Chapter Text
It’s amazing just how subjective beauty really can be.
In any other situation, the sight of a seconds-old baby, all purple, wrinkly, and slimy, would probably make you grimace and think Oh dear God what IS that?
But when it’s your baby, suddenly it’s the most beautiful fucking thing on the whole goddamn planet.
At least, this was what Katsuki was thinking.
Right now, his daughter looked for all the world like a big, screaming, lavender-colored potato covered in vernix and amniotic fluid. But the first thought in his head was how fucking perfect she was.
It made no sense to him either, but no way in hell was he going to question it.
Seeing her silvery outline on the ultrasound and feeling her kick against his hand was one thing. But it was another thing entirely to see her here before him in person, knowing he could actually touch her and hold her and why the hell was his vision getting blurry?
No way. No fucking way. He was NOT gonna’ cry. No sir. He could keep it together…
“How’d you get so little?” Eijiro marveled with a watery laugh. “I swear, you were much bigger a second ago.”
Damn it.
Something between a light laugh and sob bubbled out of his chest. He reached over to carefully brush his fingers against the top of Tomoe’s head.
“Holy fuck… Ei, she’s… she’s so…” His voice cracked.
Eijiro turned her head to kiss him, eyes shining. “Yeah, she is.”
Tiny.
That was the word immediately coming to mind. Tomoe was just so fucking tiny.
For fuck’s sake, her wrists were hardly thicker than his fingers, and her head roughly the size of his fist.
But damn, did that girl have a set of lungs on her. People could probably hear her all the way out in the parking lot.
Yep. That was their girl, alright.
As the minutes went by, her skin turned into a pinkish-red and her cries grew less desperate and settled into discontented fussing. Her black hair grew in a thick, wide stripe along the top and down the back of her head, almost looking like a natural mohawk.
When she finally started to calm down, she opened her eyes a little wider, and the dull brown color surprised them both.
“Where’d those brown eyes come from?” Eijiro wondered aloud. "I thought they’d be some kind of red, like ours.”
“All babies are born with brown or bluish-grey eyes.” Dr. Tanaka told them. “They don’t start gaining their actual color until they’ve had a few months of exposure to UV rays. You’ll see their final color when she's about six months old.”
Katsuki suddenly noticed that the baby seemed to be trembling, then realized that it was Eijiro’s arms. “You okay?”
“M’great. Why?”
“Yer' shaking like a leaf!”
“Your body’s just undergone a very dramatic change in a very short amount of time,” Tanaka warned. “So you’ll be experiencing shakiness, and probably feeling sick for a little bit.”
Eijiro looked at her arms shaking as they held Tomoe. “I didn't even notice. I don’t really feel too bad right now…”
“We’ll keep an eye on you. Please let us know right away if you start feeling unwell feel any pain.”
They would be monitoring them closely, and be ready to take care of any complications. That was all anyone could ask for.
Dr. Tanaka examined the umbilical cord, which looked thinner than it had a couple minutes ago. “There’s no more blood flow, it’s ready to cut.”
She cinched two clamps about twelve inches apart, then smiled at Katsuki and held out a pair of scissors. “Care to do the honors?”
He was surprised at how unsteady his hand was. He had to remind himself that Tomoe wouldn’t feel it, and it wouldn’t hurt either of them if he didn’t do it perfectly…
A firm snip, then a twist, and he was done.
Eijiro shot him a grin. “Nice bladework.”
After that, Dr. Tanaka and one of the delivery nurses took Tomoe to the other end of the room, giving them a full narration and commentary so the parents could feel included as the baby was cleaned, weighed, measured, got her heel pricked for a blood sample (which made her pissed as hell), her footprint for the birth certificate, and an identification bracelet saying “Baby Girl Bakugo”.
“Seven pounds, and nineteen and a half inches long.” Tanaka informed them. “She’s a big girl!”
“What’s the national average?” Katsuki asked.
“For girls, 6.8 pounds and eighteen and three-quarters of an inch long.” *
“You okay there, Kirishima-san?” He heard the nurse staying with them ask.
He turned his attention back to Eijiro and saw that she was looking green around the gills, shivering like she was cold.
“I’m feeling kinda’ queasy.” She admitted, quietly.
Katsuki grabbed her hand. “Feel like you’re gonna’ puke?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but… ow !” She shuddered, her eyes wide in surprise. “I just had… that was a contraction!”
