Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shouto a routine – a routine that he'd follow religiously.

Every Sunday, after visiting his mother, he'd take the long way back to the dorms in the hopes of meeting some cats along the way. He'd normally find some, but most of the time, they wouldn't let him get anywhere near them.

Shouto usually had to settle for tossing them some treats and watching from a distance.

Maybe today would be the day he finally got to pet a stray cat. Shouto sighed wistfully, peeping into an alley to see if there were any cats. As usual, there were a few, but half of them darted away at the sight of him.

Maybe they'd gotten scared of him when he came barreling into this alley to chase down a villain the other day. Sometimes, Shouto really hated being a hero. Unfortunately, he was filled with too much spite to give up now.

Shouto sighed once more and crouched down. Rifling through his bag, he pulled out a small packet of cat treats and opened it. He tossed a few treats towards the cats, careful to make sure none got hit or scared off by him. Once they were all eating, Shouto pulled his phone out.

He liked to document how many cats he'd seen in a day with pictures

So engrossed in trying to take as many pictures of the cats as possible, Shouto didn't notice one of them approaching him until its fur brushed against his thigh.

"Oh." Shouto whispered, staying as still as possible. "Hello, cat."

The cat meowed back at him primly, its tail upright and friendly. With unguarded curiosity, it nosed around at Shouto's bag and gently headbutted his knee as soon as it was done.

"Do you want some treats too?" Shouto asked it – him? –, reaching for a few more treats and placing them in front of it cautiously. The cat stooped down to sniff it a few times before it turned its nose up at the treats and looked away, tail flicking in agitation.

He meowed again, louder this time, and pawed at the treats, as if to tell Shouto he wouldn't eat it. Shouto nodded; this cat knew. what he deserved. He carefully pulled out the – more expensive – wet cat treats that he kept on hand in case any cats were brave enough to come close.

He tore it open as quietly as possible, but the crinkling noise of the plastic still made the cat's ears go flat against his head and hiss, backing away. "No, don't be scared." He whispered desperately.

Shouto pushed some of the treats out and brought it closer to the cat. He eyed the treat warily and, after some time, came close enough to inspect it. After a few evaluating sniffs, he began licking it up neatly, placing one paw on Shouto's arm to keep him still as he did.

Shouto was awed – he'd never been this close to a cat before. He stared at him longingly and wondered if the cat would let him pet him. He really was gorgeous, with long, beautiful smokey fur that looked like it would have felt like clouds.

When the cat was finishing up the last of its treats, he brought his hand closer to it, trying his best not to startle it. It froze for a moment, glancing at his hand suspiciously. Shouto tried not to let his disappointment show as he brought his hand close enough for the cat to sniff.

He could be patient. What was the purpose of the stake outs drills he had to practise if he couldn't apply it to befriending cats?

He bopped Shouto's hand with the tip of his nose, before easily nuzzling against it. Shouto fought to keep his excitement at bay as he began to pet the cat, earning a loud, affection purr. He sounded a little like an engine, Shouto decided.

"You're so pretty. No, handsome?" Shouto whispered, giving him plenty of chin scratches. "Perfect." He said, nodding to himself decisively.

He sat there petting the cat for a while before he checked his phone. Hm, he should probably start heading back to UA now. Shouto sighed, giving the cat one last scratch under his chin as he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. If only he could stay with the cat for longer.

"Bye, cat." Shouto said mournfully. "I hope I'll see you next week."

Shouto began to walk out of the alley, but the cat bumped his shin, tilting his head up at him questioningly. "I have to go, cat." Shouto said, as if he could understand. A few steps later, and the cat's side was still brushing up against his shin. Five – then ten – minutes of walking and the cat was still behind him.

Shouto made it to the end of the street with the cat still right at his heels. He kept a close eye on him when he crossed the street and the cat trotted after him. Soon, they were close enough to UA that they could see it, yet the cat never once faltered in his mission to follow Shouto.

He felt a little guilty, staring down at the cat's cute face. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring Princess inside with him. Pets, and stray animals, weren't allowed in the dorms.

~~~

"Princess, no!" Shouto said, darting forward to scoop her up and away from the half-completed English assignment on his desk. Yes, he'd lost to the urge to smuggle a cat in, yes, he did manage to successfully smuggle a cat in.

The former was surprisingly difficult to fight against, but the latter was much easier than Shouto thought it would be. Maybe it was because there was practically no one in the dorms, and most notably, neither Kouda nor Sensei.

Luck was truly on his side.

What was not on his side, however, was the cat he picked up. She'd been, rather aptly, named "Princess" after she refused to eat the dry cat food Shouto had set out for her and Shouto, in a moment of desperation, sprinkled a bit of the boiled egg meant for him after learning cats could eat egg whites. Princess had immediately eaten it without complaint, and Shouto decided right then and there that she was a diva, hence the name "Princess".

Well, originally it was "Prince", until Shouto learnt that Princess was actually a girl. Finding out that piece of information had to be the most uncomfortable thing Shouto had ever done to date. Maybe in his entire life.

"Sorry, Princess." Shouto apologized again, rubbing her cheek soothingly. She nuzzled his hand cheerfully, being the only one here who didn't feel awkward. Maybe it had something to do with her being a cat.

Ah. Right, speaking of eating, he probably should have given her a bowl of water to drink from too. At times like this, Shouto was truly grateful for the collapsible bowls he had bought in case he ran into a cat who he thought was hungry. It was probably one of his better investments, he thought.

Shouto picked it up and headed to his bathroom, intending to wash the bowl. It hadn't been used in a long time, and Shouto couldn't remember the last time he'd cleaned it out so it was for the best. When he left the bathroom with the clean bowl, the first thing Shouto noticed was the distinct lack of Princess in the room. She wasn’t sitting on the desk where Shouto had last seen her, nor was she on any of his dressers.

There weren't many places Princess could hide in Shouto's simple room, so he checked all the places he could think of off the top of his head. Absolutely nothing. Shouto was stumped, for just a moment.

Then, Shouto caught sight of the balcony door that he could have sworn he'd closed semi-opened, with no Princess on his balcony and his heart dropped. He dropped her bowl of water onto his desk and scrambled to the balcony and his eyes darted around frantically.

"Princess!" Shouto gasped. She was on the decorative ledge that went around the entirety of their dorm building and very blankly stared up at Shouto, licking her paw innocently. As if she hadn’t just given Shouto ten a dozen heart attacks in a row. Little devil.

"Don't do that! You gave me a heart attack!" Shouto chided. "Just stay there for a second. I'll find something to bring you up with."

As he skidded back inside, Shouto wondered how he'd managed to get himself into such a predicament; attempting to negotiate with a silly cat that got itself stuck. He scanned his room for anything he could use to pull Princess back up.

Eventually, he decided on dumping out the contents of an old, sturdy backpack that was made by the Support class for one of their assignments. If it could hold up to fire and getting slashed, it would probably be fine to use to pull one cat up, Shouto decided.

Unfortunately, because it seemed like Princess was out to get him, at the exact moment he came back with the bag and an extra sheet to tie to it in case it wasn't long enough, he saw Princess leaping onto Bakugou's balcony.

"Princess!" Shouto hissed. "Why would you go down there?!"

And because Princess was a cat, and consequently could not speak a language Shouto understood, she meowed out to him primly; which Shouto took to translating as "Don't ask stupid questions."

Shouto was utterly appalled by the behaviour of this cat; he'd never met a cat more entitled or spolied than this one. Tying the bed sheet to the handle of the bag securely, he threw it down so that Princess could get in from Bakugou's balcony.

"Okay– That's. That’s fair. Please get in the bag so I can pull you up."

Princess didn't even attempt to acknowledge that statement, but Shouto was able to see her tail flicking over the edge of the balcony lazily. His own cat was blatantly ignoring him.

"Oh, come on!" Shouto pleaded. "Come on, just get in the bag–"

Shouto wanted to curse out every God he knew when he heard the balcony door beneath him open. He thought everyone had gone home for the day! If he had known that Bakugou was in the dorms, he might have been able to reason himself out of sneaking a cat inside.

"What are you doing Icyhot?" Bakugou asked, his customary anger washed away with genuine bewilderment. "Why's your bag hanging over the balcony–"

A pause. Shouto couldn't see Bakugou's face, but he could sense the aura of confusion radiating off of him tripling from his own balcony.

"Why the fuck is there a cat here?" Bakugou asked slowly. Shouto thinks he's meant to answer that in place of the cat, so he does.

"She's mine. I got her today," Shouto responded matter-of-factly. It was the first time Bakugou and him had ever had a civil conversation, and he intended to keep it that way for as long as possible to dissuade him from tattling to Aizawa.

"You just picked up a cat while you were out?" Bakugou said, disbelief colouring his voice. "Does Sensei know about this?"

Shouto opened his mouth, and then thought better of lying and closed it. "... Will you help me get her back up?" He asked, in a poor attempt to distract him.

"So he doesn't know," Bakugou concluded, unfortunately correctly. "You picked up a cat while you were out and decided to sneak it back into the dorms. Where anyone could have caught you. Like I just did."

"... Yeah," Shouto admitted. "Are you going to tell Sensei about her?"

A beat of silence passed.

*Nah," Bakugou said eventually. "It'll be funnier to see you crash and burn once you get caught with a fucking cat in your dorm."

Shouto sighed in relief. Bakugou was much nicer than he made himself out to be, regardless of his intentions on why he wouldn't rat Shouto out. Maybe he was just as emotionally repressed as Shouto was, he couldn't judge.

"Can you help me get her in the bag so I can lift her back up?"

"Are you sure that bag can lift her up without snapping?" Bakugou asked skeptically. Shouto didn't know he could care so much about anything. He was learning a lot about Bakugou today.

"It should be able to." Shouto called back down.

"Better be able to." Bakugou muttered, though Shouto's not certain he was meant to hear that. Maybe he was; Bakugou was exactly the type of person who would shit-talk someone to their face. A loud, indignant meow was the only sign that Shouto had on whether Bakugou was helping or not.

"Oh, don't fucking meow at me like that!" Bakugou snapped. Shouto peered over the edge a little more, hoping to see what was happening. An action that didn’t help at all. "Don't cling onto me! No, dumbass–! Figures you'd be as stupid as your fucking owner–"

"That's rude." Shouto told him. "She's just a cat."

"And your cat is fucking dumb is what she is–"

Shouto tuned him out and debated his options. From his own balcony, he couldn't see, let alone help Bakugou, so he quickly made up his mind on what he should do next.

"Bakugou," He called out. "Take a few steps back."

"Hah–?!"

Without waiting for an answer, Shouto vaulted over his balcony railings, hanging onto the edge and using his momentum to swing himself onto Bakugou's balcony. Bakugou, who was standing with Princess draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, gaped at him.

"Hello," Shouto offered blandly. Bakugou's eyes narrowed at him so quickly that Shouto might have believed there was a villain behind him if he didn't know any better.

"Get your fucking cat," He said flatly.

Shouto nodded and reached out to scoop Princess off of Bakugou under her arms. He held her out in front of him uncomfortably and in response, Princess yowled, squirming and flailing around furiously in an attempt to get down. She was never happy when Shouto was holding her.

She got dangerously close to scratching Shouto when Bakugou reached out again and grasped Princess around her middle.

"You fucking stupid or something?" Bakugou sneered, gently pulling Princess away from Shouto's hold back into his. Where she had been wriggling away from Shouto, she sat prettily in Bakugou's arms, staring back at Shouto unblinkingly. Shouto thought it was a little unfair – he was the one who sneaked her into the dorms. He would have thought that he’d be the favourite.

"You shouldn't carry a fucking cat like that." Bakugou told him.

"Really?"

Bakugou gave him a dirty look. "You've known her for all of one day. No, less! Of course she doesn't trust you to hold her without supporting her legs. She'll keep thrashing until she feels like she's not going to fall."

Shouto blinked, feeling a little sorry for Princess now. Had he been scaring her this entire time? He hoped she would accept his apology if he did.

"I didn't know that." Shouto admitted. "How do I hold her, then?"

"You hold her like you hold a fucking toddler." At Shouto's uncomprehending blink, he added, "You cradle her against your chest and support her hind legs. Like how I'm holding her right now."

Shouto observed him closely; the ease and experience of which he was holding Princess with didn't go unnoticed by him. "I didn't realise you knew how to take care of cats." Shouto noted carefully.

Bakugou shrugged – or, as much as he could with an armful of cat. "I used to catsit for my neighbour."

"Oh." Shouto said. "I didn't know you catsitted. Midoriya never mentioned it."

Bakugou gave him another dirty look, turning around to walk back into his room. Given that he still had Shouto's cat, Shouto walked in after him. Bakugou tsked upon hearing Shouto's footsteps behind him, grumbling that "Normal people wait to be invited in.".

Shouto, personally, thought that normal people would have asked for permission first before kidnapping someone else's cat.

Without warning, Katsuki spun around and sat down with his back to his bed and Princess on his lap. Shouto startled, almost tripping over him before he caught his balance and sat down in front of them.

"What did you even name her?" Bakugou asked impatiently. Shouto blinked; he hadn't realised he'd forgotten to tell Bakugou what her name was.

"Her name is Princess." Shouto answered.

"We are not naming her Princess."

"Why not–?" Shouto frowned, before processing what exactly Bakugou had said. "We?" Shouto echoed, cocking his head to the side.

"We," Bakugou confirmed, glancing at him in annoyance. "Unless your dumbass actually knows how to take care of a cat. Or any animal for that matter."

Shouto opened his mouth, wanting to say that yes, he did know how to take care of animals, but no, he didn't actually know nor did he have any sort of experience with them. It'd be good to have someone who does, Shouto decided.

"Princess is a good name for her." Shouto insisted instead, reaching out to stroke her fluffy coat. Bakugou gave Princess a pitying look.

"You think that's a shit name too, don't you?" He asked her, with more empathy than Shouto's ever heard him direct towards a human. Princess, who Shouto was starting to think of as a traitor, headbutted Bakugou's hand shakily and meowed loudly, as if she was in agreement.

"That's not fair." Shouto frowned. "She just agrees to anything you say."

"Maybe she just likes me better." Bakugou shrugged, smiling smugly. He scratched Princess behind her ear and she purred, incredibly satisfied, stretching her paws out in front of her real far.

Shouto kind of wanted to squish them.

Carefully, he reached out to hold one paw between his index finger and his thumb, peering over at her to make sure she was okay with it. She purred even louder, tail flicking behind her as if she couldn't be anymore pleased. Shouto squished them gently, watching her claws protract and retract.

"They're so squishy." Shouto said to no one in particular, awed. "I didn't know they felt like that."

Bringing Princess back to his dorm with him had to be the best decision he'd ever made. He silently thanked their ancestors – domesticating cats was the one thing they got right. Everything else, not so much.

"Cats." Bakugou said, which only served to affirm Shouto's thoughts. He rubbed the top of her head and gently combed through the fur on her back, dislodging a few tufts of loose fur. He stared at his hand, baffled.

"The fuck? Have you even brushed her yet?"

"I tried, but she wouldn't sit still."

"How about bathing her?"

"... I didn't know how to do that. Don’t cats hate water?"

Katsuki glanced at him calculatingly. "Bring her brush, some treats and dish soap down. I'll teach you how to brush and wash her."

"You can use dish soap to wash a cat?" Shouto asked curiously.

"Cat shampoo is better, but dish soap works fine." Katsuki said, rolling his eyes. "Hurry up and get her shit." He added, in a tone that heavily implied that he'd take his offer back if Shouto kept talking.

Shouto darted back onto the balcony before that could happen. He might as well figure out a way to get back to his own from Bakugou's, then how to lift Princess back up – it wouldn't do to carry her through the hallways where she could be seen at any time.

