Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You know, Izuku wasn't expecting anything exciting to happen during the weekend. Maybe hanging out with Mei, playing the new Mario Kart tracks that were released, repairing some cars in the auto shop with Hanabi-san. Not waking up in a damp cage with water dripping from the ceiling, the little droplets slapping him awake.

His arms splayed up out away from his body, his left nearly touching the cells bars. A slight brush with the cold metal sends a small jolt through his body. Kicking him awake and more alert. Groaning and lifting his heavy body off the ground, his gaze ran across his view of the many cages that surrounded him. Varying in size and in contents, with some dangling from the ceiling and others stacked ontop of each other.

Most if not all contained an alien or 2, ranging between species, the cage across from his medium sized enclosure was a large black leopard looking creature.It's red eyes narrowed and bore into him, the black fur that lined his head and the shorter dark grey facial fuzz making them seem luminous in the dark storage room. A soft growl, much like a cats, emanated deep from its (his?) throat when eye contact was made; it distantly reminded Izuku of the little stray he and Mei found, albeit a lot more threatening than the brown tabby from earth.

Izuku broke the lazy staring competition between them and let his body flop heavily onto the cold metal ground with a solid thud, making his feline neighbour chirp at the sound; concerned or not Izuku didn't really care. He had too much to think about to be concerned with the grumpy cat.

The fact that aliens existed didn't really faze him, seeing as 20 years ago on earth a small group of them invaded South Korea. They had apparently managed to capture a small farming community before the military and the farmers came and took them down, more attempts were made by the invaders and they all ended with them losing the war. The results must have scared the other aliens into not attempting to piss off large portions of the population, but such "powerful" creatures must have been enticing for space poachers seeing as missing persons cases reached an all time high during the last 2 decades. Him being one of them now. Yay...

Lord above, this isn't what he wanted. This was bullshit! Izuku bit back tears as he glared at the leaky roof. He had finally gotten a good home, good family, now he wasn't even sure he'd see them again. Fear pooled into his gut at the thought, he wanted Mei and her mums. He wanted his little stray cat, Tonbo, that sat on his chest and purred on bad days. The garden that sat outside the Hatsume's shoji and tatami room, the little Teru teru bōzu that danced in the rain during the spring showers. He wanted to go home, wanted to give the Hatsumes a hug and not let go. He shifted his arms over his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart like how he did back in school when he was hiding from bullies.

His wallowing was interrupted by the cage door shrieking open.

He lifted an arm and glared at the guard, who flinched back at the furious stare, and watched as it hurriedly tossed in his new cellmate. A bundle of yellow and black feathers flapped and squawked as it stumbled into the cage, grating on his ears and making him groan in annoyance. The massive 6 winged bird paused at the sound, the wings on its head that covered its eyes twitched and bristled as it clicked and cooed.

The leopard in the neighbouring cell muttered something soft and calm to the massive biblical thing, which made it startle and flap its neck wings a bit. They were wearing matching necklaces with little purple and yellow geodes. Interesting, friends maybe? Or was it a lovers thing? A cat and a bird, who would’ve guessed. Whatever their relationship was, the massive bird seemed to calm the more the big 4 armed cat purred at it; soon enough the big angel creature had fully calmed and finally sat down on the opposite side of the cage.

Close to the cat and far away from Izuku, which made him relax a bit as he decided to try and daydream about his family on earth.

Izuku was awoken by the bird's soft snores, a whistle sound came from its beak as it fluffed its plumage to fight off the cold that creeped through the bars. A long sigh came from his heavy body as he lazily looked around the massive storage area. A low growl came from the leopard as he shifted his weight to get up and stretch.

“Calm down you oversized cat” Izuku grumbled, causing a sharp hiss to come from the 6 limbed beast.

His arms stretched up to the ceilings as he had a staring contest with his neighbour. The alien’s grumbling seemed to have woken up his bird cellmate as it squawked loudly at the sight of him.