“Your body’s trying to expel the placenta.” Tanaka said. “Once it comes out, we need to make sure none of the afterbirth gets left behind.”
“Great.” Eijiro muttered sarcastically. “I wasn’t having enough of those.”
At the other side of the room, Tomoe started crying again.
“Oh man,” Eijiro looked heartbroken. “Katsuki, please stand with her, she needs one of us there!”
“Ya' sure?” He felt a little torn between who to stay with.
“I’ll be fine. She doesn’t know what's going on and she’s probably scared as hell.”
“I’m keeping a close eye on her, Bakugo-san.” The nurse assured him.
He gave her hand a quick squeeze before going back.
Tanaka and the other nurse were just wrapping up, trying to put Tomoe into her first diaper and getting no cooperation from her.
“Oi,” Katsuki said softly, leaning forward so she could see him better, pressing his finger into her tiny hand, letting her grasp it.
She already started to calm down a little bit, eyes opening to look at him.
“These guys know what they’re doing. Yer’ gonna’ be fine,’kay?”
She actually stopped crying. Still looking unhappy, but comforted.
Damn. Katsuki really hadn’t wanted to start crying in front of Tanaka again.
Tomoe was crowned with a pink cap and swaddled up in a hospital blanket before Tanaka brought her back to Eijiro, who started to reach out before looking at Katsuki.
“Wanna’ hold her, Babe?”
“Uh…”
Yes.
And no.
He really did want to hold her. Had been wanting to for months. But…
He glanced down at his hands, giant and horned with callouses.
Thankfully, having dealt with dozens of new fathers in her career, Tanaka recognized his hesitation for what it was.
“Newborn babies aren’t quite as fragile as we’re tempted to believe.” She told him with a reassuring smile. “Bear in mind what she’s just been through.”
She had a good point there.
For perhaps the first time in his life, he asked, without any hesitation or embarrassment…
“Could you show me how?”
“It’s really simple. See how I’m using one arm to support her head, while the other’s supporting her bottom?”
She carefully placed Tomoe in his arms, resting her head in the crook of his left elbow.
He went very, very still.
She seemed to weigh nothing.
Fuck, his lightest dumbbells at home each weighed over five times as much.
She was watching him just as closely, eyes wide and curious.
He cracked a smile. “Yo.”
She blinked, then stretched with a faint squeaking sound.
Game. Over.
“No fair!”
Fifteen minutes later, he was still holding her, sitting in the bedside chair while Eijiro watched with a radiant smile.
“I’m never getting her back, aren’t I?” She teased gently.
Katsuki smirked a little. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s really sweet, and I’ve basically been holding her for nine months straight, soooo…”
“But you did all the work.”
She raised an eyebrow knowingly. “And don’t think I’ll be forgetting it anytime soon.”
Tomoe made a soft sound, rolling her lips and flexing her fingers as she looked around the room. Katsuki couldn’t resist planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
He heard a click and looked up to see Eijiro taking a picture with her phone. “God, you both look so cute right now!”
“I ain’t cute.” He grumbled, for the millionth time since they became more than friends.
“Oh yeah?” She showed him the photo. “What do you call this ?”
The picture had captured a moment of closeness, showing him looking down at Tomoe with an expression of tender adoration that made him nearly unrecognizable even to himself.
“I won’t show it to anyone if you don’t want me to.” Eijiro promised with a soft smile. “But this is easily my favorite photo of you, period.”
Katsuki smirked. “Even more than those pics from My Suit That made ya’ crazy horny?”
She rolled her eyes, but her smile was fond. “Yeah. Even those. Everyone already knows you’re sexy, but this picture here proves that you’re also…” Her eyes twinkled mischievously.
“Don’t say it!”
“A marshmallow.”
He leaned forward carefully to kiss her, pulling away to rest their foreheads together.
“Ain’t a marshmallow.” He said.
Tomoe started to fuss again in his arms, prompting him to lean back.
“Not a fan of PDA, huh?” He muttered.
“Either that or she’s hungry.” Eijiro suggested.
Apparently, breastfeeding was more complex than you’d think. For starters, the delivery nurses actually brought in a lactation consultant to give pointers before they even started. Eijiro had to hold her breast in a certain way, and Tomoe had some trouble latching properly at first. But after a couple tries she got the hang of it, and didn’t let go for a long, long time.
This gave plenty of time for Eijiro’s body to release enough hormones to expel the afterbirth with a little help from the nurse pushing on her belly and pulling gently but firmly on the severed cord.
