Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How’s that new guy doing? Both of you settling in nicely?” Shouto asked him as they sat outside a Starbucks around the corner of Izuku’s apartment, his hands cupping his steaming coffee cup tightly.

Izuku swallows a bite of his chocolate croissant, a sigh escaping his lips when he feels the warm chocolate filling linger in his mouth. He sucks at his frappe a bit before responding. “He’s… Good. I think. I mean, I’ve… Uh— cats aren’t like dogs?”

Shouto snorts. “Uh, yeah, they aren’t.”

Izuku narrowed his bright emerald eyes at his friend, “Of course, I meant more… Like… I never grew up with a cat, though. Mom and Toshi both loved dogs. She never would’ve guessed that I’d adopt a kitten.”

“Tell Inko and Toshinori I say hello, by the way. I swear, even though you guys aren’t blood-related, you both act the same. Both always breaking bones, bright eyes, always crying—”

Izuku quickly interjected. “Hey! The bones breaking is in the past now! High school sports are deadly… I can’t say much about the crying part… All three of us can fill the oceans with our tears,” Izuku chuckled. “Toshi’s a good guy, I’ll tell them both if you promise to stop spreading rumors.”

“Can only promise so much, Izuku. Now, for spreading rumors, that’s more of Ochako’s forte, right?” Shouto sipped at his coffee, his lips lingering at the mouth of the plastic lid. 

They both fell into a comfortable silence afterwards, the autumn air already dropping by the minute, the breeze gaining more force. Izuku shivered involuntarily, already regretting his cold coffee drink. “Have you heard from Hitoshi lately? I feel like he’d like to visit to see the cat.”

Shouto hummed in agreement, “I can ask Tenya. I’m sure Mei keeps in touch with our insomniac friend. Tenya tries to get Mei to sleep too, from what I’ve heard. And seen on her late night Snap stories.”

“Tenya should just give up already, the girl will never sleep.” Izuku chuckled and uncapped his dome lid to chug the rest of the drink down. He smacked the now empty cup down on the cool metal of the table, another harsh shiver vibrated his body from head to toe. 

“It’s already November and you’re still religiously chugging down those slushies. Get sick, I guess. Inko will probably kill you if I take you to the Emergency Room.”

“I’ll manage…,” Izuku said confidently, before adding a soft, “I think.”

Shouto snorted as he scooted his chair back, the metal feet scratching against the cold cement like nails on a chalkboard. “Gotta stay a good body temp for the new kitty. You know if ya brought the little noodle to your parents that All Might will tear him to shreds. That dog is terrifying.”

“All Might is not terrifying. You’re just a coward and a fool,” Izuku stood up stiffly, wrapping his jacket closer to himself to create some heat. “You’re just scared of that old mutt because Enji only had cats.”

“Don’t forget that little pigeon, Hawks.”

Izuku snorted which only caused him to cough into the cool air. “How can I forget your little Hawks? Why did you even name a pigeon that?”

“Can you blame me? The old cat’s name was Endeavor! What kinda shitty name is that?”

The pair paused before laughing out, Izuku moving quickly to Shouto’s “warm side” and cuddling closer as Shouto wrapped his left arm around his shoulders. “Are ya heading to your Mom’s now?”

Shouto shook his head, “I told her I’ll be late today. She told me to visit her tomorrow morning instead. I’m sure the hospital wouldn’t enjoy another late night visit from me. Plus, I wanna see Baku.”

“He might not like you, just a warning. He scratched Mom’s arm when she picked him up.”

“Oh, so I guess now I gotta defend Inko’s honor. Would you call the police if I wrestled your cat?”

Izuku gasped and looked up at Shouto’s mismatched eyes. “That’s abuse! Mr. Todoroki, that’s not professional in the slightest. What would your father say?”

“Don’t make me laugh, Izuku. The old bastard’ll probably send me away like he did with Mom,” Shouto snickered before sighing when he watched Izuku’s face fall. “I won’t wrestle the cat. Maybe play wrestle, but nothing too violent. I promise.”

Izuku held out his pinkie, his hand cold and shaky. Shouto rolled his eyes and scoffed at the childish action before linking his own warm pinkie and hooking them together tightly. “Let’s go inside already, you look like a block of ice.”

Izuku took that as an invitation to run around the corner to his apartment building, quickly sliding through the front door and waiting by the stairs inside for his friend. He saw Shouto move swiftly inside, cracking open the door a bit to slide inside, then shedding off his puffy jacket as the warm lobby air hit him. They both went upstairs to Izuku’s floor, and turned the staircase to the other side, stopping in front of his door.

