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Welcome Home [Chapter 1]
🕑 Added 2024-04-19 12:00:00 +0000 UTCEverything about Izuku’s life felt absolutely perfect. Crime had been on a steady decline since he’d become a pro-hero, so the world felt like a safer place; it had been almost a year since Katsuki had proposed, and their wedding day was mere weeks away; his mother was safe and happy, and apparently dating All Might which was weird as hell but he’d decided he was okay with it; and his stomach was full of leftover tonkatsu that Katsuki had shoved in his hands as they passed in the doorway with a quick hug and well-wishes. Nothing could have made him any happier, as he sat back on the couch with a contented sigh, reaching for his phone to send Katsuki a cute post-shower-and-meal selfie.
When he moved to put it back down, it vibrated again in his hand, and Izuku paused for a moment – Katsuki never replied that quickly during a shift, what was going on?
Instead, when he looked down at his screen, it was lit up with an unknown number; that was weird in itself, considering he didn’t give his number out to anyone but close friends. They were having a wedding soon, though, so maybe Katsuki or their parents had put his number down on a form somewhere? Strange.
“Hello?” he answered, consciously reminding himself not to add his name on the end – that had driven Katsuki insane, the first time he’d heard it, and he’d had to train himself out of it to avoid his boyfriend’s – fiance’s – wrath.
“Hello, is this Mister Deku?”
Every muscle in Izuku’s body tensed up. The voice was so soft and innocent, so young, and most importantly, so scared.
“What’s your name?” Izuku asked instead, determined to get every possible ounce of information out of the kid before some villain inevitably took the phone from his hand. “What’s wrong?”
“My name is Sugito Akuji. I’m okay, but my mom hasn’t been home in a while and I ran out of food and I have no money to buy more.”
“How long is a while?” Izuku asked, already getting up and reaching for his wallet and keys. “Do you know your address?”
“Maybe four days?” the boy said, his voice even quieter. “I do, but...”
“You’re not supposed to tell strangers?” Izuku asked knowingly. “I get that, but sometimes it’s okay, if you need help. I’m glad you called. Um, how did you call?”
“With my phone.”
“I mean... this number. Where did you get my number?”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I saw it in mom’s old notebook once and she told me never to call it but I didn’t know who else to ask.”
Izuku paused, cursing himself for it as his fingers tightened around his phone.
“How old are you?”
“I’m nine in two months!”
Fuck.
“Okay,” Izuku said softly. “Text me your address, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Mister Deku.”
———
When Izuku reached the right mailbox, he sent another text, a quick “I’m here!” that he hoped wouldn’t display all the fear and dread knotting in his stomach. The building was sagging a little in the middle, as if it had gotten tired at some point in its life and decide to give up and slouch. Half the wooden panels on the front were cracked or missing, the yard was full of trash, and most of the windows were boarded up – the few that weren’t, were cracked.
Izuku squared his shoulders and began his walk up the path.
A threadbare curtain shifted, and Izuku saw one big, green eye peek at him out the cracked window, before footsteps padded over to the door. The kid opened the door slowly, peeking out at him again, and Izuku tried his best to manage a smile as he held out a small grocery bag.
“It’s not much,” he said apologetically. “I wasn’t sure what you like to eat, but I wanted to grab you a snack on the way here.”
He accepted the bag, peering in to find the convenience store bread inside, and before he’d even said a word he was tearing open a curry bread, tearing off a huge bite with his teeth. He had the same eyes Izuku saw every day in his mirror, the same scattering of freckles on his cheeks, and while his hair was much darker than Izuku’s it had telltale signs of the same tufts and spikes and curls that Izuku had given up on doing anything with.
“Thanks, Mister Deku, s’real good,” he mumbled through his mouthful. “You can come in, f’you want.”
He stepped aside to make room, and Izuku stepped past him carefully, taking off his shoes even though the wooden floors looked dirtier and more splintery than anything he’d encountered outside.
“So, um, are you... my son?”
“Huh? Yeah,” the boy said with a shrug. “I know I’m not s’posed to call, sorry, but there wasn’t anyone else, and I thought since you’re a hero you’d have to help. It’s okay if you wanna go, but could I maybe borrow a little bit of money until mom comes back?”
