It's entirely too early for this shit. 

Touya, quite frankly, is still dead tired and exhausted from studying all night while Katsuki slept. He had completely forgotten about the exams coming up before summer and while he wasn't a complete idiot, he definitely needed to touch bases with a few topics that he may or may not have skipped out on during classes when he'd undoubtedly skipped them to go beat the shit out of racists and maybe take a lunch break to make out with his cute, blonde boyfriend. 

He'd gotten a total of two hours of sleep before his mother came to wake him for breakfast. 

He had to assure Katsuki and his mother that he was fine, just exhausted. Shouto had teased him that cramming wouldn't help him because he's shit at retaining last minute information. Touya just wants to pass his exams so he can hurry up and get his degree already. 

Such is life. 

He was sure he'd need a few more hours to adjust and at least feel as if he was alive again---maybe drink a half a pot of coffee once he got to Yagi's so he could be at least halfway functional. He's nowhere near capable enough to handle the current situation at hand with even the slightest bit of grace. 

Why is Masaru Bakugou sitting on Nori's front porch? 

"...are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbles groggily with a sharp, exasperated sigh. The man seems nervous, eyes darting around ever so often as if to see if anyone is watching. 

It's incredibly fucking sketchy. 

"G-Good morning!" He greets them both upon spotting them, excitedly jumping up from the porch swing. His breath stops short as he steps a bit closer to get a better look at Katsuki, a look of overwhelming joy taking over him as he looks him over with a soft smile. "Katsuki. Gosh, I'll never get over how absolutely perfect you grew up to be." He says, sure to keep his hands clasped together in front of him so he isn't so tempted to touch; he's careful not to startle Katsuki with sudden movements. The boy is partially hidden behind Touya, peeking out at his dam shyly. 

"They told me how sweet you are. How much you care for others; the love that you share for all living creatures. After all this time...after all of the things I can imagine those monsters that took you away had put you through...my baby still turned out to be loving and kind. Still turned out to be a good person. You don't know how happy that makes me." He adds, reaching up to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye before it even has the chance to fall. He swivels his head around once more, anxiously shifting on his feet. 

"What are you doing here? Does Nori even know that you're here? You look incredibly fuckin' suspicious right now." Touya interjects, carding his fingers through his hair tiredly. "You look like you're trying not to get caught. If you're not supposed to be here then---" 

"N-No, no. Mr. Yagi knows that I'm here, I'm not trying to avoid him or do anything underhanded---I assure you." Masaru's cheeks bloom red with embarrassment, brows pinching in frustration. "It's just that...Mitsuki wouldn't allow me to see him so I had to lie to her about where I was going just so I could see my pup again. I know I shouldn't be lying to her; she'd be right angry if she knew. But I can't stand not being able to get to know him, you know? I-I prayed for this for so long---I prayed every single day that they'd bring my baby back to me. It just...feels so cruel that she would keep me from him now." 

The tears come back much heavier and he's unable to stop them from falling, sighing as he reaches up to wipe at his eyes. 

"I'm sorry. This isn't your problem at all but---" 

"Don't be sorry. You really just want to be a part of Katsuki's life, don't you? I can't fault you for that." Touya decides, leading Katsuki up the porch stairs. "If you don't wanna get caught, you probably shouldn't just be standing out in front of the house. Come inside, you can talk there." 

Masaru follows without hesitation. 

#

Touya feels a little easier now, sitting on the sofa with a mug of hot coffee in one hand and Katsuki's thigh in the other, holding Katsuki in his lap as Masaru sits in the reclining chair across from them. He voiced wanting to respect Katsuki's personal boundaries and Touya doesn't argue or tell him otherwise. He appreciates that Masaru is that considerate. 

"I-I want to apologize for the last time we met. I didn't want our visit to go that way and Mitsuki had promised that she would behave but I guess...I guess she lost her tolerance for patience." He begins, fiddling with his thumbs as he stares down at the arm of the sofa. "I had just wanted to come and...meet my son, you know? To understand who he is---who he'd become. To build a relationship with Katsuki. I told her we needed to wait. That we shouldn't be so worried about enrolling him in school or making him study---he's still dealing with so much. But she got...angry...and told me that it was important to talk with you about." 

Touya mutely spots the poorly covered bruise on his jaw that's just barely hidden with makeup---a few shades off from being an even decent match for his skin tone. 

He feels sympathy for him. 

"...I see. She get angry a lot?" 

"...Sometimes. She...she doesn't mean it, though. Her emotions just get the better of her sometimes. She's an alpha, you know? Sometimes she just gets that way." He laughs tightly, obviously nervous about Touya's line of questioning. The alpha doesn't respond, watching as Masaru's smile gradually fades away and morphs into a deep frown. The older man sighs, resting his head in the palm of his hand. 

