Incomplete [Chapter 9]

[Chapter 8]

Koharu gasped when they crested the little hill, her huge sun hat falling down to her nose. Katsuki grinned as he tipped it back for her, messing up her little blonde pigtails in the process, but she didn’t seem to notice or mind.

“Look at the water!” she gushed. “It’s so blue!”

“I thought you liked pink, not blue,” Katsuki teased. “Watch your step, don’t trip over.”

Together they walked down the pathway, Katsuki hovering protectively over Koharu with her too-big hat and floppy sandals on. Yoshiki stayed a few steps behind, at Izuku’s side, giving them plenty of space to avoid an accident if Koharu fell or stopped in a hurry – clearly he was used to her antics.

On Izuku’s back, he carried a bag full of their supplies for the day – sunscreen, water, snacks, even a few toys he’d picked up at the dollar store after work a few days prior. Despite Katsuki’s quirk making the world assume otherwise, he was a sucker for a good beach trip, so it had only seemed fitting that they spend his birthday weekend hanging out in the sun with their kids.

“I wanna swim!” Koharu announced, running toward the water but struggling to gather any speed on the shifting sand.

“Hold on, hold on,” Katsuki laughed, taking a few long strides and scooping her up. “You’re still in clothes, you’ll have to go home soggy if you run straight in.”

“Awwww.”

He picked out an empty space in the sand, and soon Izuku and Yoshiki were catching up, setting down their stuff to claim their space. Izuku dug out two inflatable rings, and while Katsuki helped the kids strip off their outer layers, he set to work blowing them up. They’d made a stop on the way to buy swimsuits and hats for the kids, and while Yoshiki had picked out a simple black and orange set – of course – Koharu had fallen in love with the frilliest little pink mermaid-scale thing, delighted to watch the skirt bounce when she moved.

Izuku stuffed a ring over each of the kids’ heads, and then they were off, Koharu sprinting down the sand – or, attempting to – while Katsuki easily kept pace beside her, Izuku walking along at Yoshiki’s side until the water began to nip at their toes. It was a little chilly, but the weather had been getting warm, so it made a nice change from the sweaty hero suit Izuku had been wearing on patrol. He really needed to get something more breathable made, one day.

“Don’t worry,” Izuku said knowingly. “The ring will hold you up, and I’m right here too.”

Yoshiki just nodded, continuing to walk, until the water reached his ring. He lifted his feet up, testing, and smiled when he bobbed lightly on the water. Izuku grinned back at him, taking hold of the ring to pull it lightly, and Yoshiki’s smile widened when he floated along. He stretched his arms out to hold the plastic, and let Izuku tow him, catching up with Koharu and Katsuki where they splashed at each other playfully. A few sodden spikes of hair hung heavy against Katsuki’s head, while others still stood up tall, and Izuku couldn’t help but laugh. Katsuki smiled knowingly, then dunked himself, the water plastering all of it down to fix the mess, but dripping salty water down his face in the process. He shook it off like a wet dog, making Koharu squeal with laughter as the water flicked off and hit her, and Izuku leaned in to kiss Katsuki’s cheek fondly – there was something so cute about a floppy-haired Katsuki grinning at his children.

His children.

The words made Izuku well up, his throat and chest constricting. It was so hard, knowing that they couldn’t technically call them that, yet. They couldn’t go yell it to the world, couldn’t gush over the kids with their friends and families, couldn’t even tell the kids yet, to make sure they wanted it, to let them know how much Katsuki and Izuku adored them.

Holding his breath, he ducked under the water, letting the cold water shock him out of his oncoming tears. He squeezed his eyes shut to keep the salt water out, and gave himself a good shake as he came up, making Koharu squeal again as he made sure he’d composed himself.

“Now we match,” Izuku grinned, when Katsuki reached over and shoved the hair out of his eyes.

“Idiot,” Katsuki huffed. “Now you’re gonna spend a week complaining about your hair being stupid.”

“It was gonna get wet anyway!”

“I’ll shave it off for you.”

“Joke’s on you, you’re the one who would be embarrassed by me.”

“Damn it.”

“Can I go too?” Yoshiki asked. “I can swim. A little.”

“Course you can,” Katsuki grinned, lifting the ring over his head. “Three, two, one.”

Yoshiki held his breath and dropped under the water, pausing for a moment, and when he started to pop back up, Katsuki grabbed his hand, making sure he was steady.

“Me too! Me too!” Koharu insisted, throwing her arms out.

