Chapter 3

Bakugo had chosen to carry Shoto inside since the dog's paws were muddy. He took off his shoes outside, but the rest of the mud on him was already dry. He carried Shoto up to their bathroom and placed the dog in the shower stall first. Shoto didn't mind getting baths, and he never made a complaint. Bakugo stripped himself and got into the shower, turning it on to the proper temperature.

He scrubbed Shoto first, getting all the caked mud out of his short fur. When Shoto was fully clean, Bakugo washed himself. Now that they were both clean, he had to do laundry. Shoto shook his whole body, getting all the extra water off of him. Bakugo towel dried himself first, then did the same to Shoto.

"There, we're back to being clean," Bakugo said. "I'm never getting on a horse again!"

Shoto let out a sneeze.

Bakugo carried his dirty clothes to the laundry room and got a cycle started. His phone pinged, and he went to see what the notification was; it was from Eijiro. Bakugo read the message.

'Sorry again about what happened,' Eijiro wrote. 'You accidentally touched Iida's sensitive spot. I had forgotten to mention that,'

Bakugo rolled his eyes and typed back, 'I'm lucky I didn't break my neck,' he wrote.

'Are you really okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

'Let me make it up to you! Come over again tonight for dinner,'

'Another dinner? I'll have to pass. I've got some work to catch up on,' He didn't want to have another spaghetti dinner; he worried it would turn into a mad tea party or something. He did have work to do, though. He still had to finish unpacking.

'Then let me take you out to lunch. We can drive into the city.'

Bakugo figured he had seen enough of the redhead for one day. However, he still had more to unpack, and maybe he can get the other to help him. He typed back: 'Forget lunch and dinner. I could use some help unpacking.'

'Oh, cool! I'll be over in a few.'

Bakugo put his phone down and sat on the couch where Shoto joined him. He patted the dog on the head.

"I guess you get along well with Stupid-Hair's dog, whatever its name is. There weren't many dog parks in the city."

'I'm content with my life the way it is,' Shoto said.

"Would you even want me to do all that doggie-love stuff to you? Like let you lick my face and hug you and talk goofy to you?"

'Please, no,' Shoto said. 'I like pats on the head, that's about it,'

"Sometimes I think you can understand me," Bakugo said to Shoto, who only stared back at him.

The pair sat in silence until there was a knock at the door. Bakugo knew it was the redhead. Bakugo shouted for him to come in and stood to meet him.

"Hey there!" Eijiro said. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Deku with me. He has a bit of separation anxiety."

"As long as he's housebroken," Bakugo said. "Anyway, I was starting to unpack the kitchen."

"Great! I'm here to help. Hey boy!" Eijiro grabbed Shoto by the head and rubbed him, smooshing and unsmooshing the dog's face.

Shoto didn't like the smooshing part, but Eijiro's thumbs were rubbing his ears just right, and it felt so good!.

"He's not really a people dog," Bakugo said.

"That's okay. Deku will get him to warm up to people."

'Hi Shoto!' Said Deku.

'Hello. Again.'

"So," Eijiro clapped his hands. "Let's get started!"

They went to work in the kitchen, each taking a box.

"We need some music," Eijiro said. "Everything is better with music,"

"Fine. Whatever." Bakugo replied, opening up a box of plates. The redhead put some music on from his phone. "Hey, Kirishima, where's the nearest take out place?"

"Kirishima? I don't think anyone has called me by my last name before…I kind of like it!" he grinned. "But to answer your question, there's not much around. The closest is a Chinese place. All other options are in the city. It's not long of a drive, if you don't mind paying a high delivery fee. Are you thinking about ordering out?"

"Yeah," Bakugo said, putting the plates in the cabinet. "I suppose you'll want to stay?"

"Let me at least pay for dinner, to make up for Iida tossing you."

"Whatever. I just don't have all my kitchen and cooking stuff out. I'll be too tired after all this unpacking to want to cook."

Kirishima put some cups away. "I can make us some dinner! I'm not the best cook, but I can make basic dishes."

"No. Take out is fine."

Kirishima was a little hurt that Bakugo denied his invitation for a nice cooked dinner, but the thought of Chinese food was appealing.