“Have you signed your new lease yet? It would suck if they rented out 1-A already to some other folks,” Shouto joked, teasing Izuku about his rental problems from the year before.

Izuku glared at him, before turning around to slip off his bulky red sneakers by his door. He beelined straight to his AC unit, turning on the heater to warm up quicker.

“Where’s the little guy?” Shouto questioned into the empty living room.

“He should…,” Izuku dropped to his knees roughly, he hissed as he looked under the couch, “if he’s not under here, he should be in my bedroom.”

“Are you sure I can’t defend Inko’s honor?” Izuku glared at him with a frown. Shouto held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine. I’ll get him.”

“Use food to lure him out if he’s under the bed!” Shouto heard Izuku call out as he moved to the small hallway. 

“I’m still gunna wrestle that bastard, no one hurts Inko on my watch,” Shouto grumbled when he opened the door to Izuku’s bedroom, his eyes scanning the bright, yet extremely messy, bedroom. He saw an orange tail slip under the bed quickly, and Shouto smirked. 

He dove under the bed, not before baseball sliding to the front of it, feeling his knees scrape against his jeans and the curly carpet underneath him. He hissed from the sting and the fact that the cat escaped just as quickly.

Shouto cursed, Izuku yelling out, “Are you okay?” in concern. “I’m fine, the brat is smart and fast. The bastard.” Taking in a steady breath, Shouto pressed against the floor to sit up criss-cross, his red-and-white hair peeking just above Izuku’s thick comforter. He heard some heavy movements on the mattress in front of him and he held back a laugh as he jumped forward to catch Baku.

Shouto didn’t feel a flurry of cat hair in his arms. No. Instead he felt skin and a leg. He looked up, swallowing back another string of curses when his eyes met bright red ones on a human face. A naked human male.

“Hey, what’dya do with Deku?” Baku asked.

Chapter Text

“Uh…,” Shouto froze. The very naked man laying on Izuku’s bed was definitely not a cat. “Izuku?” He called out, keeping his gaze strictly on the man’s pretty face. Nope, not lower. Don’t you dare look down, Shouto.

Izuku took his time to get to his bedroom, not even batting a surprised look at the blonde. “Oh, yeah. Baku does that. Some tragic backstory or something, or at least that’s what he told me when I woke up a couple days ago.”

Shouto swallowed, wanting someone to slap himself awake from this weird fever dream. “And… You just— just let him stay?!”

“I adopted him! I can’t just abandon him, Shouto! Who knows what other asshole would adopt him?” Izuku’s voice shook and Shouto saw tears already forming at the corners of his eyes. Izuku heard Shouto sigh in defeat, moving his hands to wipe Izuku’s excess tears. “I don’t want to give him back… The shelter was about to give him to a vet to, to—”

“Yeah, yeah. You wanna save everything,” Shouto interrupted, knowing about his green-haired friend’s hero complex. “Does Inko or Toshi know? Anyone else?”

Izuku swallowed. “I don’t think they know. Mom wants to stay away a bit anyways. Let Baku get comfortable and settle into the apartment before she comes back with Toshi.”

Baku cleared his throat loudly, annoyed that they weren’t including him in their conversation. “Hey asshats. If you’re gunna continue talking ‘bout me, at least fuckin’ include me.”

“Put on your clothes, Baku. You know where they are,” Izuku retorted without giving the man a sideways glance. “When you’re presentable we’ll continue this in the living room.” Izuku dragged Shouto out of his bedroom by his long sleeves, closing the door behind him.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier? I’d rather not be that close to some dude’s dick without some alcohol and shitty pick up lines first,” Shouto questioned with a humorous bite at the end.

Izuku cracked a smile at his comment before swallowing. “I, uh… Didn’t really know he could do that up until… Uh, about two days ago? I went to sleep with him purring on my stomach; woke up the next morning being the little spoon to a jocky blonde.” A nervous laugh made its way out of his mouth, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. “Awkward. Very awkward.”

Before Shouto could add his two cents about awkward, Izuku’s bedroom door cracked open noisily and Baku made his way into the living room with a confident stride. “So, what now?” Shouto asked instead.

“Nothin’, Halfie. Don’t talk ‘bout this shit with anyone, got it?” The blonde hissed out.

Izuku tried holding back a giggle, covering his mouth poorly with his scarred hand. Baku sent a fiery glare his way and Izuku snorted. “Don’t get mad!” He waved his hands around in the air, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “It’s just—you look so cute and peaceful when you sleep, but then… you, uh—you talk like you’re the king of the world.”

