The Purrfect Companion - Chapter Four [Bakugatsu Day 18]

Bakugou huffed as he set his groceries down in the kitchen, labelling and sorting everything into the fridge, freezer, and his shelf in the cupboards. When everything was restocked he headed for the shower, grabbing the towel and toiletries he'd left waiting when he went out, and after a quick shower he trekked back up the stairs, knocking quietly before he pushed his door open.

“Mew!”

He ditched his stuff in the corner, bending down to catch Cat as she dove at him, and Midoriya laughed from his seat on the floor.

“She's always happy when Daddy gets home,” he teased. “We've been learning this morning, haven't we Catchan?”

She crawled onto Bakugou's shoulder, purring as she rubbed her face demandingly against his cheek. He grinned and scratched her back obediently, glancing up at Midoriya across the room.

“Learning what?”

“How to hunt!”

He held up a stick and Bakugou jumped when he saw the toy on the end, taking a moment to register the string tied around its middle.

“You're teaching my cat to play with fucking spiders?”

“Teaching her to kill them!”

“You better be taking that damn toy with you when you go.”

“I am! I was gonna use just the toys but I figured you'd freak out at me if she lost one under the bed or something. So I put them on strings!”

“Ugh.”

“She's a good little hunter, gonna be a great bug catcher for her Daddy.”

She nuzzled at his back, disappointed in his lack of hood, instead draping herself awkwardly over his shoulder in an attempt to perch on him. With a sigh he reached for a hoodie, shrugging it on over his shoulders, and with a contented little meep she shuffled herself into her usual spot. 

“Have you eaten?”

“Me?” Midoriya asked, genuinely stunned by the realisation that he wasn't, in fact, asking Cat. “No, I haven't.”

“I'm gonna go make breakfast. I'll make some for you too, since you helped me out this morning.”

“It's no problem! I'm always happy to catsit!” he grinned. “But I'll gladly accept food too.”

“Come on then, she likes to cook with me.”

“You spoil her.”

“Damn right I do. You gonna stop me?”

“Nope! Not at all!”

As they stood in the elevator, Cat chattering at them both, Bakugou sneaked a glance across at the freckled face.

“She brought her blanket to bed last night,” he mumbled. “I started getting ready for bed and she went and grabbed it to bring with her.”

“Aww! I love you too, Cat!”

She purred when he reached out to stroke her, nuzzling into his hand, and Bakugou pouted at the pair of them.

“Relax,” Midoriya laughed. “We both know you're still her favourite.”

“Whatever.”

“Don't pout at me for patting a fluffy kitten!”

“I'm not pouting.”

“Suuuure,” he laughed. “Is only Daddy allowed to say he loves you, Cat?”

“I told you to stop calling me that.”

“You're no fun.”

The common area was still nearly empty when they arrived, half their classmates sleeping in, the other half away for the weekend, leaving the trio with plenty of room to cook. Midoriya had long since grown used to fetching and carrying while Bakugou cooked, opening and closing containers, putting things away, cleaning utensils behind him, and other than Cat's purrs and occasional mews, the kitchen was quiet as they worked. 

Soon they had two plates of omelette ready and waiting, and Bakugou set a little dish of leftover egg on the floor beside them, letting Cat get stuck in. Midoriya grinned at the little noises she made as she scoffed, taking a big bite of his own breakfast and humming appreciatively.

“How do you know what she should be eating?” he asked between bites. “Internet?”

“Vet mostly, she gave me pamphlets and things. I looked some stuff up, too, though.”

“Like what?”

“How much is too much. She's always hungry, as you know.”

“Probably doesn't know when her stomach is full yet.”

“Yeah. So she gets kitten food three times a day and formula twice in between. In about a week she won't need to formula anymore, unless she isn't putting on weight.”

“Poor starving baby.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And after that? Everything is normal?”

“She's still on softer kibble at the moment, in a few more weeks she can go to hard biscuits. And I've gotta take her to the vet about desexing so she doesn't get pregnant if she gets outside by accident.”

“She's gonna be an indoor cat, then?”

