New Beginnings

In His Corner

MIDORIYA'S POV

When I walked into the kitchen, the kids were in the dining room while Bakugo stood at the stove. "Morning," he said quietly. He sounded ashamed. Which, good, he should be. After what he pulled yesterday, he's lucky I'm still here.

I get he's grieving. He's allowed to grieve. But he has to think about his actions. He knew I had something planned last night. The kids were not okay last night because of him.

"I made breakfast," he said while sliding me a plate. "If you have time before you go."

"We're going to pretend that everything is okay?" He can't be serious. He owes me an apology. Or, at the least, he should be thanking me.

"I'm here. I'm sober. And you're off for the day." He slid my plate further toward me, ending our discussion.

I grabbed the plate and walked into the dining room. I wonder if he's always been like that. Was he always so cold and uncaring? Or did his ex take every loving piece of him when he left?

"Midoiya!" Masao cheered as I walked into the room. "Daddy back!"

"He never left," Hanako said. "He was busy." She said it curtly. Masao may be happy, but she clearly isn't. She has every right to be upset with him. He's supposed to be her rock. The only thing that holds this family together at this point.

"Midoriya?" Kenzo asked quietly. "Can we go to the park today?"

I frowned. He didn't seem to be happy, either. "It's my day off. I'm going out with my friends today." They wanted to show me some more of their little town. I got to check out some of the small businesses last week with Bakugo and the kids, but Uraraka, Tsu, and Todoroki want to show me the farmers market and grocery store. More practical stuff that I'll probably use and need more often.

"Can we come with you?" Hanako asked while pushing her eggs around her plate. By "we," I'm assuming she means her and Kenzo.

"Grandma's coming to pick you guys up soon," Bakugo said as he took the last chair at the table.

"Gama?" Masao said with a wide smile. "She come?"

"She's taking you guys until tomorrow night." So, instead of dealing with everything with his kids, he's pushing them away, too? Great parenting.

"Doesn't grandma live super far away?" Hanako asked. "That's why we don't see her a lot. It's not summer yet. Why is she coming to pick us up?"

"She's taking you somewhere super special for the weekend. Daddy has something to do." Even if he's just planning on getting drunk in the basement, at least the kids won't be around for it this time.

"After school on Monday, we can go to the park again. Okay?" That made Kenzo smile, but he still didn't seem too happy. Bakugo needs to sit down and talk to them about what happened.

"Why are we going with grandma? What are you doing this weekend?" Hanako pushed her plate away.

"Don't worry about it."

I feel like I'm intruding at this point. I stood up and walked to the kitchen, putting my plate in the sink. This sounds like a family thing that they should go through on their own.

As I walked to the mudroom to grab my keys and shoes, Bakugo appeared behind me. "I won't be home until the kids get back Sunday evening. Just so you know."

I nodded. "Thanks for telling me." I grabbed my keys and slipped my shoes on. I don't care what he's doing this weekend. I cared about what he did last night when he wasn't here.