Shouto stifled a chuckle with a tight smile, watching Baku’s frown deepen. “Hey, hey, Izuku don’t get your little kitten upset, he’ll scratch you!” Shouto couldn’t hold back the snide comment even if he could.

Baku growled deeply, his sharp nails digging into the surface of the old wooden table. “Don’t make fun of me, fucker!” 

“Don’t scratch the table! Mom’s gonna get pissed!” Izuku cried out in between the two glaring boys. When he looked sternly at Baku, really staring into his rosy red eyes, he cleared his throat. His owner only replaced his stern frown with a bright smile when Baku scoffed and dropped his focus on Shouto.

“Yer lucky I haven’t bolted Deku, even if I could without getting sent to the labs, I totally would,” Baku rolled his eyes at his bright-eyed owner. 

“You’ve been saying that since I’ve seen you like this. It’s not much of a threat anymore. Try harder.” Izuku turned his focus back to his friend, who just stared in awe at this whole situation. “So… Did you see any new movies? Catching up on Star Wars and Jurassic Park?”

Shouto sighed before answering. “My shitty dad saw me watch JP and wanted to join. With the fuckin’ cat. I swear, that asshole doesn’t understand how long it takes to remove his long ass cat hair from everything I own.”

Baku scoffed and quickly shut up when Izuku sent him another glare. “Enji means well… I hope. Maybe next time ask Rei? I think she’ll enjoy watching them with you, if you ask first.”

“I think so,” Shouto starts, rolling the idea around in his head, “plus, that sourpuss is going to seriously injure my eye! I don’t like having a patch over half my face from some bloody scrapes!”

Izuku smiled at that, having already been well accustomed to Enji’s prized cat, Endeavor. “The cat hates you. He hates me too. He’ll probably hate Baku. The cat most definitely only likes Enji cause that’s who feeds him. Enji treats the fur-ball like a god.”

“I hate that what you just said is completely true.” Shouto groans, hanging his head forward in defeat. 

“I guess I should tell you some things about this guy, huh?” Izuku states to Shouto, throwing his thumb backwards to point back at Baku. Shouto nodded slowly, not really understanding the entire thing. “Okay, so… ah— I don’t even really know either. He doesn’t spill much, so he’s no help.”

Baku growled at Izuku, offended at his statement. “Excuse you, I know I probably don’t look it, but I have some semblance of how to switch back and forth and shit.”

Izuku glanced over, curious as Shouto asked, “Okay, well, can you tell us?”

Baku coughed, uncharacteristically not liking being in the spotlight, even though he set himself up for it. “Uh, there’s certain… Certain shit that happens? Yeah. Like, if I’m in my normal form for too long, my ears will show and my tail forms again.”

Izuku raised his hand to interrupt him, “Wait… ‘Normal form’? The kitten form isn’t your—isn’t your ‘go-to’ form?”

“Hah?!” Baku sounded offended. “Fuck, no! This is ‘cause of some stupid lab experiments! The bratty asshole kid that had me before I ran away had a cat that had a litter and I went to pick up a kitty! The fucker’s dad decided to play Frankenstein and experimented!” Baku shivered, feeling the memories of needles and cold metals on his pale skin. “It was like I was—fucking, Nina Tucker and her fucking dog.”

“I understood that reference,” Shouto muttered, before giving Baku a sad look. “Hold on, aren’t those experiments very prototype?”

“Yeah, as in: don’t fucking do it in your fucking nasty basement. The fucker thought he’d win like a Nobel Peace Prize or something… Then he gifted me like I was some god damn puppy on Christmas morning to his brat.” 

Izuku shuddered. “Well! I’m done with depressing shit today! Shouto, are you staying over tonight or are you heading back? I’ll make dinner if you’re hungry. I was gonna call Ochako ‘bout those rumors. Can’t soil my already bad reputation with her gossip.”

Shouto blinked before answering. “I think I’ll stay. You’ve got the new Star Wars movies right?”

Izuku nodded excitedly. “Good! I’ve got some theories about Han and Leia,” Shouto smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

Chapter Text

Shouto ended up staying overnight and into the next day’s afternoon. Baku was going to lose his mind if he heard one more thing about Rey’s and Kylo Ren’s future relationship. 

“Who the fuck cares about two space nerds fighting in space about some past family drama? This whole series is bullshit.” Baku throws the TV remote at Deku, growling at him to change the channel when he catches it. 

“Baku, please, he needs to catch up with the nerd cultures! The poor boy doesn’t understand much!” Izuku teased. “Weren’t you into any of this stuff when you weren’t, uh… Like this?”

