Published: January 14th 2021, 6:00:01 pm
I said I was gonna make self-indulgent stuff... what's more indulgent than a kid fic? This adorable fanart wouldn't leave my brain until I wrote out my feelings.... also no beta we die like men.
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Eijirou used to side-eye the whole ‘Clark Kent puts on glasses and suddenly is unrecognizable’ thing, but now? He gets it.
Katsuki wore glasses and as long as he was being quiet, most people didn’t suspect a thing because Dynamight didn’t wear glasses so, y’know, obviously that guy wearing glasses isn’t him even if they look exactly alike.
It was incredible.
All he had to do was not gel his hair and people would think he was just a big fan of Red Riot. His friends liked to say that it wasn’t the hair that made him unrecognizable, it was the fact that he was wearing a shirt, but Kirishima had gone incognito at the beach and still had someone compliment him for doing his hair like Red Riot’s.
Even Mina, with her extremely distinct appearance, had on multiple occasions convinced people that she was actually Pinky’s cousin. She was otherwise completely unable to blend in in public, but Eijirou knew she loved the double-takes, the excited whispers, the way little kids’ eyes would grow huge to see Pinky--the Pinky--buying Twizzlers at the same store where they bought Twizzlers.
Eijirou knew this because he was ten times as likely to be recognized if he was with Mina and had lived the experience vicariously through her. Actually, the chances of people putting it together increased by leaps and bounds the more of their friend group was together. Like maybe those two guys are Red Riot and Chargebolt fans and that’s why they’ve got the hair--but what were the chances that those three guys at the bar are just lookalikes for Red Riot, Chargebolt, and Dynamight? Throw Mina in and they were done for.
Hanta and Hitoshi were immune--Hitoshi by design and Hanta because his helmet hid his face and as long as his distinctive elbows were concealed he was just some regular guy. It was kind of sad; the Bakusquad would go out for fun, get asked for some group pictures by fans and Hanta would fade into the background. (Hitoshi didn’t care, he usually offered to take the pictures just to avoid being on the other side of the camera.) Eijirou knew Hanta could be insecure about how plain he was--something he could relate to even if he had worked to make himself as flashy as possible--so Eijirou made an effort to include him. Sometimes this led to some awkward exchanges but those were totally worth it because sometimes one of the fans would let out a shout: “Cellophane?! Oh my God, you’re my favorite hero!” And then the whole Bakusquad would watch in thinly veiled delight while Hanta got showered with attention.
When it was just Eijirou and Katsuki they could usually blend just fine. When they moved into their new neighborhood--chosen for its low crime rate and good schools--nobody questioned them. Officially, Dynamight and Red Riot were married to their work. They definitely weren’t in a relationship, let alone a gay relationship, let alone married, let alone married with a kid.
Wait no, there was one person who was suspicious. A middle schooler who walked past their house and always snuck furtive glances their way--but he seemed confused, like he didn’t understand why Dynamight and Red Riot were together with a baby that looked like Dynamight.
Eijirou had at one point started messing with him, scanning the street and putting a finger to his ear, speaking softly like he would if he was on a reconnaissance mission. It probably wasn’t manly to trick him, but the wide-eyed look on the kid’s face was precious. And one day Eijirou, Katsuki, and little baby Natsuki were relaxing on the front porch when the kid walked by and Eijirou caught Katsuki glancing around over the top of his newspaper and pretending to mutter into his wrist and realized he’d been pulling the same prank as Eijirou and Eijirou fell in love all over again. (Also he lost his shit, startling everyone and making Natsuki smack him reproachfully with her Red Riot plush.)
But yeah, the anonymity they’d cultivated meant that Eijirou could safely go out in public without being bothered. He didn’t mind the occasional fan, the occasional villain was more of an issue. This was very important to him because it meant he was free to spend time in public with his daughter.
Every morning after breakfast, Katsuki would kiss Eijirou and Natsuki goodbye and Eijirou would wave Natsuki’s little fist and try and get her to say ‘bye-bye’ while they watched him head out. Then it was morning nap, a little bit of playtime, lunch, and then, the most fun part of their day: their walk!
