Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were cold. Cold and wet. You sneezed, shaking yourself and glaring up at the still darkening sky. It was already raining hard, and you knew it was just going to get worse. And here you were, stuck out in the open because you’d just had to go beg for some fish. Your stomach had been louder than your common sense, and now here you were, cold, wet, and still hungry. You hadn’t even made it all the way there before the sky had opened up.

Spying a relatively dry spot under an awning, you picked up speed, darting around some other poor idiot who’d been caught in the rain. You shivered as you collapsed into the dry patch, the wind cutting through your fur, but at least the rain was no longer pounding down on you. Knowing that you’d be here for a while, you settled in, attempting to groom yourself and knowing that it would be a pointless task until the rain stopped.

“You poor thing.” Your attention was dragged from your ire by a voice, and you turned to see a tall man looking down at you, holding an umbrella over his head. He crouched down, letting you get a better look at him. The man looked tired, his hair a mess, black jumpsuit clearly soaked with water despite his umbrella, but his dark eyes were kind and concerned. “Get caught out in the rain?” He asked, holding a hand tentatively towards you.

You didn’t get any weird feelings from him, so you crept forwards to sniff at his fingers. He smelled good, and you purred, rubbing your face into his hand. “You look like you could use some food and a dry place to stay,” he said, and your ears twitched forwards. Those both sounded excellent, and you meowed in response, making him chuckle. Carefully, as if trying to keep you from lashing out, he scooped you from the ground with one hand and brought you to his chest.

He was warm and smelled amazing, and you quickly squirmed your way into the weird scarf he wore around his neck, making him chuckle again. “Well I guess that settles it, you’re coming home with me.” His free hand cradled you through the scarf, and you set up a loud rumbling purr. “Hopefully my roommates don’t freak out. I’m Aizawa Shouta.” You nuzzled into him in response, content with how the day had turned around. Maybe you should apologize to the weather for all the terrible things you’d thought about it. As you sneezed and snuggled in further to his warmth, you crossed that idea out. Fuck the rain.

—

“I’m going to warn you, my roommates might need some convincing,” the man said as he unlocked the door to an apartment. You poked your head out of his scarf, curious about your new home and these roommates he’d mentioned. Would they smell as good as him? You hoped so. “I’m sure I’ll talk them around, I just want to warn you ahead of time.” You appreciated that warning, but you had faith he could do it. He seemed the type.

He kicked off his boots in the entryway, hanging his umbrella on a hook and creeping through the living room. “We’re in the clear so far,” he murmured. “Maybe if I hide you in my room for a bit, it might be easier to convince them when you’ve settled in a little bit.”

“Shouta!” You heard another voice call out as the two of you entered the kitchen, making the man jump. “Looks like you got caught in the rain after all, we were worried.” This new person was a little taller than the first, with bright blonde hair and a friendly grin. You liked him on sight, at least until his gaze fell on you and his eyes narrowed.

“Before you say anything,” Aizawa said, his free hand coming up in a gesture of patience. “I found it under an awning, soaking wet and shivering.”

The other man let out a long suffering sigh, rubbing his forehead before saying, “Alright, let’s see it.” Moving slowly, Aizawa gently untangled you from his scarf and placed you down on the counter. You blinked up at him, and immediately sneezed once more. There was a snort from the blonde, and you looked over to see him holding a hand over his mouth, obviously trying to hide a smile. “Sho, we talked about this,” he said once he’d gotten himself under control again.

“But look at them, the poor thing is starving,” Aizawa argued, and you got the feeling this argument had happened before. “Look how sad they look.” Willing to play along to stay in this warm space, you shivered violently, looking up at the blonde and letting out a pitious meow. He hid another smile, and you considered that a victory.

“Oboro will never go for it,” the other man warned, clearly trying another tactic.

“I heard my name, what won’t I go for?” You surmised this to be the man he’d called Oboro. He stood even taller than the other two, and broader, his hair a pale blue, curls bouncing around his head like a cloud. Something about him looked familiar, but you couldn’t put your paw on what. His eyes fell on you, and like the second man, they narrowed. “No,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Well that was rude.

You glared at him as Aizawa said, “This time it’s different.” He sounded defensive, and you worried for a moment he might lose this fight. He seemed so nice, and this place was so warm. There had been too many bad homes, you just wanted somewhere safe to sleep.

“You say it’s different every time,” Oboro said, “and every time it’s the exact same. You find a stray cat, you bring it home, it tears up the house, and you have to give it up. We talked about this. No cats.”

“It is different.” Aizawa sounded more confident this time, glaring at the cloud man. “She’s been very sweet, came right up to me and didn’t fight me at all.” You stiffened, turning your glare on him. Not a girl.

The blonde let out a long suffering sigh. “Just because you have a way with cats doesn’t mean a stray cat will make a good house pet. We can’t keep her.” Your fur puffed, ears flicking back on your head. Not a girl.

“Look at her though, I set her on the counter and she hasn’t moved at all,” Aizawa argued, and you bared your teeth. Not a girl. “It’s like she’s waiting for us to decide. It’s entirely likely she was a house cat at one point.” You hissed, drawing the attention of all three men as you glared at the one who’d rescued you. You weren’t going to tolerate it, no matter how nice he smelled.

“See, I told you,” the cloud man snapped. “Shota, you can’t keep bringing home borderline wild animals. It wrecks the apartment and you’re always a mess for weeks after we get rid of it.”

He wasn’t listening anymore though, his gaze thoughtful as it locked on to your glare. “Maybe he’s just upset at us,” he said slowly, and you settled, your ears flicking forward and fur flattening. You even set up a purr as you started to groom yourself, pleased by how quickly he’d caught on.

There was a long silence, but you ignored the humans. You’d made your point, and you were pretty confident that you weren’t going to get kicked out. Your human seemed pretty smart. “Well fuck,” the blonde one said. “Am I crazy or did that cat just get mad at us for misgendering him?”

Your human made a thoughtful noise before saying, “Maybe he has an intelligence quirk? Animals with quirks are pretty rare, but it’s not like we don’t already know one.”

There was another silence, and this time you glanced up in time to see the cloud man let out a groan of frustration. “Fuck.” It was all he said, but from the look on your human’s face, it was all he needed to say.

Your human grinned at you, reaching out to scratch behind your ears at just the perfect spot. “Looks like you’re staying,” he said, and you bumped your head into his hand affectionately. Of course you were.

Chapter Text

Your human disappeared for a moment, returning with a towel. You let him towel you dry with begrudging patience, wanting to be dry more than you hated being dried like this. It might take some work, but you’d have to teach the human how to use a towel on you properly. He needed to be much gentler and ruffle your fur less.

“I should change into something dry and head back out to the store,” he said conversationally, rubbing your face dry gentler than the rest of you. “Don’t have a litter box or any cat food, and you definitely need to eat something soon.” Your rumbling stomach agreed with the sentiment.

“It’s still pouring,” the blonde pointed out, leaning on a counter and watching. The cloud man had disappeared, probably pouting about not getting his way. It was fine, you’d win him over sooner or later.

He hummed, saying, “It was starting to lighten up by the time I got here. It’ll probably be fine by the time I dry off and change.” He smiled down at you, adding, “There we go. Mostly dry now. I’m afraid you’ll have to do the rest yourself. How about you go explore the apartment?” You purred, letting him pick you up and set you down on the floor. He disappeared back where he had before, and you trotted around the kitchen curiously, sniffing at everything and taking stock of your new home.

You made your way finally to the blonde, who’d been watching you wander around with a curious look on his face. Standing on his foot to get closer, you sniffed at his leg and heard him suppress a chuckle from above. He smelled good. Not quite like your human, but just as nice. You got the feeling he’d be easier to win over than the cloud man.

“I might have agreed to let Shouta keep you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be your friend,” he warned, but you weren’t worried. You were pretty good at reading people, and you could tell he already liked you. He’d break pretty quickly.

Your human returned, wearing the same thing he’d been in before, but dry this time. “Alright, I’ll be back in a bit,” he said, headed for the front door, and you chased after him with a yowl. “I promise I’ll be back,” he said, laughing. No, that wouldn’t do, you didn’t want him to leave you alone yet. Mewling at him, you attempted to climb his pant leg, until he finally gave in and picked you up. “I’m guessing you want to come with me?” He asked, sounding resigned and amused, and you answered by wiggling your way back into the weird scarf he wore until only your head was out.

He sighed, scratching your head before tugging on his boots and grabbing his umbrella. The rain had eased to a light drizzle as he'd predicted, and the walk to the pet store was much more enjoyable from your warm, dry spot in his scarf. He grabbed a basket as he stepped inside, making his way immediately to the cat section. You watched curiously as he grabbed a litter box and litter, having no strong opinions until he reached out for a bag of cat food. You growled, and his hand paused before redirecting to a different bag.

Your human chuckled when you purred approvingly, saying, "I got it, you have some opinions." You followed this method as he grabbed cat treats and a couple of toys, and even some cat shampoo, though you didn't have any particular opinions when he grabbed some flea medicine. "I think this is all we really need right now, right?" You purred your agreement, settling back in as he headed for the register. The clerk grinned at the sight of you, and you preened at the attention.

"Home we go," your human said cheerfully, arms laden with bags. "I'm glad I don’t have to carry you too, I don't have enough hands for that." That was okay with you, you were quite content where you were. The walk home went quickly, and soon enough you were digging into a bowl of cat food, pleased and settled over having a full belly for the first time in months. As you ate he moved around the apartment, putting things away and setting up your litter box. You finished before him, and set off to go explore your new home again.

Sniffing around, you figured out which room was his pretty easily, and then identified the blonde's. You hadn't gotten a good sniff of the cloud man, but the process of elimination meant the third closed door was his. You headed back into the living room to see your human looking around, a smile on his face when his eyes fell on you.

