Chapter Text
“SHOTAAAAAAAA!!!”
Shota Aizawa groaned as his name was yelled from the kitchen. The warm July sunlight filtered through the blinds into the bedroom he shared with his husband, Hizashi Yamada, where he was currently folding laundry. From the window, he could see their twelve-year-old daughter, Katherine Ride, laying in the backyard with a sketchbook.
He usually wasn’t home at this time of day, but the school he worked at with Hizashi, U.A. Hero Academy, was on summer break, as was Katherine’s junior high school. This meant that the three of them had all the time in the world to be a somewhat normal family—at least, until September. Their life at home had been fairly calm, despite the two dads being Pro Heroes.
So why was Hizashi yelling at him?
“I’m in the bedroom!” he shouted, putting the last of his shirts into the dresser.
Hizashi skidded to a halt and grabbed the doorframe, holding an ornate, formal-looking envelope. “Guess what came in the mail?”
“A bail letter.”
“…No?” It’s–”
“Tax forms?”
“No! I–”
“Ah, a cease-and-desist form?”
Hizashi opened his mouth to make a rebuttal, then paused. “Why would we be getting a cease-and-desist?”
Shota shrugged. “I mean, you did dox that politician on your radio show the other day.”
“Eh, he had it coming. The point is, no, no, and no. It’s an invitation!”
“To…?”
“The Heroes Gala, obviously! It’s July!” Hizashi exclaimed, pulling a letter out of the envelope and handing it to him. “Can you believe it? We haven’t been in forever!”
“We went last year; that’s not forever,” Shota pointed out. Still, he began reading the letter, his eyes narrowing with every word.
Esteemed Pro Hero,
We are honored to invite you to the 78th annual Heroes Gala. The Heroes Gala is an event held by the Hero Commission for Pro Heroes to socialize and build relationships outside of their busy work lives. As always, each hero is permitted a plus-one of their choice. The gala will be held in Fuji on Saturday, July 24th, and go from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. You must RSVP by July 14th. After you are approved, you will receive an email for further instructions.
We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
The Hero Events Committee
“I see they still send out form letters,” he muttered.
“Oh, who cares. It’s the gala! We get to dress up, and talk to people, and eat tasty food, and dance…” Hizashi smiled, taking Shota’s hands and spinning the both of them around. “Think of it as a date night! Only other people are there trying to talk to us.”
Shota rolled his eyes but grinned. “You tell me to do that every year.”
“And every year, it works.”
“Whatever. Since you’ve been off in fancy gala fantasy world, I assume you haven’t thought about the one thing that’ll get in the way of your plans.”
Hizashi stared at him for a moment, then sighed and facepalmed. “Oh my gosh, you’re right, I completely forgot! I have nothing to wear!”
“That’s not–”
“But that’s easily remedied! We can just go–”
“Hizashi,” Shota started sternly, “what are we going to do with Katherine?”
“…Oh. Oh! Yes, Katherine, I’m so stupid. We can’t bring her, can we?”
Shota shrugged. “The rules have never said anything about the event being childfree, but…” He trailed off and looked out the window, watching as Katherine talked to a bird sitting on the porch railing. “Well, even though she’s not as guarded as she was when she came to us, she still might not be comfortable in such a public setting.”
Hizashi nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Problem is, we can’t ask Nem to hang out with her, either.”
“What? Why not?” he asked. “Nem loves Katherine, and that’s what we did last year.”
“She sent me a picture of her invitation earlier today. Besides, there’s no way in hell she’s missing another Heroes Gala; we can’t ask her to do that.”
“Shit. And Nezu has that meeting in Kyoto. What about the Wild Wild Pussycats?”
“They’re too far away for Katherine to feel safe, and it would be rude to have them drive hours up here just for a night. Sleepovers are out, too—I checked the calendar, and Takeuchi, Nakano, and Fujimori have prior engagements or trips that day.”
