Chapter Text
Aizawa Shota is a cat person.
This is a well known fact to the people who know him.
Ever since he was little he has shown an interest in these little creatures. He has never had one of his own, due to the unfortunate genetic inferiority that his father had… an allergy.
But he relished in caring for his uncle’s tabby, the stray that frequented the corner store near his middle school and of course, Sushi, the cat he looked after when studying at UA.
It’s only a logical conclusion that he would have cats of is own, especially now with a home of his own, right?
Well, not really.
Shota is tired.
He graduated UA mere months ago, and getting used to being an actual hero, is quite frankly, exhausting. An underground hero, no less. Notorious for its brutal night shifts and all-nighters.
Of course, he didn’t regret it. Not one bit. Even when the occasional asshole police officer side eyed him upon hearing his hero name, he was glad he came this far.
Still, it left him with no time to have fluffy little creatures in his care, and no matter the swell of affection that arose at the sight of a cute stray kitten, he simply could not afford to have one in his life right now.
He was trying real hard to convince himself of this fact… while staring at arguably the cutest cat he had ever laid eyes upon.
He was at the end of a long, long shift.
With patrol at night, paperwork during the day, and his basic needs squeezed in some place in between, he has no time to himself.
No time to visit his uncle’s now elderly tabby, or book a booth at a cat cafe.
It’s even been quite a while since he has seen Nemuri or Hizashi in any setting besides a crime scene or police station. He hasn’t seen his family in god knows how long, and now, he was getting particularly… lonely.
Underground heroes don’t get much company. And when he does, it’s usually someone he’d rather not be in the presence of.
All in all, shota is tired, exhausted, busy, lonely and at the end of a particularly long shift. But most importantly, he is a cat person.
And there’s this little gray and white tabby that has been following on his heels ever since he knelt down to pet it a few minutes ago.
He has to admit, it’s objectively an adorable cat.
It was quite small, if he had to guess, it was at most 3 months old.
It was staring up at him expectantly with its big bug eyes, and a fluffy tail that’s standing straight up. His uncle had told him once that an upright tail meant the cat was excited or even playful. Something he could have deduced himself, with how the cat was playing with his ankles from behind, meowing so softly it made his heart ache.
Ignoring it certainly didn’t make it go away, he hadn’t even looked down at the cat for the last few minutes. He really has to close up his shift and get home soon.
No matter how cute the cat, Shota does not have the means to take care of one, not without a whole lot of effort he doesn’t have to spare.
Still… he could take it home for just the night. He has some cat food reserved for when Nemuri comes over with Sushi, and the cat looked pretty hungry. Who was he to leave a cat starving on the streets?
He sighs.
He has been won over.
The cat meows again, this time much louder, as if knows it has won, batting at his shoes from behind.
“…Okay, fine” he mutters.
Finally turning around and crouching down in front of the kitten, he offers his hand for it to sniff.
Once it starts nuzzling its head into his hands, he scoops the little nuisance in his arms.
It starts purring pretty much immediately, closing its eyes and nuzzling into his capture scarf.
He is going to have to clean his hero costume, with how much fur was already sticking to his sleeves.
He promises himself that he will drop the kitten off at a shelter the very next day.
But of course.
Of fucking course.
Nemuri decides that after weeks of being too busy to even call him as much as she normally does, she suddenly does have time and shows up at Shota’s door unannounced way too early in the morning for his liking. Inviting herself in with her spare key when he didn’t answer the door. She’s really lucky he was off tonight.
He wakes up with her… cooing?
That was strange. He didn’t think he was particularly cute overall, let alone when sleeping.
“SHOTA!! YOU DIDNT TELL ME YOU GOT A CAT”
Right.
Even without opening his eyes he can hear the soft purring close to his ear and feel the slight pressure on his chest.
Oh, she’s still talking.
“SHOTA!!! It’s so cute!! Where did you get it? What’s its name? Is it a boy or a girl? How old is it???” she practically yells
“Calm down.” he grumbles, slowly sitting up and taking the cat into his arms.
She calms down immediately.
“It’s a stray” he mumbles, not even looking up at her. “I just fed her is all. I’m taking her to the shelter today”
That gets her talking again.
“What! Shota!! Don’t tell me you’re getting rid of her! She and Sushi could be such good buddies!”
“I can’t take care of a cat. You know this”
“Yes, you can! I’m a pro hero too and I have Sushi. Lots of heroes have pets, Shota.” as she is saying this, her phone pings. She beams and picks up the phone.
Immediately, it’s clear who is on the other side.
“SHOTAAAAAAAAA!!! SHOTA HAS A CAT”
“I don’t-“
“SHOTA HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME. THIS IS AMAZING. THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I’VE HEARD ALL WEEK”
“I don’t have a cat.”
“The cat is literally on his lap. He has a cat. We will not be fooled” Nemuri chimes in.
“SEND ME PICS. I’M COMING OVER”
And that he does.
But Hizashi, being normal about something? simply impossible.
He bought multiple cat trees, an automatic litterbox, a whole variety of cat foods, both wet and dry, and of course, an ungodly amount of cat toys. Probably cost a fortune, it makes Shota and his baby underground hero salary shudder.
How he managed to buy all of this and manage to bring it all to Shota’s house in such a short amount of time, All Might knows.
Several hours later, spent cooing over the kitten, Shota protesting when Nemuri and Hizashi started putting the cat trees together, and now, with Shota completely exhausted and defeated, cat still in lap with coffee in hand, black but with a little sugar, he listens to Nemuri and Hizashi argue over what to name the cat.
It’d be such a hassle to have to return all this… and the litterbox is automatic after all…
Damn his friends.
That night he goes to sleep with a newly named kitten at his feet.
Kumo.
His very first cat,
but one of many to come.