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Izuku had walked into the house five minutes earlier. He’d sat Katsuki down on the couch and told him to just breathe and to not freak out , so all Katsuki did for those five minutes was silently freak out as he waited to hear about whatever bullshit Izuku pulled off this time.
He brought home a fucking cat.
Katsuki didn’t hate cats, no, but he hated extra responsibility.
“She was all alone! I couldn’t just leave her there, Kacchan, she was in a box on the side of the road!” Izuku said, close to tears. He’d already gone and gotten attached to the damn thing. Katsuki tried to push down the feeling of dread as he debated his limited options.
“Cats are a lot of work, and we’re both pros,” Katsuki said slowly. Izuku just nodded at him.
“I know Kacchan, but one of us is always home! If we work the same day, then we usually have opposite shifts, so we can always stay with her!” Izuku said. He had it all figured out. It was like Izuku knew every question Katsuki was going to ask, and he’d planned a thorough answer for each one. Izuku’s eyes had grown wider with each sentence, and they were almost as big as his whole fucking face. Katsuki could feel himself starting to crack.
The cat meowed from where it sat on Izuku’s lap, and then it started purring. Katsuki could hear it hum like a motor as Izuku stroked it along its back, and it burrowed itself deeper into Izuku.
“Do you even know how to take care of a cat?” Katsuki asked, a desperate last attempt to find a way out.
“I had one when I was younger, remember?” Izuku said. Katsuki did remember, unfortunately. He didn’t respond, choosing to watch the cat in silence. She was cute, he’d give her that. She was a grey cat with some white patches, and her paws were tiny but he could see the little claws on her. They would have to cut those, if they kept her.
“Please, Kacchan?” Izuku begged. “I’ll do most of the work, I swear!” Katsuki sat in silence for a little longer, even though he already knew his answer. He wanted to make him suffer, just a tiny bit.
“Fine.”
“Yes!” Izuku set the cat down on the couch gently before he sprung up and tackled Katsuki onto the ground in a hug. They landed on the carpet with a thud, and Izuku squeezed him one more time before scrambling back up to observe as the kitten walked around and got adjusted. Katsuki could tell how fascinated he was. It was honestly adorable to watch.
“What should we name her?” Izuku asked.
“Did the box not have a name?” Katsuki questioned.
“No, nothing.”
“How about Bomb?” Katsuki suggested.
“No.”
“Grenade?”
“No!”
“I ran out of ideas.”
“Kacchan!”
“What?” Izuku just huffed and reached out to pet the cat again.
“We could name her Explosion?”
“No.”
“Murder?”
“No.”
“Then what the fuck do we name her?”
“How about something that isn’t, I don’t know, violent ?” Izuku asked, not bothering to hide the judgment in his voice.
“Fine. Kazu.”
“Kazoo?”
“No, Kazu. K-A-Z-U.”
“Aww, Kacchan, it’s so cute!” Izuku cried, tugging the kitten closer to him and smothering her with kisses. Neither of them mentioned the fact that it was extremely obvious that Kazu was a combination of both their own names. If they were going to have a cat, Katsuki was going to take care of it like a fucking child. He doesn’t half-ass anything, not even this. He would be the best fucking cat owner to walk the planet. Katsuki pulled himself back onto the couch from the floor, brushing the invisible dirt off his knees. There was no real dirt on the floor, though. He would never let that happen.
“Do you even have any of the like, cat supplies, or whatever?” Katsuki asked. Izuku shook his head.
“No, I need to go to the store. Wanna come?” he asked. Katsuki shrugged. He literally had nothing better to do, and he wasn’t planning on getting stuck home alone with the cat this early on. She would spontaneously combust on him, or something.
“Why not,” Katsuki said. Kazu wandered closer to him and out of Izuku’s reach. He put his hand out and let her smell it. She seemed to like him. Katsuki let a small smile pass over his face.
“You liiiike her,” Izuku said teasingly.
“Whatever,” Katsuki grumbled. He scratched her behind the ears. “Let’s just go now before it gets too late.”
They wound up at the pet store twenty minutes later. It was almost overwhelming. There was an abnormal amount of people there for it being eight o’clock at night, but Katsuki hadn’t been to a pet store in years, so maybe this was normal. He didn’t dwell on it, instead making a beeline for the cat section.
“What do we need?” Katsuki asked, turning to Izuku. He was worrying his bottom lip and staring at his phone, scrolling through something. He didn’t respond. Katsuki snapped his fingers in front of his face.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry, did you say something?” Izuku asked. He must have been completely zoned out.
“What do we need?” Katsuki repeated.
“I was just looking it up! We’ll need dry food and wet food, bowls, toys, scratching posts, a bed, a litter box, the stuff for the litter box, maybe a couple extra cute toys before Kazu deserves them, and…” Katsuki let him ramble on about all the other things they’d need to buy. Katsuki just thanked the universe for their amazing salaries.
“This one!” Izuku exclaimed. He grabbed one of the collars sitting on the shelf. It was a forest green with tiny pink flowers decorating it. Katsuki had to admit that it was kind of cute.
“Sure, that one is good.”
They both spent time reading the labels on all the different cat food, trying to pick the highest quality one with the best ingredients. If Katsuki is going to do this, he’s going to do this .
“What about this?” Katsuki asked, pointing to a small, fluffy cat bed. It was beige and was softer than his own blanket back at the apartment.
“I like that one, Kacchan,” Izuku said. He picked it up and tossed it in the cart, shooting Katsuki a toothy grin. Katsuki tried not to let his blush show, turning around to occupy himself with something else in the meantime.
“I think we got everything on the list.” Izuku finally said. Katsuki let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Let’s fucking go home.”
Kazu was still roaming around when they came back through the door. There was no visible destruction, so nothing bad must have happened, that Katsuki could see.
“Aren’t you a cutie,” Katsuki muttered as he reached down to pet her. He heard the shutter of a camera go off. He could see Izuku holding his phone out of the corner of his eye, snapping pictures of him with the cat. Katsuki let it slide.
“Thanks, Kacchan,” Izuku said later that night. They were both curled up on the couch with Kazu in between them.
“For what?”
“Letting me keep her.”
“Yeah, whatever. You’re lucky you’re- she’s cute.” Izuku gave him a knowing look but said nothing.
“Yeah, she’s pretty cute.”
Katsuki found cat piss in the middle of his room the next day, but he still had no regrets.