Barking up the wrong tree [Part Five - FINAL]

[Previous]

“I wonder where he could be,” Izuku hummed, padding from room to room. “Wheeeere could the little pupper have gone...”

A fluffy tail began to wag, poking out from under the bulging bedroom curtain, and Izuku couldn’t help but grin to himself.

“My doggo sure is a good hider,” he chuckled to himself. “He’s not under the bed, he’s not in the closet, where else could he be hiding...”

The tailed wagged harder, thumping loudly against the carpet, and with a bright laugh, Izuku pulled back the curtain.

“There he is!”

Dog Might jumped at him, knocking him to the carpet, and Izuku could only laugh as four tiny paws pinned him down, a pink tongue hanging out in happy pants that Izuku was pretty sure meant he was laughing too.

“Good job, Dog Might,” Izuku laughed, hugging him tightly. “Okay cover your eyes, it’s my turn!”

Dog Might hurried into the corner, putting his head down and covering it with his paws, and Izuku grinned as he ruffled the fluffy ears lightly.

“Count to ten,” he instructed, backing out of the room. “No cheating!”

A tiny arf signalled his agreement, apparently, because his head stayed down, and Izuku grinned as he hurried off. There wasn’t a lot of room in the little house to actually hide, but Dog Might always seemed so excited to find him, anyway, that Izuku wasn’t too fussy about it.

He sneaked into the kitchen, climbing into the pantry and silently closing the doors behind him. After a few seconds, he heard little paws trotting their way down the hall, and immediately they began tapping at the cupboard door, barking cheerfully.

“No fair,” Izuku laughed, pushing the door open obediently. “You can smell me!”

Dog Might just wagged his tail, shoving his face into Izuku’s legs, and Izuku obeyed without hesitation, rubbing his fluffy face and ears happily.

Behind them, Izuku could hear the TV droning on about some villain the heroes had been pursuing – there was a scientist on for an interview, who had been talking for a long time about the villain’s quirk, and normally Izuku would have been fascinated to listen, but that day, all he’d really wanted was to have fun with his little boy.

“Alright, I’d better go take a shower,” Izuku said reluctantly. “It’s almost bedtime, and if I go to bed stinky I won’t be able to sleep.”

Dog Might just wagged his tail, trotting off to lie on the sofa, and Izuku smiled fondly to himself as he headed for the bathroom. He’d gotten really bad at taking showers, in the weeks since Katsuki had disappeared, but he was finally getting back on track – well, mostly. He still waited until he smelled way too bad or his hair got way too greasy, but that was better than he’d been in the earliest days! He supposed getting out and about with Dog Might had helped a lot with that, since he tended to come home sweaty and gross after their runs and hikes.

The hot water did feel amazing on his body though. He was always so reluctant to get in the shower, but once he was in, he never wanted to leave. Maybe he needed to teach Dog Might to get him in there, he was sure the little guy would do it.

When he stepped out into the steamy room, wrapping a towel around his waist, he half-expected to find Dog Might waiting at the door anyway. The poor little guy seemed to get lonely a lot, and had taken to greeting him at the bathroom door with one of Izuku’s Dynamite plushies held gently in his jaw. Izuku was pretty sure he just picked those ones because it would get a reaction, the manipulative little thing – not that Izuku could ever actually be mad at him for anything, he was too damn cute for that.

But as he walked down the hall, there was no fluffy head following at his side, no little tongue trying to lick stray water droplets from his legs, not even a little arf to let Izuku know where he was. Maybe he’d let himself out to go to the toilet again?

He put on a pair of clean sweatpants and an old t-shirt, bundling up in one of Katsuki’s hoodies that still smelled of him faintly to keep warm, then poked his head out the back door to look. But there was no little ball of energy out there searching for a good place to pee or throwing his bomb-ball around.

He must have fallen asleep, then.

Izuku walked back to the living room, ready for the fluffy head to pop up from the couch and stare at him, but the only thing awaiting him was that same balding old scientist, still talking about something Izuku didn’t understand in the slightest.

“Dog Might?” he called. “Are we playing hide and seek again?”

There was no answer, not a single sound, and Izuku tried to crush the nerves rising in his chest. He hurried around the house, searching for a little paw poking out under a door, or a wet nose waiting under the edge of the bed.

“Dog Might?” he called again, a little more frantically. “Dog Might, where did you go?”

When no one answered, he kicked on his shoes, hurrying out into the street – maybe he’d gotten a little overzealous on his pee adventure and escaped the backyard, or maybe he’d decided to try his luck with the front door instead of the back and gotten stuck out there. But there was no sign of him, not a single sound or a wag of a tail, and Izuku was quickly growing frantic.

Long into the night, he walked the streets, calling and calling, with no answer. He checked their favourite trails, the park, and the house multiple more times, but still, nothing.

