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“Papa you should wear this!” Eri held up Izuku’s All Might t-shirt, her face gleaming with pride as she shows off her father's favorite shirt for him to wear on his big day.
Izuku smiled at the little girl, he took it out of her hands and folded it neatly, “Sorry princess, I think I’ll pass on this today,” he ruffled her white hair and got back to shaving his face.
Eri gave off a cute pout and stormed back into her fathers closet, searching for a shirt for him to wear on his date. She came back shortly after with another piece of clothing, happily shoving it into her fathers legs, somehow gleaming even brighter than before, "This one!"
Again , Izuku looked at the shirt and smiled, it was the old one Eri wears to bed, “Princess I can’t wear your night suit for my date!” He laughed as he picked up the 4 year old with ease, tossing her slightly in the air before bringing her back down. He kissed her forehead and put her back onto the floor.
“But this shirt is soooo comfy!” She brought the grey top into her chest and cuddled it.
Izuku splashed water over his face and dried himself with the nearby towel, “Yeah it is comfy! You sleep with it on almost every night!” He said enthusiastically. He moved passed the smaller girl to get to his bedroom, he had a pair of pants laid out for him to wear, he just needed a top to go with it.
Eri huffed and ran after her dad, still clutching the shirt in her tiny palms, “Papa you have to wear this one!” She pleaded, flapping the grey cloth around for emphasis.
Izuku smiled fondly as he pulled up the black pants he laid out, “Why do I have to wear this one sweetie?” He asked.
“Because this is my lucky shirt! And if you wear it, the luck will come to you!” she exclaimed as she threw the shirt onto his face, giggling as it fell off Izuku’s head comically.
Picking up the clothing, Izuku raised his eyebrow, “Do you think I need luck on this date Eri?” He asked, chuckling slightly at how fast the girl nodded her head.
“Yes yes yes! With the luck of my lucky shirt, you and Ms. Raka will have a lot of fun!” She spread out her arms, she began explaining everything they would do on their date, “- Then you guys will go get ice cream! Oh by the way papa can you get me some?” She started spitting words out as fast as her four year old mouth could go, “And then, *gasp* And then when you guys finish I will have a mom!”
The last statement hit Izuku like a truck, A mom… Eri had always wanted one, and now that he had scored a date with his old flame, that wish was becoming more and more possible. Izuku looked at his little girl, who was still explaining every little detail of her perfect date fantasy, he reached out and brought her into a warm hug.
“You really want Ms. Raka to be your mom don’t you?” He spoke deeply, a comforting voice Eri had learned to welcome.
The little girl nodded, “Mhmm, Ms. Raka is really caring and she sits with me at lunch and she als-”
Izuku started laughing at his daughters antics, she really was his little girl, “You talk too much snowball,” he teased.
Eri gave off another adorable pout, “ NoIdont! ” She retorted, causing Izuku to laugh more.
The man looked at the grey shirt clutched in the girls hand and sighed, I’ll need every ounce of luck I can get… He reached over to take the peice from her, Eri beamed and happily gave the large shirt over, ecstatic that her dad was considering her choice.
Izuku looked over the top, it was a plain grey tee with the word ‘shirt’ written over the middle. he looked down to his dark pants and pondered, I guess it works well, he looked back at the piece . He felt nostalgia wash over him as he remembered his high school days, Ochaco would always wear his shirts when they were over at each other's houses, she had actually worn the exact shirt he was holding, he silently thanked the gods for not letting him grow too much since 18.
Regardless, the shirt felt a little tight and snug around his body, caressing his biceps and chest appreciatively, showing off the muscle he had accumulated over the years, he was sure Ochaco would find it pleasing. Izuku kissed Eris forehead once more as he moved into his walk-in closet to pick out something to wear over the shirt, he let off an ‘Ah!’ after finding the perfect match, enticing giggles from the white-haired child waiting atop his bed.
Izuku walked out wearing a darker shaded blazer over his now dubbed, ‘lucky shirt’, he smiled as he heard clapping form the little girl on his bed.
“Handsome papa!” She cheered as Izuku picked her up from the edge of the bed, the man tapped her nose.
“I hope your happy, I’m now wearing our lucky shirt!” He made his way towards his kitchen, relishing the cheers coming from the girl in his arms. “Now we wait for your babysitter,” he plopped her down into her chair as he moved to make her a lunch for later.
The two continued talking and laughing about whatever came to the imaginative girls mind, it wasn’t long before there was a knock at the door, “That's him!” He moved towards the door, Eri hot in pursuit.
