The Purrfect Companion - Chapter 9

When Bakugou headed downstairs to make breakfast, he was surprised to find a pile of massive boxes waiting for them in the common area, a few delivery men carting them in from a truck. He paused to watch for a moment, curling his arm protectively around his hoodie pocket.

“Thank you very much, we can handle it from here,” Aizawa spoke up, when the last box was in. “Much appreciated.”

“What's all this?” Bakugou asked, when the front door was safely closed behind them. Is some extra moving in?”

“I decided your class needs a study.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Seemed appropriate,” Aizawa shrugged. “There are beanbags, a couple of small desks, a bookshelf and some books. And blankets, in case it's cold.”

The gears in Bakugou's brain were whirring, but he couldn't seem to find the words he wanted to question it.

“Here, this is for you,” he said flatly, holding out a floppy package. “I bought too many, take this one off my hands.”

“Uh, th-thank you?”

He stepped forward to accept, letting the package hang over his arm, but when a little head poked out to investigate, he muttered a quiet curse.

“Oh,” Aizawa said quietly, his face softening more than Bakugou had ever seen it. “Hello there.”

He held out a hand, and Cat sniffed at it warily, keeping her eyes locked on Aizawa's as she investigated his scent.

“What's her name?”

“Cat.”

“You're kidding.”

“It's a great name,” Bakugou frowned. “For a great cat.”

He plucked her out of his pocket, holding her up for Aizawa to see, and a rarely genuine smile spread across Aizawa's face as he scratched her ears. She purred in return, muffled like she was trying to hold it back, and Bakugou couldn't help but grin at her too.

“She's a little fluffball,” Bakugou said needlessly. “Good for cuddles. Do you want to hold her?”

“Sure.”

He sat down on the students' sofa, and Bakugou joined him on the cushions, planting Cat in his lap gently. She hesitated at first, watching Bakugou's hand go, but when Aizawa began stroking along her little back, she settled in happily.

“She took a while to warm up to everyone,” Bakugou explained. “I think she's learned that people just want cuddles, now.”

“She's very cute.”

While the two of them snuggled, Bakugou peeled tape from his new gift – he may have been socially inept sometimes, but he knew it wasn't an extra. Inside he found a quilted blanket, a deep red in colour, with a strange heaviness to the material.

“Weighted?” he asked, running a hand over the soft material. “It must have been expensive, you didn't have to.”

“Mine helped me a lot,” Aizawa shrugged. “I thought it might help you, too. There are a few more in the study furniture, but I wanted you to have one of your own.”

“Thank you, it means a lot.”

“I meant what I said yesterday, you've grown up a lot and I know you're going to be a fantastic hero, don't let anxiety get the best of you.”

Bakugou nodded, unsure quite what to say, but Aizawa didn't seem to mind.

“You know I'm going to be here all day now, right?” Aizawa smirked, when Cat curled up on his lap for a snooze. “Can't move a sleeping kitten.”

“I'm sure we'll cope,” he snorted. “Can I bring her to class with me?”

“No. Putting my foot down on that one, no one would get any work done.”

“Sorry Cat,” he sighed dramatically, reaching out to rub her little cheek. “Guess you'll be stuck alone in my dorm again this week.”

Cat let out a tiny, indignant “meep”, but didn't bother to open her eyes, and Bakugou smiled fondly at her.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, glancing up at Aizawa's surprised face. “It's early, I doubt it. I'm gonna make breakfast, if you want something.”

“Sure, that would be nice.”

“Any preferences?”

“I'm not picky.”

“Cool.”

He left Aizawa to snuggle with Cat, heading through to the kitchen to satisfy his grumbling stomach – he'd known for a long time that Aizawa liked cats, he wasn't sure why he'd never thought to invite him to visit. Then again, his classmates would probably sulk about him letting Aizawa hang around, where he'd spot their ridiculous shenanigans and put a stop to their dumb plans.

Even better.

