The Stray |BnHA|

Chapter One

It was safe to say, Shouta wasn't having a good day. 

His sleep had been interrupted by his neighbours - who insisted of partying on the only night he didn't have patrol - and he'd run out of Jelly packets. This led to burnt toast, stinking out his apartment, before discovering he'd run out of butter and bread. So a dry, charcoal, breakfast that made been. He supposed the morning hadn't been too bad, his Coffee Machine had made at least one cup before breaking, so it could have been worse. 

Then, on the way to School - where he had to Teach children that had gotten lucky with powerful Quirks - his train was running late before having to stop half-way along a railroad as a branch ( a single branch!) had lay across them as if expecting death.

By the time he got there he was unable to scavenge the Teacher's lounge before teaching. His entire class had taken eighteen seconds to shut up, and then had all failed their pop Heroic quiz. They'd had to redo it and had taken up even more of his time marking. 

During their Heroic class, his most powerful student had all-but blinded one of his others - and they'd been admitted to hospital which was unfortunate, but meant a lot more paperwork - and he'd had to battle parents against legal actions. The kid said they hadn't meant it but Shouta wasn't too sure.

He wished he could expel the kids who didn't have potential, but this was his first year, and Nezu had specifically said he was unable to for three years unless other Teacher's agreed. Every other Teacher was blinded by their string Quirks to see the lack of future. These kids were going to die young, and Shouta knew he wouldn't be able to handle that.

He'd taken a lift from his friend - who had given him a killer headache - only to discover he would not be able to nap before patrol as the road outside was being replaced and apparently NO ONE had a Quirk to help the noise.

Patrol had been particularly gruelling - he'd narrowly missed helping a Jumper and had stopped way too many muggings for it to be coincidental. He'd lost track of the drug carriers he'd been observing in favour of helping a lost little girl and had discovered a murder of crows eating a barely dead litter of Kittens.

So, yeah, Shouta had a bad day. 

He stood up from his crouch, cursing his stiff knees, and jumped towards the ground. It was nearing the end of his Patrol, and soon enough Noise - a new Underground Hero that had Shouta's respect - would be taking over until sunrise. 

Keeping to the edge of the streets, Shouta kept his breathing and foot steps light, keeping aware. 

And he was lucky he did.

Down the alley opposite the path he was on, was the slight sneer of a laugh, accompanied by a cackle. As Shouta got closer, he watched as two teenagers laughed as they threw a small bag to each other, purposefully letting it drop every so often and feigning accident.

It wasn't until it was on the floor Shouta saw the bag squirming, and activated his Quirk.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?!"

The teens barely shared a glance before running off the other way, but Shouta ignored them, moving to the bag. As he got closer he heard a small, clipped, yipping coming from it, as though whatever was inside couldn't make a proper noise.

He understood why as he slowly opened the bag.

Tucked into a protective ball inside was a Kitten, skinny and dirty as though never having a real home or meal. It's fur looked black, the slightly bushy layer matted in dirt and blood. He didn't look to have any cuts on him, but it was hard to tell in the position he was. His big, green, eyes were shrunken into slits, small fangs barely seen as he struggled to open his mouth - a tight, rusted, metal muzzle cramping his face. 

Shouta felt his heart drop. 

"You poor thing, it's okay, let's get you out." 

He was gentle as he scooped the Kitten out, the thing writhing under his touch, claws scratching his hands. Shouta still held it tightly and gently, pulling it close to his chest. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. You're so small, where's your Mama eh?" It stilled slightly, panting, but still rigid. Shouta saw it's claws were overgrown, ragged from scraping the concrete. 

Wrapping some of his capture weapon around his hand like a bandage, he slowly pulled the muzzle off, performing the action even as he shrieked and lashed out. When it's jaw was finally free, it sunk his baby teeth into Shouta's hand, barely making it through the thick scarf. 

He tried again and again, but Shouta refused to let the kitten down. 

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe trouble." He spoke soft, hoping the soothing noise would help, and watched in amazement as the Kitten looked up to him - still held close to his chest - the pupils becoming circles. 

As Shouta stroked between his ears, the look developed into one of love, but he was still tense.

Shouta expected nothing less.

Hurrying quick to the shelter, Shouta kept glancing to the Kitten, who had hissed at every alley they passed, looking up to Shouta as though checking he was the man holding him, before squirming a little. 

"Aizawa? Another one?"

Shouta nodded frantically to the women - Akira had worked here as long as he'd been dropping off strays, he trusted her the most (she'd trained to be a vet but the shelter had won her heart) - and watched as she tensed.

"How bad?"

Shouta growled.

"Bad, he was being thrown around by teenagers when I found him. Had a muzzle on."

He gently put the kitten on the counter, watching as his heckles raised, snarling at Akira, who let him have his space.

"Oh dear, you poor baby, you're going to be okay now. Aizawa, can you bring him to the back? I'll have to wait for Himura to get here before treating him."

Nodding, Shouta held the cat to the chest again and followed her, staring at the room with wide eyes.

It was surrounded by decent sized kennels, soft blankets and pillows inside, plus bowls of water and a small amount of dry food ready. 

The Stray was hissing as he was put in, yelping and jumping to the back wall as the front was shut, eyes once again slits.

Akira sighed, scratching her head. "I do hope he becomes a little more docile, he'll need fostering before re-homing. I'll pull some strings."

Shouta nodded, not able to tear his eyes away. "Yeah, thanks."

She smiled, tapping his shoulder. "Keep helping them Aizawa, you may not be a Hero, but you;re doing more for them than real heroes are."