Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters. My brain only thinks of the portal man having a cat, so I had to write this out.
Nostalgic
He barely caught it under the soft curtain of rain. Even with the patter of little raindrops against the grey umbrella taking up his hearing and the general darkness of the evening, the unmistakable flick of a furry tail moving in the shadows and the sound of a pitiful meow echoed just beyond the street's reach.
There was no one else on the street walkway. Many of the villains in the area either had Quirks that were affected by water or simply preferred to stay indoors during the rainy nights. The weather offered a cover under the night, but not many villains wanted them, or anything they stole, to be drenched by the downpour.
It had meant that there would be an influx of customers at the bar, and his instincts had been right.
Which led him to this point in time. Walking back to the bar, holding an umbrella in one hand and a plastic bag of groceries in the other, and staring at the space where fur had flicked out from the shadows.
Something deep within him pushed him towards the little creature. His legs were moving before his brain caught up, but by then, it had already been too late to stop.
A low growl rose up from the shadows. It was a warning. Any cat that gave that growl meant that if the person coming towards it didn't stay away, they would have a hell of a face change.
Kurogiri shuffled forward, steps slow.
The growl grew more aggressive. Fur, outlining the small kitten's hunched-up body, puffed up as much as it could under the light downpour. White fangs glimmered in the darkness as the smooth hiss eeked out from the cat's snarling lips.
Once he was a few feet away from the cat, his body lowered to his knees. The plastic bag in his right hand touched the ground.
The only response to his actions was another hiss from the cat.
Kurogiri had been through this before. Something in his mind probed at the potential that there had been more cats at different times, but his first thoughts settled on his first moments with Shigaraki. Even though Sensei had introduced them and let Shigaraki know that Kurogiri was going to be his prime caretaker, the young child had been wary and ready to attack if Kurogiri did something that the boy had deemed too much for his boundaries.
So, he fell back on what he knew.
The mist of his body drew in, limiting the flowy parts of his corporal form. The effect was appearing much more solid, and letting the cat understand that it wasn't trapped in a corner with purple mist at all sides. Slowly, the portal-wielder stretched out his free right hand, hanging the limb more than several centimeters away from the cat's face.
Another hiss came out, but Kurogiri kept his hand where it was.
A few minutes passed. The cat kept its gaze on the being in front of them, and Kurogiri blinked his eyes in a slow, rhythmic fashion. His body relaxed, and when he finished clearing his mind, all of his body was relieved of tension.
It had the effect he wanted.
The cat inched forward. A twitching nose sniffed at the outstretched misty hand. Its body lowered just a bit from the hunched-up form, still ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
Warmth, the tiniest prick of something foreign, bloomed in his chest.
The hand around the umbrella squeezed the grip.
"I will not hurt you, little one," he hummed. There was nothing else he could think to say. There was nothing else to say.
At that, the cat perked up its head. Golden eyes, flecked with light green pigments, stared up at the portal-wielder. Its pupils were contracting, which was the only sign that the cat was beginning to trust him.
He waited.
More moments dragged on, then, the cat moved. Its paw swatted at the outstretched hand, testing for danger.
Kurogiri didn't move.
A soft meow left the cat, and then its head was sniffing around the plastic bag at his side. Now under a part of the umbrella and out of the rain, more of its curiosity came out. Black fur, dotted with touches of grey fur here-and-there, brushed up against Kurogiri's knee.
As the cat dug around in the plastic bag, sniffing at the fresh fruit for bar drinks and the bottles of liquor, Kurogiri ran the back of his hand gently over the line of the cat's back.
A surprised meow came from the little creature, but no claws came. Its head jerked up from the bag, and after another moment of staring, the cat hesitantly bumped its head against the side of his hand.
It was more than a start.
"Would you like to come with me, little one? I have a place that's warm and where you'd be out of this rain."
The cat sniffed around at his fingers again.
"I may have some food I can give you. A can of tuna perhaps?"
At the word 'food,' the cat turned, looked up to Kurogiri's face, and gave a loud, pleading meow. Its front paws landed on his knees, and more meows followed as the black cat kneaded the pant leg, clearly hungry for whatever Kurogiri could offer it.
