Chapter 5- Flies and Honey
Katsuki shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked around one of the schools many courtyards with Zu-chan happily dogging his steps. Inko had left just a few moments ago still wiping tears from her eyes talking about how she had such a 'good boy' over and over again. Already he could tell that this was going to be a long day. Luckily he was only on babysitting duty today as Inko had weekends off. He would only be roped back in if Izuku still wasn't back to normal by Monday.
As they neared the front gate and were about to turn around they saw someone shuffle up to the gate and drop a box by the entry way before quickly walking away. Katsuki looked down at Zu-chan and saw that the boy had also noticed the strange behavior. After all the drama of the other day he wasn't about to ignore any suspicious behavior.
"Zu-chan stay here, I'm going to go see what that was all about." Without waiting for a reply Katsuki cautiously approached the front gate and the box. He glanced around and saw that whoever it was had not stayed nearby to observe something about to happen which made him think maybe not a small time villain or punk pulling a prank.
"Mew…." Katsuki felt his eyes widen before narrowing, one hand coming up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. 'Oh no, if Zu-chan finds out…' A gasp behind him just made him groan. Of course Zu-chan wouldn't stay put.
"Kacchan! It's box of kittens! Somebody just left them here! Why would they leave them here all alone in a box? Where' the mama? How are they spos' to take care of themselves? They're so little but they don't look sick, so why?" Katsuki turned to see that Zu-chan stood leaning slightly against the side of the box in order to peak inside of it. Big green eyes turned to look at him full of confusion.
"Some ass hat either didn't bother to fix their pet then didn't want to deal with the consequences, or they found them near their house and didn't want to have to deal with them so they boxed them and moved them away. They didn't want the kittens, Zuchan, so they left them." Katsuki immediately wanted to take back his words and make up some bullshit about the kittens not being abandoned when he noticed the tremble beginning in Izuku's bottom lip and the tears gathering in his eyes. But to his surprise the little face turned stubborn and small hands began to try and wrap around the box as if to pick it up.
"S'not nice to 'bandon babies, don't worry, I'll take care of you." There was still a sniffle in that voice and Katsuki winced as he recalled that Izuku's dad had well and truly left them even at this point in his life. 'Well shit, let me see what I'm dealing with.' He thought as he peaked into the box only to groan. There were 7 of the little shits in there! At least they seemed old enough to possibly live without their mom's milk as there was a small can of wet food that had been nibbled at. But now that the kittens had seen/heard that they had someone's attention the little mews were going like clockwork and the tiny furry bodies were crawling over each other not sure if they wanted to go towards the unfamiliar sound or away from it.
Trying to make the situation a little less depressing, Katsuki reached down and picked up the box. "Look, they probably just couldn't take care of this many, so they thought if they left them by a school the kittens would find new homes. They just didn't know that school was canceled for today that's all." Little Izuku's stubborn frown slowly started to fade into a smile.
"Kacchan is right, most places don't allow too many pets, Mama said that ours could have some but we din' have no room. But schools don't like pets either! What are we gonna do Kacchan, we can't leave em!"
"Hmm, maybe hide them by some of the trees or bushes that are near the doors, we can sneak them food or water until Monday when students are back? Just remember that we have to keep them a secret otherwise the school will be on our ass about it!" Izuku mimed zipping his lips shut with determination screaming from his pores. Together they made their way back onto the school grounds to search out the perfect spot.
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Lunch Rush wasn't sure what to make of the innocent face that was asking for an extra helping of salmon to go with his lunch. The kid was having a hard time maintaining eye-contact as he shuffled foot to foot. Clearly suspicious, obviously up to something, but not his problem to deal with. So shrugging he nodded and moved to continue making the lunches. Shooing the child back to his table, so that he could focus more on his work, he reached for an extra slice of salmon.
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Izuku was currently buried under a pile of kittens. They clawed up his shirt, climbing him like a small tree in order to reach his fluffy hair and face. The torn-up pieces of salmon that they had snuck from their lunches had gone a long way in earning their trust. Honestly the giggles, purring, and mewing were better than the endless stream of questions so Katsuki sat calmly a few feet away focusing on his English assignments. Least he could get this out of the way at the same time as his babysitting.
