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Shouta massaged his temples as he assessed the situation at hand. He started listing off the series of unfortunate events that led him to this.
First of all, he had accompanied Katsuki and Shouto to their remedial course session that day. It had gone smoothly, and they even finished their training exercise early.
Next, the two boys’ friends from Shiketsu informed them that they were both free for the rest of the day. Feeling like they deserved a little break, Shouta offered to take them all out for lunch to celebrate. He assured Insasa and Camie’s supervising teacher that he would take care of them and drop them off back at their dorms before it got dark.
Lunch was a moderately peaceful event, in spite of Katsuki’s best efforts to disrupt that. However, the tranquil atmosphere was ruined when the bank next door erupted into chaos as it got robbed.
The underground pro broke into action and swiftly took out the thieves. The heroics students still hadn’t earned their provincial licenses, so they were tasked with evacuating the passersby and protecting the hostages.
However, while Shouta’s back was turned, one of the robbers went after Shouto. Katsuki intervened just in the nick of time, protecting his classmate, but falling victim to the thief’s quirk in the process.
After quickly apprehending the robber, Shouta looked to see what type of damage the thief’s quirk did.
And then Shouta was face to face with a toddler aged Katsuki, smothered in the fabric of his school uniform.
“So apparently the effects of the quirk will last until the end of the day.” Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose after the thorough investigation with the robber. At least the thief had been compliant, thankfully.
Shouto nodded in lieu of a response, as he was distracted by the miniature Katsuki yanking tufts of his hair in childish wonder. The Shiketsuku students also didn’t bother replying, too busy cooing at the kid version of their usually angry friend.
They were at the police precinct. One of the cops had run out to buy Katsuki some size appropriate clothes so that he wasn’t being dragged around in his oversized U.A. uniform anymore.
“Your hair is so freaky!“ Katsuki laughed as he tugged at red and white locks. Shouto, the poor boy, had obediently crouched down so that Katsuki could reach his head.
“He’s so cute!” Camie gushed, patting Katsuki’s head like he was an adorable pet. Shouta expected Katsuki to shove her away or possibly even bite her hand, but he seemed to actually preen under her touch.
“To be completely honest, I was expecting a tiny gremlin.” Inasa hummed as he lifted a giggling Katsuki into the air. He carried him up and down, with Katsuki cheering happily. “But this Katsuki seems so innocent and pure.”
“Well, he is still just a kid,” Camie pointed out. “He hasn’t entered his angsty teen phase yet.”
“You guys know I can hear you, right?” Katsuki tried to maintain a petulant pout, a losing battle when Insasa began tickling his stomach.
“Wait! Put him down!” Camie gasped. Inasa curiously followed her instructions and set Katsuki back down. Camie then squatted until she was at eye level with Katsuki and extended her arms out. “Katsuki, do you want a hug?”
Katsuki looked at her, his grin slipping off his face as his jaw went slack in bemusement.
Inasa’s eyebrows furrowed, but he reassured, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to!”
Before they could backpedal any further, Katsuki tackled Camie into a tight embrace, surprising them all. Without a second thought, she leaned into the embrace. Inasa wiped an actual tear from his eye and brought Shouto and himself along for a big group hug, which seemed to elate Katsuki.
Shouta watched the exchange in awe, stunned speechless. He ignored the confused looks of the on duty officers still wordlessly observing the interaction.
This Katsuki was drastically different from the one he knew. It made sense with his age, but Shouta still wondered what prompted the significant change.
His questions were suddenly answered a minute later when Katsuki abruptly interrupted the group embrace as he mentioned, “Mama and Papa never hug me back at home!”
“So I’m in the future?” Katsuki asked, awestruck.
Shouta scratched his chin as he contemplated. He and the rest of the students were in the car, on the way to drop off Camie and Inasa back at Shiketsu.
“Technically.” Shouta concluded. “You’ve actually just regressed in age. You didn’t really travel through time.”
Katsuki then started asking Camie a bunch of questions about the future, like who the top ten heroes were, if he got into U.A., and whether or not All Might improved his ugly hero costume.
Shouta glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Inasa in the seat behind him with furrowed eyebrows. The ghost of a smile flickered onto Inasa’s face. “He reminds me of the kids from our first remedial course session. A hyperactive troublemaker that just needs a little bit of care and attention.”
Shouto, who had claimed the passenger seat next to Shouta, gazed silently out the window. His voice was quiet as he spoke, so Katsuki wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Midoriya once told me that Bakugou was like that as a child. He said that he had always liked teasing him, but it used to be more playful rather than malicious. I assumed that it was just Midoriya defending him again, but now I think it’s more than that.”
Shouta watched as Katsuki babbled amicably about Miruko, who according to Katsuki had apparently only just recently debuted officially. It was endearing to witness. Katsuki was known to be so withdrawn and skeptic. Only his closest friends knew that he was secretly a big time hero fan boy, so to see him so unafraid to talk about the things that he earnestly enjoyed was heartwarming.
But then Shouta’s melted heart completely shattered when Katsuki noted absentmindedly, “Mama and Papa never let me talk about heroes this much!”
It took all of Shouta’s willpower not to slam his forehead onto the car horn.
After dropping off Camie and Inasa back at their dorms, much to the Shiketsu students’ and even Katsuki’s dismay, Shouta drove them back to U.A.
