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Katsuki finds the list out in the open.
Right smack dab on Todoroki’s desk. It’s as if that bastard doesn’t care who reads it, or, more likely, he figured that anyone who had access to his room might as well read it. As it is, Katsuki’s only here to grab some things for him while he stays overnight in the infirmary.
He’s not here to snoop.
The snooping is something that can’t be helped though, when Todoroki leaves all his notes right out where anybody could read them.
The top of the list says dating profile. The first part just lists some stuff about Todoroki. His height: 176 cm, which still makes him taller than Katsuki is, and that’s fine. Katsuki doesn’t need to be the tallest to be number one. It would just…it would help.
Todorokiʼs birthday: January 11th. His fucking blood type, type O. Which just figures, even though Katsuki does not buy into that crap about a person’s blood type matching their personality.
O is the universal donor. All Todoroki does is give and give and give.
Family: Todoroki, youngest of four. Four. So he’s including Da—Touya then. That’s not surprising. Touya might wanna cut Shouto out of that family to make some kinda perfect picture, but Shou—Todoroki wouldn’t do that. He wants them all together, happy in whatever way they can be. He told Katsuki that.
He deserves that.
Todoroki deserves to have everything his stupid little heart wants. Screw if that makes Katsuki a soft little bitch.
But Katsuki knew all this stuff already. He knows who Todoroki is, even beyond this itemized list of things that make him up. What’s interesting is the second part, which Todoroki helpfully titled seeking.
Here’s the good stuff. The stuff that makes Katsuki’s heart turn over in his chest. What Todoroki actually wants in a partner.
He shouldn’t be reading it. He knows that. But maybe if he reads it, then he could—nah, there’s no excuse.
Katsuki isn’t a good person. He loves to snoop. And he’s been in it with Todoroki for a while now and he’s never ever been able to help himself. From touching Todoroki’s shoulder, from looking at that bastard whenever he can, spotting him in the middle of crowds. Not that it’s hard, his discount national flag hair makes that part damn easy.
The first thing on Todoroki’s list is funny. Which throws Katsuki for a tailspin, because he doesn’t know if he’s funny. He’s never wanted to be funny. He likes making Todoroki laugh, because who wouldn’t, when he smiles like that. But funny?
Deku’s funny, sometimes in a kinda tragic way. Very few things are ha-ha funny anymore. The most times Katsuki remembers himself laughing have been with Todoroki, ‘cause of Todoroki. So that’s fine, Katsuki can keep doing what he’s been doing, and if Todoroki thinks that’s funny then…good.
The second goddamn thing on the list is thoughtful. Katsuki doesn’t know if he’s fucking thoughtful. He thinks about Todoroki a lot, so maybe that counts. He’s strategic, and that requires a lot of thinking. He isn’t thoughtful though, in the gross lovey-dovey way. If he puts thought into the things he does, it’s because that’s what anyone should do.
It makes sense.
Also, for the record, he didn’t need an easy win, but the next two Katsuki’s got in the bag. Honest, fuck yeah. Willing to be my friend, obviously. He’s Todoroki’s fucking friend.
He’s so much Todoroki’s friend that he’s mad about this basic-ass list. There isn’t anything that hard on it. Where are his fucking standards?
The next line Katsuki reads is kinda smudged. Almost like Todoroki wrote it down and then thought better of it. But Katsuki can make it out. Physically affectionate. It’s a pretty bold thing to just up and put on a dating profile.
For a moment Katsuki wonders if Todoroki already has, and this was just the rough draft. Meaning that somewhere out there Todoroki’s profile is out in the world, and extras can match with him, and he can match back. It sends a cold wave of jealousy over Katsuki, and he grits his teeth.
It’s a lot…to admit to wanting physical affection. Katsuki never fucking would. In that very particular sense though, Todoroki’s always been…braver. Willing to take a risk.
