Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One villain lair raid later, Shouta found himself one cat richer. He had found it in the office connected to a lab after capturing the doctor working with this particular villain group. It was a little odd, but it was in a villain’s lab. He couldn’t really hold anything those bastards may have done to it against the poor thing. 

The police on site after the raid gave him weird looks when he asked if he could keep it. Their hesitant stares persisted even after he explained that he had a cat at home so he had experience caring for them. They agreed though, so he was headed home with a new cat. 

“You’re going to like my roommates,” Shouta told the cat. “They always buy stuff for Mochi. Mochi’s my other cat. She’s usually good with other animals. I hope you get along.”

The cat blinked back at him with bright green eyes. Every street lamp they passed under made its black fur seem almost green. Not an uncommon color to see in the sheen of black-furred, scaled, or feathered animals. It was the cat’s size that was weird. It was somehow scrawny and stocky at the same time. 

“Maybe you’ve got some Maine Coon in you,” Shouta mused aloud. “That breed gets pretty big.”

“Sho, you’re back!” Hizashi called as he pushed open the door to their shared apartment. When they graduated, they and their friend Nemuri decided to get a place together. It was a logical choice to share expenses while they worked toward their goal of opening an agency together. 

“How’d the raid go?” Nemuri asked, standing up from the couch to approach him. 

“I found a cat,” he told her, holding it up so she could see. She froze a few feet away. 

“Uh… Hizashi?” Nemuri called into the kitchen.

“What?” Hizashi and Shouta asked in unison as Hizashi popped into the room. 

“Hizashi is that…?” she trailed off pointing at the cat in Shouta’s arms. Hizashi paled. 

“Whatcha got there, buddy?” Hizashi asked nervously. 

“A cat,” Shouta replied flatly, starting to grow defensive of his newest rescue.

“Sho… that’s not a cat…” Hizashi said in a strained voice. Shouta frowned and looked down at the cat in his arms. 

“Yes, it is,” Shouta argued. “It has whiskers and everything. It’s definitely not a dog.”

“A big cat, maybe,” Nemuri offered weakly. 

“Are you... body shaming my cat?” Shouta asked incredulously. 

“No, she means a literal big cat. You know? Jungle cats? That’s a baby panther, hun” Hizashi explained. Shouta looked at the cat again. The size, the obvious youth, the massive claws clinging to his shirt. 

“Oh.” It was so sweet though. “Can I keep it anyway?”

“It does seem rather tame,” Hizashi relented as Shouta fed the creature bits of raw chicken. 

“I found it roaming free in the office of one of the villains. No cage or chains or anything,” Shouta explained. “It was really calm, came right up to me, and had no objections when I picked it up.”

“But these get big,” Nemuri protested. “Even if it’s tame, it could accidentally hurt one of us once it’s grown.”

“I think a few pro heroes can handle a dog-sized kitty,” Shouta argued, bitter that she would ever accuse such a sweet creature of that. 

“Dog-sized--” Hizashi laughed, looking at his phone. “No. Try wolf-sized. Maybe a little bigger. Depending on the exact kind, it could be anywhere from 68 lbs to 210 lbs.”

“Do you know what kind it is?” Shouta asked, peering over his shoulder at the phone. 

“Well, it says panthers aren’t actually a species for one. That’s the genus. We’re actually looking at either a jaguar or a leopard. Just a melanistic one. Jaguars are bigger and stockier than leopards but it doesn’t say how to identify a cub,” Hizashi informed them. “Maybe the markings but this little one’s spots are hard to see.”

“If you really want to keep it, we should probably reach out to someone so that we know what exactly we are dealing with. How about we keep it for now and then make an informed decision once we know what it is?” Nemuri suggested. 

“Deal,” Shouta agreed. The cub in question made a sound of discontent when Shouta ran out of chicken for it. “Sorry.”

“If you found it in a villain’s lair, you should probably check it over for injuries. And find out if it’s a boy or a girl while you’re at it. I feel mean calling it an it,” Nemuri said as she went to cut up more chicken for it. 

Shouta placed the cub on the counter so that he could check it over easier. It sat surprisingly still while he checked its paws. It let him coax it into a laying down position so that he could check its belly and chest. Its spine and tail seemed fine. It licked at his fingers when he cautiously checked its teeth and gums. “It’s uninjured and it’s a boy,” he declared after a bit. 

“Fantastic. Mochi and I are outnumbered again,” Nemuri said sarcastically. 

“There’s an exotic animal sanctuary in Fukushima,” Shouta said, reading from his laptop. “It’s kind of far but I can call tomorrow and ask if they could identify him from pictures.”

“If they can’t, we can just drive up there on our next day off,” Hizashi replied. The cub in his lap butted his head into the man’s stomach to encourage him to start petting him again. 

