Chapter Text
Things could probably be going better, Dabi thought.
He ran as quickly as he could, trees and buildings blurring past him. He splashed one foot in a puddle, nearly slipping. He winced, knowing his boot was soaked and would seep through to his sock. Gross.
It started off like any normal recruitment. He asked what the guy thought he offered, what he wanted from the league, why he should accept him.
The guy wasn't anything special, though his quirk was interesting. It was some kind of transformation quirk, but Dabi grew bored with it when he learned that the man couldn't control what animal someone he used it on turned into.
It was based on personality, or something. Whatever. It bored him. The chances of a hero turning into something that could end up helping them in the end seemed too great, and Dabi struggled to hide a yawn as the the guy continued to plead his case.
“You bore me.” Dabi said, getting into a fighting stance to flame the man. The man was quicker than Dabi anticipated, running forward and panickedly socking him in the face.
Dabi threw a wall of flames, killing him instantly. He tasted blood.
Fuck. He reached a hand up to his face, feeling a few missing staples and a split seam right where the guy hit.
It didn't hurt, it never did, but it was awfully inconvenient. Dabi wasn't trying to get an infection and unfortunately, one of the easiest ways to get an infection is having an open wound.
He'd have to get back to the hideout and get his staples. So fucking annoying.
Dabi glanced at the charred man on the ground. Douche , he thought, kicking him slightly.
He burnt him the rest of the way, until his ashes flew away like he was never there.
With a sigh, he turned, coat swinging with the movement.
It was late, but he knew as soon as he left this alley, it would be bright again. That's what street lights did, unfortunately.
Luckily, people didn't tend to be out this late. Other than stupid heroes and typical villains.
He edged his way out of the alley, checking to make sure there was no one around. It seemed fine, so he walked out entirely, heading back in the vague direction of the base.
It was fine, at first. He narrowly avoided puddles, squinting his eyes up at the bright street lights and various shut-off neon signs.
He heard a crunch behind him. He quickly whipped around to flamethrow whoever thought it smart to sneak up on him, but nothing came out. Someone was rapidly approaching, so he turned tail and started running as fast as he could.
What the fuck was wrong with his quirk? Why didn't it come when he called on it?
In the twenty years he'd had his quirk, it had never let him down. Touya always let his quirk down, by being too weak for it, but he had been able to use his quirk to its full potential for years now.
He stepped in a stupid fucking puddle, getting his sock wet and irritating him.
He could feel the way it squished and oozed out everytime he had to run on that foot. Dabi was overly aware of how the water felt on him, but he assumed it was the adrenaline.
Everything was hazy, even as he stopped for a second to see if he was still being followed.
He was. He started running again.
He thought he was going to pass out any moment with how dizzy he was getting.
His whole body was sore, pissing him off. He wasn't the most athletic person in the world, but usually he could run for a bit longer. He was winded, and all he could think about was the ache in his legs as he ran.
He wanted to stop so fucking bad, but there was no way he was going to get caught by whoever the hell was trailing him.
Dabi heard them behind him and sped up. Don't get caught .
Fuck, don't get caught. Don't get caught. Don't get caught. Don't get caught. Don't get caught .
There was a fork in the road, and since he was on the left side of the road, he chose to go left. It was closer, after all.
But he immediately regretted it, because there was a dead end. He could go in one of the few alleys or he could keep going and get caught in the end cap of buildings.
Swallowing thickly, he swerved into one of the alleys.
He hoped that they would think he went into another one.
His breathing was ragged, but he forcefully regulated it so they wouldn’t hear. Fuck. His quirk wasn't working, his body hurt, and he was so dizzy that he was nauseous.
He felt like he was going to fucking hurl, but it would be too loud and they'd find him.
But his body didn't have the sense of his brain, because he couldn't hold it in anymore. He vomited by the dumpster he was hiding next to, blacking out a moment later.
Or, he assumed he blacked out. He wasn't actually sure.
When he woke up, he found out the person who was trailing him was Eraserhead. The teacher of those 1-A brats.
“Back off.” He wheezed. Or at least, he tried to. What came out was closer to a pathetic mewl. What the-
“Stay back.” He tried to say. Instead, it came out as a low growl. What the fuck?
He stood, but immediately tripped over himself. What the fuck.
Eraserhead kneeled down, much to Dabi's horror. What was he doing?
Eraser's face was as impassive as ever. Dabi was in a terribly tight spot. He was caught.
The hero started making low kissy sounds.
Okay, what the fuck?
“Hey, pretty kitty. Did someone throw paint on you?” He frowned. “Poor baby, you've got black paint all over you. Or maybe dye?” Eraser spoke in low tones, gently trying to coax Dabi towards him.
Pretty kitty? Poor baby? What on Earth was Eraser doing!?
“What the fuck.” Dabi mewed. He looked down at himself in abject horror.
Small, fluffy little black paws where his hands should be. He stretched out, curling in on himself to look at his full body.
All small, all black. His dye was patchier on his weird fur stuff than it was on his hair, ruining the illusion of a black cat.
Oh, spirits.
“You didn't happen to see a suspicious looking man, did you kitty? Hm?” Eraser asked him. He held out his hand, making Dabi back up further against the wall. Eraser let his hand drop.
Something smelled good, when Eraser got close. It seemed to be coming from a black fanny pack that he had on his belt.
“I don't suppose this big mess was you?” He asked, gesturing to the pile of vomit.
