Izuku x Ochako fanfic "Parents To Be"

Chapter 7: Walkies

"Ok Satoshi. Fetch!" Eri squealed in excitement as she threw the ball. The moment she did Satoshi went bounding after it and clenched it tightly in his jaws before running back to her and returning it.

"Good boy!" Eri said hugging the fluffy dog who sat with the ball in his mouth, patiently awaiting his next command.

"Eri, remember, you're supposed to make him sit and drop the ball before you praise him" Uraraka said with a slight chuckle. As she did she gave Deku's hand a gentle squeeze. Deku smiled seeing how happy she was. They'd been through a lot and being able to have these moments together was a nice break from reality. Time together as a couple. As parents. As a family.

"Right! Sorry!" Eri said apologetically. Uraraka simply ruffled her hair.

"It's ok. He's a good boy so he deserves some fuss. Isn't that right boy? Yes it is. Who's a good boy? You are" Uraraka said scratching Satoshi behind the ear, much to his approval. She kept scratching until he rolled onto his back for belly rubs. Uraraka and Eri happily obliged, ruffling his fur. The girls both laughed with glee at all of Satoshi's cute reactions to being petted.

"He's so silly" Eri said through all of her laughter as her belly started to hurt from laughing too hard and for too long.

"He is silly. Now go fetch!" Uraraka said picking up the ball and throwing it. Satoshi immediately got up and chased after it.

"This is nice" Deku said sitting down on a nearby bench to observe the park. Uraraka was about to agree with him but when she turned around and saw his face he looked anything but pleased. In fact, he looked completely and utterly miserable. Or was it lost in thought? She was struggling to tell these days. Either Deku was getting better at hiding what he was feeling or his changing features as he started to look more and more like an adult made it much harder to gauge him. She decided that it was a little bit of both but either way he was clearly thinking about something.

"Hey Eri, go play with Satoshi for a little bit. I'm gonna have a quick talk with your father" she said. Eri took one look at Deku and nodded her head to Uraraka. Part of her was still a child but she'd already been through a lot for one so young. Not only that but Deku saved her almost three years ago when she was seven. It wasn't long until her tenth birthday. However despite her young age, her maturity for one so young allowed her to realise what was going on. Almost any other kid would've listened to their mother and thought nothing else of it.

"Come on boy, let's go!" Eri said excitedly getting Satoshi to chase after her. Uraraka smiled at the site before returning her attention to Deku. She walked over and sat down next to him.

"So, what's on your mind?" Uraraka asked. Deku seemed surprised that she'd noticed anything. Or at least the look on his face seemed to give her that impression.

"Sorry. It was nothing in particular" Deku said trying to quickly move on from the subject. However Uraraka had some sort of inclination as to what he was thinking about.

"You're thinking about everybody we've lost to get here. Aren't you?" Uraraka said as she now matched Deku's glum mood and expression. His eyes widened in surprise as he finally turned his head to make eye contact with her.

"How did you know?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"Because I've been thinking about the same thing" she said as she looked out at the park and took everything in, relaxing her body and slumping back on the bench. Deku smiled a little, happy he wasn't the only one thinking about the people they'd lost. Sometimes he worried the world had just forgotten all about them.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Uraraka said with a smile on her face. Deku couldn't tell if it was forced or not. However he saw that same pain in her eyes that he saw whenever he looked in the mirror.