“Whatever he turns out to be, he’ll need special care,” Shouta mused. “I might need a license to be allowed to keep him. My hero work might make that difficult.”

The cub curled up on the Hizashi’s lap, content with all the ear scritches he was getting. “You know, when he’s bigger, you could train him to work with you,” Nemuri suggested

“Oh, yeah!’’ Hizashi exclaimed. “Hero Animal Companions. They’re a bit like the K9 unit that works with the police. Then you don’t have to worry about not having enough time. He’d always be with you.”

“Villains might sue if they get attacked by a panther, though,” Shouta grimaced. “That’d be a lot of paperwork.”

“Train him to just intimidate then. Or track. Maybe panthers are good sniffers,” Hizashi shrugged. “He can be your own kitty sidekick and offer support.”

The cub let out a high-pitched trill that almost sounded like a confirmation of what Hizashi said given the timing. But that would be ridiculous, right?

Last night, Shouta set the cub up in a laundry basket with a pile of blankets. He woke up with the cub on his bed and curled up against his neck and chest. So much for giving him his own space. It seemed the cub liked cuddles. Well, it’s not like Shouta would deny him. 

He stayed in bed an additional twenty minutes before Hizashi interrupted. “Sho, wake up! You’re going to be-- Oh.”

Shouta glared at the early riser as the cub stirred due to the noise. “I was trying not to wake the cub,” Shouta grumbled. 

“Aw, he crawled into bed with you,” Hizashi cooed. “He must have done that after Nem and I left. He was still in the basket earlier. I guess he doesn’t like us.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like you because you’re noisy,” Shouta teased, petting the cub as the creature stretched, gently kneading the sheets with his claws. 

Hizashi pointedly ignored him. “It’s almost noon. You have that meeting with Tsukauchi at 12:30. You should get up now or you’ll be late.”

“Do you want to meet a detective?” Shouta asked the cub, lifting him up to face level. 

“Sho, no. You can not bring a panther cub to the police department,” Hizashi chided, putting his hands on his hips. 

“I don’t see why I can’t,” Shouta replied cheekily. “He’s not so big that he won’t fit in the building.”

“Because! He’s a wild animal, Sho!” Hizashi exclaimed, exasperated. Shouta pouted and looked at the adorable creature in his arms. 

“Does this look wild to you?” Shouta demanded, hugging the cub close and pressing his cheek against the top of his head. The cub wasn’t even bothered, nuzzling back and purring loud enough to rival a small car. “He’s just a sweet little baby.”

“Fine! Bring him. I’m not bailing you out of jail if something happens,” Hizashi huffed, turning on his heel and stomping out of their room. 

Shouta lifted the cub again. The cub chirped and batted at Shouta’s cheek. “You’re not going to be any trouble, are you?”

Chapter Text

This is their apartment. 'Bedroom 2' is an office. They all share 'Bedroom 1'

Size Reference for the Cub

Sharp Teeth

Full Grown Reference

Do you think the cub is a Leopard or a Jaguar?

(How well do you know your jungle cats?)

Chapter Text

Tsukauchi had taken one look at Shouta when the underground hero walked into his office and sighed one of those deep sighs, that only those truly and utterly ‘done with it all’ can make. Wordlessly, he sat in one of the open chairs, cub resting in his lap. The detective looked at the cub, then at Shouta, then back at the cub. “That’s a baby panther.”

“Yep,” Shouta replied, popping the ‘p.’

Tsukauchi stared at the cub in contemplation before electing to ignore him entirely. “So last night’s raid turned up a lot of disturbing things. We found several unidentified chemical compounds stored in vials. It looked like a production lab and we fear it’s something similar to Trigger. We found two human subjects, injured but alive, and three more dead.”

“Will we be questioning the two that survived?” Shouta asked. 

“Once they are coherent, yes,” Tsukauchi answered. 

“I should probably mention, I found this cub there. At the raid last night,” Shouta admitted. 

“Of course you did,” Tsukauchi muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. “And of course you just took it.”

“Your officers said I could,” Shouta defended. “They were going to call animal control.”

“Then I’m glad you took it instead. It could be evidence,” Tsukauchi said tiredly. Shouta could tell he was going to be having a talk with his officers later. 

“Are you going to take him?” Shouta asked, holding the cub closer. Was he prepared to fight Tsukauchi over a cat? Yes. Yes, he was. 

“As long as you cooperate with the investigation, he can remain in your care,” Tsukauchi decided after a moment. “I really don’t want to deal with a baby panther.”

“I will,” Shouta promised. 

“Right.” Tsukauchi shook his head. “Here, this file is a list of small-time villains that might be involved with the lab we raided. Find them and bring them in for questioning. Now get your cat out of my office before it eats something it shouldn’t.”