Katsuki thought he was prepared for it, even looked up pictures online to avoid getting caught off-guard and embarrassing himself like he had way back when he first learned he was going to be a father. But pictures were nothing compared to seeing it emerge from your wife’s body right in front of you, like something from a horror movie, along with a strong, meaty, metallic smell. And the blood.
So. Much. Blood.
He’d thought there’d been a lot when Tomoe came out, but that was just a trickle compared to the red tidal wave accompanying the placenta.
His stomach turned, but he was able to settle it. The nurses didn’t look alarmed or too concerned by the amount. Eijiro was turning a color similar to vanilla yogurt and shaking like she’d just jumped into a cold pool.
“Ei?”
“Wow, not feeling too good…” She admitted.
“How is this normal?” Katsuki demanded from the nurses. “Christ, she probably lost a whole pint!”
“It’s normal for a woman to lose about two pints, and the flow’s already slowing down.” The nurse said. “That’s a good sign.”
Eijiro gripped his arm. “Just trust them, Kats.”
He bit his lip while Dr. Tanaka came over to examine the placenta carefully and the nurses changed the absorbent pads under Eijiro.
“Looks intact.” Tanaka said. “There’s probably nothing left behind, but we’ll keep you under observation for any signs of infection or hemorrhage and give you plenty of iron along with some gentle antibiotics.”
“Thank you for everything.” Eijiro said.
The nurse smiled. “It’s always a pleasure. But Dr. Tanaka deserves most of the thanks.”
The older woman looked embarrassed. “Well, I’d say we all did our part. Even Bakugo-san did an excellent job.”
Katsuki frowned in confusion. “I didn’t do jack shit.”
“You were a great encouragement to your wife.” Tanaka insisted. “And you didn’t even have to say anything to do it. Most partners overcompensate for not having anything else to do and repeat my words or simply keep saying ‘You’re doing great! Keep going!’ repeatedly until the woman gets stressed and overwhelmed.
He’d never thought of it, really. Just knew Eijiro needed to feel him there, and to not try to get involved in a way he shouldn’t.
His instincts hadn’t lied to him yet.
Once the baby was fed, burped, and snoozing happily in her mother’s arms, Katsuki started calling everyone to let them know.
Eijiro’s moms were first, followed by his own parents, all three grandmothers crying unashamedly and begging him to send photos ASAP, which he promised to do.
The first person he called outside of their families was Deku. He answered so fast, Katsuki was sure he’d been waiting by the phone.
“Kacchan! Oh my God! Is she here? How are they? When…?”
“Whoa, slow down Nerd. Yeah, baby’s here. She’s made sure everyone in the Maternity Ward knows it.”
“That’s great!”
He heard Ochako’s excited voice piping up in the background. “I’ll ask him.” Deku answered her. “Hey Kacchan, can I put you on speakerphone so Ochako can talk to you?”
“Fine by me.”
There was some shuffling and clicking sounds before Deku’s voice came back. “Okay, here we go.”
“Hi Katsuki-kun!” Ochako said. “How’re they doing?”
“They’re both doin’ great. And Ei deserves a fucking metal.”
“How big is she?” Izuku asked. “Er, the baby, I mean.”
“Seven pounds, Nineteen and a half inches long.” He told them proudly.
Ochako gave an appreciative whistle. “Wow.”
“What are you guys gonna’ name her?” Deku asked.
“Bakugo Tomoe.”
“Tomoe,”Ochako repeated. “As in Gozen Tomoe?”
“Exactly.”
“I think that’s perfect!” Deku enthused. “I mean, not that it really matters if I do or don’t but…”
“Who does she resemble the most?” Ochako asked.
Katsuki glanced at the baby’s pinched face. “Kinda’ hard to tell right now. She’s got Ei’s hair, though.”
“Can’t wait to see pictures!”
Katsuki heard what sounded like a faint sniffle at the other end. He rolled his eyes.
“You crying, Deku?”
“No,” He said, voice little more than a squeak. “Well, m-maybe a little…”
“Holy shit, Nerd. How’re you gonna’ be when your own kid comes?”
“Sorry.” He wuffled. “I-It’s just, I w-was thinking ab-b-bout when we were kids and… and making all those g-grand plans for when we grew up… and…I just...” His voice cracked.
The corners of Katsuki’s mouth tugged upward. “Take care of ‘im, will ya’ Cheeks?”