The man was greeted to a head of spiky red hair, he smiled as the man slapped down on his shoulder, “Mido! All ready for your big day huh!?” Kirishima Eijirou spoke with enthusiasm which could rival Eris.
Izuku chuckled, “Thanks so much for watching over Eri, I know it's the weekend and you would’ve wanted it to yourself, I would've called mom bu-”
“Papa you talk too much,” Eri smirked at the two adults, Kirishima found it hard to stifle his laughter, Izuku gave his daughter a deadpanned look.
“Ohhh Eri got sass!” Kirishima hollered as he picked up the girl, “How’s the snow queen doing?” He asked.
“Great Uncle Shima! I can’t wait to play dress up!” She beamed, Izuku could see Kirishima’s face drop, now wearing a fake smile to hide his regret for taking on the babysitting job.
“Alright, you two have fun, I’ll be back by 6, I made Eris lunch and put it in the fridge, help yourself to whatever's in there Kiri,” Izuku patted the redheads back as he began picking up his phone and wallet from counter of his kitchen.
“Alright man, I’m still surprised you managed to get a date with Uraraka, guess you got lucky huh?” He joked.
“I don’t know how either to be honest, but I'm not gonna question it,” Izuku smiled back, he crouched down to his daughter, who had been relieved of Kirishima’s hold just shortly before, “Now you be good to Uncle Shima, don’t overwork him you here, he’s an old guy.” He spoke, smiling inwardly at the ‘Hey!’ Erupting from the man behind him.
Eri giggled and nodded, “Okay papa! I’ll be good!”
Izuku ruffled her hair, “I’ll need the most luck I can get, so how about a good luck kiss?” He nodded his cheek towards the girl, awaiting her answer.
Eri took no time to close the gap and plant a soft kiss onto her fathers cheek, “Good luck papa!” She cheered as the man reciprocated by kissing her cheek.
Izuku stood up to face the babysitter, who smiled at him warmly.
“I’m not kissing you if that's what you're waiting for,” Kirishima spoke up.
Izuku shook his head harshly, “Ah, of course not! I was just zoned out, anyways I should get going, thanks for watching Eri!” He hollered as he stepped out of the apartment, on his way to his date.
Kirishima and Eri both shook their heads, “Man Eri, your dad is such a ditz,” he chuckled, “Now why don’t we go play space explorers!” He tried hyping up the girl.
Eri huffed and shook her head again, “No! We’re having a tea party at the royal gala! We have to get ready for it,” She dragged the muscular man into her room, “Come on Uncle Shima! I know the perfect dress for you!”
Izuku walked towards the designated meeting with his hands in his pocket, walking serenely through the bustling streets of Mustafu. He pulled out his phone to double check the time set for their date, 3:30. Izuku checked his watch, only to see that he was going to be late if he didn’t pick up the pace.
He broke into a sprint, being late on the first date is a big mistake, and he didn’t want to mess this up.
He managed to make his way to the park where him and Ochaco said they’d meet, he checked his watch and gave out a breathy sigh, 3 minutes late, that’s not so bad, he strolled into the park, searching for a bob of brown hair.
He looked around the flat land, he saw children laughing and playing on the swings and slides in the middle of the park, he searched the benches around the perimeter. There he saw her, wearing a frilly pink dress with white tights to compliment her white hair piece. If Izuku didn’t know any better, he would have thought he’d seen an angel.
Now the anxiousness kicked in, She looks so pretty! What If I look under-dressed? Am I under-dressed? What if I mess this all up and she doesn’t wanna talk to me again? Oh man I’m so no-.
“Izuku!” The man was snapped out of his thoughts as the girls voice reached his ears, he looked up to see the woman skip towards him happily, “I sorta expected you to be a little late, but I’m not complaining,” she joked.
Izuku felt his face heat up at the proximity of the woman, it had been a while since a girl other than his daughter had been this close to him. “Y-You look amazing Ochaco!” he complimented, silently celebrating step one of his ‘Perfect Date’ plan for being a success.
Ochaco blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “T-Thank you, Izuku,” she looked down shyly.
The two were left in awkward silence, “W-Well, we should get going!” Izuku declared a little too enthusiastically, but Ochaco matched the excitement with her own little cheer.