“And Hizashi said we’d get in trouble. He couldn’t see that you’re the sweetest little boy,” Shouta cooed softly, as he carried the cub through the lobby of the precinct. The cub behaved perfectly! Until they passed a hero Shouta didn’t recognize. He could only tell that they were one by the costume they wore. 

The cub jerked in his arms, trying to twist so that his belly wasn’t exposed. A defensive position. Then he let out a noticeably juvenile growl that sounded more like a box of squeaky ducks got tossed into a wood chipper. A mouthful of bared, sharp teeth added to the threat behind the growl. The hero stopped and glared at the cub, which only served to piss Shouta off. 

“Control your animal,” the hero sneered. 

Shouta bristled and opened his mouth to respond but Tsukauchi interrupted from the doorway of his office. “Ah, good. Synthesis, you’re here. We have a lot to go over.”

He glared at the hero’s back as they walked away. The cub’s reaction was setting off red flags in his mind. The cub’s growled died down the further away the hero got. Note to self, investigate Synthesis, Shouta thought to himself before heading home. He had a phone call to make.

Mochi relaxed on her Tower of Perches, watching the excessively large kitten try and fail to get the Tired One’s full attention. When he was placed on the floor and began to pout, she took pity on him and stretched before hopping down from her perch. 

“Kit.” His eyes snapped over to her as she approached. She was slightly miffed that she had to tilt her head up a bit to make eye contact. Why is he so big? He’s just a kitten. “The Tired One is using the Sound Box. They all tend to be distracted when they use it. Entertain yourself.”

The kitten stared at her for a moment before chuffing happily and dropping to a crouch. “No…” she said cautiously, backing up a bit. His tail flicked. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed, lowering her ears. She was much too old for this. 

“No!” she yowled, bolting when he lept for her. What he probably intended to be a play scuffle quickly became a chase. She jumped onto the Food Room Perch and then onto the Cold Tower. Looking down at where the kitten cried pitifully on the floor, she huffed. “Entertain yourself! I am too old and you are too big.”

She only felt a little bad when his whiskers quivered and he slunk out of the Food Room. As time passed, she maybe felt a little worse. He was only a kitten. When her guilt got the better of her, she scaled back down to the floor and headed off to her stash for a peace offering. 

With a Round Thing that jingled in her jaws, she located the kitten. He was sulking under the perch that the humans ate on. “Here,” she said, dropping the Round Thing at his feet. “Play.”

He only sniffed the Round Thing so she batted it to show him how to play. It jingled as it rolled. The kitten lit up and darted after it. Mochi returned to her Tower of Perches to watch him bat it around and hunt it. She decided she didn’t mind the large kitten. 

Shouta took several pictures of the cub before calling the animal sanctuary. He didn’t know what they’d need so he took pictures of everything, even his paws. Once he dialed, he pet the cub absently as he waited for the call to connect. “Fukushima Wildlife Sanctuary. How may I help you?”

“Um, hi,” Shouta greeted awkwardly. “So I’m a pro hero and I rescued an animal at a raid. I’m not entirely sure what he is though, or how to care for him, and I was wondering if you could identify him for me if I emailed some pictures?”

“Have you tried taking it to a vet?” the person on the phone suggested.

“I don’t think vets deal in baby jungle cats,” Shouta told them. 

“I’m sorry, did you just say you found a baby jungle cat?” they asked. 

“We’re pretty sure he’s a black panther but we can’t tell if it’s a leopard or a jaguar since we can’t see his spots,” Shouta explained. 

“Are-- Do you want to bring it to our sanctuary or--”

“I’m keeping him,” Shouta interrupted. “He’s evidence in an ongoing investigation. I just need to know what he is and how to care for him.”

Shouta did not feel guilty about using the evidence card like that. He’d figure out the long-term laws for owning a jungle cat another time. “Oh, okay, I guess… we can try to identify them from pictures. Not me specifically, but the experts in our facility,” they replied. 

Grabbing his laptop he pulled the photos from his phone off the cloud he saved them to, intending to email them to the address the employee gave him. The cub decides that the fact that he’s no longer being pet is unacceptable and latches onto Shouta’s arm with his forepaws. 

“In a moment…” he mutters, shaking the cub off gently and then placing him on the ground. The cub keeps pawing at his pant leg, trying desperately to get his attention back. After a minute or two, he hears Mochi meow and the cub runs off to investigate. 

“Hey, he won’t hurt my cat will he?” he asks the employee suddenly. 

“Um… one second.” Shouta heard muffled voices on the other end. They were probably the experts. 

His guess was confirmed when a new voice spoke through the phone. “No, generally not. Keep an eye on them as with any newly acquainted animals, but domestic cats and most big cats don’t fall into a prey/predator relationship. Since it’s still a cub, it’s more likely that your cat will become a surrogate parent for it.”

“Okay, good,” Shouta replied, making sure he could see the cat and the cub from where he was. 

