My writing blog

It’s only been a week since their last study session and Bakugou was really considering murder tonight. Kiri and Denki were slumped over the table in the common room with their homework plastered to their foreheads. Denki was grumbling quite loudly while Kiri was feigning a headache from working so hard. Cue the eye roll from Bakugou since they’ve only been convening in the living room for the last thirty minutes.

Kirishima was typically a hard worker when it came to everything but his only weakness was homework. He’d gripe the entire time but would dutifully fill out each sheet of paper. He was a good study partner in the grand scheme of things but today he was in an especially petulant mood.

Kaminari was also diligent when it came to their study sessions but he struggled more when it came to grasping the concepts. He struggled when studying alone so each day he’d flit over to a different classmate and ask if he could join them as they worked. Though Bakugou was his Thursday night tutor, the only stable variable in this rotation of homework help. Today seemed like it’d be a day where the angry blonde would have to beat it into his head.

Bakugou bit his tongue before he could chastise his friends, they were tired and obviously needed a little support. The support he should give them since he’s available right now. The realization didn’t spur him into action though, in fact, it froze him as he tried to make out how to support them. His frustration started to grow so he forced himself up and into the kitchen to get a glass of water. While chugging from the chilled glass he had an epiphany. He could just ask them what they needed his support with.

Smiling to himself he poured two more glasses of water and topped off his nearly empty glass. He schooled his face into his classic neutral look as he sat down lest he makes things weird, and silently place a glass in front of each of his friends. Kirishima sat up at the soft sound of the cup being placed and thanked Bakugou with a smile and a small sip. Bakugou watched him from the corner of his eye for an opening on when to ask if he needed help but the crimson-haired boy lifted his pencil and started sprawling out answers in his workbook.

Kaminari on the other hand had silenced his grumbling by the time Katsuki had made it back and hadn’t moved in acknowledgment to the water. He was perfectly still in his position but was clearly too tense to have fallen asleep.

“Sparky, what question are you stuck on?” Bakugou had tried to ask the question as nicely as possible but by the way, Denki pulled his shoulders to his ears he had realized he failed. Timidly Denki sat up and pushed his textbook closer to Katsuki, on it were the stages of mitosis, something they had covered in class the other day and something they had been quizzed on this afternoon. So he was struggling with it still? Bakugou made sure to keep his face schooled into one of indifference so Kaminari wouldn’t think he was being made fun of.

“I failed today’s quiz so Teach said I could retake it tomorrow after school but I’m having trouble with the terms and such,” Kaminari spoke softly; it was a vast difference from how he normally was chattering away at top speeds.

“It was hard for me too bro, I'm sure you’ll pass tomorrow so don’t worry,” Kiri assured from across the table. His eyes were warm and calm, something that made bakugou’s chest warm and tight. Warm because Kirishima was such a caring person and being nice came so easily to him. Tight because being nice came so easily to him and it was so hard for Bakugou to even try to get to that level- a level that he failed tragically each time.

“No you’ll ace it tomorrow,” Bakugou said firmly as he shifted more toward the left side of the coffee table to show Kaminari his notebook. His handwriting was rough but legible and he pushed it up under Denki’s nose. “ First we’ll start with daughter cells. That’s when the one cell splits up into two little shits.”

Kaminari smiled at the explanation and highlighted the term in his book before scribbling out Bakugou’s eloquence on the margin. Bakugou kept his voice as smooth as he could and repeated himself as calmly as he could when Kaminari asked the same question for the third time. It was a stark difference from any other studying session but this time Denki seemed to get it faster.

“And where does mitosis occur?” Bakugou questioned before moving on to the diagram of the stages of mitosis.

“Everywhere but in the heart and nerve tissues!” Kaminari answered with a beaming smile that bakugou couldn’t help but mimic. He proudly pushed the diagram towards the electric blonde and pulled away their notebooks.

“Good job, now walk me through the process,” he commanded, and Kaminari eagerly nodded and jabbed a finger at prophase. He spoke energetically and was confident in each answer, something Bakugou only ever saw in their English class, and the change made Bakugou’s face start to cramp from how widely he was smiling.

Kaminari finished rattling off at telophase and grinned up at the other blonde expectantly and Bakugou held a hand up for a high five. The loud smack from their hands meeting only seemed to amp up Denki even more. “Thanks, Bakugou! I’m going to ace that quiz tomorrow.”

“Hell yeah, you will Denki! I knew you could do it.” He was feeding off the other’s energy and was just as energized now. So energized that he barely registered the pink flush that bloomed across the brassy blonde’s face. He turned to Kirishima who was watching their exchange with soft questioning eyes.

“How’s it going over there, Kiri? Need any help?” How well his tutoring had gone so far seemed to really boost his confidence and he couldn’t dare second guess himself yet.

“Yeah Baku-bro, I was stuck on problem twelve from Trig.” The redhead smiled sheepishly down at his workbook as Bakugou crawled over to the right side of the coffee table. He crowded the shark-toothed boy to overlook his work.

“You just need to move the decimal over one and then try dividing again.” Bakugou was oblivious to the way both boys were staring him down, the gentle tone he had tonight was throwing them both off. But in a good way. Eijirou quickly erased the error before solving the problem with Bakugou’s suggestion.

“Great job Kiri,” Katsuki held his shoulder appreciatively and Kirishima too felt the heat creep up into his cheeks, the same way he watched it overtake Kaminari just moments ago.

“Okay I’m gonna get started on the paper due in world civ, let me know if you two need any more help.” Bakugou sat back in his spot, the long side of the coffee table in between both blushing idiots. He studiously scrawled out about half a page before the two looked at each other at a loss for words. Eijirou was still fighting his blush, his face aflame at the praise, how Denki made it through twenty minutes of it was a feat in itself if you asked him. Denki was smiling brightly, he felt accomplished, not only had he figured out the biology homework that was stupefying him all week- he managed to get Bakugou to call him Denki once again.

Denki looked down at the neglected trig homework that he was planning on trudging through with Sero tomorrow since the ravenette had offered to help so nicely but maybe if he got through it quickly Bakugou would call him again. Maybe he’d compliment him again and make Denki’s heart flutter. He fixed his posture before flipping open the workbook. He diligently scritched in his answers and scrabbled out his work before hitting a wall. He got stuck at question eight. He stared at it intensely before glancing up at Bakugou once again.

Bakugou was turning a page before writing out another sentence; he looked over at the textbook with a furrowed brow before furiously erasing the sentence. Denki chose to leave him in the zone before turning back to the problem. He stared at it and started to lose the confidence that the biology homework had given him. He internally sighed before moving on to the next problem, he was terrible at math. Words were easy, he could fly through his papers and essays in just a few hours the night before and he rarely ever even considered a rough draft. Math, on the other hand, was hard. It was daunting in the short succinct questions that made no sense. Who decided that triangles were important enough to force students to solve their angles every day for years? Certainly not him. He recited SOH CAH TOA as he worked through another couple of questions before hitting another wall at both questions thirteen and fourteen. A frustrated groan escaped his lips.

“Sparky?” Bakugou asked at the unexpected noise. Denki looked up to him in embarrassment, he wanted to let the platinum blonde have a second to get his work done too tonight. He didn’t want to be a bother.

Bakugou’s face was twisted into one of concern, an expression Denki had yet to see on the boy and Denki’s heart tumbled at the realization. “Oh, it’s just I got stuck on question thirteen in trig.” At that, the usually explosive boy moved to come to his aid before Kaminari stuck out his hand to stop him. “It’s okay! I’m just gonna work through the rest of the problems and I can ask you for help when you’re done.”

Bakugou stilled at the comment before glancing down at the messy outline he was working on before glancing back up at Kaminari. The Tamil kings really weren’t encapsulating his attention as much as he would like to admit. He’d been distracted by both Kaminari and Kirishima the entire time. He kept stealing glances at them to gauge whether or not they needed help while barely making his way through his work. He’d definitely need to finish this once he got back to his dorm. Kaminari went back to work- a firm expression adorned- so Katsuki turned his attention to Kirishima.

He had long since finished the math homework and was currently writing out what was presumably his paper. His handwriting was much neater than Bakugou’s own and significantly larger. He could make out each word clearly from almost two feet away, and Bakugou couldn’t help but wonder how many notebooks he went through in a school year.

Kirishima was in his own bubble, his eyes solely trained on the notebook in front of him. He was writing his paper on the struggles that Alexander The Great had faced when building his empire and it was probably the easiest paper he’d ever written this year. He could faintly hear the other two speaking for a moment and at the sudden cut off from the murmuring he glanced up and caught Bakugou observing him. He seemed to be assessing the redhead, what for? He’d probably never confess so Kirishima flashed a smile at his explosive best friend before continuing on with his work. He didn’t even register the slight blush that tainted the puffball’s face.

~ ~ ~

Last week’s study session had resulted in an A+ for the electric blonde and a proud smile etched on Bakugou’s face for an hour. Denki was insistent on pulling another cram session before their math test that Friday so Bakugou begrudgingly agreed to host the study session in his dorm room. Honestly with the two crammed down on the floor fighting to share the small table that Bakugou usually did his own homework at was endearing. Kirishima was editing their paper that was due the next morning and Kaminari was forcing his way through the practice problems that their teacher had printed off for him. Bakugou had finished all his homework yesterday because they were once again refining their special moves. which has changed a lot since their first rendition last year because they had all had time to implement them through their internships.

Bakugou’s ribs ached and his shoulders protested every time he adjusted himself on the bed. He was personally working on his mobility when in the air and had crashed to the floor multiple times as he tested how little force he actually needed. He grumbled at himself internally as he moved an ice pack from his right side to his left.

He quietly observed his friends and was delighted when he felt the fondness flood his chest. He and Kaminari have grown very close in this past week, Denki always chasing after him to hear his opinion on how he’d done. It didn’t matter if it was a worksheet or critiques on his form in the gym- Denki wanted his opinion on everything. Bakugou was ecstatic at this change of pace, he truly wanted to bond with his new ‘bro’, though he’d never call him that out loud. He helped the banana blonde through his struggles and made sure to encourage his successes almost daily.

Kirishima was definitely more excitable this past week, not much had changed but he was quick to tug Bakugou into a bro-hug any chance he got. Bakugou stifled his complaints for a few minutes every time before brushing off his lumbering teddy bear. With the two growing considerably closer to him amongst his inner circle- he also managed to better bridge the gap to the rest of his classmates.

So far he and Kouda have met up twice to practice Japanese Sign Language and with his diligent self-studying, he had managed to work his way through a basic greeting and how to fingerspell his name. He had even got his sign name! The word explosion was all that it was- Kouda thought that was more than self-explanatory and Bakugou had been too eager to even consider it in a bad light.

He had also managed to build a camaraderie with most of the girls of 1-A. Apparently, they didn’t believe he didn’t have a skincare routine but were convinced once he showed them pictures of the old hag looking the same as she did before he was even born. Momo had helped him with editing his paper and he helped her in turn since they were the only two who thought to work ahead. Asui and Hagakure were very sociable and would crowd his desk in between classes with his usual desk leech- Mina. Uraraka had even joined him on his morning workout yesterday- so yes he was very proud of his hard work in laying the bases for his friendships.