Beside him his phone continued to ping with notifications. Most of the students had gone home and were happy to forget about the little de-aging situation in favor of spending time with their families and recovering from their own ordeals of the USJ incident. But a stubborn few, namely Shitty-Hair and Round-Face were relentless in their want of updates on his charge.
"Baku-brooooo!" Katsuki stifled a groan into his hand. Just what he needed, another kid to baby-sit.
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It turns out that Kirishima had actually made the day go by a little smoother. The guy was a natural with kids and had immediately hit it off with little Midoriya, volunteering to join in on the hunt for good homes for the kittens. With him there to help distract/entertain the kid, Katsuki was able to get through the rest of his school work in relative peace.
Peace that is until he felt the tale-tale claws of a kitten climbing up his back as he put away his final book. Tilting his head slightly, Katsuki's red eyes narrowed on a pair of bright orange as a cream colored tabby perched on his shoulder. The kitten was undeterred and simply began to groom itself. Katsuki hesitantly brought up a hand, normally the smell of smoke that lingered on him made animals nervous, he was surprised that this one didn't seem to mind. After petting it a few times it began to bat at his fingers in play and he found himself fighting a small smile. The sound of a camera snap filled the clearing.
"Crap, forgot about the volume!" Kirishima was quick to hide his phone behind his back, a sheepish smile on his face. "Come on, I won't show anybody, I just had to have proof that you could smile!" Zu-chan popped up beside Kirishima's elbow, two kittens held in his arms- seemingly content to be dangled from the child's grip as long as he didn't squeeze them.
"Kacchan smiles his scary smiles all the time, but this time was a soft smile! Kacchan found a furry friend, he should keep Kitty-Kacchan!" Izuku was chirping, happy that Kacchan had made a tiny furry friend, it was even kind of blonde looking so it matched him!
Katsuki lowered the kitten to the ground and watched as it immediately began stalking a bug, pouncing and viciously tearing into it. Huh, guess it did kind of match him personality wise. Weren't cats supposed to be relaxing pets? Maybe that thought had potential, but it was time to redirect the attention off of his soft moment.
"If we're matching by personalities then that one should be yours Zu-chan." Katsuki pointed at one of the kittens that had been quietly but constantly mewing the entire time. It was soft enough to almost go unnoticed, just like the kids mumbling. Or at least what his mumblings would become once he learned to tone them down- at this age it was just constant questions at normal volume. The small black and orange calico also hadn't left Zu-chan's side since he had sat next to the box to begin playing with all of them.
Kirishima was laughing softly at both of them, twitching a string back and forth to entertain a few of the other kittens. This was priceless, he was glad that he had come to check on these two today.
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Inko smiled softly watching as Bakugou-kun and Izuku walked up to her slowly from along a sidewalk path. Katsuki had a thoughtful look on his face as Izuku skipped past him to come up to her. A small tug at her hand had her attention back to her son. He gazed up at her a serious look on his face that turned bashful as soon as she locked eyes with him. His head tilted down and he scuffed the toe of his little red shoe against the ground.
"Mama, do you think I can have a pet kitty? "Katsuki sighed, rolling his eyes up to the sky. Of course Izuku wouldn't keep the secret very long, not when he had so obviously fallen hard for the kittens the more he played with them.
"What brought this on?" Inko could probably guess, they had run across a stray and Izuku wanted to keep it, looking over him she didn't notice any big scratches that would come from attempting to play with a feral cat.
Izuku glanced up to Kacchan, trying to gauge his reaction to telling Inko. Katsuki shrugged back, it's not like Inko knowing would prevent them from being able to try and find the kittens homes, especially if Inko happened to agree to letting Zu-chan keep one.
"We found a box of baby kittens that got left at the gate, and they're so little Mama! I don't want all of 'em 'cuz you said we didn't have room, but I'll get rid of some toys and the kitty can share my room. Please, please, please. 'Cuz then I can have a friend for at home when I'm not playing with Kacchan!" Inko didn't miss the flinch that Katsuki let out at that, and figured it was mild misplaced guilt that they had grown somewhat apart when they were younger.
