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Katsuki walked into homeroom fifteen minutes early like he did every school day. He was usually the first one to arrive, every now and then Iida, Todoroki, or sometimes Yaoyorozu would beat him there. But this morning he was the first student to enter the classroom and was surprised to find Aizawa-sensei already at the lectern, going through some papers. This surprised Katsuki because normally he arrived a couple of minutes before the tardy bell rang after most of the class, except for Kirishima, Mina, and Kaminari who usually arrived right after Aizawa-sensei, barely making it on time.

After Katsuki sat down, he immediately took out his planner and his English textbook because he wanted to study some before class started. After a minute, Aizawa-sensei spoke without looking up from his papers. “Bakugou. You haven’t completed the mandatory eight hours of community service for the first semester.”

Katsuki, of course, knew this. He had hoped perhaps he could fly under the radar and not have to do it. There had been sign-up sheets going around homeroom since the start of school for different opportunities in the community to serve. Helping at the shelter, tutoring elementary and middle school students, picking up trash at the local parks, sorting at the recycling center. Katsuki had made excuses to himself why he couldn’t or shouldn’t sign-up. The shelter would require interaction with people, and Katsuki didn’t like people. That sentiment applied to the tutoring as well. People annoyed him. Smaller people annoyed him even more.  Cleaning up at the local parks and the recycling center didn’t seem too bad, until he looked at the sign-up sheet. The only available shifts would pair him up with Kaminari, Mina, or Iida, three people who grated on his nerves incredibly. No way that was happening.

“I didn’t like any of the options,” Katsuki said, trying to keep his tone civil. He respected Aizawa-sensei so wanted to show him respect. Or try to at least.

“Well, now you only have one option since you’ve waited too long. Kirishima is volunteering at the shelter the next two Sundays.” Aizawa-sensei walked over to Katsuki’s desk and handed him a post-it note that had an address written on it in Aizawa’s almost indecipherable handwriting. “Be there at 8 am tomorrow. Kirishima can walk you through what they do there since he’s done it before.”

Katsuki sighed and took the note and pressed it into his planner over tomorrow’s Sunday square. He sighed, defeated. At least it was Kirishima. The only person in Class A he could stand.

*

It was a chilly Sunday morning as Katsuki walked down the street, phone in hand. He had plugged in the address of the shelter that Aizawa-sensei had given him on his map app and saw it was about 3 kilometers away by foot. Walking briskly to warm up and also to arrive at his destination fifteen minutes early as planned, Katsuki began to mutter to himself. He wasn’t looking forward to this. “Will probably beat shitty hair there, he’s always running late….” He began to think about having to interact with other people for a few hours and this made him even more irritated. It was exhausting to have to talk to people, especially having to talk to them with patience and understanding. 

Hopefully, he could just clean up in the kitchen, or he could be assigned some other household chores and avoid people all together. Of course, if Kirishima had anything to do with it, he’d be in the middle of the fray, serving food, asking people if they needed blankets or donated toiletries, reading to younger kids. Thinking about it, Katsuki let out an exasperated “Ugh!” causing a lady walking by him in the opposite direction to jump in surprise at his sudden outburst.

Eleven minutes later he rounded the corner, and that’s when he saw it. The building sat recessed further away from the street than the surrounding buildings due to the large fenced-in yard. And as Katsuki neared his destination, he recognized him immediately. His red, spiky hair was pulled away from his face with a wide, white headband and he was wearing one of his stupid gym rat tanks, tattered basketball shorts, and worn green crocs. Eijirou Kirishima was sitting in the middle of the yard wrestling a large black dog. This wasn’t a shelter for the unfortunate citizens of Musutafu. It was a dog shelter. And from what Katsuki could tell as he grew closer to the yard, it housed very large, very dirty, specifically very muddy dogs due to all the rain they had had earlier in the week.

“Hey, Bakugo!” Kirishima yelled to him, seeing him approach the fence.

“Seriously….” All Katsuki could do was shake his head. Kirishima quickly stood up, mud splotches on his shorts and muddy streaks on his bare forearms.

Katsuki couldn’t suppress the irritated grimace that erupted on his face. And then the smell hit him. No denying that smell. There were probably countless mounds of dog poop in the yard. He counted about 4 dogs out in the yard and could hear tons of barking and whining coming from the building. No telling how many dogs were in there, Katsuki automatically curled his lip and scrunched up his nose in disgust. Kirishima walked up to the fence, brandishing a toothy grin. “You’re early! Newbies usually get here at 8:30. Head volunteers get here at 8:00 to get things ready! I actually got here just a few minutes ago, was running a little late.”

“Of course you were…” Katsuki grumbled. Kirishima was notoriously late to everything and it drove Katsuki crazy. Katsuki eyed a dubious-looking brown splat on Kirishima’s tank. “Kirishima…. please tell me that’s mud.” The smell around him was so strong he couldn’t tell where it was coming from, it was like it was high-definition smell.

“Mostly!” Kirishima answered with a laugh. Katsuki let out an aggressive whine. No way he was doing this. Even though shitty hair was the only person in Class 1A he actually liked to be around, these conditions were not acceptable.

“Ah come on, Bakugo! I was just joking! This is all mud. I was actually de-pooping the yard with the scooper when this rascal wanted to play.” Kirishima rubbed the ears of the dog aggressively as the pooch leaned against his leg. Katsuki turned around quickly with every intent to go back to the dorm. “You know if you don’t do this, you’ll be suspended from work-study,” Kirishima taunted him in a sing-songy voice.

Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks and raised his head to the skies. His lips were pursed tightly, his fists balled up so tight he could feel his nails digging into his palms. Count to ten Katsuki…. Count to ten. He counted to ten in his head and took a deep breath. He turned around and saw Kirishima standing at the fence, an annoying grin on his face again and a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes that made Katsuki want to smack him.

“Fine,” Katsuki muttered through gritted teeth. “How do I get into this shitty place?” Kirishima nodded towards the front gate. This would be a VERY long four hours.

*

“Nice to meet you Bakugou,” Mrs. Maekawa said after Kirishima made introductions. Mrs. Maekawa was the director of the dog shelter. She spent a lot of her time caring for the dogs, transporting them to the vet and other places, as well as organizing the list of volunteers to cover shifts. “Let me give you a tour of the main building.” She showed Katsuki the large room where they kept the small dogs that were under thirty pounds. Kirishima grinned as he walked with them. Katsuki already had a headache from all the yipping and yapping as the small dogs barked excitedly. Mrs. Maekawa then showed Katsuki the kitchen where they prepped the dog bowls, cleaned the dog bowls, and kept the medicines. Across the hall from the kitchen were two rooms they used for puppies and for dogs that were about to give birth. Both these rooms had Dutch doors (half-doors), where you could open just the top portion of the door to look in so that no puppies or dogs escaped since the bottom half was still closed. Inside one of the puppy rooms was Mrs. Maekawa’s daughter, Yuki.

Yuki had just finished changing out the bedding and was playing with the puppies. There were 5 little fluff balls of fur, all different colors and sizes, it was hard to believe they came from the same mother. “They’re all mutts! I can’t wait to see what they look like when they grow up!” Yuki said. Katsuki guessed she was about 12 years old. She had recognized both Katsuki and Kirishima from the Sports Festival earlier in the school year. It had been a televised event so the UA kids were considered local celebrities in Musutafu.