“Don’t you worry.” She assured him.
“See you guys soon.”
“ B-Bye …” Deku squeaked.
The nurses came by to check on Eijiro and Tomoe every couple of hours, always knocking first. So when Katsuki answered a knock at around 7:00 that evening, he was taken off guard when he opened the door to three grinning faces, a balloon, and a huge-ass bouquet.
“Hey Dad!” Kaminari declared.
“No.” Katsuki stated flatly before swinging the door shut.
“Was that Kaminari?” Eijiro asked from the bed.
“And the other two Stooges.”
“Then let them in!”
Rolling his eyes, he reopened the door to three less cheerful faces.
“Sheesh.” Sero muttered. “This is supposed to be a happy event.”
“Let’s make one thing clear,” Katsuki stated. “You three will keep your damn voices down the whole time, and leave social media shenanigans to a minimum. If either of you make the baby cry, I will kick you all out. Understood?”
“For Christ’s sake, give us some credit,” Ashido grumbled. “Even we aren’t that stupid.”
He stepped aside and let the three file past him. Ashido toted the bouquet, Sero towed a pink mylar balloon with ‘It’s a Girl!’ written in loopy letters, and Kaminari carried a smiling teddy bear.
“Guys!” Eijiro beamed at the trio.
“Hey Kiri!” Ashido grinned, her voice almost a whisper. “How're you doing?”
“Fantastic!” She held up Tomoe just a little to show them.
The acid hero gave a tiny squeal. “Oooh! She’s an absolute doll !”
“Cool hairstyle.” Sero chuckled. “Goes perfect with the grumpy face.”
“Definitely her father’s daughter.” Kaminari quipped.
“Oi!”
“Volume, Dude! Didn’t you just tell us to keep it quiet?”
Katsuki glared daggers at the electric hero, who just shot him a mollifying smile.
“Joking aside Dude, she’s a real cutie-patootie.”
“Anyone wanna’ hold her?” Eijiro offered.
Ashido quickly set the bouquet on the bedside table and made a grabby motion. “I do! I do!”
“Here,” Eijiro leaned forward and let Ashido gently gather Tomoe into her arms.
Tomoe seemed to find the pink woman’s features very interesting. New though she was to human faces, she seemed to realize that this one was unique, with its lavender-pink coloring and black sclera.
For a second, Katsuki was afraid that she’d get freaked out. But so far, she seemed to just find it fascinating.
“Awww, you’re just the cutest little thing!” Ashido cooed softly.
Damn right she is.
He shook himself.
Where the hell did that come from?
“How big is she?” Kaminari asked as he reached over to let Tomoe grasp his finger, while Katsuki kept a close eye to make sure he didn’t accidentally shock her a little, as he was prone to do.
“She weighs seven pounds, and is eighteen and a half inches long.” Eijiro recited proudly. “A little bit above average.”
Ashido’s mouth fell open as she seemed to suddenly remember something. “Oh my God…”
“What?” Sero asked.
“I just realized… Shinso won the damn baby pool!”
Katsuki made a face. “Fucking Brainwash? You gotta’ be kidding!”
Kaminari looked alarmed. “You don’t think… he used his quirk to cheat ?”
“Yeah, of course.” Sero said sarcastically. “He used his mind control quirk to get them to do the Do at a specific time, then used it to somehow influence Blasty’s troopers to only let the double-X chromosome ones through, command the baby to grow at a specific rate for the last few months, then commanded her to come on the exact day he listed. Makes perfect sense to me.”
Eijiro started laughing so hard she was in tears.
Katsuki grit his teeth. “I will pay him the damn money myself if you morons promise to never string those words together into a sentence ever again.”
Ashido grinned. “Deal!”
They got plenty of things done during their remaining hours in the hospital. They arranged a time the following week for both their families to come over and see the baby, got Tomoe’s first vaccinations, took plenty of photos, and learned a few pointers from Dr. Tanaka and the nurses, such as how to swaddle and the most efficient way to change a diaper (and Katsuki learned the hard way what meconium was: not quite as horrific as the placenta, but still terrifying when you’re not expecting it).
Eijiro recovered quickly, to everyone's relief. She and Tomoe did so well, they were able to leave the next day.
Tomoe was relatively chill for the first few days, taking in the attention from four grandparents, two aunts, and at least five godparents, only crying when she was hungry, needed changing, or had to be burped. True, she never slept more than two hours at a time, even at night, but Katsuki was starting to think they’d been one of the lucky few who’d gotten a low-maintenance newborn.