From the beginning of the journey home, Kurogiri had avoided using his Quirk. Shigaraki had been kind enough to let him take extra time away from the packed bar, though it also might have had something to do with the young man's interest in being paid a little extra yen for his work. Him wanting extra money under Sensei's nose to pay for an upcoming dating simulator game was nothing Kurogiri was concerned about, so the extra time away from the noise and demands was a few moments more of blissful peace.
However, he had been expected to come back in a relatively short time. Spending time with the cat had chewed up all the walk home, and Kurogiri was certain that he hadn't earned enough of the cat's trust to pick it up, let alone trust it to follow him the several blocks he still had to walk.
Purple mist surrounded the two of them, but before the cat could run away or be too startled, the two of them were transported outside the bar.
Noise rose from the inside of the establishment. It was just as Kurogiri had left it: loud, cheery, and still bustling at the height of the night's activities.
He rose from his knees, looking down to the little cat at his side. "I have food inside. If you want some, you will have to follow me in there. I want to give you the choice on whether or not you want to head in." Kurogiri was silent, then spoke up. "I cannot sneak food out to you, as once I am inside, I won't be able to return with your food. I will protect you from anyone inside."
The cat stared up at him, then sat down against the sidewalk, seemingly waiting for the portal-wielder to step onward.
His hand picked up the bag, lifted it around the cat, and walked forward.
Cigarette smoke was the first thing that greeted him besides the noise. Several patrons near the bar's door caught his form, and loud cheers and greetings erupted from some of the villains at the booths. At the bar, mixing a drink with gloves on, was a bored Shigaraki. His head turned at the mention of Kurogiri's return, but went back to finishing the drink order was busy prepping.
A familiar sight, if he was honest.
He strode into the bar, urging the little cat inside and shaking his wet umbrella out before closing it up. The black cat stayed close to his feet, always a few centimeters from the brown loafers.
"Oi! Look at what Kurogiri got for us, eh?!"
Everyone's attention immediately centered on the cat.
"HA! I'd say, 'Look what the cat dragged in,' but the lil rat's the one that was dragged in."
"WooWH… What a mangy little creature…"
"Ey, you bring us back some live dinner? Hahaha-"
Kurogiri motioned with his hand, and the cat followed his steps. More laughter and jeers to the little cat came from the rowdier patrons, but Kurogiri kept his promise to the cat.
Shigaraki met him at the side entrance to the bar.
"So…" he started. He looked down at the cat still in the general area of the bar. Its attention was focused on the approaching patrons, and its body began to hunch up and bristle with wariness. "…Something followed you on the way here?"
"No." With care, Kurogiri stashed his closed umbrella under the bar and set the bag down at the edge of the counter. "I found it in an alleyway in the rain. It was… rather mangy, so I offered it a chance to have the leftover can of tuna no one has eaten yet."
Shigaraki said nothing.
"Nyah… you our dinner, little rat…?"
Before Kurogiri could stop one of the three approaching patrons, one of the villains—a buff regular with a glass-welding Quirk—lifted a scarred hand directly to the cat's body.
Claws slashed across the villain's hand, and their roared with pain. A sharp hiss sounded as blood welled from the cuts on the villain's fingers.
The other approaching patrons leaned back in an instant. Fear decorated their faces, eyes shifting to the other people in the bar for assistance.
The villain that had their hand cut growled. "I'll kill you for that, you rat!"
Before Kurogiri could do anything, Shigaraki stepped forward and pressed a full hand to the villain's chest.
Everyone froze.
The villain's eyes, ones that had screwed shut the moment Shigaraki splayed his fingers against their shirt, cracked open. They exhaled, shrinking their muscular chest, struck with utter surprise that they were still alive.
Shigaraki lifted his palm and pushed with his fingertips. The villain stumbled back into the arms of their friends, but the shaggy-haired man's attention was on the growling cat in front of him. His left hand flicked up in a move that was entirely too practiced, and a small All Might trading card sat pinched between long, gloved fingers.
Yellow eyes, pupils blown wide with adrenaline, narrowed at the approaching hand. The growl pitched in volume. Its body hunched up tight, ready for the swat.
Suddenly, the All Might card was in the cat's face.
Shigaraki barely yanked his hand back in time before teeth and claws sank into the thin trading card paper. The cat slapped the card to the floor, rolling over on its side, trapping it between its sharp teeth, and bring up both its back legs to kick at the card.
