Work Text:
Part 1
Shouto doesn’t know how he knows, just that he does. As he stares down at the cat that was now sleeping on his left leg, he can’t help but think, ‘What the fuck, Midoriya’.
Because his best friend is somehow a cat.
They’d been on a shopping trip (just as friends, not a date, Shouto) and a small child had crashed into the two. Shouto managed to stay standing, but unfortunately for his friend, Midoriya found himself sitting on the ground, and the small child crying in his lap.
“I-I’m so sorry, Mister,” they say, tears running down their round face.
Midoriya, the angel, makes soothing noises and pats their back. “Hey, it’s okay. What’s wrong?”
They soon learn that the kid is lost, and a few minutes and one worried parent later, the two were sitting in a small café. He’d only been gone for a few minutes, but when he got back to their table with the buzzer, Midoriya was gone.
Instead, a fluffy, dark green cat was twining around Shouto’s feet.
He pulls out his phone and sighs. The most frequently called number on said phone is Aizawa’s, which he’d given the class after the mall incident. Shouto, spending a good amount of his time with Midoriya, had been the most frequent caller. Looks like he’d be adding another strike to the tally.
“Sensei, I’m fairly certain Midoriya is a cat. Either that, or he’s missing, and whoever took him replaced him with one.”
A sigh is all he gets back, which, preach. Shouto doesn’t know how Midoriya is still alive, what with the amount of trouble he gets into these days. Not to mention his quirk…
Finally, Aizawa gets over his case of Midoriya-induced-what-the-fuck, and responds. “Do you have any idea how this happened? Don’t let him out of your sight. And don’t let him eat anything. Cats have different food intolerances to humans.” Duly noted, Shouto stops a paw from reaching out to bat at his drink. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
The call ends, and Shouto sits there, not knowing what to do. It could be worse, he guesses. It’s not all bad, sitting there with a cat on his lap. Especially one as soft as Midoriya – his fur is even softer than his hair, if that’s even possible.
When Aizawa arrives, Shouto gives him a pained look. “My leg is numb, but I can’t move him. What do I do?”
His teacher only smirks, but gives in and lures Midoriya off with a ‘pspspsps’ and a few taps on the ground. A fluffy green ear pricks, and an equally green eye opens. Midoriya assesses the new person, and then slowly stands to stretch. In a second, he’s off, and rubbing his head against Aizawa’s hand. Shouto just groans in relief at his new freedom, and stands up before it can be taken again.
“Did you need anything else, or can we head back to UA?” Shouto thinks the question over, and eyes the uneaten food on the table. He shouldn’t let that go to waste, so he ducks inside the café to find a takeaway container.
When they’re both in Aizawa’s car, Midoriya safely hidden away in a cat carrier, Aizawa looks at him through the mirror. “Tell me exactly what happened. We need to know how long this quirk lasts, what side effects it has, everything.”
And so Shouto recounts it all, including a description of the kid and the parent – white blond hair, both. Sea green eyes, mother about 5 foot, child with a birthmark over the bridge of their nose.
By the time they’re back at UA, Aizawa has called someone (a detective, Shouto gathers, from the one-sided conversation he hears) to look into it, and then Recovery Girl for some forewarning of their visit to the infirmary.
Midoriya is freed from the carrier, and promptly latches onto Shouto’s left pant leg again, meowling insistently, and the teen relents, picking up the green ball of fur. He’s not expecting said ball of fur to clamber higher, until Midoriya is perching on Shouto’s shoulder, his front paws and chin resting on his head.
It’s awkward at first, but Shouto gently adjusts the cat so that his weight is more evenly distributed, and shoots his teacher a look when he starts laughing. And another one, when Recovery Girl has a similar reaction. Who is he to disturb the clearly comfortable cat?
Recovery Girl directs him to sit on one of the beds, and Shouto has to stifle a laugh when he sees there’s a plaque on it, reading ‘Midoriya Izuku’. He then gently lifts the cat off of his head, apologising silently as wide emerald eyes are turned on him, full of sadness. The cat makes little grabby paws at him, and tries to climb back as soon as his paws touch the bed.
Those wide, sad eyes fill with betrayal as Shouto hands Midoriya over to Recovery Girl, and she performs a range of check-ups that he disgruntledly sits through.