Dabi hissed.
“You're not a feral cat, are you?” Eraserhead asked. He reached into his fanny pack. Dabi tensed, but Eraser just pulled out some kind of plastic baggie. It was ever so slightly open, and something inside of it smelled really good. Dabi instinctually got a bit closer.
He heard Eraser suck in a breath at his unfurled state. “Oh, are you hungry? You're so thin, poor thing.” He reached into his fanny pack again, pulling out some kind of can of food.
It had a cat on the side. Cat food. There was no fucking way-
Eraser opened it, releasing the entrancing smell. Oh shit. It smelled so good. His stomach rumbled, betraying him.
Gently, he placed it down in front of Dabi. Dabi was not going to eat it. He wasn't going to… he wasn't even that hungry. He'd gone for longer without eating. But fuck.
Without thinking, he crept even further, sniffing the food. It smelled so good to his hungry brain. His tongue darted out to eat the food, and quickly his teeth started gnashing it up further. It was so good, fuck, fuck, fuck. What was wrong with him?
What was he?
His mind provided the guy he killed's quirk details. Animal that matches personality, or whatever.
Oh hell no, was he a fucking cat?
He was not fucking cat-like, not at all. This pissed him off. He wanted to kill the quirk user again.
He belatedly realized that Eraser was gently stroking his head as he ate. He flinched, backing away.
“I'm sorry, come back.” Eraser said gently. “I have treats too. And water.” Was this guy for real? Did he do patrols just to find cats?? Was there anything fucking useful in his fanny pack!?
He was under the impression that the villain Dabi just fucking vanished into thin air, and he was more concerned about a stray? Ridiculous.
“You need to eat, little guy.” Little!? Dabi was not little. He was almost six feet tall. He was only like three inches off or something. Five-nine was not bad, especially considering how big he was as a kid (read: not very).
Eraser was looking at his hands, which Dabi realized were coated in a thin layer of black from petting Dabi. Kind of gross. “Someone needs a bath, hm?” He asked rhetorically, looking at Dabi again. He pulled out a bowl and a water bottle, setting down the bowl softly and filling it up.
Dabi’s tongue unwittingly dashed out to lick his lips. The cat food (gross holy shit gross) had been satisfying, but it was a bit salty. Dabi didn't think twice before sticking his head in the water.
He pulled back with a yowl.
“Oh, you poor thing. How did you get your water before?” Eraser frowned. “You seem to be a domesticated cat, but something doesn't fit. How long have you been out on the streets?”
Years, Dabi thinks. It was different to be on the streets as a human than it was as an animal, though. At least he assumed. He'd never been a fucking animal before.
This was so fucking surreal holy shit. He was a cat.
He tried to stick only his muzzle in, but it got water up his nose. How did cats drink water again? Maybe if he just… licked it? He pulled back slightly, close enough that his tongue could reach.
As soon as he realized that was, in fact, how to drink water as a cat, he lapped it up greedily.
“There you go, pretty kitty. You figured it out.” Eraser set his hand down next to the water bowl, distracting him momentarily from the water.
There was something in his hands, something that smelled good.
It was these small little biscuit things, dark brown with a slightly powdery coating. Dabi licked them straight out of Eraser's hand, shocking a little chuckle out of the man.
When Dabi realized what he just did, he backed away against the wall again.
“It's okay, you don't have to be shy. You know, I bet your coat’s really itchy.”
Dabi wished the man hadn't said anything, because now that he mentioned it, it was pretty itchy. He raised his front hand to scratch at his back, but he couldn't reach. He tried to use his back leg, but he stumbled forward, falling.
Eraser scratched the spot that he tried and failed to, making his mind go all blurry. Woah. It felt indescribably good. Eraserhead's fingernails got the spot perfectly.
“That feel nice?” Eraser smiled. Though it was the tiniest bit creepy, it seemed genuine. “You’ve got such a cute purr. I wonder how you look under all that dye, kitty. You look like a long-hair. Hm, actually… maybe more of a medium-hair. Hard to say with all that gunk on you.”
Cute purr? Dabi wondered. What did he mean? Oh. Wait. No.
He realized that there was an odd vibrating sound that followed his breaths. With every exhale, the sound intensified slightly before he inhaled again.
He cut it off forcefully, growling.
“Wha-?” Came out as a little “Mrow?” As he felt an arm reach under him and scoop him up. He wriggled around, trying to escape, but it was so warm.
Eraser held him against him, warming him up. He hadn't even realized how cold he was without his quirk.
“Shhh.” Eraser soothed. “I'm going to get you a nice bath, okay? Don't worry, kitty.” He picked up the bowl and food, throwing away the empty bottle and can of food.
Dabi felt like he should be fighting more, but he couldn't force this accursed body to do what he wanted. It was too lazy!
He felt his eyes slip shut unwittingly, purring again. He didn't want to purr!! Where was the fucking off button!?
He hung limply in Eraser's arms as the hero rushed to wherever he was taking him.
He was pretty sure that at one point, Eraser had been concerned that he was dead. The man had checked on him until Dabi growled and opened an annoyed eye.
After that, it was smooth sailing. Until he realized where Eraser was taking him.
“The fucking hero school? Seriously?” He meowed.
Eraser smiled at him again. “Yeah, you're gonna get a nice bath. You excited?”
“No.” He mewed. Eraser laughed. This was fucked up.
