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It’s been ten long, incredible years since Katsuki and Eijirou were married in a small, intimate ceremony held at Ground Zero in Kamino directly out of high school. They have an overwhelmingly successful hero agency, with a handful of bright interns and sidekicks at their sides, and both ranked in the Top Five before the hero ranking system was abolished. They’ve won the hearts of the public and have spent the last decade working as hard as they possibly could to save and protect those that cannot protect themselves. They’re happy, but they’re ready to start a new chapter in their lives.
They're ready to start their family.
They'd toyed with the idea of having their own biological child—Uraraka even offered to be a surrogate for the couple—but they ultimately decided to adopt and tackled the lengthy process with the same ferocity that they bring to the battlefield.
And finally, finally , they were approved and Katsuki will deny until the day he dies that he cried tears of joy upon reading that letter.
Eijirou, the sap, framed it and it now hangs proud in their living room, between the first ever newspaper article written about them as hero partners and a class photo from their graduation.
"Today's the day," said sappy husband whispers as they enter the orphanage, a bell twinkling softly to announce their arrival. "I can feel it."
Katsuki looks around the lobby, eyes quickly taking in their surroundings, and grunts in assent. Maybe it's the calming blue walls or the pristine white decor or just the overall soothing atmosphere of the place, but Katsuki feels it, too.
This is where they'll find their child.
"Hello and welcome to the Yokohama City Orphanage! I assume you're the Kirishimas? Director Nakashima will be with you shortly and in the meantime, we ask that you fill out these informational forms!" the receptionist chirps, handing a clipboard to Eijirou when he approaches the desk with a smile.
"Alright, thank you!" Eijirou chirps back as he grabs a pen and Katsuki's hand to haul him towards the couch to fill out their forms.
When Eijirou starts to scrawl away, Katsuki elbows him lightly. "Gimme those," he mutters, holding out his hand. "No one but me can read your shitty handwriting."
"Ah," Eijirou laughs sheepishly, running a hand through his loose hair, then hands over the clipboard. "Good call, babe."
Katsuki starts to legibly scribble their information in the assorted boxes as Eijirou softly hums along with the soft music playing over the speakers.
When he finishes, he signs his name at the bottom and has Eijirou do so as well before delivering it back to the chipper receptionist.
Eijirou is shaking the hand of a petite woman when Katsuki returns, smiling easily as he introduces himself and Katsuki, who takes his place at Eijirou's side.
"It's so great to meet you both," she says, shaking Katsuki's hand. "It's free recreation time for the kids right now, so if you'd follow me, I'll take you to meet them."
Eijirou flashes another wide smile and laces his fingers with Katsuki's. "Sounds great!" he replies, following the director of the orphanage out of the lobby and into the large room next door.
There's toys scattered haphazardly across the carpeted floor just asking to be stepped on and tripped over, so Katsuki finds himself picking them up as he makes his way towards the middle of the room behind Eijirou. Arms full, he walks over to the small toy box in the corner and deposits the toys in their rightful spot as Eijirou crouches down to talk to one of the smaller kids.
A half-finished board game sits abandoned on a table, piles of colorful play money tucked under the board on two sides, so Katsuki starts to clean that up too, instead of introducing himself to the kids like Eijirou.
He’d never admit it, but he’s been nervous about this day for a long time. He’s, of course, excited to finally be able to start their family, but this room of kids is far scarier than the hordes of villains they face day in and day out because he needs to make them like him and Katsuki’s never been good at that shit. Eijirou’s like the sun and it shows in how people tend to gravitate towards him and how he brightens any room he enters. It shows in how, even after only knowing him for less than a minute, he already has three small kids crawling on his back and laughing, their fat little hands gripping his ponytail of vibrant hair. He charms people so easily and Katsuki, even after all the PR training he’s been forced to sit through over the course of his career, has never been able to gain that one goddamn skill—
"Hey! I was playing that, mister!" a tiny voice cries and when Katsuki turns, pulled from his spiralling thoughts, he's met with a little boy with puffed out cheeks and furrowed brows.
"Yeah?" Katsuki drawls and gets a pouty nod in response as the boy sits down across from him. "Mind if I play too?"
