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“Truce?” Shinsou says through the crack of the door when Bakugou answers it.
The door is only open as far as the security chain will allow it because Bakugou’s not an idiot and after cashing in his winnings from camping he trusts Shinsou exactly zero percent. There’s absolutely no way he isn’t going to retaliate for the four hours Bakugou made him sit through bleaching and redying his hair, only to discover it was purple again. Well, purple plus a haircut.
What? He needed one.
The look on Shinsou’s face before he kicked Bakugou out had been totally worth it.
When Bakugou continues to stare suspiciously, Shinsou raises his hands, palms out, and amends his statement. “Temporary truce? Forty-eight hours. Maybe seventy-two.”
“Why?” Bakugou demands, a foot still braced against the door in case Shinsou tries to shove his way in.
“I need your help.”
Bakugou frowns, scanning Shinsou looking for the trick or the joke but there’s nothing. He’s come empty-handed in skinny jeans and—for fucks sake—a Dynamight hoodie he must have stolen from Bakugou’s closet since it’s an unreleased design.
When Shinsou continues to wait, the model example of innocent and ‘definitely not up to anything’ Bakugou sighs and unchains the door, letting it swing open.
“Help with what? And give me my fucking hoodie back.”
“Absolutely not, it’s comfy as hell. You can strip it from my cold dead body,” Shinsou says, breezing past him. He kicks his shoes off and flops on Bakugou’s sofa, cooing at Gregory who’s curled up on the armrest. “Do you have food? I’m starving.”
“Help. With what?” Bakugou repeats, but heads for the kitchen anyway to heat up leftovers for the goblin who’s now moved into his living room and looks like he’s ready to take up permanent residence.
“I wanna prank Aizawa.”
“What?!” Bakugou wheels around, nearly dropping the container of food as he stares in shock at Shinsou. “You’re insane. Do you have a death wish??”
“See, that’s what Denki and Hanta said too,” Shinsou says from where he’s draped himself over the back of the sofa. “But I think it can be done.”
“He’s an underground Pro Hero. You want to prank a stealth operative .”
Bakugou can’t even begin to process the level of dumb that Shinsou is proposing. He pops the food in the microwave, leaning against the counter to scowl at Shinsou who’s joined him in the kitchen in an attempt to woo him into dying with him.
“I’m a stealth operative too,” Shinsou points out.
“And he’s the one that trained you,” Bakugou counters. “You think he doesn’t know all your tricks? That’d be like…” he throws his hands in the air, searching for a comparison. “Like me trying to fucking fight Jeanist. He’d put my face in the dirt before I even blinked at him.”
“Are you actually admitting to losing a fight?” Shinsou asks with a grin and Bakugou shoves food in his hands, storming past him and back out into the living room.
“You can’t lose a fight you don’t have.”
“He totally kicked your ass,” Shinsou says in delight, plopping on the sofa next to Bakugou and stuffing his face with yakimeshi. “How many times? Three? Four?”
“Change the subject.”
“ Six? Was it double digits?” Bakugou snarls, making a grab for the food. Shinsou holds it out of reach as he cackles, fending him off with a knee. “Okay! Okay! I’m done! I swear!!”
Bakugou slouches down on the sofa, kicking his feet up onto the table as Shinsou digs back into his food.
He shouldn’t ask.
He’s not going to ask.
He’s going to put on a stupid video game, distract Shinsou from his batshit crazy idea, and not ask anything about it at all.
Even if Shinsou probably has a plan.
Even if that plan is probably clever.
And might just work, because it’s Shinsou.
God damn it.
“What’s the prank?” Bakugou reluctantly asks.
Shinsou makes a delighted sound, setting the empty container on the coffee table and scooping up a disgruntled sleepy cat as he turns to face Bakugou on the sofa. “You know, I’m really happy you asked that, because I have a plan, and it takes two people.”
–
“This is a terrible idea,” Bakugou comments, giving his vest another annoyed tug as they head into the party.
“There’s no other way,” Shinsou says, swiping two glasses of champagne and passing one to Bakugou. “We have to be sure he’s here and staying . Besides,” he clinks his glass against Bakugou’s with a wink. “Free booze!”