“Did she tell you not to call me?”
“She said you didn’t want to meet me, so I figured calling counted as meeting.”
“I didn’t know about you.”
The boy froze, gaze slowly turning Izuku’s way, to see the heartbroken expression Izuku could feel himself wearing.
“I promise, if I’d known, I would have been here. In your life. Taking care of you.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No. I’m so sorry. To be honest, I’m not even sure who your mom is.”
The boy blinked at him, and Izuku felt himself blush, waving his hands frantically.
“Not that there are lots of options!” he explained quickly. “But there was about a year where I guess I was... experimenting? Meeting people and trying things, seeing what dating was like, you know? And so when you said you’re almost nine, I knew that... lined up.”
“Oh.”
“Sugito-san, right? That’s what you said?”
“Akuji.”
“Akuji-san,” Izuku corrected himself with a little nod. “I know it sounds awful, so I’m sorry in advance, but I don’t think I even knew your mom’s name. We just met and had fun and never saw each other again. She probably felt like she couldn’t call, especially when she knew I was a hero, she probably thought I’d make a big fuss or want her to not keep you or maybe I’d think she was scamming me for money since heroes get paid decently, which I definitely wouldn’t have done, but she didn’t actually know me so it’s not like she would have known that, and she was probably panicking and scared and oh gosh I hope she had someone to support her because that must have been awful to go through alone but—”
Akuji blinked at him, and Izuku snapped his mouth shut, trying his best to look apologetic rather than just terrified and confused.
“I’m sorry,” he said slowly. “I start rambling sometimes.”
“S’okay.”
“Are you still hungry? Have some more food, if you want.”
“I’ll keep it for tomorrow, s’okay. Thanks, though, Mister Deku.”
“Just Deku is fine. Or Izuku, that’s my real name. Or Midoriya – my last name – or Asshole or Stupid Nerd or whatever, really, I answer to a lot of names so just pick whatever you want.”
“Izuku,” Akuji said, not even hesitating. “Who calls you Stupid Nerd? That’s not nice.”
“Someone very close to me,” Izuku laughed sheepishly. “He says it affectionately, he’s not really being mean.”
Akuji didn’t answer this time, and Izuku picked up the bag from the floor, holding it out pointedly.
“I’ll buy you more food,” he promised. “So please.”
Akuji paused, but when his stomach growled at him he caved, and Izuku smiled softly as he watched him dig into a hotdog bun with just as much vigour.
“Can I sit?” he asked, looking at the flimsy dining room chairs that he wasn’t sure would hold his weight, then over to the low table that seemed to be the only fixture in their living room area. “I’ll stay a while and make sure you’re safe and comfortable and everything, if that’s okay.”
Akuji shrugged, and Izuku took that as a good sign, heading over to sit himself down on a dusty cushion. Akuji followed, sitting opposite him, and Izuku took a long, deep breath.
“So your mom has been gone,” he began. “For about four days?”
“Maybe five, I don’t remember.”
“Has she done this before?”
“Not for five days.”
“But for less time?”
“Uh-huh. She has to go work and stuff, and she goes out with her friends at night, so I’m used to it.”
Izuku clenched his fists in his lap, hoping Akuji wouldn’t notice the sheer anger flowing through his entire body. He was lucky he’d gained so much control over his emotions, through his years as a hero, or he’d probably have punched something and brought the entire building down around them.
“Have you called her?”
“Uh-huh, she didn’t answer.”
“Okay. Here’s what I want to do, then.” He took another deep breath, and Akuji just stared at him blankly. “You’re too young to be home alone – at all, really, let alone for days. So I want to take you back to my house for a bit, okay? We’ll tell the police she’s missing and they can do their job and find her for us, but in the meantime, I can keep you safe and fed.”
“I can look after myself.”
“Oh buddy, I’m sure you can, but you shouldn’t have to. Parents are here to take care of their kids, not to make them do it on their own.”