“Gotta be the best, there’s no relax time for this crap. Any time I would spend obsessing over this I could be either sleeping or working.”

Shouto cracked a smile. “No wonder you’ve got a whole ass tree trunk up your ass.”

Baku stood up quickly, his eyes narrowed darkly and his face an angry red. “I’m going out. I’ll be back, and when I am, this half-assed bastard better kick the curb. Bye asshole and Deku.” Baku turned around to Izuku’s bedroom to change out of his lounge clothes, opened the window and jumped out without closing it back.

Izuku swallowed, pointing to his open bedroom. “I’m gonna— I’ll close that.”

“You should get him microchipped. Buy a little collar and bell for him too,” Shouto commented when he saw Izuku move back towards his small living room.

“I’d have to ask if he’s okay with that first, I think. I think when he’s in his ‘normal form’ we can find each other with our phones… But with him as a cat would be harder.” Izuku slumped against his couch, already lost in thought.

Shouto hummed and scooted near him, his mind’s gears running as well, but for an entirely different reason. “Do you think the Skywalker legacy will be carried over with Ben and Rey?”

Izuku groaned, “It was a mistake to let you watch all those movies.”

Shouto left an hour later, with three missed—ignored—calls from his dad and left two voicemails for his mom to let her know he was heading over. Izuku walked him outside with a rushed shuffle before yelling out a “good bye!” and shutting the lobby door behind him. Izuku stiffly moved his body back up the stairs to his apartment, the minute outside already too much for his frail bones and bare legs.

“Shoulda slipped on jeans instead of these old shorts,” the man mumbled as he made a burrito blanket nest on his couch, efficiently wrapping himself in everything remotely warm in his little apartment. 

He didn’t realize that he slipped into a warm nap criss-cross on his couch, the only thing waking him up was scratching on his front door. Izuku wiped at his eyes a bit, still thinking he was dreaming about god-knows-what, until he heard a long mewl and a loud thump that could’ve been considered a body slam of sorts.

“I’m comin’, comin’… Jeez,” Izuku yelled out sluggishly, instantly upset when a cool AC breeze hit his exposed legs and arms. He looked through the peep-hole of his door, the fisheye glass not really giving him the view of below. Izuku sighed and unlocked his door, the mewling on the other side stopping instantly as Izuku wrestled with the stiff frame.

The cat, Baku, brought over a guest. The green-haired man yawned as he watched a dog pick up Baku by his neck and carry him inside, the dog’s tail wagging happily even when Baku started to hiss and scratch at the mutt’s nose.

The dog then let go of Baku, and Izuku watched the little kitten land gracefully on his four paws, before he ran across the room to jump on top of the kitchen table from one of his chairs. The cat meowed, almost sounding annoyed that he brought home the dog.

“Well, why’d ya bring him home?” Izuku questioned the cat, giving the red-haired dog a sideways glance.

The cat’s meows took a long, deeper pitch. Izuku can almost hear Baku tell him to “Shut the fuck up, Deku!” Baku pointed with a paw to the dog, then proceeded to address the mutt. 

“You know I can’t actually understand you when you’re like this Baku, it’s funny in front of Shouto, but I don’t wanna embarrass myself in front of this guy,” Izuku looked back at the dog, his green eyes scanning it’s fit body for a collar or ID tag or something to help Izuku bring him back to his owner. Instead, Izuku noticed his small, almost cream-colored, “eyebrows” over his wide red eyes. 

The dog whimpered, upset about something. Izuku sighed and turned to the dog, petting his head softly, hoping the dog wasn’t going to bite him. “You can stay tonight, doggo. But tomorrow we’ll find your owner! I’m sure they’re worried you aren’t home for dinner.”

The dog barked softly, giving Izuku a smile. Or an attempt of a smile. Izuku returned a bright smile of his own anyways.

Mornings with a shifter changed mornings forever for Izuku. Baku as a cat was a light sleeper, waking up if Izuku’s arm twitched or he groaned as a response to a dream he was having. Human Baku was anything but a light sleeper. Izuku’s mornings were impossible to start if he’s stuck in two beefy arms, getting pulled tighter to his pale chest. 

Izuku sighed, currently stuck in Baku’s constricting grip again. He tried everything to wiggle out, even pinching his arms—there’s no fat, all muscle, Izuku noted—and biting the man’s biceps as hard as he can. 

It all resulted with Baku grumbling something and pulling him tighter, which Izuku honest to god thought it was impossible. So, he admitted a silent defeat and got comfortable, snoozing off after a couple of minutes.