"I guess you can," he says, narrowing his eyes. "But I'm gonna win!"
Katsuki feels his lips pull up into a small smile at the declaration and starts dealing money to the kid, who introduces himself as Akio as he chooses the dog piece and places it on GO.
Grabbing the tiny car piece and sliding it to GO, Katsuki introduces himself as well and absolutely doesn't smile whenever Akio responds with, "Well, Mr. Bakugou, prepare to lose!"
Katsuki tries teaching Akio how to play, but it's clear he doesn't understand, more focused on crashing his little dog into all of the hotels that Katsuki constructs, so Katsuki just rolls his eyes fondly and tells him he's gotta pay for the destruction.
"I have this many," the kid declares, holding out three 10¥ notes, which is about two thousand short of what Katsuki said he owes, but Katsuki takes it with a nod and a quiet "thanks."
After that, the game falls into total chaos as Akio starts stacking four hotels on top of each other on every property space and says that Katsuki owes him 4 billion yen.
Katsuki opens his mouth to argue, but a soft squeeze to his shoulder stops him. "Maybe don't destroy the kids in Monopoly, babe," Eijirou whispers in his ear before pressing a kiss to his temple and making his way back over to the small group that's flocked to him.
Katsuki groans softly under his breath, but decides Eijirou is right and hands over all his money to Akio. "Looks like you won, kid. Good job."
Akio lights up, eyes shining as he accepts the money and tries to count it. He gets to three before he starts skipping over numbers and finally ends on, "One billion!" He whoops and hollers, holding the stack above his head. "I'm king of the world!"
When Akio pushes himself away from the table, Katsuki stands with a stretch, then makes his way over to his husband, who's detached himself from all of those clingy kids he was surrounded with earlier and is now quietly conversing with Director Nakashima.
"Akio's a cute kid," Katsuki says, knocking his shoulder against Eijirou's affectionately.
Watching the boy run around, waving the money in the faces of anyone in his vicinity and chanting about his victory, Eijirou laughs fondly, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "Yeah, he is."
"Akio has actually been adopted by another wonderful hero couple," the director comments. "We're just waiting for it to be finalized."
"Oh?" That catches Eijirou's attention, making him turn away from the energetic boy, who's now throwing the money above his head and dancing around in a circle as it rains down around him. "Anyone we know?"
"We're really not supposed to give out information like that," she replies, then leans in close to whisper conspiratorially, "but yes, it's Deku and Uravity." She straightens back up with a smile. "Lovely couple, those two!"
"Didn't know the nerd and Uraraka were adopting."
"Me neither, good for them! I bet Rei's excited to be a big sister."
Akio's chubby, lightly glowing fingers poke at the last few pieces of money floating around his head, stopping them on their course towards the ground and suspending them in the air, and he grins, satisfied with himself. "They're gonna have their hands full with him."
"I think I know someone who would be happy to babysit," Eijirou quips, softly elbowing Katsuki while wiggling his eyebrows.
Katsuki scoffs, rolling his eyes, but doesn't refute the claim, instead opting to cast another glance around the room. After roaming for a moment, his eyes fall on a kid with a dark hoodie pulled up over their head, their thick black boots propped up on the window sill; their toes mindlessly tap the glass, presumably along with the music playing on their headphones tucked away under the hood.
“Who’s that in the corner?” Katsuki grunts, nodding towards them.
“That’s Kaida. She’s twelve. She lost her parents in the Kamino Incident, so she’s been here even longer than I have. I can introduce you if you’d like, but you should be warned that she’s a,” the director chuckles half-heartedly and looks away, “bit of a problem child.”
“So was I, but someone took a chance on me,” Katsuki grumbles, pointedly not looking at his husband, who’s undoubtedly grinning from ear to ear at him, as a light blush blooms across his face. “Introduce us.”
“Please,” Eijirou tacks on, flashing an apologetic smile at Director Nakashima.
She returns the smile, though hers looks strained. “If that’s what you wish.” She sighs softly and leads the couple over to the girl.
Faint, classical music with heavy bass plays from Kaida’s headphones, barely audible over the chattering and laughing of the other kids in the room.