Akuji hummed thoughtfully, reaching for the last item in the grocery bag – an egg sandwich, this time. He had food all over his face, but didn’t seem to have noticed, and honestly, it was probably still cleaner than the clothes he was wearing.
“We’ll leave a note so she can call us when she gets back,” Izuku suggested. “And once she gets home, we can all talk together and figure this out, okay? I want to be in your life no matter what, to spend time with you and help keep you safe and happy.”
“I guess so,” he said through his mouthful. “Can I charge my phone too?”
“Yeah, of course,” Izuku agreed readily. “Have you not done it for a while?”
“The lights and stuff don’t work here,” Akuji explained. “Our last house had lights but this one doesn’t, so I charge it at the library now.”
“Okay,” Izuku said, swallowing hard to hold back everything else that wanted to spill out of him. “I have power, so you can definitely do it at home. Do you want to pack some clothes and things to bring? And your school uniform?”
“Okay.”
With his sandwich polished off, Akuji wiped his hands on his shirt and headed into the next room, and Izuku finally let his carefully-neutral expression fall into dismay. He wasn’t sure exactly why the woman had decided not to tell him, but he sure as hell was not gonna let her run off and cut him out of Akuji’s life all over again, no matter what that took.
Akuji returned with a battered old backpack in his hand, pulling it over his shoulders as he moved, and Izuku forced a smile onto his face as he stood up. He wished he had a car – and a driver’s license – to take the kid home in relative privacy, rather than crowd onto a train in rush hour, but—
Fuck it, he could fork out for a taxi.
He opened an app, and soon there was a car pulling up outside, the driver popping the back door open for them both to climb in. While they drove, he sent a text to his boss, taking his first ever day of leave for a family emergency – he’d come close, once, when his mother was sick, but All Might had refused to let him, had assured him that Inko would be just fine, very soon, and that he had it all under control. He’d been right, of course, but Izuku still felt a little guilty for not being there.
“So tomorrow,” Izuku began hesitantly. “It’ll take a little longer than usual to get to school, we’ll take the train together, and then I’ll come pick you up again after. While you’re at school, I’ll go check your house, just in case, and go see the police. We’ll get this sorted out, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And in the meantime, what do you like to eat? I’ve got some groceries at home, but we can stop and get anything specific you want, too.”
“I eat anything.”
“Yeah? There isn’t anything you really don’t like?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Alright! Maybe tonight we’ll just get settled in, then, and if you think of anything you want, we can get it after school tomorrow. You’re probably getting tired, huh? Must have been a stressful few days.”
“Mm. A little tired.”
Izuku nodded understandingly. If he’d been home alone at that age, with no idea where his mother was for days on end, he certainly wouldn’t have slept well.
When they pulled up outside the giant apartment block, Izuku thanked the driver three times, showing him the app to assure him that he’d paid, even though he was sure the driver’s end would be showing him, too. Then, side by side, he and Akuji walked up to the front entrance.
Akuji’s eyes were huge as Izuku buzzed them in with his key, darting this way and that as he took it all in, and Izuku felt awful – there was so much going on, the poor kid was probably overstimulated trying to memorise it. He set a hand on Akuji’s shoulder, hoping it came across as comforting, and paused for a moment to let him look around.
“I’ll save the address in your phone for you, in case you ever need it,” Izuku promised him. “We’re going to the eighteenth floor, so we’ll take the elevator.”
“That high?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
Akuji nodded, eyes wide, and Izuku cracked a little smile.
“We’ll go to the roof some time, if you want, and look at the view.”
“Okay!”
In the meantime, Izuku showed him through to the elevator, relieved to find it empty of other residents he would have had to make small talk with. He wasn’t sure how that would go down, just yet – saying “yeah this is my son, I just found out he existed” seemed like a poor start to a conversation with someone he had to see at home multiple times a week.
“Here we go!” Izuku said brightly, when they reached his front door. “Come on in!”
They stepped into the little stone entry Izuku loved so much, and Izuku slid a door aside, opening up the shoe closet. It had really become more like general storage than shoe storage, since it had way too much space for just shoes to live in it, and Izuku smiled sheepishly as he nudged the braces and armour pieces from his costume aside to make room.
“Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess at the moment, work has been busy!”
“S’not a mess,” Akuji corrected him. “S’pretty.”
“Thank you, I think so too, even when it’s a little untidier than usual.”
They set their shoes on the shelves, and Izuku waved for Akuji to follow him, to see the rest of the apartment he adored. The space quickly opened up from hallway into living area, a huge room of wooden floors and big windows, with a long balcony stretching along one side. Off to one side was a kitchen, and Izuku pointed to that next, flashing Akuji a quick smile.
“If you get hungry or thirsty, just help yourself, okay? You don’t need to ask permission to get a snack or something, just go pick out something that looks good whenever you want it!”
“Thank you.”
“Of course! And this is the bathroom through this door, the bathtub is huge, so you can have a good soak and relax in a hot bath if you like. And then this is the bedroom, here. There’s only one, sorry, but we’ll set you up on the comfy sofa for tonight, and tomorrow I can go out and buy a mattress or a futon or something.”
“The couch is fine,” Akuji assured him. “It looks big.”
“It’s super big,” Izuku agreed, grinning. “I love this couch. I love everything in this apartment, to be honest. It’s taken a long time to collect so many nice things, but now it feels all cosy and home-like, and it makes me super happy to be home.”
“You don’t move lots?”
“Nope! I mean, I travel for work, of course, but I’ve kept this apartment since I first got into the top ten heroes, so...”
“Seven years,” Akuji finished for him.
“Seven? Yeah, that sounds right. I’m surprised you remembered! Did you learn that in school?”
“A little,” Akuji nodded. “And TV and stuff, too.”
“You like watching the hero fights?”
Akuji nodded, and Izuku grinned, forgetting all his concerns in a heartbeat.
“Me too! Well, these days it makes me a little nervous, wishing I’d been there to help if people get hurt and stuff, but when I was growing up, I never missed a fight! I had all the All Might fights recorded so I could watch them over and over again, and I always rushed home from school to see the highlights from the day, so I could look up the full versions. I never really did club activities or anything, I was too excited to spend all my time watching and analysing heroes, so- oh! What about you, Akuji-san? What do you like to do?”
“M’not sure.”
“Haven’t figured it out yet?” Izuku asked sympathetically. “Sometimes it’s hard to find the right thing, huh? I was really lucky, to figure it out so soon.”
“I wanted to be a hero.”
“Wanted?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have a quirk.”
Reality hit Izuku like a ton of bricks, and he stared at Akuji in silence for a moment, lost for words. He knew how it looked, knew Akuji was bracing himself for shock or pity or something of the sort, but Izuku knew he had to get exactly the right words, on his first try, in exactly the right tone, or else he’d have ruined it forever.
“You can be a hero,” he said firmly. “I don’t care what anyone else says, Akuji. If you want to be a hero, you can be a hero, even if you’re quirkless.”
Akuji froze, slowly turning his head to look up, and Izuku made sure to keep his face still – to keep the dead-serious look on his face that had come out as he said the words. He knew ‘encouraging’ or reassuring’ might have been a better response, on paper, but he refused to let that be his reaction. The kid didn’t need encouragement, he needed to know.
“You think so?” Akuji asked finally.
“I know so.”
Akuji broke first, turning his eyes away again, and Izuku finally let himself soften a little. He would do everything in his power to get that kid trained and prepared and an interview at U.A. when that time came – there was no point in being the number two hero if he couldn’t even convince his former teachers to give the kid a shot, after all.
“Alright, what do you wanna do first?” Izuku asked, smiling again. “Bath time? More food? TV? Make up your bed?”
“Mm... Bath.”
“Okay! I’ll grab you a towel, do you have pyjamas or something to sleep in?”
“I can sleep in my clothes.”
“How about I grab you one of my t-shirts to sleep in?” Izuku suggested. “It’ll be way too big, but then I can throw your clothes in the laundry and have them clean and fresh for you in the morning.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t mind! I need to do some of my own laundry, too, so I can do it at the same time!”
“Mm... Okay. Thanks.”
