"Kazumi? I'm home."

Bakugo walked through the door after a day on patrol and shut it behind him.

There was no response from his girlfriend.

"Kazumi? Baby? You here?"

Panic swept through him as there was still no response. On instinct, he sparked up his hands, ready to kill whoever had tried to harm his family as he walked upstairs. He approached their bedroom and slowly opened the door to find Kazumi lying on the bedroom floor… in a pool of blood. She was gasping slightly, still alive but just barely.

"Kazumi." He rushed to her side, trying to find where the blood was coming from.

Her belly.

A knife stuck out of her belly, right above her belly-button. That was where the blood was coming from.

"K-Kacchan…" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

"No. Fuck, no no no no…"

He fumbled with his phone for a second, calling emergency services.

"Yes, hello? My name is Katsuki Bakugo. I just got home and my girlfriend's been stabbed. Please hurry—she's pregnant!"

"We're sending somebody right now, sir."

"Kazumi, baby, please stay with me." He lifted her into his arms and she gazed up at him with those ice-blue eyes he loved so much. "Please."

"They're gone…" she whispered, tears forming. "I… I can't feel them kicking anymore. The babies…"

His heart stopped.

"They stopped just a minute ago. I'm… I'm a failure as a mother…"

"Who did this?"

"A man. He… he came in and said that you needed to suffer as he had. And then he stabbed me." She coughed and he held her closely, reaching for the knife. "No. Don't. You have to… leave it in. Or you'll cause more damage."

Her breathing was getting shallower. And her blood was all over him. But he didn't care about the blood.

"Baby, please stay with me."

"I can't… I've got to be with the babies." Her eyes were becoming dull and glazed over.

"No, stay with me. Please. I need you."

"They do, too."

"I need you more. I love you. I can't lose you!"

"He sent them, you know."

"Who?"

"The man who stabbed me. He sent the men who broke into the house to make you suffer."

She began to fade in his arms—not figuratively, either. She was literally fading away.

When the paramedics arrived, he was alone in their bedroom, shaking and covered in her blood.

"VILLAIN!"

"HE KILLED HER!"

"WHERE'S HER BODY?!"

The cries of the public reached a fever pitch as he was led away in chains.

"I didn't kill her!" he yelled.

But you did. You might as well have driven the knife into her.

You did this. You made that man kill her.

"Kazumi, I'm sorry! Please! I love you!"

Kacchan.

The name haunted him.

Kacchan.

His inner voice sounded just like her…

"Kacchan."

"DAMMIT, KACCHAN, WAKE UP, PLEASE!"

He shot awake in bed, only to see his girlfriend very much alive and unharmed staring at him. In disbelief, he began to touch her to make sure it was real and not just another dream.

"Kazumi…?"

"You were having a nightmare." He sighed and fell back on the pillows. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. I'm just… what happened a couple weeks ago has been bothering me." His eyes met hers. "Those two guys—they were hired to kidnap you. That's what the cops told me. And they were hired by the leader of the Watanabe Syndicate."

"But that's defunct now. You busted it months ago."

"And I didn't get Ichiro Watanabe himself. He's still out there and he wants revenge on me. That's why he sent them to kidnap you—to get to me and ruin my life."

"Well, he's not going to get me." She kissed him gently and nestled against his arm. "I have you to protect me at night and everyone else during the day."

"Yeah… but in my nightmare, you were home alone during the day and someone stabbed you. I wasn't able to save you or the babies."

"Kacchan…"

"God… I'm terrified, Kazumi." He was really shaken up; he was openly talking about emotions with his girlfriend. "I'm constantly afraid I'm going to lose you because I did something stupid. And I'm not just talking hero work. You're important to me and I can't lose you. I've faced that before and I can't handle it."

"Look at me." He did and she guided his hand under her nightshirt, right to the top of her belly. Their babies kicked against his hand, as if to say it was okay. "See? I'm fine. Our babies are fine. And it's because we have you. I'm not going anywhere for a while."

He wrapped his arms around her as if trying to assure himself of that fact and she reciprocated.

"How long until they're born?" he asked in a low voice.

"I have a month to go. And then I have to wait a while after that before I can go back on duty. I'm going to be fine."

She eventually drifted back to sleep, her breathing even and gentle against him. But slumber wouldn't be so kind to him, not after that dream.

Sometimes, he wondered why she'd fallen for him back in high school. He was rough, loud, abrasive, rude, and completely unfiltered when it came to his thoughts. If anything, he was the kind of guy that girls liked to sleep with a few times then move on to someone like Deku—somebody who was sweet and treated them like royalty. Kazumi had stuck by him through everything, even when their agency had struggled to get off the ground at first and the frustration had nearly boiled over. It was because of her that he was able to have any clients at all, her people skills far outstripping his and he was grateful. She wasn't without her faults, but he loved her in spite of those faults.

Life was ugly. Especially if you were a hero. He understood that more than most people. He'd seen that ugliness firsthand. It made him wonder why he wanted to bring a family—twin daughters—into a world that almost killed them before they had a chance to leave their mother. Then he'd come home to Kazumi doing something as simple as watching a movie and balancing a book on her belly and he'd remember that he wasn't alone. He had his girlfriend, their twin daughters. And that made all the difference.

She was gone when he woke up.

For a moment, he panicked until he realized that he could smell something cooking downstairs. Bakugo crept down to meet her, spotting her at the stove. She was humming and resting a hand on her belly. He snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Smells good," he mumbled.

"It better. There's a reason I don't cook."

"Yeah, because we both know I'm better at it."