His strongest bases though were the two he was fortifying tonight even though he didn’t have any homework to do himself. He was idly watching the two and perked up at the frustrated furrow that appeared on Kaminari’s face. He pushed past the protest of his body and leaned over the edge of the bed to see what he was working on.

Denki was very confident in his abilities when he started this packet- Bakugou had been gently guiding him through the class this week and it finally seemed to click. That is until he got stuck on page three- he skipped a few questions before finishing the packet. Four questions! He only got stuck on four measly questions. He tried to take a deep breath before facing the problems once again before he’d bother Bakugou. The aforementioned blonde was currently icing himself- he went a bit harder in training in usual and Kaminari had never seen him grimace so much before.

He himself could still feel the electricity coursing through his arms, his fingers were tingling subtly as he gripped his pencil tighter, it kind of tickled. He was working through better use of his support items so he wouldn’t electrocute himself as much. The last thing he needed was to shortcircuit when he finally went pro. He focussed once again on the packet in front of him and couldn’t help but whine internally.

The quick leaning over of Bakugou made his heart fall out his ass- had he whined out loud? The embarrassment flooded his face before glancing up at Kiri to see him ignoring his groupmates. So maybe he didn’t whine aloud, surely Kiri would tease him about it relentlessly. Bakugou crowded the space over his shoulder before grunting in acknowledgment as he jabbed a finger to where he had half-erased his work.

“You got it right the first time Kaminari- you just let yourself get into your head. Don’t doubt yourself, you’re smart as hell,” he grumbled out as quietly as the gruff boy could manage. The flush that etched itself across Denki’s face was almost tangible and Kirishima couldn’t help but send a smug smile his way when Kaminari finally glanced up.

Bakugou finally seemed to catch this interaction- finally seemed to see how Denki was affected by his words- and he bit his tongue. Was Kaminari embarrassed by his words? Surely Kaminari knew he was smart so maybe he didn’t need someone over his shoulder now. As he moved to pull himself back into his personal space a pink-cheeked electric blonde whirled around to face him. His face was pulled into one that Katsuki didn’t fully recognize but he knew it held a little bit of excitement in it. As he proudly shoved his now correct answer towards him he couldn’t help but smile softly at the eager boy.

Seokjin was staring at me with a mildly amused expression from across the dinner table. Jungkook was leaning his head on my left shoulder, his eyes closed as he waited for Taehyung to bring us our dinner plates- something the snow leopard insisted on even more vehemently after our talk a week ago. I knew what he meant by the staredown- he wanted to tease me for going from a single mother who swore off men to turning around to fall in love with the two hybrids being housed with our parents. The day after the big talk was a bit awkward for us all as we decided to break the news to my parents who were wholeheartedly accepting and my mother was downright giddy at the fact that her daughter now had two men to take care of her. My father on the other hand had thought we were already together and merely shrugged at my announcement. They both helped me file the paperwork for adoption and helped me with breaking the tension between my brothers and my boyfriends.

You see, Hoseok and Namjoon were very upset with both of them for ‘taking advantage ’ of their pregnant little sister. While that is probably the farthest thing from the truth it had been the source of some tension in the family but a couple of days was all it took until everything settled. It was a big help that the twins’ confirmation was probably the most exciting news in the house and they all seemed to use the excitement as a way to bridge the gap. Well, that was with Seokjin’s exception. Jinnie didn’t bat an eye at the news of my love life but instead doubled his texts when he found out he was getting both a niece and a nephew.

We were having a celebratory family dinner- all thanks to Mom who was excited that the two were officially adopted by me yesterday but Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin weren’t available to come until today. Hoseok sat to Seokjin’s right and was animatedly talking to Dad about his favorite show that had released another episode that morning. Dad was nodding along to the chattering with an endearing look on his face. Mom sat at the opposite end of the table, at the head, Yoongi at her left and Namjoon at her right. Hoseok sat sandwiched between his two brothers and dad occupied the other table head.

Taehyung finally made his way into the dining room with Namjooon on his heels, both balancing two plates in their hands. Namjoon set a plate in front of Yoongi who sat next to Jungook and was silently observing us all. Taehyung laid both plates in front of Kook and me before rubbing his cheek on top of my head at my soft thanks. He happily trotted back to the kitchen to retrieve his own plate. With all the seats filled Tae had to pull up a mismatched chair to sit on my right side.

“Darling we’ll need to get a new table by Christmas.” Mom commented as Taehyung made himself comfortable at the table.

Dad surveyed us all before nodding along at the request. “Especially if Hobi finally confesses to that boy by then. Maybe we could get matching high chairs for the twins.”

I choked at that comment, I wasn’t used to the idea of twins even though it had been confirmed several days ago. Apparently, they were laying back to back and it was hard to detect her, especially her heartbeat that was quieter than the boy’s own. She was smaller than him too, something that concerned me but the doctor said that it wasn’t uncommon with fraternal twins. He did say that while I was carrying large for one baby, I was smaller than average for carrying multiples. He advised me to take it easier though, something that the family had come together more forcibly than before to enforce.

Jungkook patted my back softly as I chugged at my glass of water. Seokjin broke out in laughter across the table. “Y/n, you good?” he asked with yet another teasing smirk.

“Yeah, just went down the wrong pipe,” I bit back, tonight I will not let him get a rise out of me. But when Seokjin got it into his head- it was practically impossible to stop him.

“Now that we’ve mentioned it, how are the twins today?”

“They’re good, been kicking a lot today.” My responses were perfectly monotonous, something that will instead get a rise out of him.

“Ah, you pick any names out yet?” At my silence he continued, “for one, I think having a niece or nephew named after me would be so endearing. How else would you show your appreciation for your eldest brother?”

“Good thing you’re not on the naming committee,” Namjoon chimed in from down the table, my eyes darting to the speaker to convey my gratitude at being saved from his trap answer. Knowing him I would be tricked into committing to whatever name he suggested. ‘It’s just how older brothers work,’ he would repeat growing up whenever he weaseled his way into getting his way.

“Mom, don’t you think that another little Seokjin would be adorable? Imagine another Jinnie running around.” He pouted at Mom who laughed at his pitiful expression.

“When you have my next set of grandbabies you can give me another Jinnie. For now, Y/n is still figuring out what sounds good for them herself so don’t give her a hard time.” She then turned back into conversation with Yoongi and Namjoon, asking her oh-so-typical motherly questions about their new romance. She was insatiable when it came to getting the answers she wanted from us. Jin didn’t look like he had been subdued though and he quickly turned his attention away from me and to the man on my right.

“What about you Taehyung? You got any names you’ve brought up to Y/n?” His tone was verging on accusatory, what he was accusing? I hadn’t the slightest clue of what went on in the drama queen’s head.

“Well, we talked about the name Minseok but Jungkook vetoed it.” Taehyung shrugged and shoveled another bite into his mouth. He was more focused on the turkey leg than any conversation Seokjin could provide.

“Minseok? What’s wrong with that name?” Dad asked while Jungkook and I shared a look at the can of worms Tae just opened. I had been clear to everyone that I wasn’t ready to settle on a name just yet and they all respectively had kept their distance from the topic until the shit-stirrer across the table finally showed face.

“Y/n wants the names to match and we didn’t like the options for a girl. Taehyung also suggested Yongsu go with it. Of course, I vetoed.” Jungkook explained as he pointed a fork at the said name murderer.

My Dad nodded along at the explanation before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Oh gee, I could feel his brain churning out a million names before he opened his mouth. “What about Yoomi?”

“That’s worse than Minseok Dad. Have we considered Soohyun?” Hoseok butted into the conversation, and I couldn’t help but grimace at the suggestion. I knew a Soohyun, she was the girl Mark was cheating on me with. I’d rather not recall walking in on infidelity every time I called for my daughter.

“How about they have renditions of the same name? Like Joohyun and Hyunjoo? Those would be hella cute.” Namjoon was the new naming murderer and he seemed to be proud of his contribution. Even his boyfriend grimaced at how cliche the names were for twins.

I shook my head and leveled them all with a lifeless expression.“This is why I never talk about names with you guys.”

Joonie took that personally and he frowned at me before exclaiming: “Hey I picked out your name!”

“Out of a list we gave you Namjoon,” Mom reminded him quietly with a sofy pat on his arm and he scoffed at it before turning back to his plate with a grumble.

“Speaking of, I was the one to come up with all of your names.” My dad supplied before turning his attention to me once again and mouthing ’Yoomi’ at me.

“What about Minso and Chunso? I saw those names on a tv show before.” Said Yoongi, his face showing apprehension.

I could tell the apprehension was twofold- he hadn’t been able to establish his place in the family and I was shutting down every suggestion so far. I made sure to smile at him softly as I replied; “You know what, I actually kind of like that. Thank you Yoongi.”

“I like the name Minso. It’d be lovely for the little princess.” Dad spoke around a mouthful of broccoli and quickly held a hand up at Seokjin’s disgusted face. Minso for my little girl? It didn’t feel quite right for her but it was a good suggestion and I hadn’t the heart to negate him.

“Chunso is kind of a mouthful though,” Hobi interjected and proceeded to mutter it while exaggerating the lip movements. I knew I could count on Hoseok to be on a similar wavelength as me so I wouldn’t feel guilty for eventually brushing off the names from the list. Jungkook and Taehyung kept quiet when we’d discuss names, claiming I got the biggest say and they didn’t want to discourage any exploration. With that, I knew they wouldn’t dare speak out against any names I complemented halfheartedly.

Joonie leaned out to the center of the table and turned his phone to me. “I’m looking it up now and Minso means one of a kind.”

Wanting to distance myself from the conversation at hand, I glanced over at the thorn juxtaposed to me before suddenly recalling another name suggested by Taehyung the night prior. “Well, I was thinking of naming her Duri, since it can mean two. She just so happens to be labeled baby number two on the ultrasound.” I smirked at the pun enthusiast across the table to watch his face morph into one of horror.

Mom clapped her hands at the joke; “Then what are you thinking of naming him to match?” Her genuine excitement at me finally picking a name made me feel a little guilty. Naming a small human is hard and nothing has really felt close to ‘it’.

“That is such a pun- you can’t name my niece after a pun.” Jin slapped his hand down on the table before I could respond to Mom and I had to fight myself to keep from laughing at his expression. Never had I seen such pain on him but before I could tease him some more mom was snapping for our attention.

“As the matriarch of this family- I have lovingly thought of two names that could be cute for the babies.” She declared proudly as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“Oh, you have?” Jin stole words out of my mouth but unlike me, he had tangible doubt laden throughout his words. She nodded at the snarky man before turning her attention to me.

“Yes, and since you’re forming your own family with those two lovebirds then I would like to suggest Taehee and Junghee.”

Jungkook had been silently observing the discourse amongst us all as he rested his head on my shoulder but perked up at Mom’s words. “Those are beautiful names Mom, I can't believe we hadn’t considered those.”

“Because it’s insane to name them after you both.” All eyes slowly turned to Seokjin in various degrees of anger and shock. Hoseok had leaned away from him at the comment and Namjoon was coldly staring at him.