Katsuki did feel guilt, entirely justified guilt stabbing him hard as soon as Zu-chan had spoken. It hadn't been long after his current age that they had found out he was supposedly quirkless and Katsuki had cut him off like a diseased lump. And Katsuki knew, he knew, that Izuku did not end up making any friends, not with Katsuki singling him out for torment for the rest of his childhood. Suddenly Katsuki wanted to make sure that Zu-chan got this kitten no matter what.
"I'm planning on keeping one of the shits myself, I can help get the things needed to take care of them since it would be easier to order in bulk." Seeing how she still hesitated he tried to think what could convince her. "I read somewhere the cats are great stress relievers and with how crazy hero's lives get-" Katsuki trailed off with a shrug. "Couldn't hurt to give it a try?"
Inko was very surprised at how persistent Bakugou was being. She looked back down at her boy, who throughout his childhood had seemed very isolated, keeping to himself and his heroes. Now she felt guilt, remembering times when Izuku-chan had begged for a pet when he was younger. Perhaps if Bakugou was willing to help him out in figuring out how to train the kitten to use the litter box, and was helping buy the supplies needed. Looking at those big begging green eyes then the expectant red she quickly found her resolve leaving. What could it hurt, worse case scenario they would have to find it a new home if it really couldn't work out, hopefully after Izuku-chan was back to a more reasonable teenage.
"Alright, lets see this kittens that have both of you so worked up." With that she found herself all but hauled back the way the boys had come.
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In the end they decided to keep the kittens snuggled up in their box wish a fresh shredded tuna fish and water in their bowl. Bakugou mentioned that he would go out this weekend to secure the supplies needed for both of them. Inko promised that they could come back multiple times over the weekend to make sure that the kittens were doing alright. Inko had to admit that the kittens were adorable, especially the little calico that just pranced right into Izuku-chan's arms mewing and purring up a tiny storm.
She was extremely surprised to watch a cream colored one begin to clime Bakugou-kun who remained stubbornly standing as the tiny body made it all the way up to his shoulder to butt its head aggressively against his chin. He even smiled at it, bringing a hand up to support the small body. Now she had seen everything, if a kitten could do that for the temperamental boy, just imagine how much good it would do her sweet Izuku-chan.
So she helped them bundle the kittens back into their box, fluffing the sad ragged towel that had been left for them to snuggle, perhaps they could get a better blanket from the school to help keep them warm. But for now it would have to do as it was getting late. They walked Bakugou back to the gate and then headed in for a late dinner before bed.
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They sat quietly in the cafeteria the next morning, enjoying a rather large breakfast with their unsubtle request for more fish product to take to the kittens. Suddenly there was a loud commotion at the doors as a large box was forced through followed by a large intimidating figure.
"I AM HERE, WITH GIFTS FOR YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might said as he scanned the small crowd before spotting the mother and child and making his way over. Said child was staring wide eyed, his jaw hanging open while his hands twitched.
"I-it its All…ALL MIGHT!" Exclaimed the child before grabbing at his hair, turning to his mom to share his disbelief with her only to gesture extravagantly back at the large man who was making their way over to them.
"Young Midoriya, I head how you generously helped a friend of mine and decided to return the favor!" All Might dropped the large box in front of the boy who only had eyes for him. "You may open it my boy, don't be shy!" Still no response beside the awestruck gaze. "Young Midoriya are you alright….?" Suddenly the boy pitched backwards in a dead faint.
"Izuku!"
"Midoriya!" All Might was quick to grab the boy before he hit the floor, fanning a large hand in front of him to try and rouse the boy while his mother fretted next to him.
Well that could have gone better.
-End Chapter 5-
Alrighty there is a wee bit more of the fluffiness. Up next we will see some conscious Zu-chan and All Might interaction, as well as an intro of Auntie Mitsuki! Then its back to class and shenanigans with students and teachers!
Now I have a beta finally, who is slowly working through the first few chapters and I shall post the edited work as soon as it is completed!