My Father's Son - Chapter 47

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By the time they got home, Izuku was exhausted. He thought the family workouts had been bad, and the subsequent running dates, but he’d never expected the sheer muscle pain and exhaustion that rock climbing induced.

Hiroki bounced around like it was no big deal, a few little scrapes on his hands but mostly unscathed. Even Yuuto seemed fairly unphased, just pleasantly tired rather than dying on the inside. Not to mention Katsuki who had never looked worn out a damn day in his life.

He fell onto the couch a little more heavily than planned, his thighs aching, and Katsuki just smirked at him knowingly, not needing to say a word.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked, surprising Izuku with the lack of tormenting. “I know it’s rough the first time, but it’s fun too, right?”

“Yeah,” Izuku admitted. “It was... satisfying.”

“When you made it to the top?”

“Yeah.”

“Someone needs to accomplish more in his life,” Katsuki teased, reaching out to ruffle Izuku’s curls. “Not used to the high of finishing something, huh?”

“Shut up,” Izuku huffed. “I accomplish plenty!”

“Uh-huh. It’s okay, we’ll work on it. Gotta get you hooked on that little dopamine hit.”

“Is that why you do it? You get high on winning?”

“Damn right. Why do you think I became a hero?”

“Because you like beating people up.”

“Granted,” Katsuki chuckled. “That gives a hell of a dopamine rush too.”

“Just keep it at work.”

“You know I do.”

Izuku smiled fondly when the boys returned from getting changed, Hiroki handing him a bottle of water without a word, and when Izuku dragged him into a hug for it, he got a symphony of giggles in return. It really was amazing how delighted the kid was by a simple hug. Anyone would think he didn’t get them before Izuku, but Izuku knew better than that – he got plenty of hugs from Katsuki, always had done. Katsuki was powerless to say no to the kid, even if he’d wanted to – which he very clearly did not. So no, he wasn’t lacking, he was just the cuddliest kid in the world, apparently, and if Izuku had really wanted to chase that dopamine hit, he was pretty sure Hiroki’s delight would have done it for him.

“Get your butt in here, Mister Yuuto,” Izuku grinned, when he saw the little pout. “I won’t take no for an answer!”

“Fine,” Yuuto huffed, joining them quickly. “If I have to.”

“Yup!” Hiroki grinned, throwing an arm around him to add him to the mass. “Daddy too!”

“I’m not sure you’ve got room,” Katsuki snorted.

“We always have room!”

“Yeah, Kacchan, we can always make room for one more,” Izuku teased. “Get in on this.”

Katsuki tried to hide his smile with a sigh, but failed miserably, dropping onto the cushions and reaching around the boys, merging them all into one giant cluster of snuggles. He found himself in that position more and more as time went on, but he never stopped worrying that it was too far, that Izuku would be uncomfortable with it.

Judging by the way his eyes shone, though, they were doing good so far.

“I have a friend coming to visit next week,” Katsuki told them. “He’s not staying here, but he’ll probably come for dinner or something to meet everyone. He missed out on meeting Hiro last year.”

“Who is it?” Hiroki asked, perking up at the news – new friends were always sure to grab his attention. “Do I know them?”

“Spooner, he’s coming from-”

“Australia!” Hiroki finished, practically buzzing in his excitement. “How long is he coming? Is his daughter coming too? Will he bring cookies?”

“I don’t know,” Katsuki chuckled, pinching Hiroki’s cheek fondly. “Not for long, I don’t think, probably less than a week. He’s gotta testify in court, but it’ll probably only take him a day or two. The agency are putting him up in a hotel near the courthouse, but he asked if I wanted to catch up outside of that. I don’t think his family are coming, probably just him, and I have no idea if he’ll bring anything with him.”

“You have a hero friend in Australia?” Izuku clarified, piecing the bits together. “That’s cool!”

“Yeah, I was the only one who spoke passable English, and I got put on the case with him. Some villain managed to flee Australia and make it to Tokyo.”

“And he sent a Koala!”

“A toy one,” Katsuki clarified. “It was just after Koara was born, and he decided she needed one because of her name.”

“She called it Koko!”

“Yeah, she babbles for Koko a lot. Carries it around all the time. He promised next time he came back he’d bring something for Hiro, but I don’t know if he remembers, and-”

“And it’s not polite to ask, I know!” Hiroki assured him. “I’m excited to meet him even if there’s no present!”

“Good boy.”