Kirishima put on his jogging outfit: black leggings, red shorts, a red and white track jacket, and a white bandana that used to hide his black roots but definitely didn’t anymore (he’d taken paternity leave as a chance to give his hair a break from dyeing.) Then he put Natsuki in a matching outfit, strapped her into her baby carrier, and set out for the park.
The park was another reason they’d chosen the area. It was a big place with a natural pond that was rugged and crawling with frogs and turtles, but there was also a man-made pond just for koi fish. There was a good combination of open space for picnics and wooded areas so you could pretend you didn’t live in the city for a while. Katsuki had insisted on them living near a place where Natsuki could someday learn to climb a tree, catch bugs, and just generally be a little feral forest child--like Katsuki when he was young.
Eijirou stopped at a crosswalk just across the street from the park. Natsuki kicked her chubby legs. She was babbling and Eijirou was dead certain she was trying to cuss out the crosswalk light, impatient now that she’d seen the Momsquad.
They were waiting for Eijirou across the street, but they were distracted by something on the other side of the park. Eijirou craned his neck and spotted their rival mom squad, Team Toxic Mom, moving along the walking path. The path looped around so they were actually pretty far up the trail, low chance of an encounter. Encounters between rival mom squads got ugly.
Usually, Eijirou wasn’t the sort to engage in petty rivalries, preferring to be an ally if not a friend to just about everyone, but he’d met Team Toxic Mom shortly after Katsuki returned to work. They’d seemed nice until Eijirou innocently mentioned that Natsuki was on formula (because, duh, neither he nor his husband could produce breastmilk!). He wound up trudging home fighting back tears like a kid pushed off the monkey bars, feeling like the worst father to ever crawl the earth.
So yeah. Eijirou was now pro-rivalry. Eijirou gave the group his customary five second stink-eye before crossing the street.
Eijirou’s Momsquad consisted of four women who lived in the neighborhood, each of them with a child under about a year old. They were all super nice (if a little gossipy) and most of them already had a kid or two so they had a ton of advice. They’d absorbed Eijirou into their ranks easily and made him feel so welcome when he’d felt so very overwhelmed.
Masuda Himari was the leader of their merry band. As a mother of three children, she was the Most Experienced. Her one year old Aka-chan was mouthing a pig plushie, tucked away in her stroller.
Hara Ichika was the first to notice Eijirou and she greeted him with reserved politeness. Eijirou had summarized her to Katsuki once, saying: ‘Hara has like, insanely good posture and she always wears heels and I don’t know how much she paid for her stroller but I’d guess a minimum 100,000 yen. She talks really proper like Momo, but only if Momo was like… secretly a huge bitch? You’d like her.’
“Heeeeeey,” crowed Inoue. Inoue Sakura was the funny, chaotic one. She reminded Eijirou of Denki and Mina sometimes so she was secretly his favorite. She, like him, was bi and in a same-sex relationship so that was cool too. Also, they were baby carrier buds and it was fun talking to her head on because Natsuki and Fu-chan could babble and kick at each other.
The last of the group was Tanaka Rei. She smiled and waved sweetly first at Eijirou and then at Natsuki. Eijirou had summarized her to Katsuki as ‘the quiet, shy one… kind of like a pastel Jirou’. She too, was pushing a stroller, this one obviously not as nice or as new as the others.
As they started their walk, the back right wheel of Tanaka’s stroller started doing the wobbly thing that warned it just might pop off before their walk was through. Eijirou silently prayed that it would hold out one more week. A single mother to a little baby meant Tanaka wasn’t expecting anything special for Mother’s Day--Eijirou couldn’t wait to see her face when they showed her the kickass stroller they’d got her.
It was a gorgeous spring day, still a little cool but not so bad that the babies would be uncomfortable. Occasionally spatters of sunlight reached through the trees overhead and splashed Natsuki’s hair with a golden glow. Eijirou couldn’t see her face but he could see her little head turning this way and that, bobbling slightly. Not for the first time he wondered how the world looked to her. She was born in spring but the season was over by the time she started to be aware of a world beyond their faces. This was the first time she truly saw the world flowering.
As the five of them walked along chatting, Natsuki squirmed and reached toward a nearby bush, making a sound that Eijirou knew meant ‘gimme’. He plucked a bright orange blossom and held it up for her--close enough for her to touch but not so close she could pop it in her mouth.