"Listen. I know Mitsuki is trying to convince Yagi to have you come stay over but...it isn't the right thing to do. He should be here where he is happy and healthy. He should be here where he's safe."

"And he isn't safe there with you?" 

Masaru laughs bitterly. 

"I don't know. I really don't. I don't...I don't want Mitsuki to start getting...angry...with him, too. She's impatient and she doesn't have a lot of tolerance for mistakes. If it's just me then it's okay---it's my own fault for being so incompetent with so many things, right? But not my baby. She can't do that to my baby. You know?" He breathes out a shaky sigh, finally looking up at the two of them. 

It would seem that Touya has judged Masaru prematurely. 

"...Masaru. I want you to understand that being an alpha doesn't make us some sort of savage-like, uncontrollable creatures. We're more prone to be volatile and impulsive, sure. But it's not ever enough to be used as an excuse to cause harm to others who can't or won't be able to defend themselves. It's not ever an excuse to abuse the ones that we love." 

Masaru shakes his head frantically in denial, stammering over himself to try and defend Mitsuki but Touya reaches out a gentle hand to squeeze his shoulder and the omega snaps his mouth shut as his lip begins to quiver. He's tearing up again. 

God, this is painful to watch. 

"It's abuse. The way that she practically dragged you out of here the other day when you clearly wanted to stay? The way she forbade you from seeing your child again without her permission? It's abuse. Emotional and mental abuse---physical abuse too, if that bruise on your face is anything to go by. So don't allow her to brainwash you into thinking that's how being with an alpha is supposed to be. You deserve to be happy too. You can leave---"

"I can't!" He cries, sobbing into his hand. "I can't leave her. Where am I gonna go? What am I gonna do? And do you honestly think she's just gonna let me leave?!" 

Katsuki doesn't understand. Weren't they happy together? Didn't they love each other? Why would she do that to someone she loved? He thinks about Enji and how he'd suffered being married to an alpha as well. Surely they can't all be that way, can they? 

No…

Look how happy Enji is with Keigo. And Keigo is such a good man. So is Toshinori, who takes such good care of Inko and their family. And Izuku... Izuku would much rather die than to ever even dream of treating Shouto in such a way. Katsuki knows that all alphas aren't bad. 

He also knows that sometimes you can't always tell which ones are bad just from looking. Some of them trick you. Manipulate you. Take advantage of you. Katsuki had been fortunate; he was cared for in such a way that those who had wronged him had received retribution almost right away but people like Enji...and people like Masaru…

They aren't as fortunate. 

Has the world always been so cruel? 

...He needs to talk to Tomura again. 

"Mitsuki has been all I've had since I was Katsuki's age. She rescued me from the shelters, you know. Gave me such a good life. I was never cold or hungry---" 

"So because she took you off the streets, you owe it to her to allow her to abuse you?" 

"Touya...that's not---" 

"Isn't it? It sounds to me like you feared her from the beginning. Do you even love her? Has she ever loved you?" 

Masaru wants to tell him that it isn't about love. That regardless of how he feels about Mitsuki...he owes her his life. That because they are married, he has duties to her that he must fulfill. Loyalty to maintain. 

Instead, he says nothing.

Touya grunts out an annoyed growl. "What the fuck is up with the older generations and their fucked up traditions and customs?! You do realize that you aren't bound by the ways of our ancestors, don't you? Why the hell are you forcing yourself to be miserable? Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people. You have the option to leave, Masaru." 

"Why, so she can find me and make my life even more miserable? So she can get so angry that she finally kills me?" 

"If you stay, that's probably gonna happen anyway." Touya counters. Masaru heaves out an exasperated sigh, leaning back in his chair. It's quiet for a moment, the sound of birds chirping outside of the window the only thing saving them from an awkward silence. 

"I tried once. When Katsuki was just born.We'd just come home from the hospital. I was completely enamored and in love with Katsuki; he was so small and precious. I didn't even want to put him down. Mitsuki had done really well at keeping her temper when I was pregnant. For a little while, we were happy." He begins. Touya perks up a bit at this. Katsuki wasn't very old when he was taken. Did this have something to do with when he'd come up missing? 

"We had an event that night. Plenty of stars and big names, plenty of opportunities for Mitsuki to promote her brand and get better contracts with bigger names. I didn't want Katsuki there. He was a baby; he could've gotten sick with so many strangers around. You know? But Mitsuki wanted me to bring Katsuki to boost our popularity. Money hungry, the lot of them." 

A reoccurring theme, it would seem. 

"I said no, of course. I didn't want them touching and breathing and kissing over my child---he was only a few days old. He should've been up in the nursery. Mitsuki didn't like that I'd told her no. For the first time in our marriage, I'd defied her. She got angry of course and she...while I still had Katsuki in my arms. That's when I realized that she wouldn't have blinked twice if she were to have hurt him too." 

