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Shouto woke suddenly to the feeling of something pouncing onto his chest. He tried to sit up to figure out what had just attacked him but the weight on his chest caused him to pause a moment. He looked down slightly to see a big brown ball of fluff, Chibi, stretched across his chest while another ball of fluff, Cho, looked over at her mother wiggling her tail. Shouto sighed, flopping his head back into his pillow, glad that he wasn’t in any danger. Then suddenly he felt Cho pounce onto the other cat laying on him. A high-pitched squeak followed by a growl was Chibi’s response. Cho widened her eyes before she bounced away, leaving Shouto to deal with the now angry chibi.
Shouto let out a small laugh, moving his hand down to Chibi to try to calm the angry tabby cat. Chibi grumbled but still moved her head up to meet Shouto’s hand so she could force him to pet her.
“You’re so moody, cat”, Shouto said as he ran his hand through her fur.
A small meow and a paw hitting the side of his face caused him to look to his right. He saw one of their other cats, Haru, stretching. moving away from where he had been cuddled up next to Tenya’s face and getting closer to Shouto as he let out another meow.
Shouto thought it was quite odd that Tenya was still asleep. Tenya was typically the first out of the three of them to wake up. He looked over to his left, noticing Izuku was still sleeping as well.
He lifted up his head to try to see the alarm clock on the nightstand next to Tenya. It was surprising to see that it was only five-thirty, far too early to wake up on the weekend. But another bap on the face and a small meow from Haru made him quickly change his mind. Someone has to get up and feed these cats.
He carefully pulled himself out of bed, careful to not wake either of his partners. Once he was out of the bed he turned back around and called for the cats.
“Do you guys want to eat”, he whispered to the cats that were sitting on the bed as he smiled a bit. Haru chirped and jumped off the bed as Chibi lazily followed behind him.
He then led them out to the kitchen, where the four other cats were meowing loudly as they circled around the fridge. He chuckled lightly as he walked over to the fridge.
“Do you guys always have to act like we never feed you”, He said as he opened the fridge getting out the catfood cans before he grabbed each of their bowls. He put half a can’s worth of food into each bowl before he put the bowls on the ground.
He then moved over to the couch but still kept an eye on the cats. He loved his cats. Each of them were so different and they all had their own special places in his heart. Really the only thing on this earth that he loved more than his cats were his partners.
He loved Chibi. He loves the way she has always cling to him. No matter where he is in the house Chibi always tried to follow. She was his little buddy. She could tell when he was having an anxious day and she would just sit in his lap and try to calm him. There have also been many occasions when she would curl up in his arms as he cried. She just seemed to always know how he was feeling and would do everything she could to accommodate what he needed from her. Plus she gave them all of the kittens. Well, they weren’t exactly kittens anymore at this point, they were actually five year old, full-grown cats, making Chibi somewhere between seven and eight. She was getting old, and that was terrifying. But that is not something he wants to even think about.
He also loved the ‘kittens’.
He loved Cho and the similarities he shared with the cat. If he were to be honest when Cho was younger, Shouto was a little weirded out by her. The way her marking split completely down the middle reminded him far too much of himself, and he didn’t know what to make of that. It didn’t help that he felt he had a similar personality to the cat and that Tenya had chosen a name that was very similar to ‘Shou’. There have been many occasions when one of his partners would be calling for the cat and he thought they were calling for him. But as he got to know the cat more, he started to find comfort in the similarities. He liked that there was something that reminded him so much of himself. He understood the cat more than he had ever understood any other animal. He always knew the best ways to help when the cat when she got scared by something and hid under the bed, and he knew when to leave the cat alone and just let her have time to calm down. But he also knew when the cat wanted cuddles and to just be held in the comfort of his arms.
Then there was Haru. The playful cat that would always be a kitten at heart. Haru had always favored Tenya. Which Shouto and Izuku found hilarious, because of how much his personality differed from the cat's. Haru was a rebellious trouble maker, while Tenya was a strict rule follower. There were many occasions when Tenya would be trying to leave and the small black cat would try to follow him out the door. During the times he was successful he would run down the stairs and start running towards the lobby of the apartment complex. The three of them would run out the door to chase after the cat, who would howl and scream once he got caught. Haru always seemed to want a taste of freedom, but the three of them knew he wouldn’t last a minute outside. The cat also had a habit of trying to play with Tenya’s mufflers constantly. There were many occasions that Tenya would be tripped by the cat while walking through the house. But no matter how playful and troublesome the cat may be, it was almost a guarantee that at the end of the day Shouto would find the cat snuggled up to Tenya either on the couch or in the bed. (He had also captured many pictures of Tenya and the kitten while they took naps together.. he just couldn’t help it; they were both too adorable.)