Once Natsuki decided something belonged in her mouth, trying to stop her was a one way ticket to Tantrum Town. It was best not to let her even entertain the idea.
Eijirou pulled out his phone and stopped walking. Tanaka paused with him and one by one the other three followed suit.
“I see where you’re going with this and I love it, but good luck,” Masuda said ruefully.
Eijirou held up his phone and Tanaka took it wordlessly. There were no selfies with Natsuki--she was a baby that required four hands and they all knew it.
Barely breathing, Eijirou tucked the flower behind Natsuki’s ear. Natsuki slapped it away from her head so fast, he blinked and the flower was on the ground.
Inoue burst into laughter. “That was like lightning!” She wheezed.
She was still cracking up when Tanaka kindly grabbed a new flower and passed it to Eijirou before darting back into formation to take the picture.
Okay, take two. This time Eijirou held one of Natsuki’s hands with his own and made soft shushing noises. He tucked the flower behind her ear and managed to at least look up at Tanaka before Natsuki had slapped the flower away again.
Eijirou pouted. He respected that Natsuki was a teeny person and not a toy, so she would act how she wanted, but he did sometimes wish she’d cooperate when he wanted to bask in her cuteness.
“One more try,” Masuda egged him on.
The Alpha Mom had spoken.
Tanaka picked out a new flower while Eijirou gave Natsuki a pep talk. “I’m gonna level with you, this isn’t for me, this is for Dad. Won’t you be good and take a picture for Dad?”
Tanaka offered him a new flower and right as he was about to put it in her hair again Inoue came in with a sing-song voice. “Hey Natsuki~”
She took a wide legged stance just behind Tanaka and then flailed her arms like an octopus. Eijirou knew from experience that this move would confuse Natsuki. Quick as a flash Eijirou had the flower behind her ear. Then, before Natsuki could pull it out, Inoue released her ultimate attack: a monkey shriek so realistic that a nearby jogger nearly fell over in alarm.
The monkey shriek never failed.
Natsuki cackled.
“Got it!” Tanaka announced.
Masuda and Hara golf clapped as Inoue bowed and Tanaka did a hesitant curtsy.
No longer distracted, Natsuki dispatched the flower.
Tanaka gave Eijirou back his phone and he cooed, Natsuki was mid-laugh, her hair dappled by sunshine, the brilliant flower tucked behind her ear. She looked positively angelic.
He looked down at his daughter, his heart twisting with love. Natsuki couldn’t turn around in the carrier but she had turned herself as much as she could so she could glare at Eijirou out of the corner of her eye. God, she looked so much like Katsuki! Eijirou put his hands around her front and peppered the crown of her head with kisses.
Of course, since he’d made them all stop for the photo he had to share it with them. The Momsquad all agreed it was a good one, worthy of being Natsuki’s ‘Photo of the Day’.
After he returned to work, Eijirou had started sending Katsuki one Natsuki photo every day. He’d worried sometimes that it might annoy Katsuki until Katsuki confessed that he did miss his daughter and they cheered him up on bad days. And also if he suddenly stopped showing the photos to his sidekicks they’d probably revolt.
Eijirou wondered, not for the first time, how things would go once Katsuki went back on paternity leave. Long before they’d even found a surrogate, he and Katsuki had planned out all the logistics. They’d both taken six months of leave after the baby was born, then Eijirou would take six more months while Katsuki went back to work, then they’d switch.
Natsuki’s first birthday was in a few weeks, so that switch was coming fast. Eijirou only hoped he’d greased the wheels enough for a smooth transition with the Momsquad. They’d heard all about Eijirou’s super hot, manly husband who was intense and loud and could be very intimidating but was also really very caring and he’ll probably barely talk to you guys anyway because he tries to hide it but he’s a bit awkward socially so just like, be prepared for that.
“Sounds like we’ll have another Tanaka,” said Masuda, leaning her elbows on her baby’s stroller.
Tanaka flushed but smiled good naturedly at the jab.
“You’ll definitely get along with him Tanaka!” Eijirou said cheerily. “I think he prefers quiet people to talkative ones.”
Inoue snorted. “How did the two of you happen then?”
