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“Please, master? Can I go outside?” A curled black tail wagged to and fro. The man attached to it, clad in a simple pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a glittering green collar, was wiggling from head to toe. The motions were subtle, but apparent to his owner.
Yagi, a tall, lanky blond in his fifties, sighed. “Of course you can, Izuku. But how many times have I asked you not to call me that? You’ve lived here for nearly a decade, call me Yagi or Toshi even. Hell, call me dad if you want. Just stop calling me master.” He reached out long fingers and tenderly raked them through thick green curls in the space between the hybrid’s folded black ears. Izuku was a black labrador descendant, and his wide green eyes and cheerful demeanor were common among his species. He was also almost taller than Yagi was at this point, though that made no difference in his preference for pats.
“Yes, master! Can I go out now?”
Yagi had been caring for the young man since he was a fresh-faced teen. Since hybrids attempting to live like humans was against the law—a fact that Yagi inherently despised—and wild hybrids lived in constant danger, he’d been entrusted with Izuku by the boy’s mother. She’d left years ago in search of Izuku’s rogue father, and though she still sent money and letters from time to time, she had never come back.
The older man didn’t mind so much. He loved Izuku like his own, but the boy was far too obedient when it came to Yagi. He simply looked up to him as an owner too much.
Another all-suffering sigh fled Yagi’s body before he could stop it. He was surprised he couldn’t hear the rattling of his own bones from how exhausted he was. Still, a smile found his lips and he opened the door to the backyard. “Go crazy, kid.”
Izuku dashed into the yard, tail flopping from one side to the other like mad. He sniffed the air, took in the soft smell of autumn that was just starting to crumple the leaves and kick up that semi-moist earth that Izuku loved so dearly. Then he turned on his training dummy. It was a faceless semi-human torso, covered in stitches from endless repairs. It stood up on a rod that needed to be replaced every week or so. Its name was Larry, dubbed by Yagi himself after an old colleague, and it existed to help Izuku learn defense measures. He bent at the knees and lowered his tail, then went flying at Larry with all his strength. He grabbed hold of the torso and started to chomp and punch it.
Larry was probably Izuku’s favorite toy in the yard, though he did enjoy his oversized fitness ball and handmade single-swing. His favorite place in the yard, however, was Mount Midoriya. The so-called mountain was an oversized boulder that was older than the house, that was rooted right in the middle of the grass. He liked to sit on it to read and write and look out over the low white fence and into the woods on the horizon. It provided an excellent view of sunsets, too.
To others it might have seemed too simple an existence, but Izuku loved his life. He was happy enough to wear his collar and be led about town once a week for shopping trips. Content in his yard with his few distractions. Perfectly pleased to write down all of his thoughts and learn all he could about the world. Without ever needing to see it.
At least, he assumed he was perfectly happy, and he might have continued to think so if the vandal had never arrived.
It started on a Tuesday. Izuku was lying on the floor on his stomach, doodling in one of his books while superhero cartoons played on the TV before him.
“Hey, kid?” Yagi called from the kitchen. He came around the corner, looking uncharacteristically annoyed. He held up a torn trash bag. There was nothing inside, but it reeked and drippings still clung to the plastic.
Izuku’s nose curled at the smell of it and he gagged as his powerful senses honed in on it at full strength. He glared at it in disgust. “Why is that in the house?”
“Because I found it broken open out by the bins,” Yagi said sternly. “It spilled everywhere. I had to hose the garbage can down.”
“I’m sorry, that’s awful! What happened?”
“That’s what I wanted to know,” Yagi muttered. His lecturing tone was rapidly fading. He’d thought he’d caught the pup red-handed, but it was clear from the innocent confusion on Izuku’s freckled face that he knew nothing about it. “Did you hear anything out there?”
Izuku shook his head, but in earnest he hadn’t been listening for anything. “Maybe it got blown over? It was windy last night.”
Yagi nodded as he considered this. “Yeah, maybe,” he replied, doubtfully. “Keep an eye on it for me while I’m at work tomorrow?”
Izuku’s eyes lit up, his tail wiggled so hard his shoulders gyrated. “Okay! I can be a guard dog!”
