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Izuku was so excited looking up at his boyfriend of three years, Bakugo Katsuki, sitting across from him. He tore his gaze away to look around at the super fancy restaurant. It wasn’t that they’d never gone out to fancy places, but they both had a more sensible approach to money so they didn’t want to spend their money on things like this. But every once in a while wouldn't hurt, Izuku mused as he looked back at the love of his life who was mulling over the menu.
They ordered and ate delicious food and chatted like normal. Katsuki telling Izuku about his work at the agency, about villains he’d taken down and people he’d saved. Izuku was enraptured. He loved hearing about hero work. When he was young he’d dreamed of being a hero, inspired by the greatest hero, AllMight. But Izuku had turned out to be quirkless, however that didn’t stop him in pursuing a career in the hero industry as a quirk analyst and support engineer.
Just as they were finishing up the meal, he looked up and saw the that Katsuki was acting like he had something to say, making Izuku feel extra giddy because he had a surprise for his boyfriend, and he’d had his suspicions that the man might be proposing this evening when he told him where they were going. Katsuki straightened up in his chair, clearing his throat.
“Izuku.” He began, and Izuku felt his body fill with an electrifying excitement.
“We’ve been together for a long time, and I truly enjoyed our time together…” Katsuki said, shifting in his seat. Izuku was watching him with wrapped attention, his heart thumping in his chest.
“It’s been three years, and we’ve grown a lot… but I think it’s time for us to put an end to this.” He paused, and Izuku didn’t say anything.
Was this a joke? But Katsuki didn't make jokes.
“I need to buckle down and focus on advancing my career. Which means I need to remove any and all distractions in my life. I still want to thank you, Izuku, I’ve had a good time. I’ll be picking up my stuff tomorrow, I’ll take care of the bill. Goodbye.” He said curtly, standing up and walking away.
Izuku just stared at where the man had been sitting. It was a shock he hadn’t expected to experience, and not one he’d seen coming. He felt the tears starting to trickle down his face, and soon he was full on bawling. He brought his hands up to his face, pressing them hard against his cheeks to try and regain his composure.
He hiccuped and took the gift bag from the floor and set it up on the table, he touched the bow, sniffling loudly. He stuck his hand inside and pulled out the two items from the bag. A piece of clothing and a card. He unfolded the piece of clothing, letting his hand run across the sparky writing on the tiny onesie “My daddy is my hero”, he flipped open the card to look at the black and white sonogram.
“I’m sorry, my baby.” He whispered in a shaky, strained voice, letting his fingers trace over the image.
***
Six years later Izuku felt like he had the hang of parenting his five year old daughter. She was everything Izuku had imagined and more, she was smart and full of ideas. She would talk his ear off on the way home from preschool, telling him all about her day and about all her ideas. Her ramblings were exactly like his, her curls and her freckles also from him. But her blonde hair and red eyes were a dad giveaway of who sired her.
While Izuku hadn’t intentionally withheld the identity of who her father was, his sharp little daughter had figured it out on her own. They’d been watching a program covering the heroes in the top 30, and when Dynamight appeared her eyes had been glued to the screen. He wasn’t sure if she remembered the few pictures Izuku had kept, or if she just saw in Katsuki the few traits she couldn’t find in any of her other relatives. He wasn’t sure, however she’d asked him a few questions that Izuku had struggled to answer, then she hadn’t mentioned it again.
“Daddy, what are we having for dinner?” Katsumi asked as she skipped along.
“Hm… how about… curry?” Izuku happily suggested, looking down at the small girl who turned to look at him with a dazzling smile.
“Yum, my favourite.” She exclaimed, taking a spin. She laughed as they continued down the road. They just turned the corner into the main street, heading for the subway, when people at the other end of the street started screaming. Alarmed, Izuku pulled Katsumi towards himself and into his arms. He tried to get an overview of the situation, but his short stature he couldn’t see over the heads of the crowd.
“Daddy?” Katsumi’s voice was filled with concern as she clung onto him.
“I know, my love. We’ll get out of here.” He said firmly, giving her a tight squeeze. He started moving back towards an alleyway when a loud bang made him look back to see a few villains appearing over the crowd. One was throwing small glowing balls at the buildings causing minor explosions, the other was
Izuku huddled close to the building as people started running in every direction to get away. A few heroes had appeared and were trying to get the situation under control. A few were tackling the villains and the others were directing the crowd.
Izuku cradled his daughter to his chest as he made his way forward, sticking to the wall. He saw the entry to a side alley and pushed his way forward to get around the corner before they were pulled along with the crowd. Once he rounded the corner he slumped against the wall, and he could feel Kasumi’s hands gripping onto him.
“We’re gonna be OK. We just have to wait for the heroes to get the situation under control.” He stroked her hair trying to calm her, but he was also speaking to himself.
