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It had been a good day, at least a good day by Keigo’s standards when he came home to an apartment that he genuinely thought had been broken into. What little decor he had was strewn around the house, his furnishings were torn to shreds and all that was left to explain the ruckus was a bright yellow post-it note in eraserheads messy teacher scrawl.
~ Found this one crying outside your door so let him in after he bit me. Pretty aggressive and wouldn’t let me touch him. Looks like he’s chosen to be your problem. Ring me if you need me to take him to the vet or pound. ~
What the hell? Vet? Pound? The fuck was in here belonged in a damn zoo not the local rehoming centre. After taking a few breaths he finally had the brains to work out what manner of hellbeast had been let loose in his home. The claw marks, scratches and tears in his furniture indicated the culprit was a cat. Freaking devils cat it seemed given the carnage the creature had unleashed on his sofa.
After 20 minutes of searching Keigo was about to give in, plopping down on his bed and resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Great. He had a feral cat locked in his apartment and he had no idea where the beast was. Fortunately that was solved moments later when an angry dark ginger cat attacked his ankles like they were the worst thing to exist. Seems the cat had caught the bird afterall. Regardless, Keigo yelped and the cat growled as Keigo flapped away and the cat was forced to let go, prowling around like he wasn’t the intruder here.
“Fuck! Damn cats.”
Keigo grumbled rubbing at his ankle which now had two bleeding puncture holes in where the creature's teeth had managed to break the skin. Keigo tried to shoo the animal out of his room, attempted to grab him and even offered food to the thing without success. His bedroom seemingly claimed by the beast. Even after all the scratches and bites Keigo couldn’t bring himself to ring Eraserhead and get the animal impounded, this cat was here for a reason surely. Perhaps it was a sign?
Another sign was the incessant calls Hawks was being bombarded with, the commission, Best Jeanist, Shoto, even All Might. All with one resounding question. “Where is Endeavor?” The number one hero had gone missing after a run in with the league of villains, at least that was the working hypothesis. No one actually knew because like always Endeavor had blasted ahead with no regard to his own safety. The man had then proceeded to vanish, much to everyone’s concern.
When the calls went unanswered All Might was the only one who showed up knocking on his door. The commission ‘too busy’, Best Jeanist ‘on patrol’ and Shoto was grounded at UA following a minor incident with fellow classmen Izuku and Bakugo. Poor Toshinori was the last man standing and with enough time to spare now he was retired. Plus Shoto had asked if he could see what was going on and if Hawks knew anything, the winged hero was closer to Endeavor than anyone else these days. Even if Enji went out of his way to try and shake the bird off, Keigo wasn’t for having it.
When the abnormally tall blonde was let into the apartment it was also the first time Keigo had seen his unwelcome houseguest outside of his bedroom (former bedroom, given the cat had taken over). The hissing that followed caught both men off guard but the feral cat didn’t go for Toshinori like Keigo had expected. The cat prowled around the edges of the room growling like he disliked the taller blonde but had enough respect not to attack him. Keigo was on edge the whole time, half expecting to be mauled to death by the hellion as soon as he let his guard down. But thankfully Toshinori and Keigo made it out of the interaction unscathed but closer to finding Enji Todoroki.
As the days rattled on and the public getting ever more concerned about their #1 hero's absence, Hawks and the other heroes were struggling to keep up with the added workload. It seemed the cat was getting more agitated too, often growling at the television when the news was on. Keigo learned to change the channel lest his ankles become a target.
~~~
“How the hell does he stop so many incidents in one day!”
Keigo said, exhausted as he flopped down on his sofa only to be met with a distinctive yelp and hiss from the ginger cat he’d now accepted as part of his existence. Expecting an attack he held up his arms to protect his face he was surprised when the cat jumped off the sofa and circled his legs cautiously for a few moments before rubbing his little face on his trousers and wandering off.
