Why do children have to be so small?

Draw four

Hizashi is driving. I’m sitting next to him, Eri and Hitoshi are in the back seat. We’re just minutes away from the house. We moved in there shortly after Hitoshi turned seven. Then we re-built it a bit to add Eri’s room. Hopefully she’ll appreciate it.
We pull up next to the house. Eri is too short to reach the ground from her booster seat, so I have to lift her out.
“Thank you, daddy!”
She grabs my hand and walks with me to the door. I’m always so baffled over how small she is. Hitoshi was a lot larger in her age but she’s… tiny. Hizashi unlocks the door and walks inside.
“Home sweet home!”
We have two weeks at home before school starts. Eri is probably going to live with us at campus, but she’s starting school as well. I can already bet the students are going to miss her. They practically love her. Even Bakugo has a soft spot for her. I caught him trying to braid her hair once during an afternoon break. It didn’t go too well, though.
Hitoshi walks straight to his room on the second floor. He barely leaves it when we’re home. I guess it’s part of being a teenager nowadays. I spent most of my teenage time with Hizashi.
“Your room is right next to ours, if you ever need anything.”
Our bedrooms are downstairs, next to the kitchen. We walk towards the bedrooms. Eri is still clinging onto my hand.
“Are you ready to see your room, princess?”
She nods and Hizashi opens the door for her. I haven’t seen her room myself either. She immediately runs inside to explore. She jumps up on the bed to get a better view. The wallpapers are a light pink, and there’s glow-in-the-dark stars and moons all over the roof. We bought her some toys, but most of her stuff was actually given to her by the students on her birthday, not soon after she came. She starts bouncing on the bed.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, thank you daddy! Thank you papa!”
Hizashi lifts her up and spins around, kissing her cheeks.
I can’t remember ever being this happy.

The cats are starting to come out from their hiding spots. They’ve never met Eri before. They’re quite careful around new people, but it doesn’t take them too long to realize that Eri is kind and gentle. She always makes sure that she’s not pushing too hard when she wants to pet them. We have a couple of stray cats that walk around on UA campus, so I let her practice with them. She’s such a gentle, kind soul, she’d never harm a fly. One of the cats is climbing on top of her and settles down in her lap. She lays her tiny hand on top of it and carefully strokes it’s fur. I can’t believe she’s still so gentle after what happened to her. Being used like that. She’s so brave, so strong. I admire her for that. I pull her against me, hugging her.
“You know daddy and papa loves you, right?”
She looks up at me, a little confused at first.
“Of course I do, daddy!”
She smiles widely. It took her so long before I saw her smile for the first time. That bright, precious smile I would do anything to see again. I squeeze her cheeks together.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, princess?”
“How did you get that scar?”
She points to the deep scar under my right eye.
“Oh, I got it while fighting villains!”
She likes when I tell her stories from work.
“Really? What happened?”
“There was this really big guy. He smashed my head to the ground. But then All Might and the other teacher came to save me. I couldn’t beat him myself. I did manage to save my students, though.”
“Really? That’s so brave!”
I smile a little.
“You are so kind, princess.”
I kiss her cheek.
“Daddy! You need to shave!”
“I don’t care! Hahahahaha!”
I rub my stubble against her cheek. She laughs and I hold her against my chest. I’m so glad we rescued her from Overhaul. I’m glad we adopted her. I didn’t think I liked kids this much.

