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Izuku was so tired that he nearly tripped over his own feet as he unlocked the door to his apartment with shaking fingers.
It was later than when he’d usually get home, the setting sun mocking him on the train ride back from his job at U.A..
He fumbled his way in, leaning against the door to close it as he struggled to get his shoes off. His feet hurt from hero training with his students, and his hands ached from grading their essays that Izuku regretted ever assigning. Plus, the teachers forced him to stay longer to have a “birthday party” that was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of Izuku’s life.
He sighed, dragging himself to his bedroom to get a change of clothes. He gazed at his bed longingly before fishing a shirt and shorts from his drawer, getting dressed, and rummaging through his fridge before deciding to just forgo dinner.
He’ll just eat a big breakfast.
He went to the bathroom and did his nightly routine before collapsing into bed. He closed his eyes, stretching and savoring the feeling of his soft blankets.
Just before he managed to fall asleep, he was jerked awake by frantic pounding on his door.
He sat up, wondering if he had just hallucinated the sound before it started again. He stumbled out of his bed and went to his front door, bracing himself on the walls as he tried to blink the exhaustion out of his eyes.
He opened the door, ready to give whoever was furiously knocking stern talking to. His eyes went wide. “Whacchan?!”
“Izuku!” Katsuki said, looking more disheveled than Izuku had ever seen him, “I fucked up!”
“What? Kacchan, what—”
His next words were cut off by the loud wailing of a baby.
The two of them froze.
Izuku slowly looked into the hallway and saw a chubby, very angry looking baby in a bright pink stroller.
“Oh,” Izuku said.
The baby screamed in response.
“Can we come inside?” Katsuki asked, sounding a bit manic. He was still in his hero costume sans gauntlets, his mask pushed up to keep his hair out of his face. He looked pretty, despite his obvious distress.
The baby in the stroller gurgled, seemingly content with its single scream. Izuku numbly stepped to the side to let Katsuki and the stroller into his apartment. He shut the door quickly and turned to get a good look at the baby.
The baby looked back, judging.
It had curly blonde hair with sharp red eyes and a handful of freckles across its face. It was wearing a shirt with a cartoon explosion on it and a pair of shorts.
“Kacchan,” he said eventually, “Why do you have a baby?”
“Quirk accident,” Katsuki said, looking at the baby like it was a live bomb, “Got hit on patrol and it just popped this thing out.”
The baby babbled something unintelligible.
“What quirk causes a baby to appear out of thin air?” Izuku asked incredulously.
Katsuki just shrugged weakly. “Dunno.”
The two of them stared at the baby, unsure how to continue.
“Do you have a name?” Izuku asked, “For the baby.”
Katsuki’s face twisted before settling on a challenging frown. “Her name is Tsubame.”
“Little Swallow,” Izuku hummed, “It’s a good name.”
Izuku didn’t miss Katsuki’s subtle preening before it turned into a scowl. “Yeah, it is a good name, I chose it myself.”
Izuku forced himself to look away from Tsubame to go to his kitchen, filling up the kettle with unfiltered tap water.
It was one of those days.
“I expected something more…victorious,” Izuku said, and winced when Tsubame made a very angry sound.
Katsuki scoffed. “Tsubame is a badass name, you’re just jealous.”
“I don’t have it in me to be jealous of a baby,” Izuku said dryly, setting the kettle to boil.
Katsuki grumbled something before sighing loudly. Tsubame echoed his sigh, and Izuku’s mouth twisted to keep his smile in check.
“We’re gonna sit down on your couch,” Katsuki said, and Izuku turned just in time to see Katsuki heave Tsubame out of her stroller. She squirmed, making an unhappy noise until Katsuki held her to his chest.
Izuku’s mind tapped out for a moment.
Katsuki looked good with a baby in his arms.
The thought popped into his head without his consent, but the light filtering in through his windows caught on Katsuki’s eyes, making them look softer as he looked down at Tsubame. He had a small smile on his face, which grew when Tsubame reached and tugged on Katsuki’s hero mask.
Like a mother and her child.
Then Katsuki moved out of sight to sit on the couch and the trance was broken.
Izuku went bright red and quickly braced himself on the counter, trying to make the kettle boil faster out of sheer willpower.
