In retrospect, maybe Izuku should've been more careful of who he hung around with. Maybe he should've remembered that humans were manipulative pieces of shit. Maybe he should've realized that no one would love him the way Kacchan did, even way back then.

No matter what.

It wasn't worth the pain he'd always feel if it wasn't for them.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!"

A blonde child ran to their mother who scooped them up into her arms. The child swung around with the woman. The noirette's face lit up with a smile at the excitement on her child's visage.

"Yes, my darling Pichu?"

"When's daddy coming home? He said 'soon', and today is 'soon'!"

The woman's smile dimmed a bit at the question. "He said soon, honey. He'll be here when he gets here. He wouldn't want to miss his days with you."

At that, the doorbell rang. The blonde child slipped away from her mother, to stand on a stool and peek through the peep-hole. The mother rolled her eyes with a hidden scowl on her lips. "Who is it, Pichu?", she asked.

The girl giggled and jumped down, unlocking the door. She ran back to her mother and pulled her to the door. "He's here, he's here! Go say hi!"

The woman opened the door and stepped back to frown at the man behind it. He leaned against the door frame and stared at the noirette.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well? Can I come in?"

The mother crossed her arms. "It's 'may', you twat."

"No, it's January. All the dick must be getting to your head." Izuku huffed. "Maybe if you die I can-"

The blonde bounded over to her father and pulled on his hand. "Come in, I wanna show you something!"

Izuku stumbled inside the home, following the girl to the kitchen. She plucked a drawing off of the refrigerator and handed it to Izuku. It was a picture of the girl and Izuku. They were in the middle of a meadow of what seemed to be daisies, and were holding hands with big smiles.

Izuku's eyes welled up with red tears. "It's beautiful Denni! I love it so much. Did you make this for me?"

The child nodded but pouted, their chubby cheeks puffing up. "Daddyyyyy.", they scolded.

Izuku smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I nearly forgot. Denki. It's beautiful Denki. I swear it won't happen again."

Denki beamed and bounced on his toes. "It's okay! Is it time to go yet? I'll get my stuff!" The blond started to his bedroom but was stopped by his mother.

"Not so fast Pichu. You still have to clean your room. Then, you can go."

Izuku sighed and nudged Denki forward. "Let the boy live a little, he's like 3. Go make your bed Ding Dong; I'll be there in a minute." Once the child had sped to his room, the greenette turned to the woman. "What's your damage?", he sneered.

"My 'damage' is the fact that you just waltzed up into my goddamn house after what you did!

"What I did? Grace, you fucking cheated on your boyfriend to try and baby trap me. For no good reason! Then you got pissed when I still wanted a divorce!"

The mother, Grace, snarled. "I told you not to fucking call me that. What would Arashi think if he heard you say that?"

"Oh Mizu, what would your husband think if he knew his wife cheated on him with her ex-husband to have a baby that wasn't his. Maybe the fact that his son calls another man 'daddy' would make a lot more sense if he knew."

"You still slept with me-"

"No, shut up-"

"-so it's your fault for-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Izuku slammed a fist onto the kitchen table, cracking the marble into pieces. "I only slept with you because you said you told him the truth. I thought that maybe you weren't as fucking insane as you act, and maybe we could work something out. But you lied to me, so you lost your second chance."

Grace-Mizu's hands came up to her chest. "I was scared! I loved you and you were going to leave me, I-"

"You didn't love me, so stop lying for the both of us. If you had loved me, you wouldn't have gone out to find some other guy. I didn't deserve that, Arashi doesn't deserve this, and Denki shouldn't have anything to do with you." Izuku's face crinkled in anger. "You're so lucky we got split custody, 'cause if I had won, you'd've never seen Denki again."

"You're so-"

"Daddyyyy~"

Denki skipped into the kitchen and climbed up his father's leg. Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath, hugging the boy and laying his hand on the crumbling table, reverting it to it's former form.