“There’s no prank is there?” Bakugou complains, taking a swig of his drink as they wander through the crowd. “You just wanted to be my plus one so you could get in here and raid the bar.”
“I will admit that I one hundred percent planned on being your date to this no matter what,” Shinsou says airily and Bakugou rolls his eyes. “I don’t usually get to come to these things, and it’s a shame because I look great in a suit.”
“Is that what you call that?” Bakugou asks, giving Shinsou an incredulous once over.
Learning that Shinsou’s plan involved attending a Pro Hero charity event Bakugou had every intention of skipping was one thing. Showing up to Shinsou’s apartment only to find him dressed in slacks and a floral print suit jacket had been another. A foray into Shinsou’s closet had only revealed equally over the top, or worse, suits. All liberated from Shinsou’s various undercover operations and Bakugou very pointedly did not ask what kind of fucking cover requires a florescent blue crushed velvet suit. He doesn’t want to know.
With no other options less humiliating than what Shinsou was wearing, he’d dragged him into the bathroom and styled his hair, and added makeup. He looks fine and since they carefully dodged every camera coming in anyway, at least Bakugou’s humiliation isn’t a part of the public record.
“You’re just jealous I look so good,” Shinsou says, draining his glass and dropping it on a table. He hooks an arm through Bakugou’s elbow, dragging him further into the press of people. “C’mon, let’s find our target.”
–
Fifteen minutes later Bakugou has to admit that at least Shinsou knows how to make this game of cat and mouse fun. As a public Pro Hero, Bakugou doesn’t really get to do any sort of undercover or stealth work, but in an event full of other heroes and no media or fans, he blends right in.
No one pays the two of them any more attention than anyone else, and though it wouldn’t matter if Aizawa saw Bakugou here, it would make him suspicious to see Shinsou. So they weave through the event on high alert, looking for sullen scowls and messy black hair.
It feels a lot like the spy games he used to play with his friends when he was a kid. Running around the playground, dodging behind trees, and whispering into pretend earpieces as they followed strangers around. It’s probably the best time he’s ever had at one of these events. He should have been bringing Shinsou along ages ago.
It’s at that moment, while Shinsou is gleefully putting a significant dent into a tray of canapes that Bakugou spots Aizawa across the room. As if sensing eyes on him, Aizawa turns immediately, scanning the room and Bakugou shoves Shinsou, tray and all behind a pillar and straight into a potted plant.
“Hey! Watch it!” Shinsou complains, carefully balancing the tray and batting brilliant green fronds out of his face. “What was that for?”
“He’s here.” Bakugou jerks his chin over his shoulder.
The food is abandoned immediately as Shinsou crowds up with him to peer around the pillar. In the distance Aizawa has gone back to talking to Yamada and Midnight, looking incredibly bored with the entire affair.
“ Why is he here?” Bakugou whispers as they watch, Shinsou draped across his back, using Bakugou to keep him upright as he speaks quietly from his shoulder.
“Lost a bet with Yamada is what he told me. They both worked with the same charity org last year and it’s one that’s getting honored tonight.” Across the room Yamada says something, slapping an annoyed-looking Aizawa on the shoulder, and then wanders away. “Since they’re actually featured in the event tonight and he showed up, there’s no way he can leave until after the speeches. Now I just need the key.”
“Key?!” Bakugou asks but Shinsou’s already moving, vanishing into the crowd as he trails after Yamada as he heads for the bar.
He has no idea what Shinsou says to Yamada, but they’re only speaking for a few minutes before Yamada is digging into his pocket and hands something to Shinsou. They chat for a little longer and then Yamada’s drink arrives and they part ways, Yamada back to Aizawa and Shinsou back to the pillar where Bakugou is still attempting to look like he means to be standing there and is definitely not hiding.
“Isn’t he just going to tell Aizawa he saw you?” Bakugou demands when Shinsou finally rejoins him.
“Nah,” Shinsou says smugly, holding up a single key on a cat keychain. “I told him I’m planning a surprise for sensei.”
“And he bought it?”
“It isn’t a lie,” Shinsou says dismissively, grabbing another canape as they head for the exit. “Besides, when he finds out what we’re up to, what’s he going to do? Expel me? A few years late for that.”