Then there was Ryuji. Ryuji is definitely one of the moodiest cats Shouto has ever met. He has been bit by her more times than he could count, but that didn’t make him love her any less. It was just how she was. She had never been overly attached to him or Tenya, she always preferred Izuku. There were even times when either he or Tenya were cuddling with Izuku that Ryuji would come up and growl at them until they moved so she could have Izuku all to herself. It seems like no one ever informed her that she was a six-pound cat who lived with three heroes who faced villains on a daily basis, so they weren't exactly intimidated by her growls. But they typically humored her and moved away so she didn’t have to share Izuku. But even though she could be a little jerk and constantly stole his boyfriend, Shouto still loved the cat dearly and honestly found her brattiness funny. It was all just part of her charm.
And who could forget Hana? Hana was probably the sweetest little cat to ever exist. Sure she didn’t enjoy the company of anyone besides her family, but to those, she trusted she was the kindest, most gentle cat to ever exist. She had been the runt, and when the three of them had to rush her to the vet the day after the kittens were born they were worried she wouldn’t make it. She had been too small to keep up with her siblings and she didn’t end up getting milk for the whole first day after she was born. The three of them had all gotten mad at themselves for not noticing at first, but they ended up deciding that beating themselves up wouldn’t do any good. When the vet told them that she was by some miracle going to be okay, the three of them couldn’t have been happier. But her being the runt did mean that her eyes hadn’t fully developed, leaving her completely blind. But even with her being blind she still managed to get around the apartment pretty well, but there were still definitely times when they would hear a howl coming from somewhere in the house and they would have to go find her and take her back to wherever they were.
And of course, there was their little trouble maker, Sakura. Sakura has always been the biggest out of the kittens. But she was never fat like her mother, she was just ten pounds of pure muscle. She was the one who never seemed to outgrow her kitten phase. Whenever they would hear a crash in the middle of the night, they all automatically knew Sakura had gotten into something. She also liked to use the cat trees as a stool to help her to the shelves so she could knock hero awards and All Might figures to the ground. So they learned quickly that anything breakable had to go into the office, (the one room where the cats weren’t allowed to go). Sakura was also known for destroying anything she could get her claws into, meaning when they moved out of their first apartment they ended up having to pay for the damage she had done. But it was worth it because they loved their Sakura dearly.
Sure having six cats was a lot and could be overwhelming at times. It was also something that none of them had really expected. The day that they went to the shelter they thought they would only come home with one pet. None of them thought they would end up with a pregnant cat. At the time if it would have been up to Izuku they probably would have gotten a dog. But as soon as they met Chibi they all knew that she was meant to be their’s, the five kittens just happened to come along with her. Sometimes Shouto wondered if the reason they ended up with so many cats was to make up for the fact that he desperately wanted a cat when he was younger but he wasn’t able to have one.. Well, that wasn’t completely true. He did kind of have a cat at one point. It was actually the first cat he had ever met, and the one that made him realize his love for cats.
When he was younger, probably around six or seven, (He wasn’t quite sure since a lot of his childhood was pretty blurry, but he was fairly sure this took place after his mom was locked away), there was a cat who lived under the stairs of their porch. He learned this when one day after he had ‘done bad’ during training his dad had thrown him out onto the porch. He laid there, face down on the concrete as he cried for a few minutes before he felt something fluffy rub against the side of his face. He jumped up quickly, just to be greeted by the face of a scrawny little tabby cat. One of her ears had been ripped somehow and she had scars all over her body, but there was so much kindness behind those eyes that Shouto didn’t even begin to judge her on her appearance.
As he sat there, tears still flowing down his face, the cat batted at his knee. He scooted away and winced in pain, as he had just gotten a pretty bad scrap on each of his knees when his father had kicked him down the concrete stairs. But when he had this reaction the cat looked up at him sadly, before she turned to walk away.
“No, please come back”, Shouto called back to the cat as he reached out for her.
She looked back at him before she chirped and walked back his way. A huge smile formed on Shouto’s face as he reached out to pet the cat. At that moment he knew he had made his first real friend.
