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“She said she’s not gonna tell him.”
Melissa hummed as she continued to unpack her suitcase. “Why would she?” She threw another shirt into the laundry pile.
“Um,” Izuku started, exiting the bathroom, “it’s Kacchan’s baby.” He pushed his toothbrush back into his mouth.
“Not really.”
“What?!” Izuku shouted around the toothpaste foaming in his mouth.
“It’s not his baby,” Melissa repeated as she walked past him into the bathroom. “It’s Ochako’s baby.” She pulled out her toothbrush and the bottles from her skincare routine.
Izuku quickly scrubbed his teeth and spat into his sink. “It’s his sperm.”
“That he abandoned if it actually is his baby,” she continued without looking at her husband.
“I know Kacchan. It’s Kacchan.”
“Jerking off in a cup and having your baby batter added to the cake of life does not a father make.”
“It’s his child.” Izuku wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to imagery.
“Does Bakugo even want children?” Melissa continued casually. “Because he doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to be a father.” She paused and looked at her husband for an answer.
Izuku frowned as he rinsed his toothbrush off. “It’s not that simple.”
“So that would be a no.”
“Mel.”
Melissa placed her hands on the counter, tipping her head down as she waited for her husband to explain. “I’m listening.” She pressed her lips together as she struggled to keep her face neutral.
“We went through a lot at UA.” That was a fact. “Kacchan went through a lot.”
She nodded. Melissa remembered the news coverage and witnessing the aftermath.
“By nothing short of a miracle, he’s alive and-” Izuku paused, trying not to let himself slip too far in the past. “He thought it would be a good idea to donate his sperm before he got a vasectomy, and-”
“No,” Melissa cackled bitterly. “No.” She shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. “No. I’m gonna stop you right there.”
“What?”
“I get that you two have some sort of tortured brotherhood. I don’t understand it, but-” Early on in their relationship, Melissa accepted that Katsuki and Izuku would always be a constant in each other’s lives. “You cannot tell him about the baby.”
“Why?”
“Because rather than going to therapy and trying to figure out how to be in a healthy relationship with someone and build a family, Bakugo decided to get a vasectomy so he could have as much sex as he wanted without having to nurture a meaningful relationship, which is fine.” Melissa thought that decision was quite responsible until she factored in the other part. “Until he decided he wants to build some legacy without doing any of the work.”
Izuku shook his head. “That’s not-”
“Please,” she scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Right, so when Ochako’s children get old enough to inquire about their father, and if for some reason they meet, you’re telling me Bakugo isn’t going to take credit for the damn good job she’ll do? If they become heroes, Bakugo isn’t gonna be like ‘of course, they get it from me! my ego is so big.’”
“That isn’t fair.” It wasn’t wrong.
“Because he will,” Melissa nodded firmly, shutting the little drawer under her sink with a little slam. “Oh, and by the way, do you know what a woman goes through while pregnant?”
Izuku stared at his wife, unsure if he should answer.
“Her body is never the same again,” she started, sorting through the items at her side of the sink. “Hormones, weight gain, insomnia, heart, bones shifting, organs shifting- Do you know some women lose teeth because of pregnancy?”
He flinched.
“Yeah. Hair falling out, skin stretching, and a thousand other things that happen, and then she has to push something the size of a watermelon out of the size of a lemon or major abdominal surgery to get the baby out, and then,” she laughed sourly, “and then she is expected to immediately care of that baby even though she has just been ripped into two so-” She fiercely turned to Izuku. “No. That is not his child.”
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“I just finished puking,” Ochako sighed, looking at the bag in Izuku’s hand with a sneer. She assumed it was a pastry but couldn’t care what was in the bag. “Nope. Just kidding.” She staggered back, holding a hand over her mouth as she sprinted toward the hallway bathroom. Ochako dropped to her knees and emptied her stomach of the crackers she’d just eaten.
“Melissa said I owe you an apology, so I got you some mochi-”
Ochako gagged, feeling her empty stomach contract. “No, no-” she gasped as she waved a hand to the doorway where Izuku stood. “Out.” Even though she was talking about the mochi, a small part of her hoped that he would also take the hint and leave too. She curled an arm on the toilet seat as she held back her bangs. Ochako focused on her breathing as she heard Izuku’s footsteps come back toward her. “You don’t have to do that,” she croaked, hearing the faucet being turned on.