After they had finished with the kitchen, they moved on to the living room, which only had a few boxes left. As Kirishima was unpacking one, he found framed pictures in the box. One was of Bakugo's parents, he knew it was them because Bakugo looked exactly like his mother. It was a nice little family portrait professionally taken and framed. The other one was of Bakugo and another man at what looked like a ski resort. However, the man's face was cut out of the picture. Kirishima assumed this is, or was, Bakugo's boyfriend, judging how the faceless man had an arm around Bakugo's waist. He wondered if he should mention it, but then thought better of it. Kirishima had a better idea now why Bakugo had come out to the country; to get away from this person.

"What are you looking at?" Bakugo asked.

"Oh, just…your family portrait," Kirishima said quickly. "It's a nice one. Where do you want it?"

Bakugo waved his head towards the bookshelf. "Just find a spot over there."

Kirishima couldn't help it, and it did sort of slip out. "What about this other picture?"

"What other picture?"

Kirishima held up the picture of Bakugo and the mystery man. "This one." He saw a look of anger and even a bit of hurt on Bakugo's face. His straight mouth turned into a sneer.

"Don't bother unpacking that. In fact, go throw it away! I don't want to see it."

"But it's a nice picture of you," Kirishima said. "Why not just cut the guy all the way out?" Bakugo had come over and snatched it from him.

"It's going in the trash!"

Kirishima said no more as Bakugo went to throw it away. It really had been a nice picture of Bakugo. If the man smiled more, he'd be even more handsome.

Meanwhile, Shoto and Deku were out in the backyard. Shoto didn't like to play with toys, but Bakugo's mother seemed to think that he did, and she would often buy them for him. Deku was having fun tossing a tennis ball around. Shoto just watched Deku from the back porch, wondering how the dog could be so happy with a ball.

'Shoto! Are you sure you don't want to play?'

'Very sure.'

'I think you should give fun a try,' Deku said, dropping the ball in front of him. 'You might like it.'

'I'm a show dog. I don't 'play,' His master had gotten him a tennis ball but they never played with it.

Deku sat down. 'But…you're not a show dog anymore, so why not just be happy?'

'How dare you say that to me!' He growled.

Deku's ears flattened against his head. 'I didn't mean to make you angry. For what it's worth, I think your old family should have kept you and kept up with the competitions. Just because you have a mark on your face doesn't mean you're not worthy of competing. At least, that's what I think. You're still a great dog.'

Shoto's anger faded a bit at Deku's thoughtful words. The scar on his face made him undesirable for pageants and dog shows. It was why his family abandoned him. After the firecracker incident…he didn't want to think about it. Then, Deku came halfway up the porch steps and placed the brightly colored tennis ball in front of him. Shoto just looked at it, not making any moves. Deku nudged it forward with his nose, and it touched Shoto's front paw.

'Are you sure you don't want to play?'

'Don't we need a human to throw the ball?'

'Oh, yeah! That's right! I'll get my master,' Deku goes to the door and starts barking. It was his playful bark, he didn't want his master to get worried. A few seconds later, his master opens the door. Deku wags his tail and now has the ball in his mouth.

"You guys want to play fetch?" Kirishima asked with a smile, then called back to Bakugo that he was taking a break. "Let's see who's faster!" Kirishima ruffled the top of Shoto's head and walked down the steps. Both dogs followed him. Ready! GO!" Kirishima threw the ball. Deku raced after it, but Shoto was still just standing there. "That was your cue, Shoto," Kirishima said.

Deku brought the ball back happily, handing it to his master. 'Come on, Shoto! It's fun! Just try it once,'

Shoto gave a small snort. 'Fine. If it will keep you quiet…'

"Ready? And GO!" Kirishima threw the ball again.

Both Deku and Shoto raced after the ball. Shoto wanted to win, and he ran as fast as he could. His legs were longer than Deku's, so he could cover more ground faster. Shoto reached the ball first. Once he had it in his mouth, he didn't know what to do with it.

'Bring it back, and we'll race again!' Deku told Shoto.

Shoto did so, trotting back with a small sense of pride. Pride for what? Catching a ball? That was poor dog stuff. He came from a rich family and was a distinguished pedigree. Dogs like him do not play ball, so then, why was he racing after a tennis ball again? He also felt the need to chew on the ball too.

Bakugo was wondering what was taking Kirishima so long, so he went to the backdoor. He saw Kirishima playing with the dogs. Shoto was actually playing? He watched his dog race to catch the ball before the other got it. Kirishima was having a blast, as was Shoto. The corner of Bakugo's mouth turned up in a small smile. Eijiro Kirishima was a very kind and friendly man. However, his ex-boyfriend had been that way too at first. But another part of him doubted that Kirishima would ever be like him. The man was too trusting and open-hearted, an all around nice guy.