"Exploring your new home?" He asked, crouching down to offer his hand to you. You rubbed your face against it with a happy mewl, before catching his sleeve with your teeth and tugging him towards the bathroom. You had a full stomach and now you wanted to be properly cleaned. He followed you with a confused look, laughing when you hopped into the bathtub and meowed up at him. "Never met a cat who wanted a bath," he teased. "Let me grab the shampoo."

He left and returned quickly, holding the bottle of cat shampoo. You waited on the rim of the tub for him to start filling, checking the water with your paw to make sure it wasn’t too hot. He watched in bemused silence as you hopped into the water and splashed around happily. Sure, you weren’t always the biggest fan of being wet, but there was no denying how nice it felt to be wet and warm. You settled at the feel of his hands on you, waiting patiently as he slowly scrubbed at your fur. His fingers were calloused and work roughed, but so gentle as they cleaned you, taking care to keep the soap out of your eyes and ears.

“All clean,” he murmured, thoroughly rinsing the soap from your purr, and you blinked up at him sleepily. “You’re such a good boy, all nice and calm for your bath.” Pleasure wound through your body at his praise, and the purr that erupted from you vibrated through the whole bathroom. He chuckled, draining the water and pulling you out into a towel. “You like praise, huh?” He teased, sitting with you in his lap as he carefully started to dry you, more gentle and thorough than the first time. “I’ll have to remember that.”

You were practically asleep by the time he finished, and were barely aware of being moved until you found yourself settled once more in his lap, this time on the couch. “Welcome home, little one,” he murmured, stroking his fingers through your fur. Home.

Chapter Text

This new home was perfect. It was warm and dry and you never had to worry about being hungry. In fact, you thought you might be putting on a little bit of weight finally, which was a relief because you’d been incredibly malnourished. There was also a nice wide windowsill that looked out over the street and got hours of direct sunlight. After seeing you nap there several times, your human had put a cat bed there, making it even better.

The other two humans hadn’t quite warmed up to you yet. The blonde didn’t really pay much attention to you, but you knew he was the one who kept leaving little pieces of fish in your food bowl, so it was only a matter of time before he broke. The cloud man was different though, actively going out of his way to avoid and ignore you. That was fine. He’d get over himself. Or he wouldn’t. Either way, you were secure here.

And then there was your human. He was so much more than perfect. He was so affectionate, giving you exactly the amount of pets and cuddles you needed, and no more. He was always respectful of your personal space, never forcing attention on you when you didn’t want it. And he talked to you. When was the last person somebody had actually talked to you? Not the baby talk thing people did at you sometimes, but talking to you. He’d tell you about his day, about work and his students. When he came home from patrol, he came to find you before even changing out of his hero costume. You kept him company as he cleaned up and wound down, listening to him talk about the patrol, about any villains he’d had to fight.

You’d only been here for a week, but you loved this human, and you were pretty sure you’d kill for him if you had to. Not that you expected to need to, considering apparently all three of the men here were heroes. But you could certainly defend the home while they were away. You’d decided that very quickly, and it was a duty you were very dedicated to. So far the only threat had been a suspicious squirrel that seemed to delight in annoying you.

“You going out?” Aizawa said from the kitchen, shaking you from the light doze you’d been in. You missed whatever the response was, hearing him continue, “Right, I don’t know how I forgot it’s Friday.” That made you react, your ears perking forward in interest. It was hard for you to keep track of days when on the street, but that was easier now. And of all the days, Friday was your favorite.

You stood and stretched, listening as the front door opened and closed. Aizawa stepped into the living room, smiling at the sight of you awake and crossing to the window to scratch behind your ears. “Good nap?” He asked, and you purred in delight when his thumbs gently pet your cheeks. You shook yourself after a moment. This was no time to get distracted. You weren’t the best at telling time, so you weren’t sure how much you had.

Mewling for his attention, you hopped down off your windowsill and crossed the room, hopping up on the table that held their little radio. You’d seen them use it a handful of times already, and had been delighted to know that it worked. He followed after you with that bemused smile you’d grown accustomed to. It was nice that he was so accepting of your intelligence, but it was also rather funny how much it startled him.

“Did you want to listen to the radio?” He asked, and you patted the radio with a paw in answer. He chuckled, turning it on and flipping through stations until he found one playing music. “How’s this?” You squinted at the display screen, trying to read the little numbers and compare them to your memory, before deciding that it was wrong. Growling softly, you pawed at the dial, trying and failing to make it turn. “Okay, I get it, wrong station,” Aizawa said with another laugh, reaching for the dial. “Let me know when I find one you want.” He turned the dial slowly, flipping through radio stations slow enough that you could check the number on each until finally it was right. You tapped his hand and he left it, dropping down onto the couch next to you.

You settled in to wait, hoping that you’d remembered right, and that you weren’t too late. It took maybe half an hour, but then you heard it, your tail flicking back and forth in excitement. ”Hellooooo listeners, this is Put Your Hands Up Radio!” You settled in to listen to his introduction, purring happily. After a little while of laying there listening to music and the occasional bits of Present Mic talking between songs, you grew aware of Aizawa staring at you.

Swaying slightly with the music playing, you tilted your head towards him curiously. “I’m just surprised,” he said in response to your look. “I’m guessing you listen to this a lot?” You nodded, settling your chin on your paws. “I’m just wondering how you don’t know.” Your head jerked back up as you narrowed your eyes at him. “That you didn’t know that’s Hizashi I mean.” You blinked, and then blinked again. Present Mic was… blonde man? You’d been living with Present Mic all week?

Now that you thought about it, his voice had been very familiar, but it had been a couple of weeks since you’d been able to listen to his radio show. You couldn’t listen super often, radios not being particularly accessible to stray cats, so being able to had always meant good times were happening, or that they’d be coming.

Finally the shock cleared, and realization set it. You lived with Present Mic. You didn’t have to wait for Friday to hear him talking to you, he could do it any time now. Unable to sit still with your excitement, you leaped from the table, racing back and forth across the apartment as Aizawa watched on in amused silence.

By the time the radio show had ended, you’d about worn grooves in the carpet. As soon as he said his closing, you were by the front door, staring at it intensely. Somewhere from behind you could hear Aizawa moving around the kitchen, preparing the dinner you couldn’t currently care less about.

The door knob jiggled, and you moved for the first time in what felt like ages. The moment it opened and he stepped inside, you were meowing and rubbing against his legs, nearly tripping the tall man. “Sho, your cat’s trying to kill me,” he called out, stepping carefully so he could shut the door and pull off his shoes without hurting you. Purring excitedly, you stood on your back paws, placing your front paws on his leg and attempting to climb him.

Wincing from the claws you hadn’t managed to keep from poking him with, he scooped you off the floor with his hands under your shoulders, letting you dangle in front of him. Normally you’d be pissed, but you were just too excited at the moment to care about this affront to your dignity. “Shota, why’s your cat acting so weird?” Yamada asked as Aizawa stepped into the room, unsuccessfully smothering a grin under his hand.

“Apparently he’s a big fan of yours,” he responded, earning a confused look from the man still holding you in the air. “He made me turn on the radio and then sat and listened to your show. And when I told him you’re Present Mic, he flipped out and has been tearing around the apartment waiting for you to get home.”

The blonde turned his attention back to you, his eyes wide and soft in a way you hadn’t seen from him yet. “Really? You like my radio show?” The force of your purr practically vibrated his arms, and he laughed with delight. Finally he shifted his hold on you, supporting you in his arms so you could rub your cheek against his. “Well I guess we have to be friends now.” Yes, good. You knew you’d win him over eventually. You just hadn’t expected him to win you back just as quickly.

Chapter Text

When Yamada broke, he broke hard. You’d sit on the counter while he cooked so he could talk your ear off, slept in his bed when Aizawa was out on patrol, and he even snuck you into the radio station to listen to his show in person. He pouted when you chose Aizawa to cuddle with over him, which was very cute and only endeared him to you further.

The only person who hadn’t fallen to your charms now was the cloud man. Shirakumo Oboro. You stared at him now, perched on the kitchen counter as he made himself breakfast. He was pointedly ignoring you, but the longer you stared, the more his shoulders hunched until finally he groaned.

“Can I help you?” He growled, turning towards you and making eye contact for the first time. You blinked at him, and his frown deepened. “I know you can understand me, what do you want? I’m not Shota or Hizashi, I may accept you here but I’m not going to be your friend, got it?” He could say what he wanted, you knew it was only a matter of time. That wasn’t why you were staring at him though. He was just so familiar, and you couldn’t figure out why.

It felt like you’d met him before, but you weren’t sure when. So many of your memories, so much of your past, was incredibly blurry and vague. You didn’t know what caused it, if it was how much time you spent as a cat, or how your quirk interacted with your secondary gender. Maybe it was just trauma. But no matter the reason, it was frustrating.

You yawned and stretched, breaking your extended staring contest, before padding across the counter towards him. His plate of food was ignored as you beelined for his arm, determined to get a good sniff of him. Maybe that would jog your memory. He growled as you approached, and you stifled a shiver. Angry alphas made your favorite sounds.

Despite his clear annoyance, he didn’t back away, even turned to hold his palm out towards you. “I’ll let you sniff me this one time, and then you’ll leave me alone,” he said, his tone stormy, but you ignored him in favor of sniffing at his fingers, working your way up to the scent gland on his wrist. He smelled like storms and ozone and something so familiar you could almost put your paw on it, something just at the edges of your mind, taunting you.

Dissatisfied by the experiment, you sat down with a sigh. This would require more thought. Maybe later, after a nap. After a moment, you realized that he hadn’t moved yet, and glanced up to see him giving you a weird look. You thought maybe the staring contest would restart, but he broke quickly, looking away with an unusual flush on his cheeks.

