Papa Bakugou

Chapter 22 - Almost there

      "Hey there, Mr. Number Two!" Kaminari joked as he passed Bakugou in the hallway of the agency. It had been over a year since the court incident, and Katsuki Bakugou finally climbed high enough to be called the number two hero. Only one more step was in his way of becoming number one. It was so close, yet so far.

      "Dunce Face," Bakugou replied.

      "So, what are your plans to be number one?"

      "Work harder, save more people, and kick more villain *ss." Katsuki only meant it as a joke. He really didn't know how to take the spot of number one quiet yet. So many people were supporting him and cheered him on, and yet he still feels like he has nothing to help him up the ranks.

      "Heh, that's what ya always say!" Denki playfully slapped his friend on the back. "I'm rooting for ya, pal. Everyone is. Show us what you're made of!"

      The electric blond then walked off, leaving Bakugou alone with his thoughts. Really, how was he ever going to become number one?

~***~

      "Kacchan!" Izuku yelled as soon as the blond stepped through the door. He and Shouto were now five and up a grade.

      "Hey there, kiddo." Bakugou gave the little rabbit a hug.

      "Hey, Katsuki!" Kirishima said as he walked towards the blond. He was home for the day and watched the kids when they got home from school. "How was work?"

      The blond only responded with a grunt as he picked up Izuku and Shouto and sat them on the couch. "How were things here?" he finally asked as he turned on the T.V. to a kids channel.

      "The boys made a new friend today."

      "Really?" Katsuki couldn't help but be skeptical. As much as he wanted the boys to make friends, he knew that all too often that wasn't other kids' intentions. Izuku was too nice, so other children often picked on or took advantage of him. Meanwhile, Shouto was often too cold to approach. Not to mention when other kids find out their father is the number two hero, they often just try to get close only to get something out of the boys. It got frustrating really fast.

      "Geeze, don't be like that, have a little faith."

      The blond let out another grunt and left for the kitchen to start on dinner. The two kids just looked at each other then at Kirishima.

      "Is Kacchan mad?" Izuku asked.

      "Nah, just under a lot of stress," The redhead tried to explain.

     The two kids just accepted that as the only answer they'll get and continued to watch T.V. This situation had become all too common. Ever since Bakugou became the number two hero, he had been coming home more stressed out and irritated. As much as the boys wanted to help, they just didn't know what to do.

~***~

      After dinner, the two boys ran to their room to play while the adults were alone. They turned on the T.V. which had been turned off when the food was ready and flipped to a reality show.

      "So, now that the kids are gone, wanna talk about work?" Kirishima asked, noticing that Katsuki wasn't really interested in the show. Truth be told, neither was he.

      "I'm much more interested in this so-called 'friend' you mentioned," Bakugou said while looking at the redhead with a little annoyance in his eyes.

      "Is it really that hard to believe that the kids could make friends?"

      Before the blond could retort, the show was abruptly interrupted with a news report. The two immediately dropped everything and listened carefully to the broadcast, eyes widened in shock.

      Lemillion was missing.

~***~

Sorry this took so long to get out, even more so than all the other times. >.<

I've just been under a lot of stress. I couldn't figure out a way to go forward with the story, then the pandemic hit, then I started feeling like nobody even cared making me not even care about continuing. It was just a mess.

Thank you to everyone who supported me. Thanks to you guys I've got a mojo back and I've got some ideas on how to move the story forward.

Sorry this is so short, but thank you so much for reading.

See you all in the next chapter. ^^