stairs at Katsuki's heels. “Does it hurt?”

“It's fine.”

“But does it hurt?” he insisted. “Let me help.”

“Haah? Fuck off, I'm fine.”

“Let me help,” Izuku repeated firmly, following him all the way into the bedroom. “Does it need stitches?”

“Hell no! It's just a fuckin' cut!”

He didn't bother turning away as he changed his clothes, tossing his soiled costume into a pile, but Izuku blushed bright red when the pants hit the floor.

“Katsuki!” he insisted, turning his back as Katsuki snorted. “Just... Let me clean you up, okay? For my own peace of mind.”

“You really fuckin' suck, you know.”

“Please?”

“Whatever.”

Izuku peeked over his shoulder when he heard Katsuki slump onto the bed, relieved to find him fully dressed in his typical baggy trousers and sleeveless shirt. He picked up a little first aid kit from Katsuki's bedside table, ready and waiting for his typical scrapes and burns, and knelt down on the carpet to look.

Katsuki looked down on him with a strangely open look, lacking the usual walls he'd built up in his expression, and Izuku couldn't resist a little smile.

“Okay, I'm gonna clean you up first,” he began, pulling a little tube of saline solution from the box. “Hold still, okay?”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but didn't say a word, and Izuku figured that was as close as he was going to get to permission. He soaked a gauze pad in the liquid, carefully cleaning away dirt and grime, checking for more wounds beneath it all. Thankfully he found none, bar a few tiny scratches, so he settled on the one deeper slash through his soft skin.

For such a lean, chiselled body, all hard planes of muscle and sharp angles, his cheeks were surprisingly squishy. He'd almost call Katsuki baby-faced, from the right angle. He couldn't help but smile to himself at the thought, thinking just how pissed the man would be to hear those words describing him.

“What?” Katsuki demanded. “Don't give me that stupid look.”

“It's nothing!”

“Yeah right. You piece of shit.”

“It's nice to know you're not invincible.”

Katsuki tensed up, and where Izuku expected complaints, he got only silence.

“Sorry,” he said finally, “was that too close to home?”

“A little,” Katsuki admitted, and Izuku froze to stare at him. “It's whatever, forget it.”

“If you need to talk, I'm always here to listen,” Izuku reminded him softly. “Any time you want.”

“Yeah.”

He soaked a cotton ball in antiseptic and gently dabbed at Katsuki's cheek with it, not even a hint of a wince coming out of him. He was so used to the kids or himself being the ones who got hurt, cringing as the liquid stung at their wounds, but Katsuki just sat there and watched like it was nothing.

How badly had he been hurt in the past to not even notice the sting?

When his face was all cleaned up, Izuku taped a gauze strip over it to catch any drips or leakage, making sure it was secure enough to stay put when he inevitably got into a game of rough-and-tumble with the kids. Smiling, he fixed Katsuki's hair with his fingers, pausing for a moment as hey both stared at each other wordlessly.

“I got you something,” Izuku admitted. “I know it's their birthday not yours, but I wanted to get you something to thank you for being a part of my life, of the boys' lives.”

“Me too,” Katsuki mumbled, looking away. “You wanna see?”

“You did? You didn't have to!”

“Shut up,” he snorted, climbing to his feet. “Lemme grab it.”

Izuku picked up the big red package he'd left on the dresser earlier in the day, apparently unnoticed by Katsuki on his way in – he knew he should have gone with the bed, but that had seemed too demanding. Katsuki rummaged through his wardrobe, producing a thick cardboard tube, and with a smile spreading across Izuku's face, they traded.

He burst into tears immediately when he opened it, a thick roll of posters falling out into his hands. Katsuki's own face was right on the top, sneering at the camera as always, his hero name written over it in bold letters. But in the bottom corner, in dark marker, a well-practiced autograph stained the paper.

“You signed it for me?” Izuku asked, sniffing hard and wiping his tears before they could hit the paper. “Kacchan!”

“Shut up,” he scoffed. “Um, keep looking.”

He set it aside, eyes widening when he found another familiar face underneath – Eijirou, this time, that face of soft smiles and hushed words, repeating “it's okay, Hirohiro” as he held the boy tight. His photo was much less soft than the image in Izuku's head, more sharp angles and tough quirk, “Red Riot” emblazoned over the top. Once again, it held a shiny autograph in the corner, and Izuku finally began to catch on.

