Archive of Our Own ^beta

He thinks his love for cats has somehow spiraled out of control, has sent him into some delusional warped reality daydream thing, and, though he doesn’t think about himself as very gullible— when it comes to cats, he feels like a completely different person. He’s someone who buys into those strange American commercials- the ones with one-legged kittens and skinny hairless cats who were “in need” of his money, and within the next few seconds, he’s entering his father’s credit card information onto some random sketchy site. So if he thinks about it, the theory that he’s somehow been tricked into an illusion involving cats is pretty plausible.

But— it doesn’t take long for him to realize that it isn’t an illusion. That he lives in a superhuman society, a society in which he attends class for superhero training with a frog and a bird— so, cat-turning doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary. He also isn’t sure if any kind of illusion would be able to give him as much detail as he has.

The way his body is tilting to the side with a lack of balance due to a large shift in his eyesight is far too real. Shouto can’t seem to blink enough to get rid of the smudge in front of his vision- there’s a kind of blur and it pairs awfully with the lack of contrast and saturation and the wider field of vision. He can— he can see so much out of the corner of his eyes and his brain is kind of having trouble processing just how much he can see. Sure the prominent lines are blurred and things kind of blend together and things that he knows shouldn’t be gray, look- uh, well, a little gray, but— it’s still so much.

And after the epiphany of his change in eyesight, the rest of the wrongness of the situation comes piling in, similar to dominos in a way, Shouto thinks. One realization sets off another realization and another and another and he’s tapping forward with his small feet, bare against the pavement and far too sensitive for his tiny paws. They’re white and extremely fluffy— and the toe beans he can feel on his hind paws are more sensitive than the ones on the front. And him acknowledging the back of his body, is what strikes the realization that there is something very long and very thin connected to his spine and he can feel every inch of it.

He can’t even think the word without wanting to duck his head in embarrassment— if he could blush, he’s sure his cheeks would be heating because… A tail. Shouto has a tail. And that makes sense- the majority of cats have tails, but— he isn’t really a cat. And he doesn’t want to have a tail.

He wonders how the rest of him looks as he’s making his way down the long street ( with very little progress, it’s tiring, it’s torture )—wonders if he’s still got his half-and-half thing going for him. As far as he can tell, there are around three colors to him. His paws are tiny and they’re pure, fluffy white. But he can see the rest of his arms…?— which is a mix between black and orange-reddish fur. He shudders at that word. He has fur. And a tail. And maybe pointy, squishy ears and there isn’t any escaping from his general paws.

He’s a cat.

Now, Shouto isn’t too sure how this even happened. It wasn’t immediate, couldn’t have been the cause of someone bumping into him or touching him in any way— he hasn’t had any contact with any person other than his mother the past 24 hours. In fact, the hospital to visit his mother is just where he’d been returning from when he blinked and suddenly hit the ground on all fours. From there to Midoriya’s place, just because he’d be in passing and visiting Midoriya always puts him in a good mood. He always found himself in need of a bit of hope and brightness after returning from the hospital. Because he loved his mother so, so much, and because of that love, he was also left with not-so-sweet feelings the more he thought about the current situation and the circumstances.

He never made it to Midoriya’s place— clearly. So that’s his current goal. It’s fortunate that he’s already in the area, too. Midoriya is a genius when it comes to many, many things— quirks is one of those many things. His goal is to find a way to relay his situation to Midoriya and then find a solution. Shouto’s sure there’s a way he could explain it efficiently. Maybe if he gets a good hold on a pen or something, hold it tight enough in his mouth…  The writing may be a bit sloppy but getting his point across is all that matters. Midoriya seeing a ‘cat’ with the ability to write may have the gears in his head immediately turning, anyway. He’d get it— he’s smart and he can help.

Shouto shakes a little, feeling a tad uncomfortable in his fur skin and significantly tinier body as he attempts to pick up his pace. It isn’t a long way. Or— wouldn’t be. Not usually. But he supposes at his current speed… He’s looking at a good thirty-minute trip.

His legs are tiny, so he can’t cover much ground and on top of that, the ground is hard and rocky and they poke into his very sensitive paw pads unpleasantly. His small legs and arms shake with every too-hard step forward and he can feel his ears twitch whenever he steps on a sharp pebble; It wrings throughout his entire body and has him shaking his head every few steps.

How stray cats and kittens survive outside of a safe, warm home is beyond Shouto— he’s already known about the sensitivity of paw pads, but feeling it for himself is— he wishes he weren’t inconvenienced by such a small thing at the moment. Or by this situation at all.