There were still a few people bustling around. Once the people who were on the street had cleared, people inside in compromised buildings were being evacuated. Izuku was trying to be vigilant and keeping tabs on what was going on, trying to find a moment where he could get out of here.
There was a sudden commotion at the end of teh street and another villain decended from above, shooting light beams over his head at someone. The tell tale explosions followed as Great Explosion Murder God DynaMight appeared hot on the villain’s heels. He landed a few blows, but so did the villain as he tried to fight the hero off.
Izuku was locked in. It had been ages since he’d seen Katsuki in the flesh, and he’d always loved watching the man fight. There was a sudden rush of air and Izuku felt himself being pushed down, there was a loud cackle and he felt Katsumi being yanked away from him. Panicked, he turned to see his daughter being hoisted into the air.
“Daddy!” She screamed, wriggling the grip of a villain that was flapping his wings two meters up in the air.
“Katsumi! Let my daughter go!” He bellowed at the villain, who continued to cackle and tightened his grip on the tiny body, making her cry out. His ears were filled with the sound of static, and his heart was beating so fast he was sure it would escape his chest.
“Let her go!” He yelled again, but the villain just smirked at him.
“Midoriya?!” A familiar voice appeared at the greenettes side, supporting him. He turned to see Kirishima Eijiro, a.k.a Red Riot, Katsuki’s hero partner and friend.
“He has my daughter!” Izuku rambled desperately, barely looking at the red haired man.
“Shit!” He hissed under his breath before bringing the communicator to his face.
“Reporting! One of the villains has taken a child hostage.” He said quickly surveying the perimeter.
“Holding the child hostage won’t do you any favours!” He yelled at the villain, who only smirked even more.
“Red Riot! Has he made any demands?” Ingenium appeared at his side, cool and collected as usual as he followed the protocols to the T.
“No, so far the villain is refusing to speak.” Red Riot replied curtly.
“This is the child’s parent, Midoriya Izuku.” He added, holding onto the man in question.
“Just remain calm, Mr. Midoriya. We are trained to deal with these situations.” Ingenium reassured him, but Izuku was honestly too concerned with watching his daughter to really listen. He knew the pro-heroes would handle the situation, and he always admired them when he’d seen them deal with such situations on TV. But actually being there, it was absolutely horrific and he felt so powerless as he stood by, unable to do anything.
There was a loud explosion and Izuku watched as the villain holding his daughter looked over in the direction of where Katsuki was fighting the other villain. He made eye contact with his daughter, who locked eyes with him, and then suddenly she looked up as much as she could. Then, it was like she felt something and she raised both her hands, placing them over the villains and let off a series of explosions.
The villain yelled out and let Katsumi go. The little girl dropped from his grip and plummeted to the ground.
***
Katsuki aimed an explosion from his left hand, it makes the villain lose balance and creates a window for him to attack. He aimed at the villain's upper body, going for his head to take him down. He connected and the large man grunted before he lost consciousness, plummeting to the ground. He hovered in the air for a moment, but a yell caught his attention, and he looked over and saw another one of the villains.
As he watched he saw the villain drop a small child, he floundered for a moment, nursing his hands before he dived down towards the small child. Katsuki was off with a blast, and he was on the villain in seconds. He slammed into him and they continued on until they crashed into a wall. There was a grunt from the villain and he crashed to the ground.
Katsuki looked behind him and had to use his blasts to spin so that he didn’t land on top of the small child. He landed on all fours, and quickly moved towards the child, but as soon as he touched the cowering little body they let out a yell and threw themselves back and started crawling away from him, while explosions were going off in their tiny hands.
“Katsumi!!” A familiar voice called out and as the dust settled Katsuki came face to face with a pair of emerald green eyes that he hadn’t seen in over five years. But the eyes that he was so used to being glued to his every move were now locked in on the child.
“Katsumi!” Izuku yelled out, falling to his knees as Katsumi crawled into his arms. The greenette didn’t seem to have noticed that Katsuki was even there, still on all fours on the ground and looking at the pair. There was a sudden rush of heroes, police and rescue personnel. They whisked Izuku and the little girl away, and Katsuki was caught by the police and heroes, and led over top to do a quick debrief.
He tried to rush it, he needed to see Izuku before he was cleared or taken to the hospital. Once it was done he marched over to the ambulances. He almost felt like a mad man as he scoured over every place he could think to find who he was looking for.
He was beginning to think he was too late when he saw those familiar green curls sitting in the back of an ambulance. He watched for a moment, watched as Izuku stroked the cheek of the little girl. Pushing her blonde locks behind her ear, her red eyes looking up, and she’d been cleaned up so Katsuki could see her freckles.
He’d called her Katsumi.
He didn’t know much about children, but he’d guess that the child was about five years old. The calculations weren’t difficult. While there was a chance he was wrong, the timeline, the appearance. The quirk. His mouth felt dry all of a sudden, and all he could hear was the blood thudding in his ears. His hand formed a fist at his side, and he clenched it firmly as he took the first step forward.
