My Father's Son - Chapter 68

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“It’s not very big,” Yuuto said, as he tiptoed through the apartment. “There’s only one bedroom, where’s Grampa Yagi gonna sleep?”

Katsuki grinned, the laugh slipping out when he saw Toshinori and Inko exchange concerned looks, and he saw Yuuto’s lips twitch toward a smile too.

“Stop being mean,” Izuku said fondly, ruffling Yuuto’s spiky hair.

“Sorry,” he said, completely unconvincingly.

“You had me going,” Toshinori admitted. “You’re just like your father.”

Yuuto smiled to himself, but he didn’t say anything, just continued his round of the little apartment to inspect everything.

“I can see my school from here.”

“I know,” Inko said happily, joining him to open up the balcony door. “I thought in the mornings, Toshinori and I could sit out here to drink our tea, and wave to you boys as you bike past us.”

“I’d like that.”

“You know, you’re gonna have a whole extra room at home, soon. You’ll have to start thinking about what to do with it.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, but Inko didn’t seem to notice.

“You boys could start a music room, or maybe that study your dad wanted for you.”

“It’ll still be your room,” Katsuki said. “We’re not changing that.”

“Don’t be silly, you could use the extra space!”

“You might want to stay over when you visit.”

“You don’t need to keep a whole bedroom just for the odd night that I sleep over, I’ll be perfectly fine on a futon or a couch! Do something fun with it!”

“Nope,” Katsuki said firmly. “Maybe, if they don’t piss me off, my parents can stay in it occasionally too. But it’s not changing, it’s staying just as it is, other than what you’re bringing over here.”

Inko sighed, but her expression was surprisingly fond when she looked back, finally meeting Katsuki’s eyes.

“Fine,” she conceded. “I guess it could be useful to have a spare room, then you don’t need to section off the living area when someone stays over.”

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

She shoved him lightly, and Katsuki grinned, pushing her back with the gentlest touch in the world, never willing to risk going too far.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “You’re very kind.”

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” he answered, managing to fight back his smirk. “What do you reckon, Yuuto? Good enough for your Nana?”

“I guess it’s okay,” he conceded. “But it needs more colours.”

“It’s quite plain, right?” Inko agreed. “But once we get all our furniture in, it’ll look much more like a home.”

“I thought we could frame some of your family photos and put them up on this wall here,” Toshinori told him, gesturing toward a wide, empty wall between the kitchen and the living room. “Then we’ll be able to see them every time we walk through the living area.”

“And your photos too?” Yuuto asked. “Not just ours.”

“I don’t have a whole lot of them,” Toshinori admitted. “I think I have an old one of my mother and I, somewhere, so maybe I can put that one in there.”

“You should,” Yuuto said firmly.

Katsuki was pretty sure he had some old photos with Toshinori, there was at least one that his parents had snapped of the two of them at Katsuki’s graduation, and he was sure he had a few of Toshinori with Hiroki and Ryouji as babies; he was gonna have to go digging through some old albums, and maybe hit up his friends to do some digging of their own. It was something he’d never really thought about; he knew Toshinori got lonely sometimes, but all his old students did their best to involve him in their lives still, even when he tried to assure them he was fine. Katsuki had never considered things like photos though, physical momentos for him to look back on when he was feeling nostalgic. He supposed he’d just assumed Toshinori had his own.

“We’d better get going,” Katsuki said reluctantly. “I said I’d watch the in-laws tonight so Number Two and Tamaki can both work.”

“You’re looking after a baby? Did you lose a bet or something?” Toshinori teased.

“The nerd is obsessed with babies,” Katsuki said, chuckling. “Figured I’ll just pawn her off on him.”

“Hey!” Izuku protested, laughing all the same. “But she is adorable.”

“You two gonna be okay here?” Katsuki asked. “Need a lift down the stairs or something before I go?”

“Katsuki!” Toshinori objected.

“There’s an elevator,” Inko pointed out.

“Yeah, true,” Katsuki snorted. “Alright, have a good night, then. Call me if you fall and can’t get up.”

“Katsuki!”

Katsuki just grinned at him, and Toshinori’s expression softened a little, unable to resist a tiny smile.

“Wednesday night. You hear me? You can wait until then, don’t go acting like you can do it all by yourselves; let the current heroes do the heavy lifting. Inko, keep him under control for me, alright?”

“I’ll do my best,” she assured him. “Thank you.”

They said their last goodbyes, heading back down to the car they’d only just left, but when they arrived, Yuuto pointed up, a wide smile stretching across his face. Sure enough, up above them, Inko and Toshinori stood on their balcony, waving down at them. Yuuto waved back happily, and Katsuki patted him on the shoulder fondly, before he opened the car door to help him into his seat. It was nice to see Yuuto so cheerful, especially when he’d been so hesitant about Toshinori at first – Katsuki was glad to see they were getting closer, in their own little way.

Katsuki paused as Yuuto climbed into his seat, taking a second to glance over at Izuku, as he opened the passenger door to hop in.

“Can you drive?” Katsuki asked, feeling oddly guilty when Izuku’s eyes shot open wide. “I need to send some texts is all, it’s fine if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’m happy to!” Izuku assured him. “I just thought you preferred to be the driver.”