Izuku flopped down onto the ground after stretching, the sound seemingly startling the bird more than the action. Its head wings flapping in distress, giving him a view of the face under it. If… if you could call it that. Where were it’s eyes? Oh shit, oh wow it didn’t have any; completely covered in feathers with no sight of, he assumed, the creature's beady eyes. Now that’s interesting, is that why it made all those clicking sounds? Or was it going off what their neighbour was saying?

His staring must’ve unnerved the cat seeing as it started to growl after a while, making him look off to the other cages that surrounded them. From his position he could make out the vague shape of what looked to be a jellyfish creature floating in its cage off in the distance, which only gave him more questions about the various aliens around him.

A soft feathered wing brushed against his ribs, making him jolt. It paused, before travelling up his torso and to his face, which made him scrunch up his face and stop breathing. A very hesitant wing brushed across his face and long green hair.

It was gentle, a kind of foreign comfort from the alien that reminded him painfully of Hanabi-san; Mei’s (and his) mother who was loud and hardy. Who would brush his hair during the mid-summer parades when the fireworks got too loud. He was struck with a massive wave of grief as he slapped his hand to his face and curled into a ball, soft sobs wracked his body as his cellmate cooed gently and brushed his back.

The neighbouring alien stared at them from his cage, his ears pinned back as he paced back and forth in what seemed to be concern for his friend (lover, family?). He ended up passing out next to his cellmate, tears drying on his face.

The 2 of them, 3 if you counted the grumpy predator in the cell across from them, have a routine. The guard came 2 times a day, once during the start of the day cycle and once at the start of the night cycle with their food.

His cellmate had introduced himself as “Hi’ashi” by pointing at himself and repeating the word multiple times on the second day, which made Izuku introduce himself in the same way; it was endearing to see how Hi’ashi’s wings and feathers puffed up in what he assumed was happiness or pride. Izuku spent most of his time sleeping or listening to the 2 aliens bicker and squabble like how he’d imagine an old married couple would on earth. All in all, there was a weird sense of normality that came from the two’s constant talking and arguing, it reminded him of how the Hatsumes breakfast would play out each morning.

The day the routine broke was the day he got taken away again.

The three guards that came at the start of the day cycle were different, beefier and sporting large batons that sparked threateningly at the tip.

The door opened.

Hi’ashi squawked at the sound and backed away, dragging Izuku along by the arm with his massive talons; cutting up his arms in doing so. One of the guards grabbed his other arm, tugging him away and tearing his arm up more.. A threatening jab of the guard's baton made the neighbour screech in anger and made Hi’ashi drop his bloody arm. The loss of tension made the guard stumble back, and Izuku, using the momentum, reeled his arm back and punched the alien in the jugular.

The guard choked as the air was pushed out of his throat, Izuku distantly heard his neighbour and Hi’ashi make a startled sound at the violent act.

The guard landed on his arse, falling on top of the second guard as his baton went flying and his partner screamed a forgine tongue, not wasting any time Izuku pulled up his leg and stomped on the guard's stomach as he tried to jump over him and reach the exit.

The second guard jabbed him in his scarred and burned leg in an attempt to slow him down, his muscles seized and locked.

The pain, however, was bearable.

Izuku kicked the guard during its shock at his nonchalance into another cell’s walls, frying him.

Izuku ended up tripping over the downed guard as he took a step back to punch the third guard and slammed into his neighbours electric fence with a painful bang and a loud choked scream.

The large feline jumped back in surprise and growled loudly as the last guard came and pinned Izuku down by his throat. Try as he might, his pain made his feeble hits weaker and the lack of oxygen made his vision swim with black spots. His view showed his neighbour glaring at the guard above him, growing, and he distantly heard Hi’ashi screeching in their cell. He hoped, as he blacked out, that they wouldn't hurt him.

Mei’s bell-like laughter could be heard as he finally lost consciousness.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s new cell consisted of bland, steel walls and not another alien in sight. Gone were the chirps of Hi’ashi and the grumpy scowls of the bird's friend. Replaced was a room straight out of a psych ward, with floors padded and steel plated walls so plain it would drive any good man to insanity if they had stayed for a little over a day. Which Izuku had.