Moments like that became more common, Keigo would get home and actually be greeted by the thing, a deep meow here and there becoming a sign the cat was up and about. After around two weeks Keigo even managed to claim his room back and make it out alive. But the ginger had a distinctive spot sleeping on Keigo’s windowsill, that area, he was still not allowed to touch.
As for Endeavor the commission put out a news story that he was away on a top secret mission. Truth be told they still had no idea where the damn man was, it wasn’t like he was inconspicuous. He was 6’4 and had bright red hair for god’s sake! Keigo was worried and spent a significant amount of time flying around and trying to hear even a whisper of his whereabouts. Although most would put that down to being a good colleague it was a little more than that for Keigo. He’d been harbouring that secret crush for years, he couldn’t leave Enji out there if he was in trouble. He cared too much for someone who showed no interest in him in return.
Keigo had the added pressure of some repeated burglaries in his apartment building. Someone actively tried his door more than once, each time unsuccessful thanks to the safety measures the commission had demanded he have. Couldn’t risk losing their best asset now could they? His home the gilded cage.
One night it got a little much for the #2 hero emotions bubbling to the surface as the events of the past month and a half came crashing down on him. Too much work now Endeavor was missing, trying to find him and worrying if he was dead, the commission forever on his feathers about his duties and latest mission, then just the fact the man he wanted to love was gone. No chance at goodbye, and it all came to a head when he saw his Endeavor plushie out of place and in the middle of his lounge floor. Beside it the orange cat staring at it intently. Keigo panicked and swept it up, scolding the animal and searching for damage done by that damn cat. But there was none, not a single stitch out of place.
In the safety of his apartment the winged hero fell to his knees and fell into a state where he wanted to cry but couldn’t, trained too hard for too many years to cry over a colleague, but it was more than a colleague. Even if he were to ignore his more personal feelings, Enji was still a friend, something Keigo had very few of. With his eyes clamped shut and panting like he was running a marathon he was startled when that formerly hellish cat padded up to him and clambered onto his thighs, chirping slightly and demanding attention. Needing comfort Keigo scooped him up and sat on the sofa a little dumbfounded and half expecting the ginger to jump down and run off, but he didn’t. He padded round and round on Keigo’s lap before curling up there as Keigo tentatively pet the creature. The softness of his fur and the weight of the past six weeks just spilled out and he confided all his feelings to this cat. This stupid, violent, cuddly(?) cat.
“I think I loved him.”
The words were said between sobs, all tearless but breathy. He didn’t know how to mourn, how to grieve. Without the closure of a dead body Keigo was carrying the weight of Enji Todoroki, the man he was, the hero he is. He wasn’t ready to be #1, he didn’t want to be #1. That was Enji’s dream, and Enji was his. Now that chance was gone and Keigo felt lost. It was good to get it off his chest, a feeling of peace now that someone knew, even if that someone could never talk back. Eventually the panic subsided and Keigo slept, more peacefully than he’d had in weeks. Perhaps the cat had been a good omen, even if the damn thing was temperamental. Keigo made a note to give him a name. What he didn’t know was that he wouldn’t need to.
Keigo fell asleep with the light weight of that cat on his lap and awoke feeling like he was being crushed by a fridge. Opening up his eyes to see Enji laid on top of him and settled on his chest he relaxed again. Ah it’s ok, it’s just Enji. Wait! Enji! His mind jolting awake he tried to sit up (unsuccessfully) and began tapping Enji’s sides much to the red-heads annoyance. A low grumble of. “Stop moving.” Reverberating out of the man's large frame like a purr.
Keigo was stricken with so many questions, how the hell did he get in here? Where the hell had he been? And lastly and to his surprise, where was his damn cat? As Enji sat up with a yawn the answers became more clear as a tail flicked in annoyance and ears were pressed back. Enji looked unimpressed his nap had been interrupted, a pout on his face as he stared down at the younger man demanding an explanation as to why he dared wake him up.