“I do,” Katsuki agreed, shrugging slightly. “But I trust you.”

“Aww.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed, tossing him the keys. “You know what I mean. You drive it every day.”

“I’ll do my best!”

He switched to the other side of the car, and Katsuki paused a moment to check Yuuto’s seatbelt, giving him a thumbs up before he closed the door behind him. It really did feel weird, sliding into the passenger seat – he didn’t use the car all that often anyway, but when he did, it was generally to drop the kids off somewhere. It wasn’t like Hiroki could drive him places. He could only recall maybe twice, though, that Izuku had driven him somewhere, and something about that felt a little weird.

Thankfully, Izuku seemed content enough in the driver’s seat. He didn’t tremble under Katsuki’s gaze, or panic about being watched, he just adjusted the seat so he could reach the pedals, checked his mirrors, and pulled away from the curb with a last wave back at the balcony.

It was actually a little relaxing, in a way. Katsuki didn’t have to think about shit, he just got to sit back and type out a text to Mirio, letting him know they were on their way back. And when the text was sent, he got to look over his shoulder and talk to Yuuto, without having to worry about traffic and pedestrians. Maybe he needed to make Izuku do the work more often.

“They’re gonna bring over a travel cot, since I don’t have Hiro’s baby stuff anymore,” Katsuki said, when he got a reply back. “I might sleep in the living room tonight, rather than haul it up the stairs after she’s gone to sleep.”

“You won’t sleep very well,” Izuku argued. “You need a proper bed.”

“It’s fine, I don’t have work tomorrow.”

“We can put the cot in my room, then there’s even fewer stairs.”

“Then she’ll keep you up all night.”

“I don’t mind! She’s old enough to sleep through the night, surely. If she doesn’t, I’m a night owl anyway!”

Katsuki sighed, but deep down, he knew he’d been beaten. Izuku was such a sucker for the kid, he’d never let Katsuki sleep on a couch just to take care of her. Even if he did, Izuku would probably just join him.

“Do you have someone you want to invite for a sleepover?” Katsuki asked, glancing back over his shoulder. “I know it’s not much notice, but you’re welcome to invite a friend.”

“Really?”

“Of course you can. Any time. Well, within reason. Ask us first, and your friend’s parents too, and all that.”

“Mm... Can I ask Tsutomu?”

“Absolutely. The one you sit beside, right? Send him a message, and if his parents want to talk to us, they can call.”

Yuuto nodded, reaching for his cellphone, and soon it was ringing in his hand, Yuuto holding it out silently for Katsuki to take.

His kid worked fast, apparently.

———

“It’s nice to meet you,” Katsuki said, when Yuuto pulled open the front door. “Come on in.”

Tsutomu and his dad stepped inside, and as soon as Tsutomu’s shoes had come off, Yuuto was waving for him to follow.

“Bakugou Katsuki,” Katsuki introduced himself, chuckling when the boys ran off together without hesitation. “Sorry for the short notice, apparently Yuuto didn’t realise he was allowed to invite friends over.”

“It’s no problem, thank you for having him. I’m Shudai Shinji, and that was Tsutomu.”

“Is there anything I should know for the night? Food allergies and stuff?”

“No, he’s fine, and he’s not a picky kid so he’ll eat anything really. He has his phone with our numbers saved in it, if anything happens.”

“Nothing will happen,” Katsuki assured him. “Do you want to come up for a coffee or something?”

“Thank you, I’d better get going though, I promised my wife I’d do some errands on the way back. Next time?”

“Sounds good, have a good afternoon.”

“Thank you, you as well.” He glanced toward the stairs, cracking a smile. “Bye, Tsutomu!”

“Bye!” Tsutomu called back, from far above them.

Katsuki watched from the doorway as Shinji headed back to his car, waiting for him to be safely inside and pulling away, before he closed the door. With Tsutomu's arrival, the house had become pleasantly full, with Ryouji and Hiroki hanging out together in Hiroki’s bedroom like usual, and now Yuuto and Tsutomu running around up above them, as Yuuto showed him around.

Since Inko was at Toshinori’s for the night, Yuuto and Katsuki had dragged her mattress upstairs, making up a second bed in Yuuto’s room. Izuku, of course, was carrying Koara around everywhere; Katsuki was pretty sure she hadn’t left his arms since she’d arrived. She didn’t seem to mind it, since her own dads were pretty affectionate too, and Katsuki supposed it kept him from having to do anything – he’d forgotten how gross it was to change diapers, until he’d walked in on Izuku changing one just an hour earlier.

“You have a baby?” Tsutomu was asking, when Katsuki made it upstairs. “I didn’t know.”

“She’s not ours,” Yuuto explained. “Papa is babysitting her tonight.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be sleeping downstairs with me,” Izuku said with a grin. “So she shouldn’t keep you guys awake or anything.”

“S’okay, I have a baby brother,” Tsutomu said. “I’m used to babies now.”

“Oh, that’s cool!”

“His name is Noboru, he just learned to walk.”

“Wow! Koara isn’t quite there yet, but she can stand up by herself.”

“She won’t be long,” Tsutomu said sagely. “Noboru started walking real fast after he stood up.”