“You probably have more dirty stuff from the last couple of days, right? Grab it all and we can do it at the same time. I’ll go start the bath running and get a towel for you, why don’t you plug your phone in and grab your clothes?”
“Okay. Where can I put it?”
“Any of the free outlets! There’s a power strip just behind the couch if you want it close to where you’ll be sleeping?”
“I’ll do that. Um, thanks.”
“No problem! I’ll be back in just a minute, okay?”
“Okay.”
He hurried through to the bathroom, to the big, black tub with a window above it, where you could look out at the city while you bathed. He set it running on a temperature that he hoped would be okay, then headed for the linen closet to find the biggest, fluffiest towel he owned. As much as it made him feel a little guilty, showing up the kid’s mother who had raised him alone for almost nine years, he just wanted the kid – his kid – to feel a little bit of comfort and luxury for once. And sure, a one-bedroom apartment wasn’t exactly the lap of luxury, no matter how nice and pretty Izuku thought it was, but compared to the clearly abandoned, run-down house where Izuku had found him, it must have felt like Izuku owned the entire world.
He hung the towel on the heated rail beside the bath, ready for when Akuji got out, then threw a few pieces of laundry in the machine, setting it all up, ready to go. Finally, he headed back to the living room, shooting Akuji another quick smile.
“Alright, it’s just about ready for—”
A key turned in the front door, and Izuku swore under his breath. Somehow, with everything going on, he’d managed to forget that his fiance lived with him.
“Shit,” he whispered, unable to resist.
The thing was, Izuku suddenly realised, that he had fucked up in multiple ways. Not just by forgetting that Katsuki was coming home, but:
a) not thinking to give him a call or even send him a damn text message in the entire time he’d been on trains and in taxis and all the rest of it.
b) not warning Akuji that he even had a partner, let alone one who lived with him.
c) forgetting that Katsuki hated kids.
C was troubling him the most, in those few seconds he had to process the thoughts. They’d talked about it so many times. About how neither of them wanted to have kids, about how their careers were far too important anyway, and kids would only get in the way, and by the time they retired they would want to enjoy life not spend it raising some little brat. The idea of changing diapers and staying up all night with screaming babies was torture to Izuku, so he’d had no qualms about being child free, and Katsuki had even stronger feelings on the matter – if Izuku had wanted children, he knew, Katsuki would never have proposed.
And while Izuku loved Katsuki with all his heart, in a way that made every fibre of his being ache when they were apart for too long, or when Katsuki was in danger, there was suddenly something in his life that was somehow, inexplicably, even more important.
He had to take care of his kid.
“I’m home,” Katsuki called, as the door swung closed behind him. “I swear that was the longest short-shift I’ve ever had to do, fucking morons in the streets tonight.”
He stepped around the corner, and for a second, the world stopped turning. All three of them went dead still, entirely rigid, and Izuku wished he could savour those last few moments of being engaged for just a little bit longer.
“Kacchan,” he said softly. “This is Akuji. My son.”
Katsuki stared at him for a second, then slowly his eyes moved to Akuji, to the wide eyes and freckles; the dark, messy hair; the dirty clothes and food spilled down his front. For that second, he just stared, while Izuku braced himself for Katsuki to just turn around and walk back out, or to yell at him for lying, or to ask how the fuck it had happened and why he hadn’t called, or something, but instead...
Instead, Katsuki bowed.
It was stiff, unpracticed, something he only ever did at big meetings with pro-heroes from other countries, or once when they’d first told Inko they were dating. But still, he bowed politely, and Izuku stared at him in wonder.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Katsuki said. “I’m Bakugou Katsuki, Izuku’s fiance.”
“N-Nice to meet you!” Akuji squeaked back, dropping into a much deeper and more trembling bow of his own. “I’m Akuji, sorry to intrude!”
“You’re not,” Katsuki said, as if it were the most truthful sentence that had ever been spoken. “Welcome home.”
Izuku’s eyes filled with tears, and Katsuki finally cracked a tiny smile when he saw it, shaking his head faintly as he gestured with his gauntlets.
“I’m just gonna give these a quick wipe-down so I can put them away, unless you need anything?”