The next time Izuku woke up that morning, he wasn’t a body pillow to Baku but he was smelling bacon. He doesn’t actually know if Baku can cook, but he was a human before the incident happened, so he had to at least know how to cook basic soggy bacon and bland scrambled eggs.

His stomach grumbled, urging the rest of his body to go investigate. Izuku peeled off his blankets and stood up quickly, his nose leading himself to the kitchen to greet his cat-roommate-shifter-man.

Izuku’s stomach growled louder, the deep whale call noise attracted not one man standing in Izuku’s small apartment kitchen, but two. The red head stood near his stove very naked and very happy about bacon.

Izuku might just faint.

Chapter Text

Izuku froze. His eyes trailed between Baku's clothed form to the red-head's nude form. "Please, please, please don't tell me what probably happened with him too…"

The blonde smirked, his bright red eyes darkening. Izuku swallowed a heavy ball of air, trying to steady his increasing anxiety. "He's 'nother 'experiment' like myself. The fucker saw me around the parks then picked me up."

The man turned around, having already turned off Izuku's small stove and plated the stack of bacon he had made. "I've got bacon! …Unless, you don't want?"

"No, uh—lemme get the table set," Izuku scurried around his kitchen quickly, grabbing everything necessary for three guys to eat bacon. "Sit yourselves. If anything, I'll sit on the couch if we don't fit. I wasn't planning on getting another pet so soon…"

"Thanks bro! I'm Eijirou bee-tee-dubs, or just Ei is fine too," Eijirou gave Izuku the brightest smile and Izuku wanted to cover his eyes. It's too early for anything that bright.

"I'm, uh, Izuku. Baku calls me 'Deku' though, so expect more of that than my actual name," Izuku set the table quickly, watching as the other two moved the bacon and eggs to the middle of the small table. "Wait," Izuku turned his head towards the blonde, "what's your actual name? Like before this happened?"

The blonde growled at the mention of the Incident, not before sighing. "I guess ya deserve to know, huh? Name's Katsuki. Katsuki Bakugou; which is where that stupid kid's name comes from."

Izuku stopped serving himself eggs to stare off in between Eijirou's and Katsuki's chair gap. "Oh, so Kacchan, then? I'll call you Kacchan since you've got that, ah… Nickname for me."

"Motherfu—"

Izuku's phone rang and interrupted Katsuki's beginning of a string of curses. "I'll get that!" Eijirou called out and ran to the kitchen to find the phone.

Then Izuku heard him answer.

Then Izuku watched as he trekked back into the living/dining area to hand Izuku his phone. "It's for you, I guess it's your boyfriend or somethin'…"

Izuku gave Ei a look before grabbing the phone back, putting it to his ear, and asking, "Hello?"

"Izuku flippin' Midoriya, did you find another stray? The guy that answered didn't sound like Baku." Oh, that's right. He hasn't told Shouto anything about Ei yet.

"Uh, yeah. About that… Wanna have another movie night?"

"Movie Night" as the two friends now had dubbed it consisted more of an onslaught of questions from Shouto, some random crappy Netflix movie playing as background music, Ei now fully clothed, and Katsuki, in his cat form, getting pet by Izuku on top of his lap.

Eijirou tried his best to answer the weirder questions from Shouto, his face red and voice somewhat high-pitched from embarrassment. Izuku wanted to physically restrain his friend to stop his interview, but once he moved any part of his body, Katsuki's small form would hiss violently and he would scratch at the other man's jeans until he resumed.

"He looks comfortable," Shouto commented when he stopped questioning.

A small smile grew on Izuku's face, noticing a soft purring coming from the kitten. "Honestly, this is the quietest I've ever seen him." He sucked in air before continuing, his voice barely over a whisper, "He kinda needs a bath, though."

Eijirou watched the interaction with wide eyes. "Are you sure you guys aren't dating? Like, what the hell. You both are manly as fuck."

"I'm pretty sure I'd have a daily heart attack if Shouto lived here. He can't cook. I like my place in one piece."

Shouto gasped, then coughed, yet all for dramatic flair. "I can cook! Ramen cups, that's it." He turned to Eijirou, "I almost burn this apartment down, like, weekly. The management company actually hates me."

"Hey, bro! That's cool! Izuku's almost like a housewife around here, I'm sure he makes good shit!" He ended his compliment with another bright smile directed towards a sputtering red faced Izuku.

Shouto gave Izuku a look before nodding sagely, agreeing with Eijirou's statement. "Have you told Inko about your new puppy? I'm sure if she and Toshinori come over with All Might, he'll," Shouto's eyes moved to Eijirou's criss-crossed relaxed form on the floor, "have a blast."

