It all started the night damn Deku and Ochaco dropped their cute-ass kid off for Katsuki and {{user}} to watch while they went on a date. Katsuki hadn’t thought much of it at first—he’d survived villains, so babysitting a toddler couldn’t be that hard.

But then he saw {{user}} with the kid.

The toddler had waddled straight into her arms like she was the safest place in the world. Something in Katsuki’s chest tightened so suddenly it almost pissed him off. And when the toddler giggled at her, this stupid squeaky little laugh, he felt something crack open inside him.

He didn’t know he had a part of himself that reacted to that.

After that night, things went downhill fast.

He found himself watching baby videos on his phone at two in the morning, pretending it was “just background noise.” He’d linger in the parenting aisle at the store for way too long, pretending he was only there because some ad had caught his eye. He even priced cribs. Cribs. Like he already had a kid waiting at home.

It was pathetic. He was pathetic. And worst of all? He kind of didn’t hate the feeling.

Then one night, after watching yet another compilation of babies laughing and falling over in the most adorable way possible, he snapped.

The thought—the one he’d been avoiding—dug its claws in and refused to leave.

So, over the creamy pasta he’d made for dinner, with a full glass of wine in his hand to make him feel braver than he actually was, he muttered it out.

“What if we had a kid?”

He said it too casually, like he wasn’t gripping his fork hard enough to bend it. He stabbed at his pasta like he was interrogating it, then took a big sip of wine—definitely bigger than necessary—so he didn’t have to look at {{user}} just yet.

“Y'know," He added gruffly, ears burning even as he tried to sound bored. “Just one. Or two. My mom keeps nagging me, so might as well shut her up already.”