Yoshiki held onto his ring again, and Katsuki plucked Koharu out of hers, keeping her head just above the water.

“Alright, deep breath!” he instructed.

Koharu held her breath, and Katsuki let her sink for a moment, quickly pulling her back up and grinning again when she laughed brightly.

“There, now we’re all wet,” he said, tucking the ring back around her for safety. “Cooled off a bit?”

“Yup!”

They headed out a little further, to where the waves were a little bigger, letting the kids bob up and down as they passed by. Koharu clung to Katsuki’s hand every time a big one came in, giggling as she rose and fell, and Izuku made sure to hold on to Yoshiki’s ring, just in case, watching him smile to himself contentedly.

When Koharu’s stomach growled, they started heading back, the kids kicking their feet up onto their tubes while Katsuki and Izuku dragged them along, racing to shore. Yoshiki clung on tighter when they reached the sand, and Koharu squealed again as she searched for a hand hold, the pair bouncing along the ground as the adults continued their race, this time in awkward crouched runs to keep their grip. Katsuki dove into the sand, rolling over to catch Koharu in his hands when she tumbled from the ring, and together they cheered, celebrating their victory. Izuku couldn’t even be mad about it, watching them beam at each other, instead flopping onto the warm sand at Yoshiki’s side, smiling at him softly.

“Sorry, Kacchan always was faster than me.”

“He’s faster than everyone,” Yoshiki said sagely, climbing off his ring. “You were super fast.”

“Thank you,” Izuku said fondly. “Alright, shall we grab some lunch?”

Yoshiki nodded, opening up their cooler box and finding water bottles first, handing them out to everyone like the Santa Claus of hydration. Katsuki gulped his down immediately, and Yoshiki had a fresh one in his hand before Katsuki could even set his empty one down, blinking at him in surprise for a second before he accepted.

“Thanks, kid.”

“S’okay,” Yoshiki said, shrugging it off.

He reached for their picnic blanket next, and Izuku rolled across the sand to help, putting bags and shoes on the corners to help hold it down in the light breeze. Together they laid out rice balls and fruit and Katsuki’s signature fried chicken that never failed to make Izuku drool, and soon the other two were sitting right at their sides, helping to find utensils and plates so they could all make a start. Izuku went straight for the chicken, grinning when Yoshiki did too. They’d both watched as he cooked them up that morning, dropping them one by one onto a bed of paper towels to catch the excess oil, and had fought the urge to sneak over and try to steal one without him slapping their hands away.

Now, there was nothing to stop them from gobbling down the whole container – well, other than the rest of the group also wanting to eat some, but that was not as compelling an argument as it should have been.

The fruit, of course, was excellent as well – Katsuki had gone and found the prettiest, juiciest, and probably most expensive fruit in town, just to cut it up into little wedges for them to munch on. And the rice balls were nothing to sniff at either – Katsuki had a knack for seasoning rice that Izuku seemed to lack. Even if he followed a recipe, weighing everything out exactly as he was told, it never compared to the way Katsuki could just eyeball it and say “close enough”.

Then again, Katsuki was the best at everything, so it kind of stood to reason that his cooking was always amazing.

“So good,” Izuku praised, when Katsuki glanced his way. “Thanks for cooking, Kacchan.”

“It tastes amazing,” Yoshiki agreed, giving Koharu a little kick. “Thank you.”

“The best! Thank you!”

The food disappeared quickly, along with a few more bottles of cold water, and with their trash packed away and a quick re-coating of sunscreen, they were ready to play once more. Yoshiki picked up a plastic bucket and shovel from their little pile of gear, setting to work digging a hole, and Koharu started hunting through shells, showing off the best ones as she found them. Katsuki grabbed another little bucket, and the pair of them started off down the sand to look for more, leaving behind Izuku, Yoshiki, and a hole in the ground.

“I’m gonna build a castle like in the photos,” Yoshiki said, when Izuku didn’t speak right away. “The beach photos always have castles.”

“That sounds great. Do you want some help?”

“If you want to.”

Izuku smiled knowingly, and just nodded, picking up the last of their hurriedly acquired buckets.

“I’ll grab some wet sand,” he offered. “It helps the sand stick together better for the structure parts.”

“Okay!”

It took all of Izuku’s self-control to not walk backwards to the water, just to make sure he could see Yoshiki at all times, but he settled for just looking over his shoulder the whole way, trying his best to watch both Yoshiki’s digging, and the space he was walking into. He scooped up a big bucketload of damp sand, and when Yoshiki reached to take it from him, his mouth popped open into a little O that made Izuku laugh.