“All done, deary,” she says to the green cat, and he practically launches himself back onto Shouto. They all laugh as he snuggles closer, and Shouto has to catch him when Midoriya refuses to move, even as Shouto stands.
Aizawa walks him back to the dorms, and the few people in the common room all look up when they walk in. And then Shouto is swamped, because he’s carrying a cat, and his classmates are weak to the fluffy ball of cuteness. Shouto is too, honestly.
“Since when did you have a cat, bro?” asks one excited Kaminari.
“Uhh,” is Shouto’s eloquent reply.
Aizawa sighs from behind him, but seems content to leave the class wondering. Shouto thinks about how they’d react, if he brought Midoriya to class.
Huh.
That would actually be pretty funny.
~~~
Shouto does in fact, end up bringing ‘his cat’ to class. Midoriya sits on his desk, batting at pens and staring him dead in the eye as they fall to the ground. Shouto has a few staring contests, and none of the teachers question the presence of the cat.
He also takes delight in the chaos that occurs when Midoriya explores the classroom. He has a full conversation with Kouda, although Shouto definitely doesn’t catch fire when Kouda hands him back saying that Shouto had been claimed as ‘Midoriya’s person’.
Midoriya terrifies the hell out of Dark Shadow, though, and his eyes track the quirk everywhere he moves. Shouto feels a little sorry for Tokoyami, honestly.
All semblance of work stops though, when Ashido approaches Yaoyorozu, eyes sparkling, and whispers something in her ear. The other recommendation student hides a small smile, and hands over a silver cylinder.
The class discovers what the silver device is, when Ashido subtly points it towards Midoriya, and a red dot appears. The cat’s eyes lock onto it, Dark Shadow forgotten, and then the pointer is aimed at Bakugou.
Midoriya launches himself towards the explosive teen, who screeches as a fluffy cat attacks his head. Instinctively, Bakugou tries to explode the threat, and Shouto stands up frantically.
But the cat lights up with green sparks that they’re all familiar with, and shoots away from the explosions. The class watches on in shock as they connect the dots.
“…Why is Midoriya a cat?”
~~~
Someone had dressed Midoriya up in a cat-shaped version of his costume. He had little red shoes on his paws, and a silver guard protected the edges of his head. A teal green armoured ‘shirt’ protected the rest of his body, and there were even pouches in place of his usual utility belt.
Midoriya rides into class on Shouto’s shoulder, much to the envy of his classmates. Except Bakugou, he’d just snorted and stormed away. But that was just Bakugou for you.
All Might had been so confused when he’d seen the cat, but once someone explained the situation to him, he was persuaded to let Midoriya participate in the lesson. When asked by Kouda, apparently he’d said he would only work with his person. Shouto almost flung the cat at Kouda when he heard that, in a desperate attempt to not set Midoriya on fire. He managed not to, thankfully – both catch fire and throw the cat – and instead just blushed, hiding his face in Midoriya’s fur.
So that was how Shouto ended up facing his entire class, with only a cat for a team. It actually worked surprisingly well. Kouda had explained the task, and Midoriya had all to gleefully attacked their peers. He took the most fun in scaring Tokoyami and Dark Shadow.
The class’s objective was to cuff both Shouto and Midoriya, by the end of the lesson. They were allowed free-reign with their quirks, on the condition that no harm befell Midoriya – that was hammered into their heads by All Might and Shouto equally.
The two sat in the middle of Training Ground Beta, on top of a roof. Midoriya was a great lookout, his keen cat eyes picking up on any stealth – it had been extremely useful against Shinsou.
A yowl alerted him to someone else, and Shouto spun to see a floating pair of handcuffs inches from his arms – Shouto stomped, sending a wall of ice between him and Hagakure. But someone else took the opportunity to get a separate pair of the cuffs around one of his arms, and he spun to see Sero, grinning victoriously.
“Todoroki has been eliminated! One opponent remains,” called out an automated voice over the speakers, and he sighed. All was not lost, though, because there was a ball of fluff still in the game.
Back in the viewing room, he watched in amusement as his classmates desperately tried to capture Midoriya in the last twenty minutes of the lesson – it had taken them thirty to get him.