“And I can practice my English with him!” Hiroki continued, more to himself than the group. “I wonder if he’ll understand me or if my accent isn’t good yet. What do Australians sound like anyway? I wonder if they have special English words in Australia like that time we went to Hokkaido.”

“I blame you for the mumbling,” Katsuki sighed, shoving Izuku lightly. “Your damn genetics.”

“You love it,” Izuku grinned back, leaning in closer like the shove never happened. “Just admit you looooove me because I remind you of him.”

“Piss off, nerd.”

“You looooooove me.”

“Don’t make me punch you.”

“You wouldn’t do that, you loooooooooooove me too much!”

“I swear to God, Deku, if you don’t shit your mouth I’m gonna shut it for you.”

“You looo-mph”

His eyes crossed to look at the hand clamping his jaw closed, making his best attempt at a pout with the limited motion Katsuki allowed him. Red eyes were narrowed at him, eyebrows low, but in his cheeks Izuku caught the faintest hint of pink, and that was one hundred percent a victory in his books.

“Daddy that’s mean,” Hiroki pouted, prying Katsuki’s hand off. “We do love Papa, he’s allowed to say it!”

“Yuuto is my favourite son now,” Katsuki grumbled, pulling a stunned Yuuto into his lap. “Hiroki is too mushy.”

“Liar,” Hiroki stuck his tongue out, screwing up his face. “You love us both the same, you told me so.”

“Foiled again by my past self.”

“I love you Daddy.”

“I love you too,” Katsuki sighed, squishing Hiroki’s cheeks but keeping his other arm around Yuuto all the same. “What are we having for dinner?”

“Fast food,” Izuku suggested, ducking under the swipe that came for him. “Greasy burgers and fries, yum.”

“I don’t know what I see in you, nerd.”

“See in me?”

Katsuki froze for a second, jaw hanging open dumbly, and for a moment the room was dead silent.

“That came out wrong,” he said finally. “I just meant-”

“It’s okay,” Izuku giggled. “I was just teasing, Kacchan! I knew what you meant!”

Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief, resolving to a) be more careful about his words in future, and b) stop hassling Izuku quite so much for a few days, for giving him an out so readily.

“Homemade burgers,” Katsuki suggested, ignoring Hiroki’s little smirk. “Compromise. Yeah?”

“Yeah! I bet Kacchan makes the best burgers, anyway!”

“Damn right I do. Alright let me slide out, I’ll go grab some meat out.”

“I’ll help,” Yuuto offered, climbing off his lap and waiting for Katsuki to join him. “I can do buns!”

“Perfect, thanks buddy. Hiro, you gonna take care of Papa for us?”

“Uh-huh! Gotta hug his soreness better!”

“Good man, I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Okay!”

He followed Yuuto to the kitchen, the two of them pulling out ingredients from the fridge and freezer to get started, and it wasn’t until Katsuki stood over the stove with a pan heating that his heart finally stopped thumping at a world-record pace.

Stupid brain, stupid mouth, stupid heart.

─────

Izuku presented the whiteboard with a flourish, grinning to himself, and even before he said a word, Hiroki was bouncing up and down with excitement. The kid was always so quick to feed off of other people’s enthusiasm, it made Izuku smile every time.

“I’m sure you guys noticed how Kacchan always asks about stuff being done when he gets home, so I thought we could make a list together that we can tick off each day. Instead of having to ask, he can just look at our list and see for himself!”

“But it’s empty,” Yuuto noted, tilting his head to one side as he considered it.

“Well, yeah,” Izuku laughed. “I thought we could write the list together, so you can make sure I don’t miss anything.”

“It needs two parts,” Hiroki hummed, counting on his fingers. “Some things we only do sometimes not every day.”

“Yeah, we can do that. We’ll draw a line across the middle and do weekly things at the bottom.”

“I’ll get my markers so we can make it pretty!”

He darted off up the stairs, and Izuku smiled at Yuuto’s contemplative little face.

“I don’t know what I do,” he explained, when he caught Izuku watching. “I don’t think I do things.”

“Of course you do things! We’ll go through step-by-step, okay? From when you walk in the door after school until bedtime.”

“Is Papa gonna have a list too?”

“Uh-huh! I have cleaning I do, and stuff for work.”

“And Dad’s lunch.”

“Yeah,” Izuku laughed. “I’ll put Kacchan’s lunch on mine, too.”

“What about Dad’s list?”

