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Bakugou crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter, an irritated chuff escaping his lungs. He looked around the small apartment with a little disdain, his upper lip twitching into a warning of a snarl. He still couldn’t believe how much the renter’s insurance on this place was. Sure, he and Kirishima had destructive Quirks, but for such a small apartment he felt like they were getting scammed. Not that Kirishima minded—he’d been enthused to find a place that they could afford so close to their hero agencies.
Bakugou unclenched his fists, which were beginning to sizzle with heat. He wiped the sweat on his shorts, scowling at his feet.
He had at least hoped for one day to relax between the move and his next shift at the agency, but his boyfriend had apparently made other plans.
He narrowed his eyes for a moment as he remembered their conversation from the previous night.
Bakugou had nearly been asleep when Kirishima had rolled over to face him.
“You awake?” he asked.
“I am now that you’ve ruined the spooning.” Bakugou cracked one eye open to peer at him with sleepy irritation.
“Sorry.”
“You need something?”
Kirishima scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I was thinking…”
Bakugou heaved a deep sigh and opened both eyes, propping his head up with his hand to listen. “I dunno how you’re still awake after all the unpacking we did today, but let’s hear it.”
Kirishima smiled at that. “Okay. I was thinking… what if we adopted a dog.”
Before he could even stop himself he said, “Uhhh the fuck? We just moved in and you want a dog?”
He regretted it immediately as he watched Kirishima’s eyes fall.
“I mean. It was just an idea.”
“No, I—” Bakugou flopped back down onto his pillow and smacked a hand over his eyes, dragging it down his face as he tried to think of something better to say.
In high school, he would have barked out whatever the fuck he’d wanted to say. Things were different now. For the past couple years he had found himself genuinely softening, something that had scared him at first and that he was still learning how to even do. He still wasn’t great at all this.
“I just. What I mean is—” he fumbled and saw the sparks on his hands flash in the darkness of their room as he began to grow frustrated with himself. He took a deep breath. “I’m not- fuck, I just—”
Suddenly Kirishima laughed. “Don’t give yourself a hemorrhage over it, Katsuki. I get it. We got a lot going on.” He shrugged. “Like I said: it was an idea. Maybe I jumped the gun. I dunno. I’m just… excited. About all this.”
He grinned, and Bakugou felt the angry anxiety around his heart release its hold.
Kirishima rolled back over and said over his shoulder, “You gonna spoon me or what?”
Bakugou pulled Kirishima against him with a grumble, nestling his face against Kirishima’s neck, his temper tamed by the feeling of his boyfriend’s breaths against his chest.
As he thought this, he glanced at his watch and heaved a louder, more obvious sigh. Whatever it was that Kirishima had planned, he didn’t want to keep wasting the afternoon.
“Eijiro, are you fucking ready yet?”
“Hang on, hang on.” Kirishima hopped on one foot out of their room as he tried to tie his left shoe. He looked up through his crimson bangs and grinned. “So I take it you don’t want to wait for me to do my hair?”
“It’s a fucking miracle that you’re ever ready fast enough to save anyone, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou said. He turned away to hide the blush that was creeping up his neck and stomped towards the door. That smile always took him by surprise, even then.
Kirishima just laughed. Bakugou peeked over his shoulder to see Kirishima double-checking his pockets to make sure he had everything. Bakugou felt his chest tighten a little and when Kirishima finally looked up and met eyes with him, he tilted his head.
“You okay, Katsuki?” His eyebrows knitted together in concern.
At the sound of his name, his heart did a little jump. One would think with the length of their relationship he’d be used to it.
He hesitated for a moment, words jumbling around in his brain before he just stuck out his hand and said, “Yeah.”
Kirishima grinned again and clasped his hand in Bakugou’s. “Good. There’s no reason to be sullen today.”
Bakugou let out a soft sigh as he closed the door behind them and locked it. “Why, what do you have planned.”
Kirishima’s red eyes glimmered with something that made Bakugou suspicious. “New ramen place opened a short walk from here. I figure we can see our new neighborhood and nab some lunch.”
“We work in the neighborhood, dumbass,” Bakugou said, narrowing his eyes.
Kirishima shrugged and squeezed Bakugou’s hand. “Aw, c’mon. You don’t want to be a little domestic for a day?”