I was one of the shocked, what could he possibly mean by that comment? Was it a racist implication? From our family? We have a hybrid brother and both of his human siblings were dating hybrids. Was it against the polyandry? The monogamous-centric views were a bit dated even for our parent’s generation so it wouldn’t make sense. Was it because Mark was their sperm donor? Seokjin hated their biological father so that didn’t make much sense either. In the tense air, I leaned into Jungkook’s side- almost as if I was trying to hide in his embrace.

“Seokjin. I would carefully watch your next words.” My mother’s voice was cold and you could slice cake with how sharp her words came out.

The offender held his hands up in surrender before defending himself. “It’s not what you’re thinking, it’s because Jinhee is obviously a better name and should be considered first.”

The room was eerily silent for a hot minute before Hoseok turned and almost shoved Jin out of his chair. There was a playfulness that masked the lingering bits of anger in his face. Mom let out a breath of relief at the joke before going back to her dinner.

There was an almost silent scoff from down the table on my left, I turned to see Yoongi pushing his food around on his plate. “If we’re taking their dads’ names into consideration we could go with Yoontae or Yoonjung.”

“Those both have a part of your name in it too.” Hoseok pointed out with a small pout.

“That’s obvious, since I got invited to this family dinner, I’m now part of the family. I’m obviously going to be the favorite uncle.” He dramatically shrugged his shoulders and flicked his hair out of his face. I couldn’t help but smile at the declaration.

“Oh hell no you’re not, I’ve been vying for that spot since she told me,” Jin argued, his cheeks puffed out in anger.

“Must suck to have that spot pulled out from under you. I’ll make sure to send my condolences to your place later.” Yoongi shrugged yet again with a smirk before taking a big bite of the broccoli.

Namjoon gently reached out across the table with a placating expression on his face as he placed a hand on top of Yoongi’s upturned one. “Honey, I love that you’re feeling comfortable enough to joke with my brothers but I need you to know that it’s literally impossible to get that title while I’m still alive. I am the favorite brother so I will be the favorite uncle.”

Hobi’s ears perked up atop his head, he turned to Joon and shoved his harshly at the self-proclamation of the favorite brother. “Oh hell no you’re not. I AM.”

“Oh, Nams I’ll make sure to let your doctor know that you’re going senile.” Seokjin snarked from behind the angry canine hybrid, he too looked insulted at the prospect of not being the favorite. Mom and Dad both joined in the bickering to try and keep them from bursting into a full-blown brawl.

“I like the idea of the name Sujung,” I commented quietly and only the two hybrids glued to me noticed. Jungkook perking up visibly at the name suggestion. Tae leaned into my side more and I could feel his warm tail wound itself across my lap.

“It’s very pretty love, have you thought about one for the boy? I know you’re always tied up with the names for him.” He complimented me with a blindingly bright smile and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

I could help the blush that was threatening its way across my face so I pressed more into his touch. It was nice to have them both curled around me, especially now that it was growing colder. “Well, if I name her after Kookie, wouldn’t you like to have him named after you?”

Tae shook his head quickly at the question before resting his chin on my shoulder so he could talk to me in an almost whisper. “ I’ll love them no matter what we name them. You could name them both after Jungkook and I’d love them all the same.”

“I know you’ll love them, that wasn’t the question.” I reached a hand out to lace out fingers together.

“Baby, in the end, it’s your choice, maybe I’d like him to be named after me but if you choose otherwise then I wouldn’t care.”

“What about Taewon? I knew a man with that name before and he was very kind.” Jungkook decided to suggest suddenly making me jump slightly at the surprise. His mouth was centimeters from my ear and I could feel his warm breath fanning its way down my neck.

“I used to know a Kitae. What about that instead?” He suggested when I didn’t respond fast enough for his liking. I guess my hesitation spoke volumes.

Kitae was much cuter, cute enough to rival Sujung. “I like it, Kitae and Sujung. How cute.”

At my grin, Taehyung pulled away with excitement, “So we’ve settled on their names?”

“For now, they may change. Mom said she changed her mind a couple of times throughout her pregnancies.” I reminded him as I pulled him back into my embrace.

“For now, they’re perfect. They are going to be so cute! Now I can use their name when I talk with them.” He was almost shaking with excitement at the prospect. I didn’t know he’d be this enthusiastic about their names. “Love, we can use their names in their bedtimes stories from now on.”

I nodded at the exclamation and smiled as he rambled on about how he was going to write out the classics with their names so they can be the heroes of their stories. While he continued to chatter Jungkook curled an arm around my waist- well as much as he could with my growing stomach. I glanced over at the rest of the table and couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face, My family was all happily broken into small conversations and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jin and my dad were chatting and Jin was obviously fighting back his laughter. Hoseok and Yoongi seemed to be talking about Jimin if the raging blush on Hobi’s face was anything to go by. Mom and Joonie were quietly talking before she reached a hand out to ruffle his hair while he whined at the action. I turned my attention back to my still rambling boyfriend to catch on to the tail-end of his rant.

My family was here, together and happy. And my newly forged family unit fit in perfectly- something I was ever grateful for.

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“Come on, we don’t have all night. Let’s talk this out, communication is key.” That only caused them to meander their way in, softly shutting the door behind them with an audible click in this silence. Jungkook settled in at the foot of my bed but Taehyung stood next to him, his form rigid. The room had a tense air about it, the two refusing to speak. “Okay, fine, You don’t want to start then I will. Taehyung, how long have you been scenting me without me knowing ?”

“We both have,” Jungkook interjected. His face was resigned into one that expected only the worst outcome.

Well, that didn’t answer my question. “How long?”

“The second week after I met you. I’ve been scenting you since then, Jungkook has only scented you since we ran into that asshole at the grocery store.” Tae spoke up finally but kept his eyes trained on the floor. 

That did make sense but I was confused why Hobi never noticed.“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you knew since Hoseok scents you constantly so after a few days I joined in and started to scent you too. I didn’t know you were oblivious until about a month ago when Hoseok noticed I was on you and you laughed him off. I realized I should probably talk to you about it since you’re dense when it comes to hybrids. But I didn't stop, I kept the pheromones low so I could keep you claimed in between then and now.”His body language was stiff, his eyes trained on the hardwood floors while he clenched his hands at his sides. He looked both defiant and scared, a combination that I would never have expected from the snow leopard.

The possessiveness that permeated the word ‘claimed’ ruffled a few of my feathers and I couldn’t help exclaiming: “You claimed me? What the fuck Tae?”

Taehyung finally looked up, his eyes much softer than I expected, he reached out for me and gently held my hand. “No, it's not what you think. It helps me know you’re okay. I knew something was wrong earlier because the pheromones soured all of a sudden so I ran down to you. Jungkook can attest! With both of our scents entwined with yours, it's easy to know when you’re not okay.”

“It’s why I noticed your pheromones changed with the babies.” Jungkook chimed in once again, he was letting Taehung do all the talking, typical Kookie.

I pulled my hands away to rub my forehead, frustrated a bit at how it just wasn’t clicking for me. A lot of useful information that means jack-shit to me when beating around the bush. “But what does this all mean? You mentioned pack earlier, what does that mean?”

“Well, a pack is a group of individuals who care for each other. It was more common among our grandparents but hybrids our age are bringing the idea back since the laws are changing for us to have more freedoms. By the time the babies are born, I think we’ll be fully independent and we were going to wait until then to tell you about our pack.” Jungkook explained, his hands knotting together under the stress of explaining it to me. I appreciated that he was trying and I knew somehow he was only speaking because of how stressed I looked.

I nodded, that could make sense. “So, we’re all in a pack? Then why did Hobi look so angry when you said that?”

“No, just You, Kook, and I. We are a pack, we claimed you together.” Taehyung finally sat down on the bed with us, his body coiling on the edge as if he was prepared to run at any second.

“Claiming you means we love you Y/n. We want every other hybrid to know that you are loved by us both- so we scent you. It took me a while to do it too but it’s this burning itch under my skin that won't go away until I can smell myself on you. Like Tae said before, when we scent you it helps us keep track of your pheromones so we’re more attuned to if something happens to you.” Jungkook stared deeply into my eyes, his sincere expression willed me to finally understand what they were saying.

Only one thing caught my attention. “It hurts you when you don’t scent me?”

“It drives me crazy, I hate when you don’t smell like me, it’s all I can think about,” Tae explained, his face contrite as he once again reached for my wrist. I let him this time and he lightly rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. Something he’s done a million times but this felt different.

I swallowed hard at the other major point in Kook’s explanation. “And you think you love me?”

Tae scoffed at that. “We don’t think, We know. You don’t have to love us back but you should at least know how we feel before you send us off.”

“Who said you’re being sent off? So what I reek of you two? It’s not hurting me but we’ll have to set some boundaries if you guys are going to keep doing this.” Both men perked up at that, both coming in closer as if we were huddling on my queen-sized mattress. The change in their moods was soothing to the tension that has bubbled up in my chest. ”First of all, we’ll have to talk about this loving me thing. Then we’ll have to figure out what's going to happen when the shelter is fixed because I'm not too sure when the government is going to get its shit together. Then  we’ll have to discuss this whole pack thing a little more- why can’t hobi be a part of it?”

“Whatever you want. We’ll do whatever, but can I scent you now? Since you know, I can do it now  right?” I’ve never seen Taehyung so excited, his eyes animated like he was a kid at Christmas. He leaned forward while bracing himself lightly against my shoulders while I nodded apprehensively. “I can do it fully right? No light scents?

At my second nod, Jungkook appeared to my left as he too broached my bubble. “Dammit Tae, you’re stinking up the whole room.”

Jungkook took to rubbing his head and neck against my own while Taehyung was butting me with his head seemingly everywhere- my shoulder, forehead, and a hand held my own close to his chest. Tae dragged his forehead from the right side of my neck down my shoulder and arm to my inner wrist. Once there he delicately kissed my pulse point. Jungkook had my right side occupied, pinning me into place, his shoulders crowding most of my frame. Our necks were pressed firmly together as he started to run his lips along the skin behind my ear before firmly pressing a kiss there.

The feeling of Jungkook kissing behind my ear made me shiver at the sudden affection. Taehyung groaned. “She smells so good now, smell her Kookie, she smells like us both. Like she’s finally part of our pack.”

Jungkook merely grunted in response as he pressed his face into my shoulder while taking in a deep breath. Tae reversed his process and traced his way back up to my neck where he decided to rest his head against my clavicle. I took a steadying breath to calm the tingles erupting across my body.

“Okay, that’s what you guys have been holding back? I’m alright with this happening more regularly, but not in front of others since Joonie looked so offended and  I assume it’s a more private thing.” They finally pulled away after what seemed like forever and I could feel the raging blush covering both my cheeks as I tried to calm down at the intimacy. “ Now, onto the love part.”

“I don’t have much else to say, it’s a simple fact for me.” Jungkook shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He stayed glued to my right side and pulled my arm into his embrace as he played with my fingers idly.

“It’s been three months, you barely know me.” playing with my hand was distracting and there was barely any strength in my argument. It was nice to feel loved but I felt somewhat guilty over this- they deserved much more than I could give them.