The two of them, they’re plenty affectionate already. Katsuki’s shoulder is basically the de-facto resting place for Todoroki’s head on long bus or plane rides. Todoroki grabs him by the arm whenever he wants, and Katsuki lets him. They’ve hugged, and that was awful, because they were both full of stitches, more scar tissue than person, and it was fucking painful, but it was important to Katsuki that Todoroki know that he was so fucking proud of him.
It’d be the easiest thing in the world to kiss him, if that’s what he wanted. Katsuki’s practically been dying to get the green light to be able to touch him more.
Then there’s the last thing on the list, but arguably the most important since Todoroki underlined it, twice:
Must love cats.
Fucking hell.
Katsuki doesn’t have a bone to pick with cats. They mind their own business a lot, which is great. Cats are fucking fine. But if he…if he wants Todoroki, he’s gonna have to love those little bastards, or it’s a no-go, apparently.
Why Todoroki’s list couldn’t end with good cook, will make me soba, underlined twice is anybody’s guess. Katsuki had that one in the bag.
Things just never turn out the way he wants. Nothing that’s happened to him has the good sense to play to his strengths. But he’s not a damn quitter.
He tries to leave the list as undisturbed as he possibly can, then he grabs some of Todoroki’s clothes from the room, a scarf for good measure, and hightails outta there before Deku can send six texts asking where he is, when he’s coming, if he’s in trouble, and if he should be worried.
-
Todoroki volunteers at a cat rescue on Sundays. He’s fiendishly consistent.
Katsuki can’t just join him on Sunday though, that’s amateur hour. He’s gotta stake the place out. Go in prepared. He’s almost positive the cats won’t just like him, so he’s gotta figure out their angle, get on their good side. Or maybe bribe ‘em with food, since that always seems to work on Todoroki.
And he’s basically a cat, isn’t he? See, Katsuki fucking loves cats already.
So he calls ahead and reserves a slot to volunteer on Thursday. Quick. Efficient. Timely. When Todoroki asks him where he’s headed, he tells him promptly to get lost, and then he goes to see the goddamn cats. Easy.
The volunteer who meets him out at the front is way too friendly, asking unnecessary questions.
Nametag says Lis and next to it there’s a sticker of a ramen noodle cup. Fuck kinda name is Lis Ramen Noodle Cup?
“What made you want to come out and help?” Lis Ramen Noodle Cup asks.
I need that half and half bastard to choose me, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.
“I…love cats,” he says instead, looking down at his shoes, then glaring back up at her. “Ain’t that obvious?!”
“Oh…well, that’s good,” she says quickly. “I’ll need you to sign this waiver and then confirm your name and phone number right here.”
He does it.
She’s still regarding him curiously. “You’re from U.A. right?”
She probably recognizes the uniform. Shit. He shoulda worn street clothes. He was going to, but he came here straight after class.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you,” she says, bowing her head quickly. “I know what you kids did to protect us.”
He still has no idea how to respond to these types of things. He wonders if she knows who he is, specifically, if she knows that heʼs the kid that fucking died. Maybe.
“Just the job, right?” he says, handing the clipboard back. “You got one.”
Everybody’s got shit to do. He’s not different.
“Right through that door,” she tells him.
“Yeah whatever.”
First station on the inside is just for him to wash his hands. Next to it he sees a chart with a bunch of tasks. Feeding schedules for different cats and tracking whose litterʼs gotten scooped. Katsuki was assigned to litter scooping, which heʼs sure he can do. He wasn’t sure about that shit about socializing the kittens.
Thereʼs some cats in this area. Some automatic feeders too. Then a back room with a bunch of shelves and beds, with some sleeping cats. The room behind that has the litter boxes and a cabinet with drawers labeled wet food, medical, and churu.
Katsuki finds his own way. He does the first litter box, not realizing that heʼs being watched. Then he feels something fluffy rub against his leg.
“Oi. The fuck are you—”
The cat darts away. Oh shit. Heʼs too loud.