Shota raised an eyebrow. “And leaving her home alone?”
“Don’t even joke about that. We’d be sick with worry.”
“Yeah, so would she.”
The two stood in silence for a moment, mulling over the problem as Katherine continued talking to the bird on the porch. Suddenly, Hizashi clapped his hands together. “Well then, it’s decided!”
“What’s decided? We haven’t decided anything,” Shota retorted.
“I think we have. We don’t have anyone for her to stay with, and we don’t want her home alone, so there’s only one option left. We’re taking Katherine to the Heroes Gala!” he declared.
Shota stared at him for a moment, then sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Let me get this straight: You want us to take Katherine—our daughter—to a fancy party full of high-listing Pros; a party where we barely make the cut for the invitation list, and you want us to show off how awesome she is?”
Hizashi nodded enthusiastically.
“…Yeah, sure, why not. But let’s go ask her what she wants before we send in an RSVP for three people.”
With that, the couple made their way to the back porch. As Shota opened the door, the bird Katherine had been talking to flew away. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “I was having a conversation!”
Hizashi laughed as his daughter trotted up the stairs, pouting. “Oh, really? What were you two talking about?”
She shrugged and smiled. “Bird stuff. You guys wouldn’t understand.”
“I’m sure we wouldn’t,” Shota responded, ruffling her short hair. “Speaking of conversations, we need to have one.”
“Ooh! Are you finally gonna teach me how to break somebody’s arm?” Katherine asked excitedly.
“No, no, absolutely not,” Hizashi said quickly.
“Eventually,” Shota mouthed. “We wanted to talk to you about the Heroes Gala.”
“Oh, that fancy hero thing you guys went to last year? What about it?”
“It’s happening again on July 24th, Shota and I were invited, and we’d like you to come with us this time!” Hizashi rambled at lightning speed.
Shota stared at him, surprised that he could talk that fast, before turning back to Katherine. “Did you get all that?”
“Um, yeah. But I’m confused. You guys left me with Aunt Nem last time; why aren’t you doing that again?” she questioned.
“Nemuri was invited, too,” he clarified. “She’s pretty excited about it.”
Katherine tilted her head thoughtfully. “Hm…I mean, it doesn’t sound awful…but what exactly is a gala?”
“Oh! Well, uh…how do I put this…,” Hizashi mumbled. “It’s a social occasion with special–”
“Fancy party,” Shota translated. “You’d have to wear a dress–”
“Or a tux,” Hizashi interrupted.
“Right, or a tux, and you’d probably have to talk to people.”
“But only a little bit!”
Katherine blinked, then shrugged. “You didn’t do a real great job of selling it, but alright. I’m in!”
“Really?” the two dads asked.
“Mmhm! It’s not exactly a familiar atmosphere for me, but I’ll be with you guys and Aunt Nem, so I’ll still have fun! Plus, stepping out of your comfort zone is something you have to do often as a Pro Hero. This’ll be like a training exercise!”
Shota chuckled. “Well, you’re not wrong about that.”
“Yay! Oh, we’re gonna have such a fun time,” Hizashi said happily, picking Katherine up and kissing her forehead. “Now we just need to get you something to wear. And since I need something too, you know what that means…”
“Shopping trip!” she cheered.
“That’s right!”
The two enthusiastically turned to Shota, who shook his head. “Yeah, no. I’ll just wear what I wore last year.”
“Oh, like hell you will,” Hizashi scoffed. “You’re going shopping with us, whether you like it or not.”
“Sure, over my dead body.”
Shota turned to go back into the house, so Hizashi sighed and shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll just ask Nemuri if she wants to go…”
“Shopping tomorrow,” Shota interrupted quickly. “We leave at noon.”
Hizashi laughed at his husband’s reply while Katherine looked at the both of them, wondering innocently why her Aunt Nem—known as the infamous R-Rated Pro Hero: Midnight—had suddenly been vetoed for shopping.