When he finally got both cups, he took a deep breath, braced himself, and went to the living room to have his fate decided by a baby and the person he’s been in love with for most of his waking life.
Katsuki had Tsubame on his knee, raising her arms and making silly faces as she giggled. He had taken his gloves off at some point, his slender hands holding on to her delicately, like she was something to be treasured. She was holding onto his hero mask tightly with one fist.
Izuku wanted to cry at the sight, but instead cleared his throat.
Katsuki looked up, and instead of the anger or embarrassment he expected, Katsuki stayed soft, taking the offered cup of tea with a nod. Izuku sat down, stiff and unable to keep from glancing at Tsubame every few seconds.
“So, a villain spawned a baby,” Izuku said, “What did the police say? Any documents on potential quirks that might cause…babies?”
Katsuki shrugged. “If there are, I haven't seen them. Little shit just spawned outta nowhere, and this random lady let me borrow her baby stroller. Then I came here.”
“Wait, wait,” Izuku said, trying not to sound freaked out and failing, “You got the baby, and came straight to me?”
Katsuki looked at him weirdly. “Who else would I go to?”
“The police?!” Izuku cried, “Any sort of authority?! I don’t know, a daycare or something? Why would you come to me?!”
“Well, I was gonna come to you eventually!” Katsuki said.
“Kacchan, I have no experience with children,” Izuku hissed.
“You're literally a teacher,” Katsuki replied, taking a long sip of his tea, “You’re qualified.”
“Yeah, at a high school! This is completely different!”
Tsubame whimpered, then let out an ear-piercing shriek .
Izuku’s hands flew up to his ears to plug them, and she screamed louder, wanting to make her displeasure as clear as possible
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Katsuki tried, rocking her back and forth with a panicked look on his face, “Are you upset that we were fighting? Just calm down, it’s okay!”
She kept screaming, waving her pudgy fists in the air as her face went red, throwing Katsuki’s hero mask on the floor, and Izuku acted on instinct. He grabbed her and tucked her head on his shoulder, patting her back gently.
“Calm down, Small Might, we got you, we won’t fight, I’m sorry.”
Her cries calmed down, replaced with grumpy gurgling before fading into a yawn.
“Small Might,” Katsuki deadpanned once Tsubame calmed down, “Are you serious?”
“It’s a cute nickname,” Izuku said, grimacing as he felt baby drool soak into his shirt.
Katsuki looked at him, the space between his eyebrows crinkled in the way it does when he was thinking. “You’d be a good dad.”
Izuku sputtered, trying not to disturb Tsubame. “W-What?!”
“I said what I said,” Katsuki snapped, and Izuku couldn’t help but hysterically laugh at that.
“I don’t even have any baby food,” Izuku said, defeated but smiling, “We gotta do a lot of shopping if we wanna be parents.”
Katsuki took a final sip of his tea before standing up. “Well, let’s go then.”
Izuku stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Katsuki walked to Izuku’s bedroom with the confidence of someone who’s lived here for his entire life. “I’m getting a change of clothes, then we’re going to the store.”
“What store?” Izuku asked incredulously.
“The baby store!” Katsuki said, voice muffled.
“There is no 'baby store’!” Izuku replied, “That isn’t a thing!”
Katsuki made a dismissive sound, and Izuku realized he should probably be horrified that Katsuki was in his room. Tsubame cooed at him, and the thought flew out of his head.
Her red eyes looked up at him, glinting with curiosity. They were so familiar but so different, and Izuku patted her head. The wispy blonde strands curled between his fingers, and she giggled, pudgy hands grabbing his fingers.
“Oi.”
Izuku looked up, and his mouth went dry.
Katsuki was wearing his clothes.
The hoodie he was wearing swamped his frame, and he was wearing a pair of Izuku’s shorts, and Izuku was going to have a heart attack.
“Well?” Katsuki snapped, “Get dressed, moron.”
He grabbed Tsubame gently, holding her like something precious.
“Get some clothes on,” Katsuki said, looking Izuku up and down and frowning at his pajamas as Tsubame gurgled happily in his arms, “We got some shopping to do.”
