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It had been a pretty normal day in their hideout, with Twice and Toga causing a bit of chaos, Spinner and Magne actually trying to help Kurogiri with some chores, Sako being conveniently absent to not have to do any of the said chores, and Dabi was just praying for some peace and quiet.
Their boss had vanished somewhere again like he had a habit of doing.
It was still kind of impressive how he could be one of the most dangerous men in Japan, and still blend in so nobody noticed him.
It probably helped he wore the hand for every villain outing, thus making his face unknown to majority of people.
However, the day takes a surprising turn once he returns home, face in a slight contemplative frown. He did that a lot as of recent admittedly, so Dabi couldn’t say the expression itself was unusual. It was the fact his hood was moving.
“Welcome home boss, I hope you had a nice walk WHY THE HELL DID YOU TAKE SO LONG WE WERE WORRIED DAMMIT wait no, you can handle yourself, ha ha, get it? NO THAT’S A BAD JOKE BOO”
Twice greets Tomura with his usual loud manner, making Dabi roll his eyes. Tomura himself doesn’t react much, seemingly still thinking about something.
His hoodie was still shifting weirdly.
“Oy, creep, did one of your hands come to life or something?”
He asks from his seat on the bar counter, gaining a slight snort from Tomura.
He was no longer that trigger-happy though, so that was the most he got as a reaction.
Instead, Tomura reaches behind himself carefully, and the group watches him pull out…. a cat.
There was a black and white kitten that had been sitting on his hood. It looked really skinny and the fur was matted, probably someone’s abandoned pet. The whole group stops what they’re doing, turning to look at him confused.
“Why do you have a cat?”
Spinner eventually breaks the silence, watching with slight curiosity how carefully their boss was handling the kitty, making sure he didn’t touch it with five fingers. With a quirk like his, and the temper, his control over his hands would always be impressive to them.
“It kept following me.”
Toga dances closer, examining to furry feline closely.
“Aww, poor thing looks hungry.”
“Don’t eat it Toga. I doubt cat-blood is that useful.”
“Hey!”
Toga gives him a pouty look, crossing her arms and pursing her lips like a child. Given her age, she was technically still one.
“I wouldn’t bite a cute kitty like that! Besides it would just scratch my eyes out.”
“Probably.”
Tomura chuckles lightly, red eyes fixated on the furry creature that had now cuddled up against him. It was such a weird sight, and Dabi takes a long sip from his glass, trying to process the fact that Japan’s most lethal criminal was currently cuddling a tiny ass kitten very gently.
He didn’t even know Tomura could be gentle, apart from when it came to the hands he carried around.
“What should we do with it?”
Magne joins in the conversation, having walked there too. Tomura just hums, seemingly in deep thought. He really needed to work on his communication skills, they couldn’t read his mind – and Dabi was pretty sure nobody wanted to.
Who knows what horrors were hidden under that messy hair of his.
“Well, it looks hungry, maybe we should get it food?”
Spinner proposes uncertain, and Tomura lifts his gaze slowly, looking up at Kurogiri. The mist man was a bit taken aback by the situation for several reasons, most related to the image he had of the boy. He was not the type to care and pick up a stray animal.
Then again…this bunch of people he’d gathered around himself had had some sort of effect on him, Kurogiri couldn’t deny that.
“…..I’ll see to it if you insist.”
“That’s our Kurogiri we know and love! GOOD JOB KUROGIRI YOU’RE THE BEST oh wow for once we agree.”
Toga giggles for a bit at Twice’s antics, and Dabi could’ve sworn he’d seen a hint of a smile on Tomura’s face. His expressions were hard to read even without the hand covering it, they were so freakishly subtle most of the time.
Dabi takes another gulp from his glass.
“Yeahh, letting boss handle caring for something is probably a bad idea.”
Dabi comments with an amused grin, leaning his head against his palm. He felt a little drunk, probably why he wasn’t watching his words so much.
“He’s more prone to murdering everything dead rather than caring for them.”
“You’re not dead yet.”
Tomura tells him blankly, walking to hand the critter to Kurogiri, who picks it up carefully.
“Yeahh, the service kinda sucks here. You gonna do something about it soon?”
The pale figure turns to look at him slowly, and Dabi always wondered how he was able to move so weirdly fluid. It was somewhere between creepy and kinda mesmerizing to look at.
“Knowing you, you’ll get yourself killed long before I feel the need to do it.”
“Wow, thanks I guess? your compliments kinda suck.”
“Your flirts suck.”
Dabi actually spits out his drink at that, making the rest of them laugh, even Kurogiri’s eyes creased in an amused manner. Dabi just glares up at his smirking boss annoyed.
“Great, you made me waste perfectly good liquor. thanks boss.”
“You can go and lick it off the floor for all I care.”
“OOOOO ROASTED!”