“Kaida,” Director Nakashima calls out, hoping to be heard over the loud music, “there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Piercing red eyes flick over to them and narrow. “Piss off,” she sneers, yanking one side of her headphones off her head as she lets her feet drop to the ground and stand. “Stay the hell away, Nakashima. We go over this shit every damn time.”
Director Nakashima sighs heavily and shakes her head, turning to Katsuki and Eijirou as an apology forms on her lips. Before she’s able to get a single word out, though, Kaida stomps on Eijirou’s foot and shoulder checks the director as she pushes past them and makes her way towards the back of the orphanage. The slam of a door resounds throughout the entire building.
The director looks distressed, her face pinched in a pained look, as she starts to profusely apologize, “I am so sorry, Mr. Kirishima, I assure you she’s usually not quite this—”
“It’s really alright, ma’am! Do you mind giving me a moment with my husband?” He flashes that charming smile of his and Director Nakashima’s face instantly relaxes, a grateful and relieved smile gracing her features.
“Of course, take as much time as you need. I’ll be in my office down the hall when you’re ready.”
Katsuki and Eijirou both nod to her and she retreats in the same direction that Kaida disappeared, heals clicking noisily against the hardwood.
“It was like looking in a goddamn mirror.”
“That ‘stay the hell away ' was classic first semester Katsuki. And with that hair, I'm almost worried you had an affair with Midoriya." Eijirou shakes his head, disbelief coloring the quiet chuckle that escapes his lips.
After a few moments of silence between them, both lost in their own thoughts, Katsuki murmurs, “You feel it too, don’t you?”
“Yeah, she’s the one, Katsuki," Eijirou breathes, tears pricking in his eyes. God, what a sap. “But what if she doesn’t want to come with us? I don’t want to force her and make her uncomfortable. That would just lead to resentment and hatred and she’ll move out the second she can and she’ll never speak to us again—”
“Eijirou,” Katsuki takes Eijirou’s hands in his and rubs a thumb over his knuckles, “calm down. Let me go talk to the brat, I can get through to her. You go get started on the paperwork.”
Eijirou purses his lips then nods, squeezing Katsuki’s hands before walking back towards the office to consult with the orphanage director.
After taking a deep, calming breath, Katsuki walks down the hall and eases the door to the room that Kaida stormed through open, knocking lightly against the wood. “Hey, kid."
“What do you want, old man? I’m busy.” Kaida never takes her eyes off the sketchbook in front of her, pencil scribbling furiously and filling the space with its scratching.
“Do you sign?”
Kaida’s entire body stiffens, hand subconsciously coming up to untuck the hair from behind her ear and shielding her hearing aid from sight. For the first time since he entered the room, she makes eye contact with Katsuki, guarded look on her face as she signs, “ Yeah, but no one else in this hellhole does, so I don’t get to practice. ” That much is clear to Katsuki, her signs a bit shaky and uncertain, grammar a bit messy and unsure. She must be self-taught. “Why? ”
He turns his head to the side, flashing the hearing aids Hatsume made to withstand his explosions and designed to look like his hero costume, the black wings bold against the shorn, blond hair of his undercut. Kaida’s eyes dart up to the orange X, then quickly shift away with a scowl. Katsuki waves a hand to bring her attention back to him. “ My husband and I both sign. We could teach you. ” He makes sure to keep his signs slow and deliberate, forming each sign perfectly so that Kaida understands. Her brows furrow slightly and she pulls her lower lip into her mouth as she concentrates on Katsuki’s movements, then, when he’s done, her face contorts into a harsh grimace.
“Fuck off, I don’t need your charity,” she growls harshly and Katsuki gets a glimpse of what it must have been like for Eijirou to befriend him all those years ago. "Just fucking leave me alone."
"Fine, I will once you tell me what the hell you're drawing."
“A pro. What’s it fucking matter?” After she makes a few angry scratches on the paper, Kaida slams her pencil down and aims a glare at Katsuki, lips curled up in a snarl. “Why are you still here, old man? I fuckin' told you what I'm drawing. Don’t you have anything better to do than bother me?”
