Work Text:
(Izuku's POV)
I smiled as I watched Eri play with one of the cats over in the children's book section. She was a sweet girl, and she often hung out around the shop since she spent a lot of time with her uncle, Touya. Touya was an ex-convict who had gotten out of jail on parole because of his good behavior. He had gone to jail for murdering child molesters and peoples abusers. He had also been arrested a couple times before for protesting against unjust laws. But he was a good dude, and I trusted him with kids. Especially Eri.
Touya had a lot of scars from when he almost died in a fire a few years ago. He also had quite a few tattoos, and he died his hair black rather than chose to keep it the light blonde almost white it usually was. Most people were afraid of him, but once you really got to know him, you'd realize that he was really just a big softie! Touya was our barista in the cafe part of the bookstore, and our regulars adored him!
But Touya only had eyes for Keigo, who worked in the kids section and with the animals. Keigo was a pretty sweet guy, who was bullied as a kid a lot because of his strange bird like mutations. He had been a scientific cloning research experiment, and something has gone wrong, so he had some bird like traits, like his little fangs and his eyes. But he was a really cool dude, and the kids loved him, so I could never get rid of him, not for all the money in the world.
Himiko-or just Miko-worked as a waitress in the cafe, and sometimes as a cashier. She also has little fangs, but it was just a genetic trait that ran in her family. Her favorite food was always this special Vietnamese dish made of duck blood that her mom always used to make her. She told me that it was called tiết canh, and I've been looking around for a good, traditional recipe so that I can help Ochako learn how to make it for her. Ochako and Miko are dating, and I honestly think it's really sweet. They deserve each other.
Ochako worked as a cashier as well, and she honestly has a knack for kids too! Heck, all of us do! And she's really good at balancing objects in ridiculous places. It's always entertaining.
And finally, there's Shoto, my boyfriend. He's Eri's other father, with me being one of them. She was conceived by accident when we were about 17, and we decided to keep her. I'm hoping that one day, I'll get to marry him, but I don't know if he'll want that. I'm perfectly fine never marrying, but if he'd accept my proposal, I'd make our wedding day the happiest day of his life.
Some days, he doesn't talk to me much;those are usually days when he's feeling a lot of gender dysphoria. And as much as I'd love to ravish him on those days, and prove to him that he's perfect, and the only man for me, that's not usually what he wants. So, on those days, I make sure to try even harder to treat him like the king he is.
I got Shoto his favorite flowers and made him a bouquet, which I put in a vace on his nightstand. Then I made him a nice breakfast, and bought him his favorite candy and some scented candles and a book, and even wrote him a long, beautiful poem. He loves poetry. Tonight, we have a date to go see Phantom of the Opera on the opening night(it's his favorite play)! Sure, we're bringing the whole gang, but it's still a special date for the two of us. Also, I deep cleaned his car, and did all the household chores.
A bit of a sidenote, but we live in the apartment complex above the bookstore, and we rent out apartments to people for a pretty decent price! Anyone who works in the building of course has to pay the security deposit and all that, but aside from damages costs and all of that stuff, they don't have to pay me to live there! We also own a few other buildings in town, and a couple of them are on top of small businesses! We sort of have this little policy where we all work together for money in our little businesses, and divide the profits at the end of each month among everyone who works for our little mini company! Well, it's less a company, and more like a crime family but without the crime.
There's a couple living in the apartment above mine, and they babysit Eri all the time! One of them is a famous radio show host and performer/musician/comedian. The other is a teacher, and he actually used to be one of my teachers back in highschool! They're really cool, and they have a really nice adopted son named Hitoshi Shinsou, who's about my age, but somehow he's both practically a brother to me and Eri. I guess that probably would make him the gay emo cousin if Touya hadn't already filled that role.
Another queer person lives next door, in the apartment to my left. Her name is Magne, and she's trans. She has also been arrested once or twice, but since she fights for civil rights and because she murdered someone who tried to hurt her because she's trans, we let it slide. She's a hairdresser at the salon across the street, Wild Stylez(yes, like the character from The Lego Movie), and she's been a really good friend to me and my little found family here. Plus, she's really good to Shoto, and they often spend time together. It's not an uncommon occurrence for the two of them to be hyping each other up, and getting upset when the other doesn't feel like the man/woman they are because they absolutely are the gender they chose to identify as.
In another one of our apartment buildings a few blocks West, Hitoshi lives there with his boyfriends, Denki Kaminari and Hanta Sero. Toshi was originally their roommate, but eventually they confessed to each other that they had feelings for each other and they are now officially the first out poly couple to have rented an apartment from us! Denki is going to school to be an electrical engineer, and Hanta is going to be a teacher.
As for my mother, she's finally divorced Hizashi, and she's happy now! Apparently she's adopted a couple strays, but whether they are animals or humans, I'm not sure. Hizashi finally got sentenced to life without parole last week, and I couldn't be happier. He's hurt to many people to not be behind bars for the rest of his life. I just hope that he dies soon, so that I can spit on his grave.
Eri turned seven last week, and she's a really sweet and smart girl. She started learning sign language to communicate with a deaf boy at her school, she helps her father, Shoto, make lunches for kids who can't afford their own, and she doesn't follow strict gender roles. She's perfectly happy playing in the dirt and doing ballet lessons. She's entered her dinosaur phase, and I don't think she's leaving it any time soon. I certainly never left mine. She has her father's hair and eyes, but the red hasn't begun to show up yet. She wears almost anything she wants, and we haven't hesitated to let her know that she can be whoever and whatever she wants to be. She knows that we'll always love her, and maybe that's enough.
Am I worried that something horrible will happen to her someday, yes. I mean, even some of the most famous modern serial killers had good childhoods. But I promised her that I would always support her, and I'm not going to break that promise.
The boy who lived two blocks down from my house growing up, Katsuki Bakogou, has really grown up over the years. I can't deny that he used to be the biggest bully I'd ever seen, and he sometimes would make fun of me, but he's changed for the better, and has never not been a good friend to me. Currently, he has started going to anger management and therapy sessions, and it's helped a lot already! He's begun to make amends, and give back to the community he's already hurt so deeply when he was younger. He does charity work and voluntary community service, which I think is really sweet. Sometimes, Shoto and Eri see him in the soup kitchens. They always say hello. After all, he's part of the family, isn't he?
This is a small town, and I'm very lucky to have been born and raised in it. Everyone knows everyone around here, and secrets don't stay secrets for long. Every cop, judge, lawyer, teacher, mother, and even any plain old Joe knows that around here, we gotta stick together. If a man hurts his wife for the fun of it, it wouldn't be a surprise if it got out that the police covered up his murder. The government probably wouldn't like our methods, no, but that's the price you gotta pay when in a small town like this, you prioritize the people over the power.