Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was common knowledge to anyone in Class 1-A that Ojiro would wag his tail from time to time. They had all noticed one way or another, whether it be by seeing him excited over something on his phone, catching the sight of it moving rapidly back and forth behind his shoulder, or from inopportune times of getting caught in the wrong place and getting hit by the heavy set limb, which was then always followed by profuse apologies and the offending tail clutched in his grip.

It was cute, was a class-wide agreement, and Hagakure had brought up the topic at one of the girls nights and they spent at least a good half hour on the topic.

But it did bring something to think about: if humans did have tails that were functional, would they wag? Or maybe Ojiro actually had some animal traits? Like how dogs would wag their tails. No one had dared to ask though because it seemed rude, but it didn’t stop them from theorising; Midoriya had an entire page dedicated to his hypotheses.

Having a friend group with some of the most observant people in the class came with it’s perks.

Hagakure would always strike up a conversation about the newest gossip, leading to Shoji admitting to anything he heard, and then Tokoyami would cave next, giving into the lure of a good gossip session. It made sense then, that their group always seemed to be ahead of any drama in the class before any others. Being the first ones in the class to know any information always felt great as well, but the girls’ group always followed close because Hagakure was loose-lipped with anything Shoji and Tokoyami reported, and Jirou, expectedly, could hear most of the ongoings of 1-A.

But having attentive people as friends, as people who cared about you, meant that it was hard for small details to go unnoticed. Like Ojiro’s smile.

It looked like he held it back around company. Either it was a soft closed-lip smile, or his mouth would barely open before he caught himself and pressed his lips into a tight smile. They thought that it was just his smile he was self-conscious of until it became more apparent it wasn’t just that simple.

When they would eat lunch together Ojiro ate in small bites, usually eating something that could be eaten in miniscule portions, like rice.

Hagakure had broached the subject with Shoji and Tokoyami, and the three of them brought it up with Satou and Kouda. They all wanted Ojiro to be comfortable enough with whatever it was that he was dealing with to be able to smile freely, even just a bit.

It had been an entire week since they had agreed to do something and they still weren’t getting their point across. Hagakure was sick of trying to drop sneaky hints here and there so direct action was the next move.

“Mashirao…” she watched him perk up at the use of his name instead of the usual nickname, “Why do you always hold back your smile?”

He floundered, “Uh, what- I mean I don’t-” He could see her cross her arms thanks to the long sleeved top. “Mashirao, you should know it’s pretty hard to hide something from me. I’m just worried about you.”

Ojiro deflated at that. “I’m just… I was always told by other kids that they were scared of my teeth, that I’d attack them like a dog or something,” he mumbled. He could hear Hagakure sniffle, “Oh Mashi, I’m sorry that happened to you, you didn’t deserve that treatment. I get that you’re reluctant about showing your teeth, but I want you to know that we all think you should be able to laugh without being afraid of judgement. We’ll all love whatever your teeth look like!” Hagakure startled and waved her arms, “Or we won’t make a big deal about it! Whatever you’re more comfortable with of course!”

Ojiro snorted a laugh, “I probably would be more comfortable with that, yeah. I’d like to show you them now, if you want.” “Yes, I’d love that,” she patted his arm in a warm manner.

Slowly, he opened his mouth just wide enough for all his teeth to be seen, cracks sounding from his jaw in disuse. There what could be seen were normal sized incisors, but sharp and pointed, then large canines, and flat molars, except for the top last ones, larger and pointed, slightly curving outwards.

“Oh, they’re lovely, I think they really suit you,” Hagakure said softly. Ojiro, who had been avoiding her gaze, managed a small toothy grin, still wavering a bit. “Thank you.” She pulled him in for a hug that he melted in.

The days went on as normal, but there was a notable change in Ojiro’s demeanor that they all saw; teeth began to poke through his smiles more often and sometimes they were even treated to a grin. But as promised, no one drew any attention to it.

Nobody knew how it started, possibly with a joke at one of Hagakure’s mandatory, one hundred percent necessary sleepovers. They had all broken out in peels, cracking up with laughter and it was infectious, all of them losing any willpower they had to hold back, full heartedly laughing. Snorts punctuated the group laughter, Kouda was doubled over silently crying, Shoji leaning on his back for support, trying not to fall to the ground like an unsuccessful Hagakure who might’ve been dying at this point, if her wheezing into the carpet was anything to go by.

But what caught their sight, even through the laughter, was Ojiro’s large, bright smile in hysterics, fangs gleaming in the low light of the room.