“Yeah, Yuuto was the same when he was little,” Izuku agreed. “Hey, we were thinking about ordering in pizza or something for dinner, do you eat pizza?”

“I love pizza!”

“What’s your favourite flavour?”

“Anything with meat on it.”

“Easy. I’ll make sure we get some good meat ones.”

“Thank you!”

With the conversation, and that part of the tour, completed, Yuuto waved toward the stairs, flashing Tsutomu a smile.

“Wanna see my room?”

“Yeah! Show me all your cool merch!”

The pair ran off together, and Katsuki smiled to himself, reaching over to poke at Koara’s chubby cheeks and make her giggle. That was one good thing about babies, he supposed: if he was feeling all sappy and fond, he could always take it out on Koara, when the older kids had their own lives.

Then again, Hiroki never exactly said no, either.

“Um, Kacchan?”

Katsuki looked up, a little startled to remember Izuku was even standing there, seeing his stupid sappy moment. Damn it, he’d gotten lost in his own thoughts and embarrassed himself again.

“Do you, uh... think this is a problem?”

He looked down again, confused, and it took him a moment to understand what Izuku was talking about. Despite no visible holes or tears in the fabric, Koara’s bare arm was wiggling at him, poking out the neckline of her little onesie. If he hadn’t been looking at her ten seconds ago, he would have thought she’d managed to wiggle her way out somehow, but...

“Ryouji!” Katsuki called. “Does your sister have a quirk yet?”

“No!” he called back. “How come?”

“I think she just found it!”

Footsteps pounded above them, then Ryouji was sprinting into the room with shining eyes, Hiroki right on his heels. He didn’t ask a single question, when he saw her waving her arm around, just grinned at her brighter than Katsuki ever could have expected, as he held out his hand.

“Did you do that?” he asked her, twitching his fingers a little, then swiping his hand straight through hers. “Like this?”

She giggled, clapping her hands and cooing at him, but Ryouji waited patiently.

“Do you think she’ll do both, too?” Hiroki asked quietly.

“Maybe,” Ryouji answered. “My dads thought I got both because of how they made me, so it would make sense if she did, too.”

He twitched his hand again, poking his finger through Koara’s claps, and she laughed even brighter, reaching for him and going straight through.

“That one was me,” he assured them, before anyone could ask.

With one last giggle, Koara stopped clapping and held up both her arms. Izuku yelped when she moved, and Katsuki threw out his arms to catch her, watching in dismay as she went straight through him. He looked down, praying she didn’t go straight through the floor as well, only to find Ryouji crouched below him, cradling a naked little blob in his arms.

“No more of that,” Ryouji said sternly, watching Koara’s mouth turn into a stubborn little line, her cheeks puffing out. “You’ll hurt yourself if you’re not careful. You could’ve gone right into the ground!”

Koara just giggled again, and Ryouji sighed, looking back at Hiroki.

“Can you bring my special shirt down?” he asked. “It might stop her falling through things as easily.”

“Yup!” Hiroki agreed, without hesitation. “Back in a second!”

He ran back up to his bedroom, and Ryouji stood up carefully, clearly a little amused by the whole situation, despite Katsuki’s and Izuku’s shared terror.

“My materials that go with me, I had to kinda learn to do it,” he explained. “If it’s like Dad’s it might be different, but if it’s like mine, maybe it’ll help stop her from falling.”

Ryouji helped dress her back in her onesie, while they waited, but when Hiroki returned, they pulled the far-too-big shirt over her too, making her giggle again over her giant dress.

“No more quirk when I’m not holding you, okay?” Ryouji instructed her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She puffed out her cheeks again, but she didn’t whine about it, so Ryouji handed her to back to a terrified Izuku, crossing his fingers with a teasing little grin.

“It should be okay,” Ryouji tried to reassure him. “I only did it a couple of times as a baby, it didn’t happen a lot. She might not do it again for a year.”

“How did you catch her?” Katsuki asked. “She went straight through me.”

“I’m not sure,” Ryouji admitted. “Me and Dad can sometimes... cancel each other out? Kind of? But also when it happens by accident it’s usually fast, so maybe just time. I just made my hands permeate and my arms not, so it would work either way.”

“That was really quick thinking, Ryou. I’m impressed. And thank you.”

“We should probably call your dads,” Izuku said, grimacing. “I know they’re busy, but they should know.”

“About that,” Katsuki said, wincing.

“No phones,” Ryouji sang, a little amused by it. “Of course.”

“They’re undercover tonight,” Katsuki clarified. “They had to ditch their phones for the night, that’s part of why they trusted us with her, instead of their usual babysitters.”

“Of course,” Izuku echoed, sighing.

“She’ll be okay,” Ryouji assured them. “She can’t breathe when she does it, so it’ll never last long enough to hurt her.”

“That sounds even worse.”

“Even if she falls into the ground, when it turns off, she’ll come pinging back out. Just be ready to catch her like a boomerang!”

“It’s gonna be a long night,” Izuku chuckled.

Yuuto and Tsutomu came trailing down the stairs to investigate, and Katsuki gave them a quick smile, reaching for his cellphone.