Izuku sighed. “Yes, Kacchan.”
Once Izuku got dressed, the three of them went to Katsuki’s car, shoving the bright pink stroller in the back.
Izuku held Tsubame in his lap as Katsuki drove.
“You should get a car seat, you know,” Izuku commented. Katsuki just scoffed.
They drove in silence for a little bit.
“This has been an interesting birthday,” Izuku said weakly in an attempt to break the silence.
Katsuki grunted. “Better than sitting at home and doing nothing.”
More stifling silence.
“Kacchan,” Izuku said as Katsuki made a seemingly random left turn, “Where are we going?”
Katsuki didn’t say anything.
“Kacchan?”
“I dunno,” Katsuki mumbled.
“You don’t know?!”
“We’ll just drive round till we find something!” Katsuki said, “No big deal!”
“Kacchan, I have a quirk baby in my lap right now!” Izuku cried, “This is a pretty big deal!”
Katsuki opened his mouth to reply, then stiffened.
Izuku looked up from where he was trying to calm down a fussing Tsubame, and gasped.
The road in front of them was a mess.
There were piles of paper cash in the street, flowing in the wind from a helicopter taking off from the ground. Police cars lined the streets, officers slumped on the ground. There was a herd of brilliant white horses stomping around in a circle, a few exotic birds perched on the powerlines, a bright red Lamborghini on its back, and even an entire PC build with a gaming chair in the center of the street.
Their car came to a screeching halt, and Izuku cupped Tsubame’s head to keep her tucked against his chest.
“What the fuck,” Katsuki said, and Izuku just nodded in agreement. The two of them got out of the car in sync, Izuku’s eyes searching for a potential culprit of the chaos.
“Top hat,” Katsuki said, and Izuku saw her.
It was a woman in a full suit and top hat, dancing in the piles of money. She lunged and grabbed an officer, who went limp before money exploded out of him. She pouted, letting the officer hit the ground without a care.
The two of them got out of the car, Izuku quickly pushing Tsubame into Katsuki’s hands. “Watch over her, I’ll see what’s going on!”
“Why do I have to care for the brat?” Katsuki yelled as Izuku dashed to the scene of the ongoing crime.
Katsuki followed, but not as close as he usually would, and Izuku knew he’d keep Tsubame safe.
All the officers were limp and on the ground, the amount of money on the dirty street was concerning.
“This is gonna be horrible for inflation,” Izuku muttered, and the woman spun on her heel to look at him with wide eyes and a grin.
“And who do we have here?” she asked gleefully, “Hero Deku! It’s amazing to finally meet you.”
Izuku shifted on the balls of his feet, ready to move in case she attacked. “Who are you?”
The woman danced around an expensive looking dog. “I don’t think you’ve heard of me before, but you certainly will after today!”
Katsuki called out from behind him. “Hopefully it’ll be from a jail cell!”
“Kacchan, quiet!” Izuku snapped, eyes locked on the villain.
The villain giggled. “Call me Delight!”
Katsuki scoffed, Tsubame babbling to emphasize Katsuki’s ire. “Stupid ass name.”
“Kacchan, language!” Izuku said, “Not in front of our baby!”
Delight laughed, petting the horse that had approached her. “The two of you are so cute! It’s nice to see Dynamight is still as passionate as ever, even with a baby on his hip.”
“Hah?!” Katsuki cried, and Izuku quickly took a step forward to bring Delight’s attention back to him.
He might be quirkless, but he could still throw a mean punch.
“Why are you doing this?” Izuku asked, “This chaos, what does it bring you?”
Katsuki’s trust in Izuku to defuse the situation was dizzying, and he refused to challenge that trust.
“You see, Deku,” Delight said, picking up a wad of cash from the ground, “Humanity is selfish. We take and take from everyone and anyone, and we revel in our desires. I bring that selfishness to shameful light.”
Izuku tensed as she threw the cash over her shoulder without a care.
“So you bring people’s greatest wishes to life?” Izuku asked, mindful of the stack of expensive hero figures to his left. He couldn’t forgive himself if he broke any of them.
She held up a finger. “No, their desires . The things that their subconscious wants, the things they’re scared of admitting.”