The duo walked towards the cafe rigidly, keeping a fair distance away from each other. Izuku looked at the woman beside and frowned, she was looking down sadly while rubbing her arm a little. With new found vigor, Izuku swallowed his fear and reached for her hand, softly intertwining his fingers with hers. Ochaco gasped and looked at the green haired man.
“I know it's been a while but, why don’t we do this like how we used to treat it,” Izuku said calmly, his jittery demeanor fading away slowly.
Ochaco grew a smile and squeezed the hand she was now holding, “I’d like that.”
The rest of their walk was filled with jokes and laughs, they found themselves enjoying each other just as much as they did all those years ago.
“I noticed your shirt by the way,” Ochaco said with a smile splitting her face.
Izuku looked down sheepishly, “Y-You did?” he scratched the back of his head.
Ochaco ‘booped’ his nose and giggled, “That shirt was really comfortable, you’re telling me you didn’t wear it on purpose?” She teased, it was astonishing how quickly they grew comfortable with one another.
Shaking his head, Izuku sighed, “Eri told me to wear it,” he deadpanned at the giggles that were sparked from his date.
“ Eri helps you dress? Gotta say, the gals got nice taste,” she nudged his arm playfully.
His face turned light pink at the sentiment, “She actually wears it to sleep sometimes, she says it's her ‘lucky shirt’, she told me to wear it for luck,” He chuckled.
The couple arrived at the bakery, the bells overhead jingled as the two entered. Ochaco dragged Izuku in by the arm the moment she eyed the pastries on display, Izuku couldn’t help but laugh at the girl.
The two soon settled down and had their coffee served to them. They sat in comfortable silence, drinking and talking about whatever came to mind as if they had been together for years.
They finished their drink, Izuku insisted on paying, not listening to the woman protest as he swiped his card happily.
The two were off onto the streets again, as comfortable with each other as can be. They window shopped and stopped for some ice cream at an ice cream truck, Izuku made a mental note to buy some ice-pops on the way home so his daughter wouldn’t feel left out.
Ochaco was ecstatic, she had finally found him, the one she longed for. They really had been inseparable as teens in high school, their breakup left a whole in her chest nobody else could fill. Just like the man beside her, she too was reluctant to get back into dating, she constantly compared her failed dates with Izuku. Though so far, this was the best date either of them had ever had in a long time.
The duo rounded the corner to make their way to the park they met up at. Izuku spotted something and froze. Ochaco looked at him curiously, “What’s wrong? She asked while tilting her head.
Izuku’s face became softer, a smile graced his lips as he gave off a laugh.
Ochaco followed his line of sight to find a bob of long white hair moving down the slide. Eri giggled and cheered as she reached the bottom, getting up and running back to the entrance of the jungle gym to go again.
“Eri!” Called out Izuku, gaining the attention of said girl.
Eri gasped and beamed at her father, she forgot about the slide and made her way hastily towards them, ignoring a tired looking Kirishima trying to stop her from running on the pavement.
“Papa!” She cried as Izuku let go of Ochaco’s hand and managed to pick her up with, the other hand still clutching his cone.
“Hey princess, what are you doing here!” Izuku said enthusiastically. Eri wasted no time snatching the cone from the mans hand and digging in.
Ochaco laughed at the two, while Izuku gave a stoic look to the girl in his arms. “Snowball there's someone else here, what do we say?” He asked.
Eri looked up from her already half eaten cone to look at the woman, her face began to glow in excitement as she realized who it was, “Ms. Raka!” She exclaimed.
“That’s right Eri!” Ochaco said proudly.
Izuku looked over to see Kirishima hunched over, panting heavily, “Did she really get you that tuckered out?” He teased.
“S-Shut up man, that girl is a speed demon,” he pointed a shaky finger at the white haired girl. He finally caught his breath and stretched, he noticed the woman standing next to Izuku, “Oh! Uraraka, long time no see!” He waved.
Ochaco took a moment to remember who the redhead was, “Kirishima?” She asked with uncertainty.
Eijirou stuck a thumb into his chest, “Yup! That's me, I changed my hair up a bit,” he grinned.
Ochaco nodded, “I can see that! You look cool!” She pumped her fists out. She began giggling after looking at the mans face properly.
“Uhh, Kiri, you got a little,” Izuku pointed at his face, trying to convey the message.
Kirishima huffed and ran his sleeve over his face, wiping away most of the makeup which caked his cheeks, “Eri! You told me there wasn’t any left!” He whined.
Eri shrugged, currently engrossed in watching Uraraka carefully, scoring her in terms of mother material in her mind, so far she was doing great.