“Sorry,” he says.
Heʼll do better. He isnʼt—he loves cats now. He canʼt scare ʼem off.
He finishes up this room. He figures he could just clock out. But he wants to get on the good side of some of these goddamn cats.
Thereʼs a chart on the wall with pictures and names. The fluffy one he scared off before is called Pancake. Sheʼs nine months. Still kind of a kitten then. Chart says sheʼs friendly and likes to be around people. More so than her sister, Panko. Pancake and Panko. Heh.
Thereʼs a black and white cat on here that Katsukiʼs heard of before. Heʼs big and grumpy and Shouto talks about him all the time. Oreo. The one that gets bitey when heʼs overstimulated. Katsukiʼs got no idea why Shouto likes him so much.
He gets down on his knees. Pancakeʼs a couple feet away, still curious. Sheʼs rubbing her face against another volunteerʼs bag thatʼs sitting on the ground.
Katsuki canʼt believe what heʼs about to do. Heʼs gonna throw his dignity out the fucking window for this, but who cares. He loves cats. He loves them. He needs them to love him back.
He reaches one hand out very, very slowly. “Pspspsps.”
God.
Pancake doesnʼt even come. She looks at him, and Katsuki knows that she knows that Katsukiʼs a fucking loser, whatever. She looks at him. She waits.
Then she approaches. Tail up in the air. They do that when they like you. Todoroki told him that.
She comes over so fucking slow. Cautious. Then she pushes her face against Katsukiʼs hand. Fuck yeah.
This means he can pet her. Probably. So he does that. Just scratches at the top of her head. She lifts up her chin. Sheʼs got a white patch there, and a white stomach, almost like the cat printer ran out of ink or something. He scratches under her jaw and thatʼs when the sound starts. Like a soft little motor.
Katsuki canʼt help but smile. Because this means that heʼs winning. Heʼs winning at cats.
He pets her for a while. She eventually loses interest and gets on her way. So he decides to try Oreo. Takes one step towards where heʼs resting up on the top perch of the cat tree.
The second he reaches a hand out he gets a hiss. So he draws back.
“Donʼt feel bad,” it’s the girl from before. “Oreoʼs just protective of his space. Heʼs a sweet boy once you get to know him.”
“Sure,” Katsuki says, only because heʼs seen evidence of it.
He remembers the video Todoroki sent. Of this fucking cat. Lying on his side letting Todoroki pet his stomach and purring so fucking loud. Maybe the cat can just tell that Todoroki loves him so much, maybe he knows that Katsuki’s just a goddamn faker and opportunist. Or maybe Katsuki’s going crazy.
Spending his Thursday evening getting on the good side of a cat.
-
Between bouts of strategizing over how to be the number one cat lover, Katsuki can’t stop wondering if maybe Todoroki already set up the damn dating profile. Sure, Katsuki could set up his own to go check and see if he can find Todoroki that way, but the idea of putting himself up on the chopping block makes him wanna vomit. So that’s a no-go.
But Deku’s always been willing to spill the beans. Katsuki knows just how to get him to talk.
“Oi nerd, did Icyhot make a fucking dating profile?”
“What?” Deku asks. “Todoroki-kun? Dating? Whaa—”
He says a lot more after that, which isn’t exactly relevant to the crisis at hand. But it’s obvious he doesn’t know anything about it. And he’s Icyhot’s fucking bestest friend. So if he doesn’t know, then nobody does.
Unless the girls are the ones who put him up to it. They do that. They like to take Todoroki aside and do face masks and nails and other shit with him. And Todoroki’ll go, because he loves having friends, and he could care less about whether the other guys are there or not, or whether wearing makeup is a girl thing or a guy thing. He doesn’t believe in that dichotomy, on principle. He’d wear a skirt, if someone asked him to. He’s more…free, in that way. And he said he likes the way the face products feel on his skin.
