Chapter Text
The second they’re outside the UA gates, Hitoshi knees Katsuki in the back until his boyfriend finally lets him down. Even still flushed and feverish, he has no problem taking his siblings from Izuku, settling Ki on his hip and Haru in his arms in a familiar gesture.
Hitoshi spends the walk back to his apartment trying to mask his simmering anger as he listens to the twins ramble and ignores Izuku’s attempts at talking to him.
He keeps that anger masked until the twins are comfortably settled in their room, and the twin idiots are standing awkwardly in his kitchen.
“Sit down.” Hitoshi snaps at Izuku and Katsuki. They do; Izuku sheepish and Katsuki sulking. Hitoshi grabs an energy drink from the fridge, sits down across from them, and takes an aggressive swig.
“Why are your panties so fucking twisted?” Katuski grumbles. Hitoshi slams down the can on the table, glaring at him.
“Why do you fucking think .” Hitoshi hisses. “Not only did you completely ignore the fact that I needed to go to work today-”
“You were sick!”
“You took my fucking kids .” Hitoshi plows on, eyes flaming. “To a place that’s already failed to protect you from villains more than once and made it self a major fucking target.”
Katsuki bristles. “You think I'd take them somewhere dangerous?” He asks lowly.
Hitoshi laughs bitterly. “You already did.”
“I love those fucking kids.” Katsuki growls, standing to lean over the table and get in Hitoshi's face. “I would never do something that could hurt them.”
“If you were so sure it was fine, why do it behind my back?” Hitoshi challenges.
“You were sick!” Katsuki explodes. “The fuck else was I supposed to do? You never would have let me take them-”
“So you admit it!-”
Katsuki plows on, “-you would have just gone to work and kept working past your limits like a fucking idiot-”
“Sorry, we need food money.” Hitoshi bites back sarcastically.
“If you need food money so bad why won’t you let me get a job and fucking help you?!”
You already do too much. Hitoshi thinks.
“A list of safety reasons, dumbass. You can get a job when you graduate. Like we agreed.” He says instead.
“So in the meantime you just get to kill yourself overworking? How fucking stupid can you get?”
“I’m stupid because I won’t let you get killed. Okay asshole.”
Katsuki opens his mouth to retort something, but is cut off by a scarred hand on his arm.
“Kacchan.” Izuku says, clear and calm. “Sit down.”
Katsuki does, still clearly fuming. Izuku turns his gaze to Hitoshi.
“Hitoshi. What’s this really about?” he asks. His eyes are filled with something, concern and confusion and understanding, like he can read Hitoshi like a book and is only a few chapters from the end. It makes Hitoshi feel vulnerable, and he has to take a deep breath to avoid lashing out with unnecessary defensiveness.
“You took them to meet dozens of new people. And I wasn’t there.” he speaks quietly, rage still trembling lowly in his voice. “You took them to meet strangers without me. Strangers who could have done anything, or said anything to them, and I wasn’t there to protect them from it.”
They knew what he was talking about, even if he didn’t have to say it. Psychic may not seem as evil as Brainwash , but there was no shortage of people uncomfortable with, or even hateful towards, mental quirks.
“Our idiots wouldn’t do that.” Katsuki says with surprising conviction. “And if they did, I'd beat their asses so hard they’d never try it again.”
“That’s not the point!” Hitoshi exclaims. “That’s not the point , Katsuki. I don’t know anything about your classmates .”
He can’t keep the slight tinge of bitterness out of his tone. They never offered information, and he never asked, figuring they’d tell him if they wanted. The most he knew about them was third hand from Ki and Haru, who often pestered the two with questions about their school.
“So you don’t trust me to fucking protect them? Is that it?”
“No!”
“Then what is?! You don’t have any issues with us taking them to the fucking mall, there’s plenty of people you don’t know there. So what’s your fucking problem?”
“It’s different.”
“How?!”
“Because it is!”
I sound like a jealous child, Hitoshi realizes. He takes a heaving breath, struggling to calm himself.
Is he just jealous? Is that really the root of the problem?
No. Well, maybe a bit of his anger comes from jealousy, but that’s not the real problem. Those hero kids are dangerous, and not just because of their training. The twins look up to them, a lot . They asked about Class 1-A almost daily, especially now that they were stuck at home and unable to go to daycare.