“Yeah. Thinking about covering my balcony so she can chill out there, but not actually outside.”

“Oh, that would be cool!”

“Just gotta find some sturdy mesh I can use. She'll end up climbing it, after all.”

“Absolutely,” he grinned. “Let me know if I can help!”

“Yeah, thanks.”

When they'd finished eating and Cat was happily back in Bakugou's hood, they headed for the living area for a bit, sitting down near Yaoyorozu and Todoroki as they worked on their homework together.

“You need to copy my answers?” Todoroki asked, shooting Midoriya a little smile.

“Nope! Did mine last night!”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah! Well, I finished a little this morning too, but mostly last night!”

“I'm impressed.”

Cat crawled out to explore, sniffing at the cushions for a minute before returning to Bakugou's side, getting a reassuring pat before she ventured out again.

“Huh?”

Todoroki looked down to see a little ball of fluff rubbing on his leg, his expression immediately softening when she meeped at him.

“Where did you come from, little guy?”

He reached to pet her and she immediately panicked, darting back to Bakugou to hide. For a minute the room was silent, Todoroki and Bakugou staring at each other as Cat climbed back to his shoulder.

“This is Cat,” Midoriya explained, when neither of them spoke. “Kacchan adopted her, isn't she adorable?”

“She's very cute.”

“She must have liked your warm leg!”

“Yeah, cats tend to do that.”

He held a hand out, making little noises at her, and nervously she approached to sniff, darting back to Bakugou immediately once she caught a whiff of his scent.

“You still don't like strangers, huh?” Bakugou asked, letting her hide under his hand. “He won't hurt you. No one here will. They'll die if they try it.”

“Todoroki-kun likes cats,” Midoriya assured him. “He'll be nice.”

With a sigh Bakugou scooped her up, taking a few steps across the room before he crouched near Todoroki's legs.

“Are you okay with animals, Ponytail?”

“Of course! She seems very sweet!”

He held her out toward each of them, letting her sniff to her heart's content, and with Bakugou's hands around her she didn't run or panic, just sat calmly in his grip and continued to sniff.

“Can I pat her?” Todoroki asked, surprising Bakugou with his earnesty.

“Yeah, if she lets you.”

He reached out with a single finger, stroking between her ears, and smiled when he felt the soft fur on her head. 

“You're the fluffiest cat I've ever met,” he praised. “Good job.”

Bakugou set her down on the couch, sitting cross-legged on the floor behind her, and nervously she sniffed at them again, letting them take turns petting her and scratching her ears. Slowly she began to let her guard down, purring quietly, and for maybe the first time ever, Bakugou saw a smile twitch at Todoroki's lips.

“It's nice to meet you, Cat.”

“Meep!”

Yaoyorozu giggled at them, and Cat quickly jumped back to the ground, diving into Bakugou's lap.

“Yeah, you did a good job,” he praised. “Big brave Cat, meeting the strangers.”

The purrs that came from her were deafening compared to the nervous little sounds on the couch, and Bakugou held out an arm, letting her climb up to nestle in his hood again.

“Alright, I'm gonna head back upstairs. Thanks for taking care of her, Deku.”

“Any time!”

As he retreated to the hall he heard hushed voices follow them, barely audible over Cat's purrs in his ear.

“I never thought I'd be jealous of Bakugou,” Todoroki was murmuring. “But she's so soft.”

“Don't worry, he'll let you visit. Just don't piss him off.”

─────

Bakugou rubbed his eyes as he looked up from his laptop screen, taking a moment to adjust to the dim light that had fallen upon them. Cat had gotten up to use her litterbox about ten minutes ago, but hadn't yet returned to the bed, so with a sigh he set his assignment aside to investigate.

“Mew!”

She looked back at him from the bathroom door, eyes wide, and he raised his eyebrows at her with a sigh.

“Yes, you're a good girl for using your litterbox,” he agreed. “Are you telling me to come look?”

She chirped at him, and cracking a smile he walked over, poking his head through the door.

“Yeah, you're such a good- Oh fucking hell.”