“Don’t know why I’m disappointed,” you heard him mutter. “Who cares if a cat doesn’t like how I smell, that’s such a ridiculous thing to worry about.” Is that what he thought? It certainly wasn’t true, you loved the way he smelled. The only reason you hadn’t rolled in any of his laundry yet was out of respect for his desire for distance.

As he reached for his food, you set a paw on his hand and mewled for his attention. He didn’t look at you this time, but he did freeze, and you took the chance to lick his arm in a way that you hoped would soothe him. When you looked up at his face again his cheeks were even more red.

“Thanks,” he said, clearly uncomfortable. The moment you moved your paw, he snatched up his food and was gone. At least he was acknowledging you now, which was an improvement. You hoped.

—

You didn’t have any more interactions with the cloud man, and you decided to hold off on harassing him. Some people were just stubborn, and at that point the most important thing was just time. Nobody could out stubborn you for very long.

“Do not make a big deal about this,” you heard the man say one afternoon, lifting your head from your paws to see him standing in the middle of the living room staring at you. He was holding something behind his back, looking slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t go out of my way to get this, I just saw it and-”

He cut off with a huff, and your curiosity was riled even further. You hopped off your perch in the window and crossed the room towards him, stopping patiently at his feet with a single curious meow. He crouched down in front of you, shifting awkwardly for a moment before sighing and pulling his hands from behind his back.

Held in them was a stuffed animal, almost the same size as you, if not a little bit bigger. You blinked at it, and then blinked again, as he started rambling, “I saw it on my way home and I thought of you, and I don’t know why, but I just wanted to get it. If you don’t like it then whatever, it doesn’t mean anything.” You ignored him, mostly, swallowing down the feeling that if you’d been human right now you’d have teared up. Somehow, without even knowing, he’d managed to find your favorite animal. You looked from the stuffie up to him and then back, before nuzzling up against it. It was soft.

A deep purr rumbling in your chest, you grabbed the toy carefully in your teeth and started to drag it across the room, tripping occasionally over it in your haste. Getting it up into the windowsill where your favorite bed sat proved to be the hard part, and you almost growled until you heard a soft chuckle, and then a gentle pair of hands lifted you and the toy both off the ground. You were set in your bed, and you took a moment to settle your new toy before looking up at the man who’d surprised you. There was a soft smile on his face, the first he’d directed at you, and you felt your heart flutter slightly.

Making a sudden decision, you grabbed his sleeve with your teeth and dragged his arm to the toy. It took some work to get your intentions across, struggling to tug his sleeve down while also tugging him towards the toy, but eventually he caught on. “You want me to scent it?” He asked hesitantly, and you mewled excitedly. You watched patiently as he pulled up his sleeves and rubbed his scent glands thoroughly across the fluffy toy, leaving behind the smell of thunderstorms.

You situated the toy in your bed and then curled up with it, purring wildly as the cloud man reached out and pet you. At your positive reaction, he pet you a little more firmly, his fingers finding their way across your cheeks to that spot right behind your ears that always made you melt. And fuck. You’d never had anyone give you behind the ear scritches as good as this. You’d moan if you were able to right now.

He chuckled again, and you felt the moment he gave up completely. “Guess I’m just as whipped as they are,” he said, and you blinked at him sleepily. You wouldn’t tease him for it. He was only human after all. Him giving in was always going to happen, it was just a matter of time. You just hadn’t expected him to do it so spectacularly.

With one last pat he left you be, and you slept cozily with your new stuffie, more content in this new home than you’d ever been in your entire life. Over the next couple of days you managed to get both Aizawa and Yamada to scent it as well, the two of them teasing Shirakumo over buying such a cute toy for you.

As you watched the three of them from your perch, laughing and teasing each other and enjoying this rare time that all three were free at once, you made a decision. These men were yours. This wasn’t just a comfortable house where you didn’t have to fear cold or hunger. They weren’t just kind strangers or friends. This was home, and they were pack. And you’d defend this pack with your life.

Chapter Text

You’d made the decision that you’d defend this pack with your life, but you hadn’t expected it to come down to that quite so quickly. It had only been maybe a week since your breakthrough with the final of the three men when you heard something outside of the window. Thinking it was the squirrel again, you prepared to leap up onto the windowsill and assert your dominance, before realizing that the figure outside was much too large to be a squirrel. It crossed your mind briefly that it could be one of the guys, who were all out on patrol, but the only one who ever came in through a window was Aizawa, and he usually used his own window.

You hunkered down, in the dark, watching as the window jiggled, jiggled harder, and then slid open soundlessly. A dark form crept through, sliding across the wide windowsill and knocking down your bed. The figure froze for a moment, and you got the feeling they were listening, before they finished sliding through the window. It was closed behind them, and the person paused to look around the living room. You sniffed the air and bit back a growl, not wanting to alert them to your presence. This was not one of your men.

The person started to creep through the apartment as you followed him silently, assessing his intentions. They were definitely bad, but how bad would determine the severity of your reaction. The moment you saw them slip something into a bag, you settled on a plan. Leaving them in the living room, you took off for Aizawa’s room, slipping through the open doorway and making for the drawer where you knew he kept a spare weird scarf. You’d learned recently that it was actually a capture weapon, and that would do you well right now.

Taking a deep breath, you did something you hadn’t done in ages. You activated your quirk, and let your cat form slip away, leaving you shivering and very human crouched on the floor. Your tail flicked against your leg, and you smiled. Well, mostly human.

You didn’t waste any time on the novelty of being human again, retrieving Aizawa’s capture weapon and creeping out into the hallway to wait for the intruder. They turned the corner, and you flew into action, snarling as you leapt and knocked them to the floor.

“Fuck!” The intruder shouted, trying to kick you off. You hissed as you fell back, giving him enough time to scramble to his knees before you were back on him. The fight lasted several minutes, furniture in the living room knocked over and broken as he attempted to flee, before finally you had him subdued and tied up tight with the capture weapon. You activated your quirk again, slipping back into the more familiar cat form to wait patiently for your men to get home. Pleased with yourself for a job well done, you trotted into the kitchen for a snack before returning to the bleeding, whimpering man. You found a comfortable place on his back to sit and wait, grooming yourself to help settle from the fight.

It was another hour before you heard the door unlock, and the voices of all three men on the other side of it. A rumbling purr erupted from you, and you leapt from the intruder’s back to race for the door. You’d planned to wait with your prize, to show off, but you really enjoyed welcoming them home.

Yamada was the first through the door, and he grinned as you meowed at him, lifting you from the floor and cradling you in his arms. “Hey there pretty kitty, did you miss us?” He teased, scratching your chin as you purred and butted your forehead against his cheek.

“Ah, Hizashi?” Aizawa said, and you glanced up at him to see him staring deeper into the apartment. You followed his gaze to the intruder you’d captured, and you purred happily. You wiggled out of Yamada’s arms, trotting across the floor to take up your victorious position on the man’s back. As the three men stared on in shock, you purred with pride. What a great gift you’d brought them.

—

“That’s all he would say about it,” Yamada was saying to the other men, the three of them watching you pretend to sleep on the coffee table. “The cat attacked him, beat him up, and tied him up with the capture weapon.” The tip of your tail twitched with amusement at the memory.

“His injuries?” Aizawa asked between frequent sips of his coffee. You stifled a huff. The intruder had whined and cried like a wuss about his injuries when he’d been arrested. You hadn’t even hurt him that bad. It could have been much worse.

You could hear the grimace in Yamada’s voice as he answered, “The doctor confirmed that the bites and scratches seem to have come from a cat, but a much larger one.” That made sense to you. Your claws and teeth had to grow to match your size when in human form. You’d look pretty silly with your much smaller cat teeth in a human mouth.

Shirakumo let out a slow breath. “Whatever it is we’re dealing with, I don’t think it’s a simple intelligence quirk,” he said, and your ears twitched with interest. Your life would be easier if they continued to believe that’s all there was to your quirk, but you were curious if they would figure it out. “Maybe there’s some size changing aspect to it?” Nevermind. Your men were many wonderful things, and you adored them, but by the cat gods were they thick.

“I don’t know,” Aizawa said with a sigh. “And I don’t think he’s going to be forthcoming about the specifics of his quirk any time soon.” You gave him a couple points for that observation. “I’ll talk to Nedzu about it tomorrow, get his opinion on all of this.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then a hand landed gently on your head. Shirakumo’s hand you realized when his fingers found that spot behind your ears that always made you melt into a puddle. A purr erupted from you, echoed by a round of chuckling. “Whatever it is, there’s no denying it’s incredible. You did a good job tonight, pretty boy.” A different set of fingers scratched under your chin and you sighed with contentment. “We’re so proud of you.”

Something inside you trembled, and then shook loose. When was the last time somebody had been proud of you? If you’d been human you’d have cried at the depth of the emotion that washed over you. You drifted off to sleep after a bit, their hands still stroking your fur soothingly, and as you did, you held that feeling close to your heart.

Chapter Text

After the intruder incident, you’d decided that your pack status was official enough for you to start thinking of your men by their first names. Which was funny because even having been here for a month now, they still hadn’t settled on what to call you officially. Shouta and Hizashi had been having a mini debate about it before the blonde had to leave for patrol. Now it was just you and Shouta.

You’d been curled up half asleep in his lap for maybe half an hour before you realized something was up. Shouta was petting you sort of absentmindedly, but doing nothing else other than staring off into the distance. You weren’t sure what to make of the look on his face, but it had worry stirring in your gut.

“I’m in love with my best friends,” he said suddenly, right as you’d sat up to get his attention. You jumped, your eyes wide, and his face filled with color. “Fuck, sorry,” he mumbled, covering his face with his hand. “I didn’t mean to just dump that on you.” He paused and then shook his head with a short laugh. “I’m never quite sure how much you can actually understand when we talk.”