His left arm still throbbed and twitched in pain as it bled sluggishly. A reminder of his pitiful defeat as well as Hi’ashi panicked screeching that made guilt squirm in his gut for putting him in danger and making the bird worry.

Lying on the ground and humming random songs from the radio that Kyoka-san had played when she picked up him and Mei from school, he took inventory on what he had on his person. It seemed that the aliens hadn’t taken much at all from him, he was still dressed in the turquoise-grey mechanics jumpsuit that the Hatsumes had given him when he started working with them. The pockets and belt still held the items that were in them; a first aid kit, sanitary products and a small notebook that he and Mei would doodle in during breaks, it still had the little polaroid of them together with a small note from Mei. His hair was still being held up in its work bun with the traditional, ornate winsere flower hair pin that Kyoka-san had gifted him on his 15th birthday.

His senseless humming was interrupted when the door’s lock was pulled back with a heavy clunk. The heavy door was pushed open and a large group of six guards came in. They had learned from their last fight it seemed, seeing as they were covered in armour. The batons were changed for thicker clubs, something that was better for knocking out a rowdy “deathworlder” as Hi’ashi had called him.

Two grabbed his arm, and despite the fact that he jerked them in a feeble attempt of a fight, his body soon gave up, having crashed from his adrenaline high yesterday. His left arm screamed with pain as he was dragged up to stand, the long steps the guards took made his feet drag on the shiny floor.

The halls were as bland as his cell. The doors had little one-way windows that Izuku could just about peer into, though they didn’t contain much apart from one, which contained what looked to be three other aliens with brown choppy hair(?) and red facial markings under their eyes; the oldest seemed to have a large pink and purple bird perched on his shoulder that was preening their hair.

The short journey through the derelict halls ended when they approached a large, worn door that groaned in protest when opened.

The room on the other side looked, quite frankly, like something out of a horror movie. Shelves that held different needle guns that tattoo artists used and pots, the labels faded yellow and stained with fingerprints and splotches of what looked to be ink. The sink looked like it was growing sentient mould that pulsed and squirmed around the droplets of murky water that leaked from the faucet. A plethora of used and dirty needles were scattered around the countertops, some covered in yellow puss and blood.

Then there was the table. An operation table. With thick leather straps that dangled ominously from the edges. Blood splattered around it, arching around it like a demented halo. A cruel omen for what was to come.

Izuku was lifted with a grunt from the guards; was Violently strapped onto the table on his front, his head forced down by rough hands.

His head, chest, hips and legs were strapped down with very little room to move even a muscle.

His head was twisted to the side uncomfortably, the strap pinned down the tips of his ears making them twinge in pain and his neck his head was angled up, leaving his neck exposed.

His chest was compressed by the belt and table, like a vice that was trying to crush his ribs and burst his lungs. It reminded Izuku, vaguely, of a binder too small for him. His breath was clipped, his sides felt like they were being squished, like his ribs were pushing against his lungs.

His heart spiked as another alien, shorter and fatter than the last guards. A large pair of dusty goggles obscured its eyes. The bottom half of its face (?) was covered in wiry white hair. The top half of its head was lumpy, with one nearly covering a green lens of the goggles with its weight. Veins, blue and sickly, were easily seen under the thin skin. It was nothing short of cancerous.

It made Izuku want to vomit when he realised that this thing was the one to come near him and possibly experiment on him.

The alien hobbled over to the shelves, its stumpy legs waddled and the battered and veiny red wings dragged behind him on the blood stained tiled floor. A withered and thin hand reached up to one of the shelves, the guards having to help him grab what was on the top most shelf after the shorter creature shreeched at them with a gurgled and whiney voice.

When it turned around Izuku could see the tattoo gun in its hand. A cruel grin spread across its gangly face as it approached. Izuku’s jaw clenched, a low growl coming that made his vocal chords emanate through the room, making the guards pause and wilt. The “Doctor” however, didn’t. Its smile grew and stretched, as if taking the threatening tone as a challenge. One it thought it would win unscathed. What a joke.

Its three digit hand came up to Izuku’s head, making the boy cringe away at the idea of such disgusting paws touching him. The buzz of the gun was all that could be heard before a scratching pain buzzed through his neck. An unpleasant feeling, like powerful bee stings, hurts. It hurt a lot.