“You were meant for us both but if you want us to wait then I’ll hold off on saying it until you’re ready to hear it.” Taehyung raised on his knees and kissed my forehead gingerly.

“You guys can’t be serious.” I shook my head at them both but a quick look at them both showed they had earnest expressions. “Guys what about the shel-”

“Adopt us, as tough as it is right now they’ll allow it especially because you’re living with certified fosters. Then we can’t be separated.” Taehyung spoke matter-of-factly, he reached out and traced lazy patterns on my knee while I stared at him in disbelief.

“I’m not going to adopt you if you guys want to be with me, it’d be a weird dynamic if we went to the doctors and I’d have to sign as your owner .” The thought of them being my property made an acrid taste form in the back of my throat.

“But that’s exactly why you should, we know you’d never see us as lesser and we’ll take good care of not only you but the babies as well.” Jungkook reasoned as he rubbed his cheek against the palm of my hand that he stole.

Another wave of guilty unease at this evolving relationship hit. I was okay with the affection and care that they’ve been supplying but was I okay with the relationship? Those cuddle sessions and tender moments that we’ve had so far now felt much more real and intimate than before. How had I convinced myself that it was platonic? “That’s another reason you guys should reconsider this whole ordeal, it’d be easier for me than you two. Do you want to commit to babies that aren’t even yours.”

A low growl sounded from Kookie’s chest- something I had never heard before. He usually kept his more animalistic traits under a tight leash. He sat up abruptly and reached for my face to make sure my eyes were trained on him while he spoke with a soft gruffness. “They are ours, don’t you even think about saying that again. We are the ones who’ve been supporting you throughout this pregnancy- not that asshole from the store. We tell them stories at night and bring you the food you’re craving. Hell, I rub your feet because of the swelling every time your feet are near me, and Taehyung rubs out the knots in your back when you’ve stood too long. We’ve been here for you the whole time and I know I love them as my babies. I am their dad, more than he would ever be.”

“I guess if you’re dad then I’ll be papa. It has a nice ring to it.” Tae butted in with a smile as Jungkook released me. His smile was so warm it ebbed away any lingering dregs of guilt.

“You guys can’t be serious,” I repeated once again but they were unaffected by whatever I had thrown at them. They were serious.

“Y/n, I’ve been planning this out since I’ve met you, it was love at first sight.” Tae took to holding my face this time, his hands were warm as he stroked my cheek lightly. The love was tangible in how he stared down at me, something I couldn’t ignore any longer.

“Okay, I get it, but what does this mean for us now?” I could hear the fearful hesitation in my voice.

“Nothing has to change sweetheart. We can act just how we always have and the only difference is that you know we love you.” Jungkook nodded along to the ashy-haired man’s assurances.

“Would you be happy with that though? To pretend that nothing has changed even though something has.” My heated tone kept them silent as I collected my thoughts. “Since you’ve claimed me- does that mean you see me as your girlfriend?”

“Well, to be honest, it’s a bit more than that. Girlfriend is a bit fleeting. It's more like you are ours and we are yours- for forever ideally but we don’t want to force that onto you.” Taehyung smiled bashfully as he stuttered through the clarification.

“If it’s more than a girlfriend- do you mean you see me as your wife?” Wow, with just a question I think I broke Taehyung. While he looked like he was blue-screening, Jungkook tried to hide a chuckle.

“For the sake of Taehyung’s face let’s just leave it as girlfriend for now. We can expand on that more later.” Jungkook explained, his smile evident through his words.

“So I'm a girlfriend to both of you and you guys are my boyfriends?” they nodded eagerly at my questioning tone. “Are you also each other’s boyfriends?”

“Uh, while Jungkook is gorgeous, that’s a no. we’re each other's packmates and there is a certain level of love and trust that goes into it but in the end, it's just enough for us to trust each other with you. If that makes sense?” Taehyung trailed off, his face twisted into one of confusion at the word vomit he just spewed.

“I think what Taehyung is trying to say is that we aren’t dating each other. Not that it is impossible for packmates to also get romantically involved with each other - we just haven’t.  we’d prefer to share your love and protect each other.” Jungkook tried to salvage the half-baked clarification.

“I am not protecting you Kookie, you are the one with a police background- you’re supposed to protect me while I protect her.” Taehyung suddenly pointed out.

“First of all, how rude. You’re my Packmate, you’re supposed to protect me too asshole.`` Jungkook playfully glared and by the twitching around his chin, I could tell he was fighting back a smile.

“I can’t protect someone who doesn’t need protecting. You are a one-man army, especially when it comes to the pack.”

Jungkook smiled at that and retorted with a: “You tried to fight Hoseok when he tried to separate our rooms at the shelter.”

“He was putting you with that bitch that growled at you when you first joined the group. How else was I supposed to react?” Taehyung had a beautiful blush rush across his face. He was so affectionate usually; so why was he arguing that he wouldn’t protect him?

“He was moving me because you complained about sharing a room with me for two weeks straight.'' Jungkook's exasperation was tangible; maybe they have this argument often?

“You get up before the sun to work out. How else was I supposed to get my beauty rest?” Tae’s argument was a paper-thin excuse. He was absolutely glowing red with his growing blush.

“Admit it in the end, you protect me just as much as I protect you.” Jungkook smiled at him with no mirth, he was done teasing him about it I guess.

That didn’t stop the flat-out refusal of: “I do not.”

“Y/n, wouldn’t you say Taehyung is just as protective of me as I am of him?” asked as he kissed the back of my hand, drawing all my attention to him.

“Tae, honey, you make his plate every night at dinner.” I sheepishly pointed out, a little unsure of how I'd place in this so-called argument. It was more flirting than anything if I was being asked but I guess I'm not the best person to ask since I did not comprehend them coming onto me in the first place.

Pseudo-shock flashed across his face at my statement.“That's because this idiot will only eat carbs and meat if we let him! I make your plate too.”

“That’s only proving my point. You are protective over your packmates.” Jungkook pushed at his shoulder playfully. A way they only ever acted when it was just us three, damn, maybe I should have noticed it sooner. There were definite lines drawn early on when it came to how our dynamic worked and they often showed me sides of themselves that my parents or brothers had never seen.

“That’s it, I'm going downstairs and giving myself over to Namjoon. His torture would be a mercy compared to this.” The drama queen stalked his way to my door and opened it with a flourish while Kookie and I both giggled.

“Tae are you not going to tell the baby a bedtime story?” My question stopped him in his tracks. He froze for just a second before gently swinging the door shut and marching his way back over to the bed with a smile that eclipsed the rest of his face.

“Babies. And of course, I am, tonight we’ll tell them the story of Hansel and Gretel.” He climbed back onto the bed and sprawled across the bottom of the bed and my extended legs. He settled in with his head resting slightly on my left hip before starting on his fairytale. Jungkook was curled up on my right side, still holding my hand captive, and he traced swirls across my forearm with a content smile. There was a warmth in my chest that I had been ignoring for a while, a warmth they only seemed to bring out and I realized I would be devastated if this warmth was to ever disappear.

Sorry, I forgot about my taglist last chapter! here's it as of right now and if you want to be added or taken off let me know!

“Share the heat,” Hoseok complained, tugging the blanket from my cocooned form.

October ‘s days were chilly but as soon as the sun set, it was freezing. I was propped up on the couch, surrounded by pillows and a king sized blanket tucked around me. Mom sat on the recliner to my left, the reason behind my assortment of pillows, and Hoseok was shoving his way into the occupied seat on my right. Well, my legs were occupying it.

“There’s a while couch right there ass hat.” I whined as he lifted my legs and placed them on his lap. This wasn’t so bad- he was warm- but the sibling bond between us made sure to complain.

“I don’t want to sit next to dad, he’s way too excited over the game.” Hobi pulled out his phone and scrolled aimlessly.

“When’s Namjoon gonna be here? His team is kicking ass.`` Dad was lively when it came to soccer. It was cute though and I loved how animated he’d get with each goal. But the kicker is that he and Namjoon rooted for other teams. Hobi, Jin, and I all sided with dad on the sports front but Joonie picked a shitty team that’s been coming up in the last couple of years. Maybe the heart attack he nearly gave dad ten years ago was worth it- if the pride in my dad’s eyes were anything to go by.

Joonie was our wild card, he seemed to pick the most difficult path just because he liked the challenge. He’d always do the opposite of what we expected, whether it was the sudden law school decision or boycotting Christmas one year. But today was probably the most surprising.

Jungkook apparently wasn’t a sports fan until this season started, my dad’s enthusiasm rubbed off onto him and now it was funny to see him white-knuckling a sprite over a bad call. Taehyung was taking a nap upstairs and mom was idly reading some seedy romance novel if the blush on her face was anything to go by. Well it was probably the shirtless man emblazoned on the cover that truly gave it away.

Hobi sighed and tossed his phone over onto the side table, he closed his eyes and melodramatically threw his arm over his face as he rested against the back of the loveseat. I rolled my eyes, “what’s it now buttercup?”

He huffed at my nickname, “Jimin isn’t responding.” He dropped his arm to pout at me as if I could help the situation at all.

“You know he’s probably working right now?” I nudged his arm with one of my feet.

His pout turned into a full blown frown as he made puppy eyes at me. “Yeah but that doesn’t mean i can’t miss him.”

“OH, so you’re going to finally admit that you’re dating him?” The delighted smile that ripped it’s way across my face made the frown completely fall off of his.

“Oh shit.”

His shock made me full bellied laugh, “Mom! Hobi finally sa-”

“Shut up! You tricked me!” he hissed as he covered my mouth, I smiled evilly as I licked the back of his hand to deter him.

“The baby.” Jungkook snapped, ripping Hobi's hand off my face. How did he manage to get across the room so quickly? Beyond me. There was a cloudy sort of anger in his face, one where he knew he shouldn’t be angry but couldn’t help it.

“Kookie, I'm fine.” I reached up to hold his wrist as he let go of Hobi's hand. He looked down on me tersely, his eyes colder than usual.

“Hoseok, how many times do your mother and I have to say to be gentler with your sister? You two are honestly getting too old for this.” Dad scolded, his hand on Hobi’s shoulder. I could see him curling into himself and suddenly I felt small.

“Dad, I'm okay, Hoseok and I were just playing. You know he’d never hurt me or the baby.`` I let go of Jungkook's wrist and tried to sit myself up more. It was hard this late into the pregnancy.

“You need to be more careful too, you’re way too rowdy these days.” he chastised me and I could feel the anger at being talked down to. I’m not a child anymore.

“No, this is my baby and my body, I get to decide when it’s too rowdy. We weren’t wrestling or fighting and I could easily breathe. We were doing nothing wrong, why are you acting like this?” My tone was cold and I forced myself up into a standing position. Jungkook stepped away from the couch so i could have enough room.

“y/n baby, you know i didn’t mean to hurt your feelings-” i cut him off; i was fuming.

“Well you did. You basically said that either my big brother is going to hurt me or that I'm incapable of judging how much energy I can exert. We’re all adults in this room, why did you two have to intervene?” my glare turned to Jungkook, he hardened his gaze.

“The baby’s hormones are-”

“No more baby excuses,” I cut him off. “I know he’s fine, he’s twisting and kicking just as he’s always been.”

