Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Toru Hagakure was leaning against a wall in the dorm kitchen. She looked at the clock: 22:10. It was pretty late. Most of the students were already sleeping. Normally no one was down here during this time. Everyone was in their rooms and probably already asleep. But something strange was going on the last 5 days. Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka had come back from a mission 5 days ago and avoided any contact with everyone since then. They were even excused from classes and training.

That would have been normal if there were any injuries involved, but nothing like that had been reported. They came back, dressed like they had been caught in a snowstorm, with coats and big hats and everything, which was a weird thing to do at the end of August. There was no snow anywhere. Some people were still running around in hot pants. Even Tsuyu didn't have any problems with the temperature.

To phrase it in the current internet lingo: They were acting sus.

Something was wrong. It had to be. Why else would Toru see Aizawa sensei from her window every night? What would be so important for him to do that couldn't be done during the day.

Then it dawned on her. They were not supposed to be seen. For some reason, Deku and Ochako were ordered to stay hidden. They met up at a time where no one else was awake.

Well, normally. But now Toru was here, ready to uncover their secret.

It was a weird feeling. Going against the rules like that. Especially since she was alone. If Mina had been the one who had suggested it, this would have felt less forbidden. The teachers probably had a good reason for letting them skip classes too. But if there was something wrong with her friends, Toru had to find out what it was. No matter what.

The long-haired teacher entered the dorm. He looked around to see if anyone was there. Naturally, he wasn't able to see anyone.

"I told them to be here for a report at 22:00... I guess it's my fault for being late. They went into hiding again. I just write that down as a side effect too, even though it's probably just out of embarrassment."

Aizawa put his hands into his pockets and pulled out a bunch of flat metal cans. He walked into the kitchen and put them on the counter. Toru was able to take a closer look while he was searching for a can opener. The cans contained different kinds of fish. What a weird thing to bring to a meeting.

It got even weirder when he held the can up in the air to open it. He tried to suppress a smile. What was he so happy about?

As soon as Aizawa opened the can with a loud crack, the stairwell was filled with noises. Something was going down the stairs pretty fast.

And then, out of nowhere, two figures jumped through the door into the kitchen towards the teacher. He dodged in the last second and the two crashed against the counter.

"Ahhhhh!"

"Damned!"

On the floor, dressed in casual clothing, except for the big wool hats on their heads, were Deku and Ochako. They were holding their foreheads, their faces distorted in pain.

"So opening a can is still driving you wild. I marked that down as No progress. Did everything else not change?"

"Normally people apologize when they make others run into kitchen furniture! Well, I guess that counts for every type of furniture, " Deku whined, still sitting on the floor. "Did that villain finally talk about his quirk?"

"No, he didn't." The teacher put down the can and looked at the students. "Nothing new at least. He insists that the effects will go away over time."

"Well, nothing changed. It's still the same."

"Show me. I have to check. Maybe you can't see it correctly."

"Do you really have to do that sensei?" Ochako was twiddling her thumbs.

"I understand that it's embarrassing, but Recovery Girl has asked me to check on this and if you don't want to sit with her in the infirmary you have to let me see your heads."

"Okay," Deku sighed and both teenagers removed their hats to reveal... two sets of large cat ears.

Toru almost let out a loud Awww sound but was able to control herself.

The two teenagers looked to the floor to avoid eye contact. Their ears also went down. It was a really cute thing to watch. While the teacher was reluctantly starting to measure their animal ears with a measuring tape he pulled out of another pocket, the backs of Deku's and Ochako's shirts started to move around. Two tails started to free themselves and moved around behind them.

"Okay, I assume the tails haven't changed as well. I should measure that too but I feel like that would be going too far. I will talk with Recovery Girl again and hear what she thinks. Maybe we can do something about this situation."

They nodded, their eyes locked onto the ground to avoid eye contact. Behind their backs, their tails started to intertwine, like they wanted to comfort each other without the teacher knowing.

