A Massive Pain In The Ass - 6/6 [Little Sh*t Part 10]

[Previous Part] 

While he would inevitably deny it later, Katsuki had never run faster than the moment he saw his Dad’s face through the glass of the dorm building’s door, already smiling at him by the time their eyes met. He ditched Izuku immediately, leaving him to stare blankly at his back, as the front door swung open and Katsuki dove into his father’s arms.

“Hi Katsuki,” Masaru said softly, scooping him up into a hug. “Sorry it took us so long to get here, we came as soon as we could.”

“M’fine, m’a big boy.”

“I know. My big, brave boy. Have you been taking good care of little Izuku?”

Katsuki nodded firmly, his hair tickling Masaru’s neck as he snuggled in, but Masaru didn’t mind it in the slightest. He kept his face hidden in Masaru’s shoulder, refused to let the others see how watery his eyes had gotten, and Masaru just continued to hold him tight, stroking his back lightly as he moved out of the doorway.

“I’m here too, little brat,” Mitsuki teased, ruffling his hair. “You miss me too?”

“I don’t miss anyone, I’m a big boy,” he huffed.

“Big boys are allowed to miss people too,” Masaru assured him. “I’m big, and I missed you.”

“Mm... Maybe a little, then.”

With a soft look on his face, Kirishima ushered them over to the living area, and Masaru sat down on the couch gently, his grip never faltering for even a moment. Mina ushered some people up the stairs, and Izuku cooed happily at someone, babbling incoherent words, but in that moment, Katsuki didn’t even care.

“Have you been having lots of fun with your classmates?” Mitsuki asked, patting his hair a little more gently than the first time. “Kirishima said they’ve been taking good care of you, and you’ve been playing lots of fun games.”

“I got baboons.”

“Oh?”

“The girl with the orange hair and the boy with the funny face had a party and they gave us baboons and cake and hats and horns,” he explained, peeking up from his dad’s shoulder for the first time. “You got old.”

“I did not, you little brat!” she huffed. “Don’t talk to your mother like that!”

Katsuki just poked his tongue out, pulling a face, and from the corner, Shouto couldn’t quite cover a snicker.

“How are you, Shouto?” Masaru asked with a smile. “I hope our Katsuki hasn’t been causing you too much trouble.”

“He’s good with Izuku,” Shouto answered. “And he goes to the toilet by himself.”

“Of course I do!” Katsuki grumbled. “I’m-”

“A big boy, I know,” Shouto finished for him. “And you don’t scream, so that’s nice.”

“Izuku hasn’t been either,” Katsuki mused. “Is he too small for screams?”

“I think so,” Mitsuki nodded. “I think he was a little older when he started the screaming.”

“Now he just poops a lot.”

“So did you, when you were a baby. You were a little poop machine. Do you know how many diapers you used up every day? I swear we were gonna have to sell the house to pay for diapers if you didn’t start using the potty when you did.”

“I don’t poop!”

“Everybody poops.”

“I don’t poop my pants!”

“No but you still poop. And I bet it still smells.”

“It doesn’t!”

“Liar.”

Katsuki puffed out his cheeks at her, but she just grinned back, reaching out to mess up his hair again fondly.

“I’m glad you’re so energetic,” she chuckled. “We’ve been worried about you.”

“I can take care of me!”

“Sure, but you know what happened, right?”

Katsuki screwed up his face, staring at her oddly concerned expression.

“You mean how I’m usually big but now I’m less big?”

“Yeah, because of a villain.”

“But I’m a hero! I can beat up villains! It’s not scary!”

“I’m your mom, I’m always gonna worry about you out there fighting villains, no matter how big and strong and tough you are, and how cool your quirk is.”

“You think my quirk is cool?”

“Of course I do, it’s the best.”

“The best!” Katsuki agreed. “It has to be, ‘cause it’s mine!”

“You’d make it the best no matter what,” Masaru said fondly. “Even with no quirk, you’d still be the best hero.”

“There are people with no quirk?”

His parents shared a look over his head, then Mitsuki nodded.