He continued through the pile, finding a dozen brilliant faces and incredible quirks being showcased, each lit up with their hero names and individual autographs. Most were labelled “To Izuku”, many had a few words or even a sentence attached, one was even signed with “love from”. He couldn't seem to stem the flow of tears, sobbing like an idiot over the beautiful gesture, taking note of each and every hero who Katsuki had chosen for him, all his closest friends and colleagues he was willing to ask for something he would deem so dumb.

As he flipped to the last page, he saw a little smirk cross Katsuki's face, and when he looked down he found himself lost for words. Katsuki waited knowingly, but all Izuku could do was stare, hands trembling as he clutched at the ultra-rare “All Might Through The Ages” poster that had been available one day and one day only, on the first anniversary of All Might's retirement. There were fewer than a hundred copies in the entire world, and now he held one in his hands.

“Young Midoriya!” it said in the corner. “I can't wait to finally meet you!”

Swallowing hard to compose himself, he rolled the posters back up, slotting them carefully into their protective tube and setting it aside before he dove at Katsuki.

A choked squawk came out of Katsuki in his surprise, caught off-guard, but Izuku just laughed and cried and hugged him as tight as his scrawny arms would allow.

“Kacchan is so amazing!” he sobbed, drenching Katsuki's shirt immediately. “Thank you so much! They're the best thing I've ever owned!”

“Whatever. Take care of them. Might want to find some frames or something to display them, unless you want to just keep them in storage.”

“I will! And I'll make sure to get the fancy ones with the UV-resistant glass so they won't fade if the sun hits them! I'll treasure them forever! For the rest of my life! And then I'll be buried with them!”

“Idiot,” Katsuki snorted, shoving him off. “Move, it's my turn to open.”

“It's so bad compared to yours!”

“Nah.”

The package was surprisingly heavy in his hands as he flipped it over, soft to the touch but deceptively dense. He didn't understand at first, when he tore the paper open, finding fluffy black fabric folded inside.

“It's, um, weighted?” Izuku began awkwardly, looking away. “They're meant to be comforting. For... People with anxiety, and stuff?”

“Oh,” Katsuki answered, feeling like an idiot for it as he unfolded the fabric and wrapped it around his shoulders. “For when I can't sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“That's... Really thoughtful,” Katsuki admitted, pulling it tighter around himself. “Is it that obvious?”

“No, you mentioned it once in passing,” Izuku mumbled, burning bright red. “I just kept thinking about it though? Like, of course you get anxious, you're the number one hero. How could you not? But like, that's just something you have to deal with? No one gives you sympathy for it, not that you'd let them try, anyway, but they're all trying so hard to take that number from you and you're just trying to... to cope. With everything.”

“Yeah,” he nodded slowly. “When you're living here seeing me tired and shit, it's not exactly easy to hide.”

“I don't want you to hide it!” Izuku insisted, eyes wider than ever. “I want to know, Kacchan! I want you to tell me your worries and let me help you!”

“I don't need your help.”

“Of course not, but isn't it nice to have it anyway?!”

Katsuki's only answer was to snuggle tighter into his blanket, slowly retreating into the warmth like a caterpillar into a cocoon, but Izuku thought that was a pretty good answer, by Katsuki's standards.

“I got black since your room is so plain,” he explained. “They had a red and orange one which kind of suited you? But I felt like you'd appreciate black, it was more like what you'd pick for yourself.”

“I like black.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“We should go back downstairs,” Katsuki sighed. “The kids are probably wondering by now.”

“They're playing their game, it's okay if you need a minute.”

Katsuki shook his head, shrugging his blanket off with a hint of reluctance.

“No, I'm good, let's go be parents.”

“I'm right behind you.”

─────

The house was much quieter when all the kids had gone home for the night, and Katsuki hated himself for being relieved. He loved that his kids had so many friends, loved that they wanted to have parties and spend time with the people they loved, but god was it exhausting.

It was bad enough that his mother was still around, making her usual noise.

He had to admit she'd done a good job, though. Her and his father, at least. When they'd said they wanted to handle school supplies, he'd expected a backpack and maybe some cute stationery, he had not been expecting the massive pile of gear they'd picked out for each of the kids. 