“You have a serious death wish,” Bakugou grumbles. Shinsou just gives him a cheerful wink, throwing an arm around his shoulders as he hails a cab.
“Good thing I have you here to keep me alive then.”
–
When the cab drops them off a couple of blocks from Aizawa’s apartment Bakugou realizes Shinsou has this planned out far more than he ever realized. The moment the cab is gone Shinsou is up a fire escape and back down, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He slips off his garishly bright jacket, carefully folding it up and stuffing it in the bag, leaving him in just a black button-down and black slacks.
“What?” Shinsou asks when Bakugou continues to stare at him.
“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”
Shinsou grins at him, teeth shining Cheshire bright in the streetlights. “It’s Aizawa . I told you I had a plan. Let’s go.”
At this hour the streets are quiet and they make it all the way to the apartment building and to the third floor without crossing paths with anyone. Once there, they spend an excruciating amount of time in the stairwell waiting for a tenant to catch the elevator, but eventually, the doors ding shut and Shinsou’s down the hall in a flash, heading straight for Aizawa’s door.
Bakugou has never had a reason to be here before, never even knew where their former teacher lives, but the ease with which Shinsou slips inside, clicking on a small light and shooing at least five cats away from the door tells Bakugou this isn’t Shinsou’s first time here.
“Hi babies,” Shinsou coos, crouching down to dispense scratches to the small avalanche of fur ebbing around him.
“You get your cat obsession from him too?” Bakugou asks, sidestepping felines until he’s further into the living room.
“Just a happy coincidence,” Shinsou replies, rising to stand with a small tabby cradled in his arms. He heads for the kitchen, dropping his bag on the table and unzipping it one-handed while the cat clambers up onto his shoulder. “He’s going to book it from that event as soon as he can, so I give us an hour maybe before we need to be long gone from here.”
He shoves a collection of post-it note pads into Bakugou’s hands, all in cheerful bright colors and shaped like cats. As Bakugou flips through them he realizes Shinsou’s written incredibly dumb cat puns on a variety of them and he rolls his eyes.
“You’re really invested in this.”
“Look!” Shinsou says, digging another object out of his back in excitement and ignoring Bakugou. “Look what you can buy on the internet and they’ll just ship them to you no questions asked!”
The look he gives Bakugou is brimming with so much delight and pride that Bakugou can’t help grinning back at him as he opens the box Shinsou hands him.
“Miniature cats?” Bakugou asks, holding up a tiny plastic cat between two fingers. It’s just under two centimeters tall and the box is filled with them.
“ Thousands of miniature cats,” Shinsou says gleefully, digging out two more boxes. “He’s going to be finding them for decades.”
“Fucking hell,” Bakugou breathes, a little in awe of Shinsou’s penchant for irritating pranks. “If you’d done this to me I would have murdered you.”
“Who says I haven’t?” Shinsou says with a sly look. “Maybe you just haven’t found them yet.”
“That’s not funny,” Bakugou snaps and abandons a giggling Shinsou to start dispersing post-its and cats throughout the space.
–
An hour later they’ve barely made a dent in the cats but they know they can’t linger any longer. The fact that Aizawa hasn’t shown up yet is a miracle.
Or maybe it isn’t, because Shinsou peers out the window, and with a curse he dives for the small light they’ve been using to navigate the space.
“He’s back!”
“Fuck!”
Bakugou bolts for the kitchen, dodging the three cats that have been following him like miniature shadows while they worked, and grabs the backpack. Shinsou is already at the door, fending off two more cats who seem intent on coming with them and finally they slip out into the hall and immediately freeze.
“Elevator or stairs?” Shinsou asks in a panic.
“How should I know?!” Bakugou snaps in irritation. “You’re the one who knows him!”
“He was your teacher too!” Shinsou hisses. He wavers for a couple of seconds longer and then he takes off for the stairs, Bakugou hot on his tail.
It’s the wrong move. As soon as they’re in the stairwell Shinsou freezes and Bakugou slams into him, nearly knocking them both down the stairs. Shinsou turns around immediately, crowding Bakugou up the stairs to the fourth floor with a panicked look. Below them, Bakugou can hear the slow steady steps of someone heading their way and then Yamada’s voice echoes up toward them.