She motioned to the pile of gold coins at her feet. “Most of it is filthy greed.
She made a hand gesture to the herd of horses. “But some are…interesting.”
Izuku slowly turned to look at Katsuki, who still had Tsubame in his arms. Katsuki wouldn’t look at him, holding the baby tightly, like he was protecting her.
“Kacchan?” Izuku asked.
“I wonder what the hero who saved the world wants,” Delight hummed, and Izuku only had a second to react as she reached for him.
Her hand went flying past his face, and he pivoted to land a brutal kick to her back. She moved with the hit, using the momentum to duck into a roll before bouncing back onto her feet with a grin.
“Now I’m really curious!” she said, twirling out of the way of Izuku’s punch, “What is it, Deku? Fame? Money? Power?”
She ducked under his arm and lunged. Izuku twisted out of the way, using his foot to sweep her legs out from under her.
He didn’t know what his greatest desire was, and he didn’t want to find out. He couldn’t handle it being about Katsuki.
The fight consisted of Izuku ducking and dodging, trying to keep her from touching him.
His exhaustion from the rest of the day was starting to show, and he realized he had to end this as fast as possible. He feinted a hit before football tackling her to the ground, grabbing onto her wrists and holding them up and out of the way.
“Please don’t struggle,” he panted, “Law enforcement will be arriving soon, and you will be given a fair trial with—”
“Izuku!”
Delight twisted her wrist and managed to brush her pinky against the back of his hand.
His vision flickered, and his body went limp.
He groaned, and Delight quickly twisted out from under him with a giggle.
“Now this!” she said, and Izuku managed to turn his head enough to see her hold something up, “Now this is interesting!”
“What?” Izuku managed, and there was a flurry of footsteps as he tried to haul himself up. A warm hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back against a firm chest.
“Izuku, what did she do to you?” Katsuki asked, before Izuku felt Tsubame’s pudgy fist pull his ear gently.
“Idiot,” Katsuki said to Izuku, then snarled up at Delight, “What the fuck did you do?”
She laughed and held out the object in her hand.
It was two keys and a leather tag in a keyring, one green and the other orange.
Izuku blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing correctly. “Keys? I desire keys?”
“Not just any keys,” Delight said gleefully, “These are keys to a three-bedroom house in the middle of the suburbs!”
“What the fuck?” Katsuki said, which earned a quiet “Language!” from Izuku. The blonde guided Izuku up to stand, one arm firmly around Tsubame, eyes locked on Delight.
“You desire to start a family,” Delight said with a grin, “With a certain person.”
Izuku paled as Katsuki tensed next to him, Tsubame squirming and making an unhappy noise.
Izuku pushed the two of them behind him, trying to make himself stand taller, to protect, to save.
“Izuku,” Katsuki said, “The fuck is she talking about?”
Izuku swallowed roughly.
“Go on, Deku!” Delight said gleefully, “Tell Dynamight your greatest desire!”
Izuku hated how he couldn’t see Katsuki, but his discomfort was worth their safety.
“Izuku?”
Izuku couldn’t hold back. His emotions were too strong, making tears prick at the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t fight it. “My desire is you, Kacchan!”
Silence. Even the exotic birds on the powerlines went silent, and all Izuku could hear was his own heartbeat.
“It’s you, the two of us, I-I want to get a house in the suburbs or something, maybe some kids, a dog, I could mow the lawn and talk to neighbors and you can make cookies and feed our kids and give food to the neighborhood stray cats and join the mom groupchat for our block and take our kids to school and we would take turns commuting to the city and make money and go on vacations to—”
“Izuku!” Katsuki yelled, “Shut the fuck up!”
Izuku whimpered.
“You…Izuku,” Katsuki said, softer this time, but was quickly cut off by Delight.
Izuku had forgotten she was still there.
“As cute as this is,” she drawled, “I have places to be.”
“No, you don’t,” Izuku growled, “You’re not leaving till you’re in cuffs.”
Katsuki sucked in a breath behind him, and Izuku, fueled by potential rejection, lunged.
No one can fight against a pissed off Midoriya Izuku, quirk or no quirk.
He knew Katsuki could keep Tsubame safe, so he punched Delight straight in the jaw.
