I'll be your island in the raging storm

- Chapter 59 -

-Izuku- 

Bakugou stares at him for a good few seconds, the harsh expression etched onto his face. Then, his shoulders relax, drooping down, a frown only remaining. 

"Fine. But we better finish this shit as quickly as possible!" 

He drags himself over to the board, glaring at all the papers, eyes scanning for a job. Izuku feels slightly guilty. He doesn't know what it must have been like, being stuck in a cage that small for years, only getting out after being sold. 

Who knows the kind of things he was forced to see because of his social standing? Now he has to do a couple of odd jobs because the two of them are broke. He follows him to the board, looking for a job. 

There are a lot of jobs despite the town being so small. Izuku notices a wooden plank hammered into the board with the words 'Pay day every six days.' painted onto it. He ignores it. It's probably town lingo that he doesn't know. 

He spots a paper for a cat searching job. It has a small drawing on the bottom of the page, probably drawn by a child. He thinks it's supposed to be the cat? 

"Kacchan, what's a cat?" 

Bakugou side eyes him, pausing his movements. 

"What." 

Izuku tears the paper off of its nail and shows it to the blonde. The page has the words 'Missing.' In big, uneven letters. There are some words that are misspelled and hard to read, but the gist is that the little kid who lost their cat wants someone to find it and return it to them safely back home. 

Katsuki looks at the paper then back to him before sighing. His red eyes look back at the board. 

"Go fucking find out Deku." 

Izuku huffs at his attitude before petting Fenrir's head. They can do this themselves, since Kacchan is being rude. The blonde rips a page off of the board and looks back at him. 

"I need Fenrir to come with me. We're doing important shit." 

Katsuki shows him the paper he ripped off. An elderly person needs protection while gathering wood for their cabin. 

"Where is the important stuff kacchan?" 

That gets him a slap on the top of his head. 

"Ha. Ha. Very fucking funny! Now scram!" 

Izuku folds up the paper and puts it in his pocket, turning away. 

"If you're taking him then you need to take the sled too!" 

Bakugou is about to strongly decline, but Fenrir is already at his side, tail wagging excitedly back and forth with the sled behind him. Bakugou calls behind him, 

"Deku! A cat is a soft animal! if you go 'meow' that little shit is bound to come out! If that doesn't work, then you're on your own!" 

He glances back and gives him an appreciative nod. 

"Thank you Kacchan!" 

Izuku is now on his own! He walks to the area where the child said they lost their cat, using the town's signs and the paper to lead him. He can't imagine what a cat would look like by just going off the picture. 

The sound they make is meow, but how would Izuku making that sound call it out? He has a small memory about having animals, way before the snow made everyone in their village leave. Pigs, big and hairy, and sheep with super soft wool. But never cats.

 He is already at a dead end, though he isn't going to give up! He is now in a small forest, sectioned off thanks to the village. The kid in their poster said that they saw the cat run over here before it disappeared. He walks softly, trying to be as quiet as possible. 

Maybe he can set up a trap and lure it over. But how would he do that? Izuku pauses, trying to think of a strategy in order to catch this animal. Katsuki said it was soft, so it wouldn't be hard to get a hold of it if he spots it right? Izuku continues to walk, looking at trees, the ground, and even bushes. 

All he manages to find are a couple of rabbits that run off when he gets close, and the footsteps of a fox. He is covered in leaves and some twigs are even in his hair thanks to the constant wrestling with bushes and trees. Finally, he has no other choice. 

He cups his mouth with his hands, and takes a deep breath, holding it in before leaning back. 

"Meoooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!!!" 

The sound echoes through the forest and a couple of birds fly out of the trees and to the sky, calling. Izuku waits for a moment, listening for any sound that may signal the arrival of the animal. When nothing else happens, he sighs. 

"Maybe I was too loud."

 He takes the paper out from his pocket, looking back at the crude drawing of the cat. It looks more like an angry dog. In small letters at the bottom, there is a message. 

'Mr. Salmon likes fish! Salmon! He's a kind kitty, so please-' –the next word is scratched out- 'Treat with love!' 

Izuku puts the paper back in his pocket. He doesn't have any fish on him, but maybe Mr. Salmon might be near a river or stream. 

"Meow! Mr. Salmon! Here, kitty kitty kitty!"

Izuku continues to look anywhere he can, even climbing a couple of trees to look up high. He's on his fiftieth tree when he spots something zoom into the bushes. A yellow blur. He jumps down from one of the branches and races towards the movement.

 A small animal jerks its head towards him when he races over, big red eyes glaring at him with black slitted pupils. 

"Kacchan-?" 

He trips on a rock and is sent down to the ground, Mr. Salmon sprinting away from him gracefully. He tries to scramble up, but his knee stings and he hisses in pain. This is going to be a lot harder than he first thought...