The school was weird looking in the dark, though it wasn't like Dabi had ever seen it either way. It was just odd to be in a school at night, he supposed. Though he hadn't been in school since middle school, so he had little to no frame of reference.
Dabi couldn't even bother to keep track of the map of the school. Shigaraki was going to be pissed. If he ever found out, that was.
Eraser took him to some kind of staff bathroom. It was probably for staff to live on-site similarly to the students. It wasn't quite like the more public restrooms the rest of the school likely had. There was a more personal touch to it, plus a bathtub.
Eraserhead placed him down on the toilet seat, much to his discontent. How gross.
The hero turned on the water, checking the temperature with his dirty hands. He winced at them like he forgot they were stained with dye, opting to rinse them off in the faucet before plugging the drain.
This was really weird.
He squeaked (super manly-like, not like a cat at all) when Eraser grabbed him, placing him in the tub.
“Don’t give me any trouble.” He mumbled.
The water was slightly below Dabi's chin when Eraser shut off the faucet.
Being in the tub was actually not at all unpleasant. A bit odd, and different, but not bad. The water was perfectly lukewarm, easing out the itches that had been bothering Dabi.
“You're a shockingly docile kitty.” Eraser mused, scritching Dabi's head in a way that was unbearably soothing.
No one ever bothered to touch Dabi. He was not nice to look at, he knew. He was even less nice to touch. If he for some reason let someone touch him without killing them, they probably wouldn’t even touch him for that long because of the gross texture of his scars.
So it'd been a while since anyone took care of him like this.
But no, he was not docile, he was mean. He was unpredictable, unstable, crazy, maybe more. He was not docile.
He hissed at Eraserhead, scrambling back and away from his achingly nice touch.
“Did I hurt you?” He asked.
“Just my pride.” Dabi mewled pathetically, even in his own ears. Wow, that sound just came out of him.
Eraser reached his hand out to dabi, palm up. “Your coat is almost clean. Look at it, it's so pretty.” He paused, eyeing Dabi for a moment with an appraising eye. “Very white, I wasn't expecting it.”
Dabi was about to give in and sniff his hand when a ringtone startled him into flinching back against the white bathtub.
“Sorry.” Eraser said. He turned away, digging through his fanny pack and pulling out a phone.
Seriously, how much shit was in that little bag??
He held it awkwardly so as to not get too much water on it. He put it on speaker before turning back to Dabi in the tub.
“Hizashi.” Eraser greeted, holding his hand out again. Dabi rubbed his face against it without really thinking about it. Was he so desperate to stoop so low?
Maybe.
“Shouta, where are you?” This ‘Hizashi’ asked. Dabi thought the names were both vaguely familiar. ‘Shouta’ must have been Eraserhead.
“I’m busy.” Shouta said, continually scooping up a bit of water and dumping it on Dabi.
“Are- are you in the bathroom?”
Shouta sighed. “Yes, but I'm not on the golden throne, before you ask.”
“Hang on, I'm coming.” Hizashi said, hanging up.
“I'm not in the shower either!” Aizawa said before realizing Hizashi already ended the call. “That man, seriously.”
He pumped soap into his hand, lathering it into Dabi's hair. Fur? Hair.
Dabi sat down in the tub, relaxing into the touch. This was nice. Weird, but nice. Weirdly nice.
“Shouta, are you oka- Shouta. You didn't. ” The voice started outside of the door before barging in. Dabi jumped out of the tub, running for the door.
“Close the door.” Shouta said simply. Hizashi hurriedly closed the door, and Dabi ran into it with an audible splat. He felt like a wet rat. “Did the mean man scare you, kitty?” He asked, picking Dabi up again and putting him back in the tub.
Dabi mrowed. Shouta pet him, and he leaned into it.
“Shouta. What is this. Why is this creature in the school?”
Hizashi, he figured out, was Present Mic. His normal bird-like hairstyle was hanging limply around his shoulders, normal-looking glasses hooked onto his shirt. He looked really different without his hero attire.
“I found him in an alley while chasing down Dabi. No luck with him, but this little guy was starving. Look how small he is. I think he was a runt or something and he probably got taken in by someone who didn't treat him right. He had black dye on him and he didn't even know how to drink water.”
Wow, just lay out everything like that, why don't you? Why not, Dabi mused. Small? Runt? This was fucked up. Dabi was neither of those things.
“I know you love cats, but remember what Nedzu said? No more cats. He hates them.”
“But he's so cute and little.” Shouta said flatly. There was a slight fluctuation in his voice that told Dabi he was incredibly serious. “He looks like he could be a kitten, so I want to take him to the vet to check.”
Kitten?? Dabi had never been so fucking offended in his whole lif- oh. That was nice. His indignation was cut off by a soft scratch near one of his ears.
Hizashi sighed, grabbing two towels and handing them to Shouta. Shouta layed one down and used the other one to take Dabi out of the tub. “He can't stay. Remember what happened to Mittens?”
Shouta winced, rubbing the towel over Dabi and placing him down on the other one.
Wait, what the hell happened to Mittens??
“Hizashi… about Mittens.” Shouta began, hesitatingly. “She didn't die when I said she did. I told Nedzu that so he'd stop looking into it. I gave her to this nice old lady where she lived out the rest of her cat days. She lived to be like eighteen.”
Hizashi looked offended. He scoffed dramatically. “No way, I definitely didn't know this.”