Feeling the guilt from last night bubble up again, Bakugou huffed and said, “Whatever. It’s your day, I guess.”
“Haha! Thanks, babe.” Kirishima leaned in and kissed Bakugou on the cheek, to which he looked over in surprise.
The redhead barked out a laugh, grinning and giving his boyfriend’s hand another squeeze.
Feeling the blood running to his cheeks, Bakugou looked away quickly and clenched his jaw. He released Kirishima’s hand and tugged him close by putting his arm over his shoulders.
As they walked down the sidewalk, Kirishima caught Bakugou up with what their old classmates had been up to. Not that Bakugou particularly cared, even a little, but he liked to listen to Kirishima talk.
Suddenly, in the middle of a story about of one of Mina’s supposedly wild antics, Kirishima came to a sudden halt next to a building and his eyes grew wide.
“Ah! Katsuki, can we—” he caught himself though and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression. “Mmm, well. Nevermind. Maybe not today.”
Bakugou turned his head, his eyes catching a sign that read “Musutafu Animal Shelter.” He looked at Kirishima and deadpanned, “Did you pick this route just so we’d pass this.”
“N-not… consciously,” Kirishima said with a bit of an apologetic smile. “Come on, we can—”
His arm still around Kirishima’s shoulders, Bakugou dragged him towards the door.
“No, Bakugou, you don’t—”
Bakugou flung the door open with a little too much force and stared Kirishima in the eye. “We’re just. Looking. It's your day, remember.”
He saw Kirishima repress an exuberant grin, and force a nod instead. “Absolutely. Just looking. Yeah.”
Bakugou followed Kirishima through the shelter, letting him lead the way since he was the one who was so interested in the beasts.
“Bakugou! Look at this one! It’s so manly!” Kirishima exclaimed, kneeling down near the kennel for a massive black dog to bound over and sniff at him excitedly.
Besides the fact that it was beastly in size and had a set of massive teeth, there was nothing about this dog that Bakugou would consider manly. A pair of dewy eyes peered up at them from thick, fluffy fur, a big pink tongue lapping at kirishima’s fingers between the wires of the gate. When it wagged its tail, its entire body wiggled with it.
“Seems like a giant dumb animal to me. Plus our apartment is too small for it.”
“I thought we were just looking,” Kirishima teased.
Bakugou crossed his arms, his upper lip pulling up into a mild snarl. “We are. Just saying. For potential future reference.”
Kirishima hopped from kennel to kennel, greeting almost every dog that he came across. Bakugou pulled out his phone and began to flip through his messages to see if his boss needed him.
Suddenly, he heard Kirishima gasp and say, “Oh, okay. Katsuki, please come look at this one. Just look at her face.”
“I don’t think her face is going to be any different than the rest of the dogs’ were to me,” he said flatly.
“C’mon, she’s so cute! Please? This is the last one and then we can go.”
Bakugou took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring at his phone for a second more before he walked over to Kirishima.
He peered down at the dog and cocked an eyebrow.
She was an Australian shepherd, her cinnamon and white dappled fur glossy. She peered at them from her dog bed, where she was curled up. She lifted her head and tilted it to the side, her ears flopping.
“Aw, she’s been here for so long, over a year?!” Kirishima said, lamenting over her information sheet attached to the kennel door. “It says she has a sweet personality, I wonder why people haven’t picked her yet.”
“Hmm.” Bakugou was genuinely surprised by this too. She was a pretty dog.
“Ah! Says her name is Tia. Cute,” Kirishima commented. He knelt down and patted his knee. “C’mere, Tia.”
The dog pushed herself up into a sitting position and hopped over, her nub tail wagging as she tentatively approached the gate to sniff at Kirishima’s fingers. As he did that, Bakugou took a look at the card.
“Well, there’s your answer,” Bakugou said, tapping the card. “She’s got a quirk Why adopt a dog that can” —he squinted to make sure he read the statement correctly— “‘open doors, undo locks, and steal food using her telekinetic Quirk’ when you can just have a normal dog.”
Kirishima looked up at him with a sharp glance. “Hey! Don’t be a dick!”
Bakugou shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched as he turned away. “I’m just saying that’s probably what a lot of people think when they come in here; that’s not necessarily my opinion, shitmunch.”