But Katsuki plies Momo for answers too, and all she does is give him a hard, stern look and says “no, Bakugou, we didn’t tell Todoroki-san to make a dating profile.”
She seems like she’s on the verge of saying something else, but then she purses her lips, shakes her head and sighs. If there’s some kinda coded message there, Katsuki doesn’t fucking get it.
-
People who love cats tend to have the merch to prove it. At least…a little. Todoroki’s got his little cat pin. Eyebags has got a sticker on his laptop. Sensei is…sensei, but who knows, Katsuki’s never been to his house or anything, so maybe there’s a bunch of cat shit in there.
So Katsuki just needs to get one thing. A sticker or a pin. Not a bracelet. That’s fucking weird. It’s just…nothing seems to fit his vibe. So he tables that idea for now.
The next thing is watching cat videos. Which is probably the easiest thing he’s done so far. He doesn’t have to try very hard to find things to watch, ‘cause Todoroki always sends him links.
Katsuki doesn’t have to try to find it funny, because it is fucking funny. Cats sticking their heads in cereal boxes and tryna look for treats. Cats zooming around like the little demons they are. Kittens who look like they know too much and absolutely fucking nothing at the same time. They’re so goddamn fluffy.
The little paws. Freakinʼ toe beans. The fucking whiskers. The way they circle around and make demands and sit in the weirdest places. It’s funny.
And in a weird way it always reminds him of Todoroki.
Todoroki’s favorite internet cat is this little tabby one called Ringo, screen name ringodanyan. He likes to be baby-carried by his owner, which is his main thing, apart from being small, annoying and fluffy. Todoroki also likes another internet cat called Maru, screen name mugumogu. That one is apparently the most famous cat in the world. And he’s got two siblings, Hana and Miri. For Todoroki’s last birthday, Deku got him the book and the DVD set I am Maru (buncha b-roll of Maru lounging around and sitting in boxes) and Todoroki fucking loved it.
For his next birthday, Deku’s already planning on getting him the sequel More Maru, and Katsuki’s only a little jealous over the fact that he knows it’s gonna be a hit.
Katsuki’s favorite internet cat is also Maru, via exposure alone. Whenever he’s sitting in Todoroki’s room and he gets bored he thumbs through the I am Maru book, and whenever the cat family does something that Todoroki thinks is particularly noteworthy, he’ll ask Katsuki to come sit next to him and look at them.
And that happens a lot. Cats are always getting up to shit.
-
They’re allowed to have pets at the dorm. Koda definitely does. When Eyebags moved in he brought a little black kitten with him, and she’s since become a chonker of a black cat, and she lurks around wherever Eyebags is. Todoroki goes over to his room a lot, just to see her, and now that Katsuki’s a certified cat lover, that’s an excuse to gate crash and make sure Eyebags doesn’t stick his tongue in Todoroki’s mouth or something.
“Why the fuck don’t you have a cat?” Katsuki asks him at last.
If anyone should have a cat, it’s Todoroki. He loves them so much.
“I’m away a lot. I don’t always know when my family’s going to need me,” he answers thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I could take care of a cat.”
Katsuki picks up on a hidden, second meaning. Todoroki knows his life and his family is a fucking mess, he doesn’t wanna bring an innocent cat into it.
“Why’ve you been so interested in cats lately?” Todoroki shoots right back.
Katsuki didn’t even have to practice saying this in the mirror like he thought he would. He can look Todoroki right in the eye.
“I fucking love cats,” he says it with his whole chest.
“Oh,” Todoroki says, and then he smiles softly.
It hits Katsuki like a direct, sunlit beam.
-
Katsuki does two more Thursday shifts trying to win over Oreo the grump before he decides he’s ready to go with Todoroki.
Oreo still doesn’t like him, but according to Lis Ramen Noodle Cup, that can’t be helped. Cats are very particular creatures. When they’re ready, they’re ready.