Mrs. Maekawa had to practically drag Kirishima away from Yuki as she asked him questions about the hero course at UA. “Kirishima, you and Bakugou can work in the large dog section this shift. Yuki and I will handle the small dogs and puppies.”

“Sounds like a plan! I’ll give you a tour of the rest of the shelter, Bakugou! Follow me!” Katsuki made a slightly irritated noise of agreement hoping the next few hours wouldn’t drag by.

Katsuki and Kirishima walked into the “large dog” section of the shelter. It was a separate building connected to the main building they had just left by a fenced-in cement walkway about 6 meters long. Gates to the fenced in yards that surrounded the two buildings came off of this walkway. The “large dog” building comprised of thirty dog kennels that had an indoor portion which housed Kuranda beds, blankets, toys, water bowls, and food bowls. The outdoor portion of these kennels led outside the building into two respective yards, so the dogs could have some space to walk around and get some fresh air. These outdoor portions of the kennel were fenced in, however, to keep the dogs separated and to control which dogs were let out in the yards. Volunteers during their shifts would open the kennels from the inside to clean them, feed the dogs, give them medicine, etc. They could also access the outdoor portion of the kennels from the two yards each side led into, yard 2 and yard 4. There was a retractable door that lead from the indoor portion of the kennel to the outdoor portion, but it was doggy-sized so most people wouldn’t go through it. 

On the wall of the washer room was a huge whiteboard that had 20 squares that were labeled groups 1 through 20. Each group either had one dog name or up to four dogs' names depending on the group.

Kirishima explained to Katsuki how the whiteboard worked. “Okay… so you have to let the dogs out in the yard by their group. Mrs. Maekawa checks to see which dogs get along and then groups them together. She has a lot of experience with dog behavior. You have to ALWAYS go by the board because if you don’t, you could end up with dogs that don’t get along and they can fight, and then dogs and volunteers could end up getting hurt.” Kirishima’s eyes never left the board as he spoke. He looked at it almost reverently as if it was something sacred. Katsuki couldn’t help but smile wryly at him.

Kirishima sensing his gaze looked back at Katsuki. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Kirishima asked trying to come off as defensive but he gave Katsuki a small smile back.

“Just normally don’t see you so intense outside of hero training,” Katsuki replied. Kirishima rolled his eyes and bumped his broad shoulder against Katsuki’s shoulder, which made Katsuki take a large step sideways so he didn’t fall over.

Before Katsuki could get him back, Kirishima quickly bolted towards the door grinning. “Putting up groups 12 and 7 and letting out groups 2 and 13,” Kirishima blurted over his shoulder as he went outside.

“Wait, Kirishima!” Katsuki chased him outside. As Kirishima was putting a dog back into its kennel from the outside access, Katsuki realized it didn’t have a collar. “Wait! How do you know which dog is which? There are almost 30 dogs, how do you know all the names?” Katsuki had a sinking feeling in his stomach that Kirishima had no idea what he was doing and that he was going to get dogs mixed up. Most of the dogs didn’t have collars; only a few had red collars.

“Dude, relax. I know every dog by name. The shelter has a Facebook page and they always post when they get a new dog.”

“Facebook? What, are you a 40 year old woman?” Katsuki asked with a snicker.

“Haha,” Kirishima said flatly not amused. “I made a profile just for volunteering.” Katsuki noticed his cheeks turn a dark pink and decided he wouldn’t push him on it. He didn’t realize how much effort Kirishima had put into volunteering to help the dogs.

Kirishima put both of the dogs into their runs and had fallen quiet while doing so. He went through the gate into the main walkway and Katsuki followed him. They entered the other yard, Yard 4, where there was just one lone dog. As they walked, Kirishima still seemed a bit embarrassed, he didn’t look Katsuki in the eye. Normally he didn’t seem to care about Katsuki harassing him about things, Katsuki guessed he had struck a nerve somehow.  For the first time since he could remember Katsuki actually felt bad about something he said. He would make an effort not to tease Kirishima. They were friends. Katsuki realized he would like to keep this one friend so maybe not being a jerk would help that tremendously. “Let me put this one up. Which kennel does he go in?”

“She goes in the 4th kennel from the front. Their names are actually on tags at the top of the gate of each kennel.” Kirishima looked over at him and gave him a small smile. Katsuki nodded at him.

He walked over to the empty kennel and glanced at the name on the tag. Miwa. Katsuki opened the door and glanced over at the dog. She had a short brown coat, but her snout was black. Her ears were pointed and large and she reminded him of a bat. She was medium-sized but muscular and looked at him expectantly with her brown, soft eyes. Katsuki whistled at her and she cocked her head to the side but didn’t move. “Come on, Miwa, time to go in.”  She took a few steps towards him but stopped and lifted her left front leg as if she was going to step forward but decided against it. She never took her eyes off of Katsuki.

“Squat down so you're smaller and don’t look her in the eye,” Kirishima said. Katsuki did what he was told, squatting and letting his gaze fall on the ground in front of him. “I’m surprised you’re actually doing what I’m telling you to do.”

“Why? I don’t know jack shit about dogs….”

“Shhh. Call her name and tell her to ‘go to bed.’ Use a calm voice and try to keep it low, ya know, not too loud.”

Katsuki was slightly irked that Kirishima had ‘shushed’ him but he decided to not be a brat and do what Kirishima had asked. He still didn’t think the dog would budge. Still looking at the ground in front of the dog, he said, ”Miwa. Go to bed.” His voice was raspy since he was trying to speak as quietly as possible. After a few seconds, he noticed Miwa take a couple of slow steps. She then darted through the gate into the kennel. Katsuki stood up and closed the gate behind her.

Kirishima walked over to stand by Katsuki, “Good job, Miwa,” he said with a grin. “And Good job Bakugou!” Kirishima said loudly as he lightly punched Katsuki on the shoulder. Katsuki inhaled deeply and before he could yell something at Kirishima, Kirishima had already moved down the line of kennels. Not teasing Kirishima about his volunteering he could do, but not reacting to stimuli that pissed him off was something else entirely.

Kirishima let out two dogs further down the line. “This guy’s a bit scared, I’m gonna have to walk in and pick him up. Hey, ya want to let out dogs on the other side?” Kirishima asked him. Katsuki nodded. “Two dogs, Group 13. Their names are Osamu and Emi.”

Katsuki walked back into Yard 2 to let out the two dogs. Osamu and Emi , he thought to himself a couple of times so he wouldn’t forget. He walked down the line of kennels reading the names until he came upon “Osamu” on a printed plastic label. He looked into the outdoor kennel and was able to see into the indoor portion. A large, wolf-like dog was laying on his platform kuranda bed, his pale, blue eyes staring intently at Katsuki. He was completely white, with perked up, pointed ear. His head, snout, and build reminded Katsuki of a wolf. He opened the gate of the kennel and Osamu immediately stood up and exited his kennel with out giving Katsuki a second glance. The dog had an aloof and cold demeanor and was calm which Katsuki appreciated. The dog began to walk around the perimeter of the yard sniffing here and there. Well, that was easy thought Katsuki as he continued down the line for the second dog.