“Looking at the pictures you sent, we have unanimously agreed that you have a leopard cub in your possession. It’s a little more difficult without the spots and with the eyes being a mutated color, but its face shape and size were the deciding factors,” the expert explained. “Its bone structure indicates that it’s at least a few months old. A jaguar matures rather quickly and would be larger by that age. Leopards are generally the smaller species.”

“Okay, and I’m assuming they need special care?” Shouta prompted. 

“Yes and no. Like all cats, they’ll need to be groomed, fed, and exercised. While it’s a cub, it shouldn’t be too complicated. When it gets bigger though, it will have all the same needs in larger quantities. For example, as an adult, it will probably eat 3-5 times what it will eat as a cub,” they answered. 

“We can email you a comprehensive care list,” they continued. “You should also have a knowledgeable vet that it will see regularly. We have a veterinarian in the Yamanashi prefecture we can recommend that frequently partners with us. I will include that in the email.” 

“Thank you,” Shouta replied. The email was already in his inbox by the time they said their goodbyes and hung up. There was a lot of information and links to other resources. With a sigh, he settled in to read it all.

Chapter Text

“Did you call the wildlife sanctuary?” Nemuri asked as she walked into their apartment. 

“I did,” Shouta confirmed. He had since moved to the table to read over the information that the wildlife experts had sent him. There was a lot. 

“So what do we have?” Nemuri inquired, walking up behind him and dropping a kiss atop his head as she did. 

“A leopard,” Shouta answered. “Did you know a leopard will eat practically anything? Birds, antelope, fish, lizards, bugs… Nem, they’ll eat cheetahs if they view them as a threat.” 

“Wha-- Are cheetahs from the same area?” Nemuri questioned. 

“Some of them,” Shouta explained. “Usually the melanistic ones are from Asia.” She leaned over her shoulder, glancing at the screen of his laptop. 

She whistled. “That’s a lot of tabs.”

“There’s a lot to read,” Shouta defended.

“Take it one tab at a time, though,” Nemuri countered with a sharp laugh. “Your inner workaholic is showing again.”

“Excuse me for wanting to make sure I don’t kill the infant member of a critically endangered species!” Shouta huffed. 

Nemuri’s playful smile vanished. “Wait, seriously? He’s an endangered species?” 

“Leopards as a whole aren’t but certain subspecies like snow leopards and Asian leopards are. The melanistic mutation is most common in the Asain subspecies and they’re also the subspecies with the lowest remaining population,” Shouta told her, citing his earlier reading. 

“How do you think they got their hands on him?” Nemuri mused. 

“Not through any legal means, I’m sure,” Shouta frowned. “Speaking of that, he’s potential evidence. So now I have an excuse to keep him. Tsukauchi said I could handle his care.”

The cub chose that moment to tear through the room, chasing after a cat toy. “Probably because Tsukauchi doesn’t want to deal with him,” Nemuri laughed. “Since we’re keeping him, what do we want to call him?”

“Cub?” Shouta shrugged. 

“No. He deserves better, Shouta,” Nemuri said, shaking her head in mock disappointment. “What about… Cookie?”

Shouta frowned at how that sounded. 

Hizashi came home to an argument of sorts between his partners. 

“Forest.”

“No. Espresso.”

“You can’t name him after your coffee addiction, Sho. What about Jade?”

“Bean.”

“...Is that still a coffee reference?”

“...No.”

“Broccoli.”

“That’s stupid. Sprout.”

“How is that different from Broccoli?”

“Guys, what’s going on?” Hizashi interrupted. 

“We’re naming the cat,” Shouta answered as both looked up at him from their spot on the floor. The ‘cat’ sat with them, batting a jingle ball around. “He’s a leopard by the way.”

“Okay… What about Marble? Because leopards have marbled fur,” Hizashi suggested. 

“But this little baby is almost a solid black,” Nemuri pointed out. 

“Sir Fuzzybutt?” Hizashi tried. 

“No,” Shouta snorted. The cub seemed to abandon his toy for a moment to glare at Hizashi. But he didn’t actually know what was going on, so it was just silly timing. 

“Ceres?” Nemuri offered. 

“If we do gods, he should be Hades,” Shouta countered. 

“Yeah! I like that!” Nemuri agreed. “It can strike terror into the hearts of villains too!”

“It matches his color scheme,” Hizashi smiled. “I think Hades is perfect.”

“What do you think, little one? Do you like Hades?” Shouta asked, picking up the cub and cradling him in his arms. The cub purred and swatted at the ends of Shouta’s hair. 

“See? He likes it too!” Nemuri beamed. 

After a week of research and caring for Hades, it was decided that they would try to keep him long-term. A permit would be needed eventually. For now, the fact that he was evidence in an ongoing case granted him some protection. 2-3 pounds of meat a day were enough for the little guy, but he would probably need somewhere between 7-10 pounds by adulthood. 