The doctor’s hand shifted across his face as the whirring stopped and the excruciating pain dissipated as the needle was lifted. A fat finger shifted near his mouth and Izuku, being an opportunist, bit down. Hard.

A grim crunch resonated throughout the room, followed by a guttural, agony filled scream. The doctor tried to rip his two fingers away from the vice-like grip Izuku had on his hand, only worsening the damage and making the human clench down tighter on the dirty appendage.

The gun went flying across the room, smacking one of the armoured guards in the face as the others screamed in horror at the doctors predicament. The wild flailing of the Doctor's arms made it harder for the other guards that weren’t panicking to pry open Izuku’s mouth.

The thin skin of the disgusting alien broke easily, the cut rough and teared and the veins spurting blue blood all over the stubby hand and in Izuku’s mouth. Eventually his teeth reached something tough and stoney and only then did Izuku’s jaws stop adding pressure.

The excruciating scuffle finally ended when one guard managed to land a solid hit onto the top of Izuku's head after multiple attempts. Only then did Izuku’s jaw slack in shock, and only then were the Doctor’s fingers released. A second hit to the side of the head made stars burst from behind his eyes and the word to start going lopsided. His vision finally went dark.

As soon as he woke up in the psych-ward jail cell he was dragged off down the hall again. A different direction this time, away from the Doctors messed up tattoo parlour thankfully.

He was shoved into a different cell, a room with rusty walls and blood splattered across the muddy ground. There was another gate across the door. Beyond it was a long hall that opened up into a larger space. A roaring crowd could be heard, and the implication made Izuku’s gut squirm with fear.

The gate opened. Izuku began his descent down the hall. The unfamiliar and unnerving chanting grew louder and louder. The second, beefier gate was raised. The fluorescent light blinded him temporarily. The cheers came to an high as the announcers mic shrieked, and the arena came into view.

A dusty coliseum surrounded him, like a roman gladiator ring, complete with the audience in the stands. The ground was a sandy dirt that kicked up an ominous fog, the walls were crumbling stone where past impacts were made. On the opposite side of the arena was another gate and hall and a loud shriek emanated from the depths of the other hall.

The gate across from him opened and a thundering gallop charged through the foreboding dark. The gate raised and a giant bird alien barged out of the suffocating dark. It’s croaking scream drowned out the announcers and crowds cheer.

Izuku’s heart jumped at the sight of dark feathers and his brain immediately thought of Hi’ashi. He was gladly wrong however, Hi’ashi was tall and had six wings and colourful clothing. A pair on his head, covering his face, a pair on his neck and a massive pair that replaced where his arms would’ve been with yellow decorating the tips of his black feathers. This… thing, while massive like his friend (?), didn’t have six wings. Instead its dark green feathered limbs bent like how a bat's limbs would. Its brain was exposed, pulsing and twitching in the open air.

Its scream sounded like black ice cracking. Izuku’s eyes widened and his limbs trembled as it loomed over him. He didn’t have any weapons, his jumpsuit was barren of anything useful. The only sharp object he had was… his hair pin.

Before he could grab his weapon the massive creature charged at him, making him launch himself across the arena to avoid its bull-like movements. Its mindless attack left it dazed and croaking in pain, allowing Izuku to grab his hair pin and flip it in his hand, poised for attack.

The creature turned to him and pounced, pinning his throbbing left arm to the dirty floor as it deathened him with its guttural, spit filled scream; giving him a nice view of the knife-like teeth that lined its beak.

Its other clawed wing came and sliced a thick and gruesome gash into his side, leaving its face exposed and a burning pain in Izuku’s gut. He raised his arm and brought down his hair pin onto the creature's eye. Lodging it firmly in place. Its scream of agony made his poor ears bleed and ring. The crowd’s thundering support punctuated the act.

Izuku unfortunately couldn't retrieve the hair pin as the creature released its hold on him and retreated to the other side of the arena. Whimpering in pain. Izuku jumped up to his feet, the crowd's mentality reminding him of the school ground fights he and Bakugo would get into and further pushing his need to win and survive.