"Haven't told anyone. This is, like, another development. I still need to figure out if Ochako can sneak anything from Tsu's job to give me for these two. I'm sure she'll also convince me to get them collared and chipped and checked by her boss." Izuku brushed over the v-word, not really wanting to get scratched by the napping kitten on his lap.

"I'm sure if Inko gives you that mutt you can take all three to the vet," Shouto, on the other hand, didn't understand why vet was a 'bad word'. Katsuki woke up instantly from his little nap to stare angrily at Izuku, a growl vibrating out of his tiny frame.

"I agree with him guys. I really don't like the idea of the vet." Eijirou tried giving Izuku and Shouto his best sad puppy eyes. Shouto wasn't that easy to fool.

"We need to at least know if your animal forms are healthy… I'm sure if we explain to Ochako and Tsu, albeit vaguely, what's going on, I'm sure they'll just come here and do basics."

God, Shouto was right, Izuku figured. "I'd also hafta figure out how to chip you guys so ya don't get sent to the shelter if someone calls in animal control. Sadly our town's shelter's a kill one… They don't even call owners if they find their pets on the streets."

"Guess I'll call our tea friend? Since you'll spill everything," Shouto decided, watching Izuku's eyes well up with tears, probably thinking about how many pets get killed at their shelter.

"I'd advise giving the two a bath in their animal forms… Ochako mentioned it on the phone call. But it's also just common courtesy too. I'm sure you can bathe Ei easily; Baku… Not so much," Shouto commented, watching Izuku run his eyes through Amazon's extensive pet care sections. "Endeavor was never an easy cat to get wet on purpose."

"That cat just hates you, Shou. Period. It doesn't care if you fed it a whole, freshly caught tuna fish, it's still gonna sit over you at night waiting to finally claw your left eye out." Izuku turned around to face Shouto, directly focusing on the other's left side, the healing pink-red scratches seemingly more pronounced.

"You're right. And I hate you deeply for once again, like always, rubbing it in my face," another dramatic sigh escaped Shouto's mouth. "Hawks the Pigeon still chummies up next to the fur ball. Although the bird chummies up to anyone."

Izuku blinked. "Isn't that… Weird to you? Predator and prey, best friends. I dunno, it sounds uncomfortable."

"Natsuo likes it. Has a whole Instagram dedicated to the two."

"Weird."

Shouto hummed. "Do you need help giving them a bath?" A pair of narrowing green eyes landed on Shouto's mismatched ones. "I'll take that as a yes."

Chapter Text

"He likes following you around, huh?"

Izuku blinked, looking behind himself to find Katsuki's small form sitting by his heels. "Haven't noticed."

"That's a lie and you know it."

He shrugged. "Shush now. When did Ochako and Tsu say they'd visit?" Izuku asked instead.

"She didn't give me a solid date. Tsu's busy this week with running the clinic since Dr. Selkie is outta town on a conference," Todoroki checked his messages to make sure, "yeah, busy girls this week."

Izuku slowly nodded, his mind running off ideas of when to wash the shifters' pet forms. "Text them to let me know, like... Two-three days before they wanna come over. So I can deep clean 'em."

"Gotcha," Todoroki sent the text, locking his phone when it vibrated and rung with the sending noise. "So... what now?"

"Have you visited your mom?"

The taller boy nodded. "She laughed when I talked about your two new 'pets'. I'm sure whenever we get this situation under control, maybe we can bring their other forms to visit. And you too. She's always asking about you."

"Rei does?" Izuku squeaked. He watched as his friend nodded again. "She only likes me 'cause I helped you move out from your dad's."

"Don't you dare start—"

"Didn't I say something along the lines of, 'You've got your own power, Shouto'?" With a sharp chuckle, Izuku wiped an invisible tear from the corner of his eye, "God, that last year of high school was amazing."

"You broke your ankle and both your arms that same year."

"And? Your mom started wedding plans for us just in case we ever got together."

A small meow interrupted Shouto's next breath. The two friends looked down to the small tabby, a smile cracking on his face. "I think he's needing attention."

As if the pair could understand Katsuki's drawn out mews, Izuku scooped him up and started scratching his little forehead. As the cat's small purrs started to vibrate around Izuku's chest, the green-haired man cooed.

"We might need soap for them both. I can steal my dad's car for taking both of them on a little field trip."