Kirishima ended up leaving, leaving Eri in care of Izuku and Ochaco since she protested against going back home with her uncle. So now the date between the two had turned more into a family outing. Nonetheless, the three enjoyed it very much.
Eri had watched many of their interactions really closely, she was surprised that they were already holding hands, she liked that very much.
Soon it was time for the date to come to an end, Ochaco tried everything she could to keep Izuku from leaving, as Izuku was trying the same. One thing the man noticed was that Ochaco was still eyeing his shirt.
The woman shamelessly stared at the mans chest, seemingly lost in how well it defined his body, a blush crept onto her cheeks as she forced herself to look away, “So why does Eri call it her ‘lucky shirt’? She asked.
Izuku was taken back by the question, “Huh? Oh Well, I honestly don’t know, she just likes it,” he chuckled, “I don’t even think it's lucky, most of the time it's sitting in her closet ready to be worn for the night,” his smile grew as the woman laughed, “But she said something to me today that made me want to believe it is,” he said softly while he looked to the girl happily skipping in front of them
Ochaco noticed the change of expression and raised her eyebrows, “And what did she say?
“I said that the shirt will be lucky enough to make you my mommy!” Eri said as she hopped over cracks in the sidewalk, ignoring the fact that the question wasn’t aimed for her.
It took awhile for Uraraka to understand what the girl meant, “W-WHAT!?” Ochaco shrieked and hid her face in her hands, Izuku turned a shade of red as well, tugging at his collar to let out the built up steam he had accumulated.
Great job Izuku you messed it up! He struggled to recover from the girls statement, he stopped walking and scratched his head, “I-I’m so sorry! She’s just always wanted a mom and you were always nice to her so she thought maybe you could be! I know it's silly but I had to tell her some-” Izuku began muttering.
Ochaco instantly felt guilty, she constantly dreamed of this scenario after reuniting with her old flame, she would be lying if she didn’t say she liked the idea of it. But now it felt so surreal, her loves daughter declaring that she wants her for a mother brought an odd sense of pride and relief through her body. She shook her head and took her hands off her face, clenching them into fists as she glared at Izuku, who only shrunk more at the girls expression.
“Izuku?” she spoke smoothly, her teachers voice overtaking her real one for a moment.
The man lifted his gaze from the ground to the girl, “Y-Yeah?”
Her breath hitched as she stepped forwards, “You said that you wore it after she said she wanted me to be her mother,” she clutched her chest to keep her heart beat in check, “Am I right?”
Izuku could do nothing but nod.
Ochaco sighed heavily, “Does this mean, you still love me? That you want to do this again? You want to be with me? After all that's happened? After I left you?” She was close to tears.
Izuku’s face hardened, “Ochaco, you didn’t leave me,” his hands dropped to his sides, “We broke up because that’s what we had to do, no matter how much it hurt, it was for a better future for both of us,” he reached out to cup her face, “Med school and Teachers college isn’t easy, so I’m kinda glad we took those paths and excelled in them,” he chuckled. The two stared longingly into each other's eyes, communicating by the small movements of their pupils.
“Yes.”
“Huh?” Ochaco spoke with confusion.
“I said yes,” Izuku smiled, “I want to be with you again, even after all that’s happened, even after I left you, ” he took a shaky breath, “I still love you, I’ve always loved you,” he brushed a lock of hair away from her face, “Yes, Ochaco, I want you to be the mother of my Eri.”
Izuku had no time to react as Ochaco smashed her lips against his. A familiar and distant feeling of happiness overtook them. Izuku smiled into the kiss as he moved his arms to hold her waist, Ochaco smiled too while draping her arms over his shoulders. They didn’t realize how long they both had been missing the others touch.
Of course, a small and uncomfortable sounding cough interrupted their moment, the two parted with a loud smack and looked over to Eri, who was shifting awkwardly in place, a serene smile still planted on her face.
“Sorry snowball, we got a little carried away huh?” Izuku raised his eyebrow.
Eri ran up to the two and hugged their legs, still a little too small to give it to them properly. Izuku smiled and picked the girl up, bringing in her and Ochaco for a group hug. Both girls melted into the embrace, sighing in content as the man wrapped his arms protectively around them.
“Thank you, papa and mama,” Eri snuggled in even deeper into the warmth of her parents.
Izuku looked down fondly at the two. These were his girls now, and nothing could change that anymore.
Guess he owed a thanks to his lucky shirt.