Welcome Home [Chapter 2]

[Previous Chapter]

Katsuki drummed his fingers on his thigh, glaring daggers at the scrolling electronic sign that showed the name of the next station. The damn trains needed to go faster. A small part of him wondered if he could waltz up to the train driver and demand they skip the rest of the stops, but he was sure that would be considered ‘misuse of power’ and he’d lose his damn job for it.

Ugh. Shitty hero policies.

When his stop finally came, he practically leapt out of his seat, hurrying to the doors to be the first one out. He wove his way through the crowds, grateful for all his training that allowed him to not knock anyone over or step on their feet, and finally emerged into fresh air, the sun shining down like he hadn’t just suffered the longest twenty-minute train ride in the history of mankind.

His phone rang, and he grimaced as he answered it, already walking again as he held it to his ear.

“Kacchan!” the voice bleated. “There was a fight near the police station and I got stuck helping and it went on forever and the police reports aren’t done yet and I have to report back to the agency still even though I was meant to be on leave today and I was meant to be picking up Akuji but I’m gonna be so late and I was wondering if maybe and I’m so sorry for asking and I’ll owe you a thousand favours forever but is there any chance you could possibly—”

“Deku.”

“I’m sorry, I know I’m rambling, I just—”

“I’m here, Deku.”

“W- Where?”

Katsuki knew Izuku would be looking around his room in confusion, with those big doe eyes, and he couldn’t help but smile to himself, picturing it.

“I’m at his school.”

“Wh- What?!”

“You weren’t at home, so I checked the news and saw your fight, and I knew it was gonna go on too long. So I got on a train, and I’m currently standing—”

His triumphant best-fiance-ever speech was cut off by the loud ringing of the school bell, and he heard Izuku breathe a sigh of relief on the other end.

“I know,” Katsuki said, smirking to himself. “I’m amazing.”

“You really are,” Izuku said breathlessly. “I’ll see you at home soon?”

“Can’t wait.”

He put his phone away, watching as kids began to hurry out the doors. Half of them ran off toward various gyms or fields, others walked in little clusters with their friends to head home together, but still Katsuki waited, until a miserable-looking mini-Izuku came trotting down the stairs at the front entrance, three bigger boys following him and sneering as they talked.

Katsuki knew those expressions.

He took a few steps forward, ignoring the whispers and stares that turned his way, and squeezed between groups of gasping kids to get through the gate. He marched himself up to the kid, watching him stop and stare just like all the ones who hadn’t met him the day prior, and with his hands on his hips and biceps flexed to show off exactly how big they were, he smiled.

Well, he attempted to smile.

“Ready to head home, kiddo?” he asked, well-aware that it sounded painfully awkward to anyone over the age of twelve. “We need to stop at the store first, though. You wanna pick out what we have for dinner tonight?”

“Ah. S-Sure, that sounds good.”

“Look, he’s got another hero escorting him,” one of the kids snickered. “I told you his mom must be in jail.”

“I’m his dad,” Katsuki said, glaring at the little brats. “I can’t pick up my damn kid from school without a couple of bullies picking on him? I knew this school was trash.”

“Yeah right,” another kid snorted. “He keeps telling us Deku is his dad. We’re not stupid, we know he doesn’t have one.”

“Yeah, no kidding he doesn’t have one, he has two,” Katsuki said flatly, holding up his hand to show off his shiny engagement ring – wasn’t like a couple of brats were gonna know the difference. “Deku is my husband, idiot.”

The group fell silent, and Akuji cracked a smile, taking a step forward and relaxing a little when the bullies didn’t follow.

“Curry,” he said, as he kept walking, letting Katsuki fall into step beside him like they did it every day. “With potatoes in it.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He clapped Akuji on the back as they walked, keeping it there as they walked through the staring and whispering onlookers at the gates, and turning toward the train station.

“I’m so sorry,” Akuji whispered, when they were finally out of earshot. “I’ll eat anything, I’m not picky, I just thought—”

“That that’s how people talk to their dads? You’re right, and it’s fine. You’re Deku’s kid, after all, so I pretty much am.”

He scanned his IC card at the gate, and Akuji followed, his own card freshly topped up that morning, when Izuku had dropped him off. It had more than enough on it for a month of train fares, and Izuku had insisted he could buy snacks and things with it too, but Katsuki knew he wouldn’t do it any time soon.

“Do you really like curry?” Katsuki asked, as they walked down the stairs he’d so recently been hurrying up.

“I do.”

“Me too.”

“I know.” Akuji cracked a little smile. “The spicy kind.”

“Hell yeah.”

“I like spicy food too, but maybe not like you do.”

“You can try it out with me while I cook; I’ll learn how you like it for the next time, too.”

“The next time?”