Shouta seemed surprised, the most emotion Dabi's seen on him. Ever. The few times he'd seen him, anyway. It wasn't like he was on T.V. much (at all), so Dabi's experience was limited to when he broke his double's arm. “How’d you figure it out?” The hero asked.
“You told me once when you were drunk out of guilt. You even gave me the address and number of the old lady and I visited her.”
“Dammit.”
“Either way,” Hizashi continued more seriously. “We didn’t get to have her in our own place, since we live on-campus. So even though she was alive and happy, she wasn't with us, and that's sad. I don't want that for this cat too. Did you name it already?”
Shouta dropped both towels, picking up a slightly-damp Dabi. Being moist was gross.
He was going to do something drastic if he did not get dry immediately.
“... I had one in mind, but that was before I bathed him. Now it feels too ugly for him. Doesn't he look kind of like a show-cat?” Shouta petted him between his ears. Fuck, that was nice. He felt like he lost all function of his brain when Shouta did that.
“If you mean a pedigree of some kind, I think it's possible.” He frowned. “You said you found him in an alley all dyed up?”
Shouta nodded.
“Weird. Maybe some breeder abandoned him because he's too small to be a show cat? Is that a thing? I don't know if breeders get rid of runts.”
“I think they might sell them or adopt them out. Usually when they're breeding for shows, they only keep the ones that are perfect for being a show-cat.”
Hizashi nodded, thinking. “It just feels weird that an expensive-looking cat like this was just… tossed. Something isn't adding up. Maybe he's just a good-looking mutt?”
“We’ll have to see.” Shouta said. “Just don't tell Nedzu, and we're good.”
Dabi hated being talked about like he wasn't here, but he supposed they couldn’t really talk to a cat. He wasn't a mutt, or a runt, or a show-cat. He wasn't a cat at all, in fact.
Though, he supposed he was abandoned by a breeder in some funny fucked up sense. He wasn't what you would call ‘well-bred’, due to his fucked up quirk or whatever, but his parents were married just to produce him and his siblings.
“Shouta…” Hizashi frowned.
“This is the last time, I promise.” Shouta smiled at Hizashi.
“Fine.” Hizashi said, in that ‘I can't say no to you voice’. Very weird, for friends. But who was Dabi to judg- oh they're kissing. They're. kissing.
It was brief, a small little peck on the lips. But they kissed. Dabi felt like he was in the know-how of, well, no-one.
Shouta hoisted him up a bit higher. Dabi was still slightly damp, but Shouta didn't seem to mind.
Holy shit, Eraserhead and Present Mic??? Shouta didn't seem like the type to like someone as annoying as Hizashi, but he supposed he didn't really know him. Dabi was sure that even people who'd known them for a long time would be surprised, though.
“I'll schedule him a vet appointment, then.” Shouta said. Dabi growled, instantly tapering off when Shouta started petting him again. Was it some kind of secret quirk? Or maybe witchcraft. It had to be one of those things, because there was no way that Dabi was getting shut up just by being petted.
Hizashi led Shouta out of the bathroom, taking him to their (possibly shared) room. Dabi hoped Hizashi and Shouta didn’t share a room because the blonde was really fucking annoying and loud. Dabi sort of figured he could deal with Shouta until the quirk wore off and he could run, but he definitely couldn’t do the same with Hizashi.
However, because some higher power must hate him, he soon realized that his hunch was right. The room they were in had one king-sized bed and no other. Shouta set him down on said bed, running his hand from Dabi's head to his back. He pushed into it, but he flopped down on the bed when he realized how ridiculous he must look leaning into the touch the whole way.
“HE'S STILL WET!” Hizashi yelled, exasperated. Dabi's ears pressed against his head.
Shouta shook his head. “Barely. And shut up, you'll wake the whole school.” He scritched Dabi's cheek, which was unexpectedly nice. “You scared him.”
“You like him more than me already!?” Hizashi fell to the ground dramatically.
“Go to bed already.”
“This is the real reason we can't have cats anymore. Nedzu saw our failing marriage and made us get rid of Mittens. And Granite. And Tabletop.” How many fucking cats have they taken in over the years?? They did realize that this was a school, right?
Shouta raised a brow at him. “Failing marriage? This is news to me.” He said, amused.
“A man can only handle so many cats.”
“You loved them too, don't lie. Granite was way back when, you wouldn't remember him if you didn't care at least a little.”
Hizashi pouted, looking away with his arms crossed. “Whatever. Shouldn't you name this one, too? It's your turn.”
Dabi was not sure how exactly he felt about that. Getting a name as a cat. It was kind of funny, he supposed.
Names were sort of difficult for him. Dabi was a name that promised revenge, promised blood and brutality. Touya… Touya was a name that was synonymous with weakness. He wasn't good enough. He was an unlovable child.
He didn't really understand when people used names as more than a means to an end. Touya was a name with a lot of expectations on it. Dabi was a name with a lot of promises. There wasn't a name that was just him , a name that solely was used to call him with. Names were meant to summarize the person who owned it, but not to embody them.
“I guess. I'm still thinking.” Shouta said.
Hizashi nodded. “Well, it's not long-term anyway. So if you give him a really bad name, that's alright. I just need one to schedule an appointment with.”
Dabi was unimpressed. He didn't want them to name him or anything like that, but if they were going to, it may as well have been good. He hoped Shouta wasn't the one who named Granite or Tabletop.