The next day, the three piled into the car and headed to the mall. While Katherine and Hizashi ran around picking out outfits, Shota grabbed the first thing he saw that he liked and then found somewhere to sit down. Every time Katherine ran past him with an armful of dresses, she’d turn to him and smile, then continue on her way. On the contrary, when Hizashi passed him, he would say, “Go grab one more suit! And a pair of shoes! Ooh, I’ll search for cuff links! Don’t give me that look!”
Soon enough, the three met up at the fitting rooms. “Alright, Katherine, why don’t you go first?” Hizashi suggested. “You seem to have grabbed the most.”
“Alright!”
“So, what’s your plan for altering a dress for her wings?” Shota inquired as Katherine sifted through her dress options, putting anything she was having second thoughts about on a rack.
“Well, it all depends on the cut she chooses. But when it comes to closed-back dresses, I’ll probably cut wing slits between the zippers or buttons,” Hizashi mused. “I won’t worry about it until we’re done here.”
Katherine went into the dressing room, now and then poking her head out to ask Shota or Hizashi for assistance with a zipper. There was one dress that had to be tied in the back, and she had figured she’d be able to tie it with her levitation, but she was wrong. She was also (circumstantially) the best in the family at knotwork, since one dad was always tired and the other was farsighted. After about five minutes of Shota struggling to tie a non-complicated bow, she declared that obviously, this one was not going to work, and went back into the dressing room. Finally, she narrowed it down to three options. “Okay, what do you guys think?”
“Well, the one on the right would be easy to maneuver wing slits into, but the one in the middle is flowy and light,” Hizashi observed.
“I think they all looked great,” Shota added.
Katherine giggled. “Unfortunately, I can’t wear all of them to the gala.” She looked over her options one more time, before moving to the dress on the far left and taking it off the hook. “I think…this is the one.”
The dress she was referring to was a knee-length off-shoulder dress, with a black top and white skirt that had a black camellia print. The two dads had agreed that she looked fabulous in it, but again reiterated that ultimately, what she wore was her choice.
“Oh, yes! It looked utterly spectacular on you!” Hizashi exclaimed.
She perked up, her wings flittering. “Really?”
“Of course! It’s sweet and charming, just like you!”
Katherine beamed. As she moved the dress to the side, Hizashi demanded that Shota go next. He protested firmly, only relenting when Katherine joined Hizashi’s side. He went into the dressing room and came out a few minutes later in a simple European cut black suit with a black shirt and a satin-finish black tie. “So? What’s the verdict?”
Hizashi hummed uncertainly. “It looks great, honey, don’t get me wrong, but…are you sure you don’t even want a pop of color?”
“Yeah, pretty sure.”
“I think it’s awesome!” Katherine chirped. “You’re kinda like a spy undercover!”
Shota smiled, shooting a smug look at his husband. “Thanks, kiddo.”
“Well, I suppose I can’t argue with our daughter’s judgment,” Hizashi relented, shrugging. “You’re lucky we love you.”
“Uh-huh.”
After Shota got changed and came out, Hizashi threw himself into the dressing room and shut the door. Shota looked at Katherine and rolled his eyes, earning a grin and a small snicker from her. Hizashi had chosen very flashy, eye-catching suits, none of which had any dull coloring or plain patterns. However, after about fifteen minutes of feedback from Katherine and Shota not caring what he wore, Hizashi came to a decision. He chose a suit jacket that had reversible blue/gold sequins with a matching bowtie, a white shirt, and black suit pants. “Ooh, I like that one!” Katherine exclaimed.
“Yeah, I think this is the best choice!” he agreed. “There’s white, like your dress, and black, like Shota’s suit, and then it has gold, which is my favorite color! It’s perfect!”
Shota sighed. “Hizashi…don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like a walking disco ball.”
“Aww!” Hizashi smiled widely and hugged him. “I knew you would love it! Let me get changed and then we can check out!”