“What do you think should be on his?”

“Goodnight hugs.”

“That’s a good one, we’ll put that on for sure.”

Hiroki returned shortly with two handfuls of rainbow colours, offering them to Izuku with a grin.

“These ones don’t come off,” he explained, gesturing with his left hand. “So we can write the stuff with those, and tick them off with the ones that come off?”

“Perfect, you’re a clever boy.”

Hiroki beamed when Izuku ruffled his curls, kneeling down on the carpet to help out. They divided the board into two sections, as promised, and Hiroki began carefully inking each of their names across the top.

“Nana first,” he explained, pointing at her name on the left-hand side. “She’s oldest.”

“That works, oldest to youngest.”

“Daddy next?”

“That’s right.”

“Then Papa, then... Oh. Me and Yuuchan are the same day.”

“Hmm... Did Daddy ever say what time you were born?”

“Mm... The time I was born was the time Yuuchan was born, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But that means I know what time you were born, and you know when Yuuto was born.”

“Oh! Then Yuuchan was born at three-thirty. Just in time to not go to school that day.”

“Is that what Kacchan says?” Izuku chuckled.

“What Grandma says,” Hiroki corrected him. “Daddy said he knew I would like school because he did too.”

“Might be more accurate for Yuuto, huh?”

“I haven’t been to school yet,” Yuuto pouted. “I might like it.”

“I hope you do!”

“You will!” Hiroki assured him, patting his head fondly. “It’ll be lots of fun! Was I born first or second, Papa?”

“Second, just a little,” Izuku smiled. “You were born just after five in the evening.”

“Hmm... In time for dinner.”

“Yeah,” Izuku laughed. “You must have been hungry.”

Satisfied, Hiroki wrote out Yuuto’s name next, extra careful, and his own on the very end.

“Alright, so let’s start with Nana, then. What does she do every day?”

“Mm... She cooks dinner?”

“Yeah, she does,” Izuku nodded, watching Hiroki write Dinner under her name. “She always does our laundry, too.”

“We should put Grampa Toshi on it,” Hiroki grinned. “So she has to talk to him every day.”

“Sure, why not?” Izuku laughed. “I’m pretty sure she does that anyway.”

“I think that’s all, she does lots more things but not every day. Daddy next?”

“Yeah, Yuuto had a good one for Daddy.”

“Goodnight hugs,” Yuuto repeated, watching Hiroki’s face light up. “When we go to bed, or if he gets home late.”

“Yeah!”

“And... Come home safe.”

Hiroki giggled, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile too, nodding faintly.

“I think that’s a very good responsibility for him.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the boys on the end, their lists a lot longer than any of the adults, but neither of them seemed to mind. They went through every step from their morning routines through to bedtime, and Yuuto’s eyes widened as he watched the list grow.

“I told you, you do a lot,” Izuku teased. “It’s no wonder you’re always so tired by bedtime, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Yuuto nodded, blinking at it a few times. “Um, can... Can I try my homework with Nana this week?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m sure you can. Is everything okay?”

Yuuto nodded, but still kept his eyes on the whiteboard.

“Nana likes it when I read with her,” he explained. “And... And I like reading with Nana, I think. She said it’s okay, I asked her.”

“Then yeah, of course you can. Nana is very smart, she’ll be good at helping. Shall we put that on her list?”

“Uh-huh.”

Hiroki moved back to the other end of the board, writing out “homework with Yuuto”, oblivious to the concern that washed through the father at his side.

“It’s not ‘cause you’re bad, or anything,” Yuuto mumbled. “I just wanna try with Nana too.”

“It’s okay,” Izuku assured him. “I’m not upset. You know you can talk to me if anything is wrong, though, right?”

“Mm-hm. I’ll still do stuff with you and Hirokun too. But I wanna read with Nana.”

“Okay, buddy,” Izuku nodded. “You do whatever makes you happy and comfortable.”

“Mmkay. Thanks.”

When the boys were satisfied, Izuku hung their colourful board in the hallway, taking pride of place at the top of the stairs, just outside the living room. There was no way Katsuki could miss it when he came home from work, with the little list of ticks marking off their daily progress.

“Alright, let’s get some stuff done so we can make more ticks. You guys wanna unpack your bags and get changed while I find us a snack?”

“Uh-huh!”