~~~

Every so often, Princess would disappear from Shouto's room. Shouto was worried, until he caught her leaping from his balcony down to Bakugou's to sneak into his room a couple of days later.

"Is this where you go when you're not in my room?" Shouto asked her curiously, stepping into Bakugou's dorm after her.

Princess was still, unfortunately, unable to speak so she simply turned her nose up at Shouto disdainfully and leaped onto Bakugou's bed. Shouto shook his head fondly – she really was a spoiled diva, as Bakugou had called her. He wondered if she got it from her previous owner, if she had one.

He gently sat down next to her and pulled his phone out to try to get some work done. He would've rather used his laptop, but he left it upstairs to trail Princess. Shouto sighed, and leaned over to pet the top of Princess's head.

She was lucky she was so cute.

In spite of his original plan, Shouto didn't do much but take tons of photos of Princess. He's been taking a lot of photos lately. Mostly of Princess and then the occasional ones of Bakugou looking grumpy while Princess snuggled up to him adoringly. They were cute pictures, sue him.

He was starting to understand what Uraraka was talking about when she said that taking pictures was essential to saving memories. Oh. Maybe he should send some of the pictures to Bakugou so that he could save these memories too.

But first, he had to show off how perfect Princess's loaf was.

"Bakugou," Shouto announced when Katsuki entered an hour later. "Princess is loafing."

Bakugou blinked at him, once, twice. He shut the door behind him, with more gentleness than Shouto had ever associated with him. Bakugou took in a slow, deep breath as he dropped his bag by his desk and turned to Shouto.

"The fuck are you in my room for?!" Bakugou roared.

Shouto tilted his head to the side. "Because Princess is in here? And your balcony was open?" He answered. Shouto thought it should have been obvious. He was the one leaving the balcony slightly open for Princess to come in, after all.

"I wasn't even in the room." Bakugou seethed. "And why are you on my bed?!"

"Princess is on your bed." Shouto pointed out.

"She's a cat. She doesn't know shit! What's your excuse?!"

"She's my cat." Shouto answered primly. "I should be given a free pass just for that."

"You–" Bakugou sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just get out of my bed."

Shouto obediently got up and sat down next to it, despite feeling utterly wronged. Bakugou flopped onto his bed backwards, and Princess instantly got up from her loaf to sit on top of his torso. It really wasn't fair how much favouritism Princess had.

"Why does Princess like you more?" Shouto asked.

"Because I'm better than you in every way?" Bakugou answered, in a way that made it obvious he believed it.

Shouto frowned, scratching the underside of Princess's chin as he flicked through every theory he could come up with. He couldn't think of anything, until a sudden epiphany finally hit him.

"Your name is Katsuki." Shouto said.

Bakugou glowered at him from the corner of his eye. "Wow, incredible observation skills, Halfie. What else are you going to deduce next?" He muttered.

Shouto continued on, too used to Bakugou's jabs to take offence. "I wonder if that's why Princess likes you more. Because you're Kat-suki. Like Cat-suki."

"That's the stupidest thing you've said so far. How the hell would she know my name's Katsuki? You've never even called me that once." Bakugou grumbled, uninterested.

Shouto blinked at him. "Do you want me to call you by your given name?" He asked Bakugou.

Bakugou turned to look at him, plainly horrified. "No." He said.

That meant "yes" in Bakugou, Shouto might not be knowledgeable in the social aspect, but he at least knew that much.

"All my best friends have allowed me to call them by their given name. I'm glad you've acknowledged that we are best friends too, Katsuki."

"Don't fucking call me that. We aren't even friends, don't go making up random bullshit, Half-and-Half bastard–"

"You may call me Shouto as well, Katsuki."

Katsuki made a distorted sound of pure, unadulterated rage before gently placing Princess down and lunging straight at Shouto. Violent, yet not unexpected.

Shouto jerked backwards to avoid getting attacked, accidentally falling flat on his back. "Ouch." He said. Katsuki cackled loudly as Shouto sat up.

"Fucking deserved." Katsuki sneered, peering over at him. "Stay down there and don’t get in my bed ever again."

"You're being rude–"

"Keep talking and I'm kicking you out of my room." Katsuki threatened, narrowing his eyes at Shouto, just daring him to say something.

Just because Shouto had always been told that he had no self preservation instincts, he decided to push a little further. In the name of science!

And partially for his own amusement.

"You shouldn't treat your best friend like that–"

Shouto got kicked out after that. And by kicked out, he meant "dragged out by Katsuki and locked outside on the balcony."

No matter how many times Shouto apologized, Katsuki wouldn't budge, very pointedly ignoring Shouto as he played with Princess. Shouto had to go back to his dorm without his cat that day.

~~~

"Princess? You here?" Shouto called out, stepping into his room. Princess wasn't in his room, but this had happened so many times before that it felt like a habit to simply throw his bag over his shoulder and swing down onto Katsuki's balcony.

Seeing Kirishima gaping at him certainly wasn't part of this routine, though.

"... Hello." Shouto greeted, hoping Kirishima wouldn't ask him what he was doing on Katsuki's balcony. He took a quick glance into Katsuki's room to see if he was in there to make up an excuse for Shouto.

Unfortunately empty, with the exception of Princess lounging on his bed and licking her paw.

"... Hello?" Kirishima responded. "You, uh. Whatcha doin' over there?"

His mouth flapped uselessly as he attempted to think up an excuse. "I… needed help. With… with the assigned reading. Yeah."

Shouto was certain that no one would have believed that excuse. He was already accepting his fate of trying to convince Kirishima to keep Princess a secret, in all honesty.

"Right, right…" Kirishima agreed hollowly. They stood there staring at each other for a few more uncomfortable seconds before Kirishima spoke again. "Listen, you don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone about you guys without your express permission. That wouldn't be manly of me."

"I… see?" Oh. He didn't know that Kirishima had known about Princess, let alone how long he'd known of her existence, but evidently he'd known of it long enough to keep it a secret. "You're a good friend." Shouto said resolutely.

"Aw, thanks bro! I'm happy for you and Bakugou!" Kirishima smiled at him, bright and cheery. Then, he added, suddenly serious. "Make him happy, okay? Don't tell him I told you this, but he's been pining for a long time."

"He has?" Shouto echoed, cocking his head to the side and blinking. He didn't know that Katsuki had wanted a cat for so long, but he probably should have guessed based on the way Katsuki had warmed up so easily to the idea of taking care of a cat with Shouto, of all people.

"Well, he's never explicitly said that, well, he'd probably kill me if he heard me right now, but–" Kirishima shrugged. "I have eyes, y'know?"

Shouto nodded because he was Katsuki's best friend – if there was anyone who could pick up on Katsuki's confusing words, it would have probably been him. Kirishima grinned at him, flashing him a thumbs up. Baffled, Shouto returned one and quickly escaped to the sanctuary that was Katsuki's room.

He dropped his bag on the floor by the dresser and walked over to Princess, sighing. He needed to hug her for a while after that emotionally stressing conversation. He intended to cuddle Princess for just a few minutes before starting on the homework that was piling up because of his procrastination.

Instead, he woke up a few hours later to Katsuki already in the room, writing at his desk. He blinked.

"Good–" Shouto paused, glancing at the clock. "Afternoon."

"You're getting too comfortable in my room." Katsuki grumbled, barely casting a glance back at him.

"Oh." Shouto said, surprised. He yawned and stretched out. "Am I really?"

Katsuki gave him a dirty look, pointedly staring Shouto down. His eyes stopped on a patch of exposed skin on his abdomen and his cheeks steadily grew pinker by the second. Shouto wondered why he was embarrassed – they changed in the locker rooms together, he should have already seen it before.

"You take a nap in your idiots' dorms when they're not there?" He huffed, turning back to his work.

"No. I guess not." Shouto answered thoughtfully. Katsuki scoffed at him. Shouto could have guessed that he had rolled his eyes too. He was starting to get a hang of predicting what Katsuki would do.

Either he was incredibly predictable, or Shouto genuinely was getting better. He preferred the latter. Shouto flipped over onto his front and reached out to pet Princess, who was lounging on Katsuki’s pillow as if she owned it. Truly, she was the most spoiled cat Shouto had ever met.

"You didn't wake me up?" Shouto asked, stroking Princess’s back.

Katsuki scoffed. "Princess was sleeping next to you. I couldn't bother her." He answered, as if that was a perfectly viable reason not to wake someone who was sleeping in your bed up. Shouto just nodded because he probably would have done the same. If Katsuki would ever come up to Shouto’s room and sleep there out of his own volition.

"Don't fucking look at me like that–"

"Katsuki." Shouto said before he could begin. "Why don't you use my given name?"

The sound of Katsuki's fast paced writing stilled. "Hah?"

Shouto carried on boldly, as if he didn't understand the underlying threat in that one noise. "My given name." He said again. "I've heard you use Kirishima's given name sometimes, so why not use mine as well?"

By this point, Katsuki had already turned around fully to glare at Shouto. "Sometimes." He emphasised. "Sometimes, when he's not being a moron, I use his name. I call him "Shitty Hair" every other time."

Shouto frowned. "But you've never used my given name before. Not even once."

"Because you're always a moron, Icyhot." Katsuki said snarkily, already turning back to his homework. Shouto sighed sadly, scratching Princess's head.

"Katsuki is so mean to me, Princess." Shouto told her woefully. "Get him to be nice to me."

"You're asking the cat that?" Katsuki asked dryly.

Shouto sniffed, more dramatically than what was necessary. "She's the only one I can trust."

"Princess! Come here, baby." Katsuki cooed, patting his thighs. Like the traitor she was, Princess immediately darted down and beelined straight to Katsuki. Shouto watched, utterly betrayed, as Katsuki picked her up and set her on his lap, much to her audible delight, based on the loud purrs that she began making.

"There's no one on my side here." Shouto said miserably, burying his face in Katsuki's bed.

Katsuki only laughed.