“While we’re all here, how about that pizza?”

It didn’t take long for them to put together an order, picking out a stack of pizzas and sides to be delivered to their door, and Katsuki headed for the kitchen while they waited for it to arrive, pulling out a collection of drinks. He always had juice on hand for Yuuto, and chocolate milk for Hiroki, but in a moment of weakness, he grabbed the blender from the cupboard, unearthing a tub of ice cream to go with it.

“Tsutomu, what do you like to drink?” he asked, poking his head back into the living room. “We have water, juice, milk, chocolate milk, or homemade milkshakes.”

Hiroki’s head darted up, and Katsuki waved him off knowingly; it wasn’t like Hiroki needed to say the words.

“Milkshake sounds amazing,” Tsutomu said.

“Absolutely. Vanilla or chocolate?”

“Chocolate please!”

“Coming right up.”

He returned to the kitchen, starting his usual scooping and blending process, making sure to include enough for Izuku, too. The nerd never liked to ask, but Katsuki knew him well enough to not need it. He wished he had something a little fancier to offer the other boys, too, not that they seemed fussed about it. Maybe he needed to get into mocktails or something, see what they thought of those.

“I’ve got orange and mango, or apple,” Katsuki said, nudging Ryouji as he passed to deliver the milkshakes. “Or the other usuals, if you want something else.”

“Ooo, orange and mango,” Ryouji said, head darting up. “Thanks, Uncle Katsuki.”

“Me too,” Yuuto said, when Katsuki looked his way. “Thanks.”

He returned one more time with the juices in tow, and before he could sit down, his phone was buzzing in his pocket, letting him know the pizza was getting close.

“That was quick,” he mumbled, glancing at the screen. “Be right back.”

Sure enough, the driver pulled up not long after he reached the door, handing over their food, and Katsuki’s stomach growled when he caught a whiff. He wasn’t against fast food, as such, but he did try to limit how often the family had it, in favour of healthier home-cooked options. Usually he was a sucker for a home-cooked meal anyway, there were few things better than coming home to a hearty stew or a thick cut of roast, but he’d be lying if he claimed he wasn’t a sucker for pizza or a burger, too. It was the best thing about having kids, he was pretty sure: he had an excuse to give in once in a while.

“Alright, vegetarian ones are on this end, Ryou,” Katsuki said, as he set the first two boxes on the table. “Everyone else, feel free to grab from wherever.”

“You don’t eat meat?” Tsutomu asked, looking over at Ryouji as he went straight for the one loaded high with vegetables.

“Not really,” Ryouji answered, shrugging. “Only occasionally.”

“What kind of occasionally?”

Ryouji just hummed thoughtfully, but Hiroki didn’t hesitate.

“His kindy teacher brought everyone snacks and there were no vegetarian ones,” Hiroki said. “He didn’t want her to feel bad, since she didn’t know.”

“Yeah, there was that one,” Ryouji agreed. “She made sushi rolls, but they all had fish or chicken in them.”

“That would have been hard,” Tsutomu agreed. “Maybe if you could see which bit it was and poke it out.”

“Mm, but then she might have felt bad.”

“You’re very nice.”

Ryouji was clearly doing his best to hold back a snort, and Katsuki was oddly proud of him for it – he really was making an effort just for Yuuto’s new friend, it was quite sweet, really.

With everything laid out on the table, and all their drinks poured and delivered, Katsuki finally sat down, his arm brushing against Izuku’s slightly. He turned to apologise, but Izuku was busy reaching for a box of potato wedges, his freckled cheeks dusted with a hint of pink.

“Here,” he said softly, handing Katsuki a box of the spicy ones. “I found you all the crunchy ones.”

Katsuki just stared at him. He knew he looked like an idiot, with his eyes all wide and his lips fumbling for words that wouldn’t come, but he couldn’t seem to do anything about it.

“It’s nothing,” Izuku said knowingly, sitting back with a pile of his own, all the softer pieces from the box.

“Thanks,” Katsuki choked out.

Izuku seemed to be making a habit out of those little gestures, and Katsuki wasn’t sure how he did it. He always seemed to remember the little things that most people wouldn’t have paid any attention to. Every time Izuku made coffee, he always set the mug on Katsuki’s left; even though Katsuki was right handed, he liked to keep it free for other things, so he’d grown used to drinking with his bad side. Whenever Katsuki started to get cold in the evenings, Izuku was always one step ahead, handing him a blanket before he had the chance to think of it himself. Even with their groceries, Izuku always seemed to be ready, buying Katsuki another bottle of shampoo just as he was running low, or picking up a snack he’d been craving, when he hadn’t even said it out loud. It was no wonder he had such a stupid crush on the man, when he was practically reading his mind all the time.

Fuck. He’d really just thought those words without any hesitation, huh? Clearly he’d let his guard down, with everything else going on, and it had just slipped out unfiltered. He was gonna have to be more careful about that, lock some thoughts back in the vault that stupid arm-touch had sneaked them out of.

———

“Uncle Katsuki?”

Katsuki’s head darted up, surprised to find Ryouji alone in the doorway; it was always a little strange to see him without Hiroki’s hand clinging to his.

“Everything okay?” Katsuki asked.