His research also said it was normal for leopards to skip days between feedings if they’ve eaten a large amount. It was unlikely that Hades would overeat without a strict diet, so they would be taking cues from him for how much to feed him. Leopards were strictly carnivores though. 

At least, that’s what the research said. For some reason, Hades was obsessed with eggs. It didn’t matter how they were prepared. Hades just kept stealing them. He took a raw one once too and it had been a hassle to get it back uncracked. Nothing said they were harmful to leopards, so they didn’t deny him eggs as long as they were cooked. 

Shouta watched the cub during the day while Hizashi and Nemuri kept an eye on him at night when Shouta was on patrol. They claimed Hades was attached to him and acted disgruntled whenever he left. He didn’t doubt it with how the cub clung to him when he was home. 

Today, Shouta was taking Hades to the veterinarian that the sanctuary recommended. He felt bad putting the little guy in a carrier, but he didn’t know how Hades would react in a moving vehicle. The pitiful meows and whines were getting to him…

Arriving was a relief since he was able to free the baby. The vet clinic seemed to have normal animals in the lobby, like cats and dogs, but also had a fenced-in field with horses and a goat outside. The website had said they see pets, livestock, and even partner with zoos or sanctuaries. The main veterinarian had an empathy quirk that worked exclusively with animals. 

Inside, he filled out the paperwork handed to him at the front desk with Hades balanced on his lap. After turning it in, he waited patiently to be called. Hades didn’t seem at all scared of the other animals around him. Nor did it seem like he wanted to eat them. He even tried to sit patiently, but that only lasted a couple of minutes before he got bored and tried to bat at a neighboring cat who seemed all too happy to bat back. 

Finally, Shouta and Hades were called back into an exam room. A vet assistant took his weight and vitals before leaving to get the doctor. When the door opened again, it revealed an older woman with mint hair. “Hello. I’m Dr. Miyata. I see you’re the one who found a baby leopard.”

“Yeah. He was found in a police raid so I figured I should bring him in to make sure he’s healthy,” Shouta replied, lifting Hades onto the examination table that she gestured to. 

She looked him over, checking his ears and nose. “It seems he’s got a quirk,” she observed as she looked at his paws, extending the claws. 

“What do you mean?” Shouta asked. 

“His eyes,” she explained, moving on to checking his spine. “That’s not a normal color. There’s also a bit of green tinting to his fur. Now, his coloring could be the extent of his quirk, or there could be more to it. There’s really no way of knowing until you see it in action. If you never do, then it’s probably just the color mutation.”

“Oh,” Shouta replied dumbly, looking at the cub with confusion. Was he in that lab because he was a quirked animal? Did they have others aside from him?

When she concluded the examination, she pointed out some old scarring hidden under his fur. “Most of these look like they were made with a scalpel. They are very tiny at least. And then this bit here by his shoulders indicate that he received frequent injections. Which is a slight problem if that was traumatic for him since I want to give him some vaccinations.”

“Is there a way to distract him?” Shouta questioned. She gave him a tight smile and pulled a container out of a nearby fridge. It seemed to be full of cubes of meat. 

“Beef treats. And I need you to hold him,” she answered. It worked. Mostly. 

Shouta got scratched twice. 

“I’m sorry,” Shouta said to the pouting cub, holding out a plate of scrambled eggs as an apology. Hades hissed at him and tucked himself further away under the couch. “It was just so you stay healthy. And now you don’t need another vaccine for like another year.”

Hades just rumbled angrily, so Shouta pushed the plate as far under the couch as he could and then left him alone. Nemuri came home to find him sulking in their room because his new cat was mad at him. 

“What did you expect, Sho? Remember how mad Mochi was the last time we took her?” Shouta grimaced at the memory. Cats really didn’t like the vet. To be fair though, Shouta hated the doctor. He definitely understood the discomfort with medical procedures and settings.

“Yeah, I guess,” Shouta sighed. 

“Give it a little bit of time and then Hades will be back to normal,” Nemuri reassured him. 

And she was right. By the time Hizashi got home and started making dinner with Shouta, Hades had crawled back out and wound himself between their feet, begging for bits of pork. 

Ultimately, the trip to the vet ended just fine.

Chapter Text

“You be good, okay?” Shouta told him as he was leaving. Hizashi and Nemuri weren’t here either. That had never happened before. But Mochi had mentioned that all three humans used to be gone sometimes when he complained about Shouta’s absence. Still, he peered up at the door in confusion as it shut behind Shouta. He was… alone…

“Relax, Kit. They don’t leave me alone for too long. Or us now. I bet the Loud One will be back first,” Mochi purred reassuringly. She had her own names for them. And other things. He didn’t know if that was normal. His Mama taught him a lot of words. Was he odd or was Mochi?

Sighing, he settled in front of the door to wait. 

