Chapter Text
Katsuki was not having a good day.
Honestly it was a pretty typical day. Pretty good, actually. At least until the last hour.
She realized that she did not like Magnesis Quirks. They were always annoying for most Heroes. Their costumes tended to have a decent amount of metal on them. Led to, at best, an embarrassing fight after your belt was stolen. More often, your support gear ended up in the hands of some a villain.
However. If you were one of the Heroes that had a prosthetic limb….
Yeah that wasn’t fun. At least one of the safety features Nuts & Bolts did include was that she could take it off quick in exactly that emergency. Still involved way too much of being yanked around and twisted in painful ways.
Of course she still finished the fight. Wouldn’t be the #2 Hero if she let a lack of a limb keep her down. But it did make the paramedic responders very hesitant to let her go, no matter how much she glared, rolled her eyes, and snapped at them to insist she was fine and would ‘take it easy’.
“I’ve heard that from you before,” the medic replied, completely unphased. “Last time you promised to ‘take it easy for the day’, you ran off and reopened every wound I had just patched up. So I called your agency and they’re sending over one of your partners to make sure you actually take it easy. Preferably you’ll take a few days off, but I know you’re stubborn.
Katsuki was definitely not pouting at that. But resigned to her fate, she leaned back and checked her phone. No messages at least. Hey, that fight was trending though. Pushing through to win the day might get her enough of a final boost that they actually bumped her up to #1.
Ah who was she kidding. There was still a week and Deku had yet to do his usual something stupid right before the rankings were announced. It was really just a matter of time. She just wondered how he’d top ‘getting accused of having an affair’.
She looked up when the medic nudged her. Spotting familiar red spikes quickly coming up.
“And here I was hoping for Poptart,” Katsuki teased. “The ice would feel great right about now!”
“Sorry Kats,” Eijrio laughed. “You can get all snuggly with Sho later.”
Katsuki would have said more if it weren’t for the “little addition” she had noticed.
A child. Piggybacking on Eijiro’s shoulders.
The kid looked barely five maybe. Dark hair. Some sort of fishlike mutation Quirk, given the scales freckling her face and the fin-like ears.
“What’s with the kid?” Katsuki asked.
“Part of a case,” Eijiro replied.
“Miku is missing,” the girl said.
“Yeah,” he said. “This is Umi. Umi, this is my wife, Dynamight.”
“Hi!” Umi waved. “Look, we match!”
The girl was pointing to her own ears. Katsuki frowned, hand reaching up to play with the costume pieces sticking out from her hair.
“They’re explosions, not fins,” Katsuki said.
“Right,” Umi nodded.
“Umi’s going to be staying with us for a bit,” Eijiro said. “At least until we find Miku.”
Missing kid case? Not fun. Never fun, actually. Though they didn’t usually take other kids into custody for that sort of thing. There was protocol where they could. Usually only if they believed the abduction was targeted rather than random, and that the other child could be a risk.
She was curious as hell. Even if she’d probably be banned from being in on anything physical for the mission. At least for tonight. She’ll see how she feels tomorrow. Despite the bravado she put on for the medic, her shoulder hurt like a motherfucker.
Giving a wave to the medics, she started walking off. Her husband quickly following and stepping to her right. His hand moved, bumping against her hip. Wanting to hold the hand that wasn’t there. He could switch to her left, but that left her right unprotected. Neither would acknowledge that fact.
“Let’s head home and you can fill me in,” Katsuki said. “Just text one of the others to pick up food because I am not cooking tonight.”
“What do you want to eat?” Eijiro asked.
“Didn’t you say something about poptarts earlier?” Umi asked. “Those sound good. I don’t think I’ve had them cold though.”
Katsuki sighed as Eijiro snickered.
“She didn’t mean actual poptarts,” Eijiro explained. “It’s a nickname for our husband, Hailfire.”
“Oh,” Umi said. “Why do you call him that?”
“Because he looks like a frosted strawberry poptart,” Katsuki said. “And you can have them hot or cold.”
Umi nodded like that made sense. Probably because it did make sense. Katsuki was great at nicknames!
“So if Dynamight isn’t offering ideas, you got any kiddo?” Eijiro asked.