“Mm... Kind of.”

Katsuki patted the seat next to him, and Ryouji sat without hesitation, though he didn’t speak again right away.

“Is everyone safe?” Katsuki asked next.

“Yeah!” Ryouji assured him. “I’m just, um... a little worried. About Hiro.”

Alarm bells began ringing in Katsuki’s head, but he squashed them down, refusing to let Ryouji see him panic.

“Can you tell me why?”

Ryouji nodded, glancing at the stairs like Hiroki might be sneaking up on them, ready to catch him in the act.

“He’s in the shower,” Ryouji told him first. “So I thought I could come talk to you.”

“Of course you can. I really appreciate it, I hope you know that. I know it can be hard, deciding which things to tell me, and which ones to keep secret for him.”

Hiroki had a lot of secrets, Katsuki was no stranger to that fact. Most of them were minor, he knew, but others, Ryouji told him about right away, or at least asked Mirio to tell him. Apparently, judging by Ryouji’s clear concern, tonight was one of the big ones.

“He’s been all... down on himself,” Ryouji explained. “He says he’s fine, but he’s been acting kind of weird sometimes, and he keeps talking about how he’s bad at things, or saying he doesn’t want to do things because he won’t be good at them.”

“More than just nerves?”

“Yeah,” Ryouji said firmly. “He used to get nervous about trying new things that seemed scary and stuff, but if I was with him, it was okay. Now it’s not like he’s scared of the things, it’s like he’s scared to mess up.”

“That’s good to know, thank you,” Katsuki said, patting Ryouji on the back lightly. “I appreciate you telling me, I’ll have a good chat with him.”

“I thought maybe you want to talk to him after his shower?” Ryouji suggested. “When I go have mine, you could talk a bit, and that way if he’s still upset or anything, after, I can give him hugs.”

“I can do that,” Katsuki agreed. “That sounds like a pretty good plan.”

If it were up to him, he’d probably have waited until Ryouji had gone home, but he wasn’t wrong about Hiroki needing cuddles after. Katsuki always gave them too, of course, but he knew Hiroki always especially appreciated his Ryouji cuddles. Plus, if Ryouji was suggesting it outright, he probably needed to be talking to Hiroki soon. He had to have gotten pretty bad, for Ryouji to bring it up.

“Your turn!” Hiroki said, when he padded back up the stairs in his pyjamas, his green curls dripping on his shirt. “Goodnight Daddy!”

“I’ll come tuck you in,” Katsuki said, getting a grateful smile from Ryouji. “Wait up.”

Ryouji grabbed his towel and headed down to the bathroom, but Hiroki waited in the stairwell, letting Katsuki catch up before they climbed up to his bedroom.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Katsuki said, when he’d closed the bedroom door behind them. “Come sit down.”

“Is everything alright?”

“You tell me,” Katsuki said, smiling faintly as he took Hiroki’s towel and helped dry his hair a little. “You’ve been a bit down lately, right? I know you’ve still had lots of happy moments too, and I’m glad for that, but it seems like you’ve had a lot of unhappy moments, too.”

Hiroki didn’t look at him, but Katsuki didn’t force it, just gently squeezed at his hair with the towel and let him avoid Katsuki’s eyes.

“I’m happy. I have Ryou here, and at school too, and I have you and Papa and Yuuto at home. And Nana and Grampa Toshi are in love and finally gonna get married like I said. So I’m happy.”

“I know you’re happy about those things,” Katsuki agreed. “And it’s very sweet of you to be happy for other people, especially. But are you happy about you?”

“I love my family.”

“That’s not what I asked, though.”

Hiroki looked away, and Katsuki hugged him gently, pulling him into his side to snuggle in. They were silent for a while, but finally Hiroki’s mouth opened again, on the tiniest, faintest little whisper that Katsuki had ever heard.

“Why am I not good at stuff?”

“What do you mean?” Katsuki asked softly, trying not to give away exactly how confused he was by the question. “Which things do you feel like you’re bad at?”

“I’m never the best at anything,” Hiroki explained, turning his head to bury it in Katsuki’s shirt, this time. “I love my quirk, but I can’t use it, since there’s never fire. I’m not like Ryouji or Yuuto, they can use them whenever they want.”

“They’re not supposed to,” Katsuki reminded him. “But I understand what you mean.”

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t have one,” Hiroki admitted. “I think sometimes I understand a little bit what Papa must have felt like.”

“That’s probably true,” Katsuki agreed. “If you want to talk to him about those feelings, you know he’d be happy to do it, right?”

“Mm. I thought about it.”

“But?”

“I got scared.”

Katsuki hugged him a little tighter, pretending not to notice the damp spot forming on his shirt.

“I have to be strong,” Hiroki continued. “I don’t want people to think I’m weak.”

“I understand,” Katsuki said. “But also, you don’t have to be strong, okay? You’re allowed to be weak. We’re all weak sometimes.”

“Not Ryou.”

“Even Ryou,” Katsuki assured him. “I think when you love someone, you see all their good bits, and miss the bad things. Or maybe you even start to love the bad things, because they’re part of the person you love. You’ve seen how Ryouji acts around his dads, right?”

