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“Where the hell did you find that ratty wig, Cheeks?” Katsuki eyes Ochako with concern as she tugs a Gunhead Martial Arts hoodie on over a set of comically large sunglasses.
“If you have time for questions, you have time for an undercover look,” Ochako hums, straightening her skewed wig and shades. “Come on! There isn’t much time. They’re already getting away.”
“They’re not perps, you know,” Katsuki snorts, accepting a worn baseball cap from his wife. He pulls it on, tugging the brim low to hide his famously crimson eyes. “This is so fucking stupid. I hope you know that.”
“Is it really, Katsuki? You’re fine with them walking three blocks alone?”
“That’s the whole damn point!”
Ochako squints at him, her hands on her hips.
“Dammit, woman,” Katsuki growls. “Fine. Let’s fucking go.”
They’ve only been parents for five short years—years that feel shorter still because they are blessed (or cursed if you ask Katsuki) with twins. Himari and Nariko are as thick as thieves, despite their contrasting personalities. Himari is the sweeter of the two, quick to laugh and smile. Nariko is far too similar to her papa. She has a habit of puffing her cheeks out like her mama, but her scowl is entirely Katsuki’s.
Both girls bear a striking resemblance to their father, but Ochako’s genes shine through in their round, pink cheeks and padded fingertips. Then, there are the quirks: Himari with her mass manipulation abilities, and Nariko with her touch-based explosive power. It has all amounted to a whole lot of headaches for Katsuki and Ochako in the time since the quirks manifested, but they wouldn’t change a thing, even now, as they send their daughters off on their first errand.
“I love you,” Ochako chirps, throwing her arms around Katsuki and peppering his neck with kisses.
“Yeah, yeah.” Katsuki sighs and rolls his eyes, but a half-smile tugs at his lips.
“Don’t be suspicious, okay?” Ochako says, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him out the door.
“When have I ever been suspicious?”
“Hush.” Ochako gestures for him to shush as they get to work trailing their daughters.
In the time it took for them to get their undercover disguises on, the girls have already made it a block away. Even at this distance, Ochako can see that her babies are holding hands, and she clutches Katsuki’s palm with a death grip as her heart melts.
“Ow! Ease off, would you!” Katsuki barks, shaking his hand free of Ochako.
“B-but,” Ochako sniffles, “they’re just so...cute.”
“Get it together, Cheeks. You’re drawing attention.”
“Katsuki,” Ochako gasps suddenly, her eyes going wide as if she’s just remembered something. “We need to get closer.”
“If we get closer, they’ll see us.”
“But I need to hear what they’re saying,” Ochako pouts, squinting through her dark shades at Katsuki. She puts on her best pleading face, working him over until he caves.
“If they catch us, it’s your fault,” Katuski says, flipping the hood of his jacket up over his cap. “Come on.”
Keeping a safe distance proves more troublesome than not, and there’s a fair bit of ‘stop and go’ on Ochako and Katsuki’s part. Still, the pair manage to sneak close enough to the girls that they can just barely make out what’s being said. Or rather, they’re close enough to hear everything that Nariko is shouting and some of what Himari babbles.
The girls’ errand is simple. They’re to pick up mochi from the konbini that Ochako stops by after her shifts. Accounting for their short legs, it really shouldn’t take them long.
Shouldn’t—but does.
If someone had asked Ochako which of the girls would cause trouble, she’d have waved her hands and assured them that they were both perfectly behaved while Katsuki bluntly threw Nariko under the bus. So it comes as a surprise to see sweet, sensible Himari being the one to delay the errand.
She stops to look at flowers and crouches to peer at little bugs scuttling across the tidy sidewalks. She lags behind Nariko as much as she can while still holding her sister’s hand, her head cocked back and watching the clouds. All the while, Nariko drags her along, shouting, “Come, Hima-chan! You’re so slow!”
“She’s just like you,” Katsuki snorts, adjusting the brim of his cap.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Ochako huffs while attempting to snap a stealthy photo of her daughters’ monumental errand debut. A photo that ends up being very much blurred, somewhat stalker-ish, and definitely not group chat worthy.
“Besides, Nari-chan’s patience is as short as yours,” she giggles, watching the miniature spitfire’s attempts to scold her twin. Himari, for her part, is unfazed, which only adds to her sister’s mounting frustration.
“Tch. We have plenty patience,” Katsuki says, grabbing Ochako’s elbow in time to prevent her from bumping into a post box. “Pay attention, Angel Face.”
Scowling, Ochako pulls the drawstrings of her hood, scrunching the fabric around her face. She probably looks dumb, but she doesn’t care.
“Hima-chan!” Nariko shouts, stomping her foot. “Mama said to hurry!”
Ochako and Katsuki slow to a crawl, watching the scene play out half a block away. It’s hard to hear what Himari responds with, but they can easily see her release her twin’s hand. Nariko stomps her foot again, haughtily placing her hands on her hips.
“Slowpoke!”
The childish insult seems to get to Himari, and she shoves her sister.
“Nari-chan, you’re too rude!” Crossing her arms, Himari turns her back on her twin. Her little cheeks are pinker than usual and puffed out in obvious frustration as she glowers over her shoulder.
“Yeah,” Katsuki chuckles, just loud enough for Ochako to catch it. “She’s definitely yours.”