Shouto’s eyes search the area in quick glances and he picks up his gait in a bit of excitement because from what he remembers— Midoriya’s place isn’t too, too far away. And he’s actually in the same area as Bakugou. He can take notice of the large houses— further down the road and a few turns away is where Midoriya’s apartment complexes are settled. It’s a nice area, the neighborhood is well-kept, bushes are neat and flowers are pretty and it isn’t a place where a stray cat would be found simply because no family in the area would allow it. At least it’s the feel the lined houses give off.

He isn’t sure which one is Bakugou’s exactly, but he plans on speeding by it really quickly. He doesn’t know why. It’s not like he has a personal problem with Bakugou, even though the blond clearly has one with him, but— running into him in such a state? Shouto kind of feels like he’d never be able to live it down somehow, even if he were the only person to ever know about the encounter.

And— Shouto sees shoes a good distance ahead of him.

He stops in his tracks, looks up to meet whoever is standing there in the eye.

Bakugou’s staring right at him.

Shouto’s ears pull back on their own and he takes a step away as Bakugou takes a step forward.

He isn’t too sure about Bakugou’s stance on animals or pets or anything— he doesn’t seem like someone who would inconvenience himself for the sake of a kitten on the side of the road, but Shouto suspects he doesn’t know him much outside of his weirdly constant need to challenge everyone around him.

He kind of wonders, though. He’s a cat, so he technically isn’t a challenge in Bakugou’s eyes right now because he isn’t someone Bakugou can necessarily ‘beat’— so he isn’t a threat.

He wonders—

Shouto startles a little when Bakugou makes his way toward him, steady red gaze still focused on him. Shouto doesn’t really know what to do other than just stay where he is, watching curiously as Bakugou bends at his knees and holds out a cautious hand. Oh.

When Shouto doesn’t move, Bakugou reaches forward and his palm slides over Shouto’s furry head, fingers curl around his too squishy ears as he gives him a light scratch. Oh.

That— feels really nice.

Bakugou’s hand is large and rough and it makes for a good scratch behind his too-soft tiny ears. He doesn’t even realize the way he steps forward and rolls his head into and against Bakugou’s large palm until the blond makes a noise. Shouto pauses and stares up at him and Bakugou is staring back at him, too with a strange expression. The noise that came from Bakugou sounded close to a hum of content, soft and deep, and like it fell past his lips not against his will but— easily. Like he let it slip out, wasn’t focused on holding it in. Bakugou’s eyes then narrow.

“What?”

Shouto’s lips parted to assure Bakugou it was nothing, but— “Mew.”

It— it isn’t even an entire meow. It’s, once again, a squeak. Tiny and high pitched and it makes Shouto’s ears droop a little. To his surprise, Bakugou lets out a huff- something that sounded on the cusp of a laugh.

“Holy fuck— you’re just tiny all around,” He mumbles. “You sound like a damn fire alarm too, what the hell,”

There’s something- a little fond in his voice. The quirk in his lips has Shouto’s eyes going wide as he focuses on it completely, what it could mean.

Bakugou leans in close as he inspects Shouto with a hard look.

“I’m not a cat person but you’re a fucking strange lookin’ one,” He says under his breath. “Split right down the middle, where’d you even come from?”

Oh— so he is still split down the middle. He wonders what color is on each side.

Bakugou squints his eyes, “You don’t have a collar. You a stray or somethin’?” He huffs violently through his nose and pulls away, “Whatever. Shitty Hair’s gonna be up my ass if I don’t get a picture,”

He snatches his phone out of his pocket and holds it in front of Shouto who can’t help but tilt his head curiously.

Bakugou peaks a little over his phone with a strange look before disappearing behind his device again and tapping his screen a few times with his thumb. He lowers his device a little when he’s done and Shouto prattles forward to get a small glimpse of what he looks like. He can see enough even through the blur of his vision. Black is on his right side, the orangish color is on his left. Oh. Funny in, in a bit of a twisted sense.

Completely and perfectly split down the middle. And strangely enough, the heterochromia sticks with him, too. Right eye is gray and left eye is blue. His nose twitches and he gives his head a gentle shake to rid himself of the weird itch he suddenly feels.

Bakugou pulls his phone away at that moment. He stands, pockets the device, and is moving forward without another word.

Shouto scurries forward a little and twists his lean body to look behind himself— as he guessed, Bakugou doesn’t look back once.