He was at the second to the last kennel when he found the name “Emi.” Already sitting on the other side of the gate, a large dog looked at him with soft brown eyes. She was also reminiscent of a wolf, except her white fur was dappled with gray, black, and brown hairs. Her face was mainly white with a dark stripe running down her snout to her black shiny nose. Her ears were perked up and pointy like Osamu’s. Where Osamu had a serious, almost cold demeanor, this dog, Emi, was the opposite. She actually was smiling somehow. Her eyes glistened with excitement, Katsuki guessing she had to know he was about to let her out. As his hand went to the latch, the dog lifted her head up and elicited a noise which one could not call a bark or a howl. It was a “woo.” Katsuki had never heard that sound in his life and was convinced this creature was an alien and not a dog. He opened the door and she walked out and immediately rubbed her head against his lowered hand, as if she was asking for a pet. “What the hell….” Emi looked at him and made the strange wooing sound again. “Okay, okay, I’ll pet you, just stop making that weird noise.” Katsuki petted her for several seconds and then stopped and walked away. Emi followed him, but she did so quietly which pleased Katsuki.

Katsuki wasn’t sure what to do now. Osamu was still sniffing the yard and walking around the perimeter not giving him or Emi the slightest acknowledgment. Katsuki looked over at Emi and she stared back at him, her mouth open in a big smile, her pink tongue lolling out slightly. Katsuki’s scanned the yard and saw a few tennis balls. Dogs like to catch thrown balls right? He thought to himself. With Kirishima away at the moment he had to think of something on his own. He walked over and picked up the ball. He raised it in the air and watched Emi’s gaze leave him and fall on the ball.  He brought his arm back and threw it down the yard. Emi watched the ball fly through the air and bounce on the ground a few times until it rolled about a meter and stopped in a grassy patch. She never left her seated position next to Katsuki. “What’s wrong with you, dog? Are you broken?” She looked at Katsuki and “wooed” at him again.

“Ah, Emi’s talking to you. She’s sweet isn’t she?” Kirishima’s voice sounded behind Katsuki as he entered the yard.

“Yeah, sure,” Katsuki replied flatly, looking at the strange dog that didn’t bark, didn’t howl, and didn’t know how to catch a ball. ”What’s wrong with her?”

Kirishima chuckled. “Nothing, man. She’s great actually, she was returned because her owner passed away.”

Katsuki looked at Emi, whose tongue lolled out, her lips pulled back in a goofy grin. “She won’t chase the ball. I thought all dogs liked running after balls.”

Kirishima grinned broadly. “Not all. Certain breeds love going after balls because it's part of their genetics and what they were bred to do. Like retrievers. Malamutes and Huskies aren’t ball dogs usually.”

“So what is she?” Katsuki asked.

“Emi’s a Malamute. Osamu is a Husky.”

When Kirishima said Osamu’s name, the husky walked over to Kirishima and looked at him expectantly. Kirishima took a couple of steps toward him and patted his head. After a few moments, Osamu walked away to resume sniffing the yard. Emi however ran up and goosed Kirishima in the behind with her nose. “Okay, Okay! I’ll play with you!” he laughed. Katsuki couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in their direction. Emi bolted down the yard and Kirishima started to chase her. It didn’t take long for the both of them to begin rolling around on the yard, rough-housing. Katsuki sat on the ground and watched both the goofballs, his eyebrows couldn’t help but furrow in judgment. Osamu trotted over and sat next to Katsuki, but didn’t touch him or bother him. Osamu seemed to also be watching the rambunctious duo in front of them. Even though he was a dog, Katsuki couldn’t help but see his expression was one of haughty judgement, as if that kind of wild display of play was beneath him. Katsuki sat quietly with Osamu for the next few minutes, feeling a kinship with the dog.

When Kirishima and Emi finally stopped roughhousing, Kirishima headed inside the large dog building and explained to Katsuki how he cleaned the indoor and outdoor kennels while the dogs played out in the yard. This part of the shelter also housed the washer and dryer to clean all the bedding, stuffed animals, and beds and also the sink for cleaning toys. Kirishima saddled Katsuki with the task to start cleaning the toys. 

He had scrubbed what seemed like an endless amount of plastic chew toys, cow hooves, antlers, kongs, and nylabones in the utility sink. These toys couldn’t be cleaned in the washing machine so although it was tedious and time-consuming it had to be done this way. The utility sink was very large and as he finished, he pulled the plug, drained the water, scrubbed the sink with bleach, rinsed it thoroughly, and then filled it with water so that the next batch of toys (because he assumed there would be many) could soak and then the process would start all over again.

Mrs. Maekawa walked by as Katsuki turned off the water. “The sink is so clean! And these toys… you scrubbed them until they're pristine!” She picked up a cow hoof that he had cleaned quite thoroughly inside and out. “You don’t have to clean them this well, Bakugou. It is for dogs, remember. They’ll just get them dirty again… almost instantly! But that is very sweet of you,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t want the dogs chewing on nasty toys…. They’ll end up sick….” Katsuki muttered, his eyes downcast as he dried his hands off on a wash towel.

“Most dogs are quite tough when it comes to dealing with germs, some of these guys were found in the street as strays surviving on trash and rotting food.” The idea made Katsuki’s stomach churn. The washing machine buzzer went off loudly. “Time for me to get another load in!” She walked past Katsuki to the machines that were housed next to the sink. He quickly left out the door into the yards to avoid any more conversation. Mrs. Maekawa seemed okay but that didn’t mean Katsuki wanted to chit-chat.

He stepped outside into the fenced-in walkway and decided to check on yard 2. Maybe he could find more dirty toys to clean. He walked through yard 2’s gate, closed it, and secured the clip to make sure it was dog proof and no dogs could get through. Before he turned the corner of the building to step into the yard proper, that’s when he heard it. Someone was singing. Very off-key, in a low tone, and at a barely audible volume.

“Walk with me… and talk with me….” The voice sang out in a hoarse tone. Katsuki wanted to stop and run in the other direction but his momentum took him around the corner. He stopped and Kirishima who was only a few feet away looked over at him and gave a sheepish grin. He was walking a dog on a leash in the large yard which Katsuki thought odd. Kirishima’s face turned beet red and he cleared his throat. “Oh hey, Bakugo… ya caught me singing to Genki.  Heh.” Kirishima brought a hand up to the back of his neck and Katsuki didn’t think Kirishima could turn a deeper shade of red, but he did. “Ya done with the toys?” Kirishima asked, his mind getting back on track it seemed.

Katsuki nodded and now felt his own face grow hot and he knew his face was now turning red, too. Why the hell am I the one who’s embarrassed? I’m not the one singing to a stupid dog he thought to himself. He saw Kirishima’s eyes search his face and Katsuki felt oddly self-conscious.

“So why is this idiot on a leash?” Katsuki asked abruptly as he motioned towards the dog, trying to take the attention off himself.

“Oh, yeah…Genki was surrendered to the shelter last week. He’s on a leash because he has heartworms. He had his shot for treatment this morning and he’s supposed to stay inactive afterward, so he has to be walked when out in the yard. All the dogs that have red collars on have heartworms. I think there’s about six of them.”

“Heartworms?” That sounds terrible thought Katsuki.