He took a threatening stomp forward, the creature's feathers bristling up more at the action. His pin still lodged into its eye and moved in the socket with each heaving breath it took. Another stomp made the creature hiss and launch itself towards him in a predictable attack.
One that Izuku failed to dodge due to the hole in his side leaking blood. The two of them slid across the ground on impact, leaving a trail of red behind them. The bird's massive beak made attempts to peck at Izuku’s face as he kicked its abdomen. It gasps in pain as he hits it just under its boney ribs, its head tipping forward and giving Izuku a perfect view of its exposed brain.

It was a perfect chance. This beast surely couldn’t live through something like what he was planning… but. But this thing was a living being. So was he. In this space, in this arena, did it really matter if it was wrong to kill another living thing if it meant living? He wanted to live, he wanted to escape. He wanted to go home.

Izuku made up his mind at the last second. As the alien raised its head he punched his way into its brain. Grabbing a fist full of its frontal lobe and yanking back with force. Blood spurted everywhere from its head wound as it croaked its final battle cry and slumped over and off him.

Izuku’s head was drenched in thick, black blood as it spurted from the lobotomised head. Covering his face and hair as he stood up and heaved out his blood stained hair pin. Unsuccessfully trying to bite back acidic vomit that pooled in his blood stained mouth.

He couldn’t feel his body. The blood once burning in heat was only a prick of discomfort. He didn’t realise he was crying, hot tears mixed with blackened blood as he stared up at the announcer’s booth.

The sounds around him were muted and far away, like cotton had been stuffed into his ears. Like he was listening to the TV from upstairs in his room back on earth. A soft ringing started to emanate, cutting through the clouded sounds like a scalpel.

He couldn’t breathe. His body felt like it was floating. Like he was underwater, drowning. Like that time Bakugo had held him under in the fountain as a sick prank. Like his lungs were being compressed by a too tight binder.

Distantly he could hear the crowd’s cheering and laughter reach its climax as the victor was announced.

And yet…

And yet there was no satisfaction like there was when he beat his playground battles with his bullies.

And yet there was no joy like there was when he beat Mei at the new arcade game.

And yet…

He didn’t fight the guards that took him away, their touch burned like the chemical burn Bakugo had given him on his leg. It was hot and painful, uncaring and unkind to his woes.

He didn’t fight the doctor when they added a new tattoo to his right arm and cauterised his open side, the adrenaline in his veins had long dissipated, leaving a shivering husk of the powerful predator in the ring and cage.

He distantly remembered being tossed into a new cell, with the feeling of soft grass under his body. The massive cell doors closed, his new cellmates screeched, two sounded like Hi’ashi and his cat friend.

The ground was soft, the graw was cold against his wounds and the scenery he could see reminded him of the woods that the Hatsumes would take him to on rainy days.

His tired eyes shut and he welcomed the suffocating dark.

He dreamed of the Hatsumes.

Chapter Text

Sho’a was frustrated. He was so, so very frustrated.

Trapped by poachers of all things with a very low probability of escape. Shoved into a cage and separated from Hi’ashi, directly across from a prone body of a deatherworlder of all things and then Hi’ashi was forced to stay with it! Because of course he was!

Its surprisingly tiny body was calm and its behaviour was docile towards them, directly opposing what little information they had about them, it would listen to them chat and curl up on Hi’ashi’s feathered thigh when tired. At least until it was threatened, where it beat three guards into a pulp and took an electric baton to the leg without stopping.

Such power and anger shocked and greatly impressed Sho’a, such a small creature managed to down two of them before tripping over the bulky, collapsed form of the guard and slamming into his cage bars.

The feeling of impressed terror turned into protective anger as the guard took the moment of shock the small thing felt to climb ontop of it and choke it into submission and unconsciousness. He was however, grateful that the deathworlder took the brunt of the attack, meaning Hi’ashi was safe from being electrocuted by the deadly batons and any serious harm.

That was a full 2 day-cycles ago.