“Yes, there are people with no quirk, but they can still be amazing and strong and heroic even so.”

“They’d have to be extra strong to be a hero with no quirk.”

“Yeah, they’re the best.”

“Except for me.”

“Maybe,” she teased. “You’ll have to work really hard.”

“I will!”

“I know you will.”

For the rest of the night, Katsuki remained either in his dad’s arms, or right at his feet. He didn’t leave for even a moment, except for the one time he had to pee, at which point he dragged Masaru with him to wait right outside the door. He didn’t want to miss even a second with his dad, after being apart for so long.

When dinner time rolled around, the group of parents – including Izuku’s mom, and some other people who Katsuki didn’t know – all pitched in to put together dinner for the class, happily dishing out plates and bowls to a procession of students who filed through the room. Katsuki wasn’t sure some of them were even in his class, he definitely didn’t recognise them, but there was heaps to go around, and he did understand why people would sneak in to eat his dad’s cooking, so he decided not to rat them out.

Katsuki waited right to the end before he got his own plate of food, holding on to the leg of his dad’s pants as he helped serve people their food. It wasn’t until everyone else was done, and the adults were serving their own plates, that Katsuki finally accepted an empty plate and held it up to be filled.

“What would you like, Kacchan?” Inko asked sweetly, bending down a little to meet his eyes.

She looked a lot older than he remembered, even more than his own parents did. His mom had always said that Katsuki doing bad things, or dangerous things, took a year off her life – he wondered what Izuku must have been doing to make Inko look the way she did.

“I have some really yummy potatoes here,” she continued, when he just continued to stare. “They’re roasted, so they’re all crunchy on the outside and super tasty!”

He looked up at Masaru, who nodded encouragingly, and finally made a little nod of his own.

“Okay,” he said, holding his plate out. “I’ll try.”

She put a few pieces of potato on his plate, smiling the whole way through, and he nodded again awkwardly.

“Um, thank you,” he murmured, before his dad could remind him.

“You’re welcome, Kacchan!”

“Do you want some cheese and sour cream for them?” Mitsuki offered, already reaching for the containers. “That’s how you usually like them, but you might not remember.”

“Okay.”

He watched with wide eyes as she garnished his potatoes for him, so weirdly loving in the way she did it. He wasn’t used to his mom being so careful about doing stuff for him, usually she just threw him a container and let him try for himself.

“You’ll like this chicken, too,” Masaru added, taking a spoonful to put on his plate. “It’s a little bit spicy, just like you like it. And it has onions and mushrooms!”

“Do I... like those?”

“You love mushrooms,” Mitsuki nodded. “I don’t know why, I’m not a fan myself, but you’ve always loved them.”

“Sometimes we stuff them with breadcrumbs and cheese and herbs, that’s one of your favourite dinners,” Masaru added. “These ones will be nice and spicy like the chicken. And the onions don’t taste like much, mixed with everything else, but you eat a lot of those too!”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?” he asked hesitantly, eyeing the brown lumps in the chicken.

“There wouldn’t be much point,” Mitsuki chuckled. “In a few days you’ll be back to normal anyway, and you won’t remember this, so it’s not like we could trick you into liking something that you didn’t before.”

“Just try some,” Masaru suggested. “If you don’t like them, you can stop.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll try.”

“Do you want some rice too? I know how much you like rice.”

“Yeah! Um, can I have the little balls? Please?”

“Of course you can.”

Masaru washed his hands, then set to work rolling, passing Katsuki a handful of tiny rice balls each the size of his thumb. Katsuki grinned when he saw them – food always tasted better in ball form.

“Let’s go sit down to eat,” Masaru suggested. “So we don’t spill everywhere. They might need a hand with Izuku by now, too.”

“He threw mashtatoes on me.”

“Oh no, last night?” Masaru patted him on the back lightly. “Good thing you’re washable, huh?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did you have a bath and get it all off?”

“Was on my shirt,” Katsuki clarified. “No bath, was tired.”

“Maybe after dinner I can sit with you while you have a nice bath and get clean, then.”

“Okay.”