After trying to wrangle the two pets into Enji's pristinely-shiny car, the ride itself to the pet store wasn't as bad as the two friends originally thought. Shouto rolled one of the back windows down a bit to let the shiba stick his nose out while his tongue imprinted saliva onto the inside of the window. Izuku held Katsuki's small form in the passenger seat, ignoring his small claws starting to dig into his thighs from his jeans.

With an easy slide into the parking lot, a lot of wrangling to get Eijiro's dog instincts to calm down a bit to get him to follow them, and caging the small kitten in Izuku's sweaters.

"We look like," Shouto held the door for Eiji and Izuku, his voice quiet and tight, "like a bunch of idiots."

Izuku grabbed a cart and dropped Katsuki onto the baby seat. "But we are a bunch of idiots?"

The taller huffed in agreement. "Let's just get this over with."

The four sped around the store, grabbing food, toys, collars and tags, a long and short leash, and a carrier. Shouto insisted he'd pay, saying, "Dad gave me his card."

"No he didn't," Izuku retorts. Shouto's bright smile that he directs at his friend was enough of an answer of how he got his credit card. "Wait, doesn't Hitoshi work today?"

The raven-haired man that was handing Shouto his receipt responded, "Usually he comes in, most of the time he just stops by to pet the cats. He told the boss he'd appear today."

"Oh! Thanks, Mister...," Izuku focuses on the small name-tag over his apron, "Shindo...?"

"For you, it's Yō." The man winked, causing a light blush to warm Izuku's face. The cat sitting in the cart hissed.

Shouto rolled his eyes, dragging the cart full of their loot out from the cashier aisle, and effectively dragging Izuku with the two pets with the cart. "Hurry up, Izuku. We need to bathe them before Tsu and Ochako come over."

Chapter Text

After the pet store field trip, and Izuku being oblivious to the cashier’s flirting, the shifters roam Izuku’s small apartment as Shouto checks his phone. “Ochako says to give it a couple days before Tsu can officially come over, but she wants to see your new animals so she’s gonna visit… let’s see… tomorrow? Yeah, that’s definitely tomorrow.”

“To… Tomorrow?! I can't get these guys washed by tomorrow!” Izuku anxiously sputters out. Kacchan, in his tiny kitty form, stares him down at the mention of “wash”. “If she comes over tomorrow she’ll have to be okay with me in the process of washing them or about to start. Please let her know I said that.”

Shouto grips his phone with one hand and fishes through his texts before find his friend’s contact, swiftly typing out the message Izuku relayed just a minute before. “Do you need any help tomorrow? I can run to my place and grab a change of clothes and just stay tonight. I feel like you’re going to need at least an extra extra set of hands to wrangle your zoo.”

“Is it really turning into a zoo?” Izuku muttered under his breath. “I think I’ll ask mom for any tips she’s got for dogs since, well, now I kinda have one too.”

“I’ll still fight that damn cat for Inko’s honor, don’t think I haven’t forgotten, Izuku.”

“Can the fighting happen until after we figure out how to wrangle their animal forms?”

Later on in the day, Shouto left to grab an overnight bag and some cat snacks to hopefully lull Katsuki into a false sense of security before giving him a bath. And to fight for Inko’s honor. But that comes later.

Izuku, back in his cozy apartment gets dinner cooked, cold soba for his bi-colored friend and some curry and udon for himself and the two shifters if they’re back to normal. The TV creates background noise as shows drone on and on, Izuku not even knowing what channel’s on. Eijirou in his Shiba form is splayed out near the coffee table, legs stretched behind him with his tail in between and his face smushed in front of him with his tongue poking out as he watches Izuku’s mop of green hair move about the kitchen. Katsuki is napping on the couch surrounded by blankets covered with superheroes and comic strips.

As Izuku finishes cooking, he moves to the cabinets to grab bowls and silverware, placing them around the small two-seater table and on the coffee table in front of the TV. He narrowly misses stepping on the dog’s paws or tail, him not being used to his living space now being so crowded with other things living in his space as well. He walks back to the kitchen to grab plastic cups, adorned with the nearby pizza delivery take out’s logo, and his small Britta pitcher half full of water. “Might need that filled…,” he ponders aloud.

Just as he treks to his kitchen sink and pops open the lid to fill the tank with tap water, his front door opens and Shouto waltzes in taking a big whiff of the air around him and groaning. “Curry tonight?”

“I made some cold soba for you if you didn’t want something a bit spicy. I could still save you curry udon if you want for later,” Izuku turned the tap water on and soon he heard the tip-taps of nails from paws hitting his vinyl-tiling in his kitchen. He turns his head just a bit to notice Eijirou watching him intently before Izuku says, “dinner’s just about ready, why don’t you and Kacchan, uh, change human…? Turn human? …I’m not sure how you do it, but change and at least put on some pants before you come out to eat, okay?”