“Endeavor-san?”
A nervous voice from Keigo, a dawning realisation that a very naked Enji was sitting straddled across his lap. Obviously when he transformed back he lacked the clothes he must have lost in the size change. Not great when you have a raging crush on the man. The red-heads head tilted ears flicking up at the recognition of his name, looking oddly surprised Keigo had worked out he was the cat, that was until he realised he wasn’t the cat anymore and had to deal with the fact he was butt ass naked. Detangling himself from the feathered hero he covered himself with a blanket that Keigo kept over the back of the sofa they had been snoozing on. Keigo continued to lie there dumbfounded, stuck between celebrating his idol's return and wanting the ground to swallow him whole because if Enji was his cat, that meant he knew what he admitted last night…
About to get into a flap about how he didn’t mean it Enji held up his hand and stopped the younger man in his tracks.
“Don’t. Don’t say you didn’t mean it. It would be a lie.”
Keigo gulped, sitting up more as he curled around himself a little, his wings too as he wanted to disappear and never be seen again.
“I’m sorry”
“Why?”
“Because you could never feel the same.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Your wife…”
“My ex-wife.”
Enji corrected him quickly. Not wanting him to think he still harboured emotions for Rei. Yes the divorce was fresh but emotionally they’d been separated for a long, long time. Still he’d remained loyal, but it didn’t mean he didn’t like other people. And now the divorce was finalised he felt no guilt straying from his ex.
“When that damn villain hit me with their quirk, why do you think I came here? Because I trust you. More than anyone else.”
Keigo’s eyes flickered up as he watched Enji, the tail that remained flicking around nervously as he tried to explain. Words weren’t Enji’s strong suit. When he paused for too long, thinking, that same tail flicked him in the face. Apparently his unconscious mind telling him to get on with it, Enji growled at it in return. A flicker of shock registered when he realised it was still there. Shaking his head he gets back on topic. He’d deal with those unwanted side effects later.
“I can’t say I love you. But I do…like? You. I think. It’s just… I’m too old for you.”
Keigo scrambled closer and peered at his face closely, had he heard him right? The younger man was small compared to Enji but he made an effort to match his eye-level to better express his following words.
“I don’t care. Um, if you want. If you’re willing, I want to try, to show you it can work, please?”
A long pause weighs heavy on the room before he continues.
“...I don’t want to lose you again. I was scared, Enji.”
The stoic hero’s face falters and the red cat hears settled in his hair droop with sympathy as he wants to comfort Keigo but he doesn’t know how. Keigo spots the softening of the #1 hero and slowly reaches out, his fingers running through his hair and up to the two ears settled there. The moment he started petting them gently a deep rumble escaped the red-head. Still a little bit of cat in there. After a few minutes the soft words of hope from Enji.
“All right. If you’re sure…we can try. No promises though, stupid bird.”
“As long as the cat doesn’t eat the canary I think we’ll be ok.”
Keigo replies with a soft laugh and an easy smile with creases around his eyes as he gets his chance. He wants this to work, so badly. But for now they’ll take it slow, see how the future pans out. Settling back down the pair napped a little longer, it seemed during his stint as a cat Enji grew to like the afternoon naps, Keigo wasn’t going to complain when he finally got the man he’d pined for for years, he’d take every soft cuddle he could get from the man usually as cold as stone. Finally he had a real home, the only thing left was to adopt a cat.
~~~
Watching from afar with a pair of dodgy binoculars, Touya Todoroki grimaces and grumbles. A laugh from Shigaraki as his plan falls apart. How was he supposed to know the quirk would wear off before he could…catnap? his father? Not for lack of trying. Damn apartment was locked up tight. Oh well, nevermind. He’d have to work out a new plan, soon Enji Todoroki would be his, he’d finally have his fathers attention. If Touya was anything, it was tenacious, he could blame Enji Todoroki for that genetic. He’d have him. Soon. He was certain.