“Sure thing, kid.”
For two days after, Izuku patrolled the kitchen window near the side of the house where the trash bins were kept. During that time, there was no suspicious activity. Izuku was disappointed, but reluctantly began to suspect it really had just been the wind. Then, the night before the trash would need to be curbed for pick up, a sound came from outside the window.
It was dark out, much later than Izuku had expected a culprit to appear. The only reason he was in the kitchen was for a snack before bed. He was scratching at his stomach, staring idly into the fridge, debating if he wanted cheese or pudding, when a hard rattle made his ears perk up. His head snapped toward the kitchen window where he saw shadows moving against the neighbor’s house.
Without checking to see what he was dealing with, Izuku shot out of the kitchen. He unlocked the side door and jogged into the yard and made his way to the gate that rested just beside the trash. The gate, like most of the fencing, only met his hip, so it was there that he saw the shadow of a figure moving. Its torso was shoved down the largest bin, while its backside was lifted upward, barely balanced on long legs, with a strange ovular tail hovering in the air.
It was shadowed out by the overhang of the houses to either side, but Izuku knew right away it was another hybrid. By the scent of it—grass, dirt, sweat—it was wild.
Without opening it, Izuku grabbed hold of the gate and vaulted clean across the wood as he came barreling at the intruder. This is what we’ve been training for, Larry, Izuku thought as he slammed headlong into the wild hybrid,and knocked both them and the garbage can to the ground in a scatter of limbs, plastic, and trash.
There was a scuffle of flesh and nails against the sidewalk where they’d landed. Izuku was surprised by the strength of the vandal as it flipped Izuku and knocked him hard against the dirt. Izuku growled and used his shoulder to upturn them once more, was forced to pin the creature with his muscular thighs to keep it from escaping. Strong arms flailed upward and Izuku blindly had to scramble to take hold of one and pin it in place. He reached out for the other and was startled to a stop.
Light from the streetlamps struck them now that they’d rolled further toward the road and Izuku got a brief look at the trespasser. Blond hair, blunt, rounded ears, glaring red eyes, bared fangs, and glimmering clawed fingers. A raccoon hybrid was beneath him, writhing and hissing rather than speaking. He wore tattered shorts and no top to conceal his pronounced, muscular chest. Izuku felt a strange flutter in his stomach, one he mistook for hot rage and he tried to force it out with a shout. “Stay out of my trash!”
The raccoon’s ears pinned back and the free hand came swiping right at Izuku’s face. He managed to turn away enough for the blow to tear into his shoulder. His skin parted in three even segments and blood began to drip lazily from the cuts.
Izuku hissed and whimpered and jolted back. The raccoon shot to his feet and ran past the road and into the darkness provided by the houses on the other side. Just like that, the confrontation was over as quick as it started.
The hybrid was rather disappointed in himself. Part of him had always longed for a chance to use his training as a guard dog and yet he’d been injured and cast off in seconds when confronted with a real enemy. He went into the house with his tail tucked between his legs and hurried to the bathroom to tend to his wounds.
Yagi wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out Izuku had been injured and tried to talk him out of doing something so rash again. While Izuku agreed to be more careful, his failure to properly frighten the raccoon only made him more determined to do so. He knew the beast would be back and Izuku would be ready when that happened.
It took a week of waiting, a week of freshly compiled trash, before Izuku’s late shifts spent napping on the living room couch near the kitchen, rather than on his bed in his own room, finally paid off.
A rustling came from outside, and then the jangle of emptied glass soda bottles. The sound pulled Izuku from a light doze and he jolted off the couch and straight out the back door. This time he snuck around the side of the house, concealed himself beside the gate in the hopes of surprising the raccoon. He turned the corner slowly. This time the kitchen bulb was still on and its ambience poured of out the window to line the shift of strong shoulders with bars of diffused light.
Izuku watched as the raccoon rose up from the cans with garbage dangling between his teeth. Izuku growled in repulsion and the sound alerted the other hybrid.
The strange man’s ears perked and he bent down as if prepared to run or fight, depending on the dog’s next move. Izuku knew he’d given himself away, so he moved into view with brows woven. He was prepared to bark out a command, to drive the beast away with threats, but from this new perspective he saw clearly that what the raccoon had was a chicken leg locked between his teeth. His posture, expression, everything suggested he was ready to fight for it.