Eijirou laughed. “Our first day of our first year of high school I watched him throw a baseball during a fitness test while screaming ‘die’ and I thought ‘him hot’.”
They all laughed. They’d heard enough stories to know Katsuki had an aggressive way of talking and had thankfully taken it as a part of his charm. Perhaps because that’s how Eijirou saw it.
He kind of wished he could tell them the truth: that he’d really only started crushing on Katsuki at USJ. But then they’d know he went to UA and suddenly the sharp teeth/red hair combo would mean something different and then they might talk and he used to not care, he used to want to shout from the rooftops that Red Riot and Dynamight were together, but now he was glad Katsuki had pushed for them to keep it secret because Eijirou did not want anyone to know that Red Riot and Dynamight had an extremely adorable and vulnerable baby girl that they would die for.
So yeah, he’d say it started with the less incriminating fitness test. It was partially true anyway. He had thought Katsuki was hot when that happened.
“I can just imagine,” Inoue laughed, “you just thought ‘I’ll character develop him and then wife him to death!’”
“Oh my god,” Eijirou choked, “I’m gonna tell him that. ‘Wife him to death.’ He’ll be so mad he didn’t ask me that when he proposed!” The squad laughed, ranging from Inoue’s cackle to Hara’s ladylike titters.
“So will you be having a party for Natsuki’s first birthday?” Hara asked.
Eijirou knew Hara well enough by now to know she wasn’t asking if he was having a party for Natsuki, she was asking why they hadn’t been invited yet. The answer was that he couldn’t have the Bakusquad and the Momsquad together because the Bakusquad would be recognized instantly and then the Momsquad would know and it would just be a huge mess.
Thankfully, he was saved from answering by a nearby explosion.
Because that was just Eijirou’s life.
His inner Red Riot yanked Kirishima Eijirou out of the driver’s seat and leapt into place.
He stepped forward, getting between the civilians and the danger.
Kirishima Eijirou grabbed the wheel while Red Riot was trying to drive.
Shit, he had a baby strapped to his chest!
He brought his arms up around her, not yet hardened but ready for it. “We’re leaving,” he said.
The women did not argue. As one they started turning their strollers around. Inoue helped with Hara’s since it was the largest. They walked quickly but did not yet run. The strollers might not be able to handle that. Aiko was crying and Tanaka shushed her, anxiety in her every movement. The other babies were fussing in various degrees of upset--hearing Aiko cry was making them edgy.
Eijirou cooed and brushed Natsuki’s hair as she squirmed and made her ‘I’m not happy with this situation, fix it Papa’ noises. Eijirou bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder to the sounds of yelling and more explosions. Was it coming closer?
He got his answer a moment later when a fiery streak shot between the houses, heading toward the park.
Red Riot jumped between the civilians and the danger, only remembering at the last second that he still had a baby on his chest. He whirled, putting his arms around the two nearest women and hardening his back.
The fiery thing struck the earth some thirty feet away, shaking the ground and showering them with dirt and rocks.
Eijirou was moving again before the earth had finished falling. Inoue and Masuda were tucked against his side and he pushed them along with him as they both coughed and struggled to see through the blinding dirt. Against his chest, Natsuki flailed and coughed and, realizing she was facing a dangerous situation for the first time in her short, precious life, burst into noisy tears.
They still couldn’t quite run--the strollers just weren’t built for it--but they were moving fast now. Fast enough that Eijirou noticed immediately when Tanaka stopped. A quick look over his shoulder showed her struggling to push the stroller… the wobbly wheel had come off.
Against the screaming of bystanders and cars honking as motorists rushed to get away from the area, Eijirou had to raise his voice to be heard. “Keep going!” He gave Inoue and Masuda a slight push as he turned back.
And oh, for the first time since middle school he did not want to run back into the fray. Whatever had crashed into the ground was very much still on fire--in fact, it was definitely more on fire than it had been before--bigger, brighter, and hotter, and getting more so with every moment. Natsuki was sobbing in her carrier, both of them hyperaware of how fragile she was. Shit, he should’ve given her to one of the others--but also no he shouldn’t have because he wasn’t just some dad he was a fucking pro-hero with a powerful defense quirk and like hell was he going to let anybody get hurt here today, let alone his own little girl.