He was quiet after that, and you got the feeling that he’d embarrassed himself into silence. Wanting to hear more, you reached up to bap his nose with one of your paws, being careful to keep your claws stowed. He laughed again, hands finding your fur and stroking you gently. “Sorry. It’s actually kind of cathartic to finally tell somebody.” You butted your head into his hand, letting him know you were listening. “We all went to school together. To UA. Hizashi was kind of the driving force behind us all becoming friends. For some reason he took one look at me and decided I was going to be his best friend.”

You tried to imagine the three of them as high school students, and smiled a little at the mental image of socially awkward teenage Shouta trying to deal with what you were sure was the absolute beam of sunshine that was Hizashi. “Oboro joined our friend group a little further into our first year.” He paused and then sighed, and you looked up to see his eyes half closed. “I think I fell in love with him the moment I met him,” he admitted quietly. “I don’t know what it was, there was just something about him. He thought I hated him for maybe the first six months that he was in our friend group. I just got too tongue tied to ever talk to him.”

You purred soothingly, and his lips twitched into a smile. “I didn’t fall in love with Hizashi until after we graduated,” he added, fingers scratching under your chin. “I can even trace back to the exact moment. He’d been pestering me and Oboro about the three of us getting a place together. I made a joke that living with two other alphas would probably cramp his style if he tried to date or bring anyone home.” The little smile on his face turned warm as he finished, “He told me that dates come and go, but there’s nobody he’d rather share his life with than the two of us.” The purr that erupted from you was so loud that you nearly vibrated on Shouta’s lap, and he laughed hard. “Yeah, I think that’s probably the most romantic thing anybody’s ever said to me, and he didn’t even mean it that way.”

At that, you paused and started up at him. Didn’t mean it that way? Was he sure? Because you may not have much, if any, experience with romance, but that definitely didn’t sound platonic to you. More research would need to be done, you thought as Shouta calmed down, his hand settling on your back.

“Promise you won’t tell them?” He asked finally, looking down to meet your eyes. You nodded solemnly, and a relieved look passed across his face. “Part of me thinks that’s silly, how would you tell them anyways,” he admitted with a laugh. “But you’re a very resourceful cat, I’ve no doubt you’d figure it out.” He scratched under your chin and you purred from the compliment, fully agreeing with it. You wouldn’t give away his secret though. You just felt honored that he trusted you enough to tell you about his feelings.

“How about we go for a walk,” he said, lifting you from his lap so he could cradle you to his chest as he stood. “I think some fresh air will do us both some good. You’ve been cooped up in this apartment for a while, and I’m just going to sit here and overthink.” You purred your acceptance of this, waiting patiently as he retrieved his capture weapon so that you could wiggle your way into it. “And don’t worry. No matter how much I love Hizashi, I’m not letting him name you Whiskers.” You nodded. Good. That was a terrible name.

As he pulled on his boots he chuckled, saying, “I don’t think we’re ever going to settle on a name though. I’m just going to have to think of one for myself.” He bent his head to kiss the top of yours before stepping outside, and you let out a satisfied sigh. You were sure that whatever he came up with would be just as perfect as he was.

Chapter Text

The apartment was empty. Which wasn’t strange, it was empty a lot. Your three men worked a lot, and their jobs were important. So much of your life had been spent alone, so you had to get used to your own company. It helped that you knew the emptiness wasn’t permanent. At some point one of them would come home, filling the house with warmth and cheer and love.

But for now, it was empty. And you knew from memorizing their schedules that it would be empty for several hours. For the first time in this place, other than in the intruder emergency, you let your cat form go, body shifting and creaking as you became human. It took a moment for you to regain your balance, shaking off the stiffness of the shift, and then you couldn’t help but to grin. It felt good. You liked being able to be in your human form, it just wasn’t often that you felt safe enough to do so. And never had you felt as safe as you did here.

The first thing you did was track down the box of scent patches you knew were in the bathroom. As much as you wanted to cover this entire apartment with your scent, you didn’t want them knowing your secret. Scent glands covered, you headed towards your second order of business, and the one you were most excited about.

Unconcerned about being naked, but wanting to take advantage of this opportunity, you went through the men’s dirty laundry, pilfering a shirt from each of them. You layered them on, purring happily as the scent of your alphas surrounded you. Satisfied, you set about the real reason you’d turned human today. First you threw open all of the windows to pull in some fresh air, though you kept the curtains closed for privacy. Then you moved into the kitchen, nose twitching as you took in the pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

You didn’t blame them for it, but they weren’t the cleanest. Not that they were slobs by any definition of the term, but things tended to pile up a little, and you weren’t sure when they had dusted last. They were always so busy though, and they did their best. Which was where you came in! If you could help with this one thing, keeping the apartment neat, it was less they had to worry about.

You’d decided to make the dishes your starting point. It looked easy enough, and you’d seen the men do it often enough that you knew the steps. And you were sure you’d washed dishes before in your life, even if you couldn’t remember off the top of your head.

Shaking the thought of your foggy and missing memories from your head, you moved to the sink to start your task. It went… well, honestly about as well as you’d expected. Which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly good. It didn’t take long for you to splash water on yourself, and then on the floor. Somehow you got dish soap in your hair. Not even your tail had been spared, the end of it somehow ending up soaked. You’d had to squeeze the water from it, and it was uncomfortably damp, especially when it flicked across your bare legs.

But the dishes were clean, and that was the important part. You piled them carefully in the drying rack, and then searched out a towel to mop up the water on the floor. It didn’t take long to get everything cleaned up, the towels moved to the dirty laundry where you knew they wouldn’t be noticed, dish soap put away. Not wanting to take on too much at once, you decided that was enough for the day. You were reasonably sure you could do the dishes more regularly now, one less thing for them to worry about, and next time you would move onto figuring out another chore.

The next hour was spent lounging about the house, enjoying the feeling of being in your human form again. You considered taking a shower just to feel the hot water on your skin, but it would take you a bit to figure it out, and you didn’t want to risk any of them noticing anything out of the ordinary.

Eventually the clock ticked down and the sun moved behind the curtains, and you knew your time alone was coming to an end. You closed the windows, returned the men's shirts to their dirty laundry baskets, and peeled off your scent blocking patches. Reasonably sure you'd left no sign of yourself, except for the clean and drying dishes, you shifted back into a cat and took up your favorite place in the window.

It was only a little while later that Hizashi got home, calling for you even before he'd gotten his shoes off. You stretched and slipped off the windowsill, trotting over to him with a soft mrrp. He grinned at you, going down on a knee to scoop you into his arms.

"Hey there, little listener," he said, rubbing his cheek against the top of your head, and you made a questioning noise at the new greeting. He chuckled, saying, "I thought it fit. You know, because you're little and you're my favorite listener." Your purr was loud and rumbling, making him laugh and echo the noise. It was the first time any of the men had purred at you, and it made you absolutely melt as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I wasn't actually gonna call you Whiskers," he said with a mischievous note to his voice. "I just wanted to annoy Sho." If you could have, you'd have laughed. That sounded exactly like something he'd do. Instead you butted your face into his jaw, and he scratched under your chin. "Sho must have done the dishes," he mused, shifting you in his hold so he had an arm free. "I guess I'll make dinner then." You preened, happy he'd noticed the dishes, and equally happy he'd immediately suspected somebody else in the house. Your plan was going to work perfectly.

Chapter Text

Two weeks of washing the dishes and the guys hadn’t noticed anything odd. As you’d suspected, they each believed somebody else had done them, and it was a small enough chore that they certainly didn’t double check with each other. You’d even found and figured out how to use the cleaning wipes they kept, so the stove and counters were cleaned as well. The guys' schedules were pretty easy to memorize, and they were out of the apartment a lot, so you usually managed at least a couple hours each day in human form.

It was nice, getting to spend time as a human again, though part of you longed to tell them. You knew how lovely it was to have them pet your fur and scratch your cheeks and behind your ears. But you wanted to feel them touch you as a human. Wanted to feel their fingers in your hair, their calloused hands on your skin. You were so soft and sensitive due to how little time you spent in that form, and you knew it would feel blissful. Some part of you, a very quiet part of you, wanted them to touch you not as their cat, or just as a human, but as their omega.

That was a voice you squashed for now, even harder than the voice telling you to reveal your secret. You just couldn’t risk losing your home. Not now, not when you finally had somewhere you were safe and loved and cared for. For now you had to be content with this, loving on them when they were here, taking care of them secretly when they weren’t. That was how you’d take your place as the omega in their pack. You liked things the way they were. (And you were very good at lying to yourself.)

Now that you’d mastered the kitchen, it was time for you to work on something that affected you directly: dusting. You could tell there were areas of the apartment that had simply never been dusted before, and that was a tragedy to your poor nose and fur. This task was harder though. Cleaning the kitchen and dishes had been easy, tasks that you’d watched the men do many times, but never had you seen them dust, and you weren’t certain you’d ever had to do it either.

Pulling all of the cleaning supplies out from under the sink, you puzzled through them, struggling to pick through the words you knew in the directions and using the pictures on the bottles to help sort things out. Finally you settled on a spray bottle you were reasonably certain was for dusting, giving a small spritz and letting out a delighted purr at the citrusy scent of it. You weren’t sure why, but citrus just smelled like clean.

Grabbing the bottle and a rag, you attacked the house with a fervor, going through every nook and cranny, wiggling your way under and around furniture to reach spots only traveled by you in cat form. It was a long process, which you’d figured it might be, and had made sure that the guys would be away for most of the day before starting it. By the time you were done, the sun was setting, and you felt sweaty and dirty. Not for the first time did you wish it was safe to jump in the shower, but you’d have to settle for a bath. You didn’t particularly like them as a cat, but Shouta was always good about keeping the soap from your eyes and giving you lots of praise.

Tired, you returned everything to the way it was, disposing of your scent patches, and shifted back into cat form. Not wanting to dirty your bed, you curled up near the front door so you’d know immediately when someone got home, and let yourself fall into a quick nap.

