Work Text:
Midoriya Izuku might have minorly fucked up…
It wasn’t that big of a deal- he repeated to himself over and over, believing it less and less the more the words left his lips.
To recap, he had finally made his debut as a hero- in his own agency, no less! As if that wasn’t young Midoriya’s entire dream as a kid, he was also working as a Hero Duo with his childhood friend, Bakugou Katsuki! That was, in part, where the problem lied.
Coming from what was practically a single mother household and being bullied to the point where he had a minor fear of kids his age, Midoriya was, what you would call, “A Big Softie.” Even if his job was taking down major crime rings and his daily consisted of things that would scar any normal person, he refused to hurt anything that didn’t deserve it; he believed that every living creature had the right to live happy and healthy… which may or may not have lead to him taking in a stray kitten. It was honestly just going to be until he could find an animal shelter or a home to adopt her out, but the storms were supposed to hit later that afternoon. She was no more than a few months old, but it was clear that she had been in a dog fight or something similar. One of her eyes was scarred over and blind, and she was missing most of her front paw. Logically, she wouldn’t stand a chance out in the pounding rain- no matter how stupidly hot the summertime air was- and it was kind of Midoriya’s fault that she had stuck around, since he was the one feeding her.
That alone wouldn’t be enough to make the man panic, but he had let her in after making a small bed for her in one of the Agency’s empty lockers. From there, she had decided that Midoriya’s bed-making skills were sub-par and was, now, nowhere to be found. Damp emerald eyes had searched up and down for her in the showers and the bathrooms, quietly calling out to her in his best attempt to keep her presence as little-known as possible. For a hot second, the Pro was convinced that someone had opened the door and accidentally let her out. That was, until he saw a cracked locker. Midoriya almost jumped for joy.
Almost.
Then he saw just whose locker she had invaded…
It was Bakugou’s. He had pulled an early patrol and changed into his civilian clothes to finish up the paperwork he had piled up- which would have been fine if not for the fact that he always left a(n extra) bag of emergency supplies in his locker that he took back and forth to work just in case he ran into trouble on the streets. Ground Zero, as he went by, was never unprepared- and usually it worked in Midoriya’s favor. Except today, the blond was going to retrieve his bag and find a kitten curled up on top of his uniform.
Rather than writing his will in that moment, the Hero took time to think rationally; there was a small chance- miniscule as it was- that she wasn’t curled up in Bakugou’s locker, or that she was just not on anything important. Even if it was slim, it might have been Midoriya’s last chance at life as he crept over to the locker like it was going to jump out at him. Hesitantly dragging the metal door open, he let out a sigh. Of course, there she was, balled up and purring slightly as her fur stuck to the orange and black of Bakugou’s hero shirt…
Yeah, Midoriya was dead…
“Hey, baby girl,” he cooed affectionately, unable to stay mad at the kitten as she lazily looked over at him with a “mrr~?” Weak hearted Midoriya melted for a split second before realizing the fact that he needed to get both of them out of there without being seen- especially not by Bakugou. If his blond hero partner saw the fur on his shirt, it would not end well for Midoriya, so it was now his job to slip past security and not-
“What are you doing with my shirt, nerd?”
Bump into Bakugou…
A thousand words bounced around below forest curls, but the only ones leaving his lips were, “Sometimes I steal your shirt to use as a pillow at night!” Great. Exactly what he shouldn’t have said, clutching the kitten to his chest, hidden by the shirt.
“N-not like in a creepy way or anything!” he tried to wave, not even noticing the initial flush of Bakugou’s face, “It’s kind of like, you know, exclusive hero merch! And a token of how far we’ve come- wait that doesn’t make this sound any better, um-” Prop Hero: Deku, specialty? Making things worse.
After an initial moment of gay panic, Bakugou realized that, if Midoriya had- for any one of his dumb reasons- actually been stealing his shirts at night, he wouldn’t have blurted it out so easily. Scoffing, scarlet eyes rolled in their sockets as the buff broad crossed his arms over his chest, “You really think I’d buy that shit?” he hissed, interrupting the mumbling mess in front of him. “What are you hiding?” he, instead, demanded.
“I know you’re grossed out, but! Please!” Midoriya peaked open a careful eye to see Bakugou glaring down at him, “Just one more night?”
“Hah?” Bakugou spat, clearly unamused with this banter, “Oi! Don’t make me repeat myself Shitty Nerd- What. Are. You-” the terrifying Hero was cut off by a weak meowl, causing him to freeze.
Immediately, Midoriya’s demeanor changed, as if he had forgotten about his hero partner completely, “Oh, no, baby, I’m sorry-” he fretted, clutching the package carefully this time. The kitten popped her head out from below the confines of the fabric, easily navigating to lick the freckles off of the cheek in front of her. Midoriya giggled at the gesture before freezing- remembering just where he was and why she had been wrapped up to begin with. He could feel garnet irises burning holes into his ever-shrinking figure- which was difficult considering he was a mountain to the average person.
“Do my shirts always have a cat in them?” Bakugou had the nerve to be a sassy shit about it.
Lighting up like a bonfire, emerald eyes found themselves looking at the floor, “Well… no… not usually…” he admitted, wondering why he was even trying to keep up the dumb lie anymore, “I just!”
“Let me guess- you saw that she was hurt, and your dumb, sappy heart took pity on her, and, since it was supposed to rain today, you decided to let her into the locker rooms to keep her from getting wet,” the blond hit every nail on the head, watching Midoriya try and sink further and further into himself, “You probably set up a fuckin’ bed for her and everything, didn’t ya? But knowing you it was just a bunch of old shirts messily piled together, wasn’t it, Deku?”
“Well…” the forest haired hero couldn’t say anything. He was completely right…
“Of course she left! Shitty nerd!” Bakugou walked past confidently, roughly grabbing Midoriya’s head and giving it two solid ruffles before confidently stalking past to take his bag out of his locker. Before the freckled Pro could get a word out of his apology, he was cut off by his partner calling out, “You’re fucking lucky I know a thing or two about shitty cats, ya hear me?”
The “How To Care For An Injured Kitten” book in Bakugou’s back weighed a bit more now that he wasn’t alone, but he was over by the door before Midoriya could realize what was happening, “Are you coming or not, Shitty Deku? You better have an extra change of clothes, because I’m not lending you any of mine if you get stuck at my place during the storms, so hurry your ass up!”
“O-Of course! I’m coming, Kacchan!” Midoriya lit up like a kid on Christmas, practically leaping forward to catch up with Bakugou.
Maybe this outcome was better for the both of them.