Tanaka had given up on the stroller and was struggling to get Aiko free from the straps, hindered by her shaking hands and Aiko’s alarmed thrashing. Eijirou came up on them and used one hand to none-too-gently push the flailing baby’s arm out of the way and used a hardened fist to rip the straps away from the stroller entirely. They could just give her the new stroller early.
Tanaka snatched up her baby and ran. Eijirou was right behind her, one arm up hovering over her shoulders ready to defend. With his other hand, he tried his best to support Natsuki’s head. He could feel her tears on his palm, her hot breath on his wrist as she cried. He felt like he was suffocating.
Then he heard cursing. Very, very loud cursing.
Swearing had never sounded so sweet!
Eijirou looked over his shoulder in time to see Dynamight come blasting in--Shoto right behind him and after him, one of Dynamight’s sidekicks, Water Hose. He could’ve cried in relief.
Water Hose spouted water from his palms--dousing the grass and plant life that had caught fire. Shoto formed a wall of ice surrounding the fires’ center--the thing that had fallen into the ground. Dynamight blasted his way around to stand on the other side of the ice fort. Eijirou was surprised to see that instead of a barrage of attacks he seemed to be talking. The ice began melting rapidly, but it cooled the flames just enough for Eijirou to catch a glimpse of a humanoid shape at its center.
A very small humanoid shape.
For the second time in as many minutes, Eijirou could’ve cried in relief.
“Kirishima! Tanaka!”
Eijirou turned at the sound of Masuda’s voice. She and the others had retreated a fair distance away and were huddled behind a parked car. They were frightened for their lives and the lives of their children, but they still hadn’t left because they were scared for Eijirou and Tanaka’s lives and the lives of their children. As their friend Eijirou thought it was manly as hell. As a hero, he wished they’d run as far away as possible. No wait, as a friend he wished that too. They weren’t in as much danger as he’d thought, but they were still in some danger!
Tanaka was utterly out of breath, as soon as they reached the others she sagged against the car. Inoue knelt beside her in a moment, wrapping an arm around her shoulder while her other hand was busied in her own son’s hair. She shushed them both gently.
Eijirou stole another glance at the scene unfolding on the park lawn. Shoto’s ice was nearly all melted, Water Hose had the fires almost all out, and Dynamight had moved in closer, palms open as he spoke with the person on the other side of the wall.
“It’s not a villain attack,” Eijirou said, hoping the information would reassure them the way it had him. No one was coming after them. They were in danger because the situation was dangerous but not because someone was looking to harm them.
“What?” Hara croaked, the most frazzled Eijirou had ever seen her (and he’d seen her covered in baby vomit).
“It’s some kid with an out of control quirk,” he explained with a frown. Dynamight had heat resistance because of his own quirk, but he also sweat more nitroglycerin the hotter he was, which could be bad if he didn’t want to explodo-kill anyone. “Their quirk must be similar to Dynamight’s--they called him to help the kid reign it in, the others are backup to counter the damage.”
Of course, at that moment, the out of control child blasted upward, shattering what remained of the ice wall. They got quite a lot of air--they had some serious explosive power, but they didn’t have Dynamight’s practice. Instead of sustained flight, the child began dropping, arcing downward… kinda right towards the Momsquad’s hiding spot.
The sound of Eijirou’s swear was overshadowed by the colossal boom as Dynamight shot toward them. He caught the child mid-air, the two of them tumbling head over tail in the air for a moment before Dynamight was able to get an arm out toward open space and blast them both back, away from the street and the Momsquad.
Dynamight let off a few more blasts, adjusting their trajectory in a more controlled fall. It looked a little clumsy but he was blasting one-handed while holding a child that was actively on fire. And yet still, when they landed, they landed in the park’s natural pond. There was a sound like… well, like a giant burning candle suddenly dunked in water. A column of steam rose up from the water, fast at first but rapidly slowing.
Through the mist, Eijirou could just see Dynamight hauling a child out of the water. The kid was smaller than he thought and quite naked. Dynamight cradled them to his chest, one arm wrapping around and supporting their lower half, the other wrapped protectively around their shoulders, their little head tucked under his chin.
Eijirou always thought he couldn’t love Katsuki more, but occasionally something would happen and he’d realize that wasn’t quite true.