You weren’t sure how long you slept, but the sun had finished its descent by the time you heard the front door open. “Hey there, pretty boy,” Oboro said, bending down to scratch behind your ears, even before getting his shoes off. “It’s just us tonight, Shouta and Hizashi had a last minute mission they got pulled into.” That was fine with you, it wasn’t often you got to spend time with just Oboro.

He stood, slipping off his shoes and putting away his hero gear. You gave him a couple minutes to settle in before grabbing his pants in your teeth and tugging towards the bathroom. He wasn’t Shouta, but you still wanted a bath, so he would do.

With a chuckle, he caught the hint and followed you towards the bathroom. “Bath night?” He asked, amused as you hopped up on the edge of the tub and meowed. Shaking his head, he started filling the tub, getting the water temperature right on his first try.

His hands were surprisingly gentle as he washed you, being careful to keep the shampoo out of your eyes, and a content purr rumbled from you. By the time he rinsed the soap out, you’d nearly fallen asleep, blinking up at him through heavy eyes.

Another chuckle as he said, “Like that, do you rain cloud?” The new name startled you, and you squinted at him, taking note of the flush that appeared briefly on his cheeks. “Sorry, if you hate it, I don’t have to use it. I just thought it would be cute, since Shouta found you in the rain. And maybe a little because clouds are part of my quirk.” He wiggled his fingers, and a small cloud appeared over your head. You poked your nose up into it and sneezed.

Purring happily at the new name, you stood on your back legs and propped your front paws on the tub ledge so that you could rub your face on his hand. “Glad you like it,” he murmured, giving you those behind the ear scratches you loved so much. “Let’s get you dry, yeah?” He pulled you from the tub, settling you in his lap on a towel and carefully working to dry your fur. “I’m really happy you’re here by the way,” he said after a couple minutes of silence. “It’s nice knowing I’m never going to come home to an empty house.”

You were glad you could be a comfort to him, considering how much they were a comfort to you. You just wished you could figure out how you knew him. Dry now, he cradled you to his chest, nuzzling the top of your head and carrying you through the apartment with him. He stretched out on the couch, settling you on his stomach, hands stroking idly through your fur.

“I haven’t said this yet,” he said, looking down at you with soft eyes, “but I love you, rain cloud.” Your body shuddered involuntarily, and you inhaled sharply. He loved you. He loved you. You stood on shaky legs to move up his chest and knock your head against his cheek with considerably less grace than normal. “Love me too?” He asked, a smile twitching on his face, and you nodded decisively. “Good, I’m glad. Take a nap pretty boy, we can eat when you wake up.” That sounded pretty good to you, and you curled up on his chest, lulled to sleep by the steady sound of his heart beating.

Chapter Text

It was the next day that the men took notice of the new cleaning, much to your surprise. Shouta noticed the lack of dust, Hizashi noticed the citrusy smell of cleaner, Oboro putting both of those things together. They still didn’t suspect, each thinking one of the other men had done it. You still didn’t mind. It suited your purposes, and the general mood of the apartment was cheerful.

Every time one of them brought home somebody’s favorite food, or offered to run errands, or any number of small things the men had started doing more often for each other, it was always accompanied by a remark to you about wanting to do something nice since the others were cleaning. It was a good thing cats couldn’t laugh, because this was the most amused you’d been in a long time. As much as you enjoyed taking care of them, the humor of watching them was almost as good.

High on your success so far, you only waited a week to figure out how to clean the floors, adding it to your chore list, yet another thing they attributed to each other. It wasn’t long after that however, that you finally overplayed your hand. You’d started doing just general straightening, moving dishes into the kitchen, folding blankets, tossing discarded laundry into appropriate baskets. You should have known that was a step too far. The men never went into each other’s rooms without permission.

Unaware of your mistake, you settled in for a content nap, snuggled up tight against the stuffed animal Oboro had given you. It was voices that woke you after a while, though you weren’t sure how long, but it was quickly clear that you’d woken up mid conversation.

“It can’t be him, right?” Hizashi was asking, his tone slightly strained. You opened your eyes without moving your head, seeing your three men sitting in the living room with pensive looks on their faces.

“Who else could it be?” Shouta rebutted, and you quickly realized they were talking about you.

Oboro sighed, running a hand over his hair. “Clearly it hasn’t been any of us, so.” Oh. Oh no. They’d finally noticed.

“Maybe somebody is breaking into our house every day to clean?” Hizashi offered. The attempted joke fell flat, and the three settled into silence. After a couple minutes of tense silence, you finally sat up, shaking off the remnants of sleep, and all of them turned immediately to stare at you.

There was another long moment of silence, and then Oboro stood, crossing the room to crouch down in front of you so that you were at eye level with each other. “Have you been the one cleaning our apartment?” He asked, voice quiet as if he couldn’t quite believe he was asking it.

Of course, you thought, a little smugly. You weren’t going to admit to it though. Instead of giving a concise nod or shake of the head, you leaned in and licked the tip of his nose, making him scrunch it up reflexively.

The apartment was tense after that. You’d shifted the next day to clean, and only a random glance out the window to the street had saved you from Hizashi coming home early. It had been a race to set things back to normal and shift back before he could get into the apartment. You didn’t find another chance to shift. The three men varied up their schedules, often popping home randomly as if trying to catch you in the act. It would have been annoying if it wasn’t so funny.

They only lasted a week. You woke up from a nap one afternoon to find a new toy next to your bed and your food replaced with a fancy, gourmet brand. Things returned to normal, except now every time they came home to a clean apartment, you received the appropriate amount of affection and praise.

“Thanks, little listener,” Hizashi said, with a particularly lovely tummy rub, after coming home to see the mess of clothes he’d left all over his bed neatly folded and put away.

“Good job, rain cloud,” Oboro praised after finding all of the windows in the apartment scrubbed clean. You’d received an extended behind the ear scratching session for that, and it had left you purring for hours.

“Love you, pretty boy,” Shouta murmured one night as you rested on his chest, tired from scrubbing the kitchen top to bottom, his fingers stroking slowly across your fur. You loved him too. Maybe one day you’d get to tell him, tell all of them, but for now you were content to simply keep showing them, in your own way.

Chapter Text

There was an itch behind your ear. It had been there for an hour. Nothing you did could get rid of it. You’d tried scratching, rubbing against your scratching post, distracting yourself. You were about to sing the song of your people in despair when you remembered that Oboro was home. If there was anyone who could help you with this problem, it was him. He alone could gift you the quality of behind the ear scratches you needed.

Leaping from your perch in the window, you raced across the apartment, skidding to a stop in front of his door. It was partly open, just a sliver, but that was enough for you to slide through and trot up to his bed. As you approached him, you slowed to a stop, peering up at him quizzically. There was something… off about him. You weren’t always the best at reading human emotions, but you’d been with your pack long enough that you could read them like a book. If you’d been able to read books that was.

He was curled up on his side on the bed, phone in his hand. The light was off and the curtains were shut, leaving him mostly illuminated by the bright light of his screen. Despite the fact that you could tell he was scrolling through something, you had the distinct impression that he wasn’t actually paying attention to it. There was a glazed, far away look in his eyes that had worry setting in.

The itch behind your ear finally faded as you realized there was something wrong, and since you were here, it was your job to handle it. You hopped up onto the bed and meowed softly as you approached him, brow furrowing when he didn’t seem to even notice. Stopping next to him, you gently butted his hand with your head. He jumped, eyes breaking finally from his screen to look at you.

For a moment, he didn’t even seem to see you, before finally he shook his head, saying, “Hey rain cloud.” He reached out to scratch briefly behind your ear before turning back to his phone, and you sat down with a frown. Something was definitely wrong. You started up a rumbling purr, rubbing up against his stomach and pressing into him in a way you hoped was soothing. Once more you got a brief scratch, the movement seeming almost mindless.

You sighed, moving away a couple steps to stare at him. Whatever it was, you’d have to come up with something more to help. You had the feeling not even your purrs and cuddles could help with this. An idea struck you, and you leapt from the bed, hurrying back to your usual perch on the windowsill. There lay the stuffed animal he’d given you, tucked into your makeshift nest. It always brought you comfort when you needed it, maybe it could help him as well.

Gripping the toy carefully in your teeth, you tugged it down to the floor, wincing as it bounced off your head. Down the hall you took it, nudging his door open a little wider to get it through the gap, and then was your biggest challenge. Getting it onto the bed. You tried hopping up with it in your mouth, tried getting on the bed and reaching for it with your paws, tried lifting it with your head. The bed was too high off the ground though, and you were too small of a cat.

You growled, redoubling your effort the get the damn thing up there, when you heard Oboro ask, “What do you have there?” The bed shifted as he leaned over the side to see you with the toy between your teeth, and his eyes widened. “Are you… trying to bring me your toy?” You nodded as best as you could, and you saw him blink quickly. To your relief, he reached down and scooped you and the toy up onto the bed, curling back up on his side and cradling you both to his chest. “Did you bring it to help cheer me up?” He asked quietly, and you rubbed your cheek against his in confirmation.

Oboro let out a shuddering breath, his arms tightening slightly, but you ignored the slight discomfort, turning on the rumbling purr that you knew always settled your men. “Thanks,” he whispered. “That means- that means a lot.” He pressed a kiss to your head and you melted. “Sorry for ignoring you, I just-” You blinked at him, letting himself gather his thoughts, his eyes red like he’d been fighting back tears.

Finally he sighed, fingers stroking through your fur as his eyes closed. “Hizashi is on a date right now,” he said, his voice quiet and resigned. “Afterwards he’ll bring the date home and they’ll fuck.” There was a crack in his voice as he finished, “It breaks me every time, just knowing. It’s worse when I’m home and have to hear it.” His jaw clenched, and his eyes opened to meet yours, glassy and wet. “I know it’s selfish of me, but I’m really glad Shouta doesn’t date anymore. I don’t think I could survive knowing they were both with other people.”