Katsuki’s got a particular creature of his own. Todoroki’s so fucking excited that they’re doing this together. He’s not being guarded about how much he likes the company. He keeps looking at Katsuki and then smiling to himself. Then he sends a text on his phone and he won’t let Katsuki see what he’s saying.
“Why so secretive?” Katsuki demands.
“I have a private life,” Todoroki says. “Just like anyone.”
Katsuki laughs, then he remembers the dating profile, and frowns. Maybe Todoroki was texting someone he met on the internet.
“Are you on a fucking date app or not?”
“Not,” Todoroki says. “Why—why would I be on a dating app?”
“I…mighta seen your stupid list,” Katsuki admits, then pivots to defend himself. “It was right there!”
“Oh,” Todoroki says, unbothered. “That. I wrote that list a long time ago. I was going to throw it out. That’s why it was at the top of my desk.”
“Why were you gonna throw it out?”
“I didn’t want to do it anymore. I do want to be with someone, someday, but I think I’d prefer to let it happen naturally. At least for now.”
That makes…some sense. “Naturally, huh?”
“Naturally,” Todoroki repeats. “Are you ready to head out now? I want you to meet Oreo.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki says, wondering if he’s incurred negative karmic points for having pre-met Oreo and not telling him. “I’ve been ready.”
-
Lis Ramen Noodle Cup isn’t here today. Which is a small blessing, since Todoroki might have been thrown off by someone recognizing Katsuki when there’s no reason they should.
God Katsuki hates sneaking around. He hates lying, even by omission.
A different volunteer signs them in and ushers them through and the first thing Katsuki thinks of after washing his hands is Pancake. The last two times he was here to see her, they got along great. She kept bumping his hand and they played with the wand toy, and she could jump higher than any cat Katsuki’s ever seen.
He looks for her on the resident cat chart, but she isn’t there. She isn’t on the recent adoptions board either. Her or her sister Panko.
“Are you okay?” Todoroki asks.
“Fine.”
Did something happen to her? If she wasn’t adopted then…is she—she did sneeze a bit the last time Katsuki saw her, but that’s normal right? Cats get colds and then they get over them.
“I—” he goes back out through the door they came in. “Hey what the fuck happened to Pancake?”
“Ohhh…she’s in a foster-to-adopt. The family wants to see if Pancake and her sister are a fit with their resident cat before they commit to an adoption,” the volunteer looks at him curiously. “We do that sometimes, to make sure everyone knows what they’re getting into. The resident cat is always a priority.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki says, breathing out.
So she’s fine then. That’s…that’s good. He looks back, realizes Todoroki followed him. Not that that’s surprising.
“When did you meet Pancake?” Todoroki asks, ever-so-innocent.
He doesn’t act like he’s accusing Katsuki of being a conniving bastard. He’s asking as if there’s a chance Pancake and Katsuki met on the train, or at the bus stop, like people do.
“I was here,” Katsuki says, closing the door behind him.
The volunteer gives him a weird look, but…whatever. He’s putting in his hours and he’s good at scooping litter and minding their rules.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Todoroki asks. “I would have come with you.”
“Didn’t wanna go with you!” Katsuki snaps.
Oh shit.
“Not like that,” Katsuki says, trying to salvage this. “I mean…I wanted to train. Practice.”
“Practice what?”
“You said you needed someone who loves cats!” Katsuki says. “So I had to practice loving on…”
It’s not easy. It’s not easy to just admit that he needs Todoroki to want him back. That he cares about being liked by Todoroki. That he misses Pancake, and he’s kinda mad that he didn’t try and adopt her and her sister, not just because it would mean it would be his room that Todoroki would sneak up to, not Eyebags, because Katsuki would have not one, but two cats. He liked watching Pancake.
She was kind of a weirdo, always sniffing this one random spot on the wall. She followed him around for dry treats and she liked getting into scraps with her sister sometimes. Like cat-wrestling. It was fucking awesome.