“They won’t be back that soon. You’re going to get bored there,” Mochi warned. He ignored her and pouted at the door. “Suit yourself. I’m going to go lay on my Tower of Perches.”

After a time, he did in fact get bored and the door showed no signs of budging. Unacceptable. 

Living with Shouta and Hizashi and Nemuri and Mochi was much nicer than where he used to live. Where he used to live had his Mama and his littermate, but everyone was sad. Then his littermate was gone. Then Mama was gone. There was so much death. And then one day, Shouta was there. Shouta gave him a new home. It was better. There was no death here. 

There were toys here. There were soft pillows here. There were yummy eggs here. 

Most importantly, there were books! Mochi watched him climb onto a shelf, knocking some things over, and pulling a few books down so they’d fall on the ground. As he did this, she looked at him like he was crazy. He hopped down again and swatted at a book until it opened. “I...It was a dark and st…ormy night,” he read carefully. Mochi perked up on her tower. 

“In her at…tic bedroom Mar..gar…et Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork qui…quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tos…sing in the fren…zi…ed lash…ing of the wind. Behind the trees clouds scud…ded fran…tic…ally across the sky. Every few moments the moon ripped through them, creating wr…aith…like shadows that raced along the ground.”

“What is an at-tic? Or a scud-ded?” Mochi asked. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted easily. It didn’t bother him that he didn’t know all the words he read. He was much better at reading than knowing. His Mama taught him to pronounce things by sounding them out. Not that they could talk exactly like humans. Or at least, Mama couldn’t. 

“All right. I don’t mind. Keep going,” Mochi encouraged. So he kept reading until he finished the chapter. Any more than that would make his head hurt. 

“So how did you learn to read, Kit?” Mochi questioned as they headed to the kitchen. 

“My Mama taught me,” he answered. He lapped at their shared water dish. It bubbled sometimes when the bowl was a certain amount of empty. 

“Most cats can’t read. Do you have one of those human powers?” 

“Human powers?” 

“Like how the Loud One gets extra loud? And the Tired One silences him?” Mochi elaborated. “Most humans have powers. I’ve heard of animals that get them too.”

“I guess. I don’t know.” He sat in front of the fridge. “I’m hungry…”

“Well, unless you can open a Cold Tower too, you’ll have to wait,” Mochi chuckled. She crouched to eat some of the dry food she liked. He tried eating it once and it was gross.

“I could if I put on my human hands,” he mused aloud. 

“Your what?” 

“Here, watch.” He focused on shifting from a little cub into a little human. Paws into hands and feet. Fangs into flat teeth. From four legs to two. When he opened his eyes, he saw a distinct lack of fur. Mochi stared at him where he sat on the ground, eyes wide as saucers. 

“You’re a little human!” she screeched once she got unstuck from herself. 

“I am not,” he frowned, a little hurt by that. “I’m human-shaped.” 

“You can understand me like that?” Mochi asked. 

“Sure. I still have my cat ears,” he pointed out, tugging on one of them. 

“That is true. And you still have your tail,” Mochi noticed. Then she jumped up in excitement. “You can get snacks from the Cold Tower!”

“I can get snacks!” he agreed, rushing to the door of the fridge. 

Mochi’s ears pricked forward as he revealed shelves and shelves of yummy foods. And some icky ones too but they could avoid those. “I love you,” she laughed. 

After eating their fill, Mochi insisted they do more things that they couldn’t do before due to not having human hands. So he gave her the perfect ear scritches. Then he opened the box of extra jingle balls in the closet and dumped them all out. There were like… at least five!

…He was never the best at counting.

Then they went to the humans’ room and went into the closet. He tugged down all the shirts that he could reach, spreading them out on the floor. “I would like to wear that one,” Mochi decided, sniffing at a mint shirt with flowers on it. “I too can be a fancy human.”

He helped her put it on and then picked out one of Hizashi’s soft shirts with buttons for himself. Even with his thumbs though, he couldn’t figure out the buttons. “This is too hard,” he pouted. 

“Try this,” Mochi suggested, picking up one of Nemuri’s scarfs and dragging it over to him. He used it to tie the shirt closed like he’d seen her do with her robes. “Now, we are dressed to the nine-lives, like the fanciest of humans, so it only makes sense that we get fancy herbs.”

“Herbs?” he questioned. 

“Catmint,” Mochi told him. “Hm… You haven’t had any. But it’s very good. I will show you where the Tired One hides it from me.”

“Okay,” he followed after her.

“What. The. Fuck.”

He scrunched up his nose, rolling over to avoid the voice. Until he was suddenly lifted up against his will. Opening his eyes, he came face to face with Hizashi. The human looked very confused and maybe a little angry… “Are you wearing my clothes?”