Twice declares loudly, startling the cat and making it jump off Kurogiri’s lap and climb to hide on top of the shelf. The mist man releases a slow sigh, giving a scolding view to Twice. The man rubs his head awkwardly, whispering out a “sorry” as quietly as he could.
Dabi just huffs out a breath and pours himself a new one, knowing it was not really worth it. The gang would already tease him for that comeback, and he knew from his boss’ expression he had more in store to fuck with him with if he tried to keep this conversation going.
“Since we don’t have suitable food for a cat, I need someone to run some errands to get our feline guest what she needs.”
Toga pipes up curiously.
“It’s a girl?”
“So it seems.”
“Can we name it Toga junior?”
“Boo that’s lame!”
Toga shoves Twice back from his face, and the two start bickering loudly, gaining a long suffering sigh from Magne, who tells Kurogiri she could go and get the things.
“Good, I’ll make a list.”
Later that evening, when everything was quiet, Dabi sat in his usual seat with another drink. Magne had gotten the cat some food and other things, and it was now resting happily in their boss’ lap, who was sitting on the couch behind him, playing a game on the phone. His other hand sometimes went to carefully pet the critter, using only two or three fingers.
Dabi was still kind of…. confused by it admittedly.
Tomura Shigaraki did not seem like somebody with any level of empathy towards anything, let alone a kitten. Downing his drink completely, Dabi gets up and paces to slump onto the couch beside his boss. The cat peeks up at him, but then settles back down, seemingly content.
“So, what did they name her?”
“They compromised and decided to just call her “junior” instead of Toga Junior.”
“Tsch, that’s a boring name.”
“You didn’t have any suggestions either, though knowing you, it would be something rather edgy.”
Dabi snorts, lighting himself a cigarette, blowing out a cloud of smoke.
“And your “death mc mourning” or whatever isn’t edgy?”
His boss doesn’t get annoyed, surprisingly, just hums, turning his attention fully to the cat now. It was purring, rubbing her head against him now.
“I didn’t choose it. Sensei did.”
Dabi turns his gaze towards him, a little taken aback by that.
Who the fuck would…..?
You know what, nevermind.
Dabi could tell the weird domehead was a shady bastard, and judging from how Tomura was like, he wouldn’t be surprised if the man was honestly equally terrible in the parenting section as certain unnamed “hero.”
He watches Tomura pet the cat for a moment, taking another drag from his cigarette.
“Why’d you pick it up?”
“Why you ask?”
“Just curious. You ain’t exactly shining with sympathy, are you.”
The following slight laugh was a bit surprising; Dabi had not expected such a reaction. It made his stomach tug weirdly, and he takes another swig from the smoke to try and ignore it.
“No I’m not. But I know how it’s like, being in terrible shape and having people ignore you.”
Tomura muses out, petting the cat some more, the phone and the game completely forgotten now.
“….That does sound dangerously close to empathy or whatever. Are you getting sick?”
The cat now sits up, stretching her head up to headbutt Tomura’s chin with it, and Dabi once again, tried to ignore the uneasy flutter at the pit of his stomach.
“That sounds dangerously close to you being worried about me.”
Tomura shots back at him with amused smirk, and Dabi shrugs, turning his gaze away, bringing the smoke back to his lips. This conversation was getting a little weird, and he was extremely uncomfortable.
Why did he choose to sit so close to his boss again?
He wasn’t that drunk, was he?
Suddenly, the cat moves and stalks towards him, making Dabi look at it suspiciously. The kitten stares back at him for a long moment, before jumping into his lap and curling up there happily. Dabi keeps his hands up, just staring at the thing not knowing what the fuck he was supposed to do.
“You’re warm, of course the cat would be attracted to that.”
Tomura points out amused, and Dabi lowers his hands slowly, keeping the cigarette away from the kitty. It certainly looked comfy there, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be sitting there, pinned down by a cat.
A pale hand reaches out, scratching the kitten’s ear, and Dabi was even more uneasy now, because Tomura was way too close for his comfort. It wasn’t even the death hands anymore that bothered him, his boss hadn’t tried to kill him since their first meeting.
“I suppose you’ll be cat-sitting now.”
Tomura concludes, getting up and cracking his neck, before snatching his phone back.
“Oi, you really gonna leave me here with this furball?”
Tomura looks down at him amused.
“What? Scared of a kitten?”
“Given I suspect they’re your spirit animal or whatever, I’m DEFINITELY scared of these little furballs of death.”
Tomura rolls his eyes at that, then swiftly disappears into the staircase, heading into his room. Dabi just stares at the cat still cuddled in his lap, before sighing and turning his cigarette off against his arm – it was already fucked to hell, so he didn’t feel it anyway – before gently petting the cat.
It wasn’t the worst task to do in all honesty.
Chatting with his boss wasn’t the worst anymore.
Later that night, Dabi could feel someone pick up the cat, before making him lie down and throwing a blanket over him.