He turns the corner and that’s the end of it.

He stands for a few moments afterward, looking back at the corner Bakugou turned. When Shouto’s sure he isn’t coming back, he turns back around and continues his way to Midoriya’s house.

He takes a few unbalanced gaits forward— then he’s stumbling forward, and then he’s somehow completely falling and— he’s- on his knees. His— knees?

Cats don’t have knees. And— the ground looks a lot brighter and far more clear than it did two seconds ago, and his hands are against the ground, a little scratched up from trying to catch himself from the fall. He’s in his own body again, he can feel it, and though he feels a bit jelly-like, almost kind of boneless and a little loose— he’s normal. He’s himself again.

With a sudden flood of tiredness, though. Powering through to get to Midoriya’s house, explaining what happened kind of seems pointless now that the problem… At least it seems to be fixed? It kind of isn’t that big of a shock- most effects of quirks are temporary and short-term, and Shouto would say he was a cat for maybe around an hour? A pretty decent time for the effects of a quirk to wear off.

He’s looking down at his palms, stretching his fingers, and watching the way they bend and move carefully just for good measure. And then he’s turning on his heel in the opposite direction of Midoriya’s house once he’s satisfied with the functionality of his hands and his arms and everything that is supposed to be human.

He’ll just tell Midoriya about it later one he supposes it— maybe mention the story in passing. Or use it as an “I’ve made this conversation awkward, let me talk about something else before you have time to realize you don’t like me very much” backup plan. He’s run out of stories for those cases and it never hurts to have them on standby.

Shouto gets home on time, continues the rest of his afternoon as scheduled, and sleeps just fine that night.

 

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

 

“Hey— this kitten kind of looks like Todoroki, doesn’t it?”

It’s the first thing Shouto hears when he closes the door to the classroom behind him the next morning. And then a phone is being held up next to his face with squeals and gasps and cheers and Shouto knows immediately what’s going on after he registers the word ‘kitten.’

“I think if the black side of it was white, it’d look more like him!” Denki says, staring at the phone Mina’s holding next to Shouto, and then Shouto himself. His eyes flicker back and forth and he holds his chin in between his fingers with a long, curious hum. “But man— the heterochromia is spot in, it’s kinda weird. It’s you man, isn’t it?”

Shouto catches a glance at the phone to make sure the kitten is the one he turned into and can see it’s the one Bakugou took yesterday afternoon. He must have sent it to Kirishima who sent it to Kaminari who sent it to everyone else… It’s usually the way it goes with these things.

“Yeah, yeah!” Uraraka’s next to him in the next second with raised hands, “It’s Todoro-kitty! You’re the cute little kitten aren’t you, Todoroki?”

Todoroki only planned on letting Midoriya know of the quirk, but he supposes nothing bad can come out of everyone knowing he was a cat for about an hour. It is a little embarrassing, to say the least, but he thought everyone else’s reactions would be a bit more extreme than the way they’re acting, so overall— he doesn’t really mind.

Shouto nods, “Yes. That’s me.”

There’s a pause, which Shouto kind of expects.

And then— laughs are filling the classroom which Shouto… Doesn’t expect.

Mina reaches out to pinch at his cheeks, pulling affectionately as she giggles about not knowing that Todoroki had a sense of humor, which Shouto’s confused about because he’s not trying to be funny and he didn’t make a joke— although, that is when most people laugh at the things he says. When he isn’t trying to be funny. So he goes along with it because oftentimes, in these situations, explaining himself doesn’t get him anywhere, either.

Uraraka locks her arm with his and drags him over to see Midoriya who’s standing near his desk with Iida. Uraraka sits down with a soft laugh, pointing at him, “Todoroki said he’s the cat in Bakugou’s picture!”

Shouto nods, “I am.”

Midoriya raises his brows with a small laugh, “Really?” He turns to Iida and they exchange familiar, knowing glances before Midoriya turns back to him- he looks like he’s trying to fight down a grin. “You’re really warming up to us, huh? That’s the second time you’ve made a joke!”

Shouto furrows his brows and Iida nods with a smile of his own, “Todoroki: Hand Crusher by day and mysterious two-faced cat by night!” He laughs as he claps the back of Shouto’s shoulders.

”Right— we should all get in our seats now! Class starts very soon! Please everyone— take your seats!”

He’s ushered in the direction of his seat near Momo before he can explain himself. He does furrow his brows as he sits down, though.

“Neither of those were jokes, though…”