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Hitoshi had taken a week off of patrols to help get Bashira settled. That first day had been a chaotic whirlwind of movement. He couldn’t even begin to think about regretting it though. Watching his husband rocking their child, their child , side to side, softly humming a lullaby filled Hitoshi with so much love he was about to burst. Izuku was so soft with Bashira, not that Hitoshi expected anything less. They had quickly learned that Bashira did not sleep well. Hitoshi understood that, after living in alleys for months they probably wouldn’t either. Let alone at five .
Crouching down in front of Izuku, Hitoshi pulled four fingers through thick turquoise hair. Bashira’s mouth was slightly open and her breaths even. “Hey, Lovely. She doing alright?” Izuku smiled down at Bashira and held her a bit tighter. Hitoshi knew that this was a lot for their husband. Izuku was terrified of messing up. His dad skipped out when he was four and his mom was always a bit too overbearing. Izuku always defended her, but Hitoshi wasn’t exactly a fan. She didn’t do anything when Izuku came home burnt and bleeding and she tried to prevent him from living his life. After they announced their engagement she cut off all contact. It hurt Izuku and Hitoshi hated that, but he wasn’t a fan of Inko.
“Woke up about an hour ago. She fell out of bed and was scared we’d be mad that she made a noise. Bruised her elbow pretty bad on the nightstand.” Izuku was tracing the tear tracks lightly. He was so worried. Hitoshi wasn’t much better. Bouncing around foster care until he was sixteen did not exactly prompt a good view on parenthood. He was lucky that the dorms were implemented at UA and Aizawa decided to take custody of them instead of letting the system try to figure out how that was going to work. He was loved Dad and Pops, loved Eri, but Hitoshi was petrified of messing up. He didn’t want Bashira to be scared of them. Neither of them wanted her to have the worries that they both carried.
Gently, Hitoshi scooped Bashira into their arms to carry her back to her bed. This had become routine. Bashira wanted Izuku to rock her and hug her, but she was always very clear that she wanted Hitoshi to carry her. It filled him with so much love and pride. Their kid trusted them. They had spent the day before painting purple and white flowers on the walls because she had really liked them, and Hitoshi had to admit that it looked nice on her walls. It proved that she was there and that this was her home too. Pulling the blanket up to her chin, Hitoshi let their fingers linger on her hair just a bit. She was such a gentle kid. She didn’t deserve what had happened and Hitoshi would burn before he let it happen again.
Slipping out of her room on silent feet, Hitoshi went back to were Izuku was seated. His arms were pressed against his knees and hands were buried in his hair. Leaning over the couch, Hitoshi wrapped their arms around Izuku’s shoulders. “Come back to bed, Lovely. You have that meeting with Nezu tomorrow.” Before Hitoshi had to go back to regular patrols Izuku needed to talk to Nezu. He had been offered a position teaching the heroics classes at UA. They still had a couple weeks before the semester break was over and both were hopeful the offer was still available. It would give Izuku a reason for his PR team as to why he was cutting back patrols.
They didn’t want to keep Bashira a secret, but they didn’t want to invite trouble where it wasn’t needed. The number one hero has a child? That would invite trouble. “I know. I’m just worried about her.” Hitoshi placed a harsh kiss on Izuku’s temple. “She’s so small and how are we supposed to help her? We can barely keep ourselves alive! Hitoshi what if something happens and we don’t react right? I mean, she has her first therapy session tomorrow and what happens when she talks about why she ran away? Will the therapist think we were horrible for keeping her? Yes, we did everything legally, but I don’t exactly have the best track record. I get hurt all the time!”
Climbing over the back of the couch, Hitoshi pulled Izuku into his chest and placed his chin on top of Izuku’s hair. “Listen to me, Izuku. You are amazing. You are the number one hero and the public loves you. That little girl in there loves you so much. I love you . We aren’t going to be perfect. We aren’t, but that’s okay. Dad and Pops aren’t perfect, but Eri is doing pretty good isn’t she?” Sniffles filled the air and Hitoshi held Izuku’s head close to their chest. “Bashira loves you and we are going to do everything we can to make her happy and healthy. The doctor says as long as we follow the diet plan then she’ll be at a healthy weight soon. She sees the therapist tomorrow and we’ll listen to what they say.”
Pulling Izuku’s face back so that they could look each other in the eye, Hitoshi ran his nose along Izuku’s. It was something they had started doing back when they first started dating. Izuku hadn’t ever kissed anyone and was scared of messing it up. Instead of trying to force it he would run his nose along Hitoshi’s jaw or nose. Honestly, Hitoshi loved it more than he loved the kisses. It was something only for them. It was special and soft in a way that didn’t really break Hitoshi’s carefully crafted mask at the time. He didn’t care about the mask anymore, but they still loved the nose brushes. Izuku sighed before nudging his own nose into Hitoshi’s cheek.
“It’s going to be hard, Lovely. It’s going to be hard, but we’ll make it work. We always do and that isn’t going to change. Neither of us would ever try to hurt our-” Izuku started to tear up again. “No, look at me. Our daughter . I would burn the world down for her and I know that you would do so much worse. That little girl is ours and I won’t let anyone take her away. Lovely, she’s ours. You aren’t your dad. You aren’t your mom. I’m not my parents or my foster parents. Neither of us are Dad or Pops. We’ll make it work though. Plus, we have help. If we don’t know what to do we can call Dad and Pops.”
Letting out a shaky breath, Izuku let his forehead rest on Hitoshi’s shoulder. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I’m sorry, Love. Love you so much, Toshi. I’m just a mess tonight, huh?” Leaning back on the couch, Hitoshi pulled Izuku on top of him. His husband was dense, but Hitoshi had worked so that they could move Izuku. If Izuku didn’t want to be moved that was a different story, but right now? When Izuku was a pile of green jelly, Hitoshi could pull Izuku enough to be comfortable.
“You might be a mess, but you’re my mess.” Izuku’s eyes were beginning to droop in exhaustion. “You need to get in to see your therapist, Lovely. I’ll always be here to listen and talk you down, but she can help more.” Izuku hummed and rubbed his cheek along Hitoshi’s shoulder. “Alright, come on. Bedtime.” It took a moment before Hitoshi was able to coax Izuku into walking, but they eventually did. Curling into Izuku’s side, Hitoshi wrapped their arms around Izuku’s waist. Face tucked into Izuku’s neck, Izuku’s nose buried in Hitoshi’s hair. Life might be changing rapidly, but Hitoshi wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.