They'd started with the best backpacks money could buy, rich and dark in colour, sturdy and strong for years of use. Each one had a name embroidered in little characters, tucked neatly into a corner on the front. “Bakugou Hiroki” in a shiny brown thread, “Midoriya Yuuto” in bright red. They even had matching tote bags and book bags to go with them, black on the outside with their names sewn in, lined with clean cotton in brown and red respectively. Katsuki was kind of surprised that they even knew both the kids' favourite colours, although that had probably been an easy question for making conversation on one of their Sundays together.

They had a few sets of pens and pencils in different colours, too, all stamped with their names so they wouldn't get lost, and Hiroki and Yuuto were digging through their matching sets, comparing happily. Izuku had thanked them a thousand times, and Katsuki knew that even though he would be feeling guilty for the huge collection of gifts, he would be quietly relieved, too. It was a load off his back in both time and finance, even though Katsuki could have gotten them for him too, if needed. Izuku would have done his best to fight it.

The weekend plans had come out when Inko produced her gifts for the boys, bought and hidden away after plotting with Katsuki, even Izuku left in the dark as they tore the packages open.

Hiroki got his open first, his face lighting up as he slowly came to understand, and Katsuki cracked a little smirk when he looked up.

“You busy this weekend?” he teased, ruffling green curls. “Thought maybe the four of us could go somewhere.”

Hiroki's words were incomprehensible in his excitement, bouncing up and down in his chair as he fumbled his possessions down and found his feet. He flung himself at Katsuki, still babbling as they hugged, eyes shining with happy tears.

“Are we going camping?” Yuuto asked in disbelief, when he unrolled his new ruby-red sleeping bag. “Like Hiroki's always talking about?”

“If you want to,” Katsuki nodded. “What do you think?”

“Yeah!” he beamed, his thick sleeping bag still hooked in one arm as he joined the hug. “Please let me come too!”

“Of course you can, dummy. You think we should drag Papa into it too?”

“Yeah!”

Izuku looked slightly green at the thought, but with the kids watching eagerly and Inko smiling at him, he conceded a nod.

“Y-Yeah,” he stuttered. “Sure?”

The room erupted with excitement again, and Katsuki clapped a hand over each of the boys' mouths, their yelling turning quickly into muffled babble.

“I'm so happy!” Hiroki grinned, when he squirmed his way free. “Thank you, Daddy! I'll pack before bed!”

“Yeah, we'll take off nice and early,” Katsuki nodded. “Bring warm things, it'll be cold at night.”

“Will you help us pack?”

“Yeah, if you want.”

“Okay!”

Katsuki had already sat with the boys super early in the morning to give them his own gifts, before he left for work and risked missing out if he got stuck on patrol. Together they'd hung two big whiteboards on the wall of their room, each bundled with a rainbow of coloured markers and magnets marking days of the week and school subjects. Katsuki's perfectionist nature had turned out to be nature and nurture, with the way he saw the two doing their homework together, so a future-proofed organisation and notes system for their schedules had seemed like a fun and practical gift. The boys were both enchanted by them, thankfully, already doodling in their markers and writing up their weekly schedules by the time Katsuki left for work.

His favourite part, personally, had been the other magnets, though. He'd gotten all sentimental when one of his searches for equipment had come up with custom printing, and each boy now owned a set of a dozen magnetic versions of various photographs. The boys together, each of them with each father, with their grandparents, even a couple of both boys and both parents, which had been somewhat rare as he searched through the camera Inko regularly snapped shots on for him. 

He hated to admit how much they looked like a family in those shots. He knew they were in some sense, even if their situation was a little weird, but it was... different. He found himself thinking that a lot. Something about seeing them squished together into a little cluster just felt... Warm.

Ugh.

It was no wonder Hiroki had gotten his hopes up, with Katsuki looking at Izuku the way he knew he did, even if he denied it. But how could he not? The man was just a grown-up version of the kid he loved so much, with their mops of curls and dotted freckles, their shiny eyes so wide and innocent. He'd fallen in love with those eyes the first time they'd looked up at him from a little blanket bundle, it was only natural that he would feel something when he looked into Izuku's.