“Sushi!” Umi replied.
“Isn’t that kinda like cannibalism for you?” Katsuki replied.
“What’s cannibalism?” she asked.
Neither wanted to explain that.
“So, sushi, huh?” Katsuki asked.
“Yep!” Umi said. “Sharks eat fish, and we’re sharks!”
Umi gave a grin, her mouth full of sharp teeth. It matched Eijiro’s grin.
“Sushi it is then,” Katsuki said.
They texted the others as they headed home. The apartment was thankfully not too far from where they were. A bit of a walk, but not worth hailing a taxi.
By the time they got to the building itself, Umi had fallen asleep. Eijro gently pulled her down from his shoulders, just to make sure she didn’t fall off.
They got a few looks from the neighbors as they went through the lobby to the elevators. Them having a child with them wasn’t something that happened often, after all. But no one said anything.
“Surprised she didn’t fall asleep sooner,” Eijiro said, shifting her to one arm while he hit the elevator button. “She was crying for a while. Managed to calm her down. She’s so sure things will be okay now that a Hero is helping.”
“Kids are simple like that,” Katsuki replied. “So what’s the story with the missing kid and why’s she with us?”
Eijrio frowned. The elevator had arrived, so he stepped in. Katsuki followed as he hit the button to their floor.
“Do you remember Ayako Maki?” Eijiro asked.
“The name sounds familiar,” Katsuki said. “Ain’t placing it though.”
“She called you her ‘middle school ‘boyfriend’,” he replied.
Ah.
That left several bad tastes in her mouth. Middle school. ‘Boy’ friend. Ayako in particular, now that she remembered her.
“I never dated her,” Katsuki said. “She just decided I was her ‘boyfriend’ and didn’t like listening when I told her I wasn’t interested. She got the message by the time I went to UA, because she didn’t even try texting me after that.”
“Figured,” Eijiro said.
“Dare I ask why you’re bringing her up?” she asked.
“Because,” he said. “When I tell you that a child disappeared and her foster mother didn’t put in a missing child report, and that I’m only on this case because Umi saw a different fight I had in the area and grabbed onto my leg until I offered to help her, you’re going to ask why.”
Ah.
Decade old guilt felt like a punch to the throat. It was manageable nowadays. A deep breath, remember when and where you are. Remember you’re past that, remember you made up for that. Don’t you dare spiral down.
“Miku’s Quirkless, isn’t she?” Katsuki asked.
“That’s what they said,” Eijiro replied.
“You think differently?” she asked.
“Maybe,” he said. “Umi said that Miku ‘shimmered and disappeared’. It could be just her being a kid and seeing something weird. But it could be a Quirk. I could be both right and wrong where it’s a Quirk but it belongs to the person who took her. And even then I’m not sure what the Quirk did. Maybe it made her invisible, maybe it teleported her. I don’t know.”
“That why you brought Umi here?” she asked.
“Technically,” he said. “A foster parent not reporting a young child missing is a neglect charge. I wouldn’t have returned Umi to her anyway, and that charge is going through once I find Miku.”
“But that’s not why you did it,” she said.
“History has repeated itself enough,” he said.
Katsuki nodded there. She probably would’ve done the same. They stepped off of the elevator and into the hall.
“I’m guessing they were enrolled in Aldera too,” Katsuki said. “You might want to check the school.”
“Thought you and Izuku dealt with that,” Eijiro said.
“As much as we could,” she said. “Anyone who didn’t get charged immediately was under review and scrutinized to hell and back. Most of the staff were replaced entirely in the last few years. But who knows what we missed or what new assholes got hired in the meantime.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed.
Eijiro shifted Umi to one arm as he unlocked the apartment. The door was barely open when they heard the usual tipity-taps and barking. That got Umi to wake up. Eijiro put her down to let her get acquainted.
“Doggies!” Umi exclaimed, immediately nuzzling into their fur.
“That one’s Zookie,” Eijiro said. “The other one is Missy.”
Katsuki decided that they were suitably distracted and slipped into the hall. She had a feeling she wasn’t going back out tonight and wanted to at least get out of her costume. Ideally she’d like a shower, but that could wait until later.