“What about Cumshot?” Hizashi asked. Dabi jumped off the bed to claw his face off. He couldn't quite reach, so he had to settle for chewing on his pajama pants. “Woah- Cumshot, get off!”
“Do not call him Cumshot. Please tell me that wasn't a serious suggestion.”
Hizashi pulled Dabi off, putting him back on the bed and eyeing him wearily. “What!? He's all white . It's a perfect name!”
Shouta pinched his nose bridge. Dabi hoped that Hizashi's awful fucking name suggestion meant he named the other cats. Maybe Shouta had something better-
“What about Mr. Ice?”
Nevermind. Maybe there was a reason they were together, after all.
Dabi was fucked. He was going to drink rat poison if he had to wait out this quirk while being called Mr. Ice or Cumshot.
“Nah. Everyone would probably expect that he'd be called some kind of ice or snow-related name.” Hizashi said, shooting down his idea.
“Right, because Cumshot is so much better.”
“Just keep coming up with ideas!”
Dabi was going to claw up all of their furniture.
The morning was off-putting. He woke up warm, but not the same way as usual. Usually he was almost feverish, due to his quirk. In the morning, he was warm on the outside creeping in.
He dazedly looked around. He was in a bed, snuggled against something warm. He let his eyes slip shut again until he jumped up.
He remembered now! His awful situation, it wasn't a nightmare.
Dabi struggled to get out of Shouta's hold before jumping off the bed.
Fuck, he was still a cat. And his stomach hurt. He was hungry.
He looked around the room. There seemed to be a bathroom, but the door was closed with a small sliver of light peeking out the bottom. The corner had a small and open kitchenette. A small, circular table was near it with three chairs. There was also a T.V. with a loveseat in front of it. It sort of looked like a hotel room, but actually lived-in.
Dabi clawed at the bathroom door. “I'm hungry. Don't let me starve to death. Open up. Feed me.” He meowed.
“GO BOTHER SHOUTA!!!!!!” Hizashi eventually yelled.
Dabi frowned (or tried to. He wasn't sure if he actually could anymore), and went back to the bed. He mewled, trying to be noisy enough to wake him. It didn't work.
He jumped on top of Shouta, struggling to balance. He walked along his side, reaching his ear and meowing loudly.
“You kidnapped me. You can't let me starve. Hero. Hero. Hero. Wake up!” He started kneading his hands into Shouta's clothes.
Suddenly, Shouta got up, nearly flinging Dabi off of him. Dabi yelped, scrambling away and underneath the table.
“Huh?” Shouta mumbled groggily. “Oh, shit. Sorry, little guy.” He got up, kneeling by the table to get Dabi to come back out. No fucking way, he was not going to get manhandled again.
Shouta gave up, getting up and going to the kitchen. He started to make himself a cup of coffee, looking in the fridge to find something to eat.
Was he being ignored right now? That wouldn't do.
Dabi slowly made his way out, holding his body close to the ground. He sat behind Shouta. “Feed me.” He mewed, tail flicking in annoyance.
Shout turned around. “There you are. Are you hungry, little guy?”
“Yes! This is what I have been trying to tell you.”
“Eager, huh? Here.” Shouta reached into a cabinet, pulling a little can of cat food out. Dabi was fucking salivating over it. He couldn't believe it. Fuck, he couldn't tell anybody about this, ever.
The food opened with a deep, satisfying click. He set it down for Dabi, who immediately started to greedily devour it. The sound of something being grabbed and then the faucet running for a few seconds served as background noise until a bowl of water was placed next to the food.
He switched over to the water, lapping it up quickly.
“Don't eat or drink too quick. You're just asking to start choking.”
Dabi ignored him. The bathroom door opened, revealing a fully-dressed Present Mic.
Shouta seemed surprised. “What’re you doing, isn't it the weekend? Do you have patrol?”
Hizashi shook his head. “I'm going out to look for Dabi.”
Dabi choked on his water, wheezing a bit before diving back in. “I warned you, idiot.” Shouta scolded. He turned back to Hizashi, “Why are you doing that? Are you going with anyone?”
“You said you saw him not too far from here, and I have a bad feeling about it. Me and a group of heroes are going. You were invited too, of course, but I assumed you wanted to stay with Cumshot.”
Dabi growled. He was going to chew up Hizashi's ankles one day.
“Don't call him that. And you're right, I don't want to leave him, but I don't think I should be sitting this out. I'm the last person to see him.”
Wait, if they both left, what was Dabi going to do? “You guys are going to leave the cat you cat-napped!?” He growled.
Hizashi pointed at Dabi. “I think the little listener doesn't want you to leave. You can't leave him alone!”
Maybe the blonde cockatiel had a brain somewhere in his head after all.
“Regardless, I think hero work is more important than a cat. He'll be fine if he's alone for a bit.” Shouta stood tall, crossing his arms. Dabi didn't believe him for a second. He’d witnessed Shouta abandon pursuit of a villain (read: him) for a cat (read: also him).
Shouta’s coffee made a sound indicating it was ready, and he glared at Hizashi the entire way to the coffee pot. He grabbed himself a mug, pouring his bean juice into it.
Hizashi sighed. “Can I get some?”
“No.”
They both ended up leaving Dabi alone to look for- well,- Dabi. Hizashi did eventually get his coffee, since Shouta probably wasn't able to drink the whole pot. Or maybe he could and he just couldn't say no to Hizashi.