The dog barks in agreement, walking past Shouto on his way out from the kitchen and beelining to the couch, grabbing the cat with his maw and stalking out of the living room to Izuku’s bedroom with Katsuki scratching at his nose and muzzle for waking him up.

Shouto silently helps Izuku move the food bowls to the little table and then going back into the kitchen for his cold soba and grabbing a beer from the fridge. He figures he’ll need it to help him relax after these past couple of days. Soon enough, soft padding from two human, and dressed, men walk into the living room, quietly sitting on the couch waiting to figure out what their next steps are.

“Okay! Food’s on the table, water’s getting filtered and should be done in like a minute, and there’s some almost expired beer in the fridge. If you guys want to eat on the couch that’s fine, just try not to get curry on the fabric! The couch is too old for harsh cleaning chemicals so please be careful!” Izuku grabs himself a bowl and serves himself a hearty amount of noodles covered in curry sauce and potatoes. “I'm not gonna serve you guys, so dig in!”

The two men got up quickly with their bowls and hovered to the main big bowl of noodles and served themselves quickly. Eijirou made his way back to the couch, digging in right as he sat down as Katsuki grabbed a beer before sitting down at the couch too. He popped it open in the blink of an eye and took a hearty swig, greatly missing his alcohol consumption now that he’s half cat. 

He slowly dug into his curry udon and turned to Izuku, “Oi, next time, make this shit spicier.”

Izuku almost choked on a noodle he was slurping down. “Spicier? I got the mild pack of roux at the store. I don’t think they even carry anything past that.”

“I’m sure Amazon has it,” Shouto pipes up from his side of the kitchen table, not even looking up from his phone.

Izuku sighs, “of course they would have it. They’ve got everything nowadays.”

After dinner, dishes were put in the dishwasher to cycle through the beginning of the night, the four of them move to the couch. The TV, still droning on about whatever show was playing, was only holding Shouto’s interest until Izuku’s phone rang. Eijirou, being the one sitting on the floor, was the closest to his phone on the kitchen counter but this time he didn’t answer right away, opting to just handing it over to Izuku.

A quick swipe right to pick up the call and a quiet, “hello?” Into the receiver before Izuku’s eyes lit up with a, “oh hi mom!” 

Shouto smiled and held in a bit of laughter from watching his friend on the phone before having his attention get pulled into some TLC show about marrying people abroad in ninety days or something. Katsuki scoffed at the green-haired man’s reactions, choosing to watch the show playing instead. 

His mom was talking his ear off about her day, how Toshinori was, how their dog was and what messes he got into during the day. Izuku muttered under his breath, laughing at points and questioning how the dog somehow got into their neighbor’s yard even with his parents fencing being super strong. 

“Oh, mom! I haven’t told you yet but I kinda, maybe, sorta have a new pet.”

“I was just about to ask about your new dog, sweetie! I bumped into Ochako at Target today and she had mentioned that she was going over tomorrow to see your new dog and cat. Such a sweet young woman, you know? I’m so glad you’re friends with someone like her,” his mom rambled on the other end of the phone. Izuku could swear he hears All Might playing and squeaking one of his toys in the background and it makes him smile.

“Yeah, she is! I need to bathe them both because they stink like outside, so I’m hoping she’ll be able to help me.”

“Now don’t make your guests do your work, Izuku. That’s not—“

“Not what good hosts do, yes mom, I know.” Izuku rolls his eyes and Shouto holds in a giggle.

“Oh you are just so grown up now. Well your mom has to go now because Toshinori is just getting back from the grocery store and you know how he tries to grab all the grocery bags at once… I love you, Izuku, sweetie. Once you get this all sorted out maybe we can have a play date with the dogs!” Izuku can practically hear the smile in her voice.

“I love you too mom, yes! We should definitely plan something out… but Eijirou needs to be checked at the vet first to make sure he’s healthy before he interacts with All Might. I’ll talk to you later. Say hi to Toshinori for me!” And just like that, the call was over.

After a couple of minutes of everyone watching the show, Izuku pipes up, “Guessing Ochako didn’t tell you when she’s coming over, huh?”

The other shakes his head and drawls out, “Noooooooope.”

“Great… I say we head to bed now and hopefully when we wake up they’re back in their pet forms and Ochako isn’t here yet.”

“I think that’s a solid plan, I’ll get the sofa sheets out.”