~~~

Princess needed new toys, Shouto decided as he picked up her latest victim; a now torn up stuffed mouse. He'd probably be finding stuffing everywhere around his room for the next few weeks. She really needed new toys.

But that came with the problem that he'd have to figure out a way to pay for the toys without using his father's credit card or he'd be questioned. Ah well, he could probably just withdraw cash on the way there. His father wouldn't miss some with how much he had in his account.

Probably. If it turned out to be a problem, it would be Future Shouto's, not his. Turning his attention back to the poor, destroyed toy and offered a mental prayer to it before he threw it away. It really deserved it after being absolutely brutalized by Princess.

All throughout their remedial classes, Shouto kept trying to ask Katsuki to go to the mall with him, but he was too busy beating others up during sparring. Hm. Shouto supposed that the saying “pets resemble their owners” applied here. Katsuki and Princess really were similar in some aspects.

"Katsuki," Shouto finally managed to call out to him in the locker rooms after their remedial lessons. "Can we go buy Princess cat toys later?"

Katsuki glared at him, and rolled his eyes before he spoke.

"And how the fuck are you gonna to pay for them?" He snapped quietly. "Can't use your dad's credit card like you always do or that flaming piece of trash is gonna start asking why you need cat supplies."

Shouto nodded; he'd prepared in advance to avoid that situation. "I brought cash." He said, waving his wallet. "I don't know if I brought enough, though."

"Let me see." Katsuki demanded, motioning for Shouto to hand him his wallet. Shouto did, on account of how Katsuki wasn't the type of person who would steal.

At least, in front of his could-be-slash-would-be victim. Katsuki riffled through the cash Shouto had brought silently then looked back up to him, his expression unreadable.

"50 thousand yen." Katsuki said. "You really brought 50 thousand yen to buy toys for your cat."

Shouto peered over to look at his wallet. "Is it still not enough?" He asked, worried. "I was worried that 10 thousand yen wouldn't be, so I brought a little more–"

"Is it still not enough?" Katsuki repeated incredulously. "How much do you think cat toys cost, dumbass!? Where the hell are you going to buy them from, huh?!"

Shouto blinked. "I don't know." He admitted. "Is there a popular cat toy brand that costs more?"

"You are so–" Katsuki cut himself off and sighed, immensely aggrieved. "Fucking rich kids."

Shouto blinked.

"Katsuki, you're a 'rich kid' too–"

"But socially aware enough to know that 50 thousand yen is way more money than needed to buy cat toys." Katsuki scoffs, tossing Shouto's wallet back to him. Without a glance back, he slung his bag over his shoulder in one smooth motion and strolled out of the locker room.

Shouto fumbled with his wallet for a moment before he snatched his bag and quickened his pace to catch up to Katsuki. "So I have enough money to buy cat toys for Princess?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yes, you have enough money to go shopping, you fucking– Ack–" Katsuki started, then choked when Camie came barreling into his side. She clung onto Katsuki's bicep tightly and squeezed, whining loudly.

"Shopping? Babes! I can-not believe you guys are going shopping without me!" She cried out, voiced pitched deliberately high and obnoxious. "That's totes so not cool."

"Get the fuck off me–" Katsuki hissed, shaking his arm fruitlessly in an attempt to shove her off.

"No way! You have to bring me shopping with you guys! It'll be, like, a fun bonding activity!"

"Great, then you and Halfie can go fuck off together and I can go back to UA–"

"Kats! You have to come too! 'Nasa, get over here! We're going shopping with our besties!"

"Are you fucked up in the head–"

Shouto watched the exchange, bewildered, as Inasa trotted up to stand beside him. "What are you going to shop for?" Inasa asked, making a valiant effort to ignore the squabble happening in front of them. Shouto was impressed by how well he was doing.

"Cat toys." He answered.

"Ooh~ I didn't know you two were raising a cat together–"

"Mind your own business, you bitch–!"

"Do you know why they're arguing?" Inasa asked Shouto. In response, Shouto merely shook his head wordlessly because he knew about as much as Inasa did. Inasa looked like he wanted to say something more, but he eventually settled on merely commenting, "I was not aware that you had a cat."

"That's what I said!" Camie chirped, pulling an unhappy Katsuki along with her. Katsuki groaned loudly, trying to escape her tight grasp.

"Her name is Princess." Shouto said, pulling his phone out to show pictures of her off to them. "That's her."

Camie squealed, pulling Shouto's phone closer to her. "I've only known her for half a minute, but if anything happened to her, I'd kill everyone in this room and then myself. What breed is she? She looks really fluffy."

Shouto nodded to her in a rare moment of understanding – he felt the same way every time he looked at Princess too. She was unfairly cute and every single time he saw her, Shouto was hit with the most crippling affection.

"She's a–" Shouto paused, trying to remember what Katsuki had told him. "Tabby?"

Katsuki groaned loudly once more, earning the attention of everyone around him.

"That's not even a breed! She's just a mixed domestic longhaired cat. Fucking Half-and-Half Bastard…"

"Yes, what Katsuki said." Shouto nodded, decidedly ignoring the latter half of his sentence. It was always better to look on the bright side.

"God, Shou! You should've told us about her earlier!" Camie sniffed. "I would have been, like, the best cat-aunt, for sure! I woulda totes spoiled her rotten!"

"Just speak normally." Katsuki groaned. Shouto definitely understood his frustration; half the time Camie spoke, Shouto felt like he needed context clues and a dictionary to piece together what she was saying.

Camie scoffed, flipping her hair. "You guys are so not lit." She said primly.

"I don't know what that means." Shouto said, staring at her hollowly.

Camie threw her fist up in the air, completely ignoring Shouto's words. "Let's just go to the mall, babes! Shop till we drop!"

"I am not going to the fucking mall with you dumbasses–"

–

Despite Katsuki's best efforts, he got dragged along anyway. Shouto offered a sympathetic glance to the vice grip Camie had on his arm. He was a little concerned that Katsuki would have bruises after this.

They'd been walking around the mall for a while before something finally caught their attention.

"Oh. Em. Gee." Camie squealed, darting towards what looked to be a row of gachapon machines. "Shou! Come look at these cute little cat hats!"

Shouto perked up, hurrying after her. Behind him, he heard Katsuki huff, stomping loudly. Inasa did as well, though not for the same reasons as Katsuki. Camie crouched in front of one of the machines, and tugged Shouto flush against her side, pointing at the different fruit shaped hats it contained.

"Look! Your kitty would look soo cute in this little apple hat!"

"No she fucking wouldn't." Katsuki grumbled. “She’s going to look stupid.”

"Maybe, but–"

Shouto tuned them out as he eyed the strawberry hat calculatingly – he really wanted to see Princess wearing it. He pulled his wallet out, but he didn't see an "Insert Cash" slot. "How do I get one?" Shouto asked, turning to them. "I can't insert notes."

"You pay in coins, dumbass." Katsuki said testily, tapping his foot impatiently. "What do you think the coin slot is there for?"

"I don't have any coins." Shouto frowned. Katsuki rolled his eyes, aggrieved, and Camie pointed over to the end of the row of machines.

"There's probably, like, a cash to coin exchange machine there." She said helpfully.

"I don't think they take bills higher than 1000 yen, though." Inasa said, eyeing Shouto's wallet dubiously. "Maybe 2000 yen, but I don’t think they're that common."

Shouto turned back to the gachapon machine, crestfallen. Katsuki scoffed, as if this wasn't one of the biggest tragedies in Shouto's 16 years of life.

"Just come back later when you get smaller notes, moron." He sneered.

"You don't get it at all!" Camie wailed. "It's the first cat thing we saw after 15 minutes of walking, so it has to be the first thing we buy! We can’t give up here!"

Shouto gave her an appreciative glance. Katsuki looked at the two of them like they were crazy before swearing under his breath and storming off in the direction of the exchanger. Shouto, Inasa, and Camie watched, stupefied, as he jammed a note in and picked up the clattering coins, stomping back to them.

"Which one do you want?" Katsuki snapped.

"The strawberry."

"Once you get that fucking strawberry, we're going to get the Mimikyu hat." Katsuki demanded, crouching down next to Shouto and knocking him aside brusquely. He shoved three coins into the slot and spinned the dial, a gachapon falling down the chute loudly.

"The fuck's inside that one?" Katsuki asked Shouto. Bewildered, he picked it up and peered inside of it.

"It's an orange."

Katsuki clicked his tongue and shoved in another three coins. This time, Shouto didn't wait for Katsuki to ask before he picked it up and looked inside.

"Banana."

Clink. Clink. Clink

"Watermelon."

Katsuki swore, pulling out another note and shoving it in Camie and Inasa's general direction. "Stop standing and staring and help get us more coins."

"Geez, Kats. I thought you said Princess would look dumb in these hats, like, what changed?" Camie pouted, grasping the note in her hand and sauntering over to exchange the note for coins.

"She's gonna look dumb as shit and I want to see her in her hats so bad." Katsuki answered, a feral glint in his eyes as he studied the pictures of the cats displaying the different kinds of hats.

Shouto laughed and wondered how they looked to passers-by; a group of students crowding around a gachapon machine with the same fervour as gambling addicts at a casino. When Camie came back and dropped 10 coins in Katsuki's open hand, he carried on shoving coins inside without pause.

Clink clink clink.

"Oh, we got the strawberry." Shouto said. "Should we go for the one that you wanted now–'

Katsuki didn't even let Shouto finish his sentence before he tugged him away and towards the Pokemon themed cat hats.

"Mimikyu, Mimikyu." Katsuki chanted under his breath quietly, shoving coins in and turning the dial. Shouto grabbed it and peered inside. Something… white? Hm. What did "Mimikyu" look like?