“Least I can do.”
She relaxed at the feeling of the cool washcloth on the back of her neck. “Oh?” She groaned, flushing the toilet as she pushed herself to her butt. Her back slumped against the tub as she weakly raised a curious brow at her friend.
“Yeah,” Izuku sheepishly replied as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Melissa said that I have no right to tell you that you need to tell Kacchan about the baby and-”
“You don’t,” Ochako nodded, leaning her forehead against the cold ceramic tile, “because it’s not Kacchan’s baby.”
“That’s what she explained to me because ejaculating in a cup doesn’t make you father or something.” It had been a long discussion that Izuku wasn’t sure how he felt completely.
“I mean, there’s no way Bakugo donated his sperm.”
“Um-” This was weird. “He did.”
“No.”
She was going to choose denial then. “Okay, so Kacchan got a vasectomy, and before that, he donated his sperm because-” Izuku was terrified to explain why. Melissa had been less than impressed and figured that was even more reason for Ochako not to tell him. “It doesn’t matter.”
Maybe it did, but right now he wasn’t going to say anything.
“But even if I didn’t know for a fact that he donated his sperm, I know Kacchan, and that’s Kacchan.”
Ochako blinked with denial shining brightly in her eyes.
“Hand to All Might,” Izuku doubled down. “That is Kacchan.”
She wasn’t sure what to do.
“What are you going to do when this baby comes out all blonde and red-eyed screaming “Die, you damn nerds! Die!” and sweating nitroglycerin?” Izuku questioned, giving his best Katsuki impression.
And she would have laughed if the situation hadn’t felt so crazy.
“You work with the guy.”
“Honestly,” Ochako groaned, struggling to her feet, “I don’t know.” She dragged the washcloth over her face and sighed loudly. “But I patrol in an hour; literally everything is making me gag today, and I might have screamed at Bakugo yesterday and told him to stay out of my uterus so-”
That would be funny any other time. “You can’t avoid him.” Izuku wasn’t laughing, but he couldn’t let that bit of information go. “You told him to stay out of your uterus?”
The irony wasn’t lost on Ochako. “I have to leave the country,” she decided, getting up. “I can be one of those traveling heroes.” Maybe her child would enjoy living in different countries. They would certainly learn a lot.
“Um,” Izuku hummed with a frown, “no.”
She shot Izuku a glare that made him stop firmly in his tracks. He might have towered over her physically, but he didn’t doubt that she would end his existence if he kept talking.
It was completely unreasonable.
“Watch me.” She turned toward her bedroom. “I’ll have the baby in Switzerland or something!” she shouted. “They have great maternity care!” Ochako didn’t know if that was true, but she was sure Izuku didn’t know enough to dispute her claim.
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SHINDO YO, 10:33 AM
You’re with him right now, aren’t you?
Ochako glanced over at Katsuki as they walked down the street. She kept her eyes on him as her fingers furiously moved over the keyboard.
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:34 AM
Yep. He’s my partner for today.
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:34 AM
Which doesn’t mean anything.
It didn’t.
Ochako refused to believe this was Katsuki’s baby.
SHINDO YO, 10:35 AM
Sweetheart, I think the universe is trying to tell you something.
“Stay,” Katsuki grunted, gently grabbing her forearm as he guided her to stand outside the convenience store.
She obeyed as she watched him stalk into the convenience store. “What the actual fuck?” she whispered to herself. “At least throw in a good girl.” She wasn’t sure where that comment came from and thanked the stars no one was here to witness it.
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:37 AM
The universe can kiss the fattest part of my ass right now.
Ochako had spent most of the night trying to understand what Izuku had told her.
The whole thing had made sense on paper. When she looked for Katsuki in that description of the sperm donor, she could see it.
Then she could see several of her other classmates.
The softball throw wasn’t an uncommon assessment. The score was good, but Ochako had gone off the charts with her reading. Her mark of infinity was easy to remember, and Izuku’s tragic attempt at the throw was memorable.