“Heavier than it looks?” he asked knowingly.

“Yeah.”

When Yoshiki was satisfied with the size of the hole, he scooped some of the wet sand in, patting it down to make a base. Izuku leaned over to help, letting Yoshiki scoop in another handful, while he took over spreading it out and patting it down.

“Do you think we could have a moat?” Yoshiki asked.

“Definitely, every castle deserves a good moat. Maybe we could pack out the edges with the good, solid stuff too, then make a platform in the middle for the castle to sit on?”

“Yeah,” Yoshiki agreed, starting to lay out handfuls of sand around the edge. “A big trench to fill up.”

Izuku patted it out carefully, and by the time Katsuki and Koharu returned, they had a good, solid foundation built up. Katsuki took over Izuku’s job, teaching Yoshiki how to carefully carve out little doors and windows in the sand, while Koharu showed off her new collection, letting Izuku admire every swirly or colourful shell she’d tracked down.

“Can I help decorate?” she asked, when Yoshiki had his structure built. “You can use some shells!”

Izuku was a little surprised to see Yoshiki nod, leaning over to look at the shells she suggested. Most kids would have been worried about their castle getting destroyed, especially with the energy Koharu had – her hands weren’t exactly known for being steady. But sure enough, together they picked out the shells that would look best on their castle, and they took turns carefully pressing them into place. Katsuki continued carving tiny windows where they requested them, his touch a lot lighter than the kids’ ones, and Izuku fetched a bucket of water, ready to fill up their moat. When the kids were satisfied, even a tiny little shell flag poked into the top, Yoshiki carefully began to tilt the bucket, pausing when it leaked down the side. He hesitated, and finally his eyes landed on Katsuki, who waited patiently for the words to come out.

“Can you help me?” he asked quietly.

“Of course, bud.”

He shuffled around to sit beside Yoshiki, helping him lift the bucket, and carefully they began to pour it in. The first few bits of water seeped into the sand, packing it down again just like it had been in the foundation, and then, bit by bit, it began to fill up.

“Woohoo!” Koharu cheered. “Oh, wait, photo!”

She scurried away to grab her pink camera from the bag, taking a few snaps of their project, then finally she turned around, holding it up to point at them all. Katsuki shifted closer to Yoshiki, dragging Izuku with him, and with a big grin at the lens, Koharu hit the button.

“It’s perfect,” Izuku said, when she turned it around to show them all. “You’re really good at this.”

“The selfie queen!” Koharu said proudly. “That’s what my teacher says.”

“She’s right!”

“Mm... Maybe princess, though. They get prettier dresses.”

“Okay, the selfie princess,” Izuku agreed. “Can you send me a copy? I want to put it on my desk at work.”

“I will!”

As the sun began to set, they packed their things away, and Katsuki strapped the bag onto his back for the walk to the car. Koharu carried the messy buckets, the top one holding the last few shells, that she’d elected to keep rather than use for their castle. Izuku was pretty sure she was going to pass out the moment she got in her car seat, but for the moment she walked, holding Katsuki’s hand with her free one and babbling stories about the adventures of the princesses of the sand kingdom. Yoshiki interjected occasionally, objecting that bunnies couldn’t get knighted, or that dragons breathed fire not rainbows, but Koharu took it all in stride, happy to let Yoshiki change the story as it went on.

They climbed over the hill much slower than the last time, and Izuku was torn, when he saw the car waiting for them. Part of him was relieved, exhausted after a long day in the sun, but the other part of him was sad to see it end, disappointed that soon he’d have to leave them again, back at that big, empty house for another week.

He gave Koharu a sappy little kiss on the head as he strapped her into her seat, getting a sweet giggle in return, then headed over to make sure Yoshiki had buckled himself in properly, ruffling his hair and hoping Yoshiki wouldn’t be too offended by it. Finally, he slid into his own seat, sharing a soft smile with Katsuki, his husband, because god that still felt so good to say.

“I love you,” he whispered, squeezing Katsuki’s hand when he reached for the gearstick.

“Love you too, nerd,” Katsuki said fondly. “But for now, I need my hand to drive.”

“Maybe in a minute,” Izuku teased, squeezing a little harder as he leaned in. “Kiss?”

Katsuki obeyed, planting a quick, sandy little kiss on Izuku’s lips, and from the back seat came a chorus of giggles and “ewwwwww”s.

He wouldn’t have had it any other way.

[Chapter 10]