discord asked for a platonic shindeku moment so uhh. hopefully y’all fools like this rapidly churned out snippet too
“Hey,” Shinsou says from Izuku’s open doorway. “You busy?”
Technically, Izuku is. But math’s boring anyway— he snaps his textbook closed, dropping his pencil in favor of turning to Shinsou and shooting him an inquisitive glance. “Not really— what’s up?”
Shinsou shrugs from where he’s slumped against Izuku’s doorframe. With his legs crossed in front of him and his hands tucked into his pockets, Shinsou paints a deliberately careless picture; anyone else from their class might’ve fallen for it.
Izuku knows better by now. Shinsou’s shoulders are hiked up by a fraction of an inch— tension lines them like a well-worn blanket. He won’t quite meet Izuku’s eyes.
Sticky concern thrums to life in the pit of Izuku’s stomach. “What’s going on?”
Shinsou’s brows dip the way they usually do when Shinsou’s confronting an unexpected problem. “Uh, I— okay, look. I need a favor.”
“A favor,” Izuku echoes. He drags his chair back, ignoring the thin screech of wood on wood. “You didn’t set the microwave on fire or something, did you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Shinsou throws his hands up at Izuku’s disbelieving look. “No, really— this isn’t even about me, alright, just—” a pause. “Can…” He peers around the hall, something bright and suspicious gleaming in his eyes. “Do you mind if I close the door for a sec?”
Izuku nods wordlessly, and Shinsou shuts the door. The rigid line of his shoulders relax as soon as it clicks shut.
“I need your help getting something,” Shinsou says, all in a rush.
Izuku blinks. “Okay? What— what is it?”
Something personal— it must be, from the way Shinsou’s edging around it so carefully. But what?
Shinsou takes a deep breath. “It’s kinda against the rules,” he admits. “Um. Fuck, okay— it’s cats.”
Cats. That’s it. Relief blooms in Izuku’s chest—
Wait.
“Cats?”
“Three of them.” Shinsou runs a hand through the tangles in his hair. “Uh, kittens, actually? Look, I was on my way back from a walk and they were just— sitting there. In a box. And it’s cold, okay—”
Izuku can see exactly where he’s going with this. “You want me to help you smuggle cats into the dorms.”
“Well when you put it like that—”
“Cats. In the dorms. With Aizawa-sensei.”
“Don’t say it so loud!” Shinsou hisses. “I won’t keep them for long— just for tonight, and then we can see about taking them to a shelter. Midoriya—”
“You want me,” Izuku says, “to sneak out with you,” a quick glance out the window, “past curfew, find a box full of kittens that might not even be there anymore, sneak back in with them, and then find a shelter to leave them at in the morning?”
Shinsou’s jaw clamps shut. He nods, quick and jerky, once.
Izuku’s mouth stretches into a wide smile. “Okay. So how do you wanna do this?”
They absolutely pull a heist to get these cats into the dorms and enlist Uraraka and Todoroki for help#and Aizawa STILLS busts them#luckily he’s a softy when it comes to cats so he lets them stay in the dorms for the night and maybe possibly adopts them (via Hashbrownwrites)
Cheloneuniverse 