“Yeah, dogs get them from mosquitos. It’s easy to prevent it, by just giving them either pills or a shot, but some of the dogs are strays and others… well their owners just don’t do it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Maybe they don’t know about them. Or they can’t afford it. Or they forget.”

“Assholes….” Katsuki said under his breath as he knelt before the medium-sized dog. He was speckled black and white with floppy ears and a narrow snout. He’s kinda cute thought Katsuki. He reached a hand out and scratched the dog behind the ear. “I’m sorry you had shitty owners, Genki.” The dog started to pant and leaned into Katsuki’s hand. “When will he get better?”

“The treatments take about 2 months. Then he’ll be ready to be adopted out to a new family.” Katsuki looked up at Kirishima and Kirishima grinned back at him. “You made another friend,” Kirishima said with a sly grin. Katsuki rolled his eyes and stood up quickly.

The duo continued to cycle dog groups in the yards. When Mrs. Maekawa came out to the yard she found both Kirishima and Katsuki scooping dog waste up with the pooper scoopers. Katsuki was very grossed out by the chore at first but then his nose got used to it. Still pretty gross Katsuki thought as he continued. She said there were only 30 minutes left of the shift. Katsuki couldn’t believe how quickly the time had flown by. “I need to take one of the heartworm treated dogs out for another walk, had no idea how late it was getting.” Mrs. Maekawa nodded at Kirishima and smiled. 

She then turned to Katsuki. “Bakugou, do you mind helping me with one of our injured dogs since Kirishima is busy?” Katsuki nodded at her.

He followed her back to the main building. The small dogs began to yip and bark excitedly at their entrance and Katsuki had to count to 10 in his head to not snap at them. Mrs. Maekawa walked to the end of the large room in the back where they had entered and knelt in front of a small kennel. Inside was a very pitiful dog, his hair shaved away at places and his body looked scrawny even under his cream-colored, curly fur that he did have. He looked like a poodle, a miniature poodle from his size. He had a wire muzzle around his snout.

Mrs. Maekawa opened the kennel door and reached in and gently pulled the pitiful-looking creature out. “This is Saitama. He’s been with us for about three weeks.”

“Is he a biter?” Katsuki asked and then felt stupid because of course he was a biter, he had a freaking muzzle on.

“No, actually. His jaw is broken and still healing. This is the best way to immobilize it as much as possible.”

Before he could stop himself, Katsuki asked his question. “How’d his jaw get broken?”

Mrs. Maekawa frowned now. “He was thrown from a moving car.” Katsuki held his breath. How could anyone be so cruel? Katsuki felt angry, wishing he could find whoever did this to the poodle and beat the shit out of them. He had lost himself a moment in these thoughts and then met eyes with Mrs. Maekawa. She had a very knowing expression on her face. Her eyes hard and serious. Katsuki “checked” his own expression. It was something he had started to try to be mindful of after some of Midnight-sensei’s Hero etiquette classes, although he would never let her know that or anyone else . He knew he came off scary, toxic, and abrasive. Well, he was kinda scary, toxic, and abrasive.

“Could you grab the blue bowl and the spoon over on the counter?” She nodded towards the far wall, and Katsuki walked over and retrieved the bowl. “Saitama can’t eat hard food because we don’t want him moving his jaws that much to break down the kibble. He has to eat soft canned food, but he hates it. It’s funny because most of the other dogs, it’s the reverse.” Mrs. Maekawa laughed softly. “The only way we can get him to eat it is if one of us holds him and pets him while someone else feeds him. Would you feed him while I hold him?” Katsuki nodded.

“Through the muzzle?” he asked.

“Yes. It will keep him from opening his jaw too much.”

Katsuki scooped out a little of the food on the spoon and positioned it right next to the edge of the muzzle and Saitama’s little pink tongue lapped up the food around the wires of the muzzle.

“Thanks so much for your help. We are filled to capacity right now with dogs. We need at least four volunteers a shift now. We used to be able to handle shifts with just two workers.”

“How come there are so many dogs?” Katsuki surprised himself with asking yet another question. He wasn’t one for back and forth banter usually.

Mrs. Maekawa sighed and now looked very tired suddenly. “Because of what happened at Camino.” Katsuki held his breath at the mention of that place. He kept feeding Saitama and couldn’t meet Mrs. Maekawa in the eye as she spoke. “When All Might fell from his Hero position that day at Camino, much of society grew scared and anxious. Things have only gotten worse since then. Crime has gone up tremendously. With the economy also being negatively affected, and people’s spirits down due to our number one hero no longer being a symbol of hope and peace… well people aren’t adopting dogs. Just trying to get by and take care of themselves for so many people takes up all their time. Dog surrenders have also increased due to these hard times.”

Kirishima came in through the back door suddenly and the mood in the room shifted dramatically. “All the kennels are cleaned and all the dogs have had two turns out in the yards!” Kirishima boomed loudly, a huge grin on his face.

“Excellent!” Mrs. Maekawa replied. She glanced at Katsuki’s empty bowl. “We’re all done here, too.” Mrs. Maekawa placed Saitama gently back into his kennel.  “Bakugou, would you like to give the dogs their ‘end of shift’ treat?”

Kirishima and Katsuki gave each dog a small treat and double-checked that all the doors to the kennels were secure. It was noon now and Katsuki and Kirishima waved goodbye to Mrs. Maekawa and Yuki as they left the shelter walking their separate ways. “I can’t wait to take a shower,” Katsuki couldn’t help to say. He hadn’t expected to get so dirty at the shelter and he couldn’t stand the smell of his clothes, they reeked. Caring for dogs was very dirty work.

After hitting the showers, Katsuki immediately returned to his room, sat on his bed, and sighed. He feverishly ran his hands through his hair to fluff it up so it didn’t get smushed flat and it would dry faster. Dinner was a couple of hours away so it was the perfect time to study in his room, but for some reason he wasn’t in the mood. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Mrs. Maekawa said. About the reason there were so many dogs in shelters. Katsuki couldn’t help but think it was because of him. It was his fault that All Might had fallen from grace and was no longer the top hero. All Might had been a part of the team that had tried to rescue Katsuki from the League of Villains. If he had listened to the warnings about how he was a target, he probably would not have been kidnapped. But he was so stubborn and arrogant. He saw that now. Filled with several different emotions he couldn’t understand, he swallowed reflexively and noticed his throat felt tight and his mouth was dry. He inhaled a shaky breath and walked over to his mini-fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. As he sat back on his bed, Katsuki’s door flew open and in walked Kirishima.

“What the hell, man?! Don’t you knock?!” Katsuki bellowed. Kirishima had gotten into the nasty habit of barging into his room uninvited; Katsuki chided himself for not locking the door.

“I wanted to show you this video of Saitama when he first was brought to the shelter, man. Look.” Kirishima plopped himself on the bed, right next to Katsuki. He brought his phone sideways and a video filled the whole screen. He tapped play. There was Mrs. Maekawa and she was holding what looked like a ratty, stained head of a mop. But this mop head moved on its own so Katsuki figured it was a dog. ‘Oh, poor thing!’ Kirishima’s voice in the video rang out gravelly and full of emotion. He must have been the one taking the video thought Katsuki.

