My Father's Son - Chapter 1

Katsuki wasn't sure what he was thinking when he found himself at the little park, so far out of his neighborhood that it was almost ridiculous. He'd gotten the news mere hours ago, had managed to coax a name out of the doctors, and had immediately gone to the Hero-web to find all the information he could.

The man had proven strangely elusive, somehow. Despite living only a few trains away, he didn't seem to even exist on the internet - Katsuki had thought that was impossible in this day and age. He'd finally found an address deep in the depths of the city's property records, a rental agreement under the name "Midoriya Inko" who he supposed must be the guy's wife. Seemed weird that she would be the only one on record when the surnames implied they were married before the purchase, but hey, who was he to judge?

Unless the dude was a villain, in which case he was fucked when Katsuki found him.

He'd watched from a distance, across the road from the tall, run-down apartment building, and after nearly an hour of watching haggard people come and go, he'd been about to give up. Then, he saw the toddler.

Spiky blond hair, red eyes, like looking in a mirror and seeing the past. He held hands with a slim, dark-haired man, a fond smile pointed down at him before they looked both ways and crossed the road. Katsuki tried to look absorbed in his phone as they passed him, keeping his head down to hide his face under his dark hood. He could feel the eyes linger on him, though, watching him as they walked by, and every muscle in his body tensed up.

And yeah, he wasn't sure what he was thinking when he followed them at a distance, watching them turn into the little park. The boy immediately tore his hand away, running for the playground, but the man only smiled fondly and continued to follow.

While other parents sat on benches around the fence line and chatted amongst themselves, the skinny man sat a lot closer, in the grass to smile and watch the boy play. In the sunlight, his hair was actually a foresty shade of green, so thick and curly that it cast shadows on itself and appeared darker. He had freckled cheeks on pale skin, like maybe he didn't get out of the house much, compared to Katsuki's tan from constantly patrolling in the hot sun. The kid, too, was a slightly darker tone – not as tan as Katsuki, but clearly he played outdoors regularly.

Katsuki finally tore himself away when his watch beeped at him, stuffing his hands in his pockets to head for the station. It would take him almost two hours to get home, spread across three trains – he really should have brought his car, but he hadn't exactly planned to end up in the area. It just sort of... happened.

When he finally made it to the kindergarten, the final bell was just ringing, and he hurried to the gates to wait. Soon there was a clumsy figure sprinting at him, leaping into his arms, and he caught the boy easily, squeezing him tight.

"You have a good day at kindergarten?"

"Yeah!"

"What did you learn?"

"Numbers and writing and English!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me something in English."

He set the boy down, watching him adjust his backpack to sit comfortably, and Katsuki could only stare with a strange sadness at the short green curls that bobbed as he moved.

"My name is Hiroki," he pronounced carefully. "I am five years old."

"You already knew that bit."

"I'm still going, Daddy!"

"Okay, keep going."

They began their walk home as he spoke, Hiroki smiling the entire way as he babbled in a mix of English and Japanese.

"Not bad, buddy," Katsuki nodded, as he unlocked the front door and waved Hiroki inside. "Go put your things away."

"I know, Daddy!"

He pulled his shoes off, tucking them into a cupboard neatly, and set his bag on the benchtop to unload. He dragged everything out, stacking his books neatly and picking out one little notebook to hand to Katsuki.

"Did your teacher leave me messages today?"

"Not sure, I think so!"

He flipped it open to the middle, hunting down the newest page, then glanced up to watch Hiroki move his dirty laundry into the waiting basket.

"I'll put dirties in laundry!"

"Properly, Hiroki."

The boy paused, face screwing up in concentration.

"I'll go put my dirty things in the laundry?"

"Much better."

"Okay!"

He hurried off with his basket, and Katsuki looked down at the neat black ink and familiar handwriting waiting for him.

"Hiroki has been a pleasure as always!" it told him. "Both his English and his Japanese are advancing admirably, and while he's a little slower with his Math he continues to work hard and persevere."

"Hiroki," he called, as he slid the book back into the pile. "Are you still having trouble with Math?"

"No, Daddy!" he insisted, hurrying back to the hallway. "It takes me a little longer than writing but I promise I'm doing good!"

"Alright. Go get changed and we'll do your homework."

"Okay!"

He hurried off up the stairs, and Katsuki stopped to lock the door behind them, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. The appointment was already booked, he wasn't due at the hospital until four the next day, but he knew he wouldn't get a moment of sleep in anticipation, and he was already exhausted. After nearly six years of work, to think that Hiroki was...