“I hope there’ll be a lot of next times.”

Akuji fell silent, but Katsuki didn’t mind. He wasn’t a big talker himself, and Akuji didn’t seem upset or angry or anything, so silence didn’t seem like a bad thing. He flicked Izuku a text to let him know they were both safely at the platform, and soon their train was pulling in, letting them file on and find a couple of seats next to each other.

“Do you have any questions for me, while the nerd isn’t around?” Katsuki asked quietly. “You can ask anything, I won’t be mad or offended or anything.”

“Why do you call him that?”

“Call him what? Nerd? Because he is.” Katsuki smiled to himself fondly. “He doesn’t stop analysing everything he looks at, he has a thousand notebooks full of shit about people’s quirks – there are at least three of them on me alone – and he mumbles to himself constantly as he tries to figure things out. He’s the biggest nerd I’ve ever met, and I was in Class A at U.A. so I’m pretty much an expert on nerds.”

“He says you say it affectionately.”

“I guess I do,” Katsuki agreed reluctantly – fuck he hated saying sappy shit out loud. “It’s like... a nickname, not an insult. I give everyone nicknames, that just happens to be his one.”

Akuji nodded, and Katsuki had a feeling he really did understand – he was a nervous kid, sure, but he also seemed like a pretty honest one, so he’d taken Katsuki at face value from the start, in a way most people didn’t.

“Can I ask you a question?” Katsuki asked.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want you to answer it right away, though.”

Akuji looked up at him, confused, but waited patiently for him to elaborate.

“I want you to think about it really hard, and when you answer me, I only want you to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, that’s it. I don’t want to know the reasons, I don’t want excuses, or lies, or any of that kind of thing, just a simple, honest, ‘yes’ or ‘no’, whenever you decide you have that answer. Tomorrow, next week, a month from now, your eighteenth birthday – whenever you decide.”

“Okay.”

“And if you say ‘yes’, no one is gonna be upset or mad or offended, anything like that. But if you say ‘no’, I’m gonna fight with everything I have, and I’m not going to stop until it’s done. You understand?”

Akuji nodded solemnly, and Katsuki took a deep breath.

“Do you want to go back to living with your mother?”

Akuji stared at him, and Katsuki held up a hand knowingly, shaking his head.

“Not right away, remember. You think about it, for as long as you need, and when you can honestly tell me ‘yes’ or ‘no’ you come to me and tell me. Remember that.”

“I will.”

———

It took eight more days for her to show up.

Izuku woke to a ringing phone, rolling over with a groan to see the name of the local police station on his screen, and mentally preparing himself to hit the accept button.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, Deku, sir.” the woman on the other end said. “Sorry to interrupt your day so early.”

“No, it’s okay,” he assured her, yawning and rubbing his eyes. “Sorry. Is everything okay?”

“We’ve found your...” she trailed off, and Izuku heard papers shuffling. “We’ve found a Miss Sugito, and our file said to contact you, if she showed up.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes, sir. She has been imprisoned for the past week, but will soon be released.”

“May I ask what the charges were?”

“She was present at the scene of a drug raid, and found unconscious, however there was no conclusive proof that she was using, so she is being released after interrogation. If she is found in possession at a later date, she will likely receive the maximum sentence.”

“I know you’re not allowed to make an official call, but... just unofficially, between us. She was using, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, sir. There was a technical issue around the testing, and it allowed her to slip under the radar. Off the record, of course.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

When he’d hung up the phone, he just had to sit and put his head in his hands for a while, gathering himself to face the day. Akuji had become such an important part of their lives, in just the short time they’d known him, and Izuku couldn’t stand the idea of losing him, of sending him back to that shitty, abandoned house, with a drugged-up mother, having to fend for himself. There were few things in life that made him happier than to see Akuji hovering at Katsuki’s side in the kitchen, helping him chop and measure and pour, or to sit beside him on the train, chatting about his day at school and just catching up on all the years together they’d missed out on.

He needed a lawyer.

A good lawyer.

He marched himself out to the living room, only to find his two boys curled up on the couch with steaming mugs in their hands, watching morning cartoons just like Izuku and Katsuki had done at that same age. He’d always been so excited to sleep over at Katsuki’s house on a Friday night, because without fail, every Saturday morning, Masaru had gotten up early and made them both pancakes full of chocolate chips, then sat down to watch with them and cheer on the cartoon heroes.

“Pancakes are on the bench,” Katsuki told him, as if he’d read his mind. “This new shit is alright, one of these characters is definitely based on me.”

“He makes things explode by touching them,” Akuji explained solemnly. “He’s very quick and super strong, but he doesn’t work well with the others in his team.”

“Yeah, definitely based on Kacchan,” Izuku agreed.

