Welcome back to another chapter! If you read the title, Izuku and friends get to go volunteer at the pet shelter. Ayane makes a return as well. So I hope you enjoy the chapter.
The morning sun was shining through the window as Izuku took a seat at his desk. The sound of graphite against paper filled the empty classroom. Izuku smiled to himself, enjoying the early silence. That silence was broken when the door slid open. Looking up, Izuku was surprised to see Ayane there early. When she spotted Izuku, a large smile crossed her face and she bounded over.
"Midoriya, good morning!" Ayane said standing next to him.
"M-morning Akari-san, you're here early." Izuku returned the smile with a shy one of his own.
"I wanted to find you before the rest of the class got in. Man, are some of them asses." Ayane rolled her eyes while Izuku nodded in agreement. "Anyways, my mom works at an animal shelter, right. They are having an adoption fair this weekend but the normal volunteers are all busy. So I am scouting around for help. Would you be interested in helping?"
Izuku's eyes shined, "An adoption fair? That sounds interesting. I'd be more than happy to help this weekend. Can't say no to some more community service hours." Izuku's eyebrows scrunched up for a moment before he tilted his head. "If you need, I know four other people who would probably be interested in helping out as well."
"Really? That would be great," Ayane said bouncing on her toes. "Let me text you the info then so you can send it to them."
Izuku found himself blushing a little as he and Ayane traded contacts. When he got the info, Izuku wasted no time copying it over to the group chat, to which Eijiro and Himiko were soon added to upon meeting last time. Izuku had to raise an eyebrow at the near-instant response from Eijiro confirming he would be there. Himiko, Koyoka, and Mina soon followed with their own agreement.
"Well, it looks like they will be there as well," Izuku said looking up at Ayane, who was busy looking at her own phone at the time. She almost dropped her phone before managing to pocket it safely. "That was super fast. Awesome! Mom'll be happy to know there be a lot of volunteers. Thanks a bunch, Midoriya, I am glad I could count on you. I catch you later when class starts!" Ayane said as she bowed to the boy and made her way to the door.
"Happy to help!" Midoriya said with a large smile.
As Ayane left the classroom, his attention was drawn to the group chat that was going a mile a minute. It seemed that the girls were very excited about working with cute pets. Eijiro was excited that the possibility of large dogs. Izuku tossed out that he was hoping there was a bunny or two. This had the girls going overdrive at the idea of a bunny being there. Eijiro sent a few messages, mostly talking about how manly it would be to work with the animals.
Well, the weekend was going to be interesting for sure at least.
000
The rest of the week passed quickly and Izuku found himself standing outside the local animal shelter with his friends about 15 mins before they were supposed to be there. Himiko was bouncing around along with Mina. Kyoka and Eijiro had excited smiles as Izuku pushed open the door.
"Welcome to Jawaa's Pet Shelter!" a warm voice greeted them. Standing behind a counter, a middle-aged brunette smiled at the gathered teens. "If you're here for the adoption fair, it doesn't start for about another hour."
"Um, actually we were asked by Akari-san to come help volunteer?" Izuku said with a nervous smile.
"Oh, you're Midoriya and friends, thank you so much for coming. We're so short staff that it was only Ayane and me here. Please just call me Lui," Lui said bowing.
The other teens greeted her with a bow as well. Before Lui could say anything, Ayane burst into the room from the back doors.
"Good morning Midoriya and others!" Ayane said as her hands sparked a little.
"Morning Akari-san," Izuku said with a wave though Ayane huffed at him.
"Drop the honorifics already Midoriya, we going to be working together today. And call me Ayane, it would be confusing with me and mom here otherwise."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head while nodding. Ayane gave an approving nod before she introduced herself to the others. She and Mina seemed to become instant friends along with Himiko and Eijiro. Kyoka seemed to accept her, though was certainly not as energetic as the others. Kyoka and Izuku shared a smile at being surrounded by excitable people.
Ayane corralled them to the back where the animals were. There was the standard fair of dogs, cats, a few kittens, and puppies. Among them were also different kinds of birds, bunnies, and the odd lizard. The group stood outside a double door at the end of the room of animals.
"Right, so that is the first area of the shelter. Pretty simple, yeah? Well, Midoriya especially, you're going to like this next area." Ayane pushed open the double doors to reveal a much larger area. As soon as the group stepped into the room all kinds of sounds, lights, and smells bombarded the teens. A fine mist sprayed throughout the area causing the rush to go away.
"Damn, I think getting hit by a truck would be kinder than that," Kyoka said holding her head.
"Sorry, the animals are normally not that bad," Ayane said putting her hands together. "I guess the smell of strangers set them on edge. But no worries, this calming mist will keep them from using their quirks."
