Kazuku Uraraka

A Long Time Coming

Deku sighed as he woke up in bed with Ochako and their son. It felt weird, seeing Uraraka with their child. He had never been happier, which was a problem, because this was a temporary arrangement. He probably wouldn't be able to wake up like this for the rest of his life. He kissed Ochako's forehead before climbing out of the bed. It was four am, so Kaz and Ocha probably wouldn't be awake for a couple hours. He went to the living room and turned on the light. He decided to look through some of Ochako's scrap books. He looked at all the videos, all of the pictures, hoping to get an idea as to what he had missed. So many videos, Kaz's first words, his first steps, the first time his quirk manifested. He laughed to himself when he heard Ochako say 'that must come from your dad's side. my little dragon!' Deku loved seeing all of the videos it made him happy. He couldn't turn back time, but he could see his videos. He was a little sad that Ochako didn't have many pictures of herself. Nothing of her pregnant with Kaz. He supposed Ochako had never liked being the center of attention, it made sense she hadn't had pictures taken of herself. He just wished he could have seen it. But, he supposed, at least he had all of these pictures and videos of Kaz. It made him a little sad, hearing Haru's voice in so many of them, but he also understood Haru's anxiety.. He probably really loved Ochako and Kaz, and he had no way to know what Deku was doing here, what his intentions were. He probably thought Deku had abandoned her. He would be devastated if someone told him he could never see Denji Kaminari again. He knew he should talk to him, tell him his plans, and that he was welcome in his home whenever he wanted to be there. He just hoped he wouldn't lash out at him. He smiled when he heard Ochako coming down the hall.

"Hey Ocha! I was just looking through your photo albums.."

"Did I miss anything? I can tell you stories to fill in the gaps."
Deku shook his head "No.. It's pretty well documented."

"I wanted to have everything.. For if I ever got the guts to tell you."

Deku nodded his head with a sigh "I love you Ocha. There aren't any pictures of you in here."
"No. I uh.. No pictures of me." she laughed

"A shame." Deku sighed with a shrug, "but I understand."

"I just.. Didn't like the way I looked, and I was always sick."
Deku sighed "I'm sure you were radiant. But it's fine. I understand."
Ochako nodded "Thank you Deku."
He smiled at her weakly "I heard a lot of Haru. I didn't realize how involved he's been. I feel like I should talk to him."
"Deku I-"
"Just to let him know he can come visit whenever he wants. If you two are friends, I'm not going to keep you apart."
Ochako nodded her head "Okay."

Deku sighed, holding his arms out for her and smiling as she curled up with him and he ran his hands down her back.

"I love you Ocha."
"I love you too." she murmured

"If we have another child.. M-maybe we can document it. I imagine you were adorable. Even more like Kirby!" he laughed

"I got that a little. Not as much as I probably would have if I had stayed a pro hero." She shrugged

Deku nodded with a small smile, just thinking about it was kind of funny, she was so small. "Have you thought about having a second child?"
Ochako sighed "I mean.. No. But I've been single since Kaz was born."
Deku nodded his head "Obviously we couldn't do it right away. We need to let Kaz adjust to.. well everything, but it could be possible in the future." He smiled at the thought.

Ochako nodded "maybe."
Deku hugged her and kissed her head, he knew that their life would change once he brought them home.. But he hoped they would be happy in Musutafu. Deku stood up, kissing her gently and nuzzling her cheek with a smile.

"Marry me?"

Ochako looked at her feet and blushed, this is why she hadn't told him. She knew that he would do this.
"Deku I-"
"It's not just because of Kaz. I love you. I love you so much, and I want us to be a family! And I have since before I knew Kaz existed."
"I'm not ready to marry you." Ochako sighed, "We need to wait."

"Why? We already have a child.. That's pretty much marriage."
Ochako sighed "I love you Dekukun, but I feel like we need to wait to make sure things work in Musutafu before I marry you. We need to focus on Kaz, his life is changing enough as it is."
"How would us getting married change his life? Because I'm going to be in his life either way."

"But if we move in with you than he won't get to adjust. It would be immediate. He would be changing schools, names, and getting used to you as a permanent part of his life!"
"I'm a permanent part of my his life now!" Deku replied
"I know you are!" Ochako murmured "I just think we need him to get used to that before we move to a new city, new home, new name new sibling.."
Deku sighed "I know. I wasn't saying we go elope right now, and have a kid tomorrow.. It takes a long time to plan a wedding." though optically it would look better for him if he was married to the mother of his child.

Ochako sighed "I'm not ready."
"Okay." he murmured, "We can wait." he kissed her cheek

"Thank you." Ochako held him gently with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I-I'm just not ready to marry you."
"You've made that much clear. You know, you say you love me, but you assumed I was using you for sex.. But I'm beginning to think you used me."

Ochako laughed "What?"
"You don't seem interested in much else!"
"Because I don't want to marry you after one day together?"
"Because you didn't even try to pursue a relationship after you found out you were having my kid!"

"I told you! I didn't want Kaz growing up in the public eye like that!"
Deku huffed "I just.. It's hard not to take it personally. You say you loved me, but it's hard to feel loved when you found out you were carrying my child and you didn't immediately call me."

"I was going to."
"But you didn't."

"No.. I didn't. I.. was scared I would lose him, and so I told myself I would tell you after the first trimester. But than.. I was scared you would be mad at me because I didn't tell you right away! So I just.. Didn't. I didn't want to see you like this. I didn't want to face our friends. I also just.. Didn't want Kaz to belong to Japan. I wanted him to be mine."
"He's mine too." Deku sighed "You can't just erase that. Do you have any idea how much I missed you? But the way you ran away that morning, I assumed you wanted nothing to do with me. So I just pushed my feelings down."
Ochako sighed "I missed you too. And I got to look at a miniature version every day.."

Deku sighed "Whose fault was that?"
Ochako sighed "I'm sorry."
Deku nodded his head sadly "I know." he kissed her gently, "I'm looking forward to when we're past this.. But we're not there yet."
"I agree."
Deku kissed her with a sigh. "I'm going to love you no matter what, Ocha." Deku was begining to think it was a curse. He wanted so badly to be angry with her for what she had done, to hate her for it.. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't hate his Ocha. It would hurt so much less if he did. But since he still loved Ochako, he needed to forgive her, and accept their relationship for what it was. It was going to take a while. Sometimes he felt great, sitting with his son, kissing Uraraka. And sometimes he let himself think about the situation he was in.. And it hurt like hell. He had no way of knowing what would happen when they moved.
"Promise me you won't disappear again." he whimpered, "Promise I won't wake up alone one day and find you five years later with Kaz and a freckled little girl!"
"Deku I-"
"Promise me!" The walls shook, Deku frowned, he didn't think he had ever yelled at Ochako before. His hand went over his mouth and he bit it, angry with himself for yelling when Kaz was trying to sleep.
"I promise. I-I'm sorry Dekukun."
Deku tried to stop the tears, but they had been coming for a long time, he sat on the floor and sobbed into his hands. Ochako moved to comfort him, but Kaz came down the hall and she redirected him instead, letting him watch the tv in her bedroom. Deku cried into his hands, he cried about the time he had missed, he cried about the fact that his favorite person had betrayed him because she was worried he wasn't fit for fatherhood. He cried because of all the years he had spent missing Ochako, feeling alone. He cried because he was worried she would leave him alone and heartbroken again, and he wasn't sure if he would ever be able trust her. He felt her arms on him, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
"You hurt me. You really hurt me."
"I know. I'm sorry."