She purred at him, rubbing on his legs, but when he crouched down to pet her she bounced forward, whacking at the little black body with her paw.

“Did... Did you seriously hunt a spider?”

“Mew!”

“You certainly learn fast, don't you?”

She refused to move more than a metre from the body, still bouncing around it and chirping, so instead Bakugou pulled out his phone, pulling up his conversation with Midoriya from earlier in the day.

“Cat just hunted a spider in my bathroom.”

He expected a text back to say “I told you so” or “it worked!” but instead he got radio silence, folding his arms as he contemplated what to do with the bug. Was she gonna be upset if he threw it away?

The knock on the door made him jump, but he returned to unlock it, rolling his eyes as he let Midoriya in.

“What a good girl!!” He praised, running straight to Cat to rub her face. “Yes you are! The best girl! Such a good hunter!”

She purred at him, nuzzling against his hands happily, and Bakugou cracked a smile.

“She's a quick learner,” he smiled wryly. “That or it's a natural instinct.”

“Probably that, but I choose to believe I taught her! Can I throw this away now, Catchan?”

Cat happily returned to Bakugou's side, and he fed her a treat off the bookshelf. She purred and rubbed, curling up in the crook of his arm to watch as Midoriya picked up the dead spider with a piece of toilet paper and flushed it down.

“All gone,” he grinned. “Feel safer now, Kacchan?”

“Shut up, I'm not scared.”

“I know, but teasing you is too easy.”

“Asshole.”

“I know!” he giggled, leaning in to kiss Cat's ears. “You're such a cute little hunter, aren't you? What a good girl, saving Daddy Kacchan from the big scary spiders.”

“Seriously, stop calling me that.”

“But-”

“I'm easy to tease, I know, now cut it out.”

Midoriya laughed, but conceded all the same, watching as Bakugou returned to his bed to sit down with his laptop.

“What're you working on?”

“Just finished my English essay. Got kind of distracted by Cat, hadn't gotten around to it.”

“Oh! Good work!”

“Thought I might just watch a movie or something then head to bed. Gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

“How come?”

“Because every boring class I sit through is an hour she's here alone.”

“Awww,” Midoriya grinned. “Poor Kacchan doesn't want to be away from his Catchan.”

“No kidding, nerd,” he growled. “I've had her all of two days and now she's gonna be stuck here alone for eight hours.”

“You can come see her at lunch.”

“Okay, four hours, a brief meeting, than another four hours.”

“She'll be fine! Look, if you're worried, you can always run back here between classes, right? It'll only be a couple of minutes, but you can see that she's okay!”

“I guess so.”

“So don't stress. She's a clever girl, she'll take lots of naps and play with her toys, and then you'll get lots of bonding time when you get back.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, I'm gonna-” 

Midoriya's words were cut off by Cat meowing at him again, and he laughed as he reached out to pet her.

“Sorry, was I ignoring you for too long? I've gotta go back to my room now, You can have your Kacchan cuddles again now.”

He watched as they settled on the bed, but when Midoriya took a step away she complained again, and when Bakugou laughed he returned it with a wobbly smile.

“Wanna stay and watch a movie?” Bakugou offered, shuffling over on the bed. “I don't think Cat wants you to leave yet.”

“Uh... Y-Yeah, sure, I can do that.”

He sat down on the mattress, propping himself against the pillows, his thigh brushing against Bakugou's as they settled in. Purring as loud as she could, Cat climbed down from Bakugou's arm, draping herself happily across their legs. She kneaded at Bakugou's thigh through his sweatpants, looking up at him with big eyes, and when he scratched her ears lightly she settled in for a nap – front paws on Bakugou's leg, back ones on Midoriya's.

“She's taken a shine to you,” Bakugou mumbled.

“No need to be jealous, you're clearly still her favourite.”

“I'm not jealous. I have her cute little head, you just have her ass.”

Midoriya laughed, finally relaxing a little as Bakugou set up the movie on his laptop, and side-by-side they settled in to watch, the happiest cat in the world draped across their laps.