A week later, he realized he’d spoken too soon.
She developed colic. One of those umbrella terms for newborns being especially cranky without any visible cause. Basically a fancy way of saying, “She's pissed at the universe for making her leave the happy place and will be taking it out on you.”
To be fair, when all you’ve ever known is warm, cozy darkness with very little sound, with all of your bodily needs taken care of discretely by a stem in your belly, the outside world can seem like an utter nightmare.
And it’s worse when you can’t just tell people what you need, even if you had a name for the hollow feeling in your stomach, the gross feeling in your diaper, or sounds getting too loud and unpleasant.
Crying was the only way she could alert them, so by God she was gonna’ use it.
Early on it became clear that she didn’t like being left out of things: if they were doing something while she was awake, she needed to be held. She was rarely content unless she was nursing or draped over someone’s shoulder (she’d soiled three of Katsuki’s shirts before it finally sank in that holding her without a burp rag… even for a minute… was courting disaster).
Suffice it to say, no one was getting much sleep in this apartment, and their memories and attention spans started to suffer because of it. Katsuki lost count of how many times he found himself standing around, wondering what the hell he’d been about to do. Poor Eijiro pretty much ended up falling asleep whenever she sat down, whether it was at the table, in the rocking chair with the baby in her arms, and once even in the bathroom (she was mortified ).
As soon as his parents found out, they stepped up to the plate.
Anytime they needed an extra set of hands, or had trouble taking care of something like cleaning or errands, Masaru and Mitsuki were more than glad to help (Eijiro’s moms would have also, had they not lived several miles away). At the same time, they tried not to get too much into things and give the new family some space.
More and more, though, he and Eijiro kept asking them to stay a little longer, just to visit, maybe ask them for some advice.
He was surprised at how encouraging Mitsuki was to both of them, never even criticizing their decisions or techniques, only giving compliments and helpful feedback when asked.
And one day Katsuki realized that he actually didn’t mind his mom’s company anymore. Maybe even looked forward to it.
Not that he'd ever say it out loud.
In spite of the colic, his parents insisted that Tomoe was calmer than he’d been at that age, which he chose to take as a good omen.
Things weren’t all bad, though.
There were plenty of times during her waking hours that she didn’t cry, but instead tried to look around, curious in spite of herself.
The things she liked to watch most were her parents’ faces. Pretty much out of the gate, she’d realized that these were the voices she’d been hearing all the time and fallen in love with, because she was smart like that.
So she easily got engrossed in what the owners of these faces and voices did, like this crazy thing called ‘expressions’, even trying out a few for herself.
And it was oddly soothing to just hold her, let her curl up and fall asleep on his chest, or tote her around and talk to her, even though she couldn’t understand a word he said. Eijiro had taken about a million pictures of Tomoe cuddled in his arms, or nestled in the crook of his arm while he did chores and such.
At least her diet of breastmilk meant that, after the meconium was all cleared out, her shitty diapers weren’t yet the stuff of nightmares. But other parents warned them to enjoy it while it lasted, because once they got her eating solids… God help them all.
But nobody, not even their parents, could really agree on who she resembled. All newborns looked mostly alike for the first month or so– even Katsuki and Eijiro, if the photos were anything to go by. A lot of people thought her pinched, grumpy-looking expression reminded them of her father, for some reason, but it was probably temporary.
Katsuki had never imagined that he and Eijiro would be the first of their former class to become parents, but life had a hobby of taking his plans for the future and tossing them over its shoulder, replacing it with something way better.
Needless to say, everyone was fucking smitten with Tomoe.
Friends, colleagues, former classmates, former teachers, coworkers, fans, the media, the internet: in just a matter of weeks she’d become the darling of Japan.
He knew it wouldn’t last long. People were fickle as hell and got bored too easily.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t proud as fuck.
It became even easier for people to lose their heart to her once she’d learned how to smile at the end of her first month.
Only problem was that her first one was aimed at fucking Icy-hot, of all people, who was just as surprised as her parents to see it.
Well, Katsuki wouldn’t hold it against her.
She apparently decided that she liked doing it, or liked the reactions she got, because from then on she was smiling an awful lot of the time.
Overall, she’d calmed down by the end of the month and got used to being here, and was pretty cheerful.