"I don't know which one this is." Shouto admitted. Katsuki scoffed and pressed against Shouto's side to peer into the gachapon. Shouto privately thought that his double standards were showing again – he couldn't get close to Katsuki without getting yelled at, but it was fine for Katsuki to get close.

"You don't know Pokemon, Halfie? That's Vulpix."

Clink clink clink.

Shouto grabbed it and held it up to Katsuki's face so he could see what was inside. Somehow, for some unknown reason, Katsuki still grasped his wrist and pulled it closer, before his face broke out into a triumphant grin. "Fuck yeah, Mimikyu on the second try."

Without another word, Katsuki snatched the gachapon right out of Shouto's hands and pulled away to shove it in his bag. Huh. Shouto glanced down at his wrist – he could still feel the lingering warmth against his skin.

Then, Katsuki paused. "I just spent 2000 yen on gachapons." He said, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. Glaring at Shouto, he continued. "This is all your fucking fault! Shit, I was supposed to use that to buy groceries!"

Shouto wanted to point out that it was Katsuki who had spent the money out of his own free will, but he decided against it. He was grateful for it – if he didn't manage to get the cat hats, he probably would've wanted to die just a little.

"I'll reimburse you." Shouto said.

"You better…" Katsuki grumbled, as if it was Shouto's fault. "And where the fuck did those idiots go?"

Shouto blinked, looking around. They'd apparently gotten so caught up in getting Princess her hats that they hadn't even realised that Camie and Inasa had left. After taking a quick glance around the area, Katsuki clicked his tongue and pulled his phone out to text Camie furiously. Shouto stepped right behind Katsuki and leaned over his shoulder to see what he was saying.

Katsuki: Where the fuck are you?

Sent 3.28pm

Camie: Me and Nasa r going to this makeup shop I wanted to go to!

Camie: Don't worry about us!!

Sent 3.36pm

Katsuki: Die.

Sent 3.37pm

Camie: Love u too, babes <3

Camie: Hope u have fun on ur date LOL ;)

Sent 3.37pm

Shouto barely had enough time to read her last message before Katsuki huffed angrily and shoved his phone in his pocket. He stormed off, and Shouto hurried to walk next to him.

"Date?" Shouto asked, lost. "You're going on a date? With who?"

Katsuki skidded to a stop, turning to stare at Shouto wearily. "You are the densest, most stupidest fucking person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." He told Shouto blankly.

Shouto frowned. "That's rude." He responded, matter-of-factly. Katsuki really ought to be nicer to one of his best friends.

"You–" Katsuki shut his eyes and breathed out slowly. When he opened his eyes again, he pursed his lip and yanked Shouto's collar, practically dragging him around. "Let's just go buy Princess her shit."

Two hours later, they finally finished shopping for Princess's things. Shouto glanced at Katsuki's empty hands and then back at his own, which were busy holding onto a grand total of 5 bags of cat toys and one bed. All because Katsuki had declared himself as the one in charge of shopping for Princess after Shouto tried to buy her eight of the same toys in different colours.

Shouto, on the other hand, was relegated to a walking ATM and hanger.

("Take this." Katsuki said, shoving another bag in Shouto's general direction. He sighed – it was the third shop they had visited that day alone and Katsuki showed no signs of stopping because "What's the point of bringing 50 thousand yen if you aren't going to spoil her?"

"Why do I have to hold all her things?" Shouto had asked him, eyeing the third bag warily. "She's your cat too."

"One: She's not my fucking cat. She's just yours." Katsuki listed, keeping track of them with his fingers. "Two: I still need to buy my own groceries and carry them back home. Three: You haven't helped at all in finding her things. Just shut up and make yourself useful, Halfie."

Shouto sighed once more, taking the bag from Katsuki. It was hard shopping for cats.)

They were walking out when Shouto caught sight of another row of gachapon machines. More specifically, the gachapon machine with the cat keychains. Shouto tugged Katsuki towards them.

“Let’s get one, Katsuki.” Shouto told him, already placing the bags on the ground next to it. Katsuki grimaced. “Don’t want one.” He said. Well, too bad. Shouto was already getting them one each. He pushed in four coins and spun the dial, then repeated it another time. He grabbed them both and handed one to a protesting Katsuki who was claiming that “He’d never hang it anywhere!”

He shrugged at Katsuki – he didn’t have to wear it. Shouto just wanted to have matching keychains as proof of their friendship.

That didn’t make him any less pleased when he saw Katsuki's matching cat keychain hanging on one of the straps of his bag a few days later, though.

~~~

For the third time that week, Shouto found himself startling awake, panting heavily. He ran his hand over his face and flinched when he brushed against his scar.

He'd been having nightmares nearly every night as it turned closer to the… anniversary, for lack of a better word, of the day he'd been splashed by boiling water. It wasn't pleasant, but now he had Princess to comfort him.

At least usually. Today, Princess was in Katsuki's room, left there by Shouto after he gave up on trying to get the stubborn cat to come back to his. Shouto breathed in and out slowly, running a hand through his hair. He needed fresh air. That was what he needed right now.

Somehow, he found himself sitting outside Katsuki's balcony. It was like muscle memory made Shouto swing down to his balcony every time he stepped on his own. He didn't know what made him knock on the balcony door thrice, though.

It wasn't as if Katsuki would be awake this late at night. At least Shouto thought, until Katsuki pulled his door open to squint at Shouto. He blinked back at him – Shouto wasn't actually expecting Katsuki to wake up.

"The fuck are you doing outside here?" Katsuki yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Nightmare." Shouto admitted. "Couldn't sleep."

"So you sat outside my balcony?"

Shouto merely shrugged, staring at him blankly. Katsuki stared back, examining him closely before he turned on his heel and walked back into his room. "Come in." He said, sliding down to sit against the side of his bed.

Shouto's legs moved before his brain even processed those two simple words. He blinked – they were sitting side by side, barely a foot away from each other. "Thank you." He replied, rather belatedly.

"Don't get used to it." Katsuki grumbled. He nudged Shouto slightly, "Spill."

"Spill?" Shouto asked. "I've never talked about it with anyone before, so I don't know what I should be doing."

Katsuki groaned softly. "And you think I have? I don't fucking know, just say how long you've had nightmares for or something."

"A few years now." He answered bluntly. Katsuki nodded sharply once, looking distinctly like he would rather be anywhere else than here. Shouto appreciated the effort he was putting in, even if he wasn't familiar with comforting others in a way that didn't involve doing something nice for them. Katsuki was a good friend, for all that he pretended not to be.

"Do you want to talk about what your nightmares are like?" Katsuki asked him slowly.

"When I got my scar." Shouto answered. He didn't have as much of a problem as Katsuki did with sharing issues. Maybe it was practice from the beginning of the year. He glanced at Katsuki, gauging his reaction, and received another nod, prompting him to continue.

"My mother gave me my scar." Shouto continued, hushed, as if there was anyone else apart from Katsuki around to hear. "She thought my fire side was… Unsightly."

Katsuki's face flickered through what seemed to be a dozen different emotions, before he finally spoke. "... You know I already overheard your conversation with Deku during the Sport's Festival, right?"

Shouto leaned back against the side of Katsuki's bed. "I know. You confronted me about it before our match."

"Why… Are you telling me this again, then?" Katsuki asked carefully, carmine eyes staring straight ahead to the view outside of his balcony.

Shouto shrugged anyway, despite Katsuki not looking at him. "I just wanted to tell you myself."

"Why, though."

"We're friends, aren't we?" Shouto said, letting his head drop back against Katsuki's bed.

Shouto didn't know whether it was due to the nature of the conversation, or the fact it has been a long time since Shouto had first proclaimed their friendship, but Katsuki made no move to deny it like he'd always done before.

"... Shouto…" Katsuki murmured under his breath instead, as if testing the way his name rolled off his tongue. Emboldened, Shouto shifted a little closer; until their arms were pressed against each other and Shouto could feel the warmth radiating from Katsuki against his ice side.

Katsuki didn't pull away.

Shouto felt his heart pounding at their close proximity, despite being the one who initiated it. Eventually, Katsuki slid down a little, his head resting against Shouto's shoulder with their thighs touching, and his heart fluttered in his chest.

Shouto resolved himself to research what was wrong with his heart in the morning, in case it was a serious medical condition. He didn't get a chance to dwell on it for any longer though, when Princess meowed loudly, having woken up and, presumably, felt betrayed at the prospect of being left out of this impromptu cuddle session.

Shouto watched as Princess leaped off the bed and onto their laps gracefully, settling herself comfortably with her hind paws on Shouto's thigh and her front paws on Katsuki's. She meowed imperiously at them and stared up at Katsuki unblinkingly.

"Fuckin' Princess. Spoiled little diva." Katsuki scoffed, faux admonishingly. His lips curved up into a gentle smile and he scratched under Princess' chin, making her purr contentedly and knead her paws into the meat of his thighs.

There's an unknown emotion unfurling somewhere in Shouto's chest at the sight of them, and he swallowed nervously, eyes darting back to the sight sky outside.

He felt Katsuki's weighted gaze on him before Katsuki eventually nudged his arm with his shoulder gently. "Pet your cat or she'll get pissy with me."

Shouto huffed in surprise. "She really is spoiled." He said, amused, gently stroking her fur. In turn, she melted even further into their laps, purring so loudly that Shouto could feel the vibrations in his chest.

"That's your fault."

"Maybe." Shouto conceded. "She deserves everything good in this world, though."

"Damn right."

They fell into silence after that. If it were any other person apart from Katsuki, Shouto might have felt inclined to say something. As it was, he decided that it was fine and continued watching the night sky before them.

"I have nightmares too." Katsuki said, out of the blue. "Sensei makes me go to therapy. Maybe you should try it."

Shouto wanted to ask him about his nightmares, but Katsuki was still slumped against his side and Shouto could feel how tense he had gotten. He wouldn't push any further tonight, nor would he get any further.

Maybe once they got closer he could.

"Does it help?" He asked Katsuki.

Katsuki relaxed slightly and shrugged. "I guess. Talking it out helps a little. You'd probably like it, fucking chronic oversharer."

"My father wouldn't like it if I went." Shouto said, more to fill than silence than as any real argument against him going to therapy.

"Who the fuck cares about his opinion?" Katsuki scoffed. "He's a piece of flaming trash who couldn't be bothered to work for the number one hero spot himself."

Shouto huffed out a quiet laugh and pressed his cheek against Katsuki's hair. It felt a little like Princess's fur – if her fur were any less dense and smelled of caramel and smoke rather than "cat". Katsuki shoved at him weakly, though whether it was because he was trying to be kinder or how sleepy they both were, Shouto had yet to ascertain.

He was more inclined to believe the former, considering the fact that Katsuki didn't try to push him off again.

The next time he looked down at Katsuki, his eyes were closed and his breathing had evened out. Ah. Right, it was way past his usual bedtime, wasn't it? Maybe Shouto should have left, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, reasoning that he didn’t want to wake Katsuki up again as he left. Instead, he stayed right where he was, closed his eyes, and drifted back to sleep.

When he woke up, he found a blanket – Katsuki's blanket – thrown haphazardly over him. It was still a little warm, as if Katsuki had sat beside him for a while before leaving, and it still smelled like him too.

Shouto didn't know why that revelation made him giddy.

~~~

It was a few more days of feeling his heartbeat quicken whenever he's around Katsuki before Shouto finally decided to see Recovery Girl. He slipped out in the middle of lunch; he didn't want to worry his friends in case it wasn't something serious. He peered inside the sickbay and was beckoned in by the nurse near instantly.

"Todoroki." Recovery Girl greeted. "What brings you here today?"