The blond wrapped his arms around Izuku's neck and nuzzled his cheek with his nose. "C'monnnn, I have to finish my room so we can gooooo. Oh, can we get ice cream after? I want a double scoop! You remember what I like, right? Or some cake? Oh, is Sho gonna be at the house? I miss Sho, do you miss Sho?"

Izuku nodded along to the child's rambling, turning from Mizu. "Of course cutie. I don't know if Sho can come, but we'll see. Hey, how 'bout I help you with your room? I can finish the rest, I know you're tired. Then we can go and you won't have to be nagged by boring ol' mommy."

"Don't listen to daddy, Den. He's a meanie that doesn't like to be nice to girls.", Mizu scowled, fake-pouting.

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the mother. "You're such a..."

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'great mother'."

"The word I'm looking for I can't say because there is a child present."

Denki giggled. "Ooooooh, Daddy was gonna say a bad worddddd~"

Izuku poked the tip of the boy's nose. "That's right. Daddy was thinking of a bad word but he can't say it in front of the baby; Cuz that's bad." He strode out of the kitchen, raising his hand to flip off the noirette over his shoulder. Denki noticed and did the same.

"Denni!", the mother scolded.

"Denki/Denki!", the father and son corrected.

"Amazing Grace~

How sweet, the sound

When your face, hits the ground~

You should be, in the pound-"

Rei sat in her sewing room, fixing up a shirt for her daughter, when a knock sounded on her window.

She was shaken from her concentration, and stood, opening the window. "Come on in, Sho-chan's in his room."

"Thaaannnkkk you Rei-Rei." Izuku cooed. He wrapped an arm around the woman and leaned down to place a kiss on her head. Two walked out of her room to knock on a door.

"Sho-chan?", Rei called. "Izuku's here."

The door creaked open and out came a 2 year old candy cane. He stepped up to Izuku and raised his arms, demanding to be picked up. Izuku lifted him into the air and wrapped the boy's arms around his neck.

Izuku ran his gloved fingers through the two-toned hair. "Hello my angel."

Shoto buried his face in the man's neck. "Hi daddy." , He whispered.

Izuku looked to Rei. "Where's En-ji?"

"Enji."

"Hmm?"

"It's pronounced En-gi."

Izuku slowly shook his head. "I don't care."

"Actually," Natsuo spook from behind. "It's pronounced r-at."

"Seems legit. All in favor of changing En-ji to Rat?"

"I.", said Natsuo.

"I.", said Shoto.

"I.", said Izuku. "All opposed?"

"Nay.", said Rei, rolling her eyes for the nth time today. Hey, that rhymes!

"The people have spoken. Sorry Rei, majority rules.", Izuku shrugged unapologetically.

Natsuo laughed as he left the hall, and Rei sighed with a smile.

"So Rei," started Izuku, turning back to the shorter woman. "How've you been feeling? The Rei-bellion didn't take to much out of you, did it?"

The white haired woman laughed. "Not at all. What about you? I sure hope you're not impotent; I might want to have another rebellion.", she snickered with a wink.

"C'mon, I'm not that old. But I did have fun, so maybe.", Izuku chuckled, walking into Shoto's room.

Rei crossed her arms as Izuku sat on the bed. "I thought you didn't like cheaters."

Izuku rocked Shoto over his shoulder, rubbing his back. He hummed. "I don't, but En-ji's a buttface, so I don't mind."

"What if he figures it out sooner this time?"

"I'll beat him up."

A cackle burst out of Rei, startling a dozing Shoto. But he went right back to napping because he don't give a fuck-

"Are you crazy?!", asked Rei in a fit of giggles.

Izuku started giggling as well. "Possibly."

Rei sighed and leaned towards her friend. "Oh, I love you, Izuku. Never change."

Izuku smiled and rubbed their noses together affectionately. "Mm, I love you too Rei-Rei."

"Ew."

Izuku gasped and looked down at Shoto. "What?"

"Ew."

Izuku stood and gently slammed the child onto his bed. "Don't you 'ew' your father! Why I 'oughta-"

It was at that moment, Shoto knew-

He fucked up.