“They say he’s a brat,” Hiroki admitted, making Katsuki chuckle. “But he’s not a brat with me.”

“No, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a part of him still. And you told me once that you were a little disappointed when he didn’t want to go to the festivals and things, right?”

“It’s okay though.”

“I know it is, but that’s the kind of thing I mean. You don’t mind because you love him and want him to be happy and safe, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a little disappointed when it happens.”

“Yeah.”

“And even so, he’s only one person. There are a lot of things you’re better at than he is.”

“There aren’t.”

“I bet I could think of at least five right now, if you wanted. Ryouji could probably think of hundreds.”

“But other people are better too.” Hiroki paused, and Katsuki just waited again. “Yuuto is better than me at making friends, he made friends with his whole class.”

“You could too, if you wanted. I’m willing to bet you and Ryouji have just been too busy hanging out together.”

“I had a fight with one of them.”

“A fight?”

“Not with punches,” Hiroki clarified. “We argued.”

Katsuki sighed with relief, though he tried his best to cover it up.

“That’s okay,” he said. “Arguments happen.”

“I lost my temper.”

“It’s about time,” Katsuki said, grinning. “You’ve been working so hard and trying to hold things back, sometimes you just have to snap and let it out.”

“Adults tell me I’m nice and polite, but I can’t even do those right.”

“You’re both of those things, and a thousand more things. Losing your temper occasionally doesn’t make you not nice, or not polite. I promise, no one thinks any less of you if you get mad once in a while.”

“I used to be okay at music, but now everyone at school plays an instrument too, and the drums are hard.”

“You still have the piano, I’m sure they would all have trouble with the second instrument too.”

“Some of them play four instruments.”

“I bet they don’t do hero training, though.”

“Mm... They don’t, but Ryou is better at that than me.”

“He’s not better, he’s just different.”

“He is, though.”

Katsuki leaned over, kissing the top of his head lightly, hoping it conveyed all of the love and adoration and care that he couldn’t seem to get right with his words.

“I’m bad at swimming too,” Hiroki mumbled. “In my new class.”

“With the older kids?” Katsuki asked knowingly. “I know it must have been a big step, going from your old class to the new one. Just remember that most of them have been in that class for a year already, no one expects you to keep up right away.”

“Everyone my age is better though,” he complained. “I’m the slowest.”

“We learn swimming for safety, not to be the fastest,” Katsuki reminded him. “But if you’re having trouble, we can always talk to Auntie Tsuyu, and she can give you some extra help if you want. Or you and I can go swimming on a weekend, and I can try to help too.”

“I always have to try so hard,” Hiroki lamented, and Katsuki finally felt himself starting to understand. “Other people are good at things right away.”

“You want to know a secret?” Katsuki asked, getting a little nod in return. “Some of the people who look like they’re good right away are actually just lying.”

Hiroki peeked up at him, and Katsuki tried his best to smile back.

“When I was your age, I wanted to be the best at everything, you know those stories.”

“Mm-hm.”

“What you might not know, is that every day, I was trying to learn new things in secret, so that I would never look bad at anything. I got so mad all the time, because I was exhausted and busy and struggling, but I always wanted those moments where everyone thought it was my first time doing something, and actually I’d already practiced.”

“Did you lie?”

“Sometimes,” Katsuki admitted. “It was more like I just didn’t tell them the truth.”

“But you were still good at them after practicing,” Hiroki said, hiding his face again. “Even when I practice and practice like with drums and swimming I don’t get good at them, the only thing I was a little good at was the jump rope, and that was just because they were being extra nice to me because I got nervous. And I thought I would be good at the piano game but it wasn’t like a real piano. And my buddies thought I’d be good at the drum game but I couldn’t get it right, and the dance game too, everyone else we watched was much faster and better, even though it was supposed to be something I was good at.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at him, but he knew it wasn’t the time to ask. He was sure he could get Ryouji to fill in some weird blanks for him later, on that one.

“I know you think I’m just saying it because I’m your dad, but I think you’re amazing. You’re so much better at things than I was. When I see you try new things, I’m always impressed how quickly you learn them, even if you think you could be better. But also, you don’t have to be the best at anything. I know it’s nice to be the best, and it feels good to be the best, but also there are a lot of things that you’re good at, even if you meet someone else who’s better. Wouldn’t you rather be good at lots of things, instead of the best at just one?”

Hiroki didn’t answer, so Katsuki continued.

“You always say Ryouji is good at everything,” Katsuki pointed out. “But is he the best at everything? Like he hates doing math, right? He does okay, he gets by, but he’s definitely not the top math student in your class.”

“No,” Hiroki admitted. “He could be if he wanted it.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Some people love numbers, so they’re the best without even really trying. If Ryouji had to try, to get there, isn’t that the same thing you do?”

“Maybe.”

“And you said you were good at jump rope because people went easy on you,” Katsuki continued. “But I bet they went easy on a lot of people who were nervous or struggling, and none of them came away saying they were good at it after.”

“You were amazing at jump rope.”

Hiroki jumped, and Ryouji gave him an apologetic look, shuffling into the room shyly.

“Sorry, I was quicker than I thought.”

“It’s okay,” Hiroki mumbled.