“The baby’s hormones are-”

“Stop Jungkook.” I held up a hand, the anger bubbling up to the surface. I needed to cool down before I lashed out. I could feel the heat coursing through my arms and filling my chest.

“No, Y/n he’s right I didn't notice it till you stood up but the baby’s hormones have gotten really strong all of a sudden.” Hoseok chimed in. still seated, he reached out and touched my stomach. Mom crossed the room and shoved her way through Jungkook and dad to kneel in front of my stomach, accessing my state.

“What? What does that mean?” I cradled my bump, the fear seeping into my words. He felt normal there, my doctor told me if anything were to feel wrong then to trust my instincts and immediately go to the hospital. But this was different, nothing felt wrong.

Taehyung thundered down the stairs, “Y/n? What’s going on down here? I can smell the stress from upstairs,” he took a backseat to the worry on my mind.

“Is something wrong with him? Nothing feels wrong.” I turned to Jungkook, the worry overpowering the shame of the argument we had just had. He was the first to notice so maybe he knew what was wrong.

“I was wrong, holy shit, we should make a doctor’s appointment.” Hoseok suddenly exclaimed, he jumped up and held me at arms length by the shoulders. He looked down to my stomach with a shocked expression.

“Honey, get the keys we’re going to the hospital.” mom barked out. I didn’t even notice her leaving the huddle but she was back at the recliner as she tugged on some tennis shoes.

“No! It's okay! The pheromones are showing that she’s okay too.” Jungkook finally spoke up, he threw an arm around me and pointed at the baby.

“She?” The confusion in my father’s voice was only a mirror to the rest of the room.

“Yeah, the pheromones got so strong because there’s two.” Hobi explained as he crossed the room and relieved mom of her purse. He placed a calming hand on her shoulders. Shoulders that seemed to be leveled with her ears with the abrupt stress.

“You mean twins? It's a bit late to find that out don’t you think?” she all but hissed at her third son. Mom was visibly anxious right now, something I had never seen before. She was usually so calm and cheerful around us.

“Mom, you’ve said it yourself, y/n is bigger than most pregnancies.”

“I mean yeah but we’ve gone to the doctor twenty times over the summer and I think he’d find another baby in there.” I chimed in, coming to mom’s other side. I think it helped with calming her down because her shoulders lowered a bit.

“I can smell both, I can smell her all of a sudden alongside him.” Taehyung wrapped his arms around me, his head burrowing into my shoulder. His grip on me was tighter than usual.

“But Tae that doesn’t make sense.” I turned in his grasp, facing the snow leopard hybrid, my disbelief written across my face.

“He’s had a very strong scent and a very strong heartbeat, maybe he just masked hers.” Jungkook stepped into my bubble once again. He was on the other side of Tae but seemed to block off any others from joining in the clique.

“But the ultrasounds only show one baby.” I reasoned out, my right hand reaching behind me to rest on my mother’s shoulder. Accepting there was a second was terrifying, I was barely holding myself together for the one pregnancy. Adding on another? Was I eating enough? Taking enough precautions? Maybe dad was right in intervening today.

“Back in the day they couldn’t find Seokjin’s penis and told us we’d be having a girl. It was a bit of a shock when he came out.” Dad. Of course, I've heard this story before, ultrasounds weren’t always perfect.

“What should i do?” I was scared and it was evident in the shake of my voice, Taehyung only hugged me harder.

“Hey guys, what's going on here?” Namjoon’s voice shattered the tension of the room. Seeing him and the dark haired male next to him gave me a chance to breathe.

Hoseok flitted across the room, his excitement at seeing our older brother evident in the wagging of his feather duster of a tail. “Joon, you're going to be an aunt and an uncle.”

“What?”

“Hobi that’s not how it works and you know it.” Mom chastised with a small shake of her head. Hoseok was a blessing to us all when tensions were high. “Who’s this?”

Namjoon seemed to freeze up a bit before throwing an arm around the guy hovering behind him a bit. Said man flushed lightly at the attention turning to him and in the soft light of the living room I could barely make out a pair of silky black ears atop his head. “This is Min Yoongi, he’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” I sputtered out, breaking the moment of silence that enveloped the living room. I could see dad from my peripheral making his way to the doorway with a smile.

“Yeah, problem?” Joonie’s eyes were narrowed at me but eased up at the grin I was sporting.

Pulling away from Taehyung a bit, I sneered at Hobi. “Hoseok- he told us about his boyfriend before you could. How does that feel?”

Hoseok groaned before stomping over to me to grind out: “Oh my god you're annoying and technically i said it first.”

“But you didn’t tell mom and dad.” I taunted, the faux misery on my brother’s face would fuel me for months. Taehyung sat on the loveseat behind him and tugged at the hem of my shirt for me to join him.

“They’ve met Jimin before though and according to you i’m not subtle.” Hobi argued, his hand on his hip. Jungkook followed Tae and I down to the seat and I was wedged between the two with my legs in Kook’s lap. He gently rubbed circles into my swollen ankles as Hobi and I glared at each other.

“Anyway, what's this about me being an aunt now?” Joonie interrupted the stare down with Yoongi by his side, our parents must have finally let them out of their interrogation.

“These three are suddenly claiming I'm pregnant with twins.” I explained with a flick of my wrist, the stress of the situation (that was only a few minutes ago) seemed as if it were twelve years in the past.

“Um, I can smell two scents too.” Yoongi’s soft spoken words brought back the fear.

“Holy shit, mom! What am I supposed to do? Should we go to the hospital?” I tried to push myself up into a sitting position but Taehyung held me gently to his chest.

“The babies are happy, I don't think they’re in danger. “He hummed softly into my ear. I could feel the sincerity behind his words. He rubbed a hand up my arm gently and started to purr. An attempt to ease my anxiety.

“Danger or not- we still need to confirm if there are actually twins. That’s a nightmare in itself. That’s double of everything I was sort of ready for. Wait, what if I give birth prematurely- don’t twins come early?” there was panic rising in my chest.

“Mom and Dad went to their room, they’re recovering from the unexpected news but Y/n it’s going to be okay. We’ll go to the doctor’s tomorrow, together,” Hoseok reminded me, he softly ruffled my hair as he leaned down to kiss the top of my forehead. Still I looked around the room for my mother. The one who holds all the answers to my pregnancy fears. Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi, all stood above us three, all showing a different expression. Namjoon looked apprehensive, which was normal for him. Hoseok looked as if he were trying to tame a wild animal. Yoongi thought he looked stunned, his eyes blown wide.

“Hobi you’re banned from my ultrasound appointments. You almost broke the equipment.” I reminded him with a forced smile. I could still feel the panic but it was ebbing away. I wasn’t dying, I was safe. The babies were safe. Everything will be okay.

“That’s so rude, I apologized and everything.” he crossed his arms, generously taking the bait. Knowing that Joonie would laugh at his expense.

“We’ll go with you, we haven’t been able to go since Hoseok has been.” Taehyung declared, way too happy for me to decline, and I smiled softly at him. I was held up against his torso, his head just a few inches above my own. He leaned down and rubbed his forehead against my own.

“You’re going to scent mark my sister in front of me?” Namjoon sputtered indignantly, causing Tae to freeze all of a sudden.

“Namjoon, that’s not scent marking.” Hoseok laughed and shoved at his shoulder playfully.

“Actually, we feline hybrids scent mark like that instead of that mess you canine hybrids do. I scent marked Namjoon earlier in the same way.” Yoongi crossed his arms and seemed to glare down at Tae. I was a bit shocked to say the least.

Hoseok had explained it to me when we were younger, scent marking was a hybrid instinct, and it had two different connotations. There was a familial way and a romantic way to cover another person in their pheromones. Hoseok would hug us and hold our hands growing up to rub just enough of himself on us to comfort himself that we were his family. Especially when we were younger and playing with larger groups of children or when there was a big event. The familial way would only last a few hours and was more of a comforting thing for family and very close friends to help with bonding.

Hoseok had explained the more romantic way was to imbue another’s scent for a much longer time and it was done by stimulation to the scent glands which meant that they would lick each other’s scent glands. He had been tomato red explaining this to me when he had found another hybrid’s scent on me that was much stronger than his own. When I explained that I was just playing with a hybrid at recess and they hugged me he seemed to melt into the floor in embarrassment.

Taehyung was staring up at Namjoon with an indecipherable expression. The massage on my ankles had stopped at Namjoon's exclamation and my glance at Jungkook showed him to be in the same emotionless stare down but instead he was staring down Yoongi. He knew too, but why hadn’t he told me?

“She’s part of our pack, of course I would scent her.” Taehyung had no emotions in his words, the monotonous response seemed to aggravate my brother.

“Wait,” I held my hand up to the seething man before turning to his boyfriend. “I’m confused. Hobi said that licking my neck would be romantic scent marking and hugging was familial scent marking. Which would this be?”

My question caused all four hybrids to freeze up, Hobi’s face once again lighting up in embarrassment.

“Uh, he said that? Well, uh, that’s wrong.” Yoongi forced out, his face turning a light shade of pink.

“Hybrids themselves decide what the type of scent marking it is when they release the pheromones, and there’s a lot of different meanings that could exist. Typically a more familial scenting would be a hug- so that part is right- but also kissing the top of your head could work. Licking your scent glands isn’t a romantic way for scent marking, it’s more sexual.” Yoongi's face almost matched Hoseok’s at this point. “Romantically speaking there’s a lot of ways you can scent someone- like rubbing your necks against each other which is common amongst the canine hybrids. For us feline hybrids we rub our faces against the person, like he had done to you. The pheromones typically let us know, but he’s not releasing heavy enough pheromones for us other hybrids to notice, but rubbing his face against yours is claiming you as his in feline standards.”

“Oh,” I could feel the hybrid underneath me tense up as Yoongi's explanation came to an end. I glanced up at him to see him still staring down my brothers.

“I’m still a little confused but thank you Yoongi. Namjoon, Hoseok, I’ll take it from here, I don't need you hovering over us for this conversation. In fact, I think I'll take this conversation elsewhere, you three have fun watching the game. Joonie, dad recorded this and last week’s matches for you.” I worked my way into a standing position with Taehyung’s help and made my way to the stairs, both Taehyung and Jungkook glued to my sides.

Saturday seemed as boring as any other day if you were to ask Bakugou himself. The class was dispersed across the common area and a few cooped up in their rooms. Typically, during the weekends, they would all wordlessly break off into groups but today they were all intermingling to relax after the big exam that Present Mic had given so they wouldn’t have it next month with the rest of the school’s midterms. Bakugou was calmly slicing up the various fruits Denki and Sero piled up in front of his chopping board. Mina stood to his right, dutifully scooping up the cubes once he reached for another fruit and tossing them into the large mixing bowl. They were making an extravagant fruit salad in his opinion but it was the snack Mina was whining for and who was he to deny his friend?

The salad consisted of strawberries, peaches, apples, green grapes, and watermelon so far. He was finishing up on a couple of mangoes when he heard the sacrilegious suggestion of marshmallows behind him. He froze and glared over his shoulder to Kirishima the offender. Quietly, Kirishima hid the pink and orange-filled bag behind his back before stepping away from the counter.