Before long she’d gotten strong enough to lift her head when she lay on her stomach, and was able to track moving objects with her eyes when before she only focused on things that stayed in one place. She also started to automatically smile when she saw some familiar faces, like the rest of the Squad, the Midoriya’s, Katsuki’s parents, Tsuyu, and (ugh!) Todoroki.
He felt a little sorry for Shouji, Tokoyami, and Hagakure, whom she seemed to find unnerving, if not downright terrifying.
As the weeks fell away, it was becoming really clear that she’d gotten Eijiro’s personality.
Thank God.
And as her face smoothed out and her eyes got less squinty, her features took on a more familiar cast.
One day he came to get her after hearing her on the baby monitor, waking up from a nap, and was suddenly struck by how much she looked like a baby picture his parents had framed in their living room.
Same narrow, almond-shaped eyes angled up at the corners, same nose, same lips, same head shape, same ears...
Hair and skin tone aside, his daughter looked just like him. Except way more pleasant, and cute enough to melt even the most stoic of their associates. One wide, gummy smile, and they were putty in her hands.
He hoped she would use this power only for good.
“Well,” Eijiro chuckled as she surveyed the apartment from the couch. “Home sweet home.”
“Love what you guys did with the place.” Ochako teased beside her.
“Yeah. Early Modern Cardboard.”
About five weeks after Tomoe was born, their real estate agent had shown them an apartment that fit their requirements, and they both knew in their guts that this was the place to raise their family.
It was nice. Not too fancy. Two bedrooms and one full bath, plenty of room for all their stuff, soft carpeting in a color that wouldn’t show stains too easily, and the building was in a good neighborhood with a park and playground just a couple blocks away.
The landlady was upfront about some issues like the leaky kitchen faucet, and a scuff mark on one of the bedroom walls, but there was nothing major, or that needed immediate fixing.
And now, just ten weeks later, here they were.
Packing and unpacking was pretty slow with just two people, especially with a nearly-four-month-old baby thrown into the mix. So their friends graciously offered to help with everything, making a several-day job last only two.
While the rest of them had since gone home, Deku and Ochako stayed to help with some of the unpacking, even though the latter was due to pop in just a week or so.
The issue found in the twenty-week ultrasound hadn’t fixed itself, so Ochako was scheduled for a C-section three days after her estimated due date. She and Deku were pretty disappointed, but there was no safe way around it. The important thing was the safety of mother and child, not getting ‘The experience’.
But they’d come to terms with it, and the excitement of meeting their son was leaving them on pins and needles.
Ochako occasionally pretended to complain about the fact she was bigger than Eijiro had been, but he could tell she was actually proud of her belly size.
More power to her.
“May I hold her?” Deku asked Eijiro, reaching for Tomoe.
“Be my guest.” She handed him the cooing, kicking infant with a tiny fist stuck in her mouth.
The symbol of peace sat down on one of the boxes scattered throughout the apartment. “Well To-chan, soon you’ll be meeting your new best friend, and before you know it the two of you’ll be up to the same hijinks your daddy and I did.”
“Don’t give her ideas.’ Katsuki muttered.
Tomoe smiled at Deku, gurgling happily while reaching out to grab his freckled face with both hands.
“I swear, she’s grown a full inch we last saw her.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Eijiro gave a tired smile. “She’s grown over three inches and gained nearly four pounds since she was born, and she’s gone up, like, two sizes of clothing.
“Gettin’ stronger too.” Katsuki couldn’t help but add. “Can prop herself up on her elbows when she’s lying on her front, and once flopped over onto her back and hollered for us to get her.”
Deku whistled in appreciation. “Wow To-chan! You’re gonna’ be outlifting me in no time!”
Eijiro turned to Ochako. “How’re you feeling about the big day?”
“Excited. Nervous. In disbelief. You name it, I’m feeling it.” She sighed as she rested her hands on her belly. “Not looking forward to people’s reactions when they hear I’m not having a natural birth, especially my Aunt Izumi with her ‘All natural lifestyle’, who thinks most of modern medicine is a crock.”
“It ain’t anybody’s business but your own, Cheeks.” Katsuki huffed.
Her face darkened. “Just tell them that. I swear, if just one person asks if I was ‘Too posh to push’...”
“Remind yourself that you’re too good for their B.S.” Eijiro put in. “I got some nosy questions myself, before and after Tomoe was born. I just said ‘No comment’. Do that enough and eventually they’ll get tired and move on.”