“Izuku.” He called out, stopping just a few feet away as Izuku looked up to meet his gaze.
Katsuki held eye contact for just a moment, before he looked to Izuku’s side. Izuku also looked down at his daughter, who sensed the shift in the air and turned to look at the blonde man standing there looking at them.
“Are you alright?” Katsuki looked back to Izuku, who smiled weakly.
“Yes, we weren’t seriously hurt. I’ve got a few bruises from falling on the ground. Katsumi’s got a few scrapes and bruises. As You can imagine, her palms are quite sore from using her quirk.” He smiled weakly again, taking his daughters hands and rubbing them gently.
“Got any tips to ease the pain?” Izuku looked up at him, he wasn’t even trying to pretend that it wasn’t obvious. Katsuki felt stumped, looking from Izuku to the little girl. His throat dry as a desert and it was difficult for him to get a word out, but he swallowed hard, only to discover his mouth was also parched. Yet he forced his voice out.
“Uh, a cool, damp cloth and if it’s real bad, some pain relief ointment.” He croaked out, but his heart skipped a beat as the greenette smiled at him fondly.
“Thank you, Kacchan.” Izuku’s warm smile properly reached his eyes, making them crinkle at the corners, and the tone was filled with gratitude which made Katsuki’s heart somersault in his chest. It had been ages since he’d felt anything like this. Izuku then looked back at his daughter, his smile widening a little as he continued to gently massage her hands.
“Uh, Izuku.” He began, his heart beating hard in his chest like it was about to come out.
“Yes?” Izuku looked back up, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he looked back at the blonde.
“I- Is your number still the same as… as before?” He asked, his stomach clenched hard, praying that the man before him would tell him what he wanted to hear. Izuku looked down at Katsumi again, as if contemplating for a moment. Katsumi, who had remained silent throughout the whole exchange, smiled at her parent almost like she was reassuring him. As if she understood what was happening.
“Yes. It’s still the same.” Izuku looked back at him, with a soft smile on his lips again.
“Ok. Great. Then, uh, can I call you?” Katsuki felt he needed to ask, and the question made Izuku’s eyes widen.
“Not like you to ask permission, Kacchan.” He commented, with a little laugh. Making Katsuki’s heart skip a beat.
“I guess you could say I’ve grown up some.” Katsuki replied, his lips quirked into a half-smile.
“So it would seem.” Izuku smiled back at him. As if on cue, Katsumi spoke up suddenly.
“Daddy, does that mean that Papa will come and live with us?” She looked from Katsuki to Izuku with her big eyes beaming up at him. The two men coughed and spluttered at their daughters' wild question.
“Katsumi, things like this take time.” Izuku tried to explain in a loud whisper.
“Izuku.” Katsuki interrupted and two pairs of green eyes were on him. He cleared his throat before he continued.
“If it’s alright with you, I would like it if that was the… end goal, so to speak. Only if you’re alright with it.” He cleared his throat again, feeling embarrassed as he waited for the man’s reply.
“Oh, Kacchan. I’m not some doe-eyed teenager anymore. I’m a parent. I can’t just dive head first into something like that. And… you hurt me. Badly.” Izuku gave him a sad look, then looked down at his daughter.
“But I could never forget you, and I never hid the fact that you are her sire from her. But Katsumi deserves to have a relationship with her father, and seeing you again, I can’t help but be curious about you. I’m not against trying again, but the road to get there is long, a lot longer than it used to be. And it will be hard, you mark my words, Bakugo Katsuki.” Izuku told him sternly. Honestly it was making him a little weak at the knees.
“Yes, of course. So, uh, I’m still on the clock and I have to do my reports so I can’t take you home right now, but I’ll arrange transport and then I’ll call you… later? Or perhaps tomorrow would be better?” Katsuki felt flustered at the opportunity right in front of him. The love of his life and his child sitting there staring at him as he humbly waited for Izuku’s reply.
“Thank you, and tomorrow would be great, Kacchan.” Izuku’s smile was gentle as he hugged his daughter to his side.
“Great. Great. I’ll go see to that transport. And I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He repeated, trying to keep his elation under wraps, but Izuku could see how excited the blonde was.
“Thank you, Kacchan.” Izuku beamed, feeling excited in a way he hadn’t in a long, long time. He watched as the blonde blushed and excused himself.
“Daddy, will he really call tomorrow?” Katsumi asked, looking up at her Dam.
“Yes, sweetheart. Your Sire might be many things, good and bad, but he is certainly a man of his word.” Izuku reassured her, and he could see her relax.
“I want ice cream.” She said suddenly. The abruptness had Izuku stunned for a split second before he started laughing.
“Sure, let’s go get some ice cream.” Izuku laughed, feeling a weight lift and that old sense of excitement well deep inside