‘I just brought him back from the vet. He has several broken bones, it’s so sad,’ Mrs. Maekawa said in the video. The video zoomed toward the dog. His eyes were glassy and lifeless. The state of his coat showed how much neglect he had endured. His fur was matted, dark matter clumped to it in chunks. Even though Saitama had been subdued earlier that day, his eyes weren’t dead like they were in this video. He had made a lot of improvements, one being that he was being taken care of and loved.

“He’s come a long way,” Katsuki said quietly. He heard the slight strain in his voice and hoped Kirishima didn’t hear it.

“So, what’cha doing before dinner? Gonna study?” Kirishima asked.

Katsuki side-eyed him suspiciously. “Yeah. Geometry,” he said as he walked over to his desk. He sat in his desk chair and pulled books and binders out of his backpack. He got everything placed on his desk just how he liked it, sharpened his pencil in his electronic pencil sharpener, and leaned over to grab another bottled water out of his mini-fridge by his desk. As he began to review the problems from the day before, he started to bristle. He could feel the presence of Kirishima still in his room. He immediately swiveled around to where he was facing Kirishima who was still sitting on his bed.

Kirishima grinned sheepishly at him and brought his hand to the back of his own head. “Mind if I grab my stuff and join you? I kinda had some questions about Thursday's lesson… heh…”

Katsuki sighed. “Fine.”

“Awesome, bro! Let me get my backpack!” Kirishima sprang up from the bed and shot towards the door.

“Quit being so loud and hyper, dammit!” Katsuki yelled after him.

Kirishima returned with his tattered and worn backpack and the two studied away the afternoon and then went downstairs for dinner. After cleaning his plate and wiping off the spot he ate at, Katsuki headed back upstairs to get on his English homework hoping no one, especially Kirishima, noticed him escaping. Katsuki didn’t mind hanging out with Kirishima sometimes, but he definitely had filled his very shallow social meter for the day.

Back in his dorm room, Katsuki worked on his homework, read five chapters of a book for novels class, and then decided to tinker with his gauntlet a bit. His phone alarm went off at 8:15. Time for bed thought Katsuki. He was surprisingly sore from the work at the shelter and more tired than usual. He took off his t-shirt, tossed it in the hamper, and changed into some pajama bottoms. He lay in his bed for a few minutes wide awake. He normally fell asleep almost instantly when his head hit the pillow. Yet now he felt an emptiness in the pit of his stomach despite the huge dinner he had eaten. His mind wandered to the dogs back at the shelter. Katsuki reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. He googled Facebook and then created a profile. After he confirmed his email, he searched and then clicked on the Musutafu Dog Shelter Facebook page. There was a video posted that day. He watched it, realizing it was Yuki who had made the video. She was recording the dogs in the large run building. As she walked out of the building into the yard, the video briefly showed Katsuki himself scrubbing toys in the sink. He had not even noticed her taking video earlier in the day, he had been so in the zone with the cleaning.

The video continued with her outside talking to Kirishima while he played with a large brown dog with a short coat. Katsuki couldn’t remember his name. After he watched the video, he watched the next one. It was of Emi taken the day before. She was making her weird noise, the video panned to her right and there sat Osamu looking not at all impressed, his imperious nature in stark contrast to Emi’s goofy noises and lolling tongue. Katsuki felt the end of his mouth twitch and he smiled. Suddenly the door to his room slammed open. “Your watching videos of the dogs! That was Emi wasn’t it?!” Kirishima said as he bounded into the room and plopped on Katsuki’s bed.

“What the hell are you doing!? Have you lost your mind?!” Katsuki yelled in complete disbelief that not only had Kirishima burst into his room, AGAIN, but he was laying on his bed, his shoulder pressed up against Katsuki’s. He had immediately placed his phone facedown on his chest.

“Come on! Admit it! I heard it all the way in my room through the walls! Let me see!” Kirishima said as he put his hand on top of Katsuki’s trying to pry Katsuki’s fingers off the phone. The physical contact surprised him why is Kirishima so touchy-feely he internally complained. He relented finally just so Kirishima would quit touching him. Kirishima took the phone and touched the screen to awaken the phone. The video popped up. “I knew it!” Kirishima pressed play and the video continued.

“This one is so funny, she keeps running up to Osamu and wooing at him to get him to play, but Osamu just stares at her like he’s annoyed!” Kirishima said loudly.

He wanted to yell at Kirishima that he knew EXACTLY how Osamu felt. He also wanted to yell at Kirishima to not be so loud, he was laying right next to him, the idiot, but he stared at Kirishima’s face and Katsuki’s mouth was stilled. Kirishima was grinning at the video, his eyes crinkled with joy. Kirishima, the nice guy from Class A who had everyone’s back. Who always had a grin on his face and saw the positive in every situation. Kirishima, who for whatever reason, wouldn’t quit trying to befriend Katsuki, no matter how many times he tried to push him away or ignore his attempts or just right out yell at him to stop. But it didn’t deter Kirishima in the slightest. He was as tenacious and unyielding as his quirk.

“Let me show you a video of the puppies when they were first born…” Kirishima and Katuski watched videos for awhile, Katsuki every now and then glancing at Kirishima and seeing his face so happy about the videos. Or maybe Kirishima was happy that they were both watching the videos together. At some point Katsuki must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing he knew he woke up sweating, Kirishima’s arm draped over him, his solid body next to his and Katsuki felt like he was going to suffocate. He glanced at the digital clock on the wall above his desk and saw it was 2:00 am.

“Scoot over, you stupid starfish, all spread out!” Katsuki belted out as he shifted his body back and forth to force Kirishima off of him. Kirishima mumbled something unintelligible half-asleep, rolled away from Katsuki and turned on his stomach giving Katsuki a little more space. A few moments later, Kirishima’s breaths became even and rhythmic. He was already back to sleep. Katsuki sighed wanting to kick Kirishima out of his bed and out of his dorm room so he could have it all to himself. But he didn’t. He closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

One Week Later

The news report on the television in the dorm common area blared loudly. Over a dozen sets of eyes watched the screen intently, none of them talking. Typhoon Goni was an hour from making landfall in Japan. The eye was supposed to hit hundreds of kilometers west of Japan as it passed through their part of the world, but the storm had suddenly shifted and now it was reported the eye would pass through the Gifu region 180 kilometers away from Musutafu. This meant that Musutafu would be hit with violent winds, immense rain, and flash flooding that would put the citizens of Musutafu in danger.

Aizawa-sensei walked up to the television and turned it down. “For those of you who have local work studies, you should have been contacted by your mentors and given assignments.” Aizawa-sensei nodded at Iida. “Please meet with Iida so he can input your information in the database.” Iida walked over to an interactive whiteboard, ready to begin the task of organizing the class. “Everyone else, please come to me for your assignments.”

A few students approached Iida and several others made a line leading to Aizawa who held a tablet he was swiping through to give the students their assignments to help with the Typhoon rescue effort. Katsuki knew that Kirishima was in Okayama at Fourth Kind’s Agency for his work-study. He was glad his friend was further away from the eye of the storm than UA was. He would be safer.

Katsuki’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Hardly anyone ever called him, but he answered it in haste thinking it was probably related to the storm that was incoming.

“Bakugou? This is Mrs. Maekawa, from the dog shelter.”

