The Purrfect Companion - Chapter Five [Bakugatsu Day 19]

Cat whined when Bakugou started to leave, trying desperately to follow at his feet, and he swallowed hard as he shook his head.

“I'm sorry, I don't have a choice,” he frowned, scratching her ears. “But hey, look, I got you a new toy to play with while I'm gone!”

He pulled a bright pink ball from his pocket, shaking it to make the bell inside jingle, and rolled it to her with a smile.

“So you have fun chasing that, and when you get tired, my hoodie and your Deku Blankie are in your bed so you can take a nap. I'll come back every chance I get to check on you, okay? I'm sorry.”

He ducked out the door while she was distracted by the bell ringing, steeling himself as he hurried down the stairs to avoid hearing her complaints. 

Since the beginning of the school year, four days a week they'd had Heroics classes first thing in the morning, and Aizawa had made the decision that they could show up to homeroom in their costumes. He would never say as much, but Bakugou was incredibly grateful for it every time he got dressed and jogged to class. It made his life so much easier, not having to put his uniform on for five damn minutes.

Admittedly he probably made the decision because of how many of them showed up with their uniforms haphazardly thrown on over their costumes in the morning, but regardless, it still made life easier.

After five minutes of ignoring the daily notices, they were finally sent out to meet All Might at the training grounds, and for the first time in days, Bakugou managed to put Cat to the back of his mind. He focussed on strategies, on control, on speed and power and every damn muscle in his body pushed to his limits, determined to prove his damn point – rescue simulations were a piece of cake, they all needed to stop acting like he couldn't rescue people for fuck's sake. He was a hero.

“Great work today, everyone!” All Might boomed, looking over the crumpled, exhausted bodies. “You finished the task early, so I'm going to let you go early! Take a shower, relax, have a snack, whatever you like! You have half an hour before your next class starts!”

The words jolted Bakugou back to Earth, and he scrambled to his feet, glancing at his phone for confirmation. It was just after ten, giving them almost forty minutes until their next class – plenty of time to drop by the dorms.

Midoriya laughed behind him when he stumbled past, jogging back toward the dorms, but he didn't care enough to stop. He ran straight up to his room, panting by the time he pushed open the door to find...

Sleeping. 

All that worry, and she was sound asleep.

His hoodie was wrinkled, clutched between two paws, her face buried in it as she purred quietly. The pink blanket was also nearby, sitting at her feet, but still she slept soundly in her soft bed. With a little smile, he quietly picked up his shower bag, sneaking back out to clean himself up.

The second time he returned, her eyes opened on the door clicking closed, and immediately she was squeaking, rolling out of her bed to nuzzle at him.

“Hey, I'm back,” he said softly, scooping her up to snuggle in his arms. “I missed you.”

She purred like her life depended on it, rubbing her face all over him, and he laughed fondly as he lay down to snuggle with her. He had a good twenty minutes to spare before he needed to put his uniform and get back to school, and he was determined to spend every moment of it with her soft fur in his arms.

“I was worried about you,” he admitted, burying his face in her fur. “Thought you might still be here wondering where I went. But you're a big brave girl, aren't you? I shouldn't have been so concerned.”

She mewed at him and cuddled in closer, still rubbing her face on his skin, and he couldn't help but laugh at her.

“I'm glad you're a baby,” he murmured. “Otherwise you'd be coating me in fur with this shit.”

When the time came for him to go, he slipped away, leaving her to snooze on the bed as he threw his clothes on. She hardly even stirred as he sneaked out the door, and he found himself smiling stupidly as he walked the path back toward the classrooms. 

─────

It was early in the evening, the third time in the day that Bakugou had been reunited with his precious cat – once again full of squeaks and purrs and snuggles for him. After an hour or so they had moved to the floor to play with her new ball, batting it back and forth, only to be interrupted by his phone dinging loudly from his pocket. He rolled the ball across the room for her to chase and plucked it out, raising an eyebrow when “Shitty Nerd” lit up his screen.

“Kacchan! Are you home now? Cat must have missed you!”

“Yeah, we're playing,” he sent back. “Why?”

It took a few more minutes for it to ping again, the noise almost blending in with the chiming bell of the ball.

“Uraraka-san is kind of stressed out, I thought maybe she would relax a bit if she cuddled with Cat?”

Bakugou sighed to himself, but when he looked at Cat with her swishing tail, dragging a ball back to him eagerly, he could hardly say no.

“Fine. I need to go out for a bit anyway, you can babysit.”

“You're the best!! We'll be over soon!!”

They played for about another ten minutes before Cat began to slow down, tiring herself out finally, and right on cue he heard footsteps in the hall.

“Kacchan?”

“It's open.”

Cat immediately dove into his lap when she saw the unfamiliar visitor, torn between running to greet Midoriya and hiding completely, but when Bakugou stroked her back she still purred quietly.