─────

The sounds that came from next door throughout the day would normally be irritating, but somehow Bakugou found himself smiling at them. It was already hard to be cranky about anything when he was wrapped up in his new blanket with a sleeping kitten in his lap, but adding Aizawa's concern and understanding to it made it kind of nice to hear them all happy and excited.

“Hey, Bakubro,” Kirishima called, knocking on the door lightly. “Have you seen this?”

“Uh-huh, Aizawa was setting it up this morning when I woke up.”

“It's so cool!”

“Yeah, it's pretty neat.”

Cat stood up, yawning and stretching before she looked up at Bakugou, and with a little nod, he lifted her up to his shoulder.

“You wanna go say hi, huh? You're too social.”

He opened his door all the same, stroking her lightly as he stepped into the next room, watching Ashido bounce up and down on a squishy beanbag.

“There's my little girl!” Kaminari cooed, immediately in front of Bakugou to give Cat scratches. “Think we can convince Bakugou to stick a cat flap in his door? Then you can come hang out with us whenever you want!”

“Maybe a tunnel,” Bakugou sighed, catching a grin from Kirishima. “Shitty-Hair walled off his balcony so she can wander, we talked about making tunnels between them.”

“That would be so cool! I bet she'd love all the exploring!”

“Don't be silly, she's not gonna leave her Dad!” Ashido laughed. “Just look at her!”

Bakugou turned his head slightly, glancing down at the happy kitten draped over his shoulder, and shrugged with the other arm.

“I'm not always around, figured she can sunbathe and wander and stuff when I'm out.”

“She's such a spoiled kitty, what a lucky girl.”

“Damn right she is. Only the best for my Cat.”

“I stuck signs in the stairwell and the elevator,” Kirishima added. “So you can leave your door open if you want, people can play with her in here or in the hall.”

“Yeah, I'll leave some toys and treats in here.”

“You've gotten so good at sharing,” Kaminari teased, draping an arm around Bakugou's shoulders and rubbing Cat's cheeks. “Did someone finally graduate kindergarten?”

“Dunno, did someone just lose visiting privileges?”

“Rude!”

Bakugou turned around when he heard heavy footsteps coming their way, surprised to see Shouji appear in the doorway, Cat's little head popping up to greet him.

“Mrrrp.”

“Hello Princess,” Shouji said softly, reaching out to stroke her with one of his hands. “You having a little party?”

She shoved her head into his hand firmer, demanding more affection, and Shouji practically melted over her love.

“You can take her for a bit,” Bakugou offered, watching Shouji's eyes widen. “What? You want to pat her, she wants pats, don't look at me like that.”

“Thank you, Bakugou.”

“Whatever, it's no big deal.”

He held out his other arm, scooping her up for snuggles, and she leaned happily into his chest as he fell into a new beanbag. Bakugou wasn't sure if it was luck or coincidence or god knows what else that had made Cat and Shouji get along, but seeing as he was the only other classmate living on their floor, it had certainly been convenient. Kirishima would have put up with just about anything if it made Bakugou happy, he knew that all too well, but Shouji was more of a happy accident.

“Have the others been down yet?” he found himself asking, thoughts drifting to a freckled face burying itself in Cat's fur. “Or just us?”

“A couple! Iida and Yaoyorozu came to check it out, Yaoyorozu is gonna make copies of her textbooks to put on the bookshelf in case anyone needs them. And Todoroki stuck his head in to see, he and Yaoyorozu were talking about finding 'a nice tea set' to set up.”

“Typical rich bastards,” Bakugou sighed. “How about Round-Face?”

“Huh? Uraraka? No, I don't think so, how come?”

“She uh, wanted to cuddle with Cat a few times. Figured she'd be happy to have somewhere to do it.”

“I'll text her!” Ashido grinned. “And Midoriya too!”

“Guess I'm going back to my room.”

“Oh come on, Blasty! You two seem to be getting on really well lately!”

“With the nerd? Ugh.”

Kirishima gave him a knowing look, a little smirk playing at his lips, and it took every ounce of Bakugou's willpower to not punch him in the face.

