Chapter Text
Midoriya was having a nice day. Until...
The incident.
He was simply walking home. After another close call with the L.O.V., all UA students were ordered to return to their off-campus residences for a few days to allow time to update security. Izuku had just turned onto a more secluded path that he'd remembered was a shortcut to his mother's house. With a quick glance around he registered that there was one girl, maybe of twelve, walking his direction on the other side of the path. She had a pink top on with a white skirt, and a black jacket tied around her waist. There were trees lining both sides of the dirt road—and therefore there were sticks. Which, of course, Izuku managed to trip on.
The girl watched him trip and tried to catch his arm, weirdly trying to cover her exposed hands with her sleeves. She failed at this endeavor, accidentally hitting his elbow with her fingertip. She jerked back and covered her mouth in horror. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She yelled, the words muffled by her hand.
Izuku was confused. What would she have to be so hysterical about? She started crying, and Izuku reached out a hand from his position on the ground in attempt to calm her. She backed up and glanced panickedly around the area, as if checking for bystanders, then turned and ran.
"Hey! Where are you going?" He yelled after her, but that seemed to make her run faster. Were the trees taller now? It seemed so. A sudden wave of nausea washed over him, and he closed his eyes—just for a moment, to recuperate.
When his eyes reopened, his confusion grew even stronger.
He was tiny. He'd realized by now that the girl's quirk had something to do with touch, and for moment thought he was just small. Then, he saw his paws.
What the heck? He thought. Paws?! He shifted to get a better look at the rest of himself, realizing he was now a fluffy little cat resting in the middle of the (now much larger) path. The only thing he could see distinguishing him from a regular cat was that his fur had a greenish hue.
Izuku began to panic.
What was he meant to do? He was a darned cat all of the sudden. Trying to steady his breath, he gathered his situation. To do anything, he'd have to get used to moving in this form. Izuku got up and, after a while, got the hang of walking. But by then, he had zero clue where he was—stumbling into everything you see kinda disorients you.
Just as he was about to spiral into panic again, he spotted Bakugo's familiar house a little ways down the street. He was ecstatic.
Once Izuku had reached the house, he finally stopped to think about how he looked like any ordinary stray, albeit one with muted green fur.
Then he spotted Katsuki.
Running over as fast as his little legs would go, he took a flying leap at Katsuki—almost knocking the boy over in the process. Bakugo swatted at Izuku, barely looking up from his phone. Izuku was annoyed but knew it would take a lot to get Katsuki's attention, so he jumped up onto an outdoor table behind Bakugo. He got a good vantage point before jumping onto the boy's shoulder.
Bakugo started, dropping his phone. In his defense, a cat jumping onto your shoulder is certainly startling. Mitsuki, who had heard the phone hit the ground, poked her head out the door and took in the situation.
"You have a cat on your shoulder." She said pointedly.
"Very observant of you." Bakugo replied, roughly pulling Izuku's fluffy body off his shoulder. He tried to set the cat down, but Izuku refused, clinging to Katsuki's arm.
"Gah!" Katsuki grumbled as he finally let the cat sit in his arms.
"Why don't you bring him in?" His mother offered. "I think we have some tuna in the fridge." Izuku dimly wondered whether chocolate is toxic to him as a cat, even if he really is a human. He was brought out of his thoughts by another bout of shouting. "I don't want the damn cat!" Katsuki shouted, again attempting to put Izuku down, but this cat was not having it. He scrambled back into Katsuki's arms.
"It clearly likes you!" His mother chimed.
"Since when do I give a fuck?" Katsuki snapped.
"You're gonna keep the darn cat and you're gonna like it!" His mother shouted, turning away from him and walking inside. Katsuki sighed. "Guess you're stuck with me now, then." He followed Mitsuki inside.
Izuku was relived. At least he was with Kacchan—he could hope that Katsuki might figure it out. If nothing else, he was safe and warm and dry. Bakugo had left Izuku on the bed while he ate human dinner with his mom, so Deku had time to think.
How was he going to let Katsuki know that it was him, Izuku, inside this cat? Before he could decide, Bakugo came in, holding a can and a fork. Bakugo quietly opened the can and stabbed a piece of tuna with the fork, then held it out for the cat.
"Here," Katsuki said, with a surprising tenderness to his voice. "Mom said I should feed you some since you like me so much." Izuku, after a stunned second, accepted and ate.
It felt a little strange, to be fed fish by Katsuki with a fork, but he was really too hungry to argue. Soon the tuna was gone, Katsuki had left to put the dishes away, and Izuku was alone again.
He randomly remembered that the position he was currently in was endearingly called loafing. A soft snort came out of his little pink nose at the silly name. Katsuki heard it and chuckled a little coming in—Izuku was stunned. He'd never heard Bakugo laugh like that—every time he'd heard Bakugo laugh it was always at the expense of others.
Katsuki reached down to pet him, and Izuku allowed it. He figured it was fine—he was a cat after all. And people pet cats. That was it. Nothing about the fact that Katsuki's hands were warm and gentle as they glided over his fur.