She didn’t remember Katsuki’s score.
Ochako had to stop herself from emailing her old homeroom teacher at two in the morning requesting the old results. That would be fun to explain why she needed that information.
SHINDO YO, 10:40 AM
You say that like it would be a burden.
SHINDO YO, 10:40 AM
I’ve been there, and it was an absolute pleasure.
The compliment did nothing for her nerves.
SHINDO YO, 10:41 AM
And for the record, you should just ask him instead of speculation and clue-hunting like you’re Scooby Doo.
“Nope,” she scoffed, inhaling tightly as her stomach twisted with nervousness and morning sickness. “No, no, no.”
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:45 AM
Okay. Let me just casually ask him if he has ever made a sperm donation because I selected a sperm donor that Izuku thinks is him because I might have selected Explosion Murder Dynamight’s to paint my insides and grow a child after I publicly screamed at him to stay out of my uterus in our place of employment.
SHINDO YO, 10:47 AM
…
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:48 AM
Yeah.
SHINDO YO, 10:48 AM
Fuck dude.
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:48 AM
I know.
SHINDO YO, 10:48 AM
Okay. Plan B it is!
SHINDO YO, 10:49 AM
You’ve got to leave town.
URARAKA OCHAKO, 10:49 AM
THAT’S WHAT I TOLD IZUKU!
SHINDO YO, 10:50 AM
Seriously.
SHINDO YO, 10:50 AM
Forever.
SHINDO YO, 10:51 AM
You’re gonna have to change your identity and start over in Guam or Antarctica for something.
“Here!”
Ochako blinked, looking at the sweet bun and coffee coming into focus just beneath her nose. Her eyes moved toward Katsuki as she swallowed thickly.
“I didn’t think pawning the kid on you yesterday was a big deal,” Katsuki sighed. His head rolled to the side as he slouched, already bored with his apology. “Had I known-”
She couldn’t hear him anymore. Her mind registered that he was still speaking, but the intense sell of warm sugar and pastry was choking her senses. Her stomach was painfully empty. Ochako had given up on trying to keep anything down before her shift. That would be a problem for later. Right now, she was focused on not puking.
“Cheeks?”
Her head snapped to meet his concerned stare, and saliva flooded her mouth. Ochako pushed the offerings away before running into the alley they’d walked by a few minutes ago. She stumbled inside, resting a hand against the brick as she dry-heaved next to a trash can.
“What the fuck?”
Ochako quickly turned around. “No, no,” she gagged, shaking her head as she gestured at the snacks in his hand. “I can’t eat that.”
Katsuki frowned, looking at the bun and the coffee. “Since fucking when?”
“I’m pregnant.” She didn’t have the energy to think of some other explanation.
“The fuck ?”
Now probably wasn’t the best time to tell him that there might be a chance of him being the father. “Pregnant,” she repeated, pulling at the collar of her suit. Ochako leaned against the wall as she focused on resting for a moment.
“What the fuck are you doing in the field?” he barked, looking at her in disbelief.
Her eyes cracked open. “What the fuck are you doing in my uterus again?” At this moment, Ochako was sure that she could never tell him.
“Tch.” Katsuki rolled his eyes, digging inside the little bag from the convenience store. “Drink.” He ordered as he shoved a bottle of water in her hands.
Ochako accepted the water with a pout. “Asshole,” she grumbled, pulling the top off.
He glared at the water in her hands.
“I’m drinking!” She raised the bottle up before taking a big gulp of water.
Katsuki gave her a satisfied nod. “Take your ass back to the office,” he ordered.
“Excuse me?”
“You look like shit.”
Ochako huffed, drinking another gulp. “And here I thought I was glowing.” She knew that she looked as awful as she felt.
“No.”
“I’m suffering enough without you telling me how terrible I look,” she snapped. Ochako took a mouth full of water, swishing it around before spitting it out.
Katsuki just stared at her.
“What?” She held her breath as she waited for him to ask the dreaded question.
Whose the father?
Reflexively she placed a hand over where their child was growing.
Katsuki’s jaw was tight, muscle locked.