It had been three days since their last study session that Fumikage was planning his revenge. His group of awful, awful friends had scared him into letting out a frankly embarrassing chirp, just to see if he made bird sounds, for “experimentation reasons, of course!” He was spinning the roulette wheel in his head, going through his options for prey, and there it was; Ojiro was the perfect candidate for his revenge plot.

Fumikage conspired with the group at lunch, before the target arrived at the table, all agreeing to unfold it that evening at their next study session.

As Ojiro approached the table he hesitated, seeing all of them crowded together, before they all leaned back into their seats. “What are you doing?”

Fumikage shrugged inconspicuously, “Discussing the weather.”

“Riiight, okay…” the subject looked at him suspiciously before taking a seat.

It was time. School had finished and they were all sitting around one of the tables in the common room, books strewn about on the surface, with the target none the wiser, focused intently on working out a solution to the equation in front of him.

They each shared a look, Fumikage looked to Shoji, who looked to Kouda, Kouda to Sato, Hagakure to … all of them? He wasn’t quite sure.

There was a glimmer of mischief in their eyes before a breath of silence. Then,

“Pspspspspsps.”

Ojiro whipped his head over to look at them so fast, they could feel the second-hand whiplash. His eyes dilated visibly, and his ears perked up. A quiet trill came from his throat that, if the room hadn’t been silent, would have gone unheard.

No one said anything, Fumikage could see the gears turning in his head. “Wha-”

Fumikage couldn’t hold it back anymore and he felt his beak upturn in a smile. Looking over he could see everyone breaking character, Shoji’s eyes crinkling in amusement, Hagakure’s escape of an “Aww!” breaching the silence.

Ojiro seemed to have finally processed what happened, brows furrowing, flipping them off, “Oh fuck you guys.” but his tone was fond, fooling no one.

Rikido blocked another powerful swipe of a tail with his arms crossed, just barely managing to push it back again. He felt the surge of sugar through his veins and went for a barrage of punches at the opponent. The attacks met with muscle just as he had done but Rikido planned to overwhelm Ojiro instead of looking for another place to strike. He drove harder force into this last punch to try catch the blond off guard.

Suddenly his motion halted and he stumbled forward, glancing up, his mind froze. Ojiro had his fist held firmly in the grasp of one hand like iron.

A sharp glint in his eye was his only warning before he was sweeped off his feet by the pure muscle mass of Ojiro’s tail and his arm was used against him in leverage to throw him roughly onto his back, legs pinned under the tail’s weight.

“Okay, okay, I give,” Rikido wheezed when Ojiro released him. The sugar was slowly fading, so he caught his breath on the floor. “That was a good one man. I didn’t even know your hands were that strong.”

He looked up to watch Ojiro flexing and loosening his hand and wrist. “Ah, I suppose I don’t really use them like that very often. I should practice more.” He extended a hand to Rikido. Rikido took that as a chance to study them closer before clasping it and being hauled up. The palms were actually wider than he had thought and- were those paw pads?

Sunday was the day that Rikido did a ‘no stress’ baking day, often with one or more of his friends. It was a day to do something more relaxed than usual, yes baking helped him relax, but this day was for less perfection and more fun instead. Sometimes he found that even his own standards made him sulky over mistakes in his baking, so on Sundays the end results didn’t need to be amazing.

It was Ojiro’s turn this time round and they both had their palms set in the dough they had just made. It was time to knead the dough and Rikido always loved the stress relief he got from the way it was pliable under his hands.

He turned his head to see Ojiro intensely focused on his dough, the utmost care put into kneading it, but Rikido could see his tail swaying gently from side to side, so he knew he was relaxed. He let himself watch for a moment as Ojiro pressed his hands into the dough and when they lifted, he could see the imprint of his hands. He found what he was looking for, the prints were not shaped as most would be, instead with deeper indents, making only traces of the actual hands and fingers appear. Yup, definitely paws. Rikido smiled to himself and kept on kneading.

It was 2:34am when Koji had looked at the clock, roused from his sleep by a disgruntled Yuwai-chan, asking him for water. He was sure that he had just filled up her bowl before he went to bed- Ah. His eyes fell on the sight of an overturned bowl as he switched on his light, a small pool creeping out from underneath it.

Koji picked up the bowl, before opening the door and turning back to Yuwai-chan with a promise of being back soon. He made his way down to the kitchen, the lights were off, with only moonlight coming in through the window, so there was probably no one here, well, maybe Tokoyami? Koji wasn’t awake very often at this time, but the last time he was, seeing Tokoyami’s piercing red eyes in the dark made him trip over himself as he nearly went into cardiac arrest. He did one last scan for any glimpse of red shining in the dark, straining his eyes in the low light. Satisfied, he flipped the switch.

The bowl clattered hard on the wood tiles, jumping from his hands.