“It’s different.” Hitoshi repeats, quiter, though a thin line of anger still colors his voice. “The twins look up to them. That’s a big fucking difference. Getting hurt by a stranger is one thing, but it’s a whole different ballpark with someone you look up to.”
“They wouldn’t-” Izuku starts, but Hitoshi cuts him off.
“I don’t know that!” Hitoshi huffs, struggling to keep his voice under control. “I barely know their fucking names. I trust you two with my own life- hell, with the twins’ lives- but I can’t trust people I don’t know.”
“So what, none of you are ever supposed to meet our classmates?” Katsuki huffs.
“You could have brought me with you.” Hitoshi snaps harshly. “But for whatever reason you don’t even want your friends mentioned around me.”
That seems to shock both of them. Hitoshi scoffs.
“I’m not an idiot. Ki and Haru ask about them all the time, but you always shut down their questions. And yet they still somehow know more about your classmates than me. It’s not difficult to put together.
Izuku stares down at his hands, rubbing them, while Katsuki scowls at a stain on the wall.
“We didn’t think you wanted to know anything about them.” Izuku says hesitantly.
Hitoshi frowns at him. “Why?”
Izuku shrugs. “It seemed- I dunno- cruel? You were supposed to be with us, but then...”
“I don’t regret it.” Hitoshi says hotly. And he doesn't . He’d give up a thousand dreams for Haru and Ki if he had to.
“I know that.” Izuku frowns. “We just didn’t want to, like, rub it in your face.”
Hitoshi rolls his eyes and looks to Katsuki instead. Katsuki is glaring down at the table, working his jaw.
“They didn’t really matter until after the dorms.” He says, eventually. “At first I couldn’t care less about them. Over time they became… tolerable. But after Kamino, I guess…” He huffs, and looks to the side. “You know I’m shit about talking about shit. You and the twins are important to me. I couldn’t tell them about you, so I guess I wanted to show them.”
Hitoshi sighs. “You could have asked me. We could have worked it out.”
Katsuki shrugs. “I didn’t realize until right now.”
“You saw Hitoshi was sick, and wanted to help, and subconsciously also filled your subconscious desire to show this part of your life to our classmates.” Izuku adds helpfully. He gives Hitoshi a sheepish grin. “I think that was kinda my reason for going along with it. I know you value privacy, so I’ve tried not to tell anybody too much, but Hitoshi you guys are a huge part of my life, and I hate hiding it from my friends.”
Izuku frowns. “It’s like I’ve got two lives, here and school, and Kacchan already makes the overlap kinda fuzzy and confusing, and you’re all just so important to me I don’t want to have to keep you separate or act like you don’t exist when it’s not convenient.” Izuku picks at his fingers, not meeting Hitoshi’s gaze.
Hitoshi’s quiet, thinking. “I’m still pissed.” he starts slowly, but he can see a glimmer of hope in Izuku’s eye at his tone. “But, if you think they won’t be assholes about our quirks maybe you could introduce me.”
“Yes!” Izuku cheers, vaulting over the table to tackle Hitoshi in a hug and plant a kiss on his cheek. “They’re great, like some of the nicest people I've ever met! I promise they won’t say anything and if they do I’ll Detroit Smash them to Detroit.”
“Deku, he’s sick.” Katuski growls, dragging a still beaming Izuku off Hitoshi. Hitoshi pouts.
“So no thank you kiss for me?” He asks, batting his lashes at Katsuki. He probably still looks like shit- all sweaty and flushed, but Katsuki still rolls his eyes and kisses Hitoshi’s forehead.
“Go take a nap dumbass. We can talk more about this later.”
“Fine.” Hitoshi concedes with a yawn. “You’re on baby duty.”
“Can we take them out for ice cream?” Izuku asks hopefully.
“I stole money from the hag.” Katsuki says.
Hitoshi scowls, and bites down on his instinct to chastise Katsuki for pissing off his mother. He doesn't want to restart an old fight, especially since Mitsuki rarely notices.
(It's when she finally does that worries Hitoshi.)
“Sure. Just be back soon enough that you don’t miss curfew.” All Might was helpful with getting them special privileges, but he didn’t want to push it.