Eventually, with tears staining his face, he had to return home for the night. He was exhausted, and searching fruitlessly in the dark wasn’t going to help. He’d get a fresh start in the morning, nice and early; he’d print off some posters, and stick them up as he searched again.

Besides, Dog Might was a smart boy! He would find his own way back, right? He’d be sitting at the end of the bed in the morning, waiting for his bacon and eggs, or he’d be barking at the door, demanding to know why Izuku wasn’t letting him in.

He just had to be patient. Just had to wait a bit longer.

For both of them.

───

Izuku woke to the first rays of sunrise through the window, sniffling to himself as he tried to scrub tear tracks from his face. He was still exhausted, but he needed to see if Dog Might had found his way home in the night, and to go look for him again if not.

A faint noise caught his attention from down the hall, and he sat up quickly, listening. A faint click, a door handle turning, and Izuku couldn’t stop his hopes from rocketing sky-high. There was only one person who had keys to his front door, other than himself, which meant-

He leapt out of bed, almost tripping over the tangled sheets in his haste, and green lightning flashed around him as he sprinted down the short hallway, straight into the waiting arms. Katsuki chuckled faintly as he caught him, holding him tight, and Izuku couldn’t hold back the sobs that tumbled out of him, tears drenching Katsuki’s shirt immediately. He tried to form sentences, then a coherent word, but finally had to settle for just squeezing Katsuki as tight as he could, letting the sobs fall out in waves.

“Where have you been?!” he wailed, as soon as his voice agreed to function for a moment.

Katsuki laughed, so bright and lovely that it set Izuku’s tears off again immediately.

“I was right here,” he said softly. “You dumbass.”

The tears halted, and Izuku slowly tilted his head back, looking up at Katsuki’s achingly beautiful smirk. Katsuki responded by kissing him, and Izuku felt all his worries melt away, eyes falling closed as he leaned into Katsuki’s warm embrace.

“I will never forgive you for calling me Dog Might,” Katsuki murmured.

“I- You- What?”

Izuku tore himself away like the touch burned, staring wide-eyed as Katsuki’s eyebrows knitted together slightly, confused.

“What did you think I meant?” he asked, dragging Izuku straight back in. “That stupid villain goes around turning heroes into fuckin’ animals, leaving them to get run over or thrown in a shelter or some shit. I’m fuckin’ lucky you found me.”

“You- How?!”

“I tried to tell you,” Katsuki laughed. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

“The plushies, the trail runs, the understanding, oh my god, I’m so stupid.”

“You were amazing,” Katsuki assured him. “I don’t think any of us would have thought stray dog when looking for a missing hero.”

“How did you get back to me?!”

“There was a story on the news last night about them catching the villain, and how they’ve been forcing him to turn people back. They’ve been calling all the shelters trying to find the missing people, and they put out the information on where to go and who to call if you find one of us, so I went down to the lab and they thankfully worked it out pretty quickly and turned me back.”

“It’s no wonder you were such a smart little doggo.”

“Oh right, I have hands again, I can punch you for calling me that shit now.”

“Mean,” Izuku chuckled faintly. “I’m so glad you’re home, Kacchan. I was so worried about you.”

“I’m glad I’m back too,” Katsuki agreed, resting his cheek on Izuku’s head. “It was rough.”

“Was that a dog pun?”

“Don’t fucking start with me, nerd.”

Izuku grinned, and Katsuki hoisted him up into his arms, carting him back down the hallway to the bedroom. He threw Izuku at the bed, diving straight after him and dragging him under the blankets to cuddle. As much as he’d enjoyed sleeping on Izuku’s lap, it was so much better to be able to hug him back.

“Time to sleep,” Katsuki instructed. “I know for a fact how shit your sleeping habits have been since I got turned into a fucking dog.”

“Don’t be so mean to Dog Might,” Izuku grumbled, burying his face in Katsuki’s chest contentedly. “He was a very sweet and smart and funny little pupper.”

“He was me, dipshit.”

“The point stands.”

The room fell silent, other than the steady sound of Katsuki’s heartbeat right by Izuku’s ear, and Katsuki just held him a little tighter, ready for a good, solid nap.

“Hey,” he mumbled, before he could drift off. “Tomorrow, do you wanna go down to the shelter?”

Izuku peeked up, finding a soft look in Katsuki’s eyes.

“We can adopt a dog,” he explained. “If you want.”

Izuku’s face lit up, his eyes shining with his excitement, and Katsuki couldn’t resist planting a kiss on those smiling lips.

“You know not all dogs are as smart as me, right?”

“I know,” Izuku laughed. “But I’m sure I can teach him to play hide and seek, too!”

“Alright,” Katsuki smiled fondly. “Just one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“I get to choose his name.”

“That seems fair.”