“Hi Cat,” she said softly, bending down to look. “I'm Ochako, it's nice to meet you!”

Still Cat was wary, but when Midoriya held out a hand she went to him, giving Uraraka a wide berth and a nervous glare as she moved.

“I'm back Catchan! Did you miss me?”

Bakugou hauled himself to his feet, grabbing his phone and wallet from the doorway, and leaned over to kiss Cat's ears lightly.

“Play with Deku, Cat. I'll be back soon, just gonna go get some stuff to make your life better.”

Midoriya mouthed a thank you at him as he disappeared, and Bakugou was relieved to not hear a single squeak of complaint as he slid out the door. It was a longer trek to find a hardware store than the usual department store and supermarket he used, but he knew Cat was in good hands, and he was starting to get used to leaving her occasionally. 

He got a few odd looks carrying a massive roll of plastic mesh home with him, but he was already eager to start on his new project, grinning to himself at the prospect. It had been rough having the room sealed up over the weekend, and he knew Cat would love to be able to sunbathe in the fresh air, he just had to do a damn good job of it to keep her safe.

The moment he opened the door, Cat abandoned Midoriya's lap, rushing to Bakugou's feet again. He set his things aside in favour of picking her up, rubbing their faces together lightly. 

“You been good for Deku and round-face?”

“Meep!”

“She's not a fan,” Uraraka smiled wryly. 

“Really? You'll talk to half-and-half but not round-face? Weird thing.”

Midoriya giggled, and Bakugou set her down again, crouching beside them.

“She'll sit in my lap and let Uraraka-san pat her,” Midoriya explained. “But won't actually go to her.”

“Hmm.”

He scooped her into his hands again, holding her out at arm's length, and just as she'd done with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, Cat began to sniff. She bobbled her little head, sniffing everything she could reach, and after a minute Bakugou moved her a little lower, letting her start again.

“Satisfied now?” he asked, bringing her back to look her in the eyes. “I wanna start working on your balcony while I don't have homework to do, can you hang out with them a little longer?”

He plonked her in Uraraka's lap, smirking when she didn't run away, and nervously Uraraka dropped a hand to scratch her ears. She purred quietly under the touch, watching everyone move around her, then looked straight into Uraraka's tired eyes.

“Meep!”

“You're so cute!” she gushed, as if she might burst into tears. “Look at your little face!”

Cat purred louder, already well-accustomed to the praise, and Midoriya grinned when Uraraka looked up at him briefly.

“I told you she's sweet,” he laughed. “Even Kacchan gets all soft and cute around her, it's like she has an affection quirk.”

“Or she's just cute,” Bakugou pointed out stubbornly. “Why does it need to be a quirk?”

“It was a joke, Kacchan!”

With the two of them safely occupied with the cat, Bakugou dragged his mesh and his tools out onto the balcony, sliding the door closed behind him. Lining the railing was easy enough, nailing one end down right by the wall and winding it around the outside. It only took him ten minutes to have that piece secured in place. Above the railing was what posed more of a problem, for when she inevitably decided to climb up and investigate.

He settled for a piece angled from the roof down to the handrail, losing some headroom toward the end, but when he tested his washing line he still had plenty of room to hang his clothes, and that was all he really used the balcony for anyway.

Finally satisfied, he packed his things away, making sure there were no nail ends poking out and none left lying on the floor, before he slid the door wide open.

“It looks so good, Kacchan!” Midoriya praised. “You can do anything!”

“Wasn't hard,” he shrugged. “Hopefully she'll like it.”

When Cat climbed out of Uraraka's lap to investigate, she stood up carefully, smiling at Bakugou warmly from across the room.

“I'm going to get some food and sleep,” she told him. “Thank you for letting me visit, Cat is super sweet.”

“It's fine. I can't blame you all for wanting to cuddle her.”

Midoriya smiled at him sweetly as they headed for the door, mouthing another “thank you” after he'd scratched Cat's ears and said goodbye, and as they walked out the door Cat gave them a pleasant meep that Bakugou suspected was her version of returning it. He sat down with her at the edge of the room, when the door was firmly shut, coaxing her over with a pink mouse to see the new addition.

When Cat discovered the breeze she was immediately confused, snuggling into Bakugou's thigh for comfort, but soon she grew bold when she came to no harm. She wasn't going to be an outdoor cat, that much he could already tell, but he suspected she would enjoy some time out there, watching the world pass by, when he wasn't around to give her snuggles.

“What do you think, Cat?”

“Meep!”

“Yeah, me too.”

They played together with her mouse, enjoying the cool night breeze, and when she finally began to wind down again they retired to the bed to curl up in warm blankets.

“I guess you sleep with me now, huh?” he asked quietly, smiling to himself. “So much for the basket.”

Her only response was to purr louder, kneading at his chest with her front paws as she snuggled in, and he laughed as he scratched her ears just the way she liked it.

“Goodnight, Cat. Thanks for being such a good cat.”