"I've been having…" Shouto paused, trying to think of a word to describe it. "Heart palpitations?"

Recovery Girl nodded in acknowledgement, picking up a stethoscope from her desk and putting it on. "Any severe shortness of breath, dizzy spells, pain or fainting?" She interrogated briskly, holding the other end of her stethoscope to his chest.

Shouto shook his head gently. "No."

"That's good. Any possible causes you can think of? Like caffeine or exercise? Or perhaps any medication you're taking?" Recovery Girl carried on, reaching over for a notepad and pen.

"Um." Shouto shifted in his seat. "When I'm in close proximity to someone?"

She nodded sharply, beginning to write before she stopped herself. Recovery Girl squinted at Shouto. "... Just that?" She asked carefully. "Do you think you could be allergic to that person's quirk?"

Shouto shook his head – he'd been exposed to Katsuki's quirk for so long that it seemed nearly impossible for him to be allergic. He frowned down at the ground, thinking deeply for any other times he'd felt his heartbeat go irregular. "When… that person is looking at me?" He offered.

At that, Recovery Girl chortled, placing her pen down on the table. Shouto blinked, lost. Did he say something wrong?

"Well, good news is there's nothing that's concerning your health!" She declared cheerfully. "Your heartbeat quickening is just a common bodily reaction when you're attracted to someone."

… Attracted? Shouto wanted to ask her questions about it, but she easily shooed him off.

"Ah, young love." She sighed wistfully, shutting the door on Shouto's face.

He wandered back to the classroom, dazed. He barely paid attention for any of the rest of the classes, his mind still stuck on the fact that Recovery Girl told him that he had a crush on Katsuki. One of his best friends. Shouto was utterly bewildered. At dinner, he finally cracked and decided to ask his friends for advice.

"How do you know if you like someone?" Shouto asked them mildly, calmly setting his bowl of soba down. As he sat down, a bout of silence followed that seemingly harmless question.

"T– Todoroki." Ochako squeaked, after she'd stopped choking. "You have a crush on someone?"

Shouto frowned. He didn't think that what he'd said was confusing. "I don't know." He told her slowly, to really make sure she understood. "That's why I'm asking you."

"Well, do you like spending time with that person?" Asui asked him, ever the levelheaded one in their group. Shouto gave her a grateful nod.

"Yes." He answered decisively. Katsuki was surprisingly easy to get along with if you could brush past his rough exterior. It was… nice to hang out in his room, even if Princess wasn't there, too busy napping on her own in Shouto’s room.

"That's a good start!" Ochako cheered, clapping her hands together. She sure bounced back fast from her shock and Shouto told her about as much.

"I was just shocked that our resident super dense pretty boy's the one who's realising that he might have a crush!" Ochako waved off, grinning mischievously. She propped her chin on her hands as she continued.

"I always thought that if or when you had one, we'd have to stage an intervention because you're too dense to notice when you're getting flirted with."

Shouto's mouth dropped and he placed a hand to his chest – that was uncalled for, truly.

"Uraraka!" Tenya gasped, scandalised. Shouto gave him an appreciative glance for being such a good friend– "Even if it's true, you shouldn't say it so bluntly!"

Shouto took that back. He'd been betrayed by the ones he called his best friends, and now all he had was Princess, Katsuki, Asui and maybe Izuku, depending on how he would react. Shouto turned his gaze to Izuku, who was busy staring down his bowl of katsudon with a concentration of steel as he tried to stifle his laughter.

Ah. Well, Shouto supposed he had to take what he could get. He turned back to Asui for the answers he was seeking.

"If you think about that person a lot, you enjoy being in their company, you want to be close with them and maybe engage in physical affection, then I suppose you could have a crush." Asui said thoughtfully. "It's different from what you feel about friends, though I'm not sure how to explain that."

Izuku nodded in agreement. "Maybe you could compare how you feel about us and how you feel about that person then come to your own conclusion."

"That's right, that's right!" Ochako said seriously. "It's up to you, you shouldn't take our words as law if they involve your own relationships!"

"Just do what you want to do." Tenya added.

Shouto nodded, taking careful notes of what they had said. "Thank you." He said sincerely. "You're good friends."

It seemed like he would have a lot to chew on for tonight.

~~~

He liked Katsuki. It was the only plausible explanation for how he'd been feeling when he was around him.

When he smiled at Princess and, on rare occasions, Shouto, all bright and unfairly pretty, it made his heart race. When he laughed, genuinely laughed, and especially because of Shouto, he felt like he was over the moon.

He didn't feel like that with anyone but Katsuki. Because he was special to Shouto. Now what did he do with that information? Well, he had never been one to wait to take action, so he made his mind up and headed to Katsuki's balcony, knocking on it loudly.

"Katsuki." Shouto said once the door slid open. "Let's go outside."

Katsuki closed his eyes for three full seconds before opening them to glare viciously at Shouto. "It's 4 in the fucking morning. The sun hasn't even risen yet. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not now." Shouto quickly clarified. "But some other time. We should go out."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed at him in suspicion. "Why?"

"Because I want to–" Know if you like me too, Shouto thought and decidedly kept to himself. "–Take Princess outside?" He finished lamely.

Katsuki scrutinized his face for what seems to be an eternity before he finally spoke. "This Saturday we don't have remedial classes. You're planning out everything. But you have to tell me where we're bringing her in case your dumbass doesn't do enough research."

Shouto perked up, smiling. This was going a lot better than planned; he'd expected Katsuki to at least put up his cursory refusal before giving in like he always did, but this was much better.

"And, you have to get permission from Sensei." Katsuki added. Shouto nodded, hoping his eagerness wasn't as obvious as it felt like.

"I'll make sure you have fun."

"It's not about me, it's about making sure your cat has fun." Katsuki snarled, slamming the doors shut on Shouto's face.

If Shouto let himself hope, he would have sworn there was pink creeping up Katsuki's cheeks.

It felt like a good sign.

~~~

It wasn't a good sign.

Shouto had asked Katsuki to go out with him on Tuesday, and it was Friday now, and he still didn't have any ideas on where to take Katsuki on their maybe first date.

He sighed despairingly. His eyes drifted around the classroom, looking for anyone who could help him. Midoriya was a maybe, seeing that Katsuki would probably reject his idea just based on principle. He sighed again, looking over at Katsuki.

He was busy trying to shrug off Kirishima, who seemed to be busy begging him to tutor him. Of course, Katsuki had to do his cursory bitching–and–moaning about it before giving in like always. That was just how he was, even with his best friends–

Hm. Kirishima was his best friend, wasn't he? He would probably be good to ask. Though it irked him to see how close they were, Shouto calmed himself with the fact that he still needed Kirishima's help.

Squinting at Kirishima, he typed out a message.

Shouto: What does Katsuki like to do?

Sent 9.06am

He watched with keen eyes as Kirishima pulled his phone out to check his latest message, immediately typing out a response.

Kirishima: Todobro!!! You taking him out for a date?

Sent 9.07am

Shouto: Trying.

Sent 9.07am

Kirishima: Yeah, I can see how it would be difficult.

Kirishima: He likes spicy food and goes hiking a lot, so those are probably safe things to do when taking him out on a date!

Sent 9.09am

Shouto: Thank you for your advice.

Sent 9.09am

Kirishima: No problem, bro! Feel free to ask me any time. :D

Sent 9.10am

Shouto didn't end up listening to a single word coming out of any of their teachers' mouths, too busy trying to find a good hiking trail that Katsuki and him could go on.

… Now that he was thinking about it, Katsuki would probably yell at him for not paying attention. Hm. It'd probably be fine if Katsuki just never found out. If it ever became a problem, that was once again Future Shouto's problem to deal with.

~~~

As soon as the final bell rang, Shouto beelined straight to Katsuki's table before he could leave.

"What do you think about Mount Fuji?" Shouto asked, setting his hands on Katsuki's desk and leaning over him. Katsuki took his sweet time to look up from his work and raised an eyebrow at him.

"To go hiking." Shouto added.

"Of course." Katsuki sighed heavily. "What else would you do there?"

Behind him, Shouto saw Midoriya choke on the water he was drinking, hacking in an intensely unflattering way that reminded him of Princess on the rare occasions she had thrown up a hairball. Around them, he felt their classmates staring at them, dumbfounded. He forced himself to focus on Katsuki.

"Can we go hiking at Mount Fuji?"

"We can." Katsuki said. "You can't bring her, though."

"Her? Who– Oh." Right, Princess had to come too because Shouto used her as an excuse. Shouto, only very slightly, wanted to throttle his past self for backing out of just asking Katsuki on a proper date.

"Yeah, oh." Katsuki stared at him pointedly. "Any other ideas?"

"Wait, wait, you guys are going out with a girl?!" Mineta shrieked.

Kaminari looked utterly betrayed. "I didn't even know you guys hung out and you're going out with a girl–?!"

"Could it be a double date?!" Tooru gasped, shoving him out of the way. Ashido cried out, and clung onto Katsuki's bicep. Shouto eyed her wistfully – he wanted to be able to do that too.

"No fair! How come I didn't know you guys were going on a double date! I could've helped you plan it–"

"It's not a fucking date!" Katsuki roared, in spite of his cheeks reddening prettily. Shouto couldn't stop himself from staring and trying to burn the image into his memory.

"Pretty boys really do have unfair advantages in their love lives." Sero sighed. He wondered how true that was; did that mean he'd have a better chance of dating Katsuki or did Katsuki have a better chance of dating him? Was there even a difference?

… Maybe that only applied if they were going on a date with girls.

Kaminari fell to his hands and knees and hammered the floor with his fist, lamenting. "Oh, God, when is it my turn–"

Katsuki, apparently having reached his limit, scowled down at Kaminari and slung his bag over his shoulder. He grabbed Shouto by his collar and began dragging him out without a second glance behind them at the disaster they called their class.

"We're going to have this conversation outside because some people don't know how to mind their own fucking business!" Katsuki sneered. Then, gesturing to Jirou that he was watching her, "You better not eavesdrop, Ears."

"Not in my control." She shrugged, putting her hands up. "I won't tell anyone, though." A pause. "Well. Maybe."

"Keep a fucking secret, Lobes, goddamn!"

Jirou rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess." She agreed reluctantly.

Shouto was still busy eyeing his bag which he'd left at his desk. "Can I get my bag at least?"

"Get it later!" Katsuki snapped, yanking him outside the classroom and slamming the door shut behind them. He slammed Shouto against the wall, unfairly close to him which wasn't good for his heart at all.

"Where else do you want to go?" He barked.

Shouto blinked and pulled his phone out. "There's a trail at Mount Kintoki–"

"Why the fuck do you keep trying to make the hiking trails work?"

Because you like them, Shouto thought. "... I want Princess to experience all the wonders of the world." He eventually responded, trying very hard not to make direct eye contact, instead staring intently at his forehead.

It really did look very kissable, Shouto decided.

"Good for you." Katsuki said. "Pets still aren't allowed on most hiking trails."

Shouto's face fell; he hadn't known that, the websites didn't tell him that Princess wouldn't be allowed. Or maybe it did, Shouto might accidentally skimmed past that section in his eagerness.

Katsuki stared at him for a moment before he groaned loudly, staring up at the ceiling. "You really are stupid, aren't you?" He asked wearily. "Listen here, you got Sensei's permission?"

Shouto nodded, feeling completely lost.

"Great. I just need you to get Princess a fucking harness, and that's all. Got it? If you want to show Princess the 'beauty of nature', I know somewhere we can bring her."

Shouto nodded at him gratefully. Katsuki really was the best.

~~~

Sunday found them sneaking their cat out of the dorm once everyone had left. Once again, not as difficult as it ought to be considering UA's strictness. Their security might be tight enough to deter villains, but somehow, still not enough to prevent two determined students from sneaking cats in and out.