Katsuki caught Shouto shooting glances at him as he ate, but he did his best to ignore it, instead watching the show as Inko and Kirishima attempted to get food in Izuku’s mouth. For some reason beyond Katsuki’s comprehension, Izuku had apparently decided to go on some kind of hunger strike, refusing to let anything pass his tightly-clamped lips.

“What do you think?” Masaru asked, when Katsuki put a mushroom in his mouth. “Good, right?”

“Good,” Katsuki answered sincerely, nodding. “I like the spicy.”

“Yeah, you’ve always been a fan of spicy food,” Masaru smiled softly. “Much hotter than I can handle, I’ve had to practice a lot to keep up.”

“You made yourself eat my spicies?”

“Of course! I have to be able to taste things when I cook and check they taste good.”

“Oh.”

Masaru ruffled his hair again, and for once Katsuki didn’t mind it. For the first time in what felt like forever, Katsuki scoffed down more than just rice – he chomped on potatoes and cheese and meat and mushrooms and everything else offered his way, savouring all the different flavours. He drank down two juice boxes, went back for seconds of the chicken, and excitedly accepted the bowl of ice cream with sprinkles that Inko brought out for dessert.

“Feeling nice and full now?” Masaru asked fondly, when he sat back with a contented sigh.

“Yummy,” Katsuki nodded. “Thanks.”

“I’m glad.”

Katsuki looked over at Izuku, expecting to see him fighting against his high chair restraints, but instead he found the kid beaming, cooing happily as Inko fed him bites of mushy food. He was so calm, so well-behaved, and Katsuki was honestly a little baffled by it.

He supposed Izuku had been missing his parents too.

Not that Katsuki had missed anyone, of course.

With the big kids volunteering to clean up, and Izuku happy in Inko’s care, Katsuki didn’t object when Masaru picked him up easily, settling him on a hip like he did it every day, like it hadn’t been years since he’d last carried Katsuki around.

“Will you carry me again when I’m big?” Katsuki mumbled.

“If you want me to,” Masaru chuckled. “I might need to practice a little.”

“Nuh-uh, you’re strong.”

“Thank you, I’m glad you think so. I’ll do my best, then.”

He pointed the way to the bathrooms, letting Masaru carry him there, and at Katsuki’s insistence, they were soon sat side-by-side in the big tub, soaking happily in the hot water. Shouto appeared for a moment with a plastic bottle in his hand, and soon the tub was filling with big, frothy bubbles, Katsuki giggling as he popped them with his hands.

“You guys have a pretty cool bath here.” Masaru ducked down, blowing bubbles in the water and making Katsuki giggle again. “I’m gonna have to get a bigger one at home.”

“Yeah! Then we can make bubbles when I’m bigger, too!”

“Yeah,” Masaru chuckled quietly. “That sounds great.”

“I maybe missed you a little,” Katsuki admitted, cheeks flushing pink. “Yesterday and stuff.”

“I know,” Masaru assured him, leaning over to kiss the top of his head cheesily. “I missed you too. A lot.”

“You did?”

“Mm-hm.”

“But I live here now.”

“I miss you when you’re big, too. You come visit on Sundays sometimes, and I love those days, but I wish I got to see you every day still. When I heard what happened, I wanted to be here more than anything, in case you were scared or lonely or hurt and needed me to help make it better.”

“I’m strong. And brave. I’m okay.”

“I know you are, you’ve always been amazing. But sometimes I want to help anyway.”

“I like when you help.”

“I know,” Masaru said again, smiling softly. “I try my best.”

“Can you stay here tonight?”

“I’m sorry, they won’t let us, we already tried. They have to be extra careful, until they catch the villain who does this, and that means no overnight guests, just in case.”

“Then I’ll come home with you!”

“I would love that, but it’s safer here, so they don’t want us to do that either. It won’t be for long, anyway. Super soon you’ll be back to normal, back to school, back to hero training, and you’ll be too busy here to be at home with me! But on Sunday, you come home and have dinner with me, okay? I’ll make your favourite curry.”

“I will!”