Suddenly, a large black bird landed on his fence post. Was that a crow or a raven? It seemed too large to be a crow. But then the dogs started reacting to it.

'Deku! You're needed at the farm!' Said Tokoyami, flapping his wings. 'There's a coyote nearby!'

'What?! I have to get to the farm!' Deku started to bark at his master, it was his warning bark.

"Deku, what's wrong?" Kirishima asked. Deku barked in the direction of the farm. "Something's wrong with the farm?"

Kirishima knew that bark. Something was wrong at the farm. Bakugo had come out to see what all the fuss was about. Kirishima told him he had to get back to the farm because something was happening, and that he would be back later. Kirishima and Deku left through the gate, running in the direction of the farm. The gate was left open, and Shoto suddenly took off after them.

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Bakugo ran after them. What the hell was going on?

Kirishima followed Deku all the way back to the farm where he could see the chickens were in distress. They were running around their pen, flapping and clucking. That's when Kirishima saw the animal bothering the chickens, it was a coyote.

Deku saw the coyote and ran towards it, barking viciously. The coyote saw him and wasn't about to turn away. It snarled at Deku, but Deku didn't back down, still barking in warning. Deku wasn't expecting Shoto to join him, but the other dog did, snarling. The coyote, seeing two dogs, knew it was outnumbered and turned to run back to the woods. Deku and Shoto chased him a few feet away, both barking, before they stopped. Tokoyami flew above them and after the coyote to make sure it stayed away.

Bakugo had just shown up as the coyote was chased off by none other than his dog! Shoto was standing next to Deku, his tail wagging as Kirishima went over to them. He couldn't believe Shoto would do that. It would seem that Deku was rubbing off on Shoto. First, Shoto was playing fetch, and now he was chasing coyotes. Come to think of it, he doesn't think he's ever heard Shoto bark like that.

"Way to go guys! Good boys!" Kirishima got on one knee and rubbed their ears.

Deku's tail was wagging so fast it would fall off, unlike Shoto's which was only a gentle swaying.

'Thanks for your help, Shoto! The coyote didn't stand a chance!'

'It was…interesting,' Shoto said, then he saw his master. He left Kirishima's ear scratching to go to Bakugo, looking up at him. He wanted praise from his master, so he sat down and waited.

"Um…good dog, I guess?" Bakugo said.

Shoto dog frowned. 'Well, that's better than nothing, I guess.' But then, Bakugo patted him on the head. He gave him two pats. 'I'll take it,'

"Well, that was some excitement for the day huh?" Kirishima said to Bakugo.

"I can't believe Shoto helped chase it away," Bakugo said. "He normally doesn't do things like that. He's a very prim and proper dog,"

"I guess he just needed a bit of fresh country autumn air!" Kirishima grinned. "You want to come in for a beer or wine?"

"No, I have a little more work to do before I turn in. you don't have to come back, though. Stay on the farm and watch for that coyote to come back."

"Are you sure you don't want any more help?" Kirishima asked.

Bakugo nodded. "I'm sure. And thanks for today, I guess," He mumbled the last part.

"Well, okay then. See you around, Bakugo. And you too, Shoto!"

The next morning, Bakugo got up early and let Shoto out while he made some coffee. His back and shoulders hurt from all the unpacking he did yesterday. But with Kirishima's help, he got more done than expected. It was a little chilly this morning, so he had to put on his robe for a bit of extra warmth. But just as he was pouring his coffee, he heard a truck driving up followed by two honks.

'What the hell?' Bakugo walked to the front window with his coffee cup and saw Kirishima in a pickup truck. The bed of the truck had a variety of vegetables in baskets. The dog stuck his head out from the back window of the truck. 'Now what does he want?'

"Morning!" Kirishima called.

Bakugo went out onto the porch. "Why are you honking this early?" He asked with a growl.

"I'm going to the farmers market in the city and thought you'd like to come for a ride? We can make a stop at one of my gyms, too. I need to check up on them anyway."

Bakugo thought about it, and he was starting to get a little weary of Kirishima's friendly (and neighborly) intentions. That's what got him into his last relationship, and look where that took him. But there was something…alluring about Eijiro Kirishima that made his heart beat a little faster. It was embarrassing, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be so close to Kirishima in the truck. But that would mean he was scared, and Katuski Bakugo is never scared! Only…cautious.

"Let me go get dressed,"

TBC