“Sho! I thought you loved me! How could you do this to me!?”
I lay down the card.
“Draw four.”
Hizashi dramatically falls to the floor while grabbing his chest.
“I have been shot! I’m dying! You have killed me, Sho!”
“Don’t die, papa! I’ll save you!”
Eri jumps down from her chair and tries to loft Hizashi into her arms. She’s not doing very well. Hizashi laughs.
“Thank you, noble princess! You have saved me!”
He kisses Eri’s cheek and gets back in his chair. He picks up four cards. It’s the kids’ turn. I convinced Hitoshi to team up with Eri since she doesn’t quite understand the rules. They whisper and Hitoshi points to a card in Eri’s hand. She picks it up and lays it down on top of the pile.
“We’re blocking daddy!”
“Excuse me? I am extremely hurt.”
“So now it’s my turn, ri-”
“Nope, wait a moment.”
Eri picks up another card and places it on the pile as well.
“We’re blocking papa too!”
“Rude.”
Hitoshi smirks and points to yet another card in Eri’s hand, since it’s their turn again.
“Draw two.”
“Extremely hurt, I’m telling you.”
I pick up two cards from the draw pile. It’s one reverse card and a green eight. I’ll take it. It’s Hizashi’s turn.
“Okay, then… yellow six.”
He places the yellow six card on top of the pile.
“Yellow zero.”
My turn.
“Reverse.”
I look up at Hitoshi. I’ll get my revenge.
“Hey! Now I have to wait longer until it’s my turn!”
“Too bad, ‘Zashi, it’s the rules.”
“Hm, well, yellow three, red three. Color changes to red.”
“Damn it-”
“Hey! Don’t swear! There are kids nearby, Hizashi!”
“I can’t place anything!”
“Then draw three from the draw pile!”
“Ugh, fine.”
He picks up three cards from the pile. Now I can get my revenge.
“Draw four. I pick green. Draw two. Draw two. That’s eight in total. Uno.”
“That was cruel, dad.”
“Yes. It was. That’s what you get for blocking me.”
I smile at Hitoshi and Eri. They draw all their cards and it’s Hizashi’s turn again.
“Uh… green three?”
I shrug and place my last card, a green two.
“I win.”

After dinner we all sat down on the couch and started watching some kid’s movie from America. It’s some ice queen who’s running away from her sister because she’s afraid of her powers. I don’t know, I’m not really keeping track of the story. Hitoshi is playing with his phone or something. Texting someone? Both Eri and Hizashi are asleep. I understand Eri, it’s late for her, but Hizashi, what the hell? It’s not like we’ve been working, why is he so tired.
I wrap my arms around both of them and look over at Hitoshi.
“Who are you texting?”
“Denki.”
“Kaminari? Are you guys dating or something?”
His face goes red.
“Uh… no? Why would you think that?”
“He literally pierced your ear. I’ve never seen you trust anyone that much.”
“We’re just friends.”
“Sure thing.”
I grab the remote control and pause the movie.
“I guess it’s bed time. At least for these two.”
I carefully stand up, making sure to not wake either of them.
“You should go to sleep soon. No later than eleven. Okay?”
“Okay dad.”
“Goodnight, ‘Toshi.”
“Goodnight.”
I pick up Eri while Hitoshi leaves the first floor. I carry her to her room and put her down under the sheets on her bed. She’s already wearing her pink pajamas with cat prints on them, so I don’t have to help her change.
“Goodnight, princess.”
I kiss her forehead and turn off the light. I leave the door slightly open, as she can barely reach the handle. Then I go to pick up Hizashi. He’s sleeping like a baby. I pick him up and haul him over my shoulder.
“I’m telling you, you’re literally a baby with a mustache.”
I put him down on our wide bed. He is not wearing pajamas. I’ll have to change his clothes myself. But his jeans are so tight… I sigh and start pulling off his pants. How can he even walk in these? It takes me a couple of minutes before I can get them off. My breathing is already heavier. I put him in a pair of my pink sweatpants before I remove his glasses, hearing aids and shirt. Is it worth trying to get his dead limbs into a shirt? Or should I just leave him like this-
Eh. He can sleep like that. I tuck him in under the cover before I get changed myself.
“God damn overgrown baby.”
I end up wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. I am rather warm, so I don’t need very warm pajamas. Unlike everyone else in this family. I crawl under the sheets and place my head on top of Hizashi’s bare chest.
“I love you, you fucking baby.”