She debated on her arm. She had two sets, one for work and one for domestic situations, plus a spare for the work one. Well. Her usual work one was trashed so she’d be using the spare for now. But she would usually use the domestic model at home.
Bringing her remaining hand up, she gently touched her other shoulder. Hm. She knew it was going to hurt like a bitch anyway. But would it hurt more if she put on the arm? Probably. At least for tonight she could go without it.
Now in a more normal shirt and pants combo, she walked back out. Umi had found the dog toys, and was currently playing tug-of-war with Zookie.
Eijiro, on the other hand, seemed to be waiting for her.
“Are you okay?” Eijiro asked.
“Fine,” Katsuki replied. “Why?”
He just pointed beside her. Glancing down, she noted that Missy was stuck to her side. The dog chose that moment to take Katsuki’s pant leg in her mouth and gently tug.
“At least take some pain meds, okay?” Eijiro asked.
She huffed, but didn’t fight that order. Swinging by the bathroom and looking through the cabinet of meds. Damn that prescription should get refilled soon. Opening the pill bottle one handed was a bitch, but it wasn’t the first or last time she’d be doing that.
Katsuki came back out, ignoring them and making a trip to the kitchen. She got a drink to swallow them down right as the door opened.
Shoto was home and he brought food. Good. Katsuki didn’t realize how hungry she was until she saw the stack of takeout containers.
“I’m home,” Shoto said.
“Welcome home,” Eijiro and Katsuki replied
Shoto walked into the kitchen, setting the takeout on the counter. It was then that he noticed the oddity in the room. He stared at Umi for a few moments before turning to the others.
“Where’s Izuku?” Shoto asked.
Not the question they were expecting.
“He’s not home yet,” Katsuki said.
“Umi is part of a case I’m working on,” Eijiro said. “I’ll explain when everyone gets home. Umi, this is Hailfire.”
“Hi!” Umi said. “You know what Dynamight is right, you do look like a poptart.”
“Really?” Shoto sighed, giving Katsuki a look.
“I’m not wrong,” Katsuki said, a sly grin on her face. “Besides, it’s still a step up from ‘five weenies’.”
Ah there was the withering look that said ‘I am questioning our marriage’. Thankfully Umi had already been too distracted by the takeout to hear that.
The three adults began distributing food, grabbing their own and the much smaller portion for Umi. Both dogs doing that ‘I’m not begging but if you just so happen to drop something it will not reach the floor’ routine. Though Missy stayed by Katsuki’s side, Zookie didn’t leave Umi.
The door opened again, everyone saying a greeting. This time for Ochako. As she reached the table, she paused, looking at Umi.
“Where’s Izuku?” Ochako asked.
“That’s what I was wondering,” Shoto said in between bites.
“He’s not back yet?” Eijiro said. “Anyway, this is Umi and she’s staying here until I deal with this case.”
“Hi!” Umi greeted.
Though giving the situation a weird look, she did sit down and get her own takeout. She did eat a bit, she mostly poked at her food and observed the situation. Huh, wasn’t she hungry by now? Katsuki remembered that Ochako hadn’t had much for breakfast. Maybe she made up for it at lunch?
That train of thought was derailed when the door slammed open and then shut. A blur of green in her face and years of practice being the only thing that kept Katsuki from decking her husband.
“Are you okay?” Izuku asked.
“Hello to you too,” Katsuki shoved him back. “And I’m fine.”
“You saying you’re ‘fine’ means nothing,” he replied. “I saw footage of that fight, are you okay?”
“Things hurt but I’m fine,” she said. “Probably stuck in here for a day or two but fine.”
“You got hurt earlier?” Ochako asked.
“Did you not notice the missing arm?” Shoto asked.
“I was a bit focused on other things,” she said.
She gestured to Umi as she said it. The girl just now finishing her dinner. Izuku stared for a moment, tilting his head just so innocently.
“What’s with the kid?” Izuku asked.
“Hi, I’m Umi,” Umi said. “You’re really tall!”
“Hi,” he said. “I suppose I am.”
“This is Umi, she’s part of a case,” Eijiro said. “I’ll fill you guys in once I get her to bed.”
“But I’m not tired,”Umi protested.