Katsuki watched Deku bouncing Tomoe on his knee, making her babble in contentment. “If anyone’s stupid enough to pester the wife of Japan’s number one hero, then your thousands of fans’ll give ‘em plenty of hell.”
“I might give them a few words of myself.” Said Number One frowned.
Gentle, peace-loving Deku flying into righteous indignation whenever anyone implied his wife did it, ‘the easy way’.
That would be a thing of beauty.
Like her mom, Tomoe thrived on human company. But even she had her limits.
After a full day of all the hubbub, being surrounded by people, charming the socks off everyone, and trying to chew on anything she could get her hands on, she was out like a light before 6:00, making her first night in her own room a lot easier than they thought it would be.Though they doubted it would be so easy for a long time after.
“Kid’s asleep, we’ve got our own room all to ourselves again…” Eijiro grinned knowingly. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Katsuki sighed. “All I’m thinkin’ is that I wanna’ go the fuck to sleep.”
“Same.” Eijiro laughed, hugging him around his middle. “But also that later, when we’ve got more energy…”
“We can do it in a bed again instead of spreading a blanket on the living room floor?”
“Yup!”
He kissed her temple. “Looking forward to it.”
Three years later…
“Look how high I can go!”
“I can go even higher!”
“Oh yeah? I can go even higher-er!”
If anybody had come to the park for peace and quiet, they were in for major disappointment.
Shrieks and laughter filled the air at the playground as a little girl with short, black hair and ruby eyes tried to out-swing a little boy with brown curls, green eyes, and rosy cheeks, their stubby little legs pumping furiously and their bodies leaning forward to increase the momentum.
Tomoe may have gotten her mom’s friendly and cheerfully boisterous personality, but she’d also inherited a generous portion of her dad’s competitive streak. Although usually a pretty good sport, she couldn’t turn down a contest if her life depended on it.
Midoriya Kennosuke, on the other hand, just wanted to play along with whatever his friends were doing. And if that friend wanted a contest, by God he was gonna’ give her a contest.
His little brother Shinra, a full thirteen months old, was preoccupied with more important matters, like digging holes with his plastic shovel and trying to eat leaves when his dad and ojii-san weren’t looking.
Deku chuckled at the antics of the older kids. “Just like stepping into a time machine, eh, Kacchan?”
“Yeah. Scary.”
Deku looked at the newborn snoozing in the stroller Katsuki had parked beside the bench, “All this noise won’t bother him?”
“You kiddin’? This kid could sleep through a heavy metal concert. It’s insane, and I’m jealous as hell.”
“Definitely one of the calmest babies I’ve ever met.”
Just three weeks ago, the Bakugo-Kirishima family had expanded with the addition of Hideyoshi, who’d actually been planned, but was no more or less a gift than his sister.
In terms of personality, it looked like he was taking after his paternal grandfather: mellow and laid-back in a way his parents and sister could never be, to the point that Eijiro and Katsuki had spent much of his first week checking every hour to make sure he was still breathing, in spite of the doctor’s assurance that he was perfectly fine. In terms of appearance, it was still hard to tell, but his eyes looked a little wider and rounder than Tomoe’s had, and his hair grew in a little tuft of black spikes.
They’d made some tough decisions these last few months. Finding out their second-born was a boy brought up the possibility of Becker’s again. After thinking it over, they’d both decided against any prenatal testing. Learning after he was born wouldn’t change the outcome, and it was much safer for both him and Eijiro.
Just a few days ago, the lab had called to inform them that the test results were negative.
All the grown ups were breathing just a little easier now. The children remained happily oblivious.
“Hey Papa!” Tomoe Shouted. “Look!” She stood up in the swing. “I’m an ac-ro-bat!”
“Butt in the seat, sweetie.” Katsuki warned her. “Yer’ doin’ great.”
She plunked her behind back into place. “Can Hide’ see me? Is he looking?”
“Sorry kiddo, he’s napping. But he’d be real impressed.”
This made her smile wider and kick harder.
“She seems to be liking her new job as big sister.” Deku commented.
“Mostly. Still has some trouble with sharing attention. That’s why we’re giving Ei some time to herself.”
Deku nodded. “Sounds pretty normal. Kennosuke was the same way.”
They were startled by a scream and saw Tomoe falling backwards out of the swing.
“Shit!” Katsuki breathed, jumping to his feet and running over. “You okay Kiddo?”