"As always, if something happens or something changes, tell me. Now go to bed. It's already pretty late. But don't forget to eat something! I know you guys don't want others to see you like this, but not leaving your room can't be healthy. If you haven't been able to visit the caféteria, I hope for you that you have some food in the fridge. I leave the fish here too."

They watched how Aizawa left the dorm without looking back at them. Their eyes followed him until they heard the front door open and close again.

The teenagers sunk to the floor.

"We had to do this three times already. Why is it still so weird?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because of how Aizawa-Sensei acts?" Deku theorized while stretching out a hand up towards the counter and searched for cans of fish and some chopsticks from the kitchen drawer below.

"Wanna sit here and eat fish until we feel better?"

Ochako nodded softly while pulling her legs close to her chest. There was a short pause, where they both ate quietly. Then she started talking.

"I spent 30 minutes today trying to find a good position to sleep on the window sill."

"Oh, I had that too. The sun was so warm."

"Then Tsuyu-chan knocked on my door. I got scared and jumped under my bed. That hurt quite a lot."

"These cat instincts are really annoying. I spent 10 minutes jumping against the ceiling to catch a fly."

He put an arm around her to comfort her and she rested her head on his shoulder. It was a pretty strong display of affection. Something the two normally wouldn't have even thought about doing.

"I am sure this will be over soon. Worst case scenario is we have to ask if Eri can use her powers." He started to scratch her ears and she started to relax. Her eyes closed and her breathing got calmer. It really was like watching a cat.

"Hey Deku?"

"Yes?"

"Can you ignore it when I start purring? I can't really control it."

"Don't worry about it. I have the same problem. Sorry about my hand."

He said that but he didn't move his hand away from her shoulder.

"It's okay. It's not like anyone is here."

"Yeah, right. How's your fish?"

"I haven't tried it yet."

"It's actually really good. I have to admit, Aizawa-Sensei has a good taste when it comes to fish."

"Really?"

He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and held it up. Ochako moved in to try the fish. Her face was really close to Deku's face. Her lips parted and closed around the fish piece. Her newly acquired cat ears added a layer of cuteness to it, that was unavoidable to notice. Even Deku was charmed by it. Tooru couldn't see his face, since Ochako's head was in front of it, but she could tell by the rapid back and forth movements of his cat tail that his face was as red as a tomato.

She pulled the fish out from the chopsticks and chewed it a little.

"This is really delicious!" Her cat ears twitched in delight. "You were right... are you okay? Deku...?"

She stopped when she saw the boys face.

It was bright red. His (cat-) ears were standing up straight and he looked away as soon as the two made eye contact. Even Hagakure had to admit he looked cute.

Ochako realized how embarrassing the situation was and looked away too.

"... Sorry."

The two started to sit up and gain some distance from one another. Like always when they were caught getting lovey-dovey in public (by others or by themselves). But not this time. They froze their movements and then did the unthinkable. Ochako Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya, the two shyest people in their class... sat back together. Legs and hips touching. Deku put his hand around her shoulder again and pulled her close. Ochako turned a bit to wrap her arms around him.

Deku and Uraraka were cuddling on the kitchen floor.

Unbelievable.

Hagakure wished she could have taken a photo, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by exposing that she was here too.

"Why isn't this embarrassing, but eye contact is still super weird?" The brown-haired girl mumbled into Deku's shirt.

"I don't know. Maybe because cats snuggle for lots of different reasons? To get warm, to share love, to socialize. Maybe it's more natural like this? Also, cats are normally far-sighted, right? So looking at someone up close could be uncomfortable. More uncomfortable than snuggling."

Ochako giggled. "'Snuggling'? You say that?"

Izuku looked down at her with a confused look. "What's wrong with 'snuggling?"

"I don't know. It just sounds... a bit unfitting? Like, we are physically too big to 'snuggle' or something like that."

"You are literally pressing your head against my abs? From my perspective, you look like a small creature."

"That's your fault for having such nice abs!"

"Thanks!" He smiled.

"I know we shouldn't stay here for too long, but I want to stay like this a little longer. Just a little bit. Okay?"

"Of course. As long as you like."