Oh, Izuku realized with a twisting in his gut, I think he’s hungry.
Feeling suddenly foolish for his intense commitment to a game of guarding, Izuku held up his hands and softened his expression. “Don’t run. Just wait there, okay?”
The raccoon’s upper lip trembled in a snarl as Izuku fled back into the house.
The dog scrambled about the kitchen as swiftly as he could. I can’t believe I was so self-centered, he thought with pity and embarrassment. He only hoped the raccoon wouldn’t flee.
To his surprise and relief, the hybrid was still there when he returned to the trash cans. The bold pest was right back to rummaging and only jolted when he heard Izuku sigh beside him.
“You don’t have to do that,” Izuku said. He was slightly breathless from running about.
“How are you so quiet?” the raccoon growled. His voice was deep and sharp, and again Izuku felt that strange twisting feeling. This time he contributed it to weariness.
“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” He held out a paper plate with a chicken sandwich atop it. “Here. I thought you might be hungry, but you shouldn’t eat trash.”
Red eyes flitted to the offering and his ears drew back. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you feed me?” The raccoon’s shoulders lifted defensively. He jolted and bared his claws when Izuku laughed.
“Well, look at it this way—it’ll keep you out of my trash.”
The hybrid tilted his head, sneered in disbelief, but cautiously reached out and grabbed the sandwich.
Right there and then he started tearing into it, sharp fangs greedily rending bread, meat, and cheese to bits.
“I’m Izuku.” An eager tail began to twitch back and forth. This other hybrid was fascinating. Izuku had never seen any like him, but then his only familiarity with other hybrids was his own sort. Cats and dogs on leashes at market permitted a quick hello and little else. “Wow, you eat fast.”
The raccoon merrily lapped the crumbs off his fingertips. He eyed the hound with trepidation. “Katsuki.”
Green eyes lit up and Izuku’s tail moved freely. “That’s a nice name.”
“I’m leaving now.”
“Oh, okay. You can come back.”
Katsuki licked his teeth. “Maybe.”
Then he was fleeing, disappearing like he had the time before. Izuku felt a sudden and immediate sense of loneliness. Content he’d done all he could, he returned indoors to ponder where it was a wild one went at night.
He fretted that he might not see the other man again, but he didn’t have to wait long to have those fears put to rest. It was early evening and Yagi had already gone to bed. Izuku was up, watching a movie turned down low when a tapping sound made his ears twitch.
He turned toward the open kitchen and saw a silhouette and heard the sound again. He grinned and set about warming up some soup to greet his visitor with.
Katsuki was uneasy about accepting the invitation into the backyard, but there weren’t many barricades, so he eventually conceded. Izuku allowed his guest to sit cross-legged on Mount Midoriya as he ate his offering. Izuku settled into the grass and gazed up at the beautiful stranger with undisguised curiosity.
“What?” Katsuki asked between gulps. “You’re staring.”
“Sorry! It’s just that I’ve never met a wild hybrid before.”
“‘Course not. Pampered puppy.”
Izuku pursed his lips as if he resented that, but he didn’t press the matter. “What’s it like being outside all the time?”
A wide and dangerous grin emerged on Katsuki’s face. “It’s the best. Go where you want. Do what you want.”
Izuku leaned forward in interest, pressed his cheek to the cool rock. “Like what?”
Katsuki sat up a little straighter. “You want to know?”
Izuku nodded.
“For example, you don’t need a leash. You can climb trees and give in to your instincts. And there are no humans around most of the time to act like they’re better than you.”
“My master doesn’t act that way.”
Katsuki scoffed. “Sure. Anyway, it’s great. You ever go for a run just for the hell of it?” Before Izuku could reply he added, “ Outside the yard?”
Predictably, Izuku shook his head.
“Well, then that’s just one more thing that’s great about it, isn’t it?”
With his interest piqued, Izuku made a point to extend more invitations to Katsuki and he was pleasantly surprised when each and every night the raccoon returned to eat and share stories of his wild life beyond the grip of human law.
