#he comes in with a basket of critters when mochi is back

[musubiki]

Lime having accumulated a small collection of frogs and other small magical creatures during his time at the M34th. He just grabs them out of habit during a mission and when he gets back home he remembers Mochi isn’t there and it rips his heart open again!

THIS IS SUCH A CUTE IDEA!!!!!!!! he has a little garden or something (???) somewhere where the frogs and lizards and whatnot can live, especially if theyre super rare. imagine he lifts his hat and theres just a frog under there. "Why are you keeping that frog??" and he just goes "Shut up."

AND THATS SO LIME!!!!! eventually the other officers come up with conspiracy theories like "Ah smart....if we grab these then there's less here for a witch to use, good thinking" when in reality hes saving it for mochi.

also sad to think that eventually these critters and plants die or waste away but he keeps collecting them anyway, because he could run into mochi any day and when he does he wants to have something to give her right away ;w;

(also clarinette thinking its actually LIME into these things. "Such strange interests, ive never seen this side of him" she thinks. sometimes she picks up a piece of reed and gives it to him and lime (knowing its a useless spell ingredient) goes "What are you doing?")

[mjbunnyluv]

Picking the Sweetest Strawberry

Katsuki didn’t know how he got roped into this weekend trip. Well, he did. As the only one of his friends who had a car, he was named designated driver. 

So, instead of spending the summer day in the comfort of his air conditioned apartment, Katsuki was standing in the middle of a farm staring down rows and rows of bright red strawberries. The air was sweet with their ripe scent, the sun hot on the back of his neck despite the short-sleeve button down he threw over his tank top. 

Raccoon Eyes and Round Face were already skipping down one of the rows, little white baskets swinging in their hands. Eyebags followed Pikachu like a sleepy puppy, dutifully hanging onto their basket as the electric blonde snacked on juicy berries. Katsuki rolled his eyes. He doubted those idiots would even fill a basket by the time they were overheated and ready to get out of the sun.

“Ready?” Momo asked, coming to stand beside him.

“I guess,” Katsuki sighed and took the basket she held out to him.

“Oh come on,” she smirked. “I think you actually like the idea of picking strawberries straight from the source. How many recipes do you have rolling around that brain of yours?”

The blonde clicked his tongue and turned away from her. At least he could blame the sun on the blush that reddened the tips of his ears. How was it that Ponytail coil always read him like a book? Sure, visiting a farm to pick his own strawberries wasn’t his ideal Saturday afternoon, but he couldn’t deny that he’d already thought about Strawberry Shortcake with homemade whipped cream, Strawberry Mochi, Strawberry Compote for tomorrow morning’s crepes. 

“We should get started before Denki eats them all,” Momo giggled.

Katsuki’s passive expression twisted into a scowl. With the basket hanging from his wrist, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward Hitoshi & Denki. “Dunce Face if you puke in my car I’ll make you lick it up before making you walk the rest of the way home!”

Gold eyes widened as Denki’s hand paused halfway to his mouth. The strawberry never made it to his mouth, instead dropping into the basket Hitoshi held out. 

“That’s what I fucking thought,” Katsuki grumbled under his breath and picked a row to start down. He crouched and inspected a promising looking plant. Picking a ruby red fruit from the leaf, Katsuki was about to drop it in his basket when he noticed little bites littering the backside of the fruit. With a sigh, he tossed it away. Some little critter had gotten to it first. 

After a half hour of inspecting and picking berries, Katsuki was drenched in sweat and getting annoyed with Mina’s whining. She was the one who suggested this little adventure, so why the fuck was she complaining about the heat. It was the middle of June and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Not even a breeze to mention, either. 

A rustle from the strawberry plant he was reaching for made him pause. Maybe he found the culprit who’d been snacking on all the berries in the field. Carefully, Katsuki lifted a wide leaf and was met with two massive emerald eyes staring up at him. Giant round ears nestled on either side of unruly green curls and a nude tail twitched in alarm. The little mouse squeaked before scurrying away. 

“Hey, Katsuki!” Ochako shouted, running toward him. 

The blonde caught sight of the little mouse stopping in his friend’s path, ears flattened to his head. 

“Round Face, stop!” Katsuki snapped. The brunette yelped and paused mid-step, foot hovering just above the tiny creature. He hurried over and scooped up the little mouse who trembled in his hands and held onto Katsuki’s fingers for dear life.

“A mouse?” Ochako gasped, leaning in to get a better look. “He’s so cute! Oh my gosh, I almost stepped on him! Sorry, little guy!”

Slowly, those giant ears rose again, emerald eyes tearfully taking in the two humans looking down on him curiously. He squeaked a few times, leaning forward to look over the edge of Katsuki’s hands before scurrying back.

“I’ve got you,” the blonde cooed. “Not gonna let you fall.” Big, teary eyes blinked up at him, nose twitching slightly. Katsuki felt his heart flip. The mouse really was cute. “You been eating all the strawberries, buddy?”

The little creature perked up at the mention of the sweet fruit and he started squeaking excitedly, pointing toward the field of plants. Katsuki couldn’t help the amused snort and he registered Ochako giggling at the little mouse’s reaction, too. 

“Here, I’ll put you down.” He crouched and lowered his hand slowly, opening his fingers so the tiny critter could walk down them like a ramp. “There you go.”

Once the mouse was back on the ground, he scurried away. Strawberry leaves shook as he run under them and Katsuki tracked the movement until it stopped. 

“Phew, that was close!” Ochako exhaled. “Anyway, I was coming over here to tell you Mina and I are going into the farmstand. They sell fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade.”

Katsuki wiped the sweat from his face with the end of his button down. He eyed his basket, overflowing with strawberries. “Damn that sounds amazing right now.”

The brunette grinned and hooked her arm in his, practically dragging him along. “Let’s go!”

