Work Text:
“It’s going to be fine,” Izuku says, hand reaching over to rest on Shouto’s knee.
The contact is reassuring, somehow, even though it has nothing to do with the problem. Izuku’s presence generally does have a soothing effect, though, which is why Shouto had asked him to come along in the first place. That, and he’s familiar with the place and the people.
Shouto leans his head against the window. “I’ve never had a pet before, though.” Only a few minutes away, now.
Izuku gasps dramatically. “Don’t let Katsu hear you say that.”
Shouto huffs a laugh. “I mean I’ve never gotten a pet before. With Katsu, it was like I was the new addition to the family, not her.”
Izuku hums, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “I guess she did kind of pick you, even before we got together.”
He smiles at the memory from…almost a year ago? Has it really been that long? She had run up to him out of nowhere, essentially forcing him and Izuku to actually speak to each other for the first time.
“Seriously, though,” Shouto says, eyeing Izuku. “It’s a big change. What if they don’t like each other? What if there are behavioral problems I don’t know how to deal with?”
Izuku shifts his hand to take Shouto’s, interlacing their fingers. “Google is good enough for most minor behavior stuff. And there are professionals to consult if anything really serious comes up.”
Shouto sighs. Izuku is right, of course.
“And…” Izuku hesitates, thumb stroking Shouto’s skin. “Is a big change inherently a bad thing?”
“Of course not,” Shouto says, softly. He squeezes Izuku’s hand.
Change had taken the form of Izuku himself, all those months ago. Shouto had been drifting somewhat aimlessly after quitting his position at his father’s company with no new goal in mind. But now…it’s nice to focus on just being happy, to let that be the extent of his ambition, for the time being, anyway. And Izuku, along with Katsu, is a huge source of that.
“So there you go,” Izuku says, decisive. “Change can be good.”
“I think some of my concerns are legitimate, though.” Shouto frowns. “You told me that when you adopted Katsu, it was pretty intense for the first few weeks, health-wise.”
“Well, yeah.” Izuku slips his hand out of Shouto’s for a two-handed maneuver with the steering wheel. “But I’d fostered rescues before; I had experience. You don’t have to take on such an extreme case.”
Shouto worries at his lip. What if the animal that would be the perfect fit is such a case, though? He’d be limiting himself from making such a connection.
But that’s irrational. There is no magical predestined perfect fit.
They’ve arrived. The shelter awning is bright red, with a logo of a somewhat abstract cat and dog cuddling, and it’s straight ahead.
He exhales, slowly.
Izuku’s fingertips are gentle at his cheek, and Shouto turns to face him, leaning into the touch. “We can just go in and look today,” Izuku says. “You don’t need to decide right away.”
Shouto lifts his hand to curl against the back of Izuku’s, pressing a kiss to his palm. “Okay. Let’s go in.”
It’s only a few steps from the car to the shelter’s entrance. Shouto tugs the door open and the bell jingles, an indicator of their presence. He motions Izuku through first, before following close behind.
It smells like hay and pet food.
The manager of the shelter — a large, soft-spoken man with a friendly face — welcomes them in, and Shouto fumbles through an explanation.
He doesn’t really know what he’s looking for, just that he wants to adopt a pet that needs a good home.
“Let’s go see if you catch anyone’s eye.” The manager — Kouda, he manages to read, from a name tag — opens a door to the back.
The smell intensifies through the doorway, but it’s not altogether unpleasant. Just something to get used to.
There are large cages lining the wide hall Kouda leads them through, but they’re almost all empty, aside from a couple of rats and a chinchilla.
“I thought there’d be… more?” Shouto tilts his head.
“Most are out in the yard. These are just for overnight use,” Kouda explains. “Or sometimes one of our residents will ask to go in their pen if they want some space from the others or a quiet place to nap.”
“Ask?” Shouto murmurs, and Izuku shrugs.
Kouda chuckles. “Animals are great communicators if you know what to look for.”
The yard turns out to be a large area divided into sections via gated fences. Each section seems to have a shelter volunteer supervising a handful of animals.
To the side, there is a board full of pinned photos — presumably former shelter animals in their new homes. A photo of Izuku and Katsu jumps out among the rest, near the bottom, and Shouto crouches for a better look.
Izuku, with his broad smile, down on one knee next to Katsu, who is in the midst of licking a slobbery stripe up his cheek.
Shouto smiles.
“I’m so glad that Katsu found a good home with you, Midoriya.” Kouda’s voice is soft, but emphatic. “She was really struggling when we found her.”
“She’s a good girl,” Izuku says. “I’m happy to have her.”