It turned out he’d met a lot of hybrids, had tussled with and befriended creatures Izuku had only ever seen on TV.
Yagi made a note of how Izuku really seemed to be going through leftovers, but beyond that, Izuku believed he’d managed to keep his little rendezvouses unnoticed.
He traded stories about his favorite shows and how he’d come to live with Yagi, and about his training.
“So that’s how you got so buff living like a pet,” Katsuki snorted one evening.
“You think I’m buff?” Izuku’s tail went unabashedly insane.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to focus on the completely wrong thing.” He stood and stretched, looked out to where the moon was waning over the trees of the woods. “Anyway, it’s late. I should get going.”
“Where do you go?” Izuku had been wondering for some time and had finally broken down and asked outright.
“I have a cave in the woods,” Katsuki said proudly. “Ugh, don’t make that face.”
Izuku couldn’t help his woven brows, the hunch of his shoulders. “Doesn’t it get lonely out there? Scary?”
Katsuki shook his head and laughed. “It’s the best. Haven’t I already told you?”
“But, you get hurt out there.” Izuku boldly reached out and ran a hand down a prominent scar on Katsuki’s bare chest. They hadn’t touched much since that first scuffle so it startled Katsuki some. Surprisingly though, he didn’t pull away. He grinned all the more, covered Izuku’s hand and pressed it firmly over the bulge of the old wound. The dog felt his breath catch.
“That’s a badge of honor. I defended my home from a wolf hybrid. Kicked his ass. It was a small price to pay. Some others are from fights too, some from cuts and scrapes from hiking in the mountains and exploring the rivers. Every scar I have is proof I’ve really lived. Don’t you get that?”
Izuku traced the outline of the red skin idly. “I guess. But I like it here.”
“Only because you’ve never been out there,” Katsuki said. Then he gazed thoughtfully at the hound’s transfixed face. He nibbled his lower lip and his red eyes lit up with sudden inspiration. “I got it! You don’t believe me, because you’ve never seen anything beyond this box. So tomorrow let’s go on an adventure!”
“Adventure?” Izuku finally pulled his hand away in embarrassment and tuned back into the conversation fully.
“Yeah. I’ll come get you in the morning. Do a little jailbreak.”
“I’m not in jail.”
“Then it’ll be easy. Come with me into the woods for one day. Then pass judgement. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Izuku breathed, before he’d really had the chance to think it through. By the time he realized what he’d agreed to, he was watching Katsuki leave.
He waited in the yard nervously the next morning, eager and jittering to go the moment Yagi had left for work.
It was strange to finally take Katsuki in during the daylight. He suddenly felt more real without the ethereal halos of moonlight. Even so, he wasn’t any less striking a figure and Izuku again felt confused as his heart started to beat faster when he saw the raccoon come out from the trees and up the clearing to his house. I’m just nervous. It’s my first outing, he told himself.
“Yo, loser, let’s get going,” Katsuki shouted excitedly. His puffy tail was gently swaying and he looked just as excited as Izuku was.
Izuku nodded and cleared the fence in a smooth motion. He looked back and felt his skin prickle with a thrill of mischief.
“Come on!”
Izuku turned and enthusiastically ran toward Katsuki to go wherever he led.
They entered the woods and meandered through the easy brush, walked a clear path set up for hikers. Then suddenly the raccoon took a sharp turn off the walkway and into the throng of the unknown. Even with the sun high above, the thick gathering of leaves overhead shadowed their travels. It felt like they walked for a long time, Katsuki mostly silent as he happily made his way, guiding Izuku under and over fallen trees and around brickle bushes.
“Where are we going?” Izuku laughed nervously as he followed Katsuki deeper and deeper into the woods. The mud was surprisingly sticky here and it was a struggle to lift his boots as it clung to the rubber and tried to slurp him down. Trampled leaves clung to the leather surfaces while fallen branches crunched satisfyingly under his footfalls.
“It’s not too much further,” Katsuki snorted, voice riddled with amusement. He could hear the hound basking in each squelch and snap on the path, inhaling sharply the heady musk of the pines and the crisp scent of damp earth. Every sound and smell was new and delightful to him, even if his nature implored him to be cautious.