That said, he felt terribly for the child. The water had to be freezing and here they were, sopping wet and naked in the cool spring air. As Shoto and Water Hose rushed over, Eijirou realized that not one of them had any sort of extra garment they could loan the poor thing.
Oh, but he had his track jacket! Eijirou started to unbuckle the baby carrier, intending to leave Natsuki with the Momsquad and go give his jacket up because that’s what a chivalrous hero would do.
But then Natsuki let out a sound Eijirou hadn’t heard before. It was half wail, half whine, all heartbreaking. Eijirou fully removed the harness and turned her to face him, finally seeing how tear tracks stained her dusty face. Her eyes were shiny and wide with fear. She reached her tiny hands up to grab at him, letting out sad little gasps, trying to get up the air to start crying again.
He couldn’t leave her. Not even for a moment. That other child had three heroes with her, but Natsuki only had one.
Eijirou cuddled his daughter close and rocked her as she worked her way back to crying, breathing a sigh of relief into her hair. He glanced up at the others and found them all in similar states with their own children, all five of them forming a gentle chorus of ‘it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.’
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Firefighters combed through the park, making absolutely certain that the flames were out.
The child had been whisked away by a team of officers and quirk therapists while the three pro-heroes debriefed with the police, surrounded by a growing crowd of civilians and paparazzi.
Eijirou and the Momsquad were getting checked over by paramedics. They’d only gotten showered in dirt, but inhaling dust was a somewhat common hazard for pro-heroes and bystanders and, as Katsuki had once so eloquently said ‘kids have shitty, shitty lungs’ so Eijirou had insisted they bring the babies to be checked over just in case. Usually, the squad would assuage such new-parent nervousness, but for once they deferred to him.
With a clean bill of health for Natsuki, Kirishima stood back to wait for the others and watched the crowd around the pro-heroes.
The hilarious thing about Shoto, Dynamight, and even Water Hose was that none of them were great with the public. Shoto was polite, but not the sort to offer a big smile when asked for a photo. Water Hose could smile on command but wasn’t comfortable with it. Like Dynamight, he preferred to do his work and move on; he was still working on being the sort of hero who encouraged people with a smile.
Dynamight didn’t care about that. He was gruff and intimidating. He liked having fans and respected anyone who could pluck up the courage and ask for a photo, but he usually just turned his typical scowl toward the camera and called it that.
The results were some very awkward photo ops.
The longer Dynamight stayed among the crowd, the more convinced Eijirou was that he hadn’t realized they were there. He wasn’t really surprised over this. You focused more on saving people than you did on who you were saving. If he’d realized Natsuki was in danger, he may have panicked and made a mistake, so it was probably better this way.
“I don’t think I can come tomorrow,” Tanaka said softly. “I need to find a new stroller.” She gently bounced Aiko, comforting her as she grew fussy, totally unaware of the mild panic she was causing among the others.
“Why don’t we all go back to my house and clean up?” Hara suggested. “I’d hate for you to go home and be all alone after all this.” She glanced meaningfully at the others. Tanaka’s surprise new stroller was at Hara’s house.
Tanaka looked like she was going to refuse, but Masuda cut her off. “That sounds perfect Hara,” she said. “We could put the little ones down for their nap and have some wine by the pool.”
Tanaka looked strongly tempted.
Inoue grinned at her and threw in her own lure: “Wine drunk Kirishima.”
“That was one time!” Eijirou sputtered as they all laughed.
Tanaka conceded and the group gathered themselves, strapping babies into strollers or carriers (or milling about watching them like Tanaka). They were just about to move on when Eijirou noticed Dynamight had broken off from the crowd, Water Hose trailing after him. He wasn’t moving fast enough to have been called away for an emergency, so he must have just gotten tired of dealing with them. With the ambulance between them, he hadn’t noticed Eijirou yet.
Eijirou had seen Dynamight while he was out of uniform before--they used to live right in the city around all the drama. But this was the first time seeing him since Natsuki was born; the first time Eijirou had truly felt like a civilian caught in the crossfire instead of just an off-duty hero. Suddenly Dynamight looked cooler, manlier, more heroic. Eijirou was standing on the outside looking in--a civilian watching a larger-than-life pro-hero walk past. He’d always had some stars in his eyes when it came to Katsuki but now he really, truly felt them for Dynamight too.