It was terribly boring. There was only so much you could do as a cat before you started to repeat yourself.
One such thing was a short cat-nap (haha) on the bed.
Another thing was that he jumped up on the table and knocked down Hizashi and Shouta's empty coffee mugs. The one that said ‘Cat Daddy’ unfortunately didn't break, but the one that said ‘Yeah, I'm gay. So what.’ in cursive over a badly cropped picture of a rainbow pride flag luckily shattered into a million pieces. Dabi almost stepped in some of it, but his agile cat body was able to maneuver around it.
He also hopped up on the counter to see what else he could knock down. He tried to push the coffee pot off, but it was too heavy, so he settled for knocking down some seasonings and some plastic cups. Nothing that made a real mess like the mug, though, so it wasn't as satisfying.
He did attempt to snoop at one point, but he quickly realized it was useless because he couldn't open anything or dig through anything.
In the end, he ended up jumping into their hamper of clean clothes and curling up in it. They were still a bit warm from coming out of the dryer, which he assumed Hizashi did while Shouta and Dabi were still asleep.
He blinked awake when he heard Shouta and Hizashi come home. Suddenly, he felt a bit self-conscious about the mess he made. Not that he felt bad, or anything like that. Just very aware. He burrowed himself deeper into the laundry when he heard a gasp, no doubt from Hizashi.
“Cumshot!!” Hizashi shouted.
He heard someone rapidly approaching and opted to stay as still as he could. Maybe they'd think he was a shirt or something.
But it wasn't meant to be, because he felt the moment that he was noticed. He turned to see who it was, and of course it was Shouta. Shouta lifted him out of the basket, tucking him under his armpit. “You're very bad, Cumshot.” Now Shouta was calling him that too?? He'd fucked up royally, afterall.
“That was my favorite mug, Cumshot. How are you going to make up for it, HAH?” Hizashi asked, one of his eyebrows arched so high that Dabi was concerned it would come off.
“Mew.” Dabi mewed.
“Awh, I can't stay mad at you. Look at your little face with your big ol’ blue eyes.” Shouta deadpanned. Dabi was starting to understand his mild inflections, actually.
“Shouta! You'll spoil him. Remember Princess? Empress? Queen? Bella? Pretty? Learn your lesson, sheesh.”
Dabi was becoming increasingly concerned with how many pets there seemed to have been in their lives. What happened to all of them?? Was Dabi next??
“Don't talk about them like that. They all lived full lives. Maybe getting all of them at the same time was a bad idea, but I don't have any regrets.”
Was he going to become a part of a cat-hoarders home if the quirk didn't wear off soon?
“You spoiled them all and they ruled you.” Hizashi shamed.
Shouta scratched behind Dabi's ears. Fuck, that was good. “I won't let that happen again. I think he just got bored because we didn't leave him with any toys. We left in a rush, I didn't even think about the lack of cat stuff. At least he didn't shit everywhere.”
“OH NO!!.” Hizashi shouted, pointing at the hamper Dabi was resting in. “THOSE ARE CLEAN !!”
“Stop speaking in uppercase, it's embarrassing. Jeez.” Dabi meowed.
Hizashi checked the clothes. Other than being covered in white cat hair, they were all fine. Because Dabi wasn't a heathen that pissed or shat anywhere that striked his fancy.
“I might have to bring him to my class today.” Shouta thought aloud.
Hizashi frowned. “Why? Can't you just get him the cat stuff and leave him?”
“You trust him alone here after what happened today?? Plus, it might be good for one of my students.”
“Oh yeah, the animal quirk one?” Hizashi mumbled rhetorically. He contemplated Shouta’s words. “I guess that works. But what if Nedzu finds out?”
“I'll invoke the ancient art of misdirection.”
Oh, so lying. Nice one, Shouta. Real nice.
“Wow, what is that? It sounds so mysterious!” Hizashi asked, stars in his eyes. Really, sometimes the guy was smart and other times… not so much.
Dabi wriggled around to jump out of Shouta's arms. Shouta let him go without looking at him. Rude.
“I'm going to provide false information.”
Just say lying, for fuck's sake.
Hizashi put his hands on his hips. “Wait, so you're going to lie?” Dabi wondered what his IQ was.
Shouta shrugged. “It's better than honesty. Honesty is gonna get this little snowflake put through a meatgrinder.”
“What????” Dabi meowed loudly at the ground by Shouta's feet. Maybe he should have stayed in Shouta's arms, at least for the height advantage (nothing to do with the petting, that was totally weird and not nice at all). Anyway- what was this about being put through a fucking meatgrinder??
“NEDZU WOULDN'T DO THAT!” Hizashi yelled. He paused, truly thinking about it with his lips pursed. “Would he?”
“Eh, I don't really know with him. How far he's willing to go is a complete mystery, so I'm thinking worst case scenario.” Shouta crouched to the ground, letting Dabi rub on his hand. Not that Dabi wanted to, it was just some weird knee-jerk reaction that he couldn't control. He wasn't sure what a cat’s desire to rub their cheeks on stuff meant, but it was probably bad if the purring emanating from him was anything to go off of. “Hey, Snowflake. Do you like that name?”
Snowflake? It was stupid. It was obvious and boring, and Dabi kind of liked it. A little.