Katsuki snorts derisively and pulls the chair across from Kaida out with a dissonant screech. He sits down with a huff, then kicks his feet up onto the table—pointedly away from the notebook as to not interfere with her drawing—and sneers, “Nope, bothering a damn artistic brat is the only thing I have on my schedule for today. Now, which pro are you drawin'? Ground Zero?"
“ Ground Zero ? Fuck no, that guy is the worst ! I guess I respect his power, but his attitude is fucking annoying. Newsflash, asshole, yelling isn’t a personality trait,” she grumbles as she picks her pencil back up and starts scratching away once again.
That slight would've sent a younger Katsuki into a fit, but only makes older Katsuki quirk an eyebrow. “We never introduced ourselves to you, did we?”
Kaida briefly looks up at Katsuki to make her eye roll obvious before returning to her drawing. “No, you didn’t. Don’t care anyway.”
“I'm Bakugou Katsuki."
A small, amused huff escapes her lips as she raises her eyebrows, pausing her hand’s movements. “No shit?”
“No shit.”
“I ain’t taking back what I said.”
Now it's Katsuku's turn to huff out a laugh. “Don’t expect you to, kid.” He pauses for a moment, mulling over how to soften her up, then smirks when it dawns on him. There was always one thing that softened Katsuki up, no matter what. “What do you think about Red Riot?”
“Red Riot is a total badass. His Unbreakable is scary as fuck and he looks straight up like a monster, but that just makes him even cooler!” Bingo. Kaida’s eyes sparkle with a liveliness that Katsuki hasn’t seen since they arrived.
He finds himself wanting to do anything he can to keep that sparkle there.
“That’s what I always tell him, but he just gets all embarrassed. Idiot turns the same shade as his hair; it’s hilarious.”
She gasps, mouth forming a small ‘o'. “No way, you know him?”
Katsuki’s lips pull up in a soft smile as he thinks about his husband in the next room, talking animatedly to the orphanage director about adopting Kaida. “Something like that.”
“Maybe you’re not so bad, old man.” She smirks and raises an eyebrow challengingly at him, a look so familiar it feels like a punch to the gut in the best of ways. “What’s he like?”
“Annoying as all hell."
“So are you, so you guys must make quite a pair,” she quips back, the challenging look never leaving her face.
When Katsuki scoffs and rolls his eyes, she sticks her tongue out and goes back to her doodling. “Only difference is he’s stupidly nice and I’m not, so people actually like his brand of annoying. Can't go anywhere without people coming up to bother him."
"Sounds like someone's jealous of his popularity."
"Nah, I ain't a hero to be liked, kid. I'm a hero to save people by winning." Katsuki pauses, eyes tracking the movement of Kaida's hand across the paper. "Who's your favorite hero?"
"Who's yours?" she shoots back, quick as a whip.
He chuckles. "Red Riot, did I not make that clear?"
“You're biased. Everyone knows Deku is the best." A handful of years ago, that quip would've set Katsuki off, sent him into a tirade of how he is the best and Deku is the dirt beneath his feet, but now, it just makes him roll his eyes again with a fond huff.
“Yeah? Why do you like that shi—” Katsuki clears his throat roughly, “that nerd?”
“He was quirkless before he became Number One, just like me. He proves that no matter where you came from, no matter what your situation is, no matter who you are—you can still make something of yourself despite all the odds stacked against you.” When she finishes talking, she pushes the notebook she’s been doodling in out in front of her with a hum. A near perfect sketch of Deku sits on the paper, smiling wide with a little speech bubble that says ‘ I am here! ’’ next to his huge grin.
When Deku split One for All with Katsuki, Eijirou, and a select other few to create multiple Pillars of Justice, the truth about Deku’s quirk came to light. The whole world now knew about One for All and that the ex-Number One hero was quirkless until he met All Might as a teenager. According to Aizawa, more and more quirkless students have started to apply to UA since that news broke and it seems that even Kaida has found that damn Deku’s story inspiring.
“I guess he's alright," Katsuki acquiesces. "Still not as great as Red Riot—"
“Hey, Katsuki?” Eijirou’s voice rings out in the room after a soft knock, interrupting Katsuki. “Director Nakashima wants to speak to both of us.” He crosses the room and rests a hand on Katsuki’s back between his shoulder blades, leaning forward a bit to look at the notebook on the table. “Oh, Kaida, that’s gorgeous! Midoriya would love this! Do you mind if I take a picture to show him?”