And it was Natsuki’s first time seeing Dynamight.
Before he could consider if it was a good idea or not, he’d called out: “Hey, Dynamight will you take a picture with my kid?!”
Dynamight turned on him almost in-sync with the shocked Momsquad.
To anyone that didn’t know him, Dynamight’s expression was still, but Eijirou could see the subtle widening of his eyes, the barest hint of concern, before the emotion was smothered. “Sure,” he called back. “Your kid doesn’t look totally ugly.”
Eijirou let out a startled laugh as Dynamight approached, Water Hose trailing behind, letting his concern show more plainly. Katsuki looked so much bigger in costume, he carried himself differently. Eijirou could maybe understand why people didn’t recognize him at home.
“Oh no, he’s coming over,” Tanaka shrank against his side while Inoue started a quiet stream of ‘oh my God, oh my God, oh my God’.
“You got caught up in that?” Dynamight growled as he came close. His normally intense gaze was ten times more so with the addition of black liner and the dark mask.
God, he was so hot.
Eijirou waved a hand dismissively. “We’re fine, just a little dirty.” He hastily brushed away some of the dirt stubbornly clinging to Natsuki’s cheek before he noticed the way she was looking at Dynamight. She had a slight pout to her lips, a little pinch between her brow.
Dynamight looked down at her and a trace of softness entered his expression before he’d pulled his indifferent mask back up. He met her gaze evenly. “Who’s this then?”
Natsuki’s head jerked back, eyes wide. She was looking at him like he was an alien.
Eijirou laughed. The Momsquad looked at him like he was an alien.
“This is Natsuki!” He said, the introduction contrasting with the familiar way he lifted Natsuki from her carrier and handed her over to Dynamight. Dynamight visibly struggled to hold back an instinctive smile. Behind him, Water Hose didn’t bother hiding his grin.
“Don’t his hands explode?” Tanaka whispered to Hara.
If Dynamight heard her, he ignored her. “You gonna smile for this picture Natsuki?” He asked as Eijirou whipped out his phone and got in position.
Dynamight turned his trademark scowl to the camera, but Natsuki couldn’t look away from him. She was utterly entranced by the man holding her. It was precious. Eijirou started taking pictures of course.
Dynamight turned his gaze on her and the two stared each other down to the sound of Eijirou furiously snapping photos. “The fuck you lookin’ at?”
Natsuki blinked, then she smiled. But it wasn’t her normal smile. This was her ‘Katsuki Smile’... or as Denki called it, the ‘Hell-child Smile’. An identical grin spread across Dynamight’s face (except his had more teeth).
That seemed to clinch it for Natsuki. She knew exactly who was holding her. She let out a delighted squeal and bounced in his arms--reaching up to grab at his mask.
“No, no,” Katsuki’s voice parenting voice slipped out as he gently moved her hands away from his face and repositioned her. “Now you’re fuckin’ smiling--” she laughed, “--you gotta look at the damn camera.”
Even held against his front, Natsuki only wanted to twist around and look at him. Eijirou reached out and gently took her hand. “Natsuki? Who is that Natsuki? Is that Dynamight?”
Natsuki whirled to look at him and Eijirou managed to grab a good shot. “Got it!”
“Hah? Am I the best damn hero you’ve ever met?” Dynamight sneered and Natsuki looked back at him with a big, dopey smile.
Katsuki was definitely slipping into dad mode. If any of the reporters a block down turned they’d see the ferocious Dynamight bouncing a baby on his hip. Just when Eijirou thought he may have to intervene, Dynamight looked up, his gaze rolling across the group of women watching them. Eijirou watched as the shell-shocked group flushed, shrank, or stared in response. “You all gonna want a picture?”
“Uuuuh…” Inoue responded eloquently.
“My son would kill me if I didn’t get a photo,” Masuda announced.
Tanaka looked hesitant, until Hara turned to her. “This would be a fun story for Aiko when she’s older!”
Water Hose stepped in, offering to take the camera so they could all squeeze in for a group photo. That done, he gave Eijirou his phone back.