Directly after the deathworlder was removed the two of them were carted off to a new enclosure. A new environment that was miles long and yet looked nothing like any planet that he or the other aliens had been to.

The grass was green and the sky was blue. There was a large field in front of the enclosure door with a deep forest off to one side. Stone brick pillars stood out of the ground crumbling and falling with streams of water running through the area and leading to pools of water that certainly went deeper than he could see. Little creatures swam in the water, obviously not sentient and probably food for the captives. There was a large mountain behind the forest, the tips covered in something white.

And then it was revealed to be a deathworlder enclosure.

See, they apparently had too many captives so their solution was to just… shove a bunch of prisoners into one enclosure and hope it didn’t end badly. So his new cellmates were a group of extremely young sentients that were either sold or stolen from their homes. Making his gut twinge in pity and protective rage.

The youngest out of all of them was Eri, who barely even passed being newborn, a little chiro aves. She was a sweetheart. She couldn’t run or walk well, her species being tree dwellers, so she clung to him and Hi’ashi as a mode of transport. White soft feathers covered every inch of her tiny body, making it easy to warm her up during the cold.

How the poachers got her, he had no idea, seeing as most of her species were protected after they were attacked and overhunted. Chio aves are powerful healers with the ability to rewind their patients back to a point of health, they are usually very docile and well hidden.

The others included Hi’oshi, a reptilian siren with a powerful voice and tail. He reminded Sho’a of himself when he was younger, grumpy and pretending to be calm under layers of anxiety. His dry sense of humour made sho’a chuckle.

Sirens came in all kinds of variants unlike most species, however they all lived together in relative peace. They could swap between being bipeds with a tail and only having a tail for easier travel and hunting on and offland. Hi’oshi’s variants had strong, rectangular scales that dotted his cheeks, shoulders, legs and arms. A powerful tail with a set of spines that ran down it the size of his body and a jaw strong enough to rip Sho’a’s arm right off.

On the other side of the spectrum was Ur’aka, a bubbly jellocent who clung to her friend and spoke her opinions loudly. Sho’a didn’t know how to feel about her exactly. On one paw she was young and probably learnt such behaviours from her people. On the other, she was making both him and Hi’oshi uncomfortable with how against predators she was, even if she did it subtly. She was extremely optimistic, to the point of being suffocating.

See jellocents were very… distanced from the rest of the solar system, they were by no means isolated, however they were stuck in their old ways while also being very gullible and naive. Being stuck in their old ways meant that they were very against predators and had very bigotry ways of thinking that were mostly frowned upon. Her bottom half of her body puffed out and floated gently across the floor, thin stingers waved about in the air. The toxins are powerful enough to lift up sentients and drop them to their death.

The last of the younglings was Tsu-y, an anurea who was the middle ground between the two drastic personalities. Very down to earth and kind, they were very willing to give the sentients a chance without any preconceived notions about them. They were very blunt with their opinions but never mean about them, asking questions straightforwardly to avoid any misconceptions about them.

Tsu-y’s skin was bright green and orange, their fur at the top of their head had flora growing out of it to attract bugs for when they went underwater. Their tongue was three times longer than their body and powerful enough to throw sentients across the enclosure.

These young sentients mingled around the grassy fields as he sat with Hi’ashi. They were discussing the deathworlder’s habits, already noting down its docile nature until attacked.

“It was warm-blooded,” Hi’ashi said “it practically radiated heat. It didn’t sleep often though, I don’t know if it was because it was scared or not.”

“Huh” sho’a muttered, his six limbs curled around Hi’ashi “it’s claws and teeth were blunt, it didn’t seem to need them to be lethal though.” he remembered the loud crack the guards throat made when hit.

Their conversation was stopped short when a set of massive armoured guards opened the doors and shoved a bloody and beaten creature into the enclosure. Hi’ashi shrieked at the sound and smell, flapping his neck wings as the other sentients paused what they were doing with exclamations of surprise.

Sho’a quickly got up and started running over to the slumped body, transitioning smoothly from biped to using all six of his limbs. He stopped short when he caught a glimpse of blue fabric that looked very familiar.