“Oi! Shut up, asshole, I’m a great team player.”

“Only when you order them around and they do what you say.”

“Because I’m right.”

Izuku couldn’t help but smile, retrieving a plate of still-warm pancakes and joining them on the sofa. Akuji’s pillows had been moved aside, but the pair were snuggled up with the cozy blanket from the little couch-bed, and Izuku nudged his way in to join them.

“I um, got a phone call,” Izuku began reluctantly, when the credits rolled. “Akuji, they uh... They found your mom, she’s okay.”

Two heads whipped around to stare at him, one wide-eyed, the other a sharp glare.

“Well, she’s not... okay. But she’s alive, and she’s, um, heading home soon, I guess.”

“Was she... sick?” Akuji asked. “Like... from taking stuff?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said sadly “Does that... happen a lot?”

“Not bad enough to be gone like that.”

“Can you... tell us what usually happens?”

Akuji hesitated, but nodded, fingers curling tighter into the blanket.

“She gets given money for food and things, but she gives it to her friend instead, and her friend gives her stuff that makes her feel happy. And when she’s happy, she does fun stuff and she makes me food and puts money on my phone and my IC card when I ask. And she cleans and she does work sometimes and says she feels really good. But then after a while she gets less happy and she gets confused and angry and she has to go see her friend again to get more.”

It took all Izuku’s willpower to keep from swearing, and he was genuinely shocked when Katsuki didn’t say it for the both of them. Instead, when he looked over, he found Akuji and Katsuki staring at each other silently, both waiting for something.

“Katsuki?” Akuji said quietly.

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“No.”

“Got it.”

Katsuki whipped out his laptop from under the coffee table, opening a couple of bookmarks and dragging Izuku closer to take a look.

“This one is a good price and in a nice area,” he said, clicking through a reel of photos. “It’s all surrounded by trees and super peaceful looking, the kitchen is kinda gross but we could redo that. It’s only a five minute walk from the train station, though, and one line from there to Akuji’s school, or one different line to our agency, no changes.”

“K-Kacchan?”

“This one is my favourite, but it’s less convenient. It’s about an hour on two trains for school, and three trains for the agency, so I think we’d have to buy a car. I’m sure I could get my license pretty quick, Dad would teach me to drive. It has a view of the ocean, which is awesome, and it’s just about brand new. It even has a fireplace, doesn’t that seem so nice for the winter?”

“Kacchan, when did you start looking at houses?” Izuku asked, unable to resist a fond smile.

“Akuji can’t sleep on a couch forever, nerd,” Katsuki pointed out, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “And look, I know we have a great apartment, but can you imagine having a house? Like, shit, that’s cool. We can paint the kid’s room, get a huge bath put in just like the one we’ve got here, and sure we won’t have our view of the city anymore, but the beach, Izuku. When we go for our runs, we could run along the beach.”

“It sounds amazing, Kacchan,” Izuku agreed. “But buying a house is not a quick process.”

“Oh, I know, but nor is a custody case,” Katsuki shrugged. “Or getting a license, for that matter. I bet I could go learn from Dad tomorrow and sit the test for my learner’s permit on Monday. They say three months or something for the full one, right? I bet I could do it in less, just nail out a bunch of practice and get it done, I’m a quick learner.”

“Kacchan.”

“Doesn’t All Might have a license, too? He’d take me out to practice if Dad has to work, especially if he knew it was for his grandkid. Step-grandkid? Steps are stupid, I’m just gonna say grandkid. You don’t care, right?”

Akuji shook his head.

“Cool. I can get that one real quick, then.”

“Kacchan.”

“What, you wanna learn too? I’m sure Dad would teach you, I just thought you’d be scared shitless by the idea. And All Might sure as hell isn’t gonna say no to you.”

“Kacchan.”

“What, nerd?”

“Custody case?”

“You think we’re gonna let her take him away from us?” Katsuki asked, eyebrows knitting together. “What the hell, nerd?”

“Of course not!” Izuku huffed. “But I didn’t think it would need a case about it!”

“Akuji, cover your ears.”

Akuji obeyed, though Izuku was pretty sure he could hear every word regardless.

“The government pays her to take care of him. She uses that money to score her drugs and shit. You think she’s just gonna go ‘sure, okay!’ and let us take custody without a fight?”

“Then I’ll pay her off, who cares?”

Katsuki blinked at him, and Izuku just shrugged.

“He’s not going anywhere, Kacchan, even if that means I’m paying for her drug habit for the rest of her life.”

“It’s not gonna come to that,” Katsuki assured him, cracking a little smirk that made Izuku’s heart pound. “I have the lawyers, I have the documents, I have it all sorted out, nerd. Just watch me.”

“Like I could ever look away.”