They wandered until they reached a clearing at the edge of a hill. They moved through the last ridge of trees and emerged by a river that cut through the open earth and ran downward to snake through the trees ahead. It flowed onward, into a lake that glittered under the sunlight shining through the clearing. Like a halo that engulfed everything in light.
The water of the river stretched only a body’s length in width and flowed slowly; the babble of it over rocks was gentle and soothing and could be easily missed in the woods by undiscerning ears.
Izuku’s eyes grew wide and excited as he took in the clear waters, how they glided over stone and whisked between the bevels of dirt on either side. He stepped into it slowly, as if afraid it might carry him away.
“It isn’t going to swallow you,” Katsuki snickered. Then his ears twitched. “Though, just so we’re clear, you can swim, right?”
“I can swim.”
“Good, then strip. Last one to the lake is a moldy chicken wing!” Katsuki shot off toward the water, kicked off his shorts so Izuku got a full view of pale buttcheeks before he had the good sense to start running too.
He was a bit embarrassed to get naked out in the open, but Katsuki’s complete lack of self-consciousness was inspiring. He stripped down, revealed the smooth grooves of muscle and flawless skin. He splashed into the water after Katsuki and practically howled at how cold it was as it rushed up his thighs and hips. “F-freezing!” he gasped.
“Hah! What’s the matter, puppy? Can’t take it?” Katsuki bobbed from a deeper point in the lake ahead. He seemed perfectly content to be submerged to the neck in the icy depths.
Izuku glared and ran his hand across the water, sent some flying right at the cocky raccoon.
“Hey!” Katsuki shook out his soaked locks until they bounced back to their usual elevation. His wet ears twitched. “Oh, puppy, that was a mistake!” He laughed wildly as he swam forward with both arms extended to kick up as much water as possible.
Izuku squeaked in alarm and tried to dash away to no avail. Before he knew it he was treading water, frolicking and splashing madly at his new friend. They took turns tackling each other, pushing one another beneath the threshold of the water.
They took a break from swimming to run naked about the edge of the lake, toes submerged in mud, as they pursued some unfortunate frogs that were just trying to mind their own business.
The warmth of the sun kissed their skin and Izuku felt more free and happy than he had in a very long time—maybe ever. Through the whole endeavor he couldn’t help but watch Katsuki with unwavering conviction.
He was so beautiful, ambitious and unafraid, playful and quick-witted. He always seemed confident and so it was obvious when he settled on his back in the grass, beside where Izuku had stretched out to absorb the sun, that he was distracted.
Izuku sat up on his elbow, looked down at Katsuki. His lips looked so pink, red eyes so expressive and faraway that a strange urge choked up Izuku’s guts that he had to fight away. “What’s wrong? You look sad.”
“The hell I do.” Those red eyes darted away, not wanting to meet the caring leer of green ones.
“Don’t lie. Something is bothering you.”
Katsuki sighed, ran a hand over his forehead. “What you said before, that thing about getting lonely? Yeah, so, maybe I lied. It’s the only downside really. Well, that and the occasional food shortage.”
Izuku considered this and reached a hand to brush some rogue blond hairs away from Katsuki’s forehead. “Hmm, well, you aren’t alone right now.”
Katsuki’s face looked suddenly warm and he clicked his tongue as if ashamed of Izuku’s sentimentalism on his behalf, but he smiled. It was a soft, pretty, uncharacteristic thing.
It was then, like a falling branch to the head, that it hit Izuku. Oh, I think I love him.
He wanted to say something, to perhaps confess these blossoming feelings, but Katsuki rolled away from him and headed back toward the water, intent to get one last swim in before they had to return. It could wait a while, he decided.
They got back before Yagi, just as the sun had set.
“Thanks for today,” Izuku said shyly.
Katsuki ran his sharp nails lightly down Izuku’s arms, tickled the skin where once he’d clawed it. He looked thoughtful one instant, but the next he patted that same arm and grinned. “Sure thing, puppy.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Depends on if I’m hungry or not,” Katsuki said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, but Izuku knew he’d be back. The dog returned to his home, feeling light and airy like a summer breeze. He’d never known a feeling like this one and he was completely stricken by it.