“I’m gonna send a text to your phone, for when you get bigger again, and I’m gonna remind you that you promised me you’d come visit.”

“In case I don’t remember?”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll do it,” Katsuki nodded firmly. “Just remind me.”

“Okay, I’m glad.”

“Can you still stay a bit longer?”

“Of course. We’re gonna get dried off, and we’re gonna find you some nice, warm pyjamas, and I’m gonna come read you a story in the same room this time.”

“Two stories?”

“All the stories, until you fall asleep. And then I’m gonna sneak out so I don’t wake you up, so you won’t even know I’m gone.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay, that sounds good.”

Sure enough, when they climbed out of the tub, Masaru wrapped him up in a big, fluffy towel one of their classmates had put out for them. They grinned together as Masaru ruffled his hair in the another towel to dry it off, and even though he could have done it all himself, Katsuki let his dad help with his pyjamas. It wasn’t the same onesie he’d worn the night before, but a fluffy set he’d picked out at the store because he liked the black and orange on it. The bigger people had chuckled at him for picking it, but he wasn’t sure why – or, he hadn’t been, until Masaru saw them and made that same little chuckle of amusement.

“It looks like your hero costume,” he explained, before Katsuki could ask. “The same colours.”

“Really? It must be a super cool costume!”

“The coolest,” Masaru nodded, fastening big orange buttons up his front. “I was super impressed when you first showed me. And you’ve done new stuff to it since then, to make it better and more comfortable for you. I like the way you keep changing, keep improving, keep finding ways to be better and better.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m gonna be the best hero!”

“I know,” Masaru nodded. “I can’t wait to see you stand on the stage and tell the world how amazing you are. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve always known you were gonna be the most amazing hero ever. And I want to take a video of you on that stage, and I want to go show it to every single person I’ve ever told, to show them that I was right all along.”

Katsuki hugged him tightly, eyes a little watery again, and he suspected his dad’s were the same.

“Alright,” Masaru said, when Katsuki eventually let him go. “You go brush your teeth, while I get dressed, and then we can go start on some stories.”

“Izuku too?”

“Absolutely. Izuku, and his mom, and your mom too. We can all get comfy in your room and read some stories together. Sound good?”

“Sounds good!”

He hurried over to the sink to brush, letting Masaru dress himself behind him, and then with last goodnights bid to their classmates, Masaru carted him up the stairs to his bedroom. He realised too late that he probably should have told Masaru there was an elevator, but Masaru didn’t seem to mind, and Katsuki kind of liked getting to be carried a little longer.

Izuku and their moms were already waiting at the other end, Izuku sitting happily in his mother’s lap as they flipped through a book together – one of the really old ones that Katsuki was too big for now, full of fluffy pages and shiny materials, and made of thick cardboard that resisted the drool currently soaking into it as Izuku stuffed the corner in his mouth.

“Spiky Hair sleeps here with us,” Katsuki explained, when they stopped in front of the pair of futon. “In case Izuku poops during the night, or anything goes wrong.”

“I’ll make sure to thank him on my way out, for being such a good friend for you.”

“Okay.”

Masaru expected Katsuki to crawl straight into bed when they arrived, after how much he’d been yawning in the bath, but instead he sat himself in Masaru’s lap, the same way Izuku sat with his mother. Mitsuki smiled at them fondly, but Masaru just stroked Katsuki’s damp hair again, letting him lean in comfortably to accept the affection.

“How about Mom reads the first story for us?” he suggested, pointing at the little pile of books sitting by Mitsuki’s knee. “Then you boys can stay put.”

“Okay,” Katsuki nodded. “But you gotta do the voices.”

“I know,” Mitsuki assured him. “It’s been a long time since I did the voices, but I’ll do my best.”

It took two stories before the boys began to get sleepy, their parents tucking them into bed once their eyelids began to droop. Katsuki still held Masaru’s hand, though, even when he took his own turn to read and show them the pictures, doing his best dinosaur voices to match. Katsuki liked the goofy one best, who always had silly things to say. His dad sounded extra happy when he was being the goofy one.