“What do you got against marshmallows?” Sero snickered as he added a couple of bananas to the pile of pomegranates and dragon fruit.

“They are fucking disgusting tape face. Why would we put that sugar monstrosity if we’re already eating sweet shit.” he all but snarled, chopping a bit harder than was necessary.

“I think it’d taste good, Kiri I’ll eat them with you.” Denki clapped the redhead on the shoulder before taking the bag out of his hands and popping a couple in his mouth.

“Thanks, Bro, my mom puts them and a little cream in hers. It tastes great!” Kiri’s smile was blinding as he threw an arm around the smaller blonde. Bakugou huffed before holding his hand out for the offensive bag of marshmallows. Grinning like he won something, Denki handed over the bag wordlessly as he passed to Bakugou. The platinum blonde glared down at the bag before shoving it at Mina.

Mina giggled as she poured the bag, “Aw, Bakugou how sweet of you.”

The glare he gave her make the Bakusquad burst out in laughter. He pointedly ignored them as he focused on skinning the dragon fruit. After all five dragon fruit were skinned he chopped them in a flurry of white, purple, and silver. And while he was ripping apart the pomegranates he finally tuned into the conversation flowing around him, they were deliberating on their answers on the last prompt on the exam. For the life of him, he honestly wouldn’t be able to remember what he wrote.

All of this week he’d been stuck in his head, Ojiro plagued his thoughts for the first half of the week. Then Wednesday’s epiphany that he was just not used to caring so much for his friends -he was sucked even deeper - but he worked hard to bring back normal. Well, as normal as he could manage with his new mindset. After dinner on Wednesday, he had holed himself up in his room and researched how to be a good friend. Insults were not the best option when referring to his friends, he could remember the hurt faces his classmates had last year when he met them, so he’s been trying to at least take the sting out of his nicknames. Shitty hair turned to red and Dunce face to sparky. Those names weren’t inherently bad-right?

He also read that he should listen more to their opinions and spend more quality time with them. And gods was he trying, Denki liked to dance along the thin line that was his patience, he has managed to blow up only once while they were cramming two nights ago. He would call this all a success and he saw firsthand how they opened up even more to him. Kaminari and Mina were more clingy than usual and Sero made even more snarky jokes than he used to. Not only his closest friends noticed his change though. Iida hasn’t had to get on him as much and instead of chastising him yesterday he’d walked back to the dorms with him after class and asked him to join his study group with Momo and Todoroki. Jirou, Hagakure, and Asui even pulled him over this morning to eat breakfast with them.

The hardest part was trying to keep his composure; when Sero would laugh he wanted to smile but the joke wasn’t even that funny. Mina was probably one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen and he could barely keep the blush off his face when she teased him. Friendship was hard he concluded.

After slicing up the bananas while he was deep in thought, he went to clean up but Sero pushed him away from the sink insisting on cleaning up since he hadn’t help thus far. Kaminari was pouring cream into the giant mixing bowl as Mina vigorously stirred.

He couldn't help but cross his arms with a sigh. “They’re going to smash the bananas and dragon fruit if they aren’t careful,” he couldn’t help but grumble.

“You know man, I think you’ve been real manly this year,” Kirishima said with a dopey smile as he leaned on the counter.

“What are you talking about red? I’ve always been manly.” He replied with a puffed-out chest.

“Yeah, but it’s because that you’re finally getting closer to us all. That ups your manliness.” Kiri nodded sagely as if he was relaying one of the eight noble truths. Bakugou could feel the heat making its way to his cheeks and by gods, he was not about to let Kirishima see it. He scoffed and quickly turned to the cabinet that held probably a hundred bowls, throwing it open, he grabbed a stack in each hand before stalking over to the dining area. Placing the bowls down gently was a struggle as he fought with the blush overtaking his face. He pulled out a chair before falling heavily into it while he managed a few calming breaths. The rest of his squad followed shortly, each one with their hands full. Sero and Denki carried drinks for the group, Kiri had forks, and Mina precariously held the giant bowl of fruit.

“FOOD IS READY,” Bakugou yelled towards the crowded common area before handing out bowls to the group that was already seated. Mina scooped out some for each member of her squad before relinquishing the bowl to the disjointed line of their classmates.

The table in the dining room was long enough for the entirety of the class to sit together but a few preferred to sit at the bar in the kitchen or even the couches. Bakugou was seated near the head of the table, Mina taking the head seat and Sero sitting to Bakugou’s right. Kiri and Denki sat across from him and Sero. Today it seemed the rest of the class wanted to sit with them too, only Todoroki and Satou missing from the table. Both never came down from their rooms, Bakugou thought idly. Kouda timidly took the seat next to Bakugou and that made Bakugou smile internally. He wasn’t loud and respected Bakugou’s boundaries better than the asses across the table.

Said asses were yelling down the table to the rest of the class so Bakugou focused on eating his fruit salad. He pushed all the sticky marshmallows to the side and glanced up to see Koda barely picking at his bowl. He held a smile while signing to Shoji across the table, JSL was something Bakugou didn’t know. He had never really thought about it, when he and Koda had been paired in the past two years, Koda would speak to him but it was through barely audible whispers. Bakugou could see the way he animatedly signed - something he had never seen before on the boy and it made his stomach knot.

He was a hero and he couldn’t even communicate with his classmate in a way that he preferred. He was an ass who made Koda accommodate him when he should’ve already know sign language. How could he expect to save someone who could only rely on JSL?

“Bakugou?” The whispering of his name broke Bakugou out of his self-torment and he realized that he had been staring.

“Oh, Sorry. I want to learn sign language, would you be willing to help me?” Koda couldn’t help but show the shock on his face which made the knot in Bakugou’s stomach tighter. And the tentative nod made the blonde smile.

Bakugou was dealing with his newfound crush as best as he could. That meant he’d fallen deeper into his snarky attitude- enough for everyone to avoid him; the only ones brave enough to even approach the rabid boy were Jirou, Kaminari, and Kirishima. The latter of the two were currently giving Bakugou space after he blew up at them that very morning. Kaminari was slightly disappointed that he’d gone back to being Dunce-face, he’d thought he had finally bridged that gap. Kirishima, on the other hand, knew Bakugou needed some space, so he’d been very hesitant to leave Denki alone with the volatile blonde.

Jirou, on the flip side, didn’t quite care at how many insults or threats Bakugou threw her way. She could tell he was dealing with something that was giving him a lot of trouble, and for the third afternoon in a row, she’d tugged him into her room to chill without the distraction of all the other people. They had fallen into a quiet routine- homework was completed together, and then she’d turn to one of her instruments while he’d listen and read one of his overly cheesy romance novels. When she and Kirishima had found out, he kept one in his bag at all times, they couldn’t help but tease the boy as he blushed furiously and screamed out for them to die. Now though, she couldn’t bring herself to tease him. At least reading kept away that stressed look in his eyes.

Bakugou was all that she could think about for the last couple of days and today she felt like she’d just about reached her limit. After stumbling through another failed chord, she held her head in her hands as she leaned over the keyboard. How was she supposed to say this? ‘Bakugou- why is there a stick up your ass?’ No. ‘You know you can tell me anything, right Bakugou?’ No, that was even worse, he’d definitely make fun of her. Pushing the thoughts away, Jirou tucked the longer part of her fringe behind her ear as she played the stress away.

Bakugou was thankful for the refuge Jirou’s room brought him. She was probably the calmest of his friends and definitely the least nosey. Kaminari was loud and couldn’t take a hint that he wasn’t in the mood and Kirishima had tried to pry, which lead to an argument to take place that morning at breakfast. He also just loved the ambiance of the room when they both retreated to their own little worlds.

His world though- he was trying to avoid it. Sure, reading kept his thoughts from straying too far, but as soon as he lost his focus suddenly his mind would put Ojiro in the male lead’s place. That didn’t help his current situation at all. The last thing he needed was to imagine Ojiro saying such cheesy nonsense that Bakugou knew he’d be weak-kneed at. The problem with Ojiro wasn’t that he was a male- his old man was very open about his boyfriends before he met the old hag- the problem lied in when this happened? Bakugou doesn’t do crushes, especially crushes that he apparently didn't know about. He knew his classmate was strong, smart, and damn, was he serene.

Ojiro has plagued his mind for three days now and he has made no progress. First, does he even really like him? Maybe it was only physical attraction? Does Ojiro feel the same? Probably not, Bakugou knows he’s a lot to handle and frankly he was an asshole to most of the world. Maybe this was just the familiarity or friendship he was feeling.

Frustrated, his thoughts got away from him once again he sighed before closing the light novel. Jirou was playing a fast-paced song on her piano, and it was soothing to his frayed nerves. He turned over on his side to watch the performance. Her head bobbed furiously to the tempo- her hair swishing about aggressively. Her fingers seemed to storm across the keyboard and her face seemed twisted into concentration. The bright red curtains were pulled back today to let in the beautiful setting sun, and it only seemed to enhance the darker hues of her hair. She was gorgeous, and her beauty was only highlighted by the passion she was exuding.

A small smile fought its way onto Bakugou’s face before realization hit. Jirou brought out something that felt like how he felt with Ojiro! This had to be friendship- he couldn't be in love with both of them. Could he? He shook the thought away before collapsing on the crimson bed heavily. See? There was nothing for him to freak out about. The warm feeling in his chest was friendship. This was character development- an important development for his hero career too if the nerd was right.

“Jirou?” he asked softly as soon as she stopped playing. She turned to the boy, who was staring up at her ceiling.

“Yeah, Bakugou?” She pushed past the satisfaction of him finally using her name.

“Do you think UA changed us?” the question seemed to come out of nowhere and it took her a second to form a response.

“Probably, we’re all training to be heroes and we wouldn’t be very good heroes if we didn’t change into the best possible heroes we can be.” she shrugged and turned towards the ceiling too. “We’re also growing up still, things will change us all the time.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s getting late we should probably get started on dinner before shitty hair comes and drags us out.” He forced himself up off the bed and groaned while stretching. The sparring earlier today really made his back sore today. He didn’t even turn to make sure Jirou was following him as he made his way to the elevator.

“Bakugou, did you finally get that stick out of your ass?” the question made him open-mouth gape at her.

Clutching at his chest as if offended like a middle-aged Catholic woman hearing her child curse for the first time, “How dare you, Jirou? Just for that, we’re having a kale salad with dinner.”

“I hate kale.” She groaned but didn’t miss the lack of insult being thrown right back at her. Maybe he really is changing, she contemplated. The elevator ride was quiet but comfortable for both of them. Neither was ever truly talkative. Making their way to the kitchen past the crowded couches, they caught two leeches, much to Bakugou’s dismay. Kaminari and Kirishima almost fell over themselves to get to the blonde boy. As quiet as they could manage, they hopped up on the counter while the two cooks for the night worked quietly in tandem. Jirou was slicing meat for a quick grill on the stove and Bakugou was chopping up vegetables for the sides.

Tired of being ignored already, Kaminari disrupted the quiet atmosphere. “Baku-Bro, when are we gonna start studying for that test in Ectoplasm’s class? Cause I swear if I fail any more quizzes he’ll kill me.” Kaminari dramatically hung himself off of Kirishima’s shoulder.

