Ch.24 - Twenty Months
"What that?" Your nearly two-year-old asked, pointing eagerly to the animal before her.
"Giraffe." You told her, watching as her eyes widened from where she sat on her father's shoulders.
"Raff?" She tried herself, but not quite there.
"Giraffe." Bakugou told her.
"What that?" She pointed to another animal.
"Gazelle." You told her, seeing her nod slowly.
"Gal elle." She spoke, earning a small chuckle from you on how determined Katsuko was to say the names of the animals, but couldn't get there yet.
"Gazelle." Your husband corrected, beginning to move to another exhibit.
You followed after the pair, the baby supplies backpack on you, as well as the map to the zoo. Katsuko bubbled happily, pointing at everything and anything, asking her parents to identify what she was seeing. Even though some of the things she pointed at were other people, who's quirks made them look a bit different than compared to herself and her more humanoid looking parents.
"Down! Down!" Katsuko called out eagerly, lightly kicking her father on his shoulders as she did so.
"Calm down and I will." He instructed her.
It took the little girl another minute or so to contain herself, but when she did, you could tell she was barely able to hold back on her excitement at whatever had caught her eye. Bakugou placed her down, instructing his daughter to grab onto his hand as she eagerly dragged him towards what she had seen.
A giant puddle of water from a fall storm that had come in was where she was going. The beginnings of September already letting you know it was going to be a harsh winter since the rain had started to come down all week.
Today was the first clear day all week, and as a result, your little family had decided to go to a local zoo and let Katsuko see the animals only ever seen in her books up close for the first time. To say she was excited was an understatement.
"Ko! Watch it!" Bakugou hollered, trying to stop his toddler, but she only managed to sneak her way out of his hand and stomp boldly into the puddle.
Bakugou sighed, shaking his head. You approached him, chuckling yourself as Katsuko screamed happily as she kicked up water. The jackets both of you had on keeping you warm and dry, and thus, you kept your distance from the range of the little girl with the rubber boots.
"It's not like she's going to be soaked." You muttered, seeing as you were right to dress your daughter up in the cute rain jacket and boots today.
Mitsuki and Masaru had designed them with Katsuko in mind and gifted the outfit as a present for her first birthday. At the time the clothing had been too big for your growing baby, but now she fit into the cute little outfit like a glove.
It was mostly a red coat with lots of white polka-dots, but the part Katsuko liked the most was the hood. As when it was up, it showed everyone the image of a cat's face. And her boots matched, seeing as the red rainboots had the same little kitties on them. And as of late... Katsuko had taken a major adoration for animals.
So wearing her kittie boots, coat, and seeing lots of animals she loved... made for a happy child. And thus, you and Bakugou were ever so glad to not have to deal with any tantrums as of late.
She was most definitely the child of two stubborn heroes, seeing as it was a fight with her about nearly everything as of late. Such as this morning when she tried to put her own boots on and put them on the wrong feet. It led to a loud unhappy scream when you tried to help, and thus... she was allowed to keep the boots on.
Because unlike your toddler, you and Bakugou knew what would happen the moment you put her into the car. She was out like a light, and now her boots were fixed. And she was none the wiser.
"Katsuko, do you want to go see the elephants?" You asked your daughter.
She froze immediately, looking towards you with a sparkle in her eyes. A huge grin bursting across her face as she nodded eagerly. The puddle was soon forgotten and she ran back towards where you both had been watching her.
"Up! Up daddy!" She cried out, arms in the air, reaching for her father's shoulders again.
"Seriously? You just jumped into a nasty ass puddle!" Bakugou sighed, knowing that in the end, Katsuko would get her way.
Plus if he was being honest... he did feel better having her on his shoulders. This place was crowded and he did not want to lose his daughter in the crowds.
As Katsuko started to whine and beg to be put up, Bakugou reached down and lifted her up. She cried happily, Bakugou putting her on his shoulders, the little girl nuzzling into him.
"Elly! Elly!" She cried, eyes watching her mother as you took out her stuffed elephant.
"Can you hold it?" You asked her, raising a brow. "Because if you drop it... we might lose Elly forever."
Katsuko paused, looking towards the elephant with a sad look. Lose Elly? But... she also wanted to show Elly her family. Her tiny mind spinning as the little ash-blonde girl tried to think of what would be best.
"Mama hold until Ellys?" Katsuko asked, and you nodded.
"Yes. I'll hold onto Elly until we see the Elephants." You told her and then watched as she poked her father's cheek.
"What?" Your husband asked, his tone making Katsuko chuckle despite how it was a little bit rude.
"Daddy! Ellys!" She cried, and Bakugou rolled his eyes.
Katsuko was energetically speaking, though most of her words were still unintelligible, but you both could tell she was excited. Aside from dogs and cats... she loved elephants the most.
You walked next to your husband, wanting to hold his hand, but alas he had a grip on his daughter's legs to make sure she stayed on him and didn't fall. So you settled for walking in strides with him.