“You’re already someone that I need,” Todoroki says, clear as anything. “It’s less…what you do. But it means more that you try.”
“You deserve that,” Katsuki says. “At least that.”
Todoroki leans forward, ever-so-slowly, to kiss him on the cheek. “You do too.”
Katsuki reaches up to touch the place where Todoroki kissed. He can’t help himself.
Shit.
There’s a loud meow from behind him. It’s the black-and-white grump. As soon as Katsuki turns around he comes forward and brushes his whole body against Katsuki’s leg, then walks away.
“Oreo likes you,” Todoroki says, bemused. “He’s hard to win over.”
“You can’t push ‘em. When they’re ready, they’re ready,” Katsuki says, because he’s good at cats now.
“Yes,” Todoroki says, there’s already another cat circling him, a cream-colored one that looks kinda cross-eyed. “That’s true.”
-
Katsuki checks the rescue website religiously. He figures…since they’re both kinda busy, and they’re dating now, he and Todoroki could have cats together. It’d make Katsuki feel better about not getting to see Pancake and Panko anymore, and it would make Todoroki deliriously happy.
Making Todoroki deliriously happy is kinda his whole thing now. Todoroki gets happy whenever Katsuki comes over, just to hang. When they study together and their knees bump under the table. When he yells at Todoroki and tells him he needs glasses when Todoroki asks him to read out the boba specials on the board.
They actually do get a decent amount of studying done when they’re together. They remake the pomodoro method. Twenty minutes of focus, and then five minutes of making out as a reward. Todoroki—Shouto now, really—practices English phrases by whispering them in the crook of Katsuki’s neck. Katsuki traces patterns and sums against Shouto’s bare back and calls it math.
They study on the bed. At a desk. And Katsuki holds videos of Maru and Ringo hostage when Shouto gets bored, one more homework problem equals a minute of watching cats.
Today’s a desk day. Katsuki’s concerned about Shouto’s back, with all the sitting they’ve been doing in beds and on futons. All the leaning forward he does when he’s in Katsuki’s lap.
“Your grammar’s decent,” Katsuki says, marking up Shouto’s notebook. “Stop looking at my mouth when I’m trying to tell you something.”
Shouto leans forward anyway, and Katsuki meets him in the middle for a kiss. Soft and sweet.
“But I have to tell you something,” Shouto counters.
“Out with it then.”
“The rescue called. Pancake didn’t get along with the resident cat, they tried a lot of things.”
“That fucking sucks.”
“I know,” Shouto says. “But you wanted to adopt her, right? Both of them.”
He sounds so hopeful. He’s always wanted cats. He wanted a cat, at home, but he didn’t know if a cat would be safe there, with everything that went on. He didn’t want to add another burden for Fuyumi, and before that, his mom.
He tells Katsuki so many things, when he’s all soft and pliant and warm in his arms. He talks about cats a lot, but also what it makes him feel, when they’re around him. Like there’s something truly good in this world. According to him, cats know what life is about, naps and snacks and being with friends.
Katsuki has something like that too. Someone truly good. Who’s also an agent of chaos, much like the demon floofs.
“I wanted to adopt them with you,” Katsuki says. “‘Cause we’re both busy, but I think together we could swing it.”
Shouto only met them once, but Katsuki’s sure he’ll like them. He’ll probably take to Panko better, since he likes getting the shy ones to come out of their shell. Not as a challenge, like Katsuki would take it, but more because he feels like he helped. ‘Cause that’s the whole point, to him, of rescue.
“We could.”
“We fucking will,” Katsuki decides.
“They’re still pretty young, we can watch them grow up,” Shouto says, sounding incredibly fond of the idea already. “We’ll need to buy a lot of things.”
“Good thing you’re loaded,” Katsuki jokes.
Shouto laughs. “I’d use my own savings. And I have some cat supplies already. Treats in case I meet a cat in the street, some toy mice.”
Katsuki’s so fucking soft for him. “Course you do.”