Work Text:
Shou <3: Can you buy some Pet food?
Izuku blinked at his phone that sat on his mothers counter top. His hands were covered in cookie dough and sugar from baking with her.
He had been getting a bit worried that it was already 12 and Shouto hadn’t texted him yet but Izuku merely assumed that he was busy with his siblings.
But he definitely didn’t expect whatever this text was. Quickly, Izuku turned on the faucet with his pinky and washed his hands. After, drying them off and unlocking his phone.
Izuku: Pet food? Why? (ﾟヘﾟ)？
A minute passed before the phone buzzed again flashing another message from Shouto.
Shou <3: Nevermind, I don’t need it anymore.
Izuku huffed, knowing Shouto well enough to know that he was in fact doing something and it was something he had no business doing.
Izuku: okk??
Shou <3: Okay, I love you.
Izuku: love you too（*＾3＾) <33
He placed his phone down and stared at the timer on the stove, slowly thinking about what exactly Shouto could have wanted pet food for.
Maybe Yumi or Nat bought a pet and needed food until they ran to the store and got it? Or maybe Shouto got a fish to keep at home?
Nonetheless, the real question was why couldn’t Izuku know? Maybe he was being surprised and taken to see the pet next weekend?
A harsh smell of burning filled Izuku’s nostrils, snapping him out of his thoughts. He began to look around to see what could have caused it until his mother yelled.
“IZUKU ARE THOSE THE COOKIES?”
Izuku scrambled for an oven mitt and opened the oven. Black smoke poured out of it and Izuku screeched, grabbing the now charred cookies and throwing them into the sink.
The fire alarm went off and Izuku took off the oven mitts, using them to fan the black smoke literally anywhere but inside the apartment.
Inko a few seconds later came out screaming holding a fire extinguisher, quickly hosing down the stove as Izuku rushed to open up the windows.
10 Minutes later, the ordeal was over and the pair sat at the table. Izuku with his head down and Inko sporting an unnatural frown.
“Inko? Young Midoriya? I brought Milk for the-“ All Might froze in the doorway eyeing the pair then catching Inko’s eyes as she pointed towards the almost charred kitchen.
“Oh. Well, I've always wanted to try renovation!” He let out a hearty chuckle before a balled up magazine was thrown his way as fast as a baseball.
_______
Izuku huffed as he walked into the UA dormitory. He noticed Bakugo, Kaminari, Mina, Kirishima, and Uraraka sitting at the kitchen island.
He made his way over to them and smiled, pulling out a pitcher of lemonade before Bakugo let out a harsh (dramatic) cough.
“What the fuck Deku did you roll around in a fireplace?”
Izuku stopped and smelled his shirt, frowning at the group. “I burnt my mom's cookies…”
Mina, Kirishima, and Uraraka laughed while Bakugo just stared at him.
“Deku Kun, how did you burn cookies ?” Uraraka questioned, wiping the fake tears out of her eyes.
Kaminari frowned and poked his cup of jello. “Hey! Cookies are hard to watch, if you walk away they literally burn.” Bakugo scoffed and slapped the back of the boy's head, causing him to whine.
“Dumbass, you probably walked away for too long. Cookies don’t take the whole damn day to bake.” Izuku poured some of the lemonade into a cup and took a sip.
“I got a text from Shouto that distracted me. I could have sworn I was watching the time!” Izuku pouted and Uraraka reached over to sympathetically tap his hand.
“What did he even say to distract you so much Mido?” Mina questioned, snatching the pitcher and pouring herself a glass.
“Mmm…some pet food. I’m pretty sure that his sister got a pet or something.” Izuku explained.
“Oh, Todoroki is upstairs. He got here a good hour or so ago and hasn’t been down. He’s probably really busy.” Kirishima stated, continuing to scroll through his phone.
“Oh, okay! Thanks Kiri!” He chugged down the rest of the drink and quickly washed his glass, leaving the pitcher for Mina who seemed to constantly have been pouring more lemonade into her cup.