The greenette sprouted tendrils form his sides to aid in his quest of tickling Shoto until he died of laughter. Or until he 'learned his lesson'.

"Wait- daddy, no!"

Shoto squirmed on the bed, his face flushed red from laughter.

"Do you yield?"

Shoto giggled. "Ew.", he whispered.

Izuku growled and attacked. He peppered the boy's face with kisses until he was pushed away by small hands.

"Don't worry Sho, I love you too."

"I like big boys, itty bitty boys
Mississippi boys, inner city boys
I like the pretty boys, with the bow tie
Get your nails did, let it blow dry
I like a big beard, I like a clean face
I don't discriminate, come and get a taste
From the playboys to the gay boys
Go and slay, boys, you my fave boys."

"Dad?"

"Yes Touya?"

"Can we get some McDonald's?"

Izuku snorted at glanced at 12 year old Touya in the passenger seat. "Is that even a question? Hell yeah!"

The man sped up the car and looked upon the darkened road. "Turn on my Bluetooth and put on my playlist. Please? And thank you."

Touya nodded and so it was. They were vibing to some songs when a... certainsong came on.

"Are we gonna have a problem?"

"You got a bone to pick?"

"You've come so far why now are you pulling on my dick?"

"I'd normally slap your face, and everyone here could watch."

"But I'm feeling nice, here's some advice, listen up BIATCH!"

Izuku laughed loudly. "I am so proud of you right now, like, you could not believe it." He wiped away a tear. "I almost could cry."

"Please don't, you're an ugly crier."

"Hey!"

Touya ignored that and gripped his seatbelt. "Hey dad? Aren't you going a little fast? Slow down."

"First of all, uh, woah."

"Woah, ew, dad!"

"Second of all, didn't you want McDonald's?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what time it is?! If I drove at the speed limit, we'd get there fifteen minutes after closing time."

"Oh. Well, ride like the wind Bullseye!"

Izuku shook his head and pushed at Touya's shoulder. "You actually watched the DVDs? You actually managed to work them?!"

The red haired boy shrugged. "Wasn't too hard. Sorta easy, really."

The greenette reached over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Or you're just smart. For a baby."

Touya swatted at the hand. "I'm not a baby! I'm twelve!"

"Baby."

"No!"

"You still act like one."

"No I don't!"

Izuku looked over with a deadpanned expression. "Don't you remember? Two days ago. You threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let you and Shoto keep the squirrel on the window. The day before, you tried holding your breath because I told you I wasn't getting you two a hedgehog."

"We really wanted one.", the boy huffed.

"You would've stepped on it and blamed me."

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah, okay, shore."

The car was quiet then, save for the music coming from the speakers. Izuku glanced over at his son. Touya was looking out the window at the passing trees with a pensive look on his face.

"Hey," Izuku started, grabbing the boy's attention. He looked back to the road. "I... I actually didn't think you'd watch the movies."

Touya's nose crinkled, an eyebrow raised. "Really? Why?"

A gloved hand ran through Izuku's hair. "I didn't think you'd be interested in them. Those came out, like, over a century ago. The first in 1995, I think."

The redhead shrugged. "They were pretty good. I liked them. Do you... have any more?"

Izuku blinked in surprise. "Of course. We could watch them sometimes? Maybe? If you want. You don't have to! I just thought that maybe you'd want some company, but it's okay if you want to be alone! I-"

"Dad." Touya grabbed the hand that had left the wheel and was waving around wildly, fiddling with it's fingers. "It's okay. We can watch them together. I'd like that."

"Touya..." Izuku looked at the boy, then back to the road. He grinned. "That's kinda sus if you ask me."

"Your face is 'sus'!"

"Here, Touya."

"Ew, no! That came out of your pants!"

"You know what else came out of my pants?"

"Dad!"

"The thing that helped make you. So really, you should be grateful for anything that comes out of my pants." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ten-Ten sat on Izuku's spinny chair in his room with his phone, with Izuku on the bed on his laptop.