In no time, All Might's smiling face was covered in bite marks and torn to shreds.
"…The heroes of society really follow us everywhere…" Shigaraki reached out a hand, letting the cat sniff his fingertips. "All I wanted was a bunch of candy for a snack… and when I opened my sour gummies, several hero cards fell out…"
The cat strayed away even after the first sniff of Shigaraki's fingers. Its body stretched out a little, but the black fur bristled at the movement of another hand flick.
Crimson Riot's card appeared, but it only took a minute before it met the same fate as the All Might card.
"…T-shirts, drinks, furniture, now simple bags of cheap candy…"
Endeavor's card flicked out-
Shigaraki's hand went too close, and he hissed when a pawful of sharp claws sank into the covered webbing between his thumb and index finger.
The fire-wielding hero was ripped to shreds at a much faster rate than the other cards had.
Kurogiri moved to help Shigaraki the moment the hiss of pain left the young man, intent on kicking the cat out at a moment's notice for the damage it had caused-
Dry laughs, all done under his breath, left Shigaraki's crouching form.
When he stood, a wide grin painted his face. Several patrons shuddered at the unnatural sight.
He looked back down at the cat. "Seems we're not the only ones that want to destroy heroes and the gaudy merchandise they flash around that slips into every faucet of our daily lives…"
At that, the villains crowded in the bar looked to each other. Their sick grins matched Shigaraki's, and Kurogiri could see exactly where the general consensus was heading.
Shigaraki wasn't a caring person. There was the ever-present possibility of him killing the cat if it irked him in any way. A cat wasn't worth much to the future leader.
But he still decided to protect the cat and give it a purpose.
Shigaraki waved his hand as he pushed past Kurogiri. "The little thing can stay," he stated, just starting to peel the gloves off his hands. "Any and all hero merchandise it can destroy are its toys. Keep it out of my way, and stop it from misbehaving, and I won't disintegrate it."
Kurogiri didn't understand the meaning behind the action, but he knew it would be foolish to ask about the reasoning.
He slipped the gloves off both hands and tucked them under his arm, cracking the knuckles. "I'll be in my room. Don't bother me, and I await my ¥3,500 by the end of the night."
And that was it.
The door slammed shut behind Shigaraki, and the patrons in the bar fell back into the relaxed ease they had before Kurogiri had reentered the bar. The three near the cat thumped at the middle one's back, joking and prodding at the villain's near disintegration before heading back to their booth.
Fur brushed up against Kurogiri's pant leg.
He looked down. The cat stayed close to his leg, weaving over the shoes and rubbing against the slacks in a trusting fashion.
With care, Kurogiri knelt down, letting his hand run over the cat's back. A soft mew met the gesture.
"Ey, bartender? Are ya done with the new mascot? I could go for another round!"
His mind switched back to business, and the portal-wielder rose form his crouch to pick up his mixing tools. "Yes, I am finished. What may I get for you?"
The first wave of refills and orders came in, and while Kurogiri filled them out at the rapid pace he had been trained at, anytime one of his hands was free, it was below the counter. In one of the shelves just under the bar's counter was the can of tuna, and after a few swipes at the cubby, the can of tuna was placed at the edge of the opening.
The cat, much to Kurogiri's relief, kept quiet. Purrs rumbled against his leg rather than needy and demanding paws. Whenever the portal-wielder cast a quick glance down at his feet, the cat was there, waiting patiently.
It took ten minutes, but once everything settled down and everyone resumed their usual level of chatter, Kurogiri finally did what he set out to do.
Misty hands pulled at the can's tab, cracking open the tuna and drawing needy meows up from the floor. Before Kurogiri could put it on the floor, the cat hopped up onto the counter, making straight for the opened can.
A touch of shame touched Kurogiri's face, and he looked up to the villains sitting at the bar seats. "I apologize for the sudden inconvenience." His hands lifted, making for the cat's body-
"Ey, it's okay, man." The green-skinned villain sipping from a mug of cheap beer nodded his silver-haired head at the cat. "I don't think any uh us mind. Least-" he leaned back in his seat, peering over to one of the other villains a few seats down. "You ain't got any allergies, Kiyoshi?"