And then he was tucked under Hizashi’s arm in one swift movement, paws dangling from the air. “What the hell…? How did you even…? What is on the ceiling?” The human carried him around for a bit, checking out the state of the home. It was messy. Very, very messy…

Soon they came across Mochi. She was sleeping in the bathroom sink. She was also covered in some sort of little leaves. Checking his own paws covered in the same leaves, he guessed that he was too. This must be Catmint. What a scary thing to take away his memories like this… 

Hizashi scooped up Mochi too and kept going until they got to the bedroom. He sat on the bed with a cat on either side. He was quiet for a long, long, long time. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He had seen the humans at his old home use those a lot. And Shouta used one too. “Sho? Yeah, no, everything’s fine. Except… the cats totaled the apartment. I have never seen destruction like this before. Not from cats .”

He placed a paw on Hizashi’s leg and meowed to get his attention. The human just pet him without really focusing on him. “They’re fine. Hungover maybe. They’re covered in catnip. I don’t even know how they got to that without thumbs. I don’t know how they did half of this damage without thumbs. Are leopards dexterous? …I’m not sure but you should probably come home.”

After he turned off the phone, Hizashi laid back on the bed with a sigh. He winced when the pillow he landed on flattened immediately, spraying out at least five feathers. The human just sighed again, barely looking at the feather storm now happening above him. 

Crawling on top of the now sad human, he meowed apologetically. He didn’t know what happened. Did he do this? Did Mochi do this? Did another human break-in? If it was another human, Hizashi should get a secure-kitty system like the humans at his last home had. It kept other humans out really well. Until Shouta came anyway. 

“It’s okay, Hades. I’m sure that was your first bender,” Hizashi said, petting his back. “We just won’t let you have catnip anymore.” 

That seemed like an okay idea. Not having memories was scary. “Especially since you’ll just get bigger when you get older. Imagine the damage you could cause then, huh, Hades?”

Hades was a nice name. Shouta had given it to him. And he was thankful for it, but his real name was still the one his Mama had given him. 

Izuku.

Chapter Text

Shouta’s eyes widened as he took in the state of the living room. He had barely shut the door behind himself, and he already wanted to leave. The pillows and couch cushions were scattered on the floor, at least one being shredded judging by all the stuffing everywhere. Books and knick knacks had been knocked off the shelf. One of Nemuri’s plants died an untimely death.

Moving further into the apartment, he could tell that the entire box of jingly cat toys had been dumped out just by the sheer amount found everywhere. Mochi was rough with them, so they bought them in bulk and gave her five to ten at a time normally, replacing them whenever they broke or got lost. It was a two-hundred-piece case of jingly balls. Gathering them all would be… 

He sighed when he noticed that the fridge was open, and several empty packages of meat were pulled down. A carton of milk had been brutally slashed open, surprisingly by Mochi, based on the size of the claw marks. Both cats were guilty then, not just the newly acquired leopard. 

Skipping the bathroom and office for now, he headed for the bedroom. There laid Hizashi on their bed, cuddled up with two drowsy cats, and surrounded by feathers. Over by the closet, piles of clothes had been gathered on the floor, with some even clearly having been pulled out of the nearby dresser. He winced, hoping none of the leather or silk pieces were damaged. 

“I think the stuff on the ceiling might be mustard,” Hizashi murmured without looking at him. 

“On the-- What?” Shouta faltered, looking up immediately. 

“Not in here. In the living room,” Hizashi clarified. “That or some of Nem’s paint. I don’t know. It’s bright fucking yellow though.”

“Right…” Shouta looked back over at the cats by Hizashi. Mochi was napping without a care in the world, but Hades looked as nervous as he did sleepy. “So obviously, we can’t keep catnip in the apartment anymore.”

Hizashi snorted. “No shit.”

“Are you mad?” Shouta asked quietly. This was kind of his fault, wasn’t it?

The blonde sighed. “No, not really. Just in shock, I think. I mean, we’ve had similar stuff happen before when Mochi gets the zoomies. Door handles usually stop her from getting into too much though. Hades can work around that, apparently. Now we know and we can adjust.”

“Do you think child safety locks will work for him?”

“We’ll have to try them and see,” Hizashi chuckled, finally looking over at Shouta. “You know, they were both wearing clothes when I got home. Even our feline family members care more about fashion than you. You’re the odd one out.”

“For the last time, I’m not going to watch ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ with you.”

“Oh, come on, Sho,” Hizashi whined. “Do it for the cats!”

“Let’s frame it.”

“What?” Hizashi responded, exasperated. Shouta glanced up from where he was reshelving some books to find Nemuri standing under the yellow mystery splatters on the ceiling. 

“That’s paint. We should hang an empty frame up there around it,” she explained gleefully. “Look at it! It’s cat art! Do you know how rare animal made art is? We could even dip their paws in other colors and hold them up to it so that they could add on. Our kitties' masterpiece!”