“Shōta, we could have at least stayed for dessert .”
“If I had to listen to All Might talk about how proud and honored I’m supposed to feel about being dragged on stage in front of a crowd, I was going to clock him,” Aizawa says dryly and Yamada cackles.
As they get closer, Shinsou and Bakugou cram themselves into the far corner of the landing above, not daring to open the door and draw attention as the two approach. After ages of listening to their former teachers chat and walk, they finally hear the door to the floor below them click shut and the voices fade away.
“I highly recommend we run,” Shinsou breathes.
“No shit,” Bakugou hisses, shoving him off and they both bolt down the stairs, doing their best to stay as quiet as possible while getting the fuck out of there. They make it all the way to the first floor before a door slams open far above them and an incoherent shout echoes down.
“I think he saw the post-its!” Shinsou cackles as they burst out onto the street.
They take off at a dead run and it’s only at that moment that it dawns on Bakugou that they have made one terrible error. All their plans centered around them being out of the building and long gone before Aizawa got back.
Bakugou risks a glance over his shoulder and then he latches onto Shinsou as he increases his speed. “I’m going to have to pick you up.”
“What?!” Shinsou squawks and then glances behind them too and sees what Bakugou saw, a very pissed Aizawa barreling toward them. “Oh shit. Pick me up! Pick me up!”
Bakugou wraps an arm around Shinsou’s waist, spreads his other hand wide, and…nothing fucking happens. The mistake costs them critical seconds and then Aizawa is on them and they both hit the ground, trapped in his capture weapon.
“Hi sensei!” Shinsou wheezes cheerfully from under Bakugou as Aizawa glares down at them. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t arrest the both of you for breaking and entering,” Aizawa snarls down at them, shaking a crumpled post-it note at them. “ One.”
“You wouldn’t want to tarnish the careers of two young up-and-coming pro heroes over a silly little joke would you?” Shinsou asks and Aizawa’s expression darkens.
“Wouldn’t I?”
–
“I thought you were supposed to be good at bullshitting on the fly,” Bakugou complains.
He drops onto a bench in the small jail cell they’ve been deposited in and Shinsou plops down next to him, head dropping back against the wall.
“I didn’t see you chiming in with any useful suggestions.”
“Sorry I was a little distracted by your knee in my spleen.” Bakugou gives Shinsou a hard shove, sending him tumbling to the floor.
“Hey! I was just as stuck as you were!”
He gets up and tries to sit back down but Bakugou fends him off, taking up as much space as he can. Shinsou retaliates by trying to drag him off the bench too and it descends into an all-out scuffle until the guard on duty yells at them to keep it down.
Sheepishly they settle back onto the bench together, shoulders bumping as they stare at the metal bars. Shinsou stretches his legs out with a groan, slumping down in the seat until he can drop his head on Bakugou’s shoulder. Bakugou’s about to shrug him off when Shinsou sighs, a muted ‘sorry’ drifting up to him.
“Hah?” he asks, cocking his head to squint at Shinsou but only ends up with a faceful of purple hair.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this. I didn’t think he’d actually arrest us,” Shinsou clarifies.
Bakugou snorts, bumping him in the ribs lightly with an elbow as he gets comfortable too. Settling in for a long and very tedious night. “S’whatever. It’s not like I didn’t know what I was signing up for.”
“I shouldn’t have badgered you into it,” Shinsou grumbles, and Bakugou rolls his eyes.
“You’re acting like you quirked me into doing this or something. I agreed to help. You might be able to charm criminals but you’re not going to make me do shit I don’t want to.”
“Aw, you think I’m charming?” Shinsou teases and Bakugou really does jostle him off his shoulder at that. It only encourages Shinsou to crowd his personal space more, not that he had much to begin with in this damn place.
“I’m saying you’re good at your job, you’re fucking welcome.” Bakugou chuckles scrubbing his face with a hand. “Besides, this will probably do wonders for my reputation. My fans eat this shit up.”
“Your PR team is going to kill you,” Shinsou drawls. “Assuming they don’t quit as soon as they hear what happened.”
