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“Hey Dad?” Izuku grunted, slowly finishing his press before racking the bar. He sat up slowly, toweling the sweat off his face and neck before glancing over at the door. Kazumi was standing in the doorway with a furrowed brow that had Izuku raising his own. He knew that look, since he had the same one. Something had stumped his daughter and she couldn’t figure it out. He blindly reached for his water bottle while jerking his head to gesture her in. She slowly crept into the room, twirling one of her blonde curls around her finger as she chewed her lip. Izuku clicked his tongue to get her attention.
“What’s the matter, Princess?” He patted the bench next to him. It was unfortunately his off week, so he wasn’t working the same shifts as Katsuki.
“I… Ugh, okay,” Kazumi slumped against the bench and covered her eyes. “Dad, it's gunna sound stupid,”
“Nonsense,” Izuku chuckled, reaching over to pull her hands from her face. Green eyes identical to his own glanced at him skeptically. “I know that look hun, you’re thinking about Papa,” Kazumi blushed, averting her gaze and nodded. Izuku ruffled her hair playfully. “Well, what’s on your mind?”
Kazumi huffed, pushing her lips together as she narrowed her eyes on him for a moment. Izuku just remained quiet, letting her decide when to talk. After a few moments, Kazumi sighed and deflated. “I… Some of the kids at school called me spoiled because Papa still makes my bentos,” Izuku raised an eyebrow. Of all the things that could’ve come out of his daughter’s mouth…
“Alright… What do you think about Papa making your bentos?” It seemed like it would be best to gauge her opinion first before deciding how to deal with the kids.
“I… I like it. Papa makes nice bentos and they always taste good…”
“But?” He knew a ‘but’ when he heard it.
“But… Everyone else makes their own lunches at my age and I just… Why does Papa make my bentos? Why does Papa always have a snack ready for me or for me and my friends? He's always picking me up and dropping me off. He does my laundry and I only have to clean my room and any kitchen mess I make...” Kazumi kicked her foot out, scuffing her shoe on the rubber. Izuku silently noted to thank her for putting on proper shoes before coming into the gym while he pondered the best way to answer her question. He could see the way her anxiety was building in the way she began to fiddle with the hem of her sweatshirt and twirl a strand of her hair. Once she started chewing her lip, Izuku decided it was best to be honest. He tapped her chin to get her to release her abused lip and to look up at him.
“You know how I like to spoil Papa? Running baths for him, taking care of some of his chores, surprising him with dates or flowers or random merch he likes and showering him with compliments?” His daughter nodded as her brow furrowed. He smiled. “Or when I surprise you with flowers or a cleaned up room? Or when I take you to meet different heroes and let you come along to the agency on my desk duty days? Or when I turn around and shower you with praise and compliments?” She nodded again. “That’s part of my love language. It’s one of the many ways I express my love to both of you,”
“So… Papa is just expressing his love?” Izuku smiled and nodded.
“Yes Princess, that’s part of it. Papa’s love language is Acts of Service,” Izuku adjusted his position to gesture to the newly repaired pull up bar. “Last week, I popped the bar out of the wall when you fell in your room. It scared me and I ripped it out. I was going to repair it but just hadn’t gotten to it. Papa saw it and repaired it without me asking and without saying anything,” Izuku then pointed to his emerald curls. “Papa does my hair every day. Even when our schedules don’t line up, he takes the time to do it for me. It’s part of him expressing his love. He’s taking things off my plate, so to speak,”
“Oh…” Kazumi glanced down at her lap for a moment before holding up her wrist. “Does this count?” She pointed to the charm bracelet hanging off her arm. A beautiful silver chain decorated with different symbolic charms. There was one with her birthstone, to commemorate her birth and arrival into their lives. Another charm depicted a ballet slipper for her love of dancing. There was also a music note, for all the instruments she learned to play. Katsuki had even slipped a little nerdy book charm in there.
“Well, this is a part of Papa’s other language,” Izuku took her wrist into his hand to gently turn the bracelet. “The other way Papa shows his love is by gift giving. He pays attention to what you and I like to surprise us with it,” Izuku shifted one foot to kick out his sneaker. “Like how Papa always knows when my shoes are worn out and need to be replaced. He gifts me a new pair before I can even complain that my old ones are worn out. In this case, whenever you accomplish something, Papa gets you a charm to commemorate it. Like this one,” Izuku nudged the UA charm. “Papa got you that for passing the UA entrance exam. He was really proud of you for deciding to forgo recommendations and take the exam,” Kazumi grinned, prodding the charm herself.
She suddenly looked up and tilted her head. “Dad, what about Papa? What can we do for him?” Izuku chuckled quietly and ruffled her curls again.
“Be grateful. That's about as much as he’ll accept from you, kiddo,”
Kazumi huffed. “Nuh-uh, I wanna do something for Papa. I love his homemade bentos! I like when Papa surprises me with stuff. I wanna be able to return it,”
“I’m serious baby,” Izuku swapped benches to pull Kazumi into his side. “I get it, I do. It took me years to finally wear Papa down enough to let me return his gestures. Quite literally. The best thing you could give Papa in return is gratitude. Just tell him thank you and that you love him,” Kazumi scowled, kicking at the rubber floor again.