As he walked back into the dressing room, Shota turned to Katherine. “That wasn’t exactly a compliment.”
“It wasn’t?”
“Never mind.”
After Hizashi changed, they paid for the clothes and walked around the mall for a while. They were still on the lookout for accessories, and Hizashi preferred buying from the little stalls separate from the chain stores, so they were constantly stopping. He and Shota were looking at a jewelry vendor while Katherine lingered behind them when something caught her eye—a store with interesting clothes and jewelry. She observed for a minute longer, then turned her gaze to the sign.
Hot Topic?
She glanced at her dads, who were still busy, then looked back at the store and started to walk in.
“Hey, Katherine, come look at this! I think you’ll–” Hizashi began, turning to her. However, where his daughter had been standing just a moment before was now a vacant space. “Uh…Shota?”
“Hm?”
“Where did Katherine go?”
Shota turned, staring first at the empty spot she had once inhibited, then looked up. “If I had to guess, Hot Topic.”
“Oh, jeez,” Hizashi mumbled. “I swear she takes a year off my life with all her disappearing acts.”
“Hey, this was your idea.”
“Shopping or adopting?”
“Both.”
While her dads were talking, Katherine had made her way over to the jewelry section of the store, where she was eyeing the necklaces and earrings with piqued interest. She had gotten her ears pierced at the beginning of June, after relentlessly pestering her dads. She saw that some of the earrings on display had two hoops instead of one, for two piercings in the ear.
Maybe I could get my ears pierced again—when I’m a little older.
The necklaces on display were mainly chokers, but every so often she saw a longer one with a single gem. She put her hand up to her own necklace—a piece of twine with two crystals, red and dark blue. As she scanned the display again, a pair of dangling silver earrings shaped like crescent moons caught her eye. Katherine picked them up, turning them in her hand.
Hello there.
She moved around to the other side of the display, where there were hair clips and barrettes. Almost immediately, her attention was grabbed by a certain hairclip with black-tipped white roses. She picked it up as well, then looked between it and the earrings.
I could probably get two things, right?
“Katherine!”
Katherine looked up as her name was called and saw the two dads running over to her. “Oh, hi, dads. Look what I found!”
“Kiddo, you can’t keep running off like that,” Shota said sternly. “You’re gonna give Hizashi a heart attack.”
“I’m too young for a heart attack,” Hizashi retorted, “why was that the first thing that came to mind?”
Katherine looked at the ground, her wings drooping. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I got excited.”
Shota’s face softened, and he ruffled her hair. “It’s fine, Katherine, just be careful. Now, what’d you find?”
“Oh! Just a pair of earrings and a hair clip that I like. I thought they’d go well with my dress.”
“Ooh, let me see!” Hizashi exclaimed.
Katherine handed over the two items and he studied them both intently. “Hm…well, the hairclip goes well with your dress, and it would look good against your hair…but I’m not sure I understand the earrings. Any particular reason you picked them out?”
“I dunno,” she admitted. “I just like the moon.”
“I can respect that.”
Shota cleared his throat. “If we could wrap it up here and checkout, that’d be great. All this shopping has made me parched.”
“How are you parched?” Hizashi asked incredulously. “You barely did anything!”
“It’s one of my many talents. Now let’s go, I want to see the cats.”
After checking out at Hot Topic, the three got boba tea and left. During dinner that night, while they were talking about the gala, Hizashi described an incident at one of the first galas they had gone to where a Pro Hero had tripped and spilled punch all over another Pro, and a scuffle had started. Shota had to step in and use his scarf to restrain the two until they were escorted out. The story hadn’t made it onto the news, but Katherine could perfectly visualize her father using his scarf to detain two heroes, sporting a serious but almost amused expression, like that one time he’d found her wearing his scarf and goggles, pretending to be as solemn as he was. A sort of nervous excitement welled up in the pit of her stomach as Hizashi and Shota reminisced. She couldn’t wait for the Heroes Gala!