“It’s the deathworlder!” he called to his companion, making Hi’ashi bristle up in concern and make his way over. The deathworlder was covered in blood, its once fluffy fur was matted and dirty. An identification number was written across his neck, ‘number four’. The amount of blood made the crew uneasy, and the younger sentients decided to leave the deathworlder to the adults.

In the end they cleaned him from the blood and rested him under the trees to avoid the sun’s rays. Sho’a, not knowing much about Number Four, decided to keep a close eye on the small predator to learn more and keep the others safe, occasionally wandering over to check on it and sniff at his wounds.

On the second day cycle Tsu-y was fed up with Ur’aka and her constant slandering of the predators they were staying with. Sure she was from a different planet with different customs but it felt plain wrong that Ur’aka would constantly talk about how “dangerous” they were. Most of the statements didn’t sound true. Often when a source for the information was asked for she would say that the local law enforcers had told her. It sounded a lot like propaganda.

Sho’a was a kind sentient, his people were incredibly well known for being loyal and family-orientated. He had promised to keep them safe and they truly believed his statement. Hi’oshi was a lovely young siren too, despite the blase attitude and smug aura. He was a joy to talk to and didn’t once set off warning bells in Tsu-y’s brain.

What truly drove Tsu-y to leaving their “friend’ was when she started to talk about the deathworlder, who upon waking up, had given them plenty of space and peacefully started a fire to cook itself some food.

Ur’aka had started to talk about how dangerous it was, how they should be careful around such a predator that could turn rabid on them. Tsu-y could see that it was making Hi’oshi and Sho’a uncomfortable with the constant use of the word “predetor” and Hi’ashi was fuming with anger. Most likely because he had spent the most time with the creature.

An argument had broken out between them, loud and quite honestly annoying to listen to. Tsu-y decided that they didn’t want to listen to such a useless ordeal and started to make their way over to the deathworlder, stopped only by Sho’a who was watching the argument with a relatable look of disdain.

“Number Four can be violent, though from what I’ve seen it’s only when it has been provoked. If you plan on talking to it, get it to open up and come socialise with us, might be less violent if we establish a good relationship with them.” he muttered to them. They gave the affirmative and hopped over to where the deathworlder was sitting.

“Hello” they croaked, the creature only stared slightly, before repeating the word while scrunching up its nose and cheeks in what was probably confusion. It sounded off, like an AI speaking, an untraceable accent. Unnerving but not threatening.

“Hello” they repeated “Tsu-y” they pointed to themself. Its eyebrows raised and shifted its body to face her fully.

“Hello” it repeated in its weird accent “Izuku” it pointed to itself. It’s voice was soft and raspy, deeper than expected and very soothing to listen to. They were offered a piece of meat Izuku was fishing for in the pond of water.

They looked over to see Ur’aka’s shocked and betrayed expression as they nibbled on the fish Izuku had offered.

Tsu-y, or “Tsu” as Izuku had called them much to their delight, turned out to be an absolutely wonderful teacher that he had desperately needed to acclimate to the new climate. They were kind and patient, teaching him the basics of “common” and wasn’t afraid of him like the others were. They truly let him vent his frustration at having to learn a new language without much concern, stating that it was only natural. He did notice how the other aliens would tense when he got frustrated, it made guilt often clog his throat and making them have to stop for the rest of the session.

By the end of 7 “day-cycles” he could hold a short conversation with the frog alien.

Tsu also asked him plenty of questions about earth, and upon learning that earth was split into different countries and cultures, asked about his. It was nice being able to talk about Japan, if a little homesick inducing. Tsu seemed to avoid any lingering questions and doubts by asking them outright, helping straighten out facts and dismiss lies and incorrect conclusions. Their blunt demeanour soothed Izuku’s growing worries about what they thought about him. They learned a lot from each other during their time together.

He had a chance to explain what his facial expressions meant, that his smiling wasn’t a threat and his tears often meant that he was sad. In exchange Tsu had explained the other “sentients” emotional tells.

Sho’a’s ears pinned back when annoyed, his tails would move a certain way to convey what he was thinking and his eyes would dilate like a cat, Hi