It reminded him of being little, playing with his sister and mom.
Before things started to change. Before Natsu, way before Shoto. Mom always called him Icicle, even though he was constantly feverish and ran way hotter than her and Fuyumi. Fuyumi was always Popsicle or Snow-cloud, and she was always closer to their mother than he was. It was like that with everyone. It was like there was an impenetrable wall between him and the members of his family, and no one told him, despite him being the first-born.
It was always Fuyumi, mom, and also Touya. It was never just mom and Touya. On the other hand, Fuyumi was basically their mother's little shadow. She wouldn't tell Fuyumi off for following her like she did to Touya. Maybe their mother knew what Touya was from a young age, maybe she knew what he'd become. Maybe she could see the evil in his blue eyes and the way he cried.
Maybe he didn't like the name Snowflake all that much.
Shouta gently scratched the base of his tail, making Dabi flop to the side and expose his belly in a full-body stretch. “You wanna come to class with me, don't you?” Shouta asked in a slightly baby-talky voice. Dabi was getting good at deciphering this guy’s tone.
“Do you have a carrier for him?” Hizashi asked, arms crossed.
Shouta frowned. “I guess I might. I was just going to take him like this, though.” Shouta scooped Dabi up again, carrying him like a baby. Dabi felt a bit helpless on his back, but when Shouta started to pet him again, he found that he couldn't mind.
He would get revenge later.
As for the carrier situation, did Shouta and Hizashi share a brain cell and it just bounced back and forth between them like a game of 8-bit ping pong? Dabi was growing increasingly concerned.
“Take a carrier anyway! It's better to have somewhere to put him.” Hizashi smiled. He reached over to pet Dabi, but Dabi snapped his teeth at the man. Hizashi was not allowed to touch Dabi after he witnessed Hizashi use half a tub of gel to make his hair into the pointy spike it was now. No man should use that much gel in a lifetime, much less every single day. Besides, Dabi was pretty sure he didn’t wash his hands either, so they were still caked in dry gel. “Bad, Cumshot.”
Dabi hissed at him.
Shouta groaned. “His name is Snowflake. And go wash your hands, you aren't touching my cat with those dirty hands.” ‘My cat’ . Was Dabi a housecat now? What would happen when the quirk wore off? Would he just be another Mittens, or Granite, or Tabletop, or whatever other cats? Did it matter?
It probably shouldn't have. Whatever. Dabi would make it not matter.
“DON'T tell me what to do.” Hizashi crossed his arms. “I might need gel for later, so I'm saving it.”
At that point, just take the damn tub of gel. Dabi was reminded of the rumors in the villain world that Present Mic's fists were sticky. His nickname amongst villains was Sticky Fingers.
Dabi shuddered. He always thought they were unfounded, but it seemed to have been the truth. Zero points for heroes, one point(s) for villains.
The classroom was too damn loud. Shouta came in before any students did, obviously, and placed Dabi behind his desk in a carrier. He set him up with food and water, unfortunately leaving the carrier zipped up tightly.
Oddly enough, it wasn't that claustrophobic inside of the carrier. Not pleasant by any means, no, but not uncomfortably small. He allegedly wasn't a very big cat, though, so he dreaded to think of what a normal or big cat would feel like in the carrier.
“Be good.” Shouta said. Dabi looked up at him through the mesh of the carrier, hoping his glare would make the hero explode. His view was ironically obstructed by the thing that was meant to force him to ‘be good’.
He could hear the students pile in loudly, more than one stomping around or projecting their voices obnoxiously. It was no wonder Shouta always looked so tired. What was a wonder was that he was still alive and teaching.
“Listen up!” Shouta suddenly called out. “Today, you're meant to find small ways to apply your quirks. Heroics isn't just about fighting and using your quirk as hard as you can, plus ultra style.”
The class groaned. Shouta glared. “It's about ethics and helping out whenever and wherever you can. This applies to low-stakes situations. Even a low-stakes situation can be high-stakes for those involved or can turn high-stakes if you don't properly handle it. Even dropping a glass of water on the floor can turn high-stakes if not handled. Why?”
Dabi could
hear
hands shooting up. His hearing was unbelievably sharp now. He distracted himself by pawing at and knocking over his food bowl.
“Tsuyu.” Shouta called. Dabi had no idea which one that was.
“The glass would break and someone could step on it, ribbit?” The girl’s voice was nasally and flat. The croak at the end made Dabi wonder if this was the frog girl that Toga talked about sometimes.
“Mhm. What else? Kaminari?”
“Someone might drop a toaster in the water and get electrocuted and die!”
What an idiot. Although, Dabi wondered if there was any merit to what he was saying at all. Probably not. In the hypothetical situation, it was only a glass of water, so the main priority should be the glass because there wasn't a lot of water in the first place. Jeez, look at Dabi entertaining this. He was really fucking bored.
“Sure, whatever. Ochako?”
“Uhm, someone might slip on the water? Or the person who steps in glass will have an open wound which is a more dangerous situation, since if it continues to not get resolved, they might get an infection and lose their foot or… worse?” Ochako. Toga wouldn't shut up about this chick, and Dabi wasn't sure why. However, she seemed smarter than Kaminari, so he supposed that she was okay in his book for now.
Until he could obliterate his brother's class. He boredly began to lap up some water.
“Yeah. Anything else? Todoroki?” Dabi choked on his water. Shit, right. His brother was actively in this class. It somehow completely slipped his mind.