"Daddy?", called the eight year old.

"Yes Princely?"

"What's your password?"

"For?"

"Your phone."

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored."

"TTDS0415."

"Thank you.", said the girl.

15 MINUTES LATER...

"Daddy?", asked the blue haired child. They sounded a bit nervous.

"Yes?"

"... IthinkI'mgay."

"Hm? Slow down, I couldn't hear you."

The child sighed, their red eyes looking at their grand father nervously. "I think I'm gay."

Izuku slowly dragged his eyes up from his laptop to look at Ten-Ten. "Okay.?"

"'Okay'? That's it?"

Izuku shrugged. "I figured it was a possibility. 'Sorta had a feeling, too. What did you think I'd say?"

Ten-Ten threw their hands up. "I didn't think you say that!"

"Well to be honest, I guess I was a little surprised, sense you said you liked boys just yesterday. But it's whatever."

"No, I do like boys."

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed. "But you just... Oh, so you're bi-?"

"I just wanted you know that I am one. A boy."

Green eyes blinked once, twice, a third. A twisted smiled formed on his lips. "Oh... okay. Congrats."

The boy fixed his gaze on his lap, his nails scratching at his neck. "You're not mad?"

"Of course not. Why would I be?" 'It's not really any of my business.'

"You always make this weird face when I was called a girl or your 'daughter'." Tears welled in the boy's eyes. "I thought... you'd be mad if you knew I was a boy. I know you've always wanted one, so-"

Izuku sat on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand. "Come here Ten-kun."

The blue haired boy sniffled and wiped his eyes, scratching under. He stumbled off the chair and went over to the bed, head hanging low, his free hand holding Izuku's bare one. Izuku tilted his chin up and grabbed the other hand. He pulled his son to stand between his legs.

"Hey, look at me pumpkin."

Izuku kissed the droplets of blood dripping from the scratches under Ten's eyes. "You know who you are, and I could never be mad at you for that. I know what it's like, and I wouldn't want you to feel like that, even if I didn't. I love you. Boy, gorl, both, neither, it doesn't matter to me. You could identify as a dog and I'd still love you. Hell, you could be a full-time furry and I'd be pretty proud. A bit concerned but eh."

Izuku smiled at his son's giggle, though it dimmed. "Ten, the reason why I 'made a weird face' was because I was worried. I don't... I don't very good experiences with girls or daughters of my own. So, I was worried that I might lose you, too." Izuku pulled the boy into a tight hug. "But you know who you are. You're my son. And I love you so much. I don't want you to ever feel like I might get angry at something you tell me, especially if it's about you."

The greenette pulled back to wipe away the tears from the trembling boy's eyes. "I need you to know this, sweetheart. I'm not as smart as I may seem, or as people think. I don't want to have to read your mind, because you deserve your privacy. I need you to tell me these things so I know what to do if something happens. I'm old, not wise."

"If you want, when you're older, we can get you hormone therapy. Or surgery? But you don't have to, it's up to you."

"Will I still have my, y'know, with the hormone thing?"

"Your period? I don't think so, probably not. The chances of you get pregnant are lower, too."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want it, nevermind. Will it hurt? The period?"

"Yes, it will. Quite a bit."

"Does it get better?"

Izuku looked off to the side in thought. "In my experiences, no. It didn't get better as I aged, nor did I get used to the pain. I can't say the same for you."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. But I'll assume that you don't want to be called 'Ten-Ten' anymore?"

"No, not really."

"Is there a name you'd prefer, Ten-kun?"

"...Tenko?"

Izuku smiled. "Alright. Tenko Shimura Midoriya. I love you, my prince."

"Be who you are for your pride~

Don't hide~"

In hindsight, maybe it wasn't so bad that his exes poked holes in their condoms. Maybe it wasn't so bad that he was tricked. Maybe it wasn't so bad that they never loved him. That's okay. Because Izuku would always love his children, and they'd always have him.

No matter what.

Even when he wasn't around anymore to see them grow up.