“Papa shouldn’t be so stubborn,”
Izuku burst out laughing. “Oh absolutely Princess, he shouldn’t be. But we wouldn’t have him any other way,”
“No, we wouldn’t,” Kazumi snorted, giggling to herself. Izuku smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Alright, off with you. I’m sure you have some homework to finish before Papa’s home and I wanna finish my workout,”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kazumi rolled her eyes and stood, waving off his comment about sassing. Izuku sighed and shook his head, swapping back to his bench and getting ready to finish his reps. A small part of him was a bit worried about what she was planning to do with that information, all things considered. She is the daughter of two of the most selfless heroes in the world. Izuku dismissed the concern to continue his workout. If she was going to get up to something, it was going to be damned good.
After all, she’s his and Kacchan’s.
…
A few weeks later and in all honesty; Izuku completely forgot about the conversation. It had been a busy week at the agency, Izuku could barely function besides the bare necessities for life and Katsuki was in the same boat. Stress levels were high with a new villain raid in the works plus the newest round of students filtering in from UA and the other hero schools. They didn't have much time to be a family, yet every morning without fail Katsuki was up preparing Kazumi's bento and making her an after school snack. If he knew they wouldn't be home for dinner, he made her dinner too. Izuku always made sure there were fresh ingredients with grocery delivery and he did his best to check in with Kazumi at least once a day despite her understanding the situation.
However, it was Izuku's forgetfulness that left them a bit stumped on Kazumi's newest behavior: Subtle staring. Particularly at Katsuki. It was to the point that Katsuki asked Izuku if he noticed it. Izuku had, but he also had no explanation. He caught Kazumi giving him looks too and part of him was tempted to ask but he hadn't gotten around to it. Kazumi was an odd blend of himself and Katsuki, making it difficult to get a read on her sometimes.
“Oi, Zuku,” Izuku jumped, blinking back into focus. He blushed when he realized they were in front of their apartment door and he hadn't even noticed. He glanced at Katsuki. The blonde grumbled and leaned into his side with a defeated huff. “I forgot my keys and I don't want to wake Zumi…” Izuku scrambled for his keys, about to withdraw them when the lock flipped.
“Hey Papa, hi Dad,” Kazumi peered through the doorway, stepping aside to let them in. Katsuki's brow was furrowed in confusion. Izuku couldn't help his own fatherly frown, shaking his head at his daughter. It was way too late for her to be up at this time.
“Princess, you should be in bed,”
“I will Dad,” Kazumi gently yanked Katsuki's coat down his shoulders. “Just wanted to let you both know dinner is on the stove, warm and ready. The bath is filled too,” She threw Katsuki's coat on the rack before moving onto Izuku's. The greenette blinked in surprise when his coat just fell off with the aid of Kazumi's telekinesis. Again, she hung it on the rack before stepping back. “I made Papa's favorite curry and fried some chicken to go with it, like you like Dad,” Kazumi brushed a lock of curls behind her ear. “I stopped at the convenience store too. There's some Pocari in the fridge and that onigiri you like Dad,” Kazumi lurched forward, hugging both of them at once before mumbling her goodnight and disappearing down the hall.
Katsuki glanced at Izuku with a raised brow. He shrugged. He had absolutely no idea what just happened. Katsuki nodded slowly, their silent conversation traveling perfect between them. Izuku finally kicked off his shoes to toe further into the house. Like Kazumi had said, there was dinner in one of the stone pots on the stove, simmering under low heat. The kitchen was possibly cleaner than when they left but Izuku honestly wasn't sure. The bath panel indicated warm water in the tub, set to their preferred temperature.
“Brat really thought of everything, huh?” Izuku spun, eyes locking on his husband. Katsuki was standing in front of the fridge, holding two bottles of Pocari Sweat in one hand with a can of his favorite green tea in the other. “She got your yuzu drink too,” Izuku's eyes widened and he closed the distance between them. Sure enough, sitting in front of some fresh vegetables was his favorite honey yuzu drink. A familiar burn settled behind his eyes as a husky chuckle bubbled up.
“Our Princess is truly one of a kind, Kacchan,” Izuku gently pulled the drinks from Katsuki's hand with Black Whip while his hands pulled Katsuki to him. The blonde was ever so confused, brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on.
“The fuck are you laughing about? Of course she's one of a kind, she's ours you shitty- mmph,” Izuku couldn't help cutting his husband off with a kiss. Quite frankly, he couldn't remember the last time he actually kissed his husband besides fleeting pecks to the cheek when they happened to cross paths. Katsuki clearly agreed with the way he flung his arms around Izuku's neck and pressed closer. They broke apart softly, pressing their foreheads together to just breathe in one another’s space for a moment.
“I love you, Zuku,” Katsuki murmured.
“I love you too, Kac- Oh!” Izuku’s eyes widened. “Kacchan! Love!”
“Hah?” The blonde raised a brow, releasing Izuku’s neck to rest his hands on the greenette’s shoulders. Izuku chuckled, shaking his head before ducking to press a multitude of kisses all over Katsuki’s face.
“ Love ,” Izuku whispered. “Kazumi, the dinner, the drinks, the bath… A few weeks ago she asked why you were still making her bentos,”
Katsuki’s brows furrowed as his red eyes became guarded. “What do you mean why I’m still making them?”
“Easy baby,” Izuku smiled. “We had a conversation about love languages that day. Comparing how you and I show love to her in different ways. Dinner, the bath, that was-,” Katsuki interrupted him with a soft sound, yanking Izuku back into a tight hug. Izuku hugged his husband back, slowly rocking them as the blonde sucked in slow, deep breaths.
“That was Kazumi showing us, huh?” Katsuki whispered. Izuku nodded with a teary laugh.
“Yeah Kacchan,” Izuku pressed a kiss to Katsuki’s hair. “That was our lil’Zumi telling us.”