“Ah, Kouda! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I thought you saw me.”

There was Ojiro, previously sitting comfortably on the kitchen counter, now making his way over to pick the bowl up for him. Koji took a moment to calm his heart rate, hand clutched to his chest. Gathering himself, Koji signed, “You knew I was there? I couldn’t see you in the dark.”

“Aha, I forgot most people can’t see in the dark.” the blond rubbed the back of his neck almost bashfully. “What did you come here for anyways? Water for Yuwai-chan I’m guessing?” he waved the bowl in his hand.

Koji nodded in affirmation, “Yes. I’ll probably get some paper towels while I’m here. She decided to do half the water change herself already.”

Ojiro gave a huff of laughter, handing the bowl back to the taller student so he could fill it with fresh water, grabbing a few sheets of paper. “I’ll come help you if you’d like, to make up for scaring you”, he grinned.

They arrived back at his dorm room to Yuwai-chan tracking water across the floor. He shook his head in exasperation, picking the rabbit up gently as Ojiro closed his door with a gentle click.

The cleaning didn’t take long with the two of them there and soon enough Yuwai had gotten a drink that seemed to meet her standards this time. It was only 3:01 as he looked back at his clock, but he wasn’t tired anymore, so having a late night guest wasn’t such a bad idea.

Koji watched as Ojiro let Yuwai climb into his lap, smiling and slowly petting down her back before leaning down to touch noses with her, exhaling in amusement. Koji was content to just watch, before catching something. It hadn’t occurred to him before, but looking at it now, Ojiro’s and Yuwai’s eyes actually seemed quite similar. He waved a hand to get the other’s attention. “You mentioned being able to see in the dark earlier. I didn’t know you could.”

“Oh, yeah! It’s not perfect, not as clear as in the day, but I can still see better than most people can in the dark.”

Ojiro now had Yuwai’s paws in his hands, shaking them up and down minutely, and Koji smiled at the sight. “By any chance are you colourblind as well?” If this were true, Koji thought his hunches may be more than just hunches, so he waited for an answer.

“I am, how’d you know?” Koji shrugged. “I’m red colourblind, so I’ve got protanopia.” Koji hears the celebratory music in his head, and he feels like he’s won one of those late night game shows. He takes a moment to think before signing, “I think you and Yuwai have very similar eyes. Rabbits are red colourblind too.”

“I didn’t know that, that’s pretty cool actually!” Ojiro grins, holding the rabbit up beside his head, and that’s an image for the memory books if Koji’s ever seen one.

Mezo had his Saturday going just the way he wanted. He had woken up bright and early, gotten a healthy breakfast, had spent a while in the dorm gardens to get some fresh air where it seemed like it was going to be a sunny day, before spending some time chatting with his classmates, and then heading to the gym. Ojiro had joined him this time and it was nice to have company there even if they didn’t talk much during it.

Time went by fast and soon enough they found themselves in the locker room. Now, it wasn’t that Mezo had meant to stare, but something had caught his attention.

There were parts on Ojiro’s arm and tail that glittered in certain angles of the light, Mezo seriously had not meant to stare, but he watched as small bits flittered down and on to the floor, then becoming hard to see again. Looking at Ojiro’s clothes there were signs of it too.

“Hey- uh, does Aoyama have it out for you? Like a vendetta? You seem to be covered in… glitter?”

“What- where?” Ojiro lifts his shirt to inspect before glancing over the rest of his body. Mezo decides to point to a particularly notable part on his arm, “Here. And some on your tail too.”

Mezo waits as Ojiro looks incredulously at the patch before his mouth forms an ‘o’ in realisation. “Oh, no, those are my scales.”

“Scales?”

“Yeah, see?” He watches Ojiro in silent curiosity as he runs his index finger along his bicep, picking up loose scales. Mezo urges himself to form an extra eye on one of his appendages instead of standing there lamely, and moves it closer to get a better look.

Now up close, he could see the scales properly. They’re the same colour as Ojiro’s skin, but translucent, and when Ojiro moves them parts of them catch the light in small shimmers, not unlike glitter. Mezo found himself enraptured before collecting his thoughts, almost forgetting to step back again.

“Usually they aren’t too noticeable, but they’ve been shedding and sitting out of place since I took some pretty rough hits in class yesterday.” He brushed them off his finger and they flittered off somewhere down below. “They aren’t all that shiny either unless they’re out of place.”

Mezo picked one up from the locker room bench, inspecting it one last time as they finished changing out of their gym clothes. They held an uncanny resemblance to fish scales. “That’s pretty cool actually.”