You rubbed your face against his again, knowing that if you were human you’d probably be tearing up as well. He loved them. You wondered how you hadn’t seen it before, but to be fair you weren’t exactly experienced with love. You held some home, knowing that Shouta loved him as well. Maybe they could find some peace, some happiness with each other, if they just realized. Maybe you could help.

“Thanks for listening,” he said, tucking his face into your fur. “And for the cuddle. It helps.” You settled in and closed your eyes, content to be his comfort for as long as he needed you to be. He was pack, and you were his omega, even if he didn’t realize it.

Chapter Text

Hizashi did bring home a date that night. You stayed in Oboro’s room the entire time, letting him hold you as he scrolled his phone with headphones in before finally passing out. When the noises from the other room stopped, you let yourself fall asleep as well, deciding you’d check on Hizashi the next morning to see how he was doing.

You woke early the next day, stretching and yawning and trotting into the kitchen to get a good drink of water. A couple bites of food to settle your rumbling stomach, and you headed for Hizashi’s room. The door was slightly cracked, and you pushed your head in to see him sitting on his bed alone. Whoever he’d brought home must have left while you were sleeping. The look on his face worried you, somewhere between distress and discomfort, definitely not the expression you’d expected after a night of fun.

Trotting over to him, you meowed to draw his attention. He looked like a mess, hair frazzled and wild, eyes red, black eyeliner smudged. You rubbed against his leg, only to feel him nudge you away gently. “Don’t,” he said, his voice rough. “You can’t touch me right now. I’m- I’m dirty. I feel- dirty.”

That was unacceptable. You understood sometimes people needed their space, you knew you certainly did, but being or feeling dirty was definitely not a good reason for that. You hopped up on the bed next to him, scrunching your nose at the scent of a stranger clinging to it, and forced your way into Hizashi’s lap. He sighed after a moment of you rubbing against his chest and pawing at his hands, giving in and petting you softly.

“I hate how I feel after one night stands,” he admitted, sounding tired. “I just- I keep hoping it’ll break these feelings I have for Sho and Oboro, but it doesn’t. All it does is leave me feeling dirty inside.” His voice trembled slightly, and somehow you found yourself unsurprised at hearing he also had feelings for his friends. “I always have to take a super hot shower afterwards to try and feel clean again.”

Your forehead furrowed, and you’d have frowned if you could. That sounded like self harm, and was also unacceptable. If he felt dirty, you’d just have to clean him yourself. Climbing higher onto his chest, you started grooming his cheek and neck. Chuckling, his hands came up to try and deter you, but you growled and continued anyway. You knew realistically you couldn’t clean the kind of dirty Hizashi felt, but maybe this would at least help.

“Thank you,” he finally said, sounding touched, settling a hand on your back. “That helps a little. But please stop, your tongue is like sandpaper.” Satisfied that you’d distracted him a little, you dropped down to the floor, biting the leg of his pajama pants and tugging him in the direction of the bathroom. He laughed again, saying, “Alright, alright, I get the hint. Time for a shower.” You knew super hot showers weren’t good, but if a shower helped him to feel clean again, then that’s what he should do, at a reasonable temperature.

You sat on the side of the shower as he turned on the water, waiting for it to warm up before testing it with your paw. Knowing that it was definitely too hot, you growled and he echoed the sound with a sigh. “Yeah yeah, I get it,” he muttered, turning down the heat. As he stripped and got into the shower, you hopped up onto the sink, giving him some privacy and taking the time to groom yourself as well.

It took almost forty five minutes for him to finish, but when he did he seemed much more relaxed. “Thank you,” he said, scratching behind your ears. “I feel better.” You purred happily, waiting for him to get dressed and pick you up, nuzzling against his cheek as he cuddled you to his chest. You made sure to rub your scent over every part of him you could reach. It was a little sad that he couldn’t smell it from this form, but it still satisfied you.

After a couple minutes of cuddling, you wiggled out of his arms, approaching the bed and biting down on one of his blankets. It only took a couple tugs for Hizashi to get the hint, asking, “Do you want me to wash my sheets?’ You nodded your agreement and he hummed quietly. “I think that’s a good idea too.” You waited on his dresser for him to strip the bed and put on a spare set, knowing you couldn’t help with that chore in this form. As soon as the bed was made, you hopped in to roll around in the fresh sheets.

“Hey, those are clean, you’re gonna get fur all over them,” he scolded jokingly. You didn’t particularly care, set on covering his bed in your scent, but you could tell he didn’t really care either. With one last scratch behind your ears, he bundled up the dirty sheets and disappeared to go put them in the washer.

You settled once you were alone, staring off into the distance as you thought. As much as you loved all of your men, and they loved you and took care of you in return, they were all more than a little bit dumb. The three of them not admitting their feelings was clearly causing more than a few problems, which in turn was messing with the pack bond. That was a problem. And the more you thought about it, the more certain you were that it was important for you to fix it. Because as much as you loved them all, it was time for them to admit they loved each other as well.

Chapter Text

Operation “Get Your Men Together” was a go, but you quickly found yourself struggling to come up with ways to get them closer. Several times you'd managed to get them almost cuddling on the couch under the pretext of wanting pets from multiple people. It was a little overstimulating, but you'd do anything to achieve your goal.

Once you'd managed to get both Hizashi and Shouta in the same bed under the same pretext of wanting pets. You'd laid between them purring until they both fell asleep. Immediately you wiggled out from between them, checking back every once in a while. After twenty minutes, you'd checked again to see them cuddling in their sleep, and you couldn’t help but to feel smug.

Nothing changed though, except that they'd blushed more around each other for a couple days. After that failure, you upped the game. Through cleaning their rooms, you'd managed to find each man's stash of sex toys. The first time you'd left one of Shouta’s strokers in the hallway for Oboro to find, you thought the man was going to combust. He'd just nudged the toy into Shouta’s room and closed the door. A couple days later, a vibrater from Hizashi’s room was left in the hallway as well.

After a couple of times doing this, you gave up. None of the men brought it up with each other, at least not at home, and none of them confronted you about it either. You could tell they knew it was you though, even as the blushed around each other more.

Perched in your favorite window, you sighed. There was just only so much you could do as a cat. After moping around for a couple days despondently, Shouta approached you, saying, “Hey, how about we go for a walk.” That perked you up, and you happily snuggled into his capture weapon. Getting out of the house sounded like a great idea, and you'd never turn down a walk. The two of you meandered around for a while in companionable silence, enjoying the fall evening.

After a bit, your ears caught the sound of an explosion, and your head whipped around towards it. “What's up?” Shouta asked, seeing your ears perked forward and twitching. There was a second explosion, louder than the first, and this time he heard it as well. He swore, saying, “Hang on.” And then he was in the air, using his capture weapon to pull himself up onto a roof. He took off running towards the sound, and you clung to him, careful not to catch him with your claws. He skidded to a stop at the scene of the chaos, eyes quickly taking in the scene.

“Stay here,” he said sharply, scooping you in his hands and depositing you gently on the roof. “Out of danger. I'll be back.” Then he was gone, leaping from the building and springing into the fight, where several other heroes were already battling against a number of villains. You perched on the ledge of the roof, heart thundering with worry as you watched him. From here you could see the swooped blonde hair of Hizashi, as well as Oboro's clouds. All three of your men were down there, and you couldn’t do anything but worry.

There were more explosions, shaking the buildings and making you lose your balance. Before you could regain it, could move to somewhere safer, something hit the building, and the ledge you stood on cracked and collapsed, sending you tumbling to the ground.

As the pavement rose up beneath you, you curled into yourself, body shaking with fear and grief. You'd never get to tell your men that you loved them. Never get to feel their touch. Never get to return home. As you hurtled towards impact, you closed your eyes and let out a sigh. At least, for a little while, you'd had a home. You'd had love. You'd had warmth and laughter and light. As acceptance settled in, you heard a desperate shout. Just as you expected to hit the ground, you instead found yourself slamming into a firm chest. Your eyes opened, startled, to find yourself cradled in Oboro's arms. There were tears on his face, and as you looked up at him with shock and awe, finally the pieces clicked together.

In an instant you'd shifted, leaving yourself shivering and naked and very human in his arms as he floated in the air on one of his clouds. “Loud Cloud,” you gasped as he stared down at you in shock. That was why he was so familiar, why you were so certain you'd met him before.

This wasn't the first time he'd saved your life.

Chapter Text

It was several hours later that the four of you found yourselves at home finally. The fight had ended, villains jailed, clean up started. Since none of them had actually been on patrol at that time, they’d been free to leave once the scene was cleared. Now you were home, curled up in Oboro’s lap, purring happily. You’d fought when someone had tried to remove you from him, until they finally gave in. At some point, someone had managed to force a shirt over your head so you weren’t completely naked. From the smell, it was Hizashi’s, and that made you happy as well.

“So I guess that answers a lot of questions,” Shouta said, breaking the silence they’d all been sitting in for the last half an hour. “He’s not a cat with an intelligence quirk, he’s a human with a cat quirk. That explains how he’s been able to clean the apartment.”

“And the burglar,” Hizashi added with a harsh exhale.

You looked up at Oboro, who was wearing the same shocked expression he had when you’d first transformed in his arms. “I know you, somehow,” he murmured, and you beamed at him.

“My hero,” you purred, and the men visibly jolted. Only Oboro had heard you speak so far. His arms, which had been loosely keeping you steady, tightened around you briefly. It made you purr louder, nuzzling your face into his chest.

“You’re-” he started, before clearing his throat. “Can you tell us your name?” He finally asked, sounding a little lost.

“Rain cloud,” you answered with ease, butting your head up against his jaw.

Hizashi let out a choked noise. “No, your actual name,” he said, his voice strained.

“Little listener,” you said, watching the way his cheeks turned pink.