“When they get hurt on the glass and slip, they might be surprised in the moment and use their quirk. If their quirk is like mine, Midorya's, or Bakugou's; it might cause severe property damage. If it's more like a transformation quirk, they might hurt or scare someone else. If that chain of reactions continues, it could cause hysteria and a lot of random accidental quirk usage.”
“Mhm.” Shouta didn't seem impressed outwardly, but Dabi could tell by the lilt in his voice that he was. Dabi wasn't impressed, however. He could do all of that critical thinking shit too. Whether it was a natural Todoroki trait or was just something acquired from training a shit ton remained to be seen. “So we'll be going outside so you can train your quirks to do something little- what do you want Midoriya.” He grit out.
So this Midoriya kid annoyed everyone, then. The boss was nearly constantly complaining about him, and Shouta seemed like he was a second away from throwing him into a pit of fire.
“What small thing can you do!?” The boy excitedly asked.
“Come on everyone, let's go outside.” Shouta sighed, waving everyone out.
After they all headed off on their own, Shouta grabbed Dabi's carrier. He peeked inside, groaning at the mess. “Why did you spill your food? Bad, Snowflake. You're very bad.”
He reveled in being bad, thanks.
Shouta unzipped the carrier, reaching inside and pulling out his water and empty food bowl. He placed it down on his desk. In that time, Dabi tried to jump out, but Shouta was unfortunately quicker in zipping it back up. “You're just racking up the bad points, aren't you?”
“I'm going to skin you one day.” Dabi promised in a little high-pitched mew.
“You're lucky you're so cute.” Shouta said, very seriously. He picked up the carrier, following where the students went.
When they arrived, the students were all in their own little groups, practicing with their quirks.
“Aizawa-sensei, what's that?” Dabi jumped at the voice of that green-haired kid. He had suddenly appeared in front of the carrier, peeking inside. “Hey, little guy.” He greeted.
“Fuck off, kid." He growled, scowling at Midoriya.
Shouta sighed. “Midoriya. This is Snowflake, I brought him to help Anima.”
“I don't think he likes me!” Midoriya chirped, sticking a fingernail into the mesh of the front. Dabi snapped forward, nearly making Shouta drop the carrier.
“Cats don't like new people. Especially not noisy and nosy people.” Shouta left it at that, walking away. “Anima!” He called out. A kid that looked a lot like a rock glanced up from where he was whispering to some kind of rodent.
The kid got up, walking towards them.
“Anima, this is Snowflake. I want you to try to work with him a bit, okay?” Shouta said, gesturing to Dabi.
Anima nodded, grabbing the carrier. Shouta left them to their devices, stepping into his sleeping back and falling over to sleep. Fucking Shouta. Abandoning him with this fucking kid.
Anima placed Dabi on the ground, sitting down facing him. “Hey, Snowflake.” He greeted quietly. Dabi was inclined to ignore him, but something about the way he spoke was oddly different from anybody else. He could feel it reverberate inside of him, and he could feel the instinctual answer rise up. Weird.
“Anima.” He mewed.
“Ah, so you understand other people? That's pretty unique.” Anima smiled. Dabi wanted to crush him beneath the soles of his boots.
Dabi yawned, stretching. “I guess.”
“I figured Aizawa-sensei would want me to ask, so what do you think of your name?” He asked gently.
“It's bad and basic.”
“You like it? That's wonderful! A lot of pets don't usually like their names.”
What? That wasn't what Dabi said, at all . This kid had hearing issues. He said as much.
“No, I heard you. Don't worry.”
“I think you misunderstand, kid. I don't like the name Snowflake. It's a bad fucking name.”
“I understand you perfectly. Better than I usually understand, even! You like the name Snowflake, no need to curse.” Anima readjusted to sit criss-cross, folding his hands in his lap.
“You're hearing things differently than I'm saying them.” Dabi meowed carefully, like that would help.
Anima hummed thoughtfully. “You're more complex than the average cat. I think since a lot of animals' thoughts are so instinctual and one-note, my quirk understands those instincts rather than any actual words. Since animals don't think in words. I can understand that you're frustrated about not being heard properly, but I don't know what you’re actually saying.”
Dabi groaned, laying down. He wanted Shouta.
“You want Aizawa-sensei?”
Dabi abruptly sat up again, desperate to deny it. Anima misinterpreted this movement as a yes, and he brought Dabi's carrier over to Shouta. How annoying.
Shouta slightly opened his yellow cocoon, unzipping Dabi's carrier and pulling him in. It felt a bit like getting swallowed whole by an eldritch being, or at least how he'd imagine it would feel.
However, once they were zipped in together, Dabi suddenly couldn't care less about how it looked. It was incredibly warm inside, and Shouta lazily petted him. He rolled over up against the man, exposing his belly for Shouta to pet.
“Can I pet your cat?” A monotone voice asked from outside. It was one of the less annoying voices, but it irritated Dabi just as much as the others because it was definitely Shoto's.
Shouta’s hand stilled on Dabi's stomach, making him meow angrily. “I don't see why not.” Shouta unzipped his sleeping back enough for Shoto to get his hand through.
Dabi was not having it, though. He scratched Shoto’s arm and hand enough to bleed. Shoto pulled his hand back, staring at his battle scars. “Sensei, I don’t think he likes me.” He said, having the audacity to sound sad about it.