The pair must have leapt up the moment they got the text, because the conversation had barely ended when they showed up to look, eyes and smiles spread wide as they marvelled.

“It looks so good!” Midoriya fawned. “Wow!”

“It's so cozy,” Uraraka added. “I can't wait to curl up in here with a good book!”

“Blankets too,” Bakugou mumbled, picking one up and offering it to her. “Aizawa picked them out.”

He could feel the weird looks on him as she accepted it, but she caught on quickly, running her hand over the heavy material.

“Aizawa-sensei bought us weighted blankets?” she asked, disbelieving.

“Is that what they are?!” Ashido burst, snatching one from the pile to investigate. “Oh my god! I've always wanted to try one of these!”

The whole room seemed to be slowly catching on, and Bakugou sank deeper into his seat, willing his face to not flush bright red.

“Are you gonna try one out, Kacchan?” Midoriya asked quietly. “You uh, you like being warm, so it might- It might help? To keep you warm?”

“It's no secret that I'm a fucking mess, nerd, you don't need to be subtle around these idiots.”

“You're not!”

Bakugou shrugged, and immediately his classmates were surrounding him, cooing ridiculous praises at him as they ruffled his hair and patted his back.

“Okay, okay, enough!” he growled, shoving them away stubbornly. “I don't need your pity.”

“Pity?” Kaminari asked, with an innocence that Bakugou hated to admit seemed genuine. “I don't pity you, why would I? I'm concerned for you, though. You're my buddy, I don't want you to be unhappy!”

“I'm an asshole, why would you care?”

“You're our asshole,” Ashido grinned, messing up his hair fondly. “You know you can talk to us, Blasty!”

“You're our friend,” Midoriya added quietly, keeping his hands to himself for once. “Have you forgotten that?”

“Friiiiiiend!” Kaminari sang, throwing himself over Bakugou's lap. “Admit it, Kacchan, you love us!”

“Shut up.”

“Friiiiiiiiends,” Ashido joined in, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We loooooove you!”

“You're all the worst.”

“Meep!”

He looked up to see Cat at his feet, pawing at his ankles with determination, and he felt his eyes water a little when she stared up at him with a strange sense of concern in her kitty face.

“Sorry Cat, didn't mean to worry you,” he whispered, picking her up for a quick hug. “You can play with the others, it's okay.”

“I don't think she wants the rest of us,” Shouji chuckled. “Just like you, she has plenty of friends, but really she only wants the one.”

“I wouldn't say she doesn't want you,” Bakugou grumbled, hiding his flushed cheeks in her fur. “Maybe she just... Isn't sure sometimes.”

“We're all her friends, Kacchan, she doesn't need to worry about that,” Midoriya said fondly, reaching out a bold hand to pat his shoulder lightly. “No matter what, she'll at least be my friend.”

“Yeah. You're pretty hard to get rid of.”

“Damn right I am,” Midoriya giggled. “Have you tried out the blankets yet, Kacchan?”

“Mm, yeah. I uh, I own one.”

“Oh! You do? Does it work?”

“I only just got it. I uh, I like it, though.”

“That's good!”

Uraraka reached out, spreading the blanket she'd been studying over his lap, and he conceded a tiny nod as he settled under it. Cat rubbed his face a few more times, licking away a stray tear that almost made it out of his eye, and then she was up again, exploring her new room. It didn't take long for toys to surface, stray ones left behind in Kirishima's room to begin with, then a few people had bought themselves just to play with Cat, and soon their little group was happily taking turns entertaining her and giving her snuggles.

Midoriya pulled a beanbag up next to Bakugou's, leaning in a little to play with the hair on the back of his neck, and despite himself, he didn't push the hand away. No one really seemed to notice how close they were, and likely wouldn't have cared anyway, so when the soothing touches ran up the back of his head, ghosting over his scalp, he let himself have it.

Friends.

He was such an idiot, they'd always been his friends.

He had to stop calling them his classmates.