It was only about an hour before the front door opened again, Hiroki leaping up from his homework books to run down the stairs. Izuku heard a familiar chuckle float through the house, and he couldn’t help a smile of his own, listening to them greet each other. Katsuki was such a good Dad, Hiroki loved him so damn much, Izuku was almost a little jealous – the feeling was only stopped by the way Hiroki greeted him with the same enthusiasm, always there to give him a hug when we got home from a long day at work.

“I’m glad my organisation is finally rubbing off on you,” Katsuki smirked, ruffling Izuku’s hair as he joined them, Hiroki tucked into his other arm for hugs. “Good job, nerd.”

“The boys did most of the work, all I did was buy them another whiteboard.”

“The idea was good.”

“Maybe it’ll stop you nagging me.”

Katsuki snorted, pinching Izuku’s cheek, and Izuku whined as he pulled away in a hurry.

“I’ll never stop nagging you.”

“Believe me, I know,” Izuku huffed. “You’ll always find something.”

“Damn right. Hey Yuuto, how was your day?”

He moved on as quickly as he’d come, leaning down to give Yuuto a quick squeeze as they talked. Yuuto wasn’t much of a hugger, at least not when he was awake, and Izuku suspected Katsuki was grateful for that. They were so alike in that, after all. Two kids like Hiroki might have destroyed Katsuki, over time. He didn’t have the capacity to handle two balls of boundless energy.

“So I’ve booked your first violin lesson,” Katsuki continued, Izuku quickly tuning back in to the conversation. “My Mom is gonna pick you up from school on Friday and take you to meet the teacher. They’ll give you a violin to use, too, so you can bring it home to practice. Then she’s gonna bring you back here after, and we’ll all have dinner. She’s still whining about how they don’t see you boys enough. Is that cool?”

“I’m excited,” Yuuto nodded, despite the nerves in his face. “What about Hiro?”

“Grandma will pick him up too, maybe they’ll do some homework or something while they wait for you. I’ve gotta get the drums set up and find a time that works for a teacher still. Sorry Hiro, you don’t mind waiting a little longer, right? I’m working on it.”

“I don’t mind! I’ll keep practicing reading, and if you can’t find a teacher, Daddy can teach me!”

“I can try,” Katsuki chuckled. “I’d rather find you a good teacher, though. And I’ve booked a room for us Sunday so we can do some quirk practice again. Told you I’d make it more frequent.”

“Yay! With Uncle Shouto?”

“Of course. He’s looking forward to it.”

“Woohoo! Are you gonna practice with Yuuchan again too?”

“Uh-huh, if he wants to.”

His eyes slid sideways to glance down at the little blond head, but Yuuto nodded before he even got there.

“I wanna,” he confirmed. “Just me and Dad?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I’m excited.”

“Me too, bud.”

“Sounds like you’ve got everything planned out,” Izuku grinned, looking up with his smile back in place despite the recent torment of his cheek. “Kacchan is so prepared.”

“Gotta be, nerd. How else would I get everything done?”

“Ask for help, maybe?”

Katsuki snorted. The look on Izuku’s face was too perfect to be mad at, even jokingly. It was so self-satisfied, almost smug, and that was not exactly a common expression to see on such an easy-going man.

“When I need help, I’ll ask,” Katsuki assured him. “Just keep making me lunch, they make the whole office jealous.”

“Can do!” Izuku beamed. “I’m glad you like them!”

“Yeah, they always taste good.”

“Damn right they do,” Izuku grinned, making Katsuki raise an eyebrow at the language. “It’s because of my secret ingredient!”

“Ugh, have you been spitting in my food this whole time? Gross.”

“What? No! Kacchan, ew! I meant love, I made them with love.”

Katsuki felt his cheeks warm, and Izuku blinked at him, realising too late that he’d made the stupid joke out loud instead of just thinking about it.

“I mean- You- You know what I mean!” Izuku stumbled, flooding bright red. “You’re the father of my kids! No, wait, that’s even worse. I just-”

“I know,” Katsuki cut him off, setting Hiroki down before the giggling fit at their expense could make him fall. “It was a joke, I get it, it’s fine.”

“Yeah! I mean, I’m not saying I don’t love you, but it’s- It’s not-”

“I know,” Katsuki assured him. “We’re... Family now.”

“Yeah!”

“I uh... Thanks. For the... The secret ingredient. They really do taste good.”

“I’m glad,” Izuku grinned, despite the blush still bright on his cheeks. “I’ll keep trying my best.”

“Yeah. Work hard, nerd.”

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