The shelter… the dogs… Bakugou’s mind raced with worry, but he answered her quickly. “Yes. Is everything okay at the shelter?” He tried to keep his voice level, but it was filled with emotion.

“I didn’t know who else to call. All emergency services are busy fortifying buildings or evacuating people so no one call help us. All my volunteers are tending to their families and I totally understand… but I can’t just leave the dogs. I was able to get some sandbags and have nailed planks of wood over the windows… but I worry it won’t be enough… I called Kirishima but he is too far away to help. He told me to call you. The nearest safe haven on high ground is the Seirei Hospital about 3 kilometers away. Yuki’s already there with all the puppies but I told her to not come back for more dogs because it is getting too dangerous for her.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Oh! Thank you Bakugou!” He hung up his phone.

Katsuki brushed past his classmates as they waited for their assignments. Iida stood at the whiteboard entering his classmates’ names that would update their positions into the main database for the rescue missions so that all heroes, pro and in training, would be accounted for for their safety. Katsuki told Aizawa he was going to help at the dog shelter and he felt that was good enough as far as alerting anyone where he was going to be. Aizawa nodded at him in approval.

Katsuki didn’t want to waste time dealing with Iida. He’d probably want to scan my prints, take a blood sample, do some other stupid shit knowing Iida, Katsuki thought to himself as he started walking quickly to the front door.  Before he made an escape, he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder and whip him around. The fact that someone was trying to keep him from leaving stoked his temper. His anger getting the better of him (like usual) he glared furiously at big brown eyes that glared right back at him with the same fire, unafraid. Yaoyorozu was gripping his shoulder with her left hand, holding him firmly in place so he couldn’t escape. If he really wanted to he could break away, and normally he would under normal circumstances, but he kept his fierce stare and decided he’d give her 10 seconds before he bolted. Yaoyorozu didn’t annoy him as much as the other extras so he’d meet her halfway for a few moments. She was holding her cellphone to her ear with her other hand.

That’s when he heard him. Kirishima’s loud and gravelly voice audible through Yaoyorozu’s phone speaker.“… you have to try and catch him. You know him, he’s not going to ask for help.”

“I have him here now, Kirishima,” Yaoyorozu’s voice was determined and steady.

“Oh, good! I don’t know if Mrs. Maekawa’s talked to him yet, but she needs help at the shelter. I told her to call Bakugo because I’m in Okayama and can’t help out. You know he’s gonna try and do it all himself, but there are too many dogs. Ya gotta help him Momo. Maybe get someone else too if they can be spared.”

“I’m on it, Kirishima. Thank you. And you be careful, too.”

“Thanks, Momo! You’re the best! I will!”

Yaoyorozu snapped the phone shut and let go of him. “The address to the shelter, Bakugo.” Her voice and tone weren’t asking him; she was telling him. Katsuki shook his head in defeat knowing there was no way he would be able to keep Yaoyorozu from helping now. She was as stubborn as he was. Kirishima knew that when he had called her and asked her to help. Damn him thought Katsuki.

“Fine, Ponytail. You win. It’s 70-1 Kamoecho in Naka Ward.” She nodded at him.

“You go ahead, I’ll be right behind you, and I’ll grab one more person.”

He turned away from her and headed to the door. He could probably blast his way there in under 2 minutes. And with Yaoyorozu being able to create rescue equipment the outlook was good they could evacuate all the dogs. Maybe she could get someone like Sero or Asui that would do well with a rescue situation because they were fast and could move the dogs quickly. He trusted Yaoyorozu to make a smart decision about who she would bring. She was at the top of the class when it came to smarts after all. But not for long. Katsuki was going to surpass her next term. He just had to study more.

As Katsuki blasted through the sky, his intermittent bursts keeping him air bound, he had to concentrate harder than usual. The winds were the strongest he had ever experienced, and the rain was beating down violently so he worried it would douse his explosions, but his nerves were through the roof so he had plenty of fuel since his palms were extra sweaty. The sky was so dark with the impeding Typhoon, it was like it was nighttime even though it was only 10:00 am. From his vantage point, he could see large sections of Musutafu were patches of darkness, loss of electricity already happening due to the lightning and high winds.

He landed in Yard 4 of the shelter and could see water was already pooling in areas outside. He immediately went into the main building because he figured the smaller dogs were the most vulnerable to the incoming weather.

“Bakugou!” Mrs. Maekawa had started to stack blankets at the base of the walls where water was seeping in from.

“I can take the dogs to the hospital. We’ll start with the small dogs. Stick as many as you can in a small kennel and I’ll fly them to the hospital.” The loudness of the rain on the metal roof increased suddenly and water began flooding in quickly under the door Katsuki had just closed behind him. The dogs were eerily quiet; they knew something was happening.

“Fly? How can you-“

“Now! We’re wasting time!” Katsuki barked at her. Mrs. Maekawa eyes went wide with shock from his outburst, but she quickly went to one of the small kennels and opened it to retrieve a dog. Katsuki glanced at several sandbags she had placed in the room but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. During Hero class, he had run Typhoon simulations in the USJ and knowing the strength of the storm, the main shelter building would be waist-deep with floodwaters in the next half hour. Luckily the back building with the larger dogs was on higher ground so they had some time with the larger dogs. While Mrs. Maekawa placed three more dogs in the small kennel, he moved around some of the sandbags to the worse flooding spots. “Does Yuki have a cellphone?”

“Yes.”

“Call her, tell her to meet me on the roof of the hospital over the medical school section.”

Thirty seconds later he was flying through the darkening sky holding on to the small kennel with his right arm, sending blasts out with his left hand shooting them through the pelting rain. He made it to the roof of the hospital and saw Yuki standing there, completely drenched. She was holding a few leashes.

Katsuki left the kennel at her feet and returned hastily to the shelter without a word.

“Thank you, Bakugou!” He heard behind him as he leapt from the roof. He sent an explosive blast underneath him, causing him to shoot across the sky like a rocket.

Minutes later, on his return to the shelter, he found Yaoyorozu creating sandbags with her quirk, and Mrs. Maekawa placing them around the building. He noticed a small boat outside. Yaoyorozu must have created that as well. The water outside was already knee-deep. The top portion of the door was opened so he could climb into the main building while the bottom portion was closed and fortified with sandbags and blankets. Thank goodness the strange half doors were there. Who would have thought how handy they would be in a flood? The water inside was only ankle deep so far.

“Bakugou. Iida is going to transfer the larger dogs by boat. He’ll use his Reciproburst in the water to jet the boat quickly to the hospital. He is wearing an earpiece to communicate with Jirou and Shoji who are already at the hospital. I have an earpiece as well. Jirou and Shoji will let us know where the safe entries into the hospital are as the water rises. I suppose you didn’t get an earpiece since you left the dorm so hastily?” He glanced at her giving her an incredulous look. She pulled a completed sandbag away from her chest and handed it to Mrs. Maekawa.

Yaoyorozu sighed. “I will keep up communications with you. Answer your phone when I call you.”

Over the next several minutes, Katsuki made more trips to the hospital with small kennels full of yipping dogs. Most of them were not fans of flying and Katsuki thought he would go deaf with some of their high-pitched, fearful whines. A couple of times he saw Iida below him in the flooding waters. Iida was in the water behind the boat, holding on to the back of the vessel, his Reciproburst acting like a high-powered motor. Iida could get three to four larger dogs inside the boat each trip. He wasn’t as fast as Katsuki but he was close. Katsuki hoped they could save all the dogs.