“They only went easy on you the first tiny bit,” Ryouji told him. “As soon as you figured it out, they went normal, and then even faster. And when we did the little ropes, you went backwards and stuff, almost no one did that. Didn’t you see how impressed Kita and Kou were?”

“They were just being nice.”

“They weren’t.” Ryouji paused, sneaking a glance at Katsuki. Katsuki wasn’t sure exactly what was coming, but he nodded all the same – whatever had happened, they could deal with that later. “You learned the dance game so quickly, everyone was talking about it while you and Kou were playing. Kita even said there are competitions you could try, but I didn’t think you’d want to.”

“It sounds like you’re better at things than you think you are,” Katsuki said knowingly, smiling as he leaned over to kiss Hiroki’s hair again. “Maybe it’s just a bit hard to see, when you’re worrying about it.”

“Ryou would say that anyway.”

“No I wouldn’t,” Ryouji snorted, sitting down on Hiroki’s other side and leaning in fondly. “You know I don’t lie to you. Ever.”

“That could be a lie though.”

“It could be,” Ryouji admitted. “But it’s not. I love you, Hirohiro, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why me? You’re much better than me.”

“Do you think I went down a list of people and decided who was the best one to love?” Ryouji laughed. “My brain didn’t pick you, my heart did. Even if you were terrible at everything else in the world, you’d still be the best boyfriend!”

“And the best son,” Katsuki added. “You’ve always been the best at that.”

“Yuuto is better.”

“He’s not better,” Katsuki assured him. “He’s the best too, you’re tied for first.”

“And one day you’re gonna be the best hero, right?” Ryouji asked. “Even better than your dad, you told me.”

“You’ll be the best,” Hiroki grumbled. “I can’t catch up.”

“I’m only good now because I tried so hard to keep up with you,” Ryouji informed him. “You work super hard and you have Uncle Katsuki to help you, so I had to work really hard too!”

“But you’re better,” Hiroki huffed.

“Hmm. Maybe in some ways,” Ryouji agreed. “I think I have more control of my quirk because of my dads pushing me lots, to learn it and be safe.”

“Mm-hm. You’re amazing.”

“But you’re so fast,” Ryouji continued, like he hadn’t even spoken. “Like those fires at school, you were putting them out before anyone else had even seen them.”

“Because I could feel it.”

“Exactly. Your quirk is a part of you and I’m super jealous. My quirk is like... a thing I use. Yours is you.”

“You have two,” Hiroki pointed out.

“Well, yeah,” Ryouji agreed. “But it’s not like I can use them both together, I only have one at a time. Shouto has two quirks too, and he can use both at once, but he still can’t beat your dad.”

“Damn right,” Katsuki grinned. “More isn’t always better.”

Ryouji wiggled in a little closer, jamming Hiroki between them both for cuddles, and Katsuki mirrored him, getting a tiny, choked little giggle from Hiroki when they squished him tight.

“I love hearing you tell me how good I am,” Ryouji admitted. “You’re the only person whose opinion I care about, so it makes me happy, and I work extra hard just so you’ll keep saying those things.”

“You need a good rival to make you strong,” Katsuki agreed. “Mirio was a huge factor in me getting as good as I am, so with you two pushing each other, I have no doubt you’ll both be incredible heroes.”

“Why Uncle Mirio?” Hiroki asked quietly. “You were closer with Uncle Kirishima.”

“Because All Might chose him,” Katsuki admitted. “I was mad because I wanted to be the person he trusted, the person he worked so closely with and taught to take over when he retired. But Mirio was that person, and I was jealous as hell, so I wanted to prove them wrong.”

“Grampa Toshi bet on the wrong hero,” Ryouji grinned, nudging Hiroki lightly. “That’s what Dad used to say, when he got sad and stuff. He said Uncle Katsuki was right, it should’ve been him all along.”

“Damn right,” Katsuki couldn’t help but say.

“And Dad says Uncle Katsuki wouldn’t be half as good, without Dad,” Ryouji continued. “Grampa Toshi picked someone who was right, not someone who was the strongest.”

Katsuki huffed, but he couldn’t exactly dispute that, either.

“So when you’re sad about not being good enough, it’s my job as your husband to cheer you up,” Ryouji said firmly. “And I know you’ll do the same for me.”

“You don’t get sad.”

“I do,” Ryouji said. “But then you smile at me or hold my hand and it all feels better.”

Hiroki turned bright red, and Katsuki shifted his arm, dragging Ryouji into his grip too. What had he done to deserve such a great son-in-law?

“I guess I don’t have to be the best,” Hiroki mumbled. “I just want to be good.”

“You’re good at a ton of things,” Katsuki assured him. “I know it doesn’t always feel that way, but we wouldn’t lie to you, I promise.”

“Can you teach me lots of things, like you learned when you were little?” Hiroki asked, looking up at Katsuki with teary eyes that made Katsuki want to murder everyone who had ever made his kid sad. “So maybe I’ll be good at them one day too?”

“I’ve already started,” Katsuki said, grinning. “Why do you think we’ve always gone to so many classes?”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm. Music, sports, art, languages, they were all skills that helped me out as a kid.”

“Like how piano taught you jump rope,” Ryouji said with a grin.