“It’s late and you’ve had a long day,” he replied. “You’ve been so worried but now that you have a bunch of Heroes helping, it’ll be fine.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Promise,” he grinned. “If you go to bed now, I’m sure Zookie will follow.”
Umi reluctantly nodded. And Ei picked her up and headed toward the guest bedroom. As predicted, Zookie followed. Missy, on the other hand, had wandered over to Ochako’s side. Izuku looked like he had a million and one questions to ask, as usual, but settled for grabbing his dinner.
Katsuki wasn’t sure what she was feeling right now. Seeing Eijiro with kids made her feel… something. She couldn’t quite place it. This time the feeling was laced with an anxiety she also couldn’t quite place.
Eijiro came back quickly enough. The grin he’d been giving Umi now dropped entirely. He grabbed his phone, already pulling something up. He set it in the middle of the table, casefile open for them to go over. At the top was a photo of a child that looked almost just like Umi, but without the fishy features and her hair longer and in pigtails.
“So what’s the case, exactly?” Izuku asked.
“Missing kid,” Eijiro said. “Umi’s sister, Miku. She went missing yesterday morning.”
“How’d you end up on a missing kid case?” Shoto asked.
“Umi,” he said. “She was worried about Miku’s case, so when she saw a Hero out and about, she grabbed onto my leg and wouldn’t let go until I promised to look into it. I was just going to take her home and check in on how the case was going but…”
“This says you reported it this afternoon,” Ochako said, pointing at the file.
“Exactly,” he said. “There wasn’t a report. And their foster mother was very dismissive about my concerns.”
“Why in the hell would-” Izuku began.
“Ayako Maki,” Katsuki said.
Izuku blinked for a moment. Then a familiar gambit of expressions crossed his face before settling on a fury-tinged annoyance.
“Fucking Ayako Maki,” Izuku muttered.
“I’m guessing your middle school?” Shoto said.
“Not painting a good picture here,” Ochako said.
“I heard some things she said about Kats,” Eijiro said. “Didn’t know how much she interacted with you.”
“Mostly the usual from everyone,” Izuku said. “Though our last year was a bit weird. She actually tried asking me out which… yikes.”
“Why is that a bad thing?” Shoto asked.
“People don’t ask out the loser,” he explained. “Unless they want something. Could’ve been a general setup to something else planned with other students. If I’m generous then maybe she wanted help with schoolwork. Wait, actually, wasn’t this when she had that crush-”
“Probably,” Katsuki said. “I turned her down repeatedly, and everyone knew that if they wanted to get under my skin, they just had to aim me at you. Probably wouldn’t have worked how she liked.”
“Either way,” Ochako said. “I’m just glad you didn’t say yes to her.”
“Of course I wouldn’t,” Izuku said. “I’m not going to go out with someone who’s constantly mean to me!”
Everyone paused to give him the weariest and most exasperated look. Even the dog gave a heaving sigh at the audacity. Katsuki was trying to find the words to say anything to that.
“Deku…” Katsuki began.
“That’s different,” Izuku said. “Firstly, we’re more complicated than that. Secondly, even with that, if in middle school you had come up to me with no context, no anything else, no apology, and asked me out, I would’ve said no. I cared about you, but I didn’t want to actually date you until we started fixing things.”
“That…. Is the most common sense you’ve ever had,” she replied.
Izuku frowned and flicked a sushi roll at her. Katsuki caught and ate it, a smug grin on her face.
“Back to the case,” Eijiro said. “You can probably guess why Miku wasn’t reported missing.”
“Yeah, I can guess,” Izuku said. “She wouldn’t care much if a Quirkless kid goes missing.”
“Every day I think I’ve seen the limit of fucked up,” Ochako muttered.
“And you weren’t going to let Umi stay in a home where a child wasn’t reported missing,” Shoto said. “Personal feelings on the situation aside, of course.”
“Okay yeah it was a little personal but I still made the right call regardless,” Eijiro defended. “But there is a pending neglect charge once I find Miku. Maybe more because I doubt ‘ignoring a missing child’ is the only thing she did because the kid was Quirkless, but I have to ask the kids more on that.”