Masaru won't flat out say that she beats him. It's intentional, Touya realizes. He's in a cop's house, after all. He's trying to not give him a direct reason to get involved. Nori isn't there, Touya knows. Maybe Masaru is afraid that he's being watched. That poses a problem for the things that Touya is about to ask him next but this may be his only opportunity. 

"...You tried to leave right that moment?" 

"I did. And she dragged me back and told me if I ever tried it again she'd make sure I regretted it for Katsuki and I both. She at least let me put him down before she...before she started again." 

Katsuki raises a trembling hand to his face when he feels hot and wet tears rolling down his cheeks, sniffling when he hears Touya curse under his breath with an equally shaky voice.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Masaru." 

"As you can imagine, I ended up bringing Katsuki downstairs with us that night. I smiled and sat and made sure I was a perfect, quiet little piece of eye candy for all of her big, important friends. I never wanted Katsuki to grow up in such a violent place but he was the only thing keeping me sane. When they took my baby, I didn't know how to carry on---I didn't want to. But Mitsuki kept telling me he'd come back one day. Kept giving me hope---"

"So you could stay and she'd have someone to blame for all of her anger and resentment." Touya pieces together. 

Masaru's silence was an answer enough. 

Katsuki wipes at his face in sorrow and frustration. 

"T-That is so horrible! I am so sorry, I am so fucking sorry that this has been your reality. My heart…it breaks for you. It hurts so badly for you. Why does everything have to be so awful? Either choice you make leads to misery or death? Is that really the only choice you have?!" 

Touya holds Katsuki closer as his scent begins to sour. 

"Oh, baby. It's okay, angel, calm down---"

"It is not okay! All that I have learned about this world is that most alphas are evil and sneaky people and that to them, people like me are seen as little more than objects! They buy us and take everything they want by---" 

By force. 

Brother was right. 

"Masaru. I need to ask you about that night." Touya intervenes, fingers carding through Katsuki's hair to try and help him calm down. He's been entirely too stressed as of late; he doesn't want him to have an episode. He'd been doing so well. 

"It wasn't me, if that's what you're implying---" 

"No, it obviously wasn't. You came here to beg me to keep your son safe. You came here to make sure he didn't come back home. My question is about Mitsuki. And...my sire." 

"...sire?" Masaru parrots in confusion. "Who is your sire?" 

"Rei Fujiwara. She claims to know you two quite well. She also claims to have been there the night Katsuki came up missing. She knows entirely too many details about Katsuki's condition upon his return---"

"But we aren't supposed to talk about the details of the case." He points, beginning to piece together what Touya is insinuating. "You think Mitsuki told? Why would she? As far as I know, we've never had that type of relationship with Rei. In fact, I've never liked her much. When she'd seen Katsuki that night she said he'd 'surely fill out nicely' by the time he was sixteen…" Masaru trials off, eyes widening. 

"Wait a moment…" 

"Exactly. You see, my sire spontaneously showed up to my house after refusing to come back to this country for the last ten years. She showed up right after you guys did. And she knew that Katsuki would be there. She knew, she said, because she was told. And she was awfully concerned with my angel's sex life." 

"...what was her reasoning for coming here?" 

"That she wanted to see me. Even though I've made it clear that I hadn't wanted to see her. She put my mother in a fairly similar situation to the one that you're in right now. Except my mother was lucky enough that Rei had gotten bored and left him."

Masaru's body goes frigid. 

"B-But if she's here---" 

"Don't worry. My family and I will protect Katsuki til our dying breath. The Yagi's will have his back as well. Nothing will happen to Katsuki. Until this trial closes and everyone has been put away, he'll be safe. You've really helped us today. Thank you, Masaru." 

Masaru is sobbing, shoulders shaking and trembling with his fear ridden body. 

"P-Please don't let them take my baby again. I don't wanna think about what they'll do to him…"

Touya grabs for Masaru's shoulder again. He waits until the omega raises his head again---waits for him to look him in the eyes.

"You have my word." 

And Masaru trusts him whole-heartedly. 

"T-Thank you!" 

Katsuki pries Touya's hands from his waist and slides down from his lap, throwing himself into Masaru's arms. The older omega squeezes him so tightly that it almost hurts, sobs bordering on hysterical but Katsuki doesn't mind. He deserves this. He deserves a moment with his only son. He's willing to never have Katsuki in his life again just to protect him. 

Katsuki wishes they'd have met sooner. He wishes they'd met under much different circumstances. 

"You are an amazing mother." He whispers to him and Masaru cries into his shoulder, soaking the fabric of Katsuki's dress with his tears. 

He'll let him hold him for as long as he wants today.