She was already sitting up again, crying loudly, but sounded more frustrated than hurt.
Kennosuke was struggling to stop. “To-chan! You okay?”
“H-hands s-slipped!” She sobbed.
Katsuki knelt beside her. “Does it hurt anywhere?”
She shook her head, sniffling and looking at her hands. “S-slippery… they got slippery…”
“What did?”
“M-my hands…”
He paused for a moment, before carefully taking her hands in his own to look at them.
Sure enough, they were wet. But it didn’t look like ordinary sweat. Something slick and kind of oily coated her palms and fingers.
Then, right before his eyes, it quickly dried and hardened so fast it crackled, forming into tiny crystals, like grains of sugar.
His mouth hung open. “Tomoe…”
“What’s happening?” Kennosuke was trying to look over his shoulder.
“My hands…” Tomoe started again.
Katsuki broke into a grin. “You’ve got a quirk!”
Her eyes grew wide.
"I... I do? Really?"
He ran a finger over the crystals, the surface of her palm feeling like 50-grit sandpaper. “Do you see this, Babygirl? It’s growing right outta’ your skin!”
She stared, open-mouthed.
Kennosuke leaned forward to get a closer look. “Cool! Hey Daddy! To-chan’s got a quirk!”
“Really? That’s great!” Deku piped from the bench where he remained with the two younger kids. “What is it?”
“Looks like a combo of your Mom’s and Grandma Mitsuki’s.” Katsuki told Tomoe. He turned to address Deku. “Her skin’s making something like glycerin, and it’s hardening into crystals.”
“So cool!” Tomoe cheered, all smiles.
Already the grains were starting to disappear back into her hand, but she didn’t seem troubled, too busy bouncing around in excitement. “Let’s tell Mama! Can we? Please?”
He ruffled her hair. “She might be napping, but why don’t we surprise her with it when we get home?”
“Okay! Lemme’ see if I can do it again!”
She held her hands palm up and squeezed her eyes shut, straining every muscle in her little body.
“Don’t rush yourself.” Katsuki told her. “You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”
Hideyoshi started crying from the stroller.
“Um… Kacchan…?”
“Coming.” Katsuki returned to his second-born, and after a brief assessment lifted him out and got a bottle from the stroller pocket.
Deku squinted at the Sharpie scribbles written on the bottle. “‘My Milk’?”
“Ei was afraid of mix-ups.” Katsuki shook the bottle before giving it to Hideyoshi. “Tomoe, you doing okay?”
She ran up and showed them her hands. “The slippery stuff came out, but it won’t sparkle.” She pouted.
“It’s okay. You’ve got years to practice.”
“He’s right.” Deku gave her a reassuring smile. “You'll be amazing To-chan, I just know it.”
Tomoe smiled back, encouraged that the number One and Two heroes had so much faith in her.
In a few seconds she and Kennosuke were playing again, this time acting out the many adventures they hoped to have as pro heroes in the future, like protecting little Shinra from imaginary villains he didn’t even know were surrounding him.
“I know you don’t like getting sappy and all,” Deku said softly. “But you’re a great Dad.”
Katsuki held Hideyoshi up to his shoulder to burp him. “You’re right, I don’t. And thanks.”
“MomMomMomMom!” Hurricane Tomoe burst through the door and immediately glomped onto her mother’s leg.
Eijiro, fresh from the shower, grinned at her daughter and ruffled her hair. “Hey Babygirl! Did you keep the boys in line?”
“I’ve got my quirk!”
“Really?” Eijiro excitedly scooped her up. “That’s so cool! Can I see?”
Tomoe had been practicing all the way home before Katsuki told her to stop and rest a little. Once again, she held up her hands and flexed her whole body while wearing a constipated look on her face.
Gradually, the slick substance exuded from her little hands, pooling into the lines of her palms, until she decided it was a good amount. Then it dried and solidified into diamond dust with a sound like cracking ice cubes.
Eijiro was agape. “Oh wow… Tomoe, that’s awesome!”
“It’s like yours and Grandma Mitsuki’s!” She wiggled until Eijiro set her down. “Now I can be a hero like you and Papa and Deku Ojii-san and Ocha Obaa-chan and Mina Obaa-chan and… everyone!”
“If that’s what you really want.” Her mother said, beaming proudly.
“It is!”
Her parents exchanged a smile.
“Then,” Katsuki said. “You’re gonna’ be one of the best there is.”