It was only halfway there wherein Shouta remembered the formal protocol for a quirk accident involving a student he was supervising. Shouta’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.
Shouta groaned. “Legally, I have to tell his parents about the incident.”
Both Katsuki and Shouto snapped to him.
“No!” Katsuki grasped the back of Shouta’s seat desperately. “Please, Mama will get so mad at me! And Papa will be all disappointed again!”
“But it wasn’t your fault.” Shouto scowled. “You took the hit to save me. How could they blame you for that?”
“No!” Katsuki shook his head frantically. “I should’ve done better! If I was stronger, I could have rescued all of us! That’s what a good hero would have done!”
“I’m a hero student, too.” Shouto frowned.
“Please don’t tell them!” Katsuki cried out, ignoring him. “I don’t want to get punished again!”
Shouta chewed on his lip. He glanced at Katsuki’s tearful expression, before his gazed shifted to Shouto, face flooded with empathy. Right, Shouto probably knew all too well what Katsuki’s mind was going through right now.
“All right. We can talk about it when you’re back in the right mind.” Shouta sighed.
Katsuki seemed mollified with that, so Shouta considered it a win.
When they reached Heights Alliance, Shouto got out of the car, but noticed that Shouta and Katsuki weren’t following him. In fact, Katsuki seemed to be engrossed on a video game on Shouta’s phone.
“Isn’t he going to sleep in the dormitory?” Shouto asked.
“I don’t think he would appreciate us letting your classmates see him like this once he turns back to normal.” Shouta’s mouth thinned. “He can spend the night in my apartment.”
Shouto nodded in understanding. “I’ll tell Camie and Inasa not to make fun of him about it, too, just in case. Do you need me to get anything from his room?”
“No, we’re fine. But thank you.” Shouta offered him a grateful smile, but before he could put the car in reverse, Shouto stopped him.
“There’s a reason why Bakugou changed so drastically.” Shouto deduced. “Please help him, like how you helped me with my own father.”
None of these boys had any trust in adults. Which was fair, given their experiences.
“I will,” Shouta promised, which Shouto seemed assuaged by. He then saw Katsuki looking at them curiously from the rearview mirror, so his tone brightened. “He’s leaving. Say goodbye.”
Katsuki set down the phone he was holding, not even pausing the video game, before waving with both hands at Shouto.
“Bye bye, Shouto-niisan!” Katsuki grinned, big and wide.
Shouto had a soft smile as he gave him a small wave back. “Bye, Katsuki.”
“It’s never a dull moment with your class, is it?” Hizashi rubbed the back of his head as he gave Katsuki a brief once over.
Shouta had been having second thoughts about bringing Katsuki into his home, if only for one reason.
But that reason was now chasing Katsuki down with a plastic sword.
“I’m gonna get you!“ Eri warned towards a cackling Katsuki.
“I’d like to see you try!” Katsuki snickered before vaulting over their couch.
Shouta gestured for Hizashi to follow him to the kitchen, where he had already started prepping for dinner. The children were still within their range of vision, but they were out of earshot.
“He’s so energetic.” Hizashi sniggered. “At least some things never change.”
“But a lot of other stuff had changed.” Shouta nearly clawed at his own nape in frustration. “Think about it. Fear of abandonment. Self isolation. Bad temper. Trust issues. Perfectionism. What are those signs of?”
“An abusive household. Or at the very least neglect.” Hizashi took a shaky breath as he rested his head on Shouta’s shoulder.
“He’s so afraid to let himself be happy.” Shouta grit his teeth. “Talking about his favorite heroes, initiating any physical contact, being a kid or even just being himself. Those are all luxuries he isn’t privy to. And now as a teenager, it’s like he’s ashamed to want those things, too.”
Hizashi’s face scrunched up in sympathy. “What do you plan on doing?”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow, so he can confirm our suspicions and we can get his consent to proceed with the investigation.” Shouta’s face darkened. “And the rules say that I have to inform his parents about this.” He cracked his knuckles. “So I plan on paying them a visit.”
Hizashi chuckled. “I still have the number of the lawyer who helped out with Eri’s and Shouto’s cases.”
Katsuki woke up groggily.
The bed he was lying on felt unfamiliar, which raised several red flags. He got up and stretched, but his muscles felt awkward and tense, like he wasn’t used to his own body. He looked down and apparently he hadn’t been sleeping on a bed at all, but instead a futon in a living room he didn’t recognize. He found a change of clothes roughly his size on the sofa beside him, which made him all too aware of his severely underdressed state.
It was only after he was done changing when Katsuki began recalling all of the embarrassing memories from the day before. Brimming with humiliation, Katsuki’s eyes warily darted around the room, before they landed on his homeroom teacher lounging by the adjacent kitchen counter, sipping on a mug of coffee and watching his student panic.
“Breakfast is on the table,” Shouta greeted.
“This never happened!” Katsuki demanded.
Shouta shrugged, prompting Katsuki to dubiously oblige and take a seat.
“My husband took Eri to the park, so we have the day to ourselves.” Shouta sat down across from him.
“Okay?” Katsuki raised a confused eyebrow at the underground hero. “But why not just drop me off at school?”
Shouta took a deep breath.
“Because I feel like today is going to be a very busy day. For both of us.” Shouta carefully set his mug down to look at Katsuki seriously. “We need to talk about your parents.”