“No!” he called out, when his crush friend was cornered by Uraraka and Bakugou, both grinning victoriously – those two were insane, sometimes. But then Midoriya activated his quirk, and the green sparks around him intensified. Shouto watched on in a mixture of shock and fascination, as the small house cat grew, until he was the size of a leopard.
The now very large cat gave the two hero students a wolfish (lion-ish?) grin, and both backed away as they realised exactly how they would lose in this scenario.
Midoriya evaded capture for the entire lesson. He proudly trotted out of the training grounds, the sparks around him getting smaller as he shrunk back down again.
The rest of the class eyed him warily as Midoriya happily clambered up his side to perch on his shoulder again. Shouto smirked and gave the cat scritches under his chin until he was purring like a chainsaw.
Tokoyami made the mistake of stepping too close, and Midoriya’s head turned so fast Shouto almost feared whiplash. Midoriya’s eyes stared at Tokoyami, who’d frozen where he was, and then slowly backed away.
Later, Tokoyami told the class it had felt like his soul was being stared down and judged deeply.
~~~
Shouto stood in front of the Todoroki Manor, dreading walking in. But the bundle of fur on his shoulder gave him courage, softly mewling and headbutting him. Shouto smiled, and stepped through the gate. Fuyumi greeted him at the door, and Natsuo called out from somewhere inside.
“Who’s your friend?” Fuyumi asks, nodding to Midoriya. Shouto tilts his head and receives another nudge.
“This is one of my classmates.” Fuyumi still looked confused, so he elaborated, “he was hit by a quirk, and I’m supposed to look after him until it wears off.”
That was partially true. Midoriya probably could’ve survived without Shouto in the dorms, but then again, he’d feel bad for Tokoyami.
Shouto sits at the kitchen table and catches up with his siblings, enjoying the peace without his father to intrude. But it’s broken when the front door bursts open, and heavy footsteps announce Endeavour’s presence.
The three of them stiffen, and Midoriya’s head perks up from where he’d been sleeping on Shouto’s lap.
“Fa-father,” Fuyumi stammers quietly. She’s ignored.
“Shouto,” Endeavour glares, “Up. Let’s see what that school’s been teaching you.”
Midoriya narrows his eyes, and stands up, his back arching as he stretches. He jumps down, trots up to the flame hero, and hisses. The four look down in surprise.
“Why,” their father asks slowly, “is there a cat.” None of them answer.
Shouto’s eyes aren’t on Endeavour, instead, he watches as sparks start to emit from Midoriya, and he starts to grow. This time, he reaches leopard size, and keeps growing.
Midoriya is the size of a tiger.
Endeavour stares in shock at the creature in front of him.
Shouto thinks, ‘Maybe I should bring Midoriya over more often.’
~~~
Omake:
Enji wakes up in the middle of the night to the feeling of eyes watching him. He sits bolt upright, but his blood chills as he spots toxic green eyes staring him down.
He slowly lies back down again, eyes wide.
~~~
Part 2
Shouto is lying on the couch in the common room when it happens. Midoriya is curled up on his stomach, and he’s resigned himself to having a late dinner, when suddenly the small circle of warmth turns into a large circle of very heavy person.
Shouto wheezes, and Midoriya squawks as he falls off the couch, hands reaching out for anything that will hold him up. He latches onto Shouto’s shirt, and he’s pulled off the couch and onto Midoriya.
Jirou, who’d been about to snap a picture of the ‘cute scene’, is cackling and holding her phone aloft victoriously. “I got it on camera! I can’t believe I got that!”
Meanwhile, Shouto is currently on fire, because he’s lying on top of Midoriya. He scrambles up, offering a hand to the greenette, who takes it. His face is also red, Shouto notes.
A few of their classmates hurry in, called by the loud noise, and the calls of ‘I got it on camera’ that promised chaos.
Dark Shadow peeks out from behind Tokoyami, and cries with relief. Ashido groans that she won’t get to use the laser pointer anymore. Iida robotically expresses his relief that the quirk had worn off – Aizawa had thought it would last a little longer, but that was obviously disproven.
Midoriya laughs at the noise their classmates are making, and Shouto notices that some of his teeth are still pointy. When he takes a closer look at his friend’s eyes, they also seem a little different. When he points it out, Midoriya reaches up to poke his teeth, and promptly retracts his hand, wincing.