Ochako could see confusion and something close to pain clouding over his eyes.
He quickly looked away from her. “I’ve got crackers and ginger candy in my desk,” he stated flatly as he started to walk away from her. “There’s some mouthwash in my locker. You should use it.”
Her adrenaline fizzled down as she felt her pulse start to slow. “Why?”
“The taste of puke can’t be pleasant.”
That’s not what she meant. “Thanks.” Ochako didn’t know what else she was supposed to say.
So she watched him go.
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“You’re not gonna tell him.”
Ochako sighed, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “No.” She spent most of the day trying to convince herself that it wasn’t his baby. “Yes?” Even though she couldn’t deny it anymore. “I don’t know.” The whole thing seemed like a giant joke. “What am I supposed to say?”
“Um,” Yo started unsure, throwing his hands toward the ceiling above them, “I think you’re the father of my unborn child?”
That sounded so simple. “What if it turns out that he’s never donated his sperm?” Ochako couldn’t deny that Izuku knew Katsuki better than almost anyone else. She figured that she could probably ask Eijirou about it, but she didn’t need more people knowing these crazy details. If she told Eijirou, then she might as well tell Mina and the rest of the world.
“Ask him?”
“When?” How does someone bring that up in casual conversation? “I don’t think that's appropriate work conversation.”
Yo shrugged. “Ask him the next time he gets kicked in the balls. Be sure to remind him that you got it on the cheap. That is essential information.”
Ochako laughed despite how anxious she was feeling.
“It would be a valid question.”
“I’m about to be off patrols,” she hummed with a sigh. “Well, Bakugo said he would switch things around so I wouldn’t be out in the field stuff.”
“Oh?”
She nodded, feeling Yo looking at her curiously.
“And he got you crackers and stuff for your stomach?”
“They were already in his desk and told me to help myself.”
“He likes you.”
“No.”
“He at least wants to fuck you,” Yo added, unashamed. “I mean, you might as well-”
“Shut up.” Ochako wasn’t sure why she was blushing.
Another thing to blame on the hormones.
“He doesn’t want to fuck me.” She rolled her eyes and listened to him sputter over his words to disagree with her.
“You’re very fuckable.”
She wasn’t sure that was a compliment.
“Like, I’d bet my left nut that he’s fantasized about being between your legs cause-”
“No.”
“You’ve got nice thighs and an ass that will bring a person to their knees.”
Those words had felt pretty good, considering the fact that she’d spent most of the day with her face in the toilet bowl. “Just because he wants to fuck me, in theory, doesn’t mean he wants me to be the mother of his children,” she frowned. She spent all night thinking about how she felt about Katsuki being the father of her child.
She hadn’t considered Katsuki until he’d sent her back to the agency.
“I’m not even his type anyway.”
Yo’s eyebrows raised. “But he’s your type.”
Ochako drew in a tight breath with a hiss before sighing loudly.
“You like him?”
She groaned, slapping her hands over her face. “I’m not blind!” There was no denying the fact that he was attractive. “I’m pretty sure more than half of Japan thinks he’s hot.”
“But his personality is hot garbage.”
“And people think you’re a dick.” Ochako wasn’t saying it to be mean.
She and Yo hadn’t built a friendship until after she’d graduated from UA. In high school, she’d only been able to see the cunning competitive side of him during the provisional license exam.
“And you’re not.” There more to him than that surface snapshot. “Just like there’s more to Bakugo than the hyperfocused, aggressive jerk everyone thinks he is. Did you know he was the first person to take me seriously?”
Yo sat up on his elbows.
“He’s the only person in my class who didn’t underestimate me,” Ochako told him, smiling softly as she remembered that first Sports Festival. “Everyone else needed to take a second glance to see me as a threat, but Bakugo-” He hadn’t even known her name; but the moment she stepped across from him, he treated her like an equal. “He saw me first.”
The silence was painful.
Ochako felt tired and heavy.
Unsure.
Confused.
“Sounds like you really admire him,” Yo said carefully.
Ochako could read between those words. “He’s why I decided to work on my combat skills.”
And now it looked like he would be the reason she would be a mother.
“He’s important to me.”
To be Continued…