He didn’t know how Delight’s quirk worked, but it seemed like she couldn’t use it on Izuku again, so he was able to go all out. He wondered if the gold scattered around him was real or fake, but he’d probably have to help torch it all later. Delight managed to land a lucky punch to his stomach, followed by a brutal uppercut. However, she didn’t calculate Izuku’s inhuman pain tolerance, so Izuku kicked her in the stomach before tackling her down to the ground. He reached around for something to tie up the squirming villain, managing to drag over a pair of expensive shoes and rip out the laces. He tied her palms together, followed by her ankles. She was fully immobilized, but still smiling.
“You had your fun,” Izuku panted, “Your chaos is over, Delight.”
She managed a shrug, looking far too smug for someone in her position. “Not sure about that one.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes, his red sneaker firm on her back. “What do you mean?”
She scoffed. “You think people’s desires just disappear? No, you’re stuck with that baby of yours for the rest of your life. It’ll grow like a regular child, you’ll have to take it to school, take care of it till you die. Have fun with a teenager.”
Izuku stared at her. Her words were supposed to wound, supposed to make Izuku panic, but all he could feel was a surge of happiness.
He would watch Tsubame grow up? Support her through her life?
He didn’t let his happiness show, forcing his face into a scowl.
“Whatever. It’s time to deal with your mess. Stay here if you know what’s good for you.”
He found another pair of shoes and tied her to a lightpost for the police to find.
“Good luck rounding up the horses!” she called when he walked away, and that made him wince.
He stepped out of the way of a horse in question, which was nosing at one of the piles of money. That was a problem for future Izuku, because his pace sped up when he caught sight of Katsuki, still holding onto Tsubame.
He pulled both of them close into a hug, Tsubame between the two of them.
She cooed, touching his face with her hand.
“You okay?” Katsuki asked, and Izuku laughed weakly.
“I should be asking you that,” Izuku said, “She didn’t fuss too much, right?”
“She was a nightmare,” Katsuki said, “Absolutely horrible."
Tsubame made a grumbling sound of disagreement, and Izuku smiled at her, feeling stupid with love. "Be nice to Kacchan, Small Might."
“Izuku,” Katsuki said, and Tsubame fisted Katsuki’s hoodie in one hand and Izuku’s shirt in the other. The two of them shuffled close enough for their foreheads to brush. Katsuki was so close that Izuku could count his eyelashes. They stared into each other's eyes, green against red.
“My desire,” Katsuki said quietly, “It's you.”
Izuku sucked in a breath.
“I wanted to start a family with you. Tsubame’s our kid.”
Izuku started crying, fat, happy tears.
“I didn’t really want you to figure out this way,” Katsuki said with a weak, self-deprecating laugh, “But I guess I can’t change it now.”
Izuku, holding Tsubame close, reached with his other hand and cupped Katsuki’s face.
Katsuki leaned into the touch, eyebrows knit, and looking more unsure than Izuku had ever seen him. “Don’t cry, nerd.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku sobbed, “I love you.”
Katsuki’s eyes went wide, and Izuku pulled him in for a kiss.
It was softer than Izuku thought it would be. It was warm, like coming home after a long day to coffee and a hug.
They separated, and Izuku’s smile went wide.
“You’ll be a good mom,” Izuku said, and Katsuki sputtered.
“You’d be the mom, not me!” he said, and Izuku laughed, Tsubame echoing the sound.
Katsuki grumbled. “And what’s that shit with the suburbs? We can’t do hero work in the suburbs, idiot.”
“We can commute!”
“You can’t commute for hero work, it’s a 24-hour job! I can’t be in a random house before getting a call for a place in the city that’s an hour by bus.”
“We’ll get a car!”
“That’s not how that works.”
“Well, let's see if these keys work and we can see for ourselves!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
Tsubame made an unintelligible sound, wanting to add to the conversation.
Izuku laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then another one to Katsuki’s.
“Happy birthday, nerd,” Katsuki said, and Izuku beamed.
Tsubame squirmed a bit before sighing happily, sandwiched between her parents.
“You’d look good pregnant,” Izuku said absently, and Katsuki sputtered.
“WHAT?!”