“When are you gonna get your head out of your ass and actually study on your own dunce-face?” Bakugou bit back, his face though held no venom. Denki smiled at the insult while Jirou rolled her eyes.

Bakugou groaned internally, Cementoss just seemed to be droning on and on today. The constant emphasis on safety seemed a bit overkill at this point, they’ve sparred for three classes in a row so far without so much as a sprain. He could feel the sweat accumulating around his forearms as he baked in his thick gym uniform. Today they were going to spar in the gym and he couldn’t wait to fine-tune his newly developed special move. He expanded on the basics of just his normal blast by trying to rapid-fire and it has worked well during his solo practice sessions but today he could see how well it held up during a mock battle.

Finally, his teacher started to pair everyone up together and he was only slightly disappointed he didn’t get paired off with icy-hot or pink cheeks. Instead, he was paired off with the Monkey. Maybe this would work out for the better; after all, he wanted to make sure his close combat skills stayed sharp, he thought as he and Ojiro were propelled upwards by Cementoss. Instantly the karate kid started to circle Bakugou, his tail whipping left and right. He lunged forward with a high kick and Bakugou feigned to the right and sent a blast towards Ojiro’s left leg to knock him off his feet but suddenly Ojiro’s body was fully supported by his tail as he spun away from Bakugou. The fight continued like a dance, where there was a lunge there was a dodge. Each one of the pair barely landed more than a glancing touch. Sweaty and frustrated Bakugou finally leaped back one last time and tried his new special move.

It happened in slow motion, Ojiro was standing with his back to the base of a higher tower where another duo was battling it out, but Bakugou hadn’t aimed as well as he thought and his blast instead went to Ojiro’s face instead of his torso. Two blasts back to back that plastered him to the rock wall. Bakugou stood there with his mouth agape, his hands facing down. Ojiro wasn’t getting back up, he had his face cradled in between his palms and his tail wrapped tightly around his knees as he dropped down into a kneeling position.

“Cementoss! Injury!” Bakugou screamed as loud as the lump in his throat would let him. He rushed to Ojiro’s side and tried to pry his hands off his face so he could inspect the damage. Ojiro’s skin was scorched red and blood was smeared across his cheeks. Bakugou flinched back when Ojiro hissed in pain. The golden blonde boy curled into himself and kept his face turned away. Bakugou’s heart fell through his ass, how could he do this to Ojiro? Ojiro was supposed to dodge. He was supposed to block the blast and keep going. How had it turned out this way? The blast wasn’t supposed to be any stronger than what he used of the regular. Oh no, he was sweatier than normal, did that make his offense stronger than normal? He fucked up. Ojiro was hurt because of him.

Aizawa and Cementoss quickly arrived at both shellshocked boys. Bakugou was frozen with a hand still clutching at Ojiro’s gi. Ojiro was hiding his face, Aizawa was able to connect the dots and that was where the injury had occurred. He helped the boy get to his feet as Cementoss tried to comfort a speechless and uncharacteristically limp Bakugou. Aizawa led Ojiro over to Recovery Girl’s station by the entrance of the gym. She soothed the tense boy as she cleaned his wounds then kissed him. All tuckered out from the forced healing Ojiro went limp in his chair and started to doze off. The rest of the class had been lowered down to ground level and Aizawa was able to see his students all in varying degrees of concern.

Cementoss’s soothing words seemed to pass through Bakugou’s head as if they were light and he was the invisible girl. He barely took stock of being pulled to his feet and the sudden silence as all of his classmates stopped fighting was lost on him. Instead, all he could focus on was the whine of pain that Ojiro had made when Aizawa had pulled him away. It echoed in his head and his stomach was knotted in anxiety.

When the whole class was lowered to the gym floor Kirishima made his way over to his best friend. He could see that Bakugou was a bit shook up, “Baku-bro, you good?”

His question went unanswered and he couldn’t help but be concerned for the usually explosively eloquent boy. Kaminari flitted over to his friends, completely oblivious to the situation. He sidled up to Bakugou, arm slinging across the mute boy’s shoulders in familiarity despite being warned against it numerous times in the past. “So, King explosion murder, you won today?” he teased leaning into Bakgou’s face, the furrowing of the barely visible brows finally hinted at Bakgou’s darkened mood.

“I lost control… Denki, he's hurt because of me.” Bakugou whispered in a voice so vulnerable that Kaminari barely registered that Bakgou called him by his first name. His affable smile faltered, he side-eyed Kirishima whose face was contorted into one of concern. This was new. Bakugou had only ever used marginally clever nicknames for everyone- so Denki wasn’t quite used to his friend using not just his name but his first name.

“Ojiro’s okay Bakugou, if he wasn’t then Recovery Girl would be rushing him into her actual clinic,” Kaminari said making sure his voice came across as soft as possible. Bakugou’s shoulders only slumped further.

Aizawa called attention to himself and quickly dismissed the class to their dorms, assuring them all that their classmate would be in tip-top shape. He watched as they all filtered out of the gym quickly, except one of his problem children- Bakugou. He could tell by the way the usually proud boy stood almost defeated, that he was blaming himself for Ojiro’s injury. He watched as the platinum blonde nervously made his way towards the makeshift clinic. Which was really just a table filled with bandages, antiseptic sprays, and a couple of chairs set to the side that currently housed one-tailed individual.

“He’s okay?” is the first thing Bakugou could say when he got close enough to see the golden-haired boy’s unscarred face. The knot in his stomach started to loosen but the guilt still held him hostage.

“Yes, I'm just waiting with him to make sure he makes it back to the dorms,” Aizawa affirmed before leaning against the wall heavily. “You know it’s not your fault right? These things happen, especially during training. Ojiro is one of our less injury-prone students but he’s had his fair share of Recovery Girl’s kisses.”

“I lost control- this wasn’t supposed to happen,” Bakugou whispered meekly.

Aizawa said nothing, just looked up to the ceiling deep in thought. Bakugou continued to watch over Ojiro protectively until Ojiro’s eyes fluttered open- then he pointedly and looked away. Ojiro glanced around his surroundings as he pushed himself into a sitting position. His teacher asked him a few questions before nodding and walking out of the gym while calling back to the two that they better be back in the dorms by dinner. Ojiro questioningly looked up at Bakugou who seemed very occupied with not making eye contact.

“Were you waiting for me?” Ojiro asked quietly, he and Bakugou didn’t really get along that well but over the last couple of weeks, they’d managed a simple camaraderie. He was touched that anyone had stayed to wait for him but he was especially touched that the snarkiest boy in class was waiting for him. By the slight flush on the pale boy’s cheeks, Ojiro felt as if he got his answer so he smiled softly before standing up. Correction- tried to stand up. Ojiro’s body was a bit too tired and he stumbled forward.

“Are you okay?” Bakugou exclaimed as he caught Ojiro by the shoulders. His heart was in his throat and even when Ojiro steadied himself Bakugou wouldn’t let go.

“I’m fine, just a bit drained. It’s not as bad as when I sprained my tail.” Ojiro joked, trying to lighten the mood of the room.

“Lean on me, I'll help you back to the dorm. We don’t need you falling over and needing another trip to Recovery Girl.” Bakugou didn’t wait for a response as he hoisted one of Ojiro’s arms over his shoulder and held him firmly at his waist.

“Alright, thanks, dude.” Ojiro could feel his face warming at the firm hand holding his hip. He stepped forward slowly and Bakugou kept pace and gently urged Ojiro on. It took them about ten minutes to get back to their dorm hall and by then, both were making small jokes.

“Hey guys, you’re finally back!” Mina yelled as they entered the room, a gaggle of girls camping out on the couches in the common room.

“Yeah, sorry for worrying you all.” Ojiro smiled sheepishly. Bakugou adjusted his grip on Ojiro and when the other tried to pull away ever so slightly, Bakgou pulled him closer. For some reason, he felt protective of the fatigued boy, and the thought of him not needing Bakugou’s help may have made his heart clench uncomfortably.

“Aoyama and Yaoyorozu are in charge of dinner tonight and she said something about couscous, I don’t really know what that is but it has to be better than the burnt rice she made last time,” Uraraka informed the boys, and Ojiro’s face twisted into one of distaste.

“ Yeah, I’ve tried it during one of my mom’s food experiments and frankly I’m not the biggest fan.” He turned to Bakugou, “will you help me upstairs?”

“No problem Ojiro,” Bakugou nodded toward the elevator and they quickly made their way up- not noticing the open-mouthed faces of shock that crowded the couches.

They made it to the third floor and Ojiro led him towards his room wordlessly, and maybe he was leaning a bit more into Bakugou than he probably needed to but if you’d ever ask him he’d deny it. Bakugou was comforting to Ojiro’s weakened state and frankly who didn’t want a cute boy to help them in their time of need.

Meanwhile, Bakugou was facing his own dilemma, why in the world did each step toward the bed fill him with dread? Gritting his teeth and shoving down his confused emotions, Bakugou helps Ojiro lay down on his bed. “You good?”

He got a slight nod as an answer as Ojiro curled up under the covers, obvious exhaustion flooding his face. Feeling out of place Bakgouu started to step away but was surprised when Ojiro reached out and grabbed a fistful of Bakgou’s pants.

“Can you stay here for a second?” Ojiro mumbled, his face scrunched up against the pillow. A silent nod was all that Bakugou could manage, his heart in his throat, so he nervously sat on the edge of the bed near Ojiro’s knees. Ojiro peeked up at the nervous nelly and decided to tease him. “I was going to thank you for helping me but you look so cute when you’re nervous.”

It took a second to register but Bakugou flushed a deep ruby color and stood up abruptly, Ojiro smiled blindingly at his reaction until the hot head high-tailed it out of his room.

Well shit.

Bakugou closed the door behind him, being mindful not to slam it, he rushed to the elevator and jammed at the button until it finally opened. He quickly hit four and repeatedly pressed the close door button while his heart seemed to be beating in his ears. He knew his face was flushed- he could feel the heat it emitted. Once the doors finally closed he took a deep breath and patted his cheeks. Why was he even acting like this? The girls downstairs have called him cute in passing and he’d never reacted this way before. Maybe it’s just exhaustion from the rollercoaster of emotions he took today. Yeah, that must be it.

He was mostly calm and back to his usual skin tone by the time he made it halfway down the hall to his dorm but all of a sudden Kirishima stepped out of his room. “Baku-bro! Satou just messaged me that dinner is ready, want to head down together?”

“Not today, I’m tired.” Bakugou brushed past Kirishima and headed into his room while all but slamming his door. He flicked the lock and pressed his slightly warm forehead against the cool wood. He couldn’t help but feel as if his earlier assumption was wrong. He could still feel his heart racing from when Ojiro called him cute. Yeah, Bakugou knew he wasn’t ugly. After all, he took after his mom, he knew the old hag was beautiful. But hearing it from Ojiro was different than anytime before- maybe it had to do with how it built up.