Against Izuku's better judgement, a soft, rumbling purr began inside him. Katsuki smiles a little, (which, by the way, totally surprises Deku) before walking to the wardrobe and taking out some clothes. If Izuku's cat form could blush, it would have. He tried to turn around so he wouldn't see Katsuki changing but thankfully Bakugo went to the bathroom to wash up for bed.
When Katsuki came back and kneeled in front of the cat to pet him, Bakugo finally realized that Izuku's fur was, instead of black, actually a dark green. Wondering what it was, he picked the cat up and walked into the hall.
"Old hag!" He shouted.
Izuku sniffed. Now that's not a nice thing to call your mother, he thought, but it worked.
"What, brat?" Mitsuki called from the other room.
"The cat has green fur!" Katsuki yelled, "That's not normal!"
"It's probably dirty! Give it a bath, ya brat!"
Izuku marveled at how they could stand hollering across the house to each other. He much preferred to talk to someone face-to-face, as yelling the whole time strained both your voice and your ears. As for the bath, he foolishly assumed that it would be fine—it was just water. Izuku wondered why cats hated getting wet so much—maybe it had something to do with the fur? The water would add extra weight, and probably it would feel like more in comparison to his tiny cat body. So he was more curious than worried as Katsuki carried him into bathroom—a mistake he would soon regret.
Katsuki turned on the tap, using his hand to check the temperature. His other arm was cradling the little green cat. After making sure the water was pleasantly warm, he gently set Midoriya into the bathtub. Izuku found the water to be a little uncomfortable on his toe beans, but he figured he could get through the bath. Then Bakugo turned on the shower head.
Every touch of the water sent sparks zinging down Izuku's spine. It felt like he was being electrocuted with each new droplet. With no regard to anything else, he yowled and sprang out of the tub so fast he might have been using his quirk. Katsuki almost fell back on account of the entire weight of a hissing cat that landed in his arms, barely managing to avoid cracking his head on the tile.
"What the hell?!" He yelled, thrusting Izuku back under the water. Izuku yowled louder than before, scratching the skin off Katsuki's arms in an attempt to get Katsuki to let go. Bakugo responded as any would in that situation—he dropped the cat. Izuku scrambled out of the tub as fast as he could with the slippery walls. He slunk to a corner and hid behind the sink, shaking his fur vigorously. Katsuki didn't even notice that the cat was spraying water everywhere, too concerned about his bleeding forearms to care.
Mitsuki opened the door and stepped in, taking in the scene then rushing to her son. "What in the world happened?!" She asked, lifting one of Katsuki's arms to get a better look. "The damn cat!" He mumbled in response. Mitsuki let go of his arm for a second to turn the water off—and then ther was a moment of silence. Even Izuku stopped shaking his fur dry. Mitsuki, after a moment, helped her son up and led him out of the room. Izuku almost followed, but stopped himself.
I hurt Kacchan... he thought. Izuku felt like crying but wasn't sure how to in his new form—so he settled for a pitiful meow. After a few moments, he followed into Bakugo's room and settled for a cold spot on the floor, not wanting to cause any more trouble.
A couple minutes later, Katsuki returned. He knelt in front of Izuku and Deku flinched—for a moment he'd forgotten he was a cat and was too cute to blow up. So he was surprised when Katsuki calmly reached out his hand.
"She says you couldn't help it, 'cause you're just a cat." He gently slipped a hand under Midoriya's belly and lifted him up. "C'mon, let's get you dried off." Izuku, stunned, just kind of fell limp in his arms.
Katsuki set him down on a floor and pulled a blue towel from the cabinet that was latched to the wall beside them. He flung the towel out and let it flutter to the floor. Izuku, knowing what Bakugo wanted him to do, stepped onto the towel. It felt nice to be on floor that wasn't making his little paws slip around.
Katsuki lifted the towel around Izuku and started drying him off with it. Izuku was uncomfortable but didn't protest, as he still felt bad for scratching Katsuki's arms. Every time he caught a glimpse of the bandages he shrunk back into the swirling fabric around him, feeling guilty.
Eventually the towel stilled, and he was being lifted back up and carried into Bakugo's room. Bakugo set him on a little mat of folded blankets and pillows, whispering: "Those are clean, but I want you to be comfortable." Deku hopped off the pile to follow Katsuki onto the bed. Izuku nuzzled Katsuki's side once the boy had sat down. Katsuki ran his fingers over Izuku's soft fur, and a rumbling purr started inside the cat's body.
They stayed there for a moment. Then Katsuki's phone rang.
The phone's screen lit up with Kirishima's contact—a red circle with a "K" on it. Deku wondered why he didn't have a picture—all of Izuku's contacts had photos to go along with them.
Katsuki groaned and picked up the phone. "What could you possibly need at this hour?!" He grumbled.
"It's Izuku!" Kirishima said, his voice panicked.
"The nerd? What about him?"
Izuku glared at Katsuki. He'd never liked being called a nerd—but he was jerked out of his thoughts by Kirishima's panicked voice coming through the phone.
"He's missing..."