“You said ‘possibly Quirkless’ earlier,” Katsuki mused.
“She seems to be Quirkless,” he said. “Maybe she is. But when I asked Umi about what happened, she insisted that Miku ‘shimmered and disappeared’. Maybe she was seeing things-”
“Or maybe Miku’s Quirk manifested,” Shoto finished. “Could also be the Quirk of someone who abducted her.”
“I’m keeping all options open,” he said. “I sent the casefile to the agency and they’re looking into incidents in the area in case this is something bigger or even just a known creep. Kats suggested checking the school too, so that’s on the list. I was planning to patrol around the area for a few hours just in case-”
“I’ll go too,” Izuku said. “I definitely know the area well. If she’s just running away or hiding, I know a lot of spots in the area.”
“Good, because I’m supposed to be benched for the night,” Katsuki said, gesturing to her lack of a right arm. “Yes, I hate it. Yes, I would much rather be in the field. Yes, I would love to stubbornly argue about it for half an hour while insisting I’ll ‘take it easy’ if you let me go even though we all know it’s a lie. But one of us is going to have to stay and watch Umi, and having the ‘injured but still capable’ one stay behind is the best strategy.”
“R-right,” Ochako said. “All of us can cover more ground.”
“After dinner,” Shoto said. “Because it wouldn’t be good if any of us pass out during the job.”
He gave Ochako a pointed look. Seems he noticed the light breakfast too. She took another bite. With prompting from a dog poking her leg with its snout, she took another. She made a face, but seemed to keep the food down.
“Actually,” Shoto said, taking his own bite. “Considering you and I both had the same reaction coming home, there probably is something we should discuss.”
“Oh,” Ochako swallowed. “You also saw a kid in the apartment and went ‘oh god please tell me Izuku didn’t adopt a child.”
“Why me?” Izuku asked.
“You are most likely to spontaneously adopt a child,” Katsuki said. “It’s not unusual to think that a child latching onto a Hero’s leg and not letting go would result in an adoption.”
Izuku looked very much like he wanted to argue that. But he couldn’t find the words. So he settled for frowning and shoving another sushi roll in his mouth.
“It’s crossed my mind,” Izuku admitted. “Adopting a kid in a bad situation and giving them something better. Especially when I get cases like this one. The only things that stop me are mostly the fact that I can’t realistically adopt every kid I come across, and the fact that we… we haven’t exactly talked about that. Having kids and all. I wouldn’t want to drop that on you without talking about it.”
“Should we talk about it now?” Eijiro asked. “I mean, look. I thought about it too. Other than the general ‘we have a dangerous job’ discussion which we already had before about other things, I am absolutely down for having a kid. Biological, adopted, whatever. But I don’t want the situation with Umi and Miku to put pressure on it, so just. Take that idea off the table for now. Part of the case will be getting them a safe home, but it doesn’t have to be us, okay?”
Everyone nodded at that. Put that out of mind. Still. Now that the subject was brought up, Katsuki felt a specific twisting in her gut.
“I would like kids,” Izuku said. “Just not… I mean if it happens it happens. But I’d prefer they’d not be mine biologically. There’s… I don’t want That back in circulation. I know it might still be, or that some other Quirk could evolve into something similar. I know our kid wouldn’t go villain. I know that. I just don’t want it to be my fault.”
Right.
It was easy to put out of mind. Especially for Katsuki, who had grown up thinking Izuku had been Quirkless. Only to find out that he did, in fact, inherit his biological father’s Quirk. And unlike One for All, which couldn’t be transferred without his permission, there was every possibility that he could pass on All for One.
A Quirk was just a Quirk. Good or Bad depended on the person using it. That was something they all believed, and had proven true over and over again. But there were dangers. And the ability to take Quirks from others was one. Even discounting all the bad that had been done with it, even in the hands of someone good it was a hell of a thing.
Not to mention other dangers. By the time anyone knew that Izuku had that power, he was already a Hero Student and perfectly capable of defending himself. They’d seen enough cases of kids with powerful Quirks being kidnapped by villains and used as tools.
“Ah, anyway,” Izuku said. “Adopting is still an option or if you guys wanted biological kids… Well. In that case I’m asking Ochako because you’d definitely have a say in that.”