“Looks like you’ve got some souvenirs, Midori!” Ashido laughs, and then someone flicks off the lights.
“Can you still see?” asks Kaminari.
“Huh, I can.”
Shouto cannot, and asks for the lights back, please.
~~~
A few days later, Shouto is in his dorm, hanging out with Midoriya. They were supposed to be studying, but they’d quit that in favour of having a drawing competition – Shouto had seen some of Midoriya’s art, and showed him some of his own. The greenette swore that Shouto’s was better, but that was definitely not true. So they were both going to draw something similar, and get someone else to vote.
Shouto knew what the outcome would be, and was only humouring his friend, because really, Midoriya was much better at it.
Shouto puts down his mechanical pencil, and looks up at Midoriya. He’d been thinking about what Kouda had said while Midoriya was still a cat. He’d called Shouto ‘Midoriya’s person’. But what did that mean?
He decides to ask.
“Midoriya,” he starts. “When you were a cat…”
The greenette set his own pencil down, and turns his pretty- wait, why was he denying it? pretty green eyes to Shouto. “Yeah?”
He takes a breath. If Midoriya rejects him, that was fine. He could live with that. “When you were a cat, Kouda said you called me your person.”
His friend goes red, but Shouto still has more to say. “Am… am I still your person, now that you’re back?” Shouto isn’t watching Midoriya anymore, instead staring down at his paper. The intensity of his look could’ve burnt a hole through his drawing.
“Yes.” He whips his head up, not expecting the answer. Midoriya continues, voice quiet. “You’ll always be my person, Shouto.”
He smiles, and Shouto is struck by how soft it is. It isn’t one of his blinding ones, but it feels more real.
And then Midoriya’s brain catches up to what he said, and his face flames. “I-I mean, if y-you wa-ant to, t-that is!”
“I do, Mido-” and then he pauses. “Can I call you Izuku?”
Furious nodding.
“Then yes, Izuku.” The name tastes new in his mouth, but right. “Would you like to go out with me?”
Izuku nods again, this time more shyly.
~~~
Izuku comes over, next time Shouto goes home for a family dinner. Shouto wears a wide grin when he knocks on the door. This time, Natsuo opens it. His eyes immediately go to the teen standing next to Shouto.
“Is this the cat?” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth. Shouto nods, while Izuku hides his face in Shouto’s shoulder.
“Come in!” Fuyumi yells from inside, and they make their way to the table. Like last time, they spend a good amount of time chatting, except this time, Izuku participates instead of sleeping on Shouto’s lap (he almost catches fire when he thinks that sentence).
This time, when Endeavour gets home, he’s met with Izuku in human form. It’s hilarious, how when Izuku stands from his chair and stands in front of Shouto’s father, green sparks fly and Endeavour slowly backs out of the room, eyes locked on the toxic green ones staring back at him.
Izuku may not look (exactly) like it, but Endeavour knows exactly who he is.
That cat haunts his nightmares, after all.
~~~
Shouto walks through the mall, hand-in-hand with his boyfriend. And isn’t that something, to be able to call Izuku that. They both smile happily as they chat, and stop at a café to eat lunch.
Shouto idly notes it was the same place they went to when Izuku was turned into a cat. The food was good, what could he say. And besides, Izuku didn’t get to eat his last time.
An excited shout comes from behind them, and a vaguely familiar child runs at them – white blond hair and sea green eyes. “Look, Mum! It’s the heroes who helped me! I wanna say hi!”
Shouto is ambushed by a hug, and he pats the child’s back, confused by the affection. This was the kid who’d turned Izuku into a cat, however accidentally.
And then Shouto notices the pale coloured sparks, and groans internally.
The child’s mother jogs up behind her kid, and gives the two of them a wave. “You need to stop running off, dear! It’s how you got lost in the first place.” The mother shakes her head fondly. “But we have somewhere to be, so say bye,” she finishes.
“Bye!!” comes the excited response. The two are gone before Shouto can blink.
Izuku laughs and stands up, heading over to the counter to place their orders.
When he comes back, he finds a red and white cat curled up on the chair.
~~~
Omake:
Izuku walks into the dorms, and when he greets the students in the common room, they look up to find a scowling half red half white cat held in his hands.
Tokoyami pales beneath his feathers.
~~~