After several trips, Katsuki returned to the shelter and found the main building completely flooded, water up probably to his waist by the look of it. His heart raced, overcome with terror for Mrs. Maekawa, Yaoyorozu, and any of the remaining smaller dogs.

“Bakugou!” He turned towards Yaoyorozu’s voice, barely hearing it, the words almost lost in the rushing sound of water and the howl of the increasing winds. She was standing in knee-deep water in front of the door of the large dog building, holding a medium-sized dog, Genki. Mrs. Maekawa was standing next to her looking terrified as harsh winds whipped around her and Yaoyorozu. Mrs. Maekawa was holding a trembling, cream-colored dog. It was Saitama. Katsuki walked through the knee-deep water towards them. “Saitama is the last small dog. All others have been evacuated from the main building.”

“And the large dogs?”

“Iida took the last ones over, he should be back any… there he is!” Yaoyorozu yelled over the cacophony of the brewing storm. The sky was pitch black, breaking glass could be heard nearby as windows gave way to rushing water.

Iida pushed the boat up towards the trio. His hair was drenched, the skin of his face pruny and pale from the constant water exposure. “Ladies?” he asked formally as if he was offering them a carriage ride on a holiday outing. Katsuki found Iida so annoying, but after what he had done to help the dogs, he couldn’t help but be grateful to him and his tenacity and hard-work as a hero.

“These are the last dogs?” Iida asked.

“Yes,” Yaoyorozu yelled over the noise of the storm.

Yaoyorozu and Mrs. Maekawa entered the boat that had a lot of water inside it. It had sprung a leak at some point. Saitama shivered even more violently as Mrs. Maekawa climbed into the boat.

“He has gotten too cold, we need to get him out of this weather,” Mrs. Maekawa said.

“Ponytail. Take Muzzle from Mrs. Maekawa. She and Genki can ride in the boat. You and Muzzle will go with me. Less people in the boat will help it not fully flood on the way back.”

Yaoyorozu gave him an apprehensive look but then nodded. She and Mrs. Maekawa switched dogs and Mrs. Maekawa boarded the boat with Genki. Yaoyorozu held the trembling Saitama close to her chest. “I wish I could make him a blanket… but I can’t create anymore… my reserves are spent.”

Iida took off, the boat skidding across the dark, churning waters.

“Ready?” Katsuki asked.

“Um…” Yaoyorozu couldn’t meet him in the eye.

“What’s wrong?” Katsuki’s heart raced. Was something wrong, did something bad happen he didn’t know about?

“I have a thing about heights…” Yaoyorozu said meekly, Katsuki barely hearing her over the winds that were ever-increasing. She no longer looked like the fearless, Vice-president class rep of Class 1A. It seems every hero has a fear of something. Katsuki felt most of his anxiety and trepidation leave him suddenly with the realization all the dogs would be saved.

Feeling the rush of a successful mission ripple through him, Katsuki couldn’t help but cackle at the now timid Yaoyorozu as he scooped her up in his arms. Her face looked alarmed now at the sudden change in position. “Hold Muzzle with one arm, your other arm around my neck if you don’t want me dropping you both!” Katsuki bellowed. Yaoyorozu quickly shot her left arm around his neck and cradled the dog against her with her right. Supporting Yaoyorozu’s legs with his left arm, he lowered his other arm away from her back and expelled an explosive blast from his hand, and they shot up in the air. Yaoyorozu couldn’t suppress a squeal of apprehension as they flew through the sky. Katsuki couldn’t suppress another loud cackle.

The trio landed on the roof of the hospital minutes later and Yaoyorozu swore she would never do that again. Katsuki snicked. “I’ll take Muzzle now,” he said to Yaoyorozu. She carefully transferred the still trembling dog to Katsuki and he cradled the trembling dog against his chest. Saitama blinked at Katsuki through the rain as they ran to the stairway door. The look in the small dog’s eyes was scared, yet strong and full of life. Hope. Katsuki couldn’t help to think how brave all the dogs had been. They went down the stairwell and it took them a while to find the large conference room on the 8th floor where the dogs, Yuki, and other volunteers were tending to them. It was a loud, smelly, crazy space, but Katsuki couldn’t have been more pleased. Yaoyorozu and Katsuki used towels to dry off dogs and to pet and comfort any of the animals that were scared. A few minutes later, Mrs. Maekawa arrived with Iida and Genki. Many of the dogs barked excitedly to see her.

Iida and Yaoyorozu approached Katsuki and started to debrief. Katsuki was supposed to be a part of this “meeting,” but he quickly walked away when they started going down the mental checklist Iida was surely going through because Katsuki didn’t want any part of it. He went back to tending to the dogs.

A couple of minutes later, Mrs. Maekawa quickly ran up to Katsuki with fear in her eyes. “We’re one dog short! I’ve done a headcount three times and we’re missing one.”

Iida and Yaoyorozu hearing this walked up to both of them.

“Are you sure?” Iida asked.

“Yes!”

Katsuki’s eyes scanned the dogs in the large room and then it hit him immediately.

“Osamu,” he said under his breath.

“Osamu!” Mrs. Maekawa echoed, meeting his eyes.

Katsuki turned around and headed for the door. No dog was going to die on his watch.

“Bakugou! You can’t go! The worst of the storm is about to hit!” Iida said.

“He is right! You guys rescued so many dogs, they would have all mostly died without your help! You can’t risk your life, you have so many years of saving so many people ahead of you,” Mrs. Maekawa called behind him. Katsuki kept walking out the door.

As he ran down a hall he heard a voice behind him. “If you insist on going, I’m going with you.”

Ponytail. Of course. She was as stubborn and tenacious as he was.

“You’ll only slow me down.” He went through the stairway door. He wouldn’t let her go with him. It was too dangerous.

“I’ll create a jet pack then; I can fly on my own,” Yaoyorozu said, following closely behind him.

Katsuki, mid-way up a flight of stairs, turned on her. “No, you won’t! You’ll die out there! This isn’t your responsibility!” he yelled in her face.

“It isn’t yours either!”

“Yes, it is! The dogs are there because of me!” his voice rang harshly through the quiet space. The wind and rain were barely audible here deep within the safety and fortification of the hospital.

“What...” Yaoyorozu said, a confused look on her face.

“Numbers in the shelter have gone up since the battle at Camino… since All Might fell… it was all my fault… I…” his voice cracked and he had to look away from her brown, dewy eyes.

“Camino wasn’t your fault Bakugou. It was All For One’s. You have to quit blaming yourself.” Her voice was soft but filled with a certainty that somehow made him feel a little better.

He could look at her now. “I have to do this. I think if you were in my place, you’d understand.”

Yaoyorozu surprised him. She nodded. “You’re right.” She outstretched her hand to him. “Take this at least. So we know where you are and can help if needed. Put it in one of your zippered compartments.”  It was a small tracker, the size of a dime. Like the one she had created at the camp. That helped save him. He shook his head.

“If you don’t take it, I’m coming with you,” she said sternly.

“Dammit!” he yelled, the bellow echoing, the noise overlapping in the stairway space all around them.