The two agreed, and Hitoshi headed off to go back to bed. He settled into the sounds of his family moving around the apartment, trusting Katsuki and Izuku to take care of his kids.
There was still plenty they needed to talk about. Logistics of him meeting his partner’s classmates would need to be worked out, and Katsuki would no doubt re-start the argument about how much he thought Hitoshi was overworking. Hitoshi would have to deal with the cluster of anxietyfearjelously that twisted in his chest when he thought about the UA students.
But for now, he slept.
-=+=-
Hitoshi gets the next day off work (he tried to go, but the woman who owned the cafe he worked at took one look at him and locked him out with instructions to rest). So he finally gives in to the motherly pestering and takes the twins to visit Inko.
When they get there the twins are ecstatic to see their Auntie Inko, who shoos them into the kitchen after giving each a hug and kiss. Of course she fusses over Hitoshi, who insists he’s fine, and banishes him to go lay down while the twins help her with lunch.
Being around Inko always stirs up a host of mixed emotions for Hitoshi. Their relationship isn’t strained by any means, but there’s an undercurrent of concern in it. Inko had always had reservations about their situation, and her worries always set off Hitoshi’s anxieties about being separated from the twins.
She’d only brought it up directly once, when the twins were still babies and his parents were still sending money, but Hitoshi had been on the verge of a panic attack. Seeing that he was ready to bolt, she quickly apologized. After that Inko pivoted to supporting them in other ways, with an abundance of home cooked meals and offers to watch the twins whenever needed. If she was resentful about her teenage son basically co-parenting two children, she didn’t show it. She was always overwhelmingly kind to both Shinsou and the twins, who absolutely adored their Auntie Inko.
Even still, Hitoshi couldn’t help his mixed feelings about her. On the one hand, he lived in constant fear of having the twins taken away from him, and Inko’s constant concern fed into that fear. On the other hand, Inko was the closest thing to a mother figure Hitoshi had ever had, and he cared quite deeply about her.
Add in the guilt about getting her son involved in the situation (even though both Izuku and Katsuki called him an idiot for feeling guilty for their help), as well as the guilt over all the help she gave herself, and you had a recipe for one unpleasant emotion stew.
Even still, Hitoshi can’t help feeling comforted by her presence. She’s just so motherly, bringing him tea and smoothing his hair back when she checks his temperature. He feels warm in a pleasant, unfamiliar way.
(A small part of him hisses, you’ll never be like that, never be able to take care of them like that , but he squashes it. Violently.)
When they leave, Inko loads Hitoshi up with enough leftovers to feed all three of them for a week. Mostly soup. A lot of soup.
Between her and Katsuki, they’d probably have enough soup to feed half of UA.
-=+=-
“Oi, Fuckface. Time to wake up.” A familiar voice whispers.
Hitoshi blinks awake to the pale-gray light of the early morning. His vision is swimming, but it’s easy to recognize the pale blob in front of him.
“‘Tsuki?” Hitoshi squints. “What time is it?”
“Four-thirty.” Katsuki’s voice is rough, but still soft. “I brought you coffee.” He offers a large paper cup, but Hitoshi doesn't take it.
“Katsuki. Why are you waking me up at four-thirty?” Hitoshi asks, a tinge of danger to his voice.
“You’re coming to breakfast. At the dorm.”
“ When was this decided?”
“When I woke up this morning.” Katsuki says, pulling Hitoshi into a sitting position and shoving the coffee into his hands.
Hitoshi scowls at him. “Okay. How about you give me one good reason to come have breakfast at your dorm and I don’t throw this in your face.”
Katsuki rolls his eyes. “Because you need to meet them, and this way you have an easy out if shit goes sideways.”
“Huh?”
“Work, idiot. If you’re uncomfortable you can just say you need to go to work.”
“Oh.” Hitoshi stares down at his coffee. Katsuki rolls his eyes again, and pecks Hitoshi on the mouth.
“I’m going to wake the twins up.” Katsuki calls over his shoulder, sauntering out into the hallway.
Hitoshi stares down at the coffee in his hands, anxiety building up in his stomach. There’s about ten thousand ways this could go wrong.
He takes a sip. At least he won’t be doing it alone.