Yeah, they all had their thing. Shouta’s was cats, Hizashi’s was music, and Nemuri’s was art. 

They could all be a little extra about their things. 

“Please don’t dip the cats in paint,” Shouta interjected before she could go grab any. 

She spluttered. “I was just-- They alrea-- We could get cat safe paint.”

“No.”

“Fine. I’m still framing what they already did,” she pouted, crossing her arms. 

Hizashi and Shouta both looked at each other before shrugging. It wasn’t like they would, or could , stop her. She was in charge of most of their decor anyway. She had an art degree. 

What did they have? A vinyl record collection and scars from stray cats. 

Sitting in the tub, Izuku accepted the warm wet seeping into his fur even though it felt really gross and uncomfortable. This was it. His punishment for all the damage he had caused by getting that catmint for Mochi. Shouta had decided to drown him. To death. 

“Ah, hell, stop looking at me like that,” Shouta muttered as he scooped more water onto his neck with a little blue cup. “It’s just a bath. You’re fine.”

A ‘bath’ must be the gentlest form of execution for Shouta to think it’s no big deal. 

Even after everything Izuku had done, the human was still being so kind to him.

He didn’t mean to start purring when Shouta began massaging a floral-smelling goop into his fur, but the pets felt good. It was so, so kind of Shouta to pet him once more before he had to die. To make his last moments somewhat peaceful despite the disgusting water around him. 

Mewing, he tried to tell Shouta what a good human he was. But Shouta did not speak cat. 

“It’ll be over soon, I promise,” Shouta assured him. 

Stifling his cries, he let the human do whatever he needed to. 

After the floral-smelling goop was rinsed out of his fur with more water, Shouta pulled him out of the tub and bundled him up in an extra thick towel. “See? Not so bad, right?”

And then Shouta took him from the bathroom and sat on the couch with him, cradled in his arms and trapped in the towel that was slowly leeching the wet from his fur. 

Wait…

That was it?!

“Yeah, he really hated the bath, but at least he didn’t fight me like Mochi does.”

Hizashi peered at the burrito kitty in his boyfriend’s arms. “Whatever happened in that lab, they must have been pretty harsh to train that kind of compliance into such a young animal.”

“Probably,” Shouta agreed, mood dropping at the thought. 

“But it’s okay. Because we have him now,” Hizashi reassured him. “That’ll never happen again.”

“The baby is safe with us,” Nemuri chimed in, carrying a large bowl of popcorn for them and a smaller one of diced chicken for the panther. 

“Yes,” Shouta replied with a rare, soft smile, looking down at his new treasure. “Safe.”

“What do we think of the Jungle Book tonight in honor of our newest addition?”

The men agreed easily and the movie was set to play. Hades was purring by the end of the first song, being fed bits of chicken in between the pieces of popcorn Shouta ate. He managed to snatch one of the popcorn kernels for himself, but he was not a fan. 

By the middle of the movie, Mochi decided she was done giving them all the cold shoulder in retaliation for the bath she got, and she curled up in the groove made between Hizashi and Nemuri as they cuddled on the couch. She didn’t purr until much later, still slightly miffed. 

Once Hades was dry, Shouta traded the now damp towel for a warm, fluffy blanket, rebundling the large kitten so that he wouldn’t get cold. By the time the movie was over, they were all comfortably sleepy and ready to tuck in early. The apartment was clean again, the cats were clean, there wasn’t really any lasting damage, and the peace had returned to their little home.

Nemuri curled up in bed with the cats, since she’d already changed into some soft pajamas before the movie. The men joined her and their cats once they were in something cozier too. The odd little family of five, cuddled together under the comforter, a couple of them already starting to drift off to sleep. Mochi already was asleep, actually. 

“We should probably get those pet cameras to keep an eye on them in the future,” Hizashi said sleepily, his head resting on Shouta’s shoulder. “One we can talk to them through so that we can tell them to stop if they start getting into things. Some dispense treats too.”

“If I have a live cat cam, I’m never getting any work done again,” Shouta admitted. 

Hizashi lightly shrugged. “I’ll just ban you from the feed then.”

Shouta’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Consider it your consequences for bringing home a baby panther,” Hizashi teased before rolling over to lay on Nemuri’s shoulder instead. 

“You wouldn’t actually do that to me, right? Hizashi?”

He smirked to himself and didn’t reply, pretending to fall asleep. 

“Zashi, seriously, you can’t do that to me. Please? Zashi?”

Hades meowed softly. They had noticed he was sensitive to tone and oddly empathetic for a wild animal. Shouta shushed the panther and huffed grumpily. 

“We’ll show him, Hades. We’ll get our own cameras and hide them,” the man whispered conspiratorially. “Then I can have my own private feed to your shenanigans. He can’t stop me.”

“Yes, I can, Shouta.” He felt the man jump slightly and grinned smugly.