No, he couldn't think about it yet – he had to wait until the kid was in bed, at the very least. He had too much to do before then – homework, piano practice, dinner, bath, it was already gonna be a full night.

"Daddy?" Hiroki asked, as soon as Katsuki made his way up the stairs. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, bud. Just been a long day."

"Daddy should rest, I can do my homework."

"I'll come sit with you and we'll see how we go."

"If I do all my homework really good can we play games later?"

"You still have piano practice to do."

"I will!"

"And dinner, and bath. Not tonight. Maybe you can play on the weekend."

"Okay!"

Katsuki slumped in his seat, leaning on his elbow as Hiroki opened up his little workbook. His kindergarten didn't tend to issue much homework, but the prestigious cram school nearby gave out what Katsuki considered a reasonable amount. 

He had sessions three times a week, on the days Katsuki worked late – Math on Mondays, Reading on Tuesdays, and Writing on Thursdays. On Wednesdays and Fridays Katsuki finished early enough to pick him up from school, but on cram school days he walked with a little group of classmates who lived in the area, and Katsuki picked him up after a couple more hours. Sundays, of course, he had his swimming lesson in the mornings and piano in the afternoons, but Katsuki's parents took him to those. It gave them a chance to catch up with the kid, and it let Katsuki go to work for a few hours, to do a quick patrol and catch up on his paperwork.

Saturdays were family day, though. The day he refused to work, the day Hiroki could always count on him to be there. Usually it was the day they went out, to visit a museum or gallery of some sort, or go for a hike if the weather was nice, taking photos together on the fancy camera Katsuki's parents had given him the day Hiroki landed in his arms.

"Is this right, Daddy?"

Hiroki pushed the book across the table, and Katsuki looked down to check, scanning the page briefly.

"Yeah, looks good. Try the next page, it's a little harder. You were working on it in class this week, right?"

"Yeah!"

He curled his little fingers around his pencil, mumbling under his breath as he worked, but to Katsuki's relief he seemed to be on the right track.

"What do you want for dinner, bud?"

"Mm... Omurice?"

"Not very nutritious," Katsuki snorted, ruffling his hair. "I'm putting vegetables in the rice."

"Okay!"

"We've got some time before I need to cook, then. Maybe I should do my homework with you."

"Yeah! I'll help Daddy if he needs it!"

"Alright," he snorted, leaning back to grab his bag from the counter. "You any good at paperwork?"

"Is that like origami?"

"Not quite."

"I'm not very good at origami, we tried at school."

"Maybe we can practice some tomorrow, if you like."

"Okay!"

"Daddy is gonna have to go out tomorrow," he began, not giving himself a chance to chicken out. "Grandma and Grandpa are gonna take care of you for a little bit, it'll just be a couple of hours in the afternoon."

"Oh. Okay."

"I'm not working," he promised. "I just have an appointment I have to go to, and we can still do something in the morning."

"Science museum?"

Hiroki had been requesting it for weeks, ever since he saw an ad on television, but Katsuki hadn't been able to find the time.

"You know what? Sure," he nodded. "We'll make it fit."

"Yay!"

He dug out his paperwork and got stuck in, occasionally sneaking glances at Hiroki to make sure he was still on track, but the kid worked away diligently. When he finished off his last math problem he handed it over, waiting patiently, and Katsuki nodded approvingly as he checked over the answers.

"Good work. Alright, you do piano, I'm gonna cook. Play me something good."

"I'll play you my best new song!"

"Good boy."

He packed his homework gear away and headed for the keyboard in the corner, pulling up his little stool. Katsuki nodded once more and stepped through to the kitchen, setting up a chopping board to get to work on the vegetables. The kitchen was set up in a way that let him watch the dining room as he worked, with an island of counters rather than a wall in between, so he dragged his items over that side to watch and listen. 

He cut the vegetables extra small to hide them more easily in the rice – Hiroki wasn't the pickiest eater in the world, he had no problem with eating vegetables when he felt like it, but he had an aversion to big chunks. Katsuki figured he had a small mouth anyway, so it was fair to want his food cut smaller. As he got older he would have to learn to deal with it, but-

No, Katsuki didn't want to start thinking down that path. He would focus on his hands instead, on cutting the vegetables up small enough that the kid wouldn't pull faces when he found them.

Hiroki's fingers plinked away on the keyboard, tapping out a little tune he'd been working on for the past few weeks. Katsuki couldn't help but watch him, while he was too distracted to notice. He'd always known the kid didn't look like him at all, that was no big secret, but he'd always just assumed...

Shut up, brain.

He would deal with that shit tomorrow.

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