Ojiro’s face flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck, “Ah, really? That’s nice to hear. Most people have told me that I should just be a snake instead since I already have the tail for it.”

A flare of anger sparked in Mezo’s chest before he tampered it back down. “There’s always going to be people like that, but don’t let that stop you. I’m sure you know that as well as I do.” he went for a friendly smile that creased his eye above his mask and a strong clap on the other’s shoulder.

Ojiro gave him a wider than normal smile and shouldered his bag. “Come on, let’s go. I’m starving for lunch.”

It was after school when Toru was lounging out on the new body length bean bag chair in her room, with Mashirao taking up residency on her bed, homework held sideways by one arm. Toru had long since abandoned any attempt to do hers, instead trying to find the comfiest angle she could read her book. She twisted around for the sixth time that minute, but to no avail.

“Toru, please I’m begging you to stop. Do you know how hard it is to concentrate with your tossing?” Mashirao had his eyes narrowed at his work as if it would help him focus better. Any chance of that was out the window as Toru stood. “Well if you weren’t being such a big baby and taking all the space on my bed maybe I could be quieter.”

“Hmm. Interesting.”

She stood in front of him, hands on hips, frowning at him.

“Ugh, move your ass, you’re sharing whether you like it or not.” She nudged her foot into his ribs and he rolled onto his side without resistance letting her drop down next to him. Toru lay down and rested her head into the crook of his shoulder, making sure to brush her hair out of the way, vaguely scanning over the homework. The silence lasted three minutes before Toru was huffing, pout forming on her face. Mashirao might not have been able to see her face but she’d be damned if she didn’t make it known.

“Mashiiii, why don’t you do something else now, you’ve been at that for ages!”

“It’s been like, twenty minutes, max.” Toru dodged the half hearted swipe he waved over his shoulder. “Besides, don’t you have homework too?”

“Suddenly I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Don’t blame me when you get the disappointed dad stare then.”

Toru ‘hmph’ed and flopped onto her back. She looked back at him. Mashirao’s top had ridden up, exposing a small bit of side. Never in her life had an idea come to her so quickly. He would never see it coming. She sat up slowly, raising her torso with all the muscles in her core that she had, the bed shifting under the change.

“Toru, what are you- TORU!” she jabbed her fingers into his side, laughing, before she got hit by the forgotten variable, his tail. “OW, you didn’t have to hit me that hard!” she shrugged off his tail, still giggling. “Well, maybe next time you should think about that before you decide to tickle me again.”

Her fingers were still splayed against his stomach, but, woah, this was a discovery more worthy of writing than homework.

“Are you going to move your hands, or?”

“Your stomach is so soft!” True enough, the skin under her fingertips felt softer than could've been possible and the muscles that had relaxed after the attack was plush, like one of Yaomomo’s pillows. “How have you kept this a secret?”

Mashirao looked from his stomach to where her face would be, “Uh, it’s not like there’s ever a situation for this to come up? And aren’t all stomachs like that?”

“Nope,” she poked under her shirt to demonstrate, “doesn’t even come close.”

“Now hush and let me enjoy this.” She playfully pushed him down on the bed again, got herself comfortable, and rested her head on his stomach. “Much better.” Mashirao rolled his eyes at her and got back to finishing his work. This time there were no interruptions. He put it away after and sighed, hearing her light snores before closing his own eyes.

“Ooo, is this your family Mashi?” a disembodied bracelet waved in the air, and above it, a printed photograph.

The rest of the people in the room looked up from their various activities; Ojiro was talking Koda and Sato through the maths together, Shoji and Tokoyami sharing something of interest on their phones.

Hagakure brought the picture to them so that they could all gather around. “Your little sister is so cute!” She had her teeth bared to the camera in a proud grin. “I think she’d get along with my brother well,” Sato said.

“Your father’s quite short,” noted Shoji. “And his tail isn’t nearly as strong looking,” Tokoyami chimed in. Ojiro shrugged with a crooked smile, “Yeah, my quirk is actually a mix of my mom and him.” The short man had a hand on his daughter’s head, and around his shoulder was an arm belonging to a woman with a tall, buff physique, almost making it look comedic.

“Oh, your mom is so pretty! Why didn’t you tell me, Mashi!” Ojiro was shaken by the shoulders by the invisible force of Hagakure’s grip. “Everything makes sense!” Ojiro spluttered. “Toru!”

Koda rescued Ojiro, tapping a finger on his arm before signing, “Does your mother have a reptilian quirk?” He pointed out the visible scales on her arms. “No my mother’s quirk is a muscle enhancement one, but genetically does have dragon traits. I think it was from my great grandfather?”

There was a gap of silence before all hell broke loose. “Everything makes sense now!”