Shouto was a little amused by the thought.

Either way, they found themselves in a forest near Musutafu. Princess, being the diva that she was, refused to walk on her own four paws on the ground, so Shouto had to take one for the team and carry her around. He was convinced that Princess didn't see him as anything more than a servant to do her bidding.

Shouto turned his attention back to Katsuki who looked as comfortable here as he did in UA. He must have come here a lot when he was younger, Shouto thought.

"Used to come here when I was a kid." Katsuki said, as if he'd read Shouto's mind. He jumped over a fallen branch.

"Really?" Shouto asked, keeping a close eye on the ground beneath him – he didn't think he would be able to confess if he tripped over something and fell flat on his face in front of Katsuki. That would've been too embarrassing.

"No, no, I just decided to lie to you for no reason." Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Yes, really. Use your brain, Halfie."

Shouto laughed as Katsuki continued navigating them, eventually stopping at a clearing somewhere in the forest. Katsuki took one glance at Shouto and the spoiled cat in his arms before deciding to set up on his own.

He laid a mat down before emptying the contents of his bag down on it neatly. Two bento boxes, some fruits, and a can of Princess's cat food.

"Oh, a picnic." Shouto said, sitting opposite to Katsuki. "I've never been on a picnic before."

"That's embarrassing, Icyhot."

"It wasn't my fault." Shouto said. "My childhood was very restricted."

"Still embarrassing. That's why I'm taking you on a picnic now." Katsuki scoffed, handing him a bento box. "Just eat already."

Shouto took it gratefully, while Princess leaped off his lap to sit by her collapsible food bowl, waiting for Katsuki to empty the can out for her. Katsuki muttered, "Greedy bitch, aren't you?" under his breath affectionately, and Shouto smiled, opening his own bento box.

It looked delicious; some rice, gilled fish, a rolled omelette and some stir-fried vegetables. He glanced at Katsuki, already finding him eating.

"Itadakimasu." Shouto said to himself quietly before digging in. It tasted as good as it looked. They ate in silence – because neither Shouto nor Katsuki were inclined to talk while eating.

"You're really good at cooking." Shouto said sincerely once he'd finished.

"You're just shit at it." Katsuki scoffed, rolling his eyes and stacking his empty bento box on top of Shouto's. "I'd be impressed if you could make rice without burning the kitchen down."

That didn't seem fair. Katsuki was good at cooking when you compared him to everyone else in their class. And Shouto could make rice on his own. At least he hoped so.

Shouto frowned. "I can make rice! And…" He trailed off, trying to remember something and catching sight of the apple on their mat. "Apple slices shaped like bunnies?"

Katsuki threw his head back and laughed incredulously. "First of all," He said. "That's not even cooking. And second of all; I've seen the way you cut chives. I know for a fact your knife skills are nonexistent."

"My sister taught me how to," Shouto insisted, leaning towards Katsuki, "I'm really good at it."

Katsuki sized him up for a little while longer before he pulled out a survival knife from his bag and placed it on the ground in front of Shouto. "Have at it."

"Why do you have a knife? Were you planning to kill me?" Shouto wondered aloud. Ignoring Katsuki's scoff, he reached over to pick it up. It's heftier than I thought, Shouto noted, turning it over in his hands. "Why is it such a heavy-duty knife?"

"Stop asking such stupid questions and just cut the apple so I can laugh at your misery!" Katsuki complained, launching an apple at him with what seemed to be the intent to harm. Princess hissed, not happy at being disturbed from her lazing about on Katsuki's lap.

"Sorry, Princess," Katsuki murmured quietly and scratched her behind her ear apologetically. His voice was so gentle that it made affection surge up in Shouto, but he willed it away, forcing himself to look back at the apple and the knife in his hands.

There would be time later to admire Katsuki – for now, he had to defend his honour.

He cut the apple into sixths, with Katsuki watching him keenly, as if he couldn't be trusted without any supervision. Picking up one of the apple slices, he made two shallow cuts halfway down the wedge to make a "V" shape, and then peeled off the excess skin.

Holding it up to Katsuki, he said, "Bunny apple."

Katsuki stared blankly at the apple for an uncomfortably long time before he finally spoke. "You can cut apple slices into rabbits, but you can't cut a chive into separate pieces."

"My sister taught me how to make bunny apples," He said again, frowning, "But she didn't teach me how to cut chives."

"Don't blame your sister! It's not that hard–" Katsuki groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How stupid are you?" He asks, disbelieving.

Shouto sighed wistfully; the things one did in the name of love were truly amazing. If it were anyone else saying this to him, he would have taken it as an insult. Coming from Katsuki, however, it was just endearing.

"... Do you want an apple?" Shouto offered, gesturing to the one in his hands.

Katsuki scoffed but, inexplicably, leaned over and opened his mouth. "Give it," He demanded, making no effort to take it from Shouto.

When it clicked in Shouto's mind, he felt heat creep up his cheeks. "Do you– You want me to feed you?"

"My hands are dirty because of petting your cat," Katsuki said, appalled. "I'm not going to touch that apple and eat her fucking fur and germs."

There were wet wipes in Shouto's bag, and he knew he should have probably offered one to Katsuki, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. His throat felt parched as he brought the apple slice closer to Katsuki's lips and watched him bite down.

Swallowing nervously, he asked, "How is it?"

"Tastes like a fucking apple," Katsuki rolls his eyes, chewing the apple, "You didn't do anything to it but cut it up nicely."

Shouto distantly registered himself humming in agreement. He felt– he felt delirious with happiness. He wondered if Katsuki would let him feed him again, and he turned back to cut up another apple.

Princess yowled, displeased, and Katsuki laughed; it was a lovely sound. "Feed your damn cat a slice." He snickered. Then, rubbing her head, "Greedy bitch."

Shouto hoped Princess understood the underlying message in the blank look he gave her; stop getting in the way.

"She's a cat," Shouto grumbled. "She doesn't even eat apples."

Katsuki huffed in amusement, rubbing Princess cheek soothingly. "She can if you peel off the skin. Just cut off the other end of the apple and feed it to her."

Shouto opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Like Katsuki had suggested, he cut the wedge in half neatly and offered the peeled portion to Princess, who happily took it off his hands. He gives her a sour look because that was meant to be for Katsuki.

He jolts when he gets kicked in the shin by Katsuki. "Eat the fucking apple before it starts browning." Katsuki snaps.

"I don't even like apples." Shouto said woefully, staring down at the apple slice in his hands.

"Then why do you know how to–" Katsuki cut himself off. "Tch. I'm not gonna argue with you anymore. Just give it to me, Halfie."

Shouto brightened, bringing it closer to Katsuki. He watched, awed, as Katsuki bit into it with no hesitation, accidentally jolting Princess as he moved forward. Princess yowled, annoyed, and Katsuki rolled her eyes at her.

"Keep cutting the fucking apples." Katsuki reminded Shouto when he caught him staring. "They're already starting to brown."

Shouto did, quietly cutting another apple slice into a bunny and then in half again before hand feeding it to Katsuki and Princess. It was so painfully domestic and Shouto couldn't help but want to blurt out a confession to Katsuki at that moment.

Instead, he cut another slice, though he got stopped by Katsuki when he went to feed a piece to Princess. "She's had enough." Katsuki said firmly. "Any more and she'll get cat diabetes or something."

Princess meowed indignantly, obviously unhappy. Katsuki responded by crunching another apple slice obnoxiously, and Princess climbed off of his lap to sit on the other side of the mat. Brazenly looking away, her tail flicked with agitation.

Katsuki leaned over and gently stroked her tail apologetically. "Die young and that's your fault." He told her.

Katsuki really did do that thing where he spat the most insulting words with the most well-intentioned meanings behind them. He just couldn't be honest, could he? Shouto found it kind of cute, to be honest.

… As he did with most things Katsuki did.

"Katsuki." Shouto said abruptly. "I want to tell you something important."

"... Okay?" Katsuki nodded, squinting at him. "Get on with it, then."

The intensity which Katsuki was staring at him with was unnerving, and Shouto could feel his resolve slipping away quickly. Why on Earth had he decided that he needed to tell Katsuki that he liked him as soon as he figured it out himself? He should have given himself – and his heart – time to steel himself.

"... I'll tell you another time."

"Just tell me now." Katsuki insisted, "What the fuck did you want to tell me that was so important?"

"It's not really that important–"

"For fuck's sake, don't pussy out now." Katsuki groaned. "I've done way too many embarrassing things today to come this far without going back with a fucking boyfriend. Tell me you like me and we can start dating, don't make it complicated."

Shouto sputtered. "You knew I liked you?!"

He himself only found that out a few days ago! Shouto's conspiracy theorist brain was whirring; could Katsuki be an expert at reading people? That seemed plausible enough–

Katsuki gave him a flat look. "You're not subtle." He said. "Now hurry up and ask me out or I'm taking my cat and leaving."

"Princess is our cat." Shouto corrected, ignoring Katsuki clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Katsuki, I like you. Let's date."

Katsuki sighed tiredly, standing up. Shouto was worried, for a split second, that Katsuki was making good on his threat before he noticed that he was walking over to flop down beside Shouto, leaning against his side the way he did that night when Shouto realised he liked him.

"That's the worst fucking confession I've ever heard." Katsuki said, matter-of-factly. "You're lucky I like you too or I would have rejected you on the spot just based on principle."

"You've had other people confess to you?" Shouto frowned. Katsuki having other admirers made sense, but having been told he had the worst confession was… displeasing to hear, to say the least.

"In middle school, yeah," Katsuki admitted begrudgingly. "They were all bullshit extras so I– Are you jealous?"

The disbelief in his voice was obvious, even to Shouto. "... No." He said bitterly, most definitely lying.

"You're so fucking jealous," Katsuki taunted gleefully. He pushed himself up from where he'd been slumped against Shouto's side to look him in the eyes.

"You're jealous of some 12 year old in 2XXX confessing to me under cherry blossom trees like we were in some stupid fucking shoujo manga." He said, jabbing Shouto's cheek with his index finger.

"You even remember how they confessed to you…" Shouto sighed.

Katsuki cackled loudly at that, scaring Princess slightly. "You're such a fucking moron." He crowed. "Why the fuck are you jealous of those extras? You're here and they're not."

Shouto frowned – he couldn't make heads or tails of the underlying implications of that sentence. Maybe he needed to brush up on his Japanese literature skills.

… They could have a study date next time. Ah. Was it strange to plan your next date before the first was even over?

Going back to the topic at hand, Shouto asked for clarification. "What is that supposed to mean…?"

"It means," He said, rolling his eyes in faux annoyance yet still lacing their fingers together. Instinctively, Shouto squeezed his hand and got a squeeze back in response. "That you won me over with your stupidity and shitty confession. Congrats, Icy Hot."

Oh. He had?

"Katsuki, when did you start liking me?" Shouto asked, unable to keep his curiosity at bay. "Was it after we started taking care of Princess together? Or after you let me call you 'Katsuki'?"

Katsuki snorted, a small smile playing on his lips. "Dumbass. I liked you before we started caring for Princess." He answered, his voice just as gentle as Shouto's.

"Oh." Shouto whispered, shell shocked. "Really?"

Katsuki gave him a half-amused-half-withering look. Shouto tried recalling as far as he could, mind racing. He couldn't think of any specific details that might have given Katsuki away.

He'd always been somewhat rude and standoffish, but not genuinely mean. He'd even been kind in his own distinctly "Bakugou Katsuki" way and– Oh. Was this what Uraraka had meant when she was gushing over a character in her novel that was a so-called "Tsundere"?

I can understand the appeal now, Uraraka. Shouto's heart clenched. Tsunderes are cute.