After that, he would sneak out every night to meet with his new friend, and he gave her the name Tora, due to her ‘tiger stripes’. Whenever he could he would bring the cat food (it was usually his leftover soba). Sometimes he and Tora would toss pebbles back and forth to each other, sometimes they would just sit there and hang out. Sometimes Shouto would cry to the cat, explain to her all of the horrible things that had happened to him and tell her all the things he planned to when he was older. The cat became his one true friend in the world. That was until a horrible night, a night that Shouto had blocked out of his memory till now.
One night he snuck out, holding a Tupperware container. Shouto smiled to himself, very happy with the meal he was offering his cat friend tonight. Fuyumi had made fish that night and he had purposefully not eaten his, so he could have enough to share with Tora. He sat down on the step of their porch and called for his cat friend. After a couple of minutes, he heard the pitter-patter of little cat paws running up to him. He smiled widely at the sight of Tora and opened the container and scooped some fish onto the concrete.
They hung out for about an hour. Shouto was currently on his back as Tora lays curled up next to him. He was talking to her about what he was going to be like when he was the number one hero, how he would save so many people, and how he would treat his kids so much better than his father treated them when he heard the door slam open. Shouto jumped up immediately and panicked at the sight of his father.
“What the hell do you think you are doing kid”, Enji yelled as he approached Shouto.
“I-I, I’m doing nothing dad I swear, I just”, he tried to explain before his dad lifted him up by his arm.
“What the hell is that”, he yelled pointing at the Tora.
“It’s just a cat dad,, please.. Please leave her alone”, he begged as his father tightened his grip on his arm making Shouto let out a yelp.
At that Tora couldn’t let her person be hurt anymore. She jumped onto Enji’s foot, bitting and scratching, doing whatever she could to make the horrible man put her person down. But she had no such luck as Enji angrily kicked her across the concrete.
Shouto looked in the direction the cat at been kicked in, realizing in horror that she still wasn’t getting up. No, no, no, no. She has to be okay. She must just be sleeping, yeah his dad kicked her too hard and she just needed to rest before she got back up. But really deep down Shouto knew that wasn’t the case. He let out a sniffled cry.
“Why did you do that”, He yelled trying to get out of his father’s grip, “She is my friend! You hurt my friend!”
“You don’t need friends Shouto, especially ones that are hideous old strays”, Enji said as he dragged him inside.
After that Tora never came back. He would sneak out, night after night, and would wait for hours. But Tora was gone.
“Why do you make everyone go away”, Shouto said to his father as he curled in on himself, “Why do you always make everyone leave me? First Mama, then Touya, and now Tora! Why can’t you let anyone stay”?
His dad just let out a frustrated grunt before leaving the room, obviously not caring about what he had done to the cat or what he was doing to his son.
“Shou, Shou”, He heard softly from next to him pulling him away from the horrible memories of his past, “Shou baby, hey can you hear me”?
When things become less fuzzy he saw Izuku sitting next to him on the couch as Tenya stood next to him, both of them had concerned looks on their faces.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said as he tried to move his hand to wipe away the tears that had fallen onto his cheek. But when he tried to move his hand he realized there was a cat on it. Chibi, his little buddy. He finally realized what had drawn him to Chibi. The scruffy fat tabby cat, that somehow never lost her ‘stray cat’ look even though she had been pampered for years. The cat that had such kind eyes depicted her looks that many would call ugly. The stripes that reminded him so much of a Tiger. Chibi was like a fatter and sassier version of Tora.
“Shou, are you with us”, Tenya said as he knelt down in front of him.
“Yeah I am”, Shouto said softly.
“Are you okay”, Tenya asked, still giving him the same concerned look.
Shouto nodded slightly as he looked around the room. He looked at all of the cat trees and cat beds, and the cats that had all piled themselves onto the love seat, taking their mid-morning nap. The cats (their kids), that they spoiled rotten, and would never ever hurt. He looked up at the shelf of hero awards that he had earned in a much different way than his father ever had. He earned them by helping people and doing it for the right reasons. Then he looked over to his partners. Yeah, he hadn’t become the number one hero, but he was dating the number one and number ten hero, while he was the number three hero, which honestly was better anyways. Sure it wasn’t the future he had explained to Tora, but it was somehow even better.
He moved his hand,that wasn’t stuck under Chibi, up so that he could pet her head. She looked up at him with so much love. Then he looked back up at Tenya. Eye contact was something that had always been hard for him, but he was sure if he was looking into Tenya or Izuku’s eyes he would see so much love and patience there as well.
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay”.