“Should we do something?” Ochako worries, tussling with the idea of intervening. “Katsuki, if they use their quirks…” She trails off, letting her fear get the better of her.
Katsuki snakes an arm around Ochako’s back, hugging her to his side. The effect is instant. She takes a deep breath and sighs out her worries.
“No,” he says. “They’re big girls. They’re gonna crush this shitty errand. You’re gonna cry, and then we’ll all eat mochi together like some stupid, sappy family.”
“Promise?” Ochako tears her gaze away from her girls to meet Katuski’s eyes. Despite his sure attitude, his expression is soft, bearing the look he reserves for his girls. It’s one only shared in private, usually when he thinks no one is looking.
Ochako’s heart flutters against her ribs. After all these years, he still gives her butterflies, especially when he looks at her like she can lift the world. Perhaps he thinks she can.
“It’s not my promise to make. If Nariko is as much like me as you claim, she just wants to make sure Himari is safe. And if Himari has had enough of Nariko’s shit, she can stand up for herself. She’s as stubborn as she is sweet. Just—” He dips his head, bringing his lips to Ochako’s forehead. “—like you.”
His lips send a wave of warmth through her, and she feels the tension in her temples melt away. Ochako hovers in the moment, grateful that Katsuki is as sure of their children as he is of her, loving all three of them with everything he’s got.
Ochako wrinkles her nose. Katsuki really is good at everything.
Well, not everything. He’d been paler than a ghost when she’d pushed the twins out, but that’s neither here nor there, she decides with a silent giggle.
“Tch, whatever,” Nariko grumps, adopting one of Katsuki’s go-to “I’m gonna act indifferent, even though deep down I realize I’ve been an ass, and I’m never gonna admit it” poses.
Himari considers her sister for a moment and then laughs. Her happy giggling perforates the tension between them, and she hugs her sister. Nariko looks disgruntled but doesn’t push her away, and Ochako swears she sees their mini Katsuki smile softly and pat her sister’s back.
The girls make it to the konbini without further incident, at which point Katsuki and Ochako make a mad dash back home to avoid being spotted. Ochako clutches her wig the whole way, and Katsuki teases her for it. His taunting is short-lived, cut short when a cat darts underfoot. Swearing, he jumps out of the way, using a minuscule explosion to catch himself.
Ochako can’t contain her laughter as she grabs his hand, activating her quirk and tugging him along like an angry balloon. Their neighbors probably hate them, but as long as the girls don’t see them, that matters little.
They fall through their front door laughing and out of breath, sprawling out on their entryway floor.
“Think they saw us?” Ochako pants, her cheek pressed to the ground.
“Nah,” Katsuki wheezes. “We fucking booked it.”
“Are we out of shape, though?” Ochako is sure that, as pro heroes, they really shouldn’t be sweating this much.
“Fuck no. Don’t even joke like that.”
“Okay, Mr. Macho Man,” Ochako snorts, rolling onto her back.
The sounds of the doorknob turning has both of them scrambling. Katsuki rips off his ball cap and flings it across the room, quickly running a hand through his hair. A frazzled Ochako pockets her shades and brushes a clump of hair out of her eyes just in time for the twins’ return.
“Mama!” Himari chirps holding up a bag almost as big as her. “We did it!”
“It was easy,” Nariko says. Katsuki reaches down and ruffles her hair. She tries for a scowl, but her eyes betray her, shining brightly at having made her papa proud.
“Did anything interesting happen?” Ochako asks innocently.
“We saw a kitty!” Himari says at the same time that Nariko mutters: “Was boring.”
Katsuki takes the bag from Himari, peering inside.
“Don’t pat yourselves on the back just yet. You didn’t pass if you forgot to get the spicy mochi. I’m not eating that sugary shit your mom likes.”
This earns Katsuki a sharp elbow to the side from an exasperated Ochako, who mouths, “No swearing.”
“Dad!” Nariko yells, her pink cheeks scrunched in frustration.
Katsuki narrows his eyes at Nariko, and she quiets.
“Looks like you passed, after all,” he says, popping a lemon chili mochi ball into his mouth.
Ochako snorts and snatches the bag from him.
“You guys did great! You’re practically pros at errands now!”
The girls preen at Ochako’s praise. Nariko looks far smugger than any five-year-old has the right to be, and Himari beams as if her mother holds the sun and the stars.
Ochako lets the twins pick their mochi before snagging some for herself. It’s as tasty as ever, though not nearly as sweet as the pride she feels for her daughters. Glancing over at Katsuki, she catches him watching the twins with the same unguarded expression that he gave her earlier. From the smirk that curls his lips, she can tell he feels the same.
“Mama?” Himari gives Ochako a strange look.
“Yes, baby?”
“Why is your hair blonde?”
Katsuki barks out a laugh and chokes on his mochi. Ochako’s laugh is much more nervous, and she waves her hands hurriedly, chagrined at having forgotten to ditch the wig.
“Oh, it’s nothing! Just trying something new!”
“It looks better brown,” Nariko says.
“Agreed,” Katsuki snorts. “Guess you better dye it back, Angel Face.” He offers Ochako a wink, and she can’t help the grin that breaks out across her face. Their little secret is safe.
“Fine, but mochi first!”