“Your name from before us,” Shouta clarified softly. You shrugged. It didn’t seem like it mattered particularly who you’d been before them. That had been a past life, one of struggle and hardship, but to be honest you didn’t really remember much of it. The things that you could remember made you happy that the rest was so hazy. That was the past and this was now. Whatever name you may have had was long gone. Now you were simply theirs.

Shouta heaved out a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m just- we’re just wondering if there’s anybody who may be looking for you,” he said. Gentle though his words were, it still made you shrink, tucking your face into Oboro’s shoulder.

“All alone,” you whispered, feeling three sets of eyes lock onto you, unwavering in their intensity. “Long time. Just me.” You untucked your face just enough to peer over at Shouta. “Until you.” His eyes widened, and you watched the emotions that spiraled across his face.

The men were quiet for a long while after that, Oboro’s fingers rubbing soothing circles across your back. “Okay,” Hizashi finally said, turning to Shouta. “It’s your decision. What are we doing?”

His eyes widened with shock. “What?” He said, his voice choked. “What do you mean it’s my decision?”

“You were the one who brought him home,” Hizashi said. “He was yours first. It should be your decision.”

Shouta shook his head, even before the words had finished. “We all live here, this decision affects all of us,” he argued. “It’s one thing to bring a cat into our lives. It’s a whole nother thing to adopt a whole, grown human.” He froze, as if something had occurred to him for the first time, and turned to you. “You are an adult, right?” He asked, voice uncertain. You gave him a decisive nod, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Sho’s right,” Oboro spoke up finally. “This is a bigger deal than just adopting a cat. It isn’t what we signed on for, and we should discuss that.” For the first time, uncertainty rolled through you. You’d been so excited, so overcome by emotion, at your realization of how you knew Oboro, that it hadn’t even occurred to you that they might not want another person in the house. They knew you as a cat, and you could only hope that would be enough. But what if this changed things? What if it changed how they felt about you?

You didn’t realize that your distress had leaked into your scent until Oboro’s arms tightened, a soothing purr starting up in his chest. “At the same time,” he continued as you eased back into him, “this is his home too. We can’t ignore what he’s brought into our lives. It would be unfair of us to just send him away, at least without a plan to give him a new home.”

There was another silence, and then Hizashi stood up, saying, “I think I need to go for a walk, think for a bit. I’ll be back.” He stood, and Shouta followed him up, murmuring that he’d do the same. You flinched as the door shut behind them, waiting for Oboro to set you down, to leave as well.

He didn’t, his hand never stopping its slow strokes across your back. You swallowed hard, pulling back just enough that you could look up at him. “Can change back,” you managed, your voice wobbly. “Just be a cat.”

His eyes softened, hand coming up to stroke your cheek. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” he murmured, thumb brushing under your eye, where you hadn’t realized tears had started to form. You squeezed your eyes shut, unwilling to see his rejection, until he said, “Hey, look at me.” With a sniffle, you forced yourself to look up at him, to meet his gaze. His eyes studied your face for a long moment, before the corner of his lips turned up. “You’ve got the same eyes. I think I’d know your eyes anywhere.” A flutter started up in your chest. “No matter what, you’ll always be my rain cloud. And for what it’s worth, I want you to stay.”

Warmth radiated through you, and you pushed yourself up to rub your cheek against his, scenting him finally as a human. His grip on you tightened, and you felt his sharp inhale. “Fuck,” he muttered, pressing his face to your hair. “I didn’t- I didn’t realize you were an omega.”

“Pack,” you said as you pulled back to look at him again. “Pack now.”

His lips parted with surprise. “You want to be our pack omega?” He asked, and the purr that erupted from you vibrated the whole couch. He stared at you in wonder for a moment, before both of his hands came up to tentatively cradle your face between them. Your heart forgot to beat as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against yours, the touch tentative and sweet. And then his lips met yours again, more firmly, stealing the breath from your lungs.

He swore as he jerked back, red tinging his cheeks. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered, but by the way his gaze lingered on your lips, you could tell he wanted to do it again. “You can’t tell Shouta or Hizashi I did that.”

“Secret,” you purred, tail flicking up to curl around his wrist. “Keep secret. Love you.”

He sucked in a shuddering breath and then surged forward to kiss you again. “Love you rain cloud,” he said, pressing his forehead against yours. “I feel like I barely know you, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve known you forever. You really wanna be ours?”

You purred, saying, “Already am.” You could smell the curl of satisfaction in his scent and you smiled. One down. Two to go.

Chapter Text

Oboro held you for a while longer before pressing a kiss to your head and saying, “I'm gonna go take a shower, I'm still dirty from the fight. Is that okay?” You nodded, trying not to pout as he moved you from his lap to the couch. When his eyes met your bare legs, he blushed, looking away quickly. “Ah, how about I go get you some pants first.” You scrunched your nose before nodding again. You hated pants, they pinned your tail down, but if it would make them more comfortable then you'd do it.

He disappeared, returning with a pair of sweatpants. There was a drawstring at the waist and elastic at the ankles, so even though it was way too long, you could still get it to fit. After the first time you tripped on the long pant legs, Oboro helped you to get them on, eyes averted to give you privacy. He ruffled your hair, telling you he'd be back soon, and then headed off to the bathroom.

You curled up, pulling your legs up to your chest, arms wrapped around them tightly, and propped your chin on your knee. Had it been a mistake, letting them see you? It was nice to know that Oboro wanted you to stay, and the lingering feel of his lips made your pulse flutter, but it meant nothing if the other two wanted you to leave. The thought of their rejection made your heart squeeze painfully.

It was there that Hizashi found you, lost in thought enough that you didn't notice him approach until he was crouched in front of you. “Hey little listener,” he murmured, catching your attention instantly. You looked up at him, trying to tamp down on your hope at the soft look on his face. “Can I ask you a couple questions?”

You nodded, sniffling, and slightly relaxed your tight grip on yourself. “How come you never told us?” He asked, and you averted your eyes.

“Scared,” you said. “Scared would have to leave. Wouldn't love me.” Your eyes darted back to his face to see his reaction, but his gaze was still soft. “And- and not been human a long time. Easier as a cat. When homeless. Have fur, need less food. Been a cat a long time. Not safe to be human. Not had a reason to be.”

“That makes sense,” he said, and you felt the knot in your stomach unclench a little. “So why now?”

“Didn't mean to,” you admitted. “Was surprised. Reacted without thinking.”

“Because you almost died?” He asked, his voice wobbling a little with emotion on the last word.

You shrugged and then nodded, before shaking your head. “Kinda?” You finally answered. “Had- had memory return. Not many memories.”

His brow furrowed. “Does that have something to do with how long you've been a cat?” You looked at him with surprise at the astute guess and then nodded. “Okay, then what was the memory?”

Your head turned towards the hallway, where you could still hear the sounds of Oboro showering. “Oboro,” you said quietly. “Loud Cloud. Saved me.” You turned back to Hizashi, admitting, “Saved me before. Long time ago.”

“Wait, this wasn't the first time he's saved your life?” Hizashi asked, shocked. You nodded, and he exhaled slowly. “Okay. I think that's a story for another time. We should talk about what happens now though.” His lips pinched together for a moment, before he continued in a soft voice, “You're still my little listener, right?”

Your nod was quick and frantic, and the corner of his lips tilted up, the first smile you'd seen from him all day. “I get why you hid this from us,” he said. “But it doesn't change the fact that this is going to take some getting used to, okay?” You nodded your understanding, biting your lip nervously. Your heart fluttered when his hand came up, thumb freeing your lip from your sharp teeth. “That's not a bad thing,” he said, making sure to emphasize that. “I know you as a cat. I'd really like to get to know you as a person now.”

The tension eased from you completely, and your purr started back up. “Understand,” you said with a nod, receiving a brighter smile in response. You bit your lip again, only to have it freed again. “Pet?” You asked nervously, and he laughed.

“Still our pretty kitty, huh?” He teased, hand coming up to stroke your hair, fingers lightly scratching your scalp. You melted into his touch, purring louder, especially when his free hand stroked your cheek.

Your scent spiraled around him, and through heavy eyes you saw his pupils dilate. “I didn't notice before, but are you an omega?” You nodded, and he laughed again. After a moment, his eyes narrowed, intently focusing on where his thumb brushed across your cheek. “Do you have scent glands in your cheeks?” He asked and you nodded, enjoying the crooked grin across his face. “Let me guess, another cat thing?”

It was nice to see your men gathering brain cells for once, and you smiled brightly at him in response. You heard his breath catch, saw his eyes widen. In a rough voice, he said, “Well that's something I'll have to get used to. How pretty your smile is.” The compliment made your cheeks flush bright red, and he laughed again. “Nice to see I can get a reaction out of you. You're so stoic as a cat.” You let out a huff of fake agitation, leaning forward and nipping his cheek. He winced, saying, “Yep, still our pretty kitty.” You leaned into him and he let you, feeling your heart lighten. Yes you were. Maybe things would be okay after all.

Chapter Text

It was late in the evening when Shouta returned. You watched from the couch as he moved around the apartment, settling in. Not once did he look at you before disappearing into his room. Fighting the tears that tried to form in your eyes, you hid your face between your knees, squeezing your legs tight to your chest. It was a gentle touch to your leg that made you look up to see Oboro crouched down in front of you.

“You should eat something,” he said gently. “I don’t think you’ve eaten anything since breakfast.” You sniffled and then nodded, knowing he was probably right. “Is there anything you want? I figure you probably haven’t eaten human food in a while.” He was right on that as well, aside from the scraps you’d managed to scavenge from trash cans and the like. Your stomach was twisted in knots though, and you weren’t sure you could manage anything new at the moment.