“Haha, right,” Ochako nodded, once more pushing her food around instead of eating it. “I uh. Thought about. I thought about it a lot. Just you know. I think about it more since I am the one person here who can get pregnant. So it’s always kinda in my mind. And in theory I’d like kids but if I- if I did, I know I’d have to put any fieldwork on hold for at least a year. And it’s… if it happens it happens, right?”
That made sense but… there was too much nervousness in her voice. Missy tugging on her pant leg confirmed that she wasn't just hearing things. Honestly Katsuki could understand. She’d hate being stuck with at best office work for a year.
“I haven’t thought about it much,” Shoto said. “Sometimes. I think, theoretically, I would like that. But I don’t really know much about a healthy family dynamic. Things have gotten a lot better with them, a lot better than I ever thought it could be. But it happened far too late for me to really know what the dynamic should be like.”
“Sho....” Izuku said, scooting over to lean on his shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“I know,” He nodded. “I know I could never be as bad as my dad was. If I did, you four would knock some sense into me. I can tell what I shouldn’t do, but I’m not sure what I should do. I think it will be okay, because I have you to fall back on if I do make a mistake. But it is still something terrifying.”
Ochako also scooted over to him. Leaning on his other shoulder. And now Katsuki found all eyes on her. Great.
“Can I just say ‘it’s complicated but if it happens it happens’ and leave it at that?” Katsuki asked.
“Usually I respect when you don’t want to talk about things just yet,” Eijiro said. “But the point of this is to talk about it.”
“Is it a gender thing?” Ochako asked.
“No I don’t think-,” she sighed and shook her head. “If it was, I could just do that genderswap Quirk thing Ei did. And it’s- Okay when I’m thinking about it I might like to have the option, but I would absolutely fucking hate being pregnant. Staying out of fieldwork that long? Everyone treating me like I'm too fucking delicate to even get myself something from the kitchen? And god I’m already so damn temperamental we would not survive hormone-induced mood swings and just-”
She stopped and sighed. Meaning to cross her arms, but forgetting the right was gone at the moment. So she settled for just the left hugging her midsection as she avoided eye contact.
“That’s the problem,” Katsuki said. “I know what I’m like. Loud and angry and occasionally violent and always swearing and insulting everyone. Absolutely awful at communicating unless pushed for it, and even then that can backfire. And it’s fine. It’s fine that I’m like that because we’ve worked on- on me learning to talk more and you guys figuring out what the fuck I’m saying and when I’m just being me or if I’m actually upset. But..”
She took a breath. Hadn’t expected this conversation. She didn’t like things blindsiding her. But it was good. It was fine. It was a conversation that they needed to have. After this she could shut down a little bit. Not fully, still a kid to watch. But just don’t think about things.
“I keep thinking about my parents,” Katsuki admitted. “I was never sure if my mom’s comments were the same way I would mean them, or if she genuinely thought that shit. And I was never able to get across when I was upset instead of joking around with her. And my dad thought it was fine, because he had learned what she meant. Thought I knew, because I was like her. But we were different enough that he didn’t understand me either. And when everything went to shit and I was going through hell, I wasn’t able to go to them about it, which fucked everything else up.”
“I don’t…” she shook her head again. “I don’t want to put another kid in that situation. I know I’m better at taking a step back. My parents and I are better at that too. And I’ve dealt with kids in short term situations without absolutely fucking them up. But a child I am entirely responsible for is different, and they won’t have a choice but to be stuck with me.”
“Stuck with us,” Shoto corrected. “If I can trust you to make up for my mistakes, you can trust us to make up for yours.”
“And I’m sure we’re all going to make mistakes,” Izuku said. “Past history aside, even the greatest of parents aren’t perfect.”
“If we mess up, we fix it,” Ochako said. “It’s terrifying, it feels like any small mistake could be a disaster. But it’s just something we’ll have to deal with.”
“We’re a family,” Eijiro said. “We’re a team. We’re in this together.”
Katsuki sighed and rubbed at her face. Feigning annoyance but hiding the blush rising to her face. Nearly three years of marriage, with several years of dating beforehand, and yet she still got flustered just over feeling loved.