“Fuck, don’t touch me! I’m already sweaty enough. I don’t need yours, too,” Katsuki grumbled and pulled his arm away, choosing to walk beside her instead. Scarlet eyes shifted toward the last place he’d seen the little mouse. No movement. The poor thing was probably traumatized by the encounter. Katsuki hoped he would be okay.

-

-

While the strawberries were soaking in vinegar, Katsuki got to making pastry. He’d always felt that he was better at cooking than baking, but after a few afternoons spent at Sato’s bakery, the blonde had improved greatly. Baking was about exact measurements rather than cooking, where Katsuki could experiment by throwing random things together and get a delicious outcome.

Sheets of dough and butter were folded, stretched, and folded again before going into the fridge to chill.

Katsuki dumped the bowl of vinegar and thoroughly rinsed the fruits. Laid out on a towel to dry off, he rolled his shoulders and stretched. The trip to the farm wasn’t awful. He’d expected more whining and maybe a headache, but it had actually been pretty fun. He especially liked meeting the little mouse in the strawberry fields. 

A chill crawled up Katsuki’s spine and he whipped around. He’d had the distinct feeling of being watched in his own home. But as his scarlet eyes frantically searched the space, he saw no one. Holding his breath for a moment longer, the blonde tried to listen for anything odd. When nothing showed itself, he let out the breath he was holding in a long exhale.

The rest of the time spent in the kitchen, Katsuki kept looking over his shoulder. With the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he swore he was being watched. But there was no evidence of anyone besides him in the apartment. 

The blonde slapped the chilled dough on the counter and rolled it out before cutting squares from it. The oven beeped to let him know it was pre-heated and with each shell filled with cream cheese mixture, Katsuki slipped the tray onto one of the racks. Then, he got to work cutting up his fresh picked strawberries and stirring a sugar syrup on the stovetop. His shoulders and back ached from a busy day, but he knew the sweet treats would be worth it in the end. 

The pastries were left to cool for ten minutes. And during that time, Katsuki dipped his set aside berries in the sugary syrup to coat them. Then he topped his desserts with the glistening fruit to create a mouth watering display of deliciousness. It was hard to resist, so he didn’t. 

Katsuki took a bite out of one of the pastries and let out an obscene moan. “Fuuuuuck that’s good.” A wooden spoon clattered against the counter, making him jump. He coughed as he narrowly avoided choking on half chewed pastry and strawberries. 

The spoon was placed back in the utensil canister, but Katsuki also pulled the container away from the wall. Nothing.

The blonde shrugged and finished off his pastry, leaving the others on a decorative plate. It had been a long day. Time to get ready to head to bed.

It was just as Katsuki was settling against the mattress when he heard a clatter from the kitchen. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he growled, whipping off the sheets and stomping across the apartment. “I swear to fuck, whoever is hiding, I’ll fucking kill you!” 

A squeak and a clatter.

Katsuki flipped on the light and froze. As did the little mouse with big emerald eyes filled to the brim with tears. Crumbs littered the counter at the edge of the plate where the little creature must have been eating his fill of the delicious pastries. 

“How the hell…” 

The little mouse crossed his hands over his soft belly and looked up at Katsuki with the tearful eyes that made his heart melt. Somehow the tiny cutie pie had made it home with him.

“K-Kacchan!” the mouse squeaked.

Katsuki stood there staring, breath caught in his throat before shouting, “You can talk?!”

Green curls bobbed as the mouse nodded rapidly. “Yummy,” he chittered, rubbing his tummy with one hand and pointing at the plate of desserts with the other.

Scarlet eyes shifted to the plate and the blonde nearly choked. Half the plate was cleared! “Fucking hell! How many did you eat?!”

The little mouse’s floppy ears flattened against his head as he worried his tail between his tiny hands. “Yummy,” he squeaked again. “Kacchan make yummy snack.”

The human cocked his head and pointed to himself, “I’m Kacchan?”

The mouse nodded. “You Kacchan. Me Deku.”

Katsuki sighed and approached the counter. Deku scurried back. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” His big ears started to rise again as he watched the blonde swipe the crumbs into his hand and dump them in the garbage. 

“So, Deku…how’d you make it here?” Katsuki asked, actually curious about how the mouse was able to stowaway without him or his friends noticing.

“Pocket,” Deku squeaked. “Kacchan pocket.”

Katsuki scrunched up his face in confusion. There was no way the mouse was in his pocket the entire time. He would have felt him. Unless…his eyes wandered to his button down he’d tossed on the chair when he got home. He’d taken it off when he and his friends grabbed lemonade from the farm. That must have been when Deku climbed into the breast pocket and inadvertently became the seventh passenger in his car.

“Well, guess you’re stuck here for now,” Katsuki sighed. 

“Deku stay?” the mouse asked. 

Big emerald eyes sparkled up at Katsuki and the human’s heart flipped in his chest. God he just wanted to squeeze the fuck out of him! Who gave him the right to be so goddamn cute?!

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “You can stay.”

Little feet pitter pattered on the counter as Deku danced in excitement. Katsuki chuckled at the sight. 

“C’mon,” the blonde smiled and put his hand on the counter palm up. Deku climbed up, holding onto his fingers just like at the farm. “Let’s go to bed.”

Katsuki brought them to the bedroom, lowering the mouse onto the pillow before climbing in after him. He wasn’t sure when he’d have a chance to get back to the farm and there was no way he was letting Deku go around here. The little mouse would be snatched up by a feral cat or some shitty bird in a second. 

He startled slightly at the feeling of a tiny, warm body curling up against his neck. Reaching up, Katsuki pat Deku’s fluffy curls. The little mouse squeaked softly and chattered his teeth. Who knew…maybe he’d never make it back to the farm.