“I’d adopt you, Tia,” Kirishima said, scritching her forehead as she sat against the gate, her tiny tail wiggling with joy. He clenched his fist and brought it to his lips. “She’s so manly! Look at her, she’s been her so long but she’s still so happy to see us! So determined!”
At his excitement, she began to wiggle and licked at his fingers.
A shelter employee walked by and perked up at their interest. “Ah! Do you two want to go in and visit her?”
“Yes!” Kirishima said as Bakugou deadpanned a blunt “No.”
Kirishima sent Bakugou a glower and said, “Yes, we’d like to visit her.”
The employee let them in and Bakugou sighed, following Kirishima with a narrow-eyed look.
“Just a quick visit, then we’ll leave,” Kirishima promised.
“Fine.”
The dog immediately became more excited as they entered, jumping up excitedly as Kirishima knelt down to pet her. He laughed and tried to fend off her excited licks, but she wiggled her way into his lap and snuffled his shirt as her tail wiggled back and forth.
Once satisfied with her investigation, she slipped past his grasp and began to snuffle at Bakugou’s feet.
“Ack—no, dog, not me. The one with the shitty hair.”
She looked up at him and tilted her head, her mouth stretched into a doggish smile as she panted. Behind her, her food bowl scooted a foot to the left.
Kirishima pointed at her. “Bakugou, come on. Pet the dog. She’s so cute. You know you want to.”
Bakugou set his jaw and rolled his eyes, but he slid against the wall into a sitting position. The minute she was on his level, she jumped up and began attacking him with licks and snuffles. He buried his fingers into her coat, surprised at how soft she was.
“Okay, okay—calm down, calm down. Take it easy. Sit, Tia. Can you sit? Sit.”
Her head tilted to the side, her ears flopping, and she plopped her butt down on the ground. He ran his hand over her head and behind her ears, and she closed her eyes and panted happily. Her bowl did a quick loop until it was at her side; she suddenly perked up and looked down as if surprised, and began to crunch on her kibble.
He suddenly realized he was smiling, but only because Kirishima was watching him with one of the dumbest grins on his face he’d ever seen.
Bakugou rolled his eyes and stood up. “Okay. That’s enough. We’ve spent enough time here. Let’s go.”
As they approached the ramen shop, Kirishima looked at him and grinned.
Bakugou scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Enough, Eijiro. Please, for the love of god.”
“Ah! What a cute dog!” A kid said, running up to them.
Bakugou gripped Tia’s leash defensively, but she waggled her tail and snuffled the kid’s hands eagerly, as if searching for treats. The kid laughed and then ran off.
“She’s fine, Katsuki. Look, she’s doing great,” Kirishima said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
Another kid ran up, his ice cream dripping down one hand.
Tia’s eyes were enraptured by the melting treat, her tail wagging slower as if she were focused.
“Haha, look—” Kirishima began, when suddenly the ice cream cone was ripped from the kid’s grasp by an invisible force and splatted on the ground next to Tia.
She began to wolf it down before anyone could react, however as Bakugou scolded her, Kirishima tried to contain his laughter while the kid stared bewilderedly at the mess.
The kid began to whimper and then cry, and his mother ran over with a sigh. “You need to be more careful. Maybe if you’d been paying attention to how melted it was, you would be eating it instead of the doggie.” The mother gave an apologetic wave and took her child back down the street, saying she’d get him another.
Bakugou and Kirishima met eyes, and then even Bakugou busted out a sharp laugh.
“Fuck. Does this mean we have to proof the house for a telekinetic dog now?” He scratched his head. “Fuck. Can you even train a dog with a Quirk?!” He looked down at her and jabbed a finger at her. “Don’t destroy the apartment, got that? Fuck, as if we could afford to have any damages covered at this point!”
They looked down at her as she licked the ice cream from her maw, and gave a small “woof!”
Across the street, water suddenly burst from a fire hydrant. People yelped in surprise and scattered as water began to flow down the street.
They looked at it, looked at each other, down at Tia, and then back at each other.
“Bad girl,” Kirishima said, but Bakugou rolled his eyes at the lack of enthusiasm.
He knelt down and looked her in the eye. “If we’re gonna do this, you need to learn some fuckin’ manners, got that kid?” He stared at her and she lowered her gaze, seeming to wiggle her tail in an ashamed apology.
He huffed and stood up. “Good. Great. Now we should probably just… get out of here. The police will handle this. And can we please go get some goddamn lunch already.”