And yeah, the dude was a sap. Always full of kind gestures and big smiles. It would have been impossible to not like the guy at least a little.

But a crush? No way, Hiroki was just a dumb kid on that count. It was complicated, sure, but his little giggles and whispers of "Daddy has a crush!" whenever he caught Katsuki looking at the man's back were way off-base.

No way.

He was Bakugou Katsuki, he was god damn Downfall, he didn't do crushes. Never had.

But as he watched the boys unpack their boxes, marvelling and enthusing over a collection of books each, yeah, he felt a little smile tug at his lips. Because it was funny, how nerdy the guy was. He'd gone out and found all his childhood favourites for Hiroki – some too advanced for him right now, but he would grow into them.

And when he shyly explained "so maybe you can get to know me a little better," Katsuki had definitely not smiled at the notion.

And when he saw the collection in Yuuto's box, he had definitely not gotten teary-eyed.

"Mitsuki found me an old photo," he explained, when Yuuto gasped over his box packed with brand new books. "Um, it's in there, actually. And I used that to find them all, as best as I could."

What he did do was lean over to look at the little laminated card in Hiroki's hand. On one side was Izuku with the same cheesy grin he still wore every day, only much smaller in the picture. He wore an All Might onesie, because of course he did, and books were practically spilling out of his arms as he showed them to the camera.

Hiroki flipped it over when he saw Katsuki looking, flashing his own beaming smile, and Katsuki could only stare at the other side.

He didn't recognise the photo on it at all, but he certainly knew the scene. His little cuddle corner in his childhood bedroom, full of pillows and blankets from when he was a toddler who inexplicably hated beds. A tiny Katsuki sat nestled among them, surrounded by neat stacks of books – picture books, chapter books, even a dictionary if his memory served him correctly. He had loved all those books, had kept them close at hand in case he wanted them all of a sudden, and Izuku....

Izuku had found all of them, so Yuuto could experience a little piece of Katsuki's childhood.

He was such a fucking sap, it was sickening.

Katsuki could feel his father's eyes on him as he stood, muttering a quick excuse as he walked out and locked himself in the bathroom. He just needed a minute to gather himself, to compose himself, to put on that same little frown he'd worn so carefully since he was back in middle school. The number one hero had to be unaffected, had to take everything in stride without changing his expression. For All Might that had been by wearing a constant smile, but Katsuki knew early in life that that wasn't an option for him, so he'd gone for the next best thing.

If he always looked angry, no one would notice when he really was.

"Everything okay, Katsuki?" Masaru asked quietly, tapping on the door. "You looked a little pale in there."

"I'm okay," he answered slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Um, just tired, I think."

Masaru waited for Katsuki to finish, splashing water on his face as he washed his hands, and when he stepped out of the room a solid hand landed on his back.

"You're doing a really good job here," Masaru praised. "Those boys are both such good, happy kids, and Izuku is a good man to have in their lives. I had my concerns at first, but you've done a great job."

"Shut up," he grumbled, well-aware that it was bordering on a whine. "I don't need to hear your sappy shit."

"I know you don't," Masaru smiled. "But sometimes it's nice, isn't it?"

He couldn't deny that, as much as he wanted to. Nearly six years of being a single father tended to take its toll on your self-confidence and self-assuredness, even for someone like Katsuki. His father might have been the only one who ever noticed, who ever understood. Izuku should have been a kindred spirit in that sense, but with Inko on hand to help out and a childhood that wasn't exactly full of praise and confidence the way Katsuki's was, it turned out they weren't so alike after all.

Masaru, though, had always understood. Even though he'd never been in the situation himself, it was like he could always understand what Katsuki was thinking and feeling. Even when he tried to hide it, those emotions seemed to spill over.

When he was a single father, he'd had no one to spill them to even if he wanted to – except for Hiroki, who had responded by babbling happily and giving him lots of hugs. Maybe it was about time he learned to use his words again, even if he didn't want to burden Hiroki with them anymore.

Maybe... Maybe it was time to let his parents back in. To let Izuku in. He'd offered, after all. Was it such a terrible idea to talk to him about the things that they were experiencing together anyway?

But more importantly, he wondered, when had he stopped thinking of himself as a single father?

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