The sidekick took a quick moment to shake Natsuki’s tiny fist. “Nice to meet you.” He spoke in such a delighted tone, Eijirou decided then and there that he was going to force Katsuki to invite his sidekicks over to meet her.
Natsuki let out a string of confused babble as Dynamight handed her back over to Eijirou. She squirmed a lot more than usual as he put her in her carrier. “I know,” he cooed, “you’re sad the cool hero is leaving.”
Dynamight took one of her tiny hands between his gloved fingers and leaned in close, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear. “Dad’s gotta go, but I’ll see you later baby.”
Eijirou bounced her a little and waved her hand as Dynamight and Water Hose left. “Say ‘bye-bye’!” He said--hoping the familiarity to her morning routine would help ease the confused noises she was making.
As Dynamight and his sidekick reached the opposite street, the pro-hero glanced back at them over his shoulder, offering what probably looked like a casual wave but to Eijirou spoke volumes about how much Katsuki didn’t want to go.
Man, Eijirou was going to be crushed when he had to return to his duties as Red Riot, he was going to miss Natsuki so much… but he was also so excited for Katsuki to get to spend more time with his baby girl again.
Eijirou turned around, feeling warm and fuzzy, and instantly realized he’d fucked up. The Momsquad was watching him with new eyes and as one they all looked down at Natsuki. At her explosion of spiky blond hair, red eyes, her tiny hands formed into fists at her side, chubby legs stiff and splayed like she was squared up and ready to destroy them if only she weren’t strapped into a carrier and could reliably walk.
Hara looked Eijirou dead in the eye and asked, “Does Dynamight ever give you guys a gay vibe?”
“NOW HE DOES,” Inoue said.
Tanaka’s head flitted between the two of them and then to Masuda (who was quirking an eyebrow at Eijirou in a very knowing way) and then looking to Eijirou. “But… aren’t you...?”
She flushed as they all turned to look at her. The consequence of being the quiet one, it caught their attention when she finally spoke. “I thought you were...um… that you were Red Riot?” She looked to the other girls to confirm. “That we weren’t mentioning it because of privacy and safety reasons?”
Inoue scoffed, her eyes rolling to Eijirou. Then she did an honest to God triple-take. “Oh. My. GOD!” Her eyes were huge.
“You didn’t know?” Hara asked. “He looks exactly like him. I only hadn’t guessed who his husband was... I really didn't think Dynamight was the family type.”
Masuda nodded. “I mean, just Google his name and you can find old videos of him punching his future husband in the face at the UA Sports Festivals.”
“You Googled me?” Eijirou blinked.
“You’re so nice, I had to make sure you weren’t a serial killer.”
“I--” Eijirou choked on a laugh.
“I sent you a meme about yourself?!” Inoue wailed suddenly. “About your own abs?!”
Eijirou wasn’t sure how to respond, on the one hand, privacy and safety reasons, but on the other hand… apparently, most of the Momsquad had known and kept quiet about it because they’d implicitly understood said privacy and safety reasons. “... Cellophane gave Katsuki a framed copy for his birthday.”
Tanaka gave a soft gasp. “Cellophane?! He’s my favorite hero!”
Eijirou’s face broke out into a huge grin. “I’ll introduce you at Natsuki’s birthday party!”
A few moments later found them well on their way to Hara’s house. Natsuki was nodding off in her carrier when Eijirou remembered Natsuki’s Photo of the Day. He pulled up the photo album on his phone, which now had about twenty photos of Natsuki with Dynamight--but only in the last one was she looking at the camera.
Natsuki looked surprised but delighted, smiling widely at the camera--at Eijirou. Eijirou’s hand was in the frame, holding her tiny fist, and Dynamight? He had a very un-Dynamight look on his face: a brilliant grin, with bare adoration in his eyes. Eijirou almost couldn’t look at the picture, it made his heart so full.
He loved them so fucking much.
He sent the photo to Katsuki with the caption: We met Dynamight today!
Eijirou tucked his phone away again and kissed the top of Natsuki’s sleepy head. In a few weeks, he and his husband would trade-off. He’d go back to work--to a job that he loved dearly--and he’d said goodbye to his time as a stay-at-home dad, but for today he was going to put Natsuki down for a nap, surprise Tanaka with a new stroller, and then maybe get a little bit wine drunk with the Momsquad one last time.