"How does it feel to be reduced to a 'horsey'?" You teased him, watching as he gave you a smug look back.
"Least I'm not a damn pack mule like you, mind reader."
"I'm not a mind reader, Katsuki." You huffed. "You know this... I know you know this."
"Cause you can read my mind."
You rolled your eyes, seeing that he must be in a particularly good mood if he was teasing you. Must be the fact that he was so happy that Katsuko was so happy. The once brash male having become an emotional leech. If his daughter was happy and content... he more than likely was as well.
As for you... you were just happy the two most important people in your life were so happy as well. And that today was looking to be such a good and happy day for you all.
Katsuko's happy babbling stopped suddenly, making both you and Bakugou turn to look at her. It seemed her eyes had caught onto something in the crowd, and with a wide smile, she started calling out to what she saw.
"Oni! Oni!" She clapped her hands. "Kame! Kame!"
You and Bakugou both looked out to see if she really was seeing who she thought she was seeing. Katsuko had seen enough of the now-graduated UA students to recognize them... but at a zoo, and together?
"Holy Hell..." Bakugou smirked. "Look at fucking that..."
You held back a laugh of your own, seeing as your daughter had indeed been right. Not too far away, now looking like deer caught in headlights were Bakugou's newly hired sidekicks. Kameko's black hair in two buns, wearing a rather cute little fall outfit. Next to her was Onishi who looked just as nice, his orange locks seeming to even be groomed a little more today.
"Oni! Kame!" Katsuko was still cooing, looking desperate for the older kids to come over and say hello to her.
Their trance soon broke as your family came over to say hello. The two straightening up and looking as if they were trying to hide something obvious. But alas... you and Bakugou had an idea of what was happening.
"Enjoying your day off?" You asked, seeing both lighting up a little pink.
"Hi! Hi! Hi!" Katsuko waved.
"Hi, Katsuko-chan." Kameko finally spoke, the baby proudly clapping her hands for being recognized.
"Hi, Ko." Onishi spoke back, clearing his throat.
He then proceeded to wipe his gloved hands on his black jeans, despite how he didn't have sweaty hands because of his gloves. And that one of his hands was still in Kameko's.
These two were definitely not quite sure how to react yet... seeing as they must have just started dating not too long ago.
"T-taking a family day at the zoo?" Kameko found her footing once more, trying to have a conversation.
"Yup!" You nodded, looking towards Katsuko. "We thought it was time for someone to see an elephant in person."
"Oh. I hear there's a new baby elephant too." Onishi commented.
"We should get going then..." Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Gonna be a damn line and 'Impatient Itsuka' here won't like that..."
Katsuko batted her eyes, not sure who this 'Itsuka' was or why her father was looking at her. Did he see something she didn't see?
"O-Oh! Okay." Kameko nodded. "It was nice seeing you!"
"Same to you guys. Hopefully, the new jobs are working out." You smiled and started to walk away with your husband. "Enjoy the rest of your date."
You turned all the way around as the pair turned red-faced and awkward. You laughed uncontrollably for a moment, your husband lovingly bumping into you as you did so.
"Cool it, people are staring." He scolded you lightly.
"Can't let me have a little fun? They're not my students anymore... so I can finally tease them a little about the obvious." You stuck your tongue out at your husband.
He rolled his eyes, looking back towards his new employees. He let out a sigh, shaking his head. This was certainly expected, but now would be the time to see if their feelings would help or hinder them in the long run.
"Worried for the work environment this may bring?" You asked him, not helping him accept that you were not a mind reader when you accurately though what he was thinking about nearly every time.
"More like I'm damn grateful those two won't be arguing at every second... maybe they'll even work together more..."
"True... but remember how we were when we first started dating? Your mom called it 'puppy love'..." You smirked. "You ready to deal with that?"
Bakugou's face dropped. "Fuck... they are gonna be so fucking gross..."
"How are you almost thirty and still calling affection 'gross'?"
"Oh like you enjoying seeing people make out in public any more than I do." He shot back.
"Ellys!" Katsuko cried out suddenly, both of you realizing she had been quiet.
Sure enough, there was the elephant field right in front of you all. Katsuko once more kicking her father eagerly. It seemed that while the pair of you were having another one of your teasing spats, your daughter had been hyper-focused on finding the elephants.
So now that she could see them, she was filled once more to the brim with energy. Poor Bakugou's shoulder's getting kicked as if he was fighting someone, but it was merely his toddler who didn't know how to control her energy levels.
"Shall we go wait in line than to see the baby?" You asked, Katsuko nodding.
The three of you walked off towards where a small line was, a sign advertising the new baby for all to see. Katsuko repeating 'Ellys' over and over again as you all stood and waited. A few snacks and a stuffed toy at the ready to distract the little girl until it was her turn.
A good and peaceful day for her and her two parents.