“We’re good,” Izuku assured him, smiling softly. “I’m just getting Akuji set up for a nice soak in the bath, and I’m gonna set him up a bed on the couch for tonight. Oh, do you have any laundry to go on, though?”
“Nah, did a load before my patrol. You need a hand?”
“We’re good,” Izuku said again, all the tension seeping out of his body. “Thank you.”
Katsuki grabbed a cloth from the kitchen, and Izuku ushered Akuji through to the bathroom with a smile, whispering an apology as he shut the door behind them.
“I got so distracted I forgot he’d be home soon,” Izuku explained. “I would have warned you -and him – otherwise, but I totally forgot! I’m so sorry.”
“S’okay,” Akuji assured him. “Do you love him?”
“So much,” Izuku grinned, painfully sincere. “He’s the love of my life.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah,” Izuku laughed. “It’s really good. Alright, so there’s a towel over here for you when you’re ready, and you can use the soap and shampoo and things over here. The laundry machine is all ready to go, so just throw your clothes in and close the door, then hit this big ‘go’ button and it’ll start. And when you’re done and dry, there’s a t-shirt and a pair of shorts over here. They’ll both be way too big for you, but there’s a drawstring in the shorts to hopefully keep them on, at least. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, I’m okay. Um, thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Izuku assured him. “You don’t need to thank me, I’m glad you’re here. I’m really happy you called, Akuji. Thank you for trusting me.”
He shut himself out so Akuji could get undressed, and headed back to the living room, taking a deep breath to prepare himself. With Akuji in another room, Katsuki was finally going to let rip – if he hadn’t already walked out – and he just needed to suck it up and take it like an adult.
Instead, he found Katsuki beside the couch, carefully tucking a clean sheet in under the cushions. He had two spare pillows waiting on the coffee table, each sheathed in a clean pillow case, and beside them, a folded blanket – one of Katsuki’s favourite blankets, one that always seemed to be extra soft, no matter how many times they washed it.
“Kacchan?” he asked.
“Hey, nerd. Almost done here, just a sec.”
“Are you gonna yell at me now?”
“Yell at you?” Katsuki asked, turning around to stare at him. “For what? The kid? He’s clearly older than five, Izuku, I know you didn’t cheat on me.”
“Of course not! But that’s not... what I meant.”
Katsuki frowned, staring him straight in the eyes as he tried to decipher what was going on inside Izuku’s brain. He had this certain way about him, whenever he did that, and the one time Izuku had asked him about it, he’d just snorted and said “well yeah, it’s a shithole in there” and left it at that.
“What the fuck, nerd,” Katsuki said finally, voice surprisingly level. “For bringing him here? I’m not gonna yell at you for that shit, he’s your kid.”
“But you hate kids,” Izuku pointed out. “And I know that, and I know we talked about it, and I’m sorry, but I couldn’t leave him, not on his own.”
“I don’t hate all kids,” Katsuki huffed. “I hate little kids.”
“What?”
“Once they’re like, I dunno, seven? They’re alright after that. When they know how to shit in a toilet and blow their noses on an actual tissue instead of their grubby hands or whatever.”
“Kacchan...”
“I’m not saying I sat around thinking hell yeah let’s adopt a seven year old,” Katsuki assured him quickly. “But walking in here and seeing that brat- that kid standing there? It’s not like I’m pissed off. I’m concerned obviously, concerned as fuck, but I know you’ll fill me in when shit’s all sorted.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“I assume he isn’t going back into diapers and screaming all night any time soon?”
“N-no? I mean, I don’t think so? I don’t see why he would?”
“That was rhet— you know what, never mind. It’s fine, Izuku. I’m not going anywhere, we’ll sort this out together.”
Izuku flung himself at Katsuki, wrapping him in a hug like a koala clinging to a tall tree in a storm, and Katsuki just scoffed quietly as he hugged him back, easily holding up his entire weight despite being a good four inches shorter, these days.
“I love you so much, Kacchan.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Katsuki said, grinning all the same. “I love you too, Stupid Nerd.”
[Next Chapter]