“Todoroki, are you ready to meet some of our friends?” Kouda gestures out towards the enclosures.
“Okay.” Shouto stands, slowly. “Let’s do this.”
The animals seem well-off with all this space to play. Can he really provide a good enough home for one of them?
But the shelter only has space for a certain number of them, and it’s probably a safe assumption that there are more animals out there that would benefit from being found and taken in in place of whichever one he decides to adopt.
A woman with long green hair tied back in a low ponytail smiles and opens the gate for him into one of the play areas.
A puppy of no recognizable breed mix runs up to him immediately, and there’s something odd about its movement.
“We don’t normally hold onto puppies for long,” the woman says, “since they tend to get adopted pretty quickly. We’ve had this little friend for a couple of months, though, and no one has taken an interest in him.”
Shouto nods. He can make a guess as to why this one is an exception — he’s missing one of his hind legs. Despite such an impediment, he seems to move well enough.
“He’s cute,” Izuku says, hovering over his shoulder. The puppy barks a response, wagging his tail vigorously.
“I love him,” Shouto says, reaching out to scratch behind the puppy’s ears. He receives an adorable happy sound in response, and a wet nose to the forearm.
Izuku laughs. “The first one, really? And you were so worried! Tsu, any concerns?”
“Well,” the woman — Tsu — says, “we think he might be a shepherd-collie mix, so he’s probably going to get pretty big. Not great for apartment living.”
Shouto’s heart sinks. He can’t really justify buying a house for the sake of adopting this particular dog when there are probably plenty of smaller dogs, equally in need of a home, that would be more suited to his existing lifestyle.
“Oh,” he says. He gives one more pet before lifting his hand away.
The puppy whines, and his chest aches. Maybe he should just buy a house.
“It’ll be a while before that becomes an issue, though,” Tsu continues. “So you do have time to figure something out if you have your heart set on him.”
“Does he have a name?” Shouto asks, angling his face toward Tsu without taking his eyes off his new friend.
“We don’t usually name puppies, because they get picked up so quickly. But we’ll give him one if we don’t find someone for him soon.”
“Can I talk to you for a sec, Shou?” There’s a strange tone in Izuku’s voice.
“Sure.” Shouto stands up and steps back out of the enclosure. “What’s up?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of Tsu picking up the little dog and holding him close. She paces a few meters away.
“I, um. I was— I’m not just bringing this up because—” Izuku’s voice is shaky, and he’s not making eye contact. “I mean, I was planning to ask you soon anyway…”
Shouto frowns, and steps closer, reaching out tentatively. Izuku makes no sign of wanting to pull away, so Shouto curls his hand around Izuku’s arm, squeezing comfortingly. “Ask me what?”
Izuku swallows, throat bobbing, and he meets Shouto’s gaze, finally. “I’ve been thinking w-we could— ah, sorry, I’m nervous.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head.
“It’s just me,” Shouto says, softly.
Izuku takes a deep breath, and opens his eyes. “Do you want to get a place together?”
Shouto’s heart jolts in his chest and starts pounding its way up his throat. “A house?”
“Y-Yeah? I mean, I wasn’t thinking it had to be a house before, but Katsu is getting bigger too and it might be nice to have a yard, and you could get this puppy you fell in love with, and—”
“Yes,” Shouto says, and Izuku’s mouth snaps shut. “Yes, let’s buy a house.”
“B-Buy? Well maybe we could rent one at first, I don’t know if my finances are really—” Izuku stops. “Yes?” he asks, faintly.
“Yes.” Shouto steps closer, and doesn’t bother checking if anyone is watching when he slides his hand up to the nape of Izuku’s neck and pulls him into a kiss. They can worry about the finer details later.
Izuku melts against him, hands coming up to frame his jaw. It just lasts a moment, though — they are basically in public — before Izuku pulls back, a smile forming deep dimples in his freckled cheeks. Beautiful.
“Tsu,” Izuku calls, looking somewhere over Shouto’s shoulder. “Let’s do the paperwork.”
“Wonderful!” she calls back. “I’ll get it started — come in whenever you’re ready.”
“How about Soba?” Shouto asks, hand finding Izuku’s and clasping tightly.
Izuku laughs. “You always want soba. Why don’t we go for something a little fancier to celebrate?”
“No, I mean—” Shouto breaks off, chuckling. “Yes, sure, but I meant for a name.”
“Ohhhh!” Izuku’s smile gets even brighter, somehow, and Shouto’s stomach flips in a combination of nerves and excitement. “That’s perfect!”