"Quirked animals?" Izuku's eyes had stars in them as he began to move from kennel to kennel. All the while mumbling to himself.
"Aaaand we lost him folks," Mina said before giggling.
"Got to admire his passion for it," Ayane said with a small smile.
"To be so unashamed to follow his passion makes Midori-bro manly." Kirishima grinned before trailing after Izuku.
"Right, let me show you what's here and then I walk you through your duties for today." With that, Ayane started the last part of her tour.
000
The group of teens had a few hiccups in the beginning but soon found themselves working like a well-oiled machine.
Kyoka was standing at the counter sorting some paperwork when she spotted something through the glass doors. In an instant, she ducked behind the counter and curled up into a ball. When the others looked at her she just put a finger to her lips while glaring.
The doors opened to a soft chime breaking the teens away from their friend.
They quickly realized why their Kyoka was hiding when they saw a tall blonde man and a woman that looked like a more mature Kyoka walk up to the counter.
"Hello dears, I was wondering if our daughter, Kyoka was here?" Kyoka's mother said, "Please don't tell me she's hiding behind the counter from us." Kyoka's mother made a face of mock hurt when she saw the teens' eyes glance behind the counter.
"Mother please." Kyoka popped out from behind the counter blushing.
"Ah-ha, there's my girl. Embarrassed of us now dear? Guess she's reaching that age." Kyoka's father said with a booming laugh.
Kyoka groaned as she hide her face in her hands. The other teens chuckled a little at Kyoka being embarrassed as Mina and Toga gave her a pat on the back.
"H-hello Mr. and Mrs. Jiro, I'm Izuku Midoriya," Izuku said giving a quick bow.
"So you're the boy Kyoka's always talking about. What are your intentions to my daughter, hmm?" Kyoka's father said crossing his arms.
While Izuku became a blushing mess, Kyoka put herself between the two and glared down her dad.
"Leave Izuku alone. If you're here to bother my friends then please just leave." Kyoka's voice was ice cold causing her father to flinch back while her mother placed a hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry dear, I'll be sure to have a long talk with your father later. We just wanted to meet your friends and see the kind of work you're doing. We're so proud of you for stepping forward to become a hero." Kyoka's mother said breaking the tension and causing Kyoka to relax.
"Sorry mom, I…" Kyoka trailed off as her mother just gave a reassuring smile.
"Why don't you introduce us, dear?"
Kyoka felt herself grin as she began to introduce all of her friends. As they sounded off, Kyoka gave her parents a tour of the animals. As the Jirou family was walking through the back with the quirked animals, they found themselves standing before a white and yellow cockatiel.
"This one is my favorite of the quirked animals," Kyoka said as she pulled on some gloves and opened the cage. The cockatoo calmly walked off its perch and onto Kyoka's hand. "Hey there Maestro, can you sing Boulevard of Broken Dreams for me?"
Maestro bobbed its head before opening its beak and the opening riff came out. It sang a nearly identical song to the original.
"Oh wow, that was nearly a perfect copy of the song," Kyotoku said as he clapped for the bird.
"Maestro is such a pretty bird with such a pretty voice. How did he end up here?" Mika asked.
"An elderly man gave Maestro up after raising him since he was a baby. Wanted to find a new home for Maestro." Kyoka answered before raising her hand back to Maestro's perch.
The bird had other plans as it upped up Kyoka's arm, settled on her shoulder, and rubbed his head against her.
"Aww, seems Maestro like you dear," Mika said sneaking a few pictures.
"You know, maybe we could use a new pet in the house?" Kyotoku said rubbing his chin.
"Mom used to have a cockatiel, it lived to be about twenty which is great for the species." Mika tapped her chin. "I believe I still remember most of the important stuff. What you say Kyoka, would you like to add the Maestro to the family?"
Kyoka looked at the bird that was trying to preen her hair.
"Yeah, why not, this little guy has grown on me," Kyoka said gently petting its back with a finger.
"Excellent, your dad and I shall handle the paperwork. We leave you to it, dear." Mika gave Kyoka a kiss on the forehead before heading back out to the front desk.
Maestro copied Mika's action and the noise of the kiss causing Kyoka to blush hard.
"You silly bird, what am I going to do with you?" Kyoka said gently rubbing Maestro's head.
000
Izuku was filing away some finished paperwork when he saw a familiar family walk in.
"Oba-san, oji-san, it's been a while. Hey Kacchan," Izuku said giving the Bakugou family a wave,
"Izuku-chan! Look how much you've grown. I'm so proud of you, going out and doing community service. You even look like you've put on some muscle." Mizuki rubbed Izuku's head causing the boy to blush while smiling. "If only Katsuki was more like you."