“Because of the rhythm?” Katsuki asked knowingly. “That makes sense. Plus you’ve done enough different sports and workouts and things to give you the endurance for it. I didn’t really learn how to work out until I was a teenager, I didn’t have anyone to teach me properly, so I wanted to make sure you learned that stuff earlier than me.”

“Thank you,” Hiroki said softly. “One day I’m gonna be amazing like you, Daddy.”

“You already are,” Katsuki told him. “But I bet you’ll get more and more amazing every year, until you’re better than any of us could have imagined.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“And if you aren’t amazing at everything, that’s okay too. If it’s something you want to be good at, we can work on it together, and if it’s something you don’t care about, you can just forget it and move on.”

“Like math,” Ryouji said solemnly, nodding along.

“You do not get to forget about math.”

“Damn it.”

With his arms still wrapped around them both, Katsuki lay down, dragging them both with him onto the mattress. Hiroki cracked a little smile, and Ryouji laughed along, grabbing the blankets to help pull them up.

“It’s time for you two to get some sleep, it’s already way past your bedtime,” Katsuki pointed out. “You know, sometimes I feel bad about myself late at night, and in the morning after a good sleep, I always feel much better.”

“Mm-hm, life is hard when you’re tired,” Ryouji agreed, hugging Hiroki tightly. “Hey, you’re the best cuddler, too. There’s another one for the list.”

“Don’t be silly,” Hiroki whined, face burning. “That isn’t real!”

“Is too,” Ryouji argued, poking his tongue out. “I’m super lucky to be married to the best cuddler ever.”

“Shut up,” Hiroki said, laughing all the same. “You’re silly.”

“I don’t mind being silly if it makes you feel better.”

Hiroki reached for Katsuki, pulling him over for a hug, and Katsuki tucked them into the blankets first, before he gave them another long hug.

“If you still feel bad tomorrow, tell me this time, okay?” Katsuki said softly. “We can talk some more, and come up with a plan or something, to feel better.”

“Okay,” Hiroki agreed. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“Any time.”

He kissed Hiroki goodnight, then ruffled Ryouji’s hair in lieu of more affection – he was sure their couple of hugs had already put Ryouji at his limit for the night. Then, he switched out the light, waving to them all the same, so they’d see it in his shadowy outline from the nightlight by their bed.

Despite his reluctance to let them go, he knew they were both right on the verge of sleep anyway, and it would probably do Hiroki a world of good. If not, he had all the time in the world to keep going, to give him hugs, and have long talks, and maybe even take him to visit a counsellor, if he seemed to need it – Katsuki’s had helped him endlessly, after all.

Across the hall, he heard whispers coming from Yuuto’s room, so he poked his head in to check on the pair within. The scene was weirdly opposite from Hiroki’s room, with Tsutomu lying on his stomach on the edge of Yuuto’s bed, looking down at where Yuuto lay on the mattress on his back, to look up at him. There were no tears or cuddles, like the other room, but instead, two big smiles as they laughed together, brighter than Katsuki thought he’d ever seen Yuuto before.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Katsuki instructed, when they both looked his way. “I know sleepovers are exciting, but you do need to do the sleep part, too.”

“Soon,” Yuuto promised. “Goodnight Dad.”

“Goodnight Mister Downfall,” Tsutomu added. “Thank you for a fun night.”

“My pleasure, I’m glad you came. See you both in the morning.”

With a last lingering glance toward Hiroki’s room, Katsuki dragged himself down the stairs, determined to not keep them awake and feeling down for any longer than he’d had to. He only had one more stop to make, before he crawled into his own bed, too; Izuku’s room, right down at the bottom of the house, where he could no longer hear the hushed whispers from the boys.

Izuku was just setting Koara down, when Katsuki looked in, his emerald eyes still wide with fear, like she might instantly slip through the mattress and into the floor. Katsuki was nervous too, admittedly, but Ryouji had been so adamant that it wouldn’t happen in her sleep, and Ryouji had a hell of a lot more experience with that quirk than Katsuki did, after all.

Beneath the cot, a few stretchy cables from the garage had been strung between the bars, with Ryouji’s training shirt laid out across them. Katsuki had to swallow hard to keep back his laughter at the little makeshift safety net, but if it helped Izuku get some sleep, he supposed it was worth the effort.

Koara was sleeping peacefully, so Katsuki just raised a hand in greeting, rather than wake her up. He pointed upstairs, at where the boys were safely in bed, and Izuku smiled his understanding, mouthing thank you at him for his miniscule efforts in getting them there. He knew he should leave, when Izuku slid into his bed, knew he should mouth a goodnight back at him and move on, but he found himself hesitating, dithering in the doorway. It wasn’t the time, wasn’t even close to the time, but Izuku just seemed so content, sitting there in his cozy bed, with a sleeping baby beside him. For so long it had been hard to even think of saying the words out loud, and suddenly it was so hard to hold them back.

Wordlessly, Izuku pulled back the blankets, getting himself comfy on one side, but leaving the other one open. He didn’t ask, didn’t offer, didn’t even really look at Katsuki – he just lay down, sighing contentedly, and waited.

Katsuki stepped into the room.