When Yagi came home and asked how his day was, it was shockingly easy to lie. “Oh, you know, same old, same old.”
Desire and happiness seeped from his very pores as he waited all the next day for Katsuki to come again. Yet, he never arrived. Not that day, nor the next.
Finally his concern bubbled up and he knew he couldn’t just sit around the house waiting for Katsuki to return. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his bones.
It was a weekend, so Yagi was home, but he was determined that wasn’t going to stop him.
“Master,” he said sternly. “No, Yagi. I need to leave for a while, but I’ll be back.”
Yagi looked up from the book he was reading and stared at Izuku in alarm. “What? You can’t just—”
“I have to,” Izuku said firmly. There was no indication he was joking, nothing in his demeanor to suggest it was up for debate. “I’ll explain when I get back.”
“Izuku! You can’t just—” Before anything could be negotiated or understood, Izuku was out the door.
Despite his status as a dog hybrid, Izuku rarely used his nose for more than taking in the sweet scent of bread at the grocery store or nuzzling into clean laundry. Even so, he knew he could track. It was in his blood, and Katsuki’s scent was something he had attuned to without even realizing it. He wandered into the woods, in the direction off the path Katsuki had led him before. It didn’t take long to detect the subtle smell of Katsuki’s skin and sweat on the air and foliage. He followed the freshest trail, sniffed the air as he jogged through the woods. It took him in a different direction than the lake, up into the hilly region where rolling mounds of dirt and grass made the terrain harder to navigate and the trees more scattered.
All the same, he kept the lead, followed the scent as it got stronger and stronger. Then there was something else to it. A twinge of copper. The unmistakable smell of blood. Izuku’s experiences with wounds were mostly limited to kitchen accidents, but he still knew the wretched stink of it well and his imagination ran wild as it got stronger the closer he got to finding Katsuki.
He discovered him in a cave, leaned up unconscious against the inside, stomach covered in dried blood. He was pale but remarkably alive. “Katsuki! It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
***
When he next woke, Katsuki found himself in the soft embrace of a couch, covered in bandages and blankets. Beside him Izuku held his hand while the old man of the house checked his wounds.
“What? What happened?” Katsuki tried to sit up groggily, but sharp pain made him think better of it. Izuku offered him a pill he quickly took, having enough trust now to be unconcerned about what it was. Still he looked around alarmed, as if he might panic and run despite his state.
Izuku put warm hands on the raccoon’s shoulders. “Easy, Katsuki. It’s alright now. I think you were attacked. I found you and brought you back here.”
“Thankfully, I have some medical training,” Yagi grunted. “I’m Yagi Toshinori. Pleasure to meet you, Katsuki. You must be the one that was rooting through my trash.” He smirked. “And making my Izuku so happy these past few weeks.”
Katsuki side-eyed the stranger, but Izuku squeezed his shoulders again reassuringly. “It’s okay. He just wants to help. He said—I mean, we decided that you could stay with us, if you wanted.”
“I don’t like being trapped,” Katsuki admitted, with a slight squeak to his voice.
“You aren’t. But please, stay. At least until you’re better.”
“This was a fluke. A territorial bastard. I won’t let you use it to domesticate me,” Katsuki laughed, then groaned at the pain it caused.
Izuku ran soothing circles over Katsuki’s back. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Why did you come looking for me?”
“I was worried. I wanted to see you again.” Izuku leaned in close, rubbed his nose into the shell of Katsuki’s ear. “Because I’ve got a crush on you.”
The raccoon blushed and his tail puffed up. “That’s! Idiot! I… me too. But you.”
Caught up in his joy, Izuku gently tilted Katsuki’s chin and placed a tender kiss to his lips. Katsuki all but melted into it. When they broke apart, Izuku whispered reverently, “Come and go as you please. But whenever you go out, take me with you, so you don’t have to be alone ever again.”
“Shit, puppy. You got a deal.”
Before they could kiss again, Yagi cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, make us some lunch. Sound good?”
Izuku looked to Katsuki. “Well?”
Katsuki nodded. “Sounds great.”