Katsuki was nearly growling before Masaru put a hand on his shoulder. Izuku blinked never seeing Masaru reprimand Katsuki before. The younger Bakugou humphed and crossed his arm.
"Izuku," Masaru said with a deep frown, "it's come to our attention that you and Bakugou are no longer friends and that he has raised his hands and quirk to you."
Izuku was about to stutter out an excuse before Mitsuki bowed her head along with Masaru.
"We're sorry for never noticing before. I hope you forgive us," Mitsuki said.
Izuku took a deep breath before he answered, "I never blamed either of you oba-san, oji-san. There's nothing to forgive."
Mitsuki and Masaru sighed as they smiled at Izuku.
"You're a good kid Izuku, don't let people take advantage of your kindness though," Mitsuki said patting the boy on the shoulder, "Now that's out of the way, Masaru and I have been wanting to get a dog. Do you have a recommendation?"
Izuku perked up, "I think I know the perfect one. If you follow me."
Leading the family to the very back of the shelter where the quirked animals were. Izuku stopped infront of a kennel that carried the faint smell of smoke. Inside the kennel was a small fluffy pomeranian. When it saw the Bakugou's it barked happily before shaking its fur. Loose hair sparked up and quickly burnt away.
"Oh my god, it's perfect Izuku-chan. Look dear, its fur matches our hair," Mitsuki said gushing over the dog.
"What were those sparks about Izuku-kun?" Masaru asked smiling down at Mitsuki.
"You won't ever have to worry about shedding with little Millie here. She's able to cause any of her shed fur to spark and burn away. She's a bit of a fire hazard if there is a lot of flammables, but I doubt that's a problem for you," Izuku said beaming.
"She is perfect for sure. You know how to pick out the best one Izuku-chan. Can I hold her?" Mitsuki asked. Izuku nodded and opened the door to the kennel. The pomeranian bounded up to Mitsuki and happily sniffed her face before licking her.
Masaru smiled at how happy the dog and Mitsuki were and Katsuki looked at the dog with some longing.
Izuku smiled to himself at a job well done with this one.
000
It was sometime in the afternoon when the teens had finished cleaning up the adoption fair. A record number of animals were adopted today and the teens were enjoying some smoothies and donuts that Lui had gotten for them.
"I can't believe you gave Bakugou a pomeranian that constantly sparks. There's going to be constant explosions in that house," Ayane said sipping her smoothie.
"I doubt they have many issues. Their house is explosion resistant and Kacchan doesn't let his sweat build up around his house," Izuku said biting into a donut.
"Why do you know that?" Mina asked tilting her head.
"Kacchan and I knew each other since we were in diapers. Mitsuki-obasan, and mom were close friends in highschool and college. So we have some history."
"Yeah like how he belittles your dreams constantly as well as how the rest of the school seem to be in on it," Ayane said as her hand caught on fire briefly singeing her donut.
"Is he the reason why you had a lot of burn marks on your uniform when we met?" Himiko asked softly, though there was a sharp edge to her voice.
Izuku said nothing before hesitantly nodding. The others instantly looked ready to fight except for Mina who took that moment to hug Izuku. The others also let go of their anger and joined the hug. It did not take long until Izuku had tears streaming down his face. The crying boy doing his best to hug everyone.
"If that bastard ever tries to do anything again, I'm going to fuck him up," Ayane said as Kyoka readily agreed as well.
"Midori-bro, we got your back." Eijiro said thumping his chest.
"Kiri-kun is right. No matter what, we're here for you from now on." Mina said giving Izuku one last squeeze.
"They would have to lock me up to keep me away," Himiko said burying her face into Izuku's shoulder.
"Thanks everyone, that… That means so much more than you would ever know." Izuku wiped away his tears and gave his friends a beaming smile. "You're some of the most awesome people ever and I'm glad I get to call you my friend."
Everyone could not resist the urge as they gave Izuku one last group hug.
Lui who was standing a little ways from the teens smiled as she snagged a photo.
So I hope everyone enjoyed this fun chapter. I was thinking of maybe getting Izuku some quirked pet that would act as his sidekick in the future but that would be too much too soon I think. Would be a fun idea to return to in the future though. Honestly, I'm amazed Izuku was not an animal hoarder just finding strays off the street. Then again maybe future Japan is really good about things like that, who knows.
Kyoka got a pet singing cockatiel because I at least wanted to give someone a pet. So a bird with a mimicry quirk that's fond of music along with Kyoka was a bit of a no-brainer.
Bakugo's and Izuku's history gets exposed and Izuku's friends rally together to comfort him. This won't be the last time they meet of course. That's future me's problem to write though. But I'm sure yall are wondering what happened to lead up to this apology. That will be addressed next chapter!
Hope you have a good day!
PK OUT!