Wait, how did it build up? Yeah maybe he felt different today but it was hard to pinpoint any of his emotions today. The protective urge Ojiro pulled out of him? He’d felt that before! With the shitty nerd and shitty hair especially. Though the urge to keep Ojiro in his arms when he had tried to pull away was new. He gently knocked his forehead against the door before trudging over to his bed. A glance at the clock on his headboard showed it was just after six. Way too early to fall asleep and as if he could. He didn’t understand what was happening to himself. He stared at the ceiling as the realization dawned on him.

Pregnancy sucks.  My back hurts and my feet are sore after just a few hours walking. Not to mention the overall discomfort of my body swelling up to accommodate the new human developing inside of it. Luckily I only have about three more months of this left and I could finally hold my baby boy. Yeah, Hobi was right. He claimed that it was his hybrid genes that made him privy to this information but Kook calls bullshit- he and Tae had been hoping it was a girl.

In the past two months of staying back home, I’ve seemed to bond super well with the two new hybrids. At first, it was easy to become friends with Tae, he was overly friendly and followed me around after our first-day meeting. Once my baby bump became prominent I could keep him away; he spent most of his waking hours cooing at my stomach. I had to work a bit harder to get Jungkook to open up to me and all it took was a few weeks of calling Taehyung his nickname.  Apparently, he was just shy and wanted to be my friend also but he was jealous that Tae got to be called Tae. I called him Kook since then and all shyness flew out the door. He and Tae were both so energized all the time and both so caring. Today they insisted on accompanying me to the store because they didn’t want me to accidentally overwork myself. Hobi tagged along too, not wanting to be left behind at the house alone.

I was flanked by both Jungkook and Taehyung the moment we entered the store but this is something I've had to get used to.  Another thing I’ve had to get used to is that Taehyung was very touchy. His hands are always in contact with some part of my body and today he had wrapped his arm around my waist and his fingers traced small circles into my side as we strolled down the aisles. Usually, I wasn’t someone who liked to be held all the time but with Tae, it never bothered me, it was actually comforting most of the time. Hobi strolled a few feet ahead of us while he was bickering with Taehyung over the chips that were tossed into the cart.  The great chip debate happened every time we went to the store, Hoseok had a weird taste when it came to snacks and my other brothers and I had long gotten over it. 

Jungkook was hovering on my right- so close that our knuckles brushed as we walked- his presence a constant that I’ve become accustomed to these last few weeks.  He was back to his quiet guy persona, it probably would stay this way until we got home. Hobi thought it was funny when we went out in public together- said that Jungkook changes gear into high alert one I became a variable. It was hard for me to imagine him outside of the two versions of him that I knew, the quiet and shy versus the playful and relaxed.  At home, Jungkook was the one to cajole me into chasing him throughout the house but whenever I turn a corner too fast he’s there with arms outstretched to catch me. 

Taehyung too acted a bit differently when we went out, usually he was a bundle of energy and excitement that couldn’t be contained but in public, he seemed to change into a startling somber man who would then meld himself to my side once out the door. I guess this fed into his protective instincts as well.  Tae was the one who was most concerned with my well being in the house. He responded to every grunt and whimper I’ve made since I’ve moved in. He forced me into weekly self-care nights and rushed to prevent me from overworking myself no matter the task. I would think that it was charming normally but because of him, I’ve been banned from dish duty after accidentally cutting my finger after moving in. 

My parents had warned me that the three hybrids in the house might change a bit while the pregnancy developed but if I were uncomfortable then I should let them know right away. Hoseok was the same Hoseok as ever- a beam of sunshine in my monotonous life. He has spent increasingly more time outside of our house - going on dates with some mysterious guy. He has stopped teasing me a much this past week or two and instead teases Jungkook and Taehyung twice as much. Jungkook and Tae have obviously turned into my pseudo bodyguards and that can probably be chalked up to their hybrid instincts. 

Why else would these two hang onto me so closely?   I thought to myself as I focused on a sign for a buy one get one half off deal for oatmeal. Dad liked oats in the morning but there didn’t seem to be any of his favored cinnamon flavors. Taehyung suddenly ripped me out of my peaceful bubble by tugging me into his side abruptly. Jungkook stood in front of me while I could hear Hoseok apologize profusely. Both Taehyung and Jungkook had their faces twisted into scowls as they peered down at the man huddled on the floor. He looked familiar.

His curly blonde hair seemed to be what struck me with a name on the tip of my tongue. I couldn’t quite place him, how many blonde men did I know? Not many other than that Jimin guy Hobi brought around since high school. I couldn’t place him until he glanced over where I was peeking out over Jungkook’s shoulder. His eyes were blue, an icy pale blue that was the same color as his. This was Henry’s little brother. Was it Darren? Or maybe David? It was hard to recall as Henry was coles with his family. Especially after their parents divorced and He had been the only child to go live with his dad. I had only met David a few times over the almost six years we had been together. 

“Y/n?”  He asked, his eyes lighting up in recognition. Hobi- who was interrupted mid apology for ramming into him with the cart- looked back at me with inquisitive eyes. Taehyung tried to pull me closer to his side but this once I resisted and stepped from the overwhelming protection of the Duo. 

“David? Last I saw you, you were a scrawny little beanpole.” I teased light-heartedly as I stood next to Hobi. David’s cheeks flushed as he stood up and straightened out his clothes. 

“Uh, well, I grew up. It’s been three years so how’s it been going? Henry said you guys split up.” His eyes seemed to be glued to my stomach. My stomach was big, especially for how far along I was at only six months of my pregnancy but I was already passing the size of a watermelon. My hands came up to cradle my stomach. 

I forced a smile, “Yeah, we did. It’s been about six months, I think? I’ve been doing good though.” 

It was then that my blood ran cold. Rounding the corner behind David was the man I never wanted to see again. Henry.  These last few months haven’t fully rid me of the sting of abandonment and no matter how much I’ve been coddled - it could never erase the pain and loneliness that I’ve had to overcome. I could feel my brother tense up beside and his threats to ‘rip out his throat’ came ringing in the back of my head. I calmly reached out and held onto his forearm gently.

Henry’s attention was fully focused on the bakery box in his hands and he only glanced up at his brother. He quickly did a double-take when he noticed that there were five looming figures instead of just the one. He skimmed over the group of strangers until he locked eyes with me. His feet took root and held him back a few feet away as he gawked. 

“Baby? That's my baby?” he managed to choke out while his eyes bugged out of his head. David’s jaw dropped and suddenly, with both their gazes trained on me, I felt so much smaller than just a few moments ago.  I could feel panic clawing at my throat as it rattled its way out of my chest at the sudden turn of events. That’s until a warm firm hand grasped onto my elbow as the familiar towering presence materialized behind me. Jungkook. His hold quelled my panic almost instantly. I fixed a terse smile at Henry, my face changing a calm disposition.

“No. You were right: there was no way it could be your baby.” I could feel the acid dripping from my lips as I forced a saccharine sweet smile at the asshole.

Henry’s face quickly snapped out of the shocked expression, almost as quickly as his face took on a reddened hue. “So you were a fucking whore and got knocked up by some hybrid? Should have known, your family is way too close to those fucking freaks.” He kept his eyes trained on Jungkook’s hand holding onto me.

“Oh, I knew you were a piece of shit the first time she brought you home.” Hoseok laughed unamused. He abandoned the cart only to stalk towards Henry, stopping with barely six inches left between the two. “The only thing keeping me from tearing you limb from limb right now is the fact that she begged me to, One more comment from your limp-dicked self will be more than enough to break my self-control. This is the last time you’ll ever speak to her or her children. Understood?” Henry nodded quickly with a face painted in fear. 

Taehyung stepped forward and turned the cart around. Jungkook tugged me along and rubbed his hand on my arm in comfort. Tae swiped a few boxes of snack cake of the shelf as we hurried away and a sudden ringing sound of a slap rang out through the aisle.  No-one turned around. As we approached the lines for check out I could hear the squeaking of Hobi’s sneakers as he ran to catch up with us.  His hands replaced Jungkook’s as he tugged me into his chest. 

He tucked my head under his chin and held me tightly, so tight that he managed to squeeze out the few tears I was managing to fight back. He only tightened his grasp as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. He let go momentarily to wrench his wallet out of his back pocket so he could exchange it for keys from Jungkook. He pulled me out from under the judging stares of the cashiers and led me to the parking lot. As we neared the car he hugged me closer to his side so he could press his cheek against the top of my head. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. 

“No. I’m sorry I let you be with that asshole. I failed as a big brother.” he sighed despondently and I could feel the guilt twisting my stomach into knots.

“No, you’re the best one I got. I’m sorry he said that about you, I’ve never heard him say anything like that before. I love you Hobi, you’re my sunshine.” I cried as I held onto his shirt.

“I know you don’t think of me that way or the guys. I can remember you fighting punks like that at the park growing up. His dumbass will never affect how much I love my snot-nosed baby sister.” he pulled away and leveled me with a soft smile, forcing me to return one. 

“Did you hit him? You could get in a lot of trouble.” I bit onto my lip as I imagined the terrible consequences. He could lose his job at the shelter. He could be marked aggressively by the government and taken away. He could be arrested.

His warm soft hands squished my cheeks as he made me face him. “Aw, is our little Y/n worried about her big brother? Don’t worry my princess, bubby didn’t hurt him. His brother slapped the socks off him. I was shocked.”  His blinding smile finally returned and could hear a cart being pushed behind us. I turned to see Taehyung standing on the front of the cart with a big smile as he waved to us; Jungkook was running full speed at the handle of the cart. 

I laughed at the two idiots as they barely managed to stop before crashing into my car. Taehyung’s hands flew forward to brace himself against the trunk. Jungkook laughed heartily as Taehyung started to yell at him for almost squishing him. 

“Kook, are you driving us back?” I asked to save him from the snow leopard. He nodded as Hobi tossed him the keys. Kook popped the trunk while Hobi and Tae tossed in the few bags of groceries. Jungkook steered away from the cart and we all filed into the car wordlessly. I was in the passenger seat with Hobi behind me. There seemed to be a heavy curtain of silence surrounding us all. 

“Taehyung, Jungkook, I’m sorry for what Henry said.” I pointedly kept my attention at the fast-changing scenery. They were both silent until I could feel hot breath against my neck. A chin rested on my shoulder while a nose pressed itself between my ear and jawline. 

“Why are you sorry? Did you teach him to hate hybrids?” Tae’s deep voice was just barely louder than a whisper but it echoed in my heart. I whipped my head towards him, my eyebrows pinched together harshly, only to see the grin plastered on his face.

“You know I don’t think like that. Don’t tease me like that, I was apologizing because you guys don’t deserve to be spoken to like that. You’re people; kind, caring people.” I glared at him with no heat while his smile only widened. 

“We do know, that’s why we weren’t mad. It's something that happens and we can’t help that we’re used to it. We were actually pissed at that asshat.” Jungkook harrumphed in agreement and I could feel the knot loosen in my stomach. 

“I’ve been trying to join Team Hate Henry since we moved in and Hoseok hasn’t allowed it. I bet Namjoon will let us in now.” Jungkook smirked back at Hobi who squeaked in protest.

“Namjoon cannot know that we met with him. He would actually kill him.” I interjected, my fear helping me envision Joonie in an orange jumpsuit. 

Jungkook side-eyed me before smirking at me, “ Would that be so bad?”

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