The other villain in question, someone that had a crab-like Quirk, shook his head. His left claw snapped over his sake cup, lifting it up to his mouth. "Nah, dumbass, I'm allergic to peanuts, not cats. Those aren't even in the same ballpark." He sipped from his drink. "Cats are fine so long as they don't try to eat me."
Kurogiri looked between the two patrons. "…If I may, the act of the cat eating on top of the countertop is a health violation and an endangerment to the health of our patrons."
The crab-like villain snorted and rolled his eyes. "'Preciate the concern for our health, Kurogiri-san, but those health laws are so outdated that me and the half a zillion wielders of Animal-like Quirks break them if we crack open a soda at a restaurant. My friend's got a Quirk that makes him have a lot of rat tendencies. Guy really wants to be a chef, but gods almighty, if he sets foot in a restaurant's kitchen, he could get the place in trouble." A moment of quiet passed as the villain sipped at the sake. "Damn laws… Anyway, cat's fine where 'e is."
The silver-haired man leaned around the cat's rear, taking a chance and lifting up the cat's tail.
It earned him a loud and violent hiss, but the villain found what he was looking for.
"Not a guy, 'yoshi. 'S a pretty lady."
A few catcalls rose up from beyond the barstools, and Kurogiri looked away from the cat to find a group of known robbers gazing at the cat from a distance and jokingly nudging each other.
"Aw man, if I'd known such a beautiful woman was gunna come, I woulda dressed up nicer!"
"Girl's goin places if she's be a villain like us, fellas. What should we throw to the little demon first?"
"Oh! I got it! My kid keeps gettin all these miniature hero figures. Do you know how many All Might ones they just give out at school? 'S like the guy's holier than Buddha!"
"Don't even get me started on that one! My kid's got a plushie of Endeavor that their friend gave them for a birthday, but my kid's not even interested in heroes. It's like everyone just assumes that everyone's obsessed with those flashy airheads!"
Kurogiri watched as the group nudged each other with their elbows. Plans left their mouths. They'd bring the Endeavor plushie first, then the All Might figurines, then whatever other hero merchandise forced onto every aspect of their lives.
"Mew."
The little sound drew Kurogiri's gaze back to the cat. Sometime during the time when the villain group began making a plan, she had finished her food. Yellow eyes blinked, staying shut for a moment before cracking open again. The tail laid around the cat's paws, but her body was relaxed, trusting to Kurogiri.
Yellow… black…
Just like when he first saw the cat, something pulled at the back of his mind.
With a subtle shake of his head, Kurogiri pushed the feeling away. Mist rolled over the cat's back, and as she bumped her head against the solid part of his palm and purred, a name popped into his head.
"'Midnight,' perhaps…?"
The cat blinked, pausing at the mention of a new name.
"I don't know," the beer-drinking villain said. "Might not be best to name the cat after a pro-hero that's active, you know?"
"Ah, yes," Kurogiri nodded his head. "Of course. My apologies. I do think something with the night may fit this cat, however."
Suggestions were thrown out from a couple of customers.
"Ooh! What about Night Stalker?!"
"Nah, nah! You gotta name her Wildebeast for sure!"
Kurogiri lifted his hands, gesturing at the group to calm down. "I believe I may just name her something like…"
Another glance at the cat and the silver flecks of color dotting the black coat gave him all the inspiration he needed.
"…Stardust," he finished. "It's simple, but elegant and one not currently being used by an active pro-hero I believe."
The villains calmed, tapping their chins and scratching the sides of their heads.
"Huh… guess we could call her 'Star' for short…"
"Like 'the star of the show!'"
"Or like a ninja star!"
"With how much hero stuff she's gunna tear up with her claws, she might as well be a ninja star!"
Kurogiri looked to Stardust, now Star for short, and rubbed behind the cat's left ear. "Well, it seems your name has been chosen. Welcome to the little villain family, Star."
Lost amid the sounds of rambunctious cheers was a soft, affirmative, appreciative meow.
Song Inspo: "Champagne" by Niykee Heaton.
Probably not a good fic, but I wanted to get the image of Kurogiri adopting a cat while at the bar out of my head. This was my first time writing him and Shiggy, so H, more practice will be needed and such. I hope this was an enjoyable story, though, and thank you everyone who read and supported this work! :D