Kaida's head snaps over to Katsuki, eyes doubling in size and twinkling like rubies in the sunlight streaming through the windows. "Wait, wait, wait. You're friends with Red Riot—" Eijirou chokes, then hides his laugh behind a fake cough, "— and Deku? You're shitting me."
As Eijirou lets out a surprised laugh at Kaida's language, Katsuki's lips pull up in a smirk. “I’ve known that damn nerd since we were brats.”
“Katsuki’d never admit it, but they’re actually best friends ,” Eijirou stage-whispers, making Kaida snort and study Katsuki with an unreadable expression.
“How’d the coolest hero in the history of the universe get stuck with this asshole as his best friend?” She trains her eyes on Eijirou as she hooks a thumb towards Katsuki.
"Just lucky, I guess," Eijirou and Katsuki say at the same time, though Eijirou's dreamy tone paired with the small, lovestruck smile he sends Katsuki make for a very different message than Katsuki's snark.
Katsuki groans, loudly, then grouses, "You're such a damn sap."
"You two are so gross." Wrinkling her nose, Kaida flicks her eyes between the two. "How long have you been married?"
As Eijirou answers with a cheery " Ten years this past April! ", Katsuki feels warmth blossom in his chest. She cares enough to ask. This is progress .
Now, it's time to seal the deal.
Katsuki slides a hand around Eijirou's waist and knocks his head against his best friend's side. "We forgot to introduce ourselves earlier, idiot."
"Oh no, I didn't even realize!" Eijirou cries, looking a combination of distressed and apologetic, and sticks his hand out to her. "Hi, Kaida. I'm Kirishima Eijirou and it is so nice to meet you."
"You bastard!" Kaida gasps, scandalized, cutting her eyes at Katsuki as she shakes Eijirou's outstretched hand, mouth still gaping.
"I said it was something like that." Katsuki shrugs, biting back the smile that threatens to take over his entire face.
Hook, line, and sinker.
After flicking his eyes between the two for a moment, Eijirou cocks his head, vibrant bangs falling into his eyes. "I feel like I'm missing something here."
"The brat's a fan of yours." Katsuki snickers as Kaida’s ears turn a bright pink and lets out an embarrassed growl, eyebrows knitted and lips jutted out in a pout. A sparkle that matches the one that Kaida wore the moment Katsuki mentioned Red Riot gleams in Eijirou’s eyes as the news sinks in.
“Really?” he gasps. “Oh my gosh, you have no idea what that means to m—”
"Wait,” Kaida holds up a hand to stop Eijirou’s gushing, then points a finger at Katsuki, “you introduced yourself as Bakugou Katsuki. If you two are married, then why didn't you take each other's names?"
"I did, but I like my damn privacy, so the public doesn't know that."
"So why tell me ?"
Eijirou crouches down, resting his arms on the table and settling his chin on his crossed forearms. "Because we want you to be a Kirishima, too."
Kaida is quiet for one heartbeat, two. Looking down at her drawing, she pulls her lip into her mouth—a habit she seems to share with Eijirou—then mumbles, nearly inaudibly, "Why the hell would you want some rude ass 'problem child'?"
Eijirou makes a small noise and Katsuki chances a look over to him. He's met with a fond smile, dripping with affection, as Eijirou replies to Kaida without ever taking his eyes off Katsuki, "Because I fell in love with some rude ass 'problem child' and I wanna build a family with him."
"And we can't think of a better daughter than you, Kaida," Katsuki finishes Eijirou's thought and reaches under the table to squeeze his husband's hand softly before turning back to Kaida.
"You really want me?" she asks, small and timid, so unlike the loud facade she's put up so far.
"More than anything," he and Eijirou say together and pointedly don't mention the way that tears spring to all of their eyes at the admission.
"Kirishima Kaida," Eijirou whispers when he stands and pulls both Kaida and Katsuki into a bone-crushing hug, voice cracking with emotion. "Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"