"Zoë! Dad and I could use some help!"

Zoë grinned and tied the pink ribbon on her dress quickly, and ran to the kitchen.

"Yeah, what's up?!" She asked excitedly. Izuku giggled.

"Someone's excited!"

Zoë just nodded. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Today was Ai's first birthday party, and Izuku and Zoë has been planning his party for a long time. Zoë was a social butterfly, and any chance she got to get people together, she took.

Unfortunately, with all of the Bakugo's' friends being pro heroes, that meant that there would be huge media coverage of the whole event, so it wasn't just for fun.

"You mind getting Ai into his car seat? Dad and I are loading up the truck with some last minute stuff!" Izuku smiled.

"Yeah, I'm on it!"

She picked up her baby brother and hugged him close to her. She still couldn't believe how big he had gotten.

"Alright, let's go! It's time to go to your party, Ai! You're gonna be one!!"

She got a tiny giggle in response, and by the time she had strapped him in, Bakugo had the key in the ignition.

"Alright, let's buckle up! Iida and Uraraka and Sakura should already by there, as well as Yaoyorozu and Yukino. After that, it's up to us to greet everyone. Unfortunately, Zo, that means that you'll have no choice but the greet some of the reporters.

"Dammit," she grumbled under her breath. Usually, Izuku would be on her case about swearing, but he knew how much she hated the press.

"You remember the rules, right?" Bakugo sighed, dejected.

"Yeah," Zoë murmured. "Always keep a smile on your face, use last names, or at least Sir or Ma'am, shake hands, look into the cameras when talking, and don't refer to anybody specific if you can help it."

Bakugo gave her a small smile in the rear view mirror.

"Awesome as usual, baby."

Maybe a half hour later, they pulled up to the space they had rented for the party. They unloaded some things from the back of the truck, and carried them in, only to be greeted by the Iidas and Momo and Yukino.

"OMG I'm so excited!" Sakura squealed. Her and Zoë high-fived, and she gave Yukino a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, that should be everything for now!" Izuku sighed. Ai was strapped to his chest in a baby bourn, in a tiny tuxedo and frankly, just looking absolutely adorable.

Uraraka and Momo were wearing long evening gowns, and the girls were all wearing knee-length gowns.

Sakura, Zoë, and Yukino were running around the whole space putting place cards down and trying to decide who should sit with who.

It wasn't long before more guests started to arrive. The door was nearly ripped off of its hinges a few minutes later.

"BAKUBRO! 'SUP?"

An ever-energetic Kirishima burst into the room, in matching tuxedos with Testsutestsu, who was also wearing a huge grin. Kirika gave a quirky peace sign, and ran over to the other girls.

Eventually, Izuku pulled Zoë away from her friends.

"Dad, PLEASE! Can't I just play with my friends for once?!" She asked, exasperated. "I'm sick of all of this shit with the press!"

"Don't use that word," Izuku muttered. "Zoë, I know, and I'm really sorry-!"

He was cut off by Zoë pushing him out of the way and walking to the doors, taking her place holding one of them. Izuku bit his lip.

Of course, he felt horrible making her do this, but he knew he had no choice. If the media didn't get to speak with her, they'd think something was wrong.

It was the bitter look I'm her eyes that worried him.

———————

"Oh, hello there young lady!" A glamorous woman said, holding a microphone, flanked by a bunch of camera men. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course, Ma'am! It's wonderful to see you again!" Zoë lied straight through her teeth. "Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to our party!"

The reporter gave a fake, calculated laugh.

"Oh, aren't you a sweetheart! Well, you heard it here folks! Young Zoë Bakugo is already doing her best to support her fathers! Let's head inside, boys!"

The next hour passed in the same way, and then the hour after that. Every once in a while, she would turn around quickly, and she would lock eyes with her friends, and they would all either shoot angry looks at Izuku and Bakugo and just grimace sadly at her.

Eventually, all of the reporters blurred together, and her responses became too similar. But it wasn't like anyone cared. Everyone else was focused on having fun and enjoying her brother's birthday party.

Trying to block out the music and the laughter, she tried to focus on the task given to her. She didn't realize how much time had passed until people started waving to her and leaving through the doors.

Horrified, she whipped her head around to scan the room, and her heart sank.

All of the plates and tables were already cleared up, and there were no more presents left to open, and even the cake was finished. She missed everything. And it wasn't even her fault.

She clenched her teeth and her sweaty palms balled into fists. She tried to keep her body from shaking with rage.

I've...never felt like this before. Ever. Why am I...why am I so upset? Why can't I hold myself back?

Finally snapping, she threw off her shoes and ran over to where a small group of adults were cleaning up. She roughly shook Izuku's shoulder. He turned around, still taking to Iida.

"Hey, how was the party?!" She asked, her voice a little louder than she wanted it to be. "Was it fun, Papa?! Did you and Dad have a great time?! Wish I could've EATEN, at the very least! Or talked with my friends!"

Izuku, too stunned to speak, just kept staring at her. She just...she sounded SO MUCH like Katsuki back when they were in middle school. It fought him off guard.

Obviously, he wasn't the only one to hear her outburst, and everyone quickly made their way out of the room, leaving only himself, Zoë, and Bakugo, who was holding Ai.

"Z-Zoë, baby, I-!"

"Don't you 'baby' me!" She snapped. "I'm hungry, and I'm tired, and I'm sick of being another pawn for the both of you to look good! You hear me?! I'M SICK OF IT! Why don't you just use me for everything?! Have me do all of your press work, or give your interviews for you?! How about that?! Would that make you PROUD OF ME?!"

By the end of her outburst, she was screaming, tears streaming down her face. Both Izuku and Bakugo couldn't even find their voices. Before they could react, Zoë had grabbed one of the remaining chairs, and slammed it into the ground as hard as she could, breaking it in half.

If he wasn't the number one hero, Bakugo would've been terrified of her strength. But it wasn't that strength that hurt him.

The violent outbursts...he knew them all to well. After everything he's done to try to raise Zoë to be the opposite of him as a kid...

"Z-Zoë, WAIT!" Bakugo yelled. Zoë just turned on her heels and ran, her bare feet slapping against the wooden floor.

Izuku and Bakugo gave each other identical looks of confusion and horror.

What the hell had just happened?

AN: HEY GUYS ONCE AGAIN I'M SORRY FOR THE DELAY!! Sorry, I sat down to write and didn't even plan on things turning out like this- I guess being stuck inside has just caused a bit of pent-up frustration...sorry about that! I'm really sorry to rant for a second, but this needs to be said. I have been receiving NONSTOP comments on all of my books about how my stories are "fucked up" because of the plots, and it is seriously pissing me off! I've added to the description that I go by a "Don't like don't read" policy, but apparently some people feel the need to inform me anyway. I'm just a teenager trying to have some fun writing when she's not in school, and I'm trying my best, I swear! Please, don't read if it makes you uncomfortable! But seriously, for the majority of you guys who don't do that, I'm really sorry I sound like an asshole, but it's just making me feel really bad. I hope you all are doing okay I'm quarantine! Please stay safe, okay? School is cancelled for the rest of the year for me, so...I guess we'll see where that goes. Anyways, sorry for the long AN, as usual, I love you guys, and I swear I really am trying my best! Can't wait to talk to you all again! Bye!!