"I'm sorry I didn't know earlier." Shouto apologized sincerely. Katsuki just scoffed, pinching Shouto's cheek. "No one else knew about it. You're so fucking dense that I'd be more surprised if you did."

"Camie knew–"

"Camie's Camie." Katsuki said, as if that explained anything. Actually, to be fair, knowing her? It probably did.

"How about Kirishima?"

"What?!" Katsuki squawked. Then, more contemplatively, "I guess that's fine. Kirishima's not as much of a loser–"

Shouto frowned. "Do you like Kirishima–?"

"No, I don't fucking like Shitty Hair, you moron." Katsuki scoffed. "We've only been dating for 5 minutes and you've already gotten jealous twice. Am I never going to be able to talk to anyone without you sulking ever again?"

"I'm not sulking–" Shouto paused. "And you called Kirishima by his name, it was an honest question."

"So did you! God, fucking fine." Katsuki huffed, grabbing Shouto's jaw and turning his head so that they were face to face. "Shou–to. I like you, Shouto. Get that permanently engraved into your thick head."

"Oh." Shouto knocked his forehead against Katsuki's. Katsuki being honest and saying exactly what he means was rare – not to mention endearing – and Shouto wanted to commemorate it with a kiss.

Maybe it was more for him, though.

"Katsuki, can I kiss you?"

Katsuki's cheeks turned bright red as he sputtered. Shouto watched him, captivated. "The fuck?! Don't– Don't ask stupid questions, you fucking moron. Princess is right there!"

Shouto side eyed her. "... She's just a cat." He said sourly. He was starting to think that he really shouldn't have brought Princess along for their date. All she'd been doing was getting in the way of Shouto and Katsuki's moments.

As if reading his mind, she turned back to him and trotted over to splay herself out on their laps. Shouto shot her a look, the little devil. She was lucky that she was so cute.

"She's my child." Katsuki told Shouto primly, giving her a quick scritch under her chin. Before Shouto even had the chance to tell him that Princess was theirs, Katsuki pulled away and casually, oh-so casually, pressed a kiss to Shouto's cheek.

Shouto's brain shut down.

"You– Did you–?"

"Did I what?"

"You kissed me." Shouto emphasized. "I thought you wouldn't kiss me in front of Princess."

"Not on the lips." Katsuki said decisively. "Anywhere else is fair game."

"... You're so unfair, Katsuki."

"Kiss me back if you're so upset about it." Katsuki scoffed, still grinning in that mischievous way of his.

Well, if Katsuki gave him permission, Shouto wouldn't refuse. He gently grasped Katsuki's chin and turned his head slightly, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"It wasn't on your lip." Shouto reminded before he could be maimed. Katsuki glowered at him, looking more petulant than angry. Shouto was so incredibly endeared.

"You're a little shit and I don't know why I like you." Katsuki muttered, blushing furiously. He gave Shouto's side a quick jab before pulling out his phone.

"Hold on, I need to brag to that Illusion Bitch." Katsuki said, clearing his throat. He might poke fun at Shouto's inability to function socially, but he was no better at trying to change the topic smoothly. Shouto wanted to smile at that.

Instead, he peered over to read through their messages.

Katsuki: [Hands.IMG: The picture depicts Shouto and Katsuki's hands entwined.]

Sent 1.03pm

Camie: WHAT

Camie: Is that Shou's??? Did u 2 finally get ur shit together and start dating???

Sent 1.04pm

Katsuki snickered, and pressed another kiss to Shouto’s cheek, snapping a picture as he did.

Katsuki: [Kiss.IMG: The picture depicts Katsuki kissing a mildly surprised Shouto on the cheek.]

Katsuki: Suck on that, bitch.

Sent 1.05pm

Camie: I can't believe you and Shou got together before I found a bf :((

Camie: I'm going to go to sleep on the train tracks like actually

Camie: Wake up and break up, babes!!!

Sent 1.07pm

Katsuki snorted at Camie's reply.

Inasa: Don't die, Camie! You should be more supportive!

Inasa: And congrats, Katsuki! Plus Shouto if you're reading this over his shoulder right now!

Sent 1.08pm

Huh. Shouto wondered how he'd known. Katsuki glanced at him and sighed. Taking pity on Shouto, he reluctantly began explaining it.

"You're nosy and you have no semblance of sense when it comes to personal space." Katsuki said bluntly. "Of course he'd know."

Shouto frowned, a little offended. Nosy, he could, while unwilling, accept. He liked knowing things. But lack of personal space? He had plenty of sense when it came to personal space! He was one of the few people in class that preferred having personal space between him and another person and not latching on to whoever was closest.

Even Katsuki, albeit reluctantly and through much exposure therapy from his friends, took part in that aspect of their class culture!

"I do know what personal space is." Shouto said.

Katsuki bristled. "Not with me!" He huffed. "You fucking cling on to me like a fucking koala! Don't you know how bad that is for my heart?!"

"You're my boyfriend." He told Katsuki carefully, in case it wasn't clear enough. "So this doesn't count."

"I'm not talking about now! We weren't dating all those times you did it before, were we?" Katsuki asked haughtily.

Oh. That was true, but Shouto did have an answer for that. One that he thought was particularly apt.

"We would've been if I'd known I liked you back then."

Katsuki blinked at him a few times, before turning away. "Can you fucking think before you speak?" He muttered, as if the tips of his ears weren't burning red. Shouto smiled at the sight and pressed his cheek against Katsuki's hair.

Katsuki really didn't know how to admit that he lost, did he? Well, it was fine. Shouto would let him play the tough guy as much as he wanted.

~~~

Katsuki: Put Princess's things in a bag. I'll tell you when you can hand Princess over to me to hide her.

Sent 5.08pm

Shouto frowned at the obscure message his boyfriend had sent to him. Was this a new method for them to share custody over Princess rather than having her move to and from Shouto’s room at will?

Shouto: What are you talking about?

Sent 5.08pm

Katsuki: ???

Katsuki: Dorm inspection, moron.

Sent 5.09pm

Shouto: How did you know it's happening?

Shouto: No one told me.

Sent 5.09pm

Katsuki: Surprise dorm inspection, I guess.

Katsuki: Pikachu said it in the class group chat.

Katsuki: He's laughing about how Grape Face got his porn stash confiscated. Fucking loser.

Sent 5.11pm

Shouto: Why didn't I know?

Sent 5.11pm

Katsuki: You

Katsuki: Does it really matter right now?

Sent 5.12pm

… Shouto supposed it didn't really matter. After a quick acknowledgement, he scrambled around the room to pick up all of Princess's toys that had been strewn around, shoving them in a bag while the culprit was very decidedly unhelpful.

She simply watched it all from her place on Shouto's desk impassively. When Shouto tried to pull her stuffed mouse away from her, she yowled and dug her claws into it stubbornly. Shouto was seconds away from losing his mind when his phone chimed, signalling another message from Katsuki.

Katsuki: Sensei just left my dorm. Give Princess and her toys to me.

Sent 5.48pm

She could keep her toy, Shouto decided as he scooped her up and brought her to the balcony. There wasn't any time to waste on making sure she gave her toy up, so long as she wasn't in the room. He still had to clean up all of the fur she shed around his entire room.

"Princess, can you go down to Katsuki's room?" Shouto pleaded.

Princess stared at him, as if the little demon didn't understand what he was talking about completely. At his wit’s end, Shouto just pulled his phone out.

Shouto: She's not listening to me. Help.

Sent 5.50pm

Seconds later, Shouto heard the balcony door under him slide open and Katsuki called out, "Come here, Princess!"

Shouto eyed his traitor of a cat distastefully when she immediately darted down. He shook his head and dropped her bag of toys down, Katsuki easily catching it. Where did he put that lint roller Katsuki got him?

A good 15 minutes later, he finally heard the knocking that he had been dreading.

"I don't have pornography, drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol." Shouto swore as he opened the door for Aizawa. He squinted at Shouto, puzzled.

"... I'm sure you don't." He said, raising an eyebrow. "It's still protocol to check everyone's dorms. You won't be an exception."

Shouto stepped aside dejectedly to let Aizawa walk in. Aizawa nodded at him approvingly.

His eyes darted across Shouto's dorm keenly, before he caught sight of one of Princess's squeaky plush toys that he didn't manage to put away in time. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he stalked across the room to pick it up and turn to him, holding it up.

"A cat toy." He said flatly. "Really?"

Shouto had to think up an excuse on the spot and spit it back out before he could get questioned. He'd never felt more stressed out in his life.

"That's for me." Shouto said hurriedly, darting forward and snatching it out of his hands. "That's why I didn't want you to search my dorm, I thought you'd think it was weird."

"... I probably would have if I weren't the same man who had to go into Mineta's room and confiscate way more porn magazines than anyone should ever have."

Shouto didn't know how to respond to that, so he just nodded vacantly and thanked Mineta in his head for the first and, hopefully, last time. Aizawa continued his search, finding a few more poorly hidden toys or those which Shouto presumed to be lost that he explained away with the same excuse as before.

Shouto didn't know how he was ever going to look Aizawa in the eyes again after telling him that he played with a squeaky panda toy, feather toy, and stuffed mouse.

Unfortunately, it was when Aizawa went to check his bathroom that everything fell apart; because he had only just realised he had forgotten to move Princess's litter box.

"There's nothing in there, I swear–"

"And if there's nothing in the bathroom, then it should be fine if I look through it." Aizawa said, raising one unamused eyebrow at him.

Shouto stepped aside. He wondered how mad Katsuki would be when he found out that Shouto got Princess caught.

Aizawa looked between the recently-used litter box and back at Shouto slowly. "Are you going to tell me that this is for you too?" He asked dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shouto opened his mouth, then closed it again because the humiliation was not worth it. He could only hope Katsuki wouldn't get too upset with him.

Aizawa sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Where is your cat." Aizawa demanded. Shouto stared down at the tiled floor resolutely. "It's with one of your classmates, isn't it?" Aizawa concluded blankly. "Iida wouldn't have helped you hide an unauthorised pet… Was it Midoriya? Or could it be either Sero or Sato–"

"She's with Katsuki." Shouto said quietly. Aizawa paused, narrowing his eyes at Shouto suspiciously.

"... Bakugou?"

Shouto nodded.

"You're telling me that Bakugou Katsuki is helping you hide your cat?" Aizawa said slowly. "Bakugou Katsuki?"

Shouto frowned slightly; he didn't think what he had said was so strange that it required three rounds of clarification.

"Yes."

Aizawa's face twisted, as if questioning everything he knew before promptly turning around and striding off towards the elevator, barking out a sharp "Follow me."

Shouto followed him miserably, shutting the door behind him. He'd already accepted his fate – he was just deciding on what would be the colour of his casket. As Shouto stepped into the elevator with Aizawa, he decided that this had to be the most uncomfortable elevator ride Shouto had ever been on.

When the elevator chimed, signalling that they reached the desired floor, Aizawa glanced between Shouto and Katsuki's door. He signalled to Shouto that he should get Katsuki to open it. Shouto sighed, and shuffled to the door, dragging his feet the whole way. He knocked on the door a few times, and was about to start knocking again when the door opened.

Katsuki took one glance at Shouto's guilty face and Aizawa standing behind him before jerking his chin up haughtily and declaring, "You're going to have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands."

Aizawa pinched his lips into a firm line. "You've known about this cat for long enough to get attached to it."

"Her." Katsuki corrected, appalled. "Don't call her an "it", sensei. Thought you liked cats."

"I do, but that's not the point." Aizawa stressed. "You know that you're not allowed to keep pets in the dorms unless they're there for a legitimate reason."

Katsuki scowled down at the ground as Shouto's mind raced to find an acceptable excuse.

"Princess helps me with my nightmares." Shouto blurted out. "Doesn't that make her an emotional support animal?"

A pause. That got his attention quick, Shouto noted.

"You have nightmares?" Aizawa asked him, concerned. "For how long? Have you thought about trying therapy?"

Katsuki scoffed loudly. "Years, apparently. I told him to go for therapy, but he still hasn't! The absolute fucking audacity of this dumbass Half-and-Half bastard to ignore my advice!"

"I didn't know how to sign up for therapy on my own." Shouto said, tilting his head to the side. "I thought you needed a parent to refer you to a therapist."

Aizawa stared at him, eyes gentle. "You could've asked me." He said. "In certain cases, your teacher can help refer you to a therapist."

"Ah." Shouto said, mind reeling. "Sensei, can you refer me to a therapist?"

"Sure." Aizawa nodded. He looked vaguely uncomfortable, as if he still wasn't used to this "caring about his students" thing, but Shouto appreciated him regardless. Maybe he should get him a gift.

"You two share… custody of the cat, then?" Aizawa asked, changing the topic quickly. At Shouto's nod, he continued. "What do you do when you have a nightmare and Princess is in Bakugou's room?"

"I sneak into his room." Shouto answered honestly.

"And how did you manage that?"

"Through his balcony." Oh. Maybe Shouto shouldn't have told him how exactly he'd got to Katsuki's room after curfew.

"... That is another violation of the dorm rules, which I am going to avoid dealing with for now on account of your honesty with having nightmares and wanting to try therapy." Aizawa eventually told him. "Once everything else has been settled, I'm expecting a 5000 word essay on why sneaking into other student's rooms is not allowed. From both of you."

Katsuki made a noise to protest, but Shouto cut him off before their punishment could be worsened. "Yes, sensei."

Aizawa eyed Princess warily. "I'll take care of your cat until you get an official letter from your therapist stating that she is an approved emotional support animal."

"Can't I just keep her until I get one?" Shouto asked, frowning.

"There is a process in place before your therapist can officially declare your cat an ESA." Aizawa told him firmly. "Until then, she'll stay with me."

"Good fucking luck." Katsuki scoffed. "The little devil's all yours.*

"... What is that supposed to mean?"

Shouto shook his head, sighing woefully. "That's for you to find out."

