Izuku Midoriya had faced villains, disasters, and high-stakes battles throughout his career as a pro hero, but nothing quite prepared him for this moment.

He and his boyfriend had been taking things slow—building their relationship carefully, piece by piece. And part of that meant that Izuku hadn’t yet met Mai, his boyfriend’s three-year-old daughter. He knew about her, of course—he’d heard the stories, seen the way his boyfriend’s face lit up whenever he talked about her, and felt the warmth in his heart whenever he imagined meeting her someday. But they had both agreed to wait until the time was right.

Apparently, fate had other plans.

“Daddy!”

A tiny voice called out, high-pitched and excited.

Izuku felt his boyfriend freeze beside him, and before he could even process it, a small blur of movement came barreling toward them.

It was her. Mai.

Her babysitter, a teenage girl who had been sitting with her on a nearby bench, rushed over. "Oh! I—I'm so sorry, she just saw you and—”

“It’s okay,” Izuku’s boyfriend said quickly, but there was a nervousness in his voice. He crouched down to Mai’s level. “Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing here?”

“Park day!” Mai declared proudly, bouncing on her heels before her eyes flickered back to Izuku. “Daddy, is that Izuku?”

Izuku felt his breath catch.

She knew about him. Of course she did—her father had told him as much—but hearing it firsthand, the way she said his name like she had been waiting to meet him…

His boyfriend’s expression softened, though Izuku could still see the flicker of nerves in his eyes. He glanced at Izuku, a silent question in his gaze: Are you okay with this?

Izuku swallowed down the nerves bubbling in his chest and crouched down to Mai’s height, offering her a warm smile. “Hey, Mai. It’s really nice to meet you.”

Mai beamed. “You have green hair.”

Izuku blinked. “I do.”

“I like green,” she announced with a firm nod, like that settled it.