You shook your head, sniffling once more, and then released your legs. It only took a couple of moments for you to shift back to your cat form and wiggle your way free. Oboro scooped you up, and then paused. “Is this okay, me holding you?” He asked hesitantly, and you nodded, relaxing a little when he purred. You let him carry you into the kitchen, setting you in front of your food bowl. You only managed a couple of bites before the knots in your stomach made you stop. Oboro sighed, crouching down to scratch you behind your ears in the way you loved so much, and you managed a faint purr for him.

“Come on, let’s put you to bed,” he murmured, lifting you and heading back into the living room. He hesitated there, before asking, “Where do you want to sleep?” You nodded your head in the direction of your cat bed, and he laid you in it gently. Your favorite stuffed animal was tucked in beside you, and you buried your face in its fur. “Good night, rain cloud,” he said, giving you one more soothing stroke, before heading off to bed himself. You were glad you weren’t human right now. You hated crying.

—

The apartment was tense for the next couple days. Shouta avoided you, on the rare occasions he was actually home. Hizashi was distant, though still sweet. Only Oboro gave you any real attention, though even he was a little reserved about it now. You spent the entire time in cat form, mostly hiding in your cat bed, trying to stay out of their way to let them process. It was miserable. You wished you’d never shown them, that everything could have remained the same. You’d known it was a bad idea from the start.

It was almost a week later that something changed. You were curled up in your cat bed, miserable and exhausted from the emotional turmoil. The door to the apartment opened, and you smelled Shouta’s scent drift through the room. You curled yourself into a tighter ball, hoping to make yourself invisible.

Instead of heading to his room, where he spent most of his time, you heard him crossing over to you. Your breath caught in your chest as you froze, terrified of moving. “Hey,” he said, his voice rough. “Can we talk?” You lifted your head finally, getting your first good look at him since he’d found out. He looked exhausted, even more so than usual, his hair in disarray as if he’d been running his hand through it. After a moment, you nodded, standing and stretching before hopping down to the floor.

Your human form came slowly this time, between your tiredness and reluctance, but soon enough you sat before him. His eyes turned away immediately, a faint flush on his cheeks as he muttered, “Fuck, I forgot about the naked thing. Hold on, I’ll get you a shirt.” He walked away, and you pulled your knees protectively up to your chest. It took him a minute to come back, one of his shirts clenched in his hands. He held it out to you without looking, and you pulled it on. The shirt was big enough to fit over your torso and your tucked legs both. You made a soft chirp once you were covered, and his eyes shot down to you immediately, wide with surprise.

He didn’t say anything about it, taking a deep breath before crouching down in front of you. “I talked to the others,” he said. “Hizashi told me what you told him, about why you never told us about your quirk. And I understand. I do.” You sensed a but coming, chewing on your lip nervously. “I still don’t know how I feel about it though. It’s a lot to take in and come to terms with.” You nodded. That was understandable. “What I do know is that this is still your home, for as long as you want it.” You blinked at him in surprise. “I don’t think it’s fair of us to make you leave, after everything. And I don’t think I would ever forgive myself if you ended up back on the street because of it.”

Your lip trembled, and you bit back tears at his words. At the very least, you weren’t losing your home. “Mad?” You asked him, voice trembling slightly.

“At you?” He asked to clarify, and you nodded. “No, I’m not mad at you. I’m just conflicted. I just need time, okay?”

“Okay,” you agreed, your voice small. His face softened, and one of his hands reached for your face. You held your breath, afraid to move, but just before contact he stopped. His fingers curled into his palm, and he looked away.

“Sorry,” he said, and you could hear the raw emotion in that single word. “Just- just give me time.” He took a breath, dropping his hand, and then looked at you again. “In the meantime, I’d like you to spend more time as a human. Can you do that?”

You nodded, saying, “Can do.” Tears finally pooled in your eyes despite your best efforts to hide them, as you whimpered out, “I’m sorry.”

Finally he melted, hands coming up to cup your face, thumbs wiping away your tears. “I know,” he murmured. “It’s okay. I promise.” He squeezed your face gently before releasing you and standing. “I’m going to go make dinner,” he said, hesitating, before adding, “Will you join us?” For the first time in days, you felt the knots in your stomach start to loosen, and you nodded. He reached a hand down, and you took it gently, letting him pull you to your feet. “I’ll, um- I’ll get you some pants,” he said, eyes darting away again, and you bit back a smile. Maybe things would be okay.

Chapter Text

You stayed in the dining room while Shouta cooked, not wanting to get in his way or stress him out. If either of the other guys were surprised to see you there when they got home, they hid it well. Dinner went okay, and you enjoyed the chance to eat a human meal for the first time in you weren’t sure how long.

After dinner the men scattered to their rooms, except Oboro who curled up on the couch next to you to watch a movie. He let you rest your head on his shoulder, and you fell asleep halfway through.

After that night, things got… better? You spent more time as a human, eating meals with them, occasionally talking, though your speech was still choppy and stilted. It was early one morning, the apartment completely empty, that you decided you couldn't sit here stressing constantly. You needed to be outside.

It wasn't hard to find the spare keys, slipping through the front door after making sure the hallway was clear. You shut the door and shifted into a cat, picking the spare key ring up carefully with your mouth. Somewhat excited to be going on an adventure alone for the first time since you moved in, you trotted off to find somewhere you quiet to sit and enjoy the sun. There was a roof that you knew of, easy for you to access, that would provide exactly what you needed.

Half an hour later you found yourself four stories up, looking down at the city contemplatively. You tried not to let your trauma and fear of abandonment overwhelm you, letting yourself feel the swirling mix of emotions without sinking into them. It was easier to sort through as a cat. Your human emotions were so overwhelming, your omega instincts so loud and demanding.

The roof did exactly what you'd hoped, and you hopped down from the ledge to find somewhere safe and sunny to curl up and nap. By the time you woke up and stretched, the sun was approaching the horizon as evening crept in, and you felt more rested than you had since the incident. Grabbing the keys up in your teeth, you trotted off to find your way back home.

You had to shift outside the door to unlock and open it, hurrying so that nobody would see you standing there naked. Humans were so weird about nudity. You slid through the door, closing it quickly behind you, and dropped the spare keys into the bowl. Before you could turn, a body slammed into yours and you squeaked. A set of arms squeezed you almost painfully tight into a hard chest, and you'd have panicked if it weren't for Hizashi’s scent spiraling around you. It was thick with panic, making your heart instinctively speed up in response.

“You're okay, fuck, you're back,” he said, his voice shaking. “Oboro, he's here, call Shouta.” There was a clattering, and you realized that he'd been holding a phone. You found yourself being spun, a hand grabbing your face and tilting it back and forth, examining you. “You're okay? You're not hurt?” You shook your head, and he snatched you back to his chest, his whole body trembling. “Don't scare us like that.” You let him hold you, tucking your face into his chest.

It was a couple minutes later that the door slammed open, and a second body slammed into you. Oboro snatched you away, and Hizashi reluctantly let you. You found yourself crushed again, knocking the breath from you. “Fuck, rain cloud, we thought you left,” he growled. “Don't ever do that again. We've been scouring the city for you for hours.” Your eyes widened as your breath left you for a different reason. They'd been searching for you for hours? You choked down tears, squirming until Oboro loosened his grip just enough that you could turn in his arms, clinging to his shirt and trying to not let your emotions overwhelm you.

You weren’t sure how long you stood there before you heard the door slam open again. You lifted your head to see Shouta standing there, looking more frazzled than you ever had before. Oboro released you as Shouta stalked across the room, and you found yourself crushed into a third chest.

His whole body shook, one of his arms locked around your back while his other hand cradled the back of your head, keeping your face tucked into his chest. “I'm sorry,” he whispered, pressing his face into your hair, and you felt tears drip down onto your head. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought I drove you away. I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me.”

Finally you broke, feeling a sob rise in your chest. You wrapped your arms around him, holding just as tightly as you cried. He rocked you slightly, more tears falling onto your head. The two of you stood there for ages, unaware of the others moving around the apartment. When you finally separated slightly, sniffling, you found a shirt being tugged gently over your head. Grumbling about it, you reluctantly released your grip on Shouta long enough for them to dress you.

You were home. They wanted you here just as much as you wanted to be here. After another while, you slumped slightly, exhausted from the crying, and your grip became less desperate. “I was so scared,” Shouta whispered, and you nuzzled him.

“Here,” you said back. “Here. Yours. Not leaving.” He shuddered in your arms, and you felt him take a steadying breath, stroking the back of your head. You pulled back slightly, looking up to see his red rimmed eyes and the pain and love that filled them. You reached up to sooth him, but before you could, you heard it. “Hey!” You shouted, spinning on your heel and tearing away from Shouta, not noticing the way all three men jumped. You tore through the living room, scrambling over the couch in your haste, to slam into the window that held your cat bed.

“Hey!” You shouted with a growled, your tail flicking with agitation, ears pressed back. “Hey! Go away! Mine! Go away!” The squirrel on the other side looked unimpressed. You hissed at it, clawing at the glass and shouting, “Go away! Mine! Eat you! Go away!” The squirrel chittered at you angrily, but before you could retaliate against your nemesis, sudden laughter distracted you.

You spun in the windowsill, losing your balance and nearly toppling over. Oboro's face was turned away, Hizashi’s hand over his mouth, both trying unsuccessfully to covet broad grins. It was Shouta that startled you though, bent in half, laughing harder than you'd ever heard him laugh. It took a solid minute for him to calm down enough to straighten up.

“You and that fucking squirrel,” he said, still laughing as he crossed the room towards you. He scooped you into his arms in a way he hadn’t done since before the incident. “I've been trying to figure out how to get to know this new you, trying to piece things together, to recognize you. But you haven't actually changed. You're still my silly, sweet, pretty kitten.” Your purr rumbled through your chest, and you were delighted to feel a purr rumble from him as well. “The only difference now is that when I talk to you, you can talk back.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, spearing his fingers through your hair to scratch behind your ears in the way that made you melt no matter your form. “My pretty kitty,” he murmured, and you smiled into his chest. His.