~~~

Aizawa lasted a little over 3 weeks before he handed Princess back to them. In the middle of the night.

("Hello, Todoroki. I was under the impression that this was the fourth floor." Aizawa said flatly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"... Good morning, sensei." Shouto said, yawning. "I just… Forgot to leave–"

"Next time, if you want to hide the fact that you've sneaked into someone else's room in the middle of the night, don't answer the door for them." Aizawa told him tiredly. "And take your cat back. She tore up all of my curtains and keeps trying to fight my other cats."

"Okay." Shouto agreed, yawning. More calmly than he should have been at getting Princess back, he took her from Aizawa and shut the door, flopping into bed beside Katsuki and falling asleep in seconds.

The next morning, he'd woken up on the floor with Princess lounging on his side of the bed, staring down at him with a look of pure arrogance. When Shouto turned to Katsuki, betrayed, he merely shrugged and told him that "You fell off on your own, and she was sleeping! What did you want me to do? Wake her up?!"

Katsuki called it "being a good cat owner", Shouto called it "nepotism".)

~~~

It took 8 sessions – 8 weeks, 5 of which were not particularly gruelling weeks, once he had his cat back – before Shouto finally got an ESA letter for Princess.

As soon as he submitted and got approval to keep Princess in the dorms officially, Aizawa arranged a class-wide meeting for Shouto to introduce Princess to them. Barring Katsuki, of course. He refused to come since, in his own words, he "already knew about her! Why the fuck would I miss my training for this?!".

What was how Shouto found himself here, in front of his class carrying Princess.

"This is Princess." Shouto announced. "She's my emotional support cat. I thought I should let you meet her since I'll be bringing her down to the common room often."

A moment of silence passed, before Ashido began shrieking.

"SHE'S SO CUTE!" She squealed, darting over to Shouto's side. "How old is she?! How long have you had her!? What breed is she–?!"

Aizawa winced and mouthed a "Figure it out." to Shouto as he slipped out of the common room.

With Ashido's enthusiasm, the rest of the class erupted into chaos, shooting questions at Shouto. He blinked, feeling overwhelmed by the questions. Thankfully, Shouto's now second favourite person Tenya stepped in and reestablished order in the mess.

"Everyone, let's not crowd Shouto!" He said sternly, chopping his hand. Within seconds, he directed everyone back towards the couches and had them all sit down.

"Ask questions one by one!" Tenya demanded, eyeing their classmates.

Ochako's hand flew up. "What's she like?" She asked eagerly.

"She's–" Shouto paused, remembering the way she'd limped over to Shouto and curled up next to Katsuki when meeting them for the first time. "She's very… Friendly?"

"Can I pet her?" Tooru asked with poorly concealed eagerness. When Shouto nodded his assent, she squealed to herself, reaching out to stroke her fur.

Princess, the little demon, squinted at her floating glove and hissed, fluffing up defensively. Tooru seemed to gather up her courage to try again, and made a noise of despair when Princess took a swipe at her hand.

"She's never done that before." Shouto commented in the ensuing silence.

"So she hates me at first sight?!" Tooru cried. "Did I do something wrong?!"

Tsuyu leaned over to pat her head blindly as Yaoyozoru tried her hand at comforting her. "Maybe it's because you're invisible. You'd be scared if a large, floating hand reached out to you, right?"

"But Yuwai-chan doesn't hate me!"

"Yuwai-chan has Kouda to tell him that there's nothing to fear." Tsuyu pointed out, reaching over to pet Princess, as if to prove Yaoyozoru's theory correct. Instead, Princess launched herself back onto Shouto's lap and hissed again.

"Oh." Shouto said. He ruffled Princess's fur just to make sure she was still okay with being pet. She was, guessing from the loud purring noises that erupted from her. "Maybe she doesn't like girls?"

"Your cat's a misogynist?!" Ashido gasped, scandalized.

"I hope she's not, but it's a possibility–"

"Well, what if I pet her?" Kaminari asked, already stretching one hand out to pet her. Princess responded with a loud snarl, swiping her paw at him too. "Your cat just hates everyone but you!" He screeched, cradling his hand to his chest, as if he had been mortally wounded.

Shouto frowned, holding Princess against his torso more securely, as if to protect her from Kaminari's rude words. "That's not true." He said. "She likes Kat–"

With uncannily good timing, Katsuki kicked the door open, fresh from his post-evening-run shower. He halted his unnecessarily aggressive hair drying to squint at them, draping his towel over his shoulders.

"The fuck kind of cult meeting did I just walk in on?" He grumbled, walking over to the kitchen.

At the sound of his voice, Princess's head snapped up and she leaped off of Shouto's lap to saunter over to Katsuki, her body language noticeably much more friendly and open. She purred, laying down on her back in front of him as her tail swished behind her.

"I'm not picking you up." Katsuki snapped, walking around her. "You're going to get fur all over me, spoiled fucker."

Princess meowed indignantly and stood up, trotting after him. She rubbed herself on Katsuki's pants, curling her tail around his shin and fur clung onto the fabric of his pants.

"You're not helping your case." Katsuki said flatly. Turning to Shouto, he called out, "Are you even brushing her properly?"

Shouto frowned, feeling unfairly accused. "I brush her everyday." He said, staring pointedly at her. "She's just fluffy."

She sat herself down right in front of the cupboard, and Katsuki gently nudged her aside with his leg to reach in and grab a glass. Princess stared at him disdainfully, as if she was appalled at his sheer audacity, before she meowed loudly, flopping down on her side as she chattered at Katsuki.

Katsuki's mouth dropped. "I did not push you that hard, don't be dramatic."

Princess yowled pitifully, pawing at Katsuki's slipper. Katsuki groaned, and after filling the glass with water and taking a drink, scooped her up into his arms, staring her dead in the eyes.

"You're such a bitch, do you know that?" He asked Princess. Her tail swayed like a pendulum as she trilled contentedly. Their classmates were still busy gaping at the sight of them, as if still processing it.

"Princess likes him more than she likes me." Shouto added, staring at them woefully.

Kaminari threw his hands up and he cried out. "Well, no wonder she doesn't like us! Bakubro's probably been slandering us behind our backs."

"Hah?! How the fuck was that my fault?! You dumbasses probably scared her off with your stupidity, don't fucking pin this on me!" Katsuki sneered, turning his nose up at them disdainfully.

He reminded Shouto a little of Princess. Or maybe Princess reminded Shouto of Katsuki. Either way, it made him feel a sharp rush of affection for both of them.

In the midst of the ruckus, Kirishima had made his way to Shouto and nudged his side gently. "Like owner, like cat, I guess." Kirishima whispered to Shouto, winking secretively. Shouto thought about it for a moment before he spoke.

"Not really." He said truthfully. "I like Katsuki more than Princess does."

"You bros are so cute." He said, asking his head enviously. "You should tell him that."

Hm. Shouto really should tell him that, shouldn't he? He nodded his thanks to Kirishima before he stepped over to Katsuki's side. He quirked an eyebrow at Shouto, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

"I like you more than Princess does." Shouto told him.

Katsuki huffed a laugh, before his eyes strayed to where their classmates were watching them intensely, their eyes darting between them as if they were watching an Olympics-level badminton match and Katsuki's smile got a little wider – a little more mischievous.

"I'd hope so." Katsuki drawled, stepping closer. Shouto's breath hitched when Katsuki's arms wound around his neck, and Shouto instinctively curled his hands around his waist. "I'd hate to break up with my boyfriend because his cat liked me more." He finished, grinning wickedly.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, he leaned up and kissed Shouto tenderly. Shouto empathised with whoever had choked on their saliva loudly – he himself made an aborted noise of surprise before melting into the kiss.

Katsuki stepped away a few moments later, cheeks red and grinning smugly. He laughed at the looks on their classmates' faces and scooped Princess up into his arms, turning on his heel towards the elevator.

"I'm going. Night, fuckers."

There was absolute silence for what felt like an eternity before someone finally spoke.

"Dude." Kirishima said, impressed. "Bakugou's so manly."

Shouto nodded in agreement, watching Katsuki enter the elevator.

"You're dating Bakugou?!" Kaminari screeched, whirling around to face Shouto. Shouto frowned at him, a little uncertain.

"Is it not obvious enough?" He asked Kaminari. "I even told him that I liked him more than Princess does. What else should I tell him to make sure he knows?"

"Forget about Kaminari for a second!" Uraraka squeaked. "You're dating and you never told us?!"

Shouto blinked. "I forgot to." He answered simply, casting a glance over to Iida to see if he would reinforce order like he did when Shouto was introducing Princess to the class.

Unfortunately, he was too busy trying to calm down a nigh hysterical Midoriya who was muttering "How didn't I know that my rival and best friend were dating? Are my observation skills becoming worse?!" under his breath. Maybe he should have told Midoriya at least, to avoid this from happening again.

His tactician mind raced to find a way to get out of this inevitable interrogation, seeing Ashido, Tooru, and Ochako all but crumple onto the couch.

"How come Ei's not surprised?" Ashido bemoaned, pointing an accusing finger at Kirishima. "Did Blasty tell you that before he told us?"

Ah. An easy escape handed to him on a silver platter. Shouto would be a fool not to take it.

"I don't know how he knows." Shouto said slowly. "But you can ask him anything you want to know about me and Katsuki."

A dozen heads snapped to Kirishima, who in turn snapped his head to Shouto to stare at him, wide eyed and betrayed. Shouto merely shrugged helplessly, taking the opportunity to quietly slip out before he could be interrogated.

Maybe Shouto could annoy Katsuki into letting him sleep with him for that stunt he pulled in the kitchen. Shouto nodded to himself – yes, that was a good plan.