Bakugou laughs at that, and once he starts he really can’t stop. He should be worried about the mark on his record, the earful he’s going to get from his PR team and Jeanist, but the whole situation is just so fucking batshit crazy.
“What’s so funny?” Shinsou asks, grinning at Bakugou who’s now doubled over in laughter.
“We got–we got arrested for hiding miniature plastic cats in a Pro Hero’s apartment. I can’t wait to see the fucking arrest report.”
Shinsou snorts then chuckles and soon after he’s cackling too, slapping Bakugou’s shoulder and shushing him even as he himself can’t seem to stop. It takes them both a while to calm down until they’re just chuckling randomly, wiping tears from their eyes.
“If this makes the news, I’m framing the article,” Shinsou says in amusement.
“They’ll never let it make the news, you kidding me?”
“Well, you might end up in the news.” Shinsou slides off the bench, sitting on the floor. “You take the bench for the night.”
“You sure?” Bakugou asks though he’s already slumping sideways to stretch out on it.
“Trust me, neither option is comfortable,” Shinsou says with a grin, letting his head drop back so it’s resting on Bakugou’s stomach. “At least this way I get a pillow.”
“Asshole,” Bakugou grumbles, giving Shinsou’s head a light shove.
“Shhhh,” Shinsou says, eyes shut. “I’m sleeping.”
Bakugou flicks him in the side of the head before he throws an arm over his eyes and tries to get at least a couple of hours of sleep. Assuming they aren’t in here for more than twenty-four hours, he does actually have to work tomorrow. Which is going to suck no matter how much sleep he gets.
—
He’s woken up some unknown amount of time later by the flash of light and Kaminari’s voice.
“Awwww, the kids got in trouble again.”
Bakugou cracks one eye open to find Kaminari and Sero grinning at the two of them from the other side of the bars. He shoves Shinsou’s head off him, sitting up to scowl at the pair of them as Kaminari waggles a finger at them.
“Mom and dad are very disappointed. You’re both grounded.”
“Fuck you,” Bakugou snaps.
“What are you two doing here?” Shinsou asks, scrubbing sleep from his eyes and struggling to his feet.
“Sensei called us,” Sero replies with a grin. “Said we should come ‘pick up the problem children’ from jail.”
“You really went through with it, huh?” Kaminari asks as Shinsou props himself against the bars. “I told you it was a bad idea.”
“My plan was flawless,” Shinsou says and Bakugou only just manages to resist shoving his face into the bars at the smug tone.
“And yet you spent the night in jail,” Sero observes.
“Worth it.”
“Speak for yourself,” Bakugou grumbles, joining the group. “So are you getting us out of here or what?”
“Yeah yeah.” Sero gestures at a guard and they hit a button, letting the door swing open. “You’ll be happy to hear you don’t even owe us for bail. Sensei didn’t file charges against either of you.”
“Great,” Bakugou says flatly because sure his record remains clean but he still had to sleep in a fucking cell all night .
“See!” Shinsou says cheerfully, throwing an arm around him as they head out of the police station and into the sunny morning. “I told you he wouldn’t really arrest us.”
“I don’t want to talk to you and you owe me breakfast,” Bakugou hisses and Shinsou pats his head nodding agreeably.
“Sure sure.”
“You owe us breakfast too,” Kaminari chimes in and Shinsou sighs dramatically.
“Fine. It’s still cheaper than all those damn cats.”
“The what?” Sero asks.
Bakugou glances at Shinsou who has that look on his face that says he’s figured out what to do with the rest of the stupid miniature cats that are in the bag slung over his shoulder. So, Bakugou keeps his face as neutral as possible and deflects the conversation.
“Aizawa has six cats,” he says, pulling out his phone to show them a picture of the four he’d managed to capture pictures of. Kaminari and Sero both coo over the picture as Shinsou winks at him, and then he’s hustling them all toward the train station.
“Come on, we’re going to eat at the cheapest place I can think of and you’re all going to just shut up and eat.”
Later that day, Bakugou is emptying his pockets as he changes for patrol, and there among his keys, random receipts, and coins is a small plastic cat, frozen in a tiny stretch and yawning. Bakugou snaps a picture of it and texts Shinsou immediately.
Bakugou: Truce over.