She swatted his arm playfully as he released her and she finished making breakfast. When they'd finished eating, they got ready for the day—her spending it with her two mothers and his mother and him going to work as a hero. Part of him wanted to say 'screw it' and stay home with her, but that would lead to her pointing out that he'd have plenty of time once he was on paternity leave and they needed cash for that period of time where neither of them would be working.

"I'll be home tonight," he told her. "Try not to go into labor until then."

"Fuck you. I can't control it."

He chuckled and kissed her before heading out.

Upon returning home, he set his stuff down and looked around. Kazumi was nowhere to be seen.

"Kazumi? I'm home!"

No answer.

The memory of his nightmare began to creep into his mind.

Kazumi stabbed and lying on the floor of their bedroom.

"Kazumi!"

Light disappearing from her eyes as she bled out.

Panicking, he ran upstairs and into their bedroom. She wasn't there and the feeling of something bad happening was still there in his gut.

"Kazumi!"

"Kacchan!" he heard her call. The bathroom. She was in the bathroom.

He threw open the door to find her kneeling on the floor, breathing heavily. A small puddle of reddish liquid was next to her. She looked up at him with desperation in her eyes.

"It's time," she whispered.

The babies are coming.

"Shit. Shit." He picked her up carefully and carried her downstairs, setting her on a chair in the dining room. "I'm going to grab your bag and call us a cab. Just breathe."

"Not much else I can do." She grit her teeth and hissed in pain.

The ride to the hospital was even more stressful. Bakugo found himself holding her hand while she breathed heavily and let out the occasional yelp of pain. There wasn't much else he could do until they reached the hospital and Kazumi was wheeled off to the delivery room. He was brought in not too long after.

The next several hours passed in a blur for him. He vaguely recalled calling their families to let them know that the twins were on the way but it was all fuzzy. All he could really remember clearly were the sounds of Kazumi screaming as she was in the worst pain she'd ever been in and the cries of their daughters as they were brought into the world.

Chiasa and Hanako.

"Katsuki!"

He looked up at the sound of Inko's voice. She was there with his parents, All-Might, and Rei Todoroki.

"How's my baby?" Rei asked, looking worried.

"She's fine. The twins are fine. They're in the nursery getting cleaned up and Kazumi is sleeping."

"Your hand okay?" All-Might chuckled.

"Had worse. It was worth it, though."

"Okay, I can tell you're exhausted," his mom sighed.

"No, old hag, I'm fine."

"You're not putting up your usual barrier. You're exhausted, son, and you need to get some sleep. How long have you been here?"

"Since… we got here last night, a little after six."

"Katsuki, it's ten in the morning. You went to work yesterday all day and then rushed here pulling an all-nighter—you're not going to be any use to Kazumi if you're exhausted."

Bakugo rolled his eyes but he knew she was right.

Newborns are a lot of work.

"Mr. Bakugo?" He looked up to see the nurse. "Your girlfriend is asking for you."

He stood up and followed the woman to the recovery room where Kazumi was lying in the bed. She looked even more exhausted than he felt, which made him feel a little guilty for wanting to sleep. The nurse excused herself to go get the twins so the parents could properly meet them.

"Hey, Water Witch."

"Kacchan." She smiled. "Where are the babies?"

"Nurse just went to get them." He sat down in the chair pulled up by Kazumi's bedside. "You feeling okay?"

"It feels like I got hit by a truck and it mostly hit the lower half of my body."

"I don't think I'm ever going to unsee what I saw with this."

"All right, Mom," the nurse said brightly, coming into the room. She was with another nurse and each of them carried a bundle wrapped in a hospital-issued blanket. "Here are your girls. Both healthy."

There were tears in Kazumi's eyes as she took the first baby—the firstborn, Hanako. Bakugo was handed the other, Chiasa. As he held his younger daughter he felt a connection unlike any he'd really felt before. It would be his job to raise her, to protect her, to teach her how to be a decent human being. She would depend on him for at least eighteen years. It was real, he was a father. And suddenly he understood Deku's protectiveness over Eri, the green-haired hero's worry about his daughter growing up and not needing him anymore.

"Are you crying?" He looked at Kazumi, who was smirking like she had in high school whenever she'd caught him being more sensitive than he usually was.

"I can cry, dammit."

"I know. That's fine."

Chiasa yawned, revealing gums that didn't even have a place for teeth yet.

"Hey, um, our families are here. At least, our parents except for the burning bastard."

"What about Izuku and Shoto?"

"Not here yet, as far as I saw. They could be here now."

The nurse smiled and left the room. Just a few minutes later, their families came into the room. Deku, Ochaco, and Shoto had evidently shown up while Bakugo was alone with Kazumi. Chiasa and Hanako were passed from person to person, everyone complimenting and saying how adorable and perfect the twins were.

Eventually, he and Kazumi were alone again.

"Kacchan, you need to get some sleep," she told him.

"The old hag's been telling me that since she got here."

"And you should listen to her. Go home and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." He kissed her goodbye.

When the twins and Kazumi came home from the hospital, Bakugo had more nightmares. They were all about losing his girlfriend or his daughters and being left completely alone with their memory. It was to the point where he was grateful for the lack of sleep the twins allowed him and Kazumi to have because it meant less time for the nightmares to creep into his mind. His paternity leave ended and he went back to the agency, where he finally caught Ichiro Watanabe and put him behind bars.

That night was the first good night's sleep he'd gotten in months.

Not to mention it was also the first night his daughters slept through.

Sequel chapter to "2:17 AM".

See, I told you a sequel was coming. I hope you all enjoyed this little anecdote.

I am now taking requests for chapters. However, I will not take anything M-rated or otherwise inappropriate. I will post the guidelines on my Tumblr sometime today.

So long and thanks for all the fish!