Before heading up to Shouto’s room. Izuku quickly changed out of his burnt cookie smelling clothes and into a vintage All Might shirt with plain sweatpants.
Afterwards, he went up to Shouto’s room and knocked lightly, not receiving a response until he knocked again.
“I’m busy.” came the deep voice from the other side.
Izuku pouted and knocked again. “Shou? It’s me Izuku.” Quickly, the door cracked open and Shouto’s blue eye popped out of the door frame.
“Is anyone else out here?” Izuku shook his head and Shouto opened the door fully, allowing Izuku to step into the very familiar Japanese style room.
Shouto engulfed Izuku in a tight hug before kissing the top of his head. Izuku smiled into the familiar touch and hugged back.
The two released each other before Izuku noticed the blanketed box that sat on the floor.
“Uh, Shou, what's that?” Shouto turned around and looked at the box before grabbing Izuku’s hand and sitting them both down next to it.
Izuku attempted to reach over and take off the blanket but Shouto stopped him and grabbed his wrist.
“Uh, before you take this off I have to tell you how I got this first.” This made Izuku frown, he began to feel a bit nervous. What the heck could be in the box? Is it THAT bad?
Shouto lightly kissed Izuku’s temple and gave a reassuring smile. “I can hear your thoughts love. It’s not as bad as you think. I think you’ll get upset but get used to it.”
“Okay okay, just tell me so I can see!”
“Alright, well I was walking to get Fuyumi some groceries she’d asked for before I came back to the dorms. But in the alleyway next to one of the stores I saw a man with a box. He called me over and said that his hamster had babies and he raised them but can’t take care of all of them. He asked if I could take one but I told him that I'm a student in the dorms and that it’s not allowed.”
Izuku listened but slowly began to get more nervous as the story went on. The box beginning to rattle didn’t help either.
“But, he begged me and as I was going to walk away he showed me the last hamster and Izuku when I tell you that I thought I had Koda’s quirk for a second. It’s like he asked me to take him home and he even has a birthmark on his eye, like my scar!”
“Shouto. There is absolutely no way that’s what I think it is-”
“And I was going to ask you to bring food but he said he already had some. So I just took the cage, the food and the hamster.”
“Shouto that is not what I-“
“I even named him Harold, because he just looked like a Harold.”
Shouto took off the cover revealing a cage with a small hamster inside. The hamster was brown with a singular patch of darker brown on one of his eyes. Izuku thought he could literally feel his jaw touching the ground as he watched Shouto open up the cage and hold the small rodent.
“Izuku, meet Harold. Harold, meet my boyfriend Izuku.”
Izuku’s first thought was to scream. Not scream as in yell but scream as in shrill horror movie scream. But, he was able to catch the scream in his throat. The second reaction though came out when he literally curled himself into a ball and presumed the fetal position.
“Aizawa is gonna kill us, Aizawa is gonna kill us. Am I an accomplice? How can we hide a hamster in the dorms? Oh Aizawa is gonna KILL us.” Izuku continuously muttered as Harold and Shouto both stared at him, each other, then him again. Both not knowing quite what to do in this situation.
“Izuku? Love? Are you okay” Shouto questioned, placing his free hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
Izuku shot up and stared at Shouto. “Am I okay? OKAY? Shouto, it’s not allowed to have a PET in the dorms! Plus we have no idea how to take care of one and-“
Shouto put a hand over Izuku’s mouth and sighed, acting like him having a hamster was the most natural thing in the world.
“You're worrying too much. Can’t you just accept Harold? No one will find out and we can learn how to take care of him.” Izuku scoffed and looked at Shouto.
“Us? US? Shou I-“
Once again, Shouto put his hand over Izuku’s mouth and silenced him. Pointing to Harold who quite literally was sitting on his butt and POUTING like a human.
“Please? Look at how sad he is.” Izuku stared at Harold and sighed.
Maybe, just maybe he could figure out how to take care of and hide Harold.