Izuku drifted off first, his grip on Inko’s finger falling weak, his mouth opening to let drool soak into his little pillow as he went out like a light. Katsuki took a little longer – almost a whole extra story – but soon he, too, could no longer keep his eyes open, and he fell quiet. Masaru still waited though, still held his hand, until they were well and truly sure that he was out for the night, and Mitsuki smiled as she took a little blue blanket out of her bag. It was old, well-worn, and despite being freshly washed it still smelled a little bit musty, but when she tucked it in beside Katsuki he snuggled into it immediately, fingers tangling in the soft material and holding it to his face, finally releasing Masaru from his tiny grip.

“I’m sorry, Katsuki,” Masaru whispered, planting a kiss on his temple. “I’d stay all night if I could.”

“He’ll be okay. They both will.”

He looked up to see four of their boys’ friends all framed in the doorway, smiling soft little smiles, and Masaru returned the gesture as he climbed to his feet carefully.

“We’re taking good care of them, I promise.” Kirishima continued. “They’re safe. And happy. Especially now.”

“Thank you for taking care of our boys,” Mitsuki said quietly, tiptoeing to the door to join them in the hallway. “I know they’re a bit of a handful.”

“We’ve had worse,” Kaminari chuckled. “These guys have been cute.”

“Can you do me one more favour?” Masaru requested.

“Of course!” Sero nodded eagerly. “How can we help?”

“When Katsuki goes back to normal, let him know that he promised me he would come over for dinner on Sunday.”

“He’ll be there,” Sero nodded. “Even if I have to drag him there myself.”

“Thank you.”

─────

Izuku rolled over with a groan, his muscles all stiff and awkward like he hadn’t used them for a few days, or like he’d been jammed in a tiny box while he crossed an ocean or something. He yawned and stretched, finding the room still pitch black around them, but when he looked down he found a tiny lump curled against his chest.

Peeking out from a pile of blankets atop a tiny futon was a shock of blond spikes and two little hands. In one, a soft blue blanket that Izuku knew all too well from their childhood, one that Katsuki had brought to every nap time when they were back in kindergarten. In the other, he held a scrap of torn fabric, patterned with what Izuku knew had to be All Might colours. He wasn’t sure exactly what it had come from, but it was a perfect match for the twin plushies tucked in between them – plushies he was at least ninety percent sure had come from his bedroom.

The little figure rested soundly in his bed, despite the way Izuku suddenly spilled over his own, barely half his body padded by the thin material. Above them, someone else slept soundly in the real bed, but with their position and the darkness, he couldn’t be sure who.

Not that it really mattered, when they were clearly in Katsuki’s dorm room. He’d spent enough time in there to recognise his own boyfriend’s bedroom.

Boyfriend. That was such a good word.

Whatever had transpired was clearly drawing to a close – Izuku knew their friends would fill them in on all the events in the morning, but he was in no rush to get there. Whatever it was, he’d had a cute little Kacchan with him, and that was all that really mattered.

Plus, with the way things had developed between them in recent weeks, Izuku no longer feared Katsuki’s reaction to waking up beside him. If Katsuki had woken up in that exact moment he might have been confused, but he wouldn’t have been mad, not at that age. And if the usual Katsuki woke up beside him, it would just be any other weekend morning, after they stayed over each other’s bed.

Which meant he only had one choice.

Enjoy it.

With a smile, he rolled over a little, wrapping an arm around the tiny Katsuki and leaning in to kiss his cheek. Katsuki twitched a little, but he didn’t wake, and Izuku just smiled to himself a little wider, resting his cheek on Katsuki’s hair.

“I’ve got you now, Kacchan,” he whispered. “I love you. You’re safe here.”

Katsuki’s face softened, nuzzling into Izuku’s chest lightly, and Izuku closed his eyes again, stroking Katsuki’s back lightly as they curled in together for a few more hours of rest.

By morning, he knew, Katsuki would be back to normal too.

As cute as the little version was, he couldn’t wait to see it.

─────

That's a wrap, folks! I hope you enjoyed it! Tune in tomorrow for a new fic to begin!

Happy Bakugatsu!