He took the tracker and ran up the stairs.

As he shot through the air, he could barely see a few feet in front of him. The rain was a sheet of tiny bullets raining down, stinging his exposed skin, the wind whipping around him, fighting his forward propulsion through the air. He would have never made it had he not already made the trip several times and could go more off of memory than trusting his eyes. It took all his strength to keep himself in the air; he worried his body would give out, but he felt his adrenaline kick in, bolstering him further through the treacherous weather. He could now make out the roof of the large dog shelter building. Luckily it wasn’t fully submerged. As his feet touched the roof, he tried to steady himself; he was almost knocked to the ground by heavy winds.

He knew the indoor kennels were fully submerged. They were only about a meter high. He hoped Osamu had the sense to go into the outdoor section of his kennel. The outdoor kennels had walls and ceilings made of fencing, but they were as high as Katsuki was tall so Osamu would still have room to breathe. Katsuki ran towards Yard 2, which Osamu’s outdoor kennel fed into. As he approached the edge of the roof, he could see all the outdoor kennels on that side. They were almost fully submerged with water. He ran along the edge of the roof until he could see Osamu’s outdoor kennel.

Katsuki held his breath until he saw the large white dog. He was treading water, his snout up in the air almost touching the top of the fenced-in ceiling of his outdoor kennel. Katsuki didn’t hesitate, he jumped as far as he could, his feet hitting the soft fencing of the kennel next to Osamu’s. He scrambled the last meter until he could jump into the cold, churning water. He got to the end of Osamu’s kennel grabbing the fence with numb fingers he could barely feel with having been exposed to the chilling rains and now the freezing floodwaters.

“Osamu!” Katsuki yelled, the winds stealing away his voice as soon as he spoke it. But the dog heard him. Osamu doggy paddled to the end, to where Katsuki could touch his snout through the fencing. “I’m gonna open your door!” Katsuki took a deep breath and sunk down, and swam downward about a meter until he found the latch to the kennel door. He opened it and then swam up, gripping the wire of the fencing so he didn’t get washed away. As he came up, his body collided with the large white husky. Katsuki wrapped an arm around Osamu’s torso and with his other hand, he gripped the fencing of the kennel ceiling until he pulled them through the water to the wall that met the roof.

He pulled Osamu and himself towards the wall, hoping they could make it to the roof.

He tried to stand on the fence ceiling of the kennel, to see if he could reach the roof, but the water current was too strong and his body could no longer push itself. If he tried it, they both would be washed away. He had been in enough flooding simulations to know that would be the outcome. He sat on the top of the outdoor kennel with his back against the wall, one hand gripping the fencing for leverage and the other holding Osamu against him on his lap. Osamu whipped his head towards Katsuki and licked him on the face. The water was rising still, covering his legs and part of Osamu’s body. That didn’t keep Osamu’s tail from wagging happily as he nuzzled Katsuki’s cheek with a soaking wet nose.

“I’m sorry, pup,” was all Katsuki could manage to whisper into the fur of Osamu’s head. He knew the chances of survival at this point were almost non-existent, but he would die fighting for them both. When he could no longer hang on to the fencing, he would try to grab hold of the roof, and maybe with them being closer to the roof due to the rising waters, they could scramble on top of it. His hands and arms were completely numb from the freezing waters but he would try. He would fight for them both until the bitter end. Osamu whined suddenly and Katsuki spoke in as strong of a voice as he could muster. “Don’t worry. I’m here with you.”

Suddenly a bright light shone on Katsuki from overhead. He looked up and saw a helicopter hovering above the shelter. Several seconds passed as it neared and the floodwaters were now up to his chest and Osamu’s neck. Without any warning, Osamu was ripped from Katsuki’s grasp and he cried out, hand reaching towards the dog that was now too far away. Osamu wasn’t being taken by the floodwaters though, he was being pulled through the air towards the helicopter. The way he moved through the air seemed very familiar and before Katsuki could put two and two together a long pink tongue wrapped around his torso and pulled him towards the helicopter. Froppy. As he was pulled into the inside of the helicopter he was grabbed by Kaminari. 

“What are you doing here Pikachu?” Katsuki asked as Kaminari secured him into a chair with safety belts. Katsuki could barely move on his own, his body having been pushed to the limit.

“Helping the Musutafu Paramedics since my quirk is useless in this kind of situation,” he said with a wink and a grin. “Yao-Momo had Jirou contact me and she sent me your tracker information on the rescue app one of the support classes made a few weeks ago. It led me right to you.”

Froppy secured herself into the side of the copter, her tongue holding Osamu snuggly on her lap. The white husky didn’t look too thrilled about the situation, his expression an annoyed scowl. Katsuki couldn’t help but grin. 

One week later

Katsuki got to the shelter early. Even though he wasn’t supervisor status like Kirishima and didn’t have to be there early, he couldn’t help it. It was just how he was. The shelter had been damaged and would need many repairs over the next couple of weeks until the dogs could return. They had all found temporary homes amongst volunteers and other Musutafu citizens. Somehow Aizawa-sensei miraculously had agreed for both Osamu and Emi to stay in the Class 1A dorm until the shelter was up and running. Kirishima had been quite persuasive. Not to be outdone, Katsuki had yelled at his mom long enough for her to give in and foster Genki. Saitama had gone home with Mrs. Maekawa and Yuki and it wouldn’t surprise Katsuki if they ended up adopting him down the line when he was better. Power had been restored to the shelter a few days after the Typhoon had passed and the plumbing had been repaired. Today the air conditioner was going to be replaced.

Katsuki walked in the front door and was greeted excitedly by Yuki and Mrs. Maekawa. Katsuki immediately got to work painting the recently repaired walls in the puppy room. Ten minutes later he heard Kirishima’s loud hello in the next room. Seconds later a familiar figure walked into the room and smiled at him. Katsuki was expecting Kirishima but it wasn’t.

“Mind if I join you? Kirishima and Iida are repairing some fencing with a contractor in one of the yards. I thought maybe you could use some help painting?”

Katsuki made a noise that Yaoyorozu must have interpreted as a “yes,” because she grabbed a brush and the two painted in silence. He wanted to thank her. To thank Iida. And especially to thank Kirishima. The whole dog shelter rescue had been so similar to Camino in many ways he realized as he painted and let his mind wander. Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima had all saved his life at Camino. And all three in their own way had also saved him a week ago. Kirishima maybe since the beginning of the school year actually… But he wasn’t ready to speak of those things just yet. He couldn’t believe he was even thinking those things. Maybe someday in the future, he could let them know.

Several hours later, a few hours after his actual shift ended, Katsuki walked towards the back door with Mrs. Maekawa. He was tired from all the cleaning and repair they had done that day, but he also felt a feeling he couldn’t fully define. It was of accomplishment but strangely peace which was an emotion he wasn't used to feeling. He and Mrs. Maekawa were the last to leave.

“Oh, Bakugou, before we leave, could you hang our new sign? We had to get it replaced since it was ruined in the flood. Kirishima put the nail too high earlier and I can’t reach.” Katsuki nodded at her. He grabbed the sign that was leaning against the wall and standing on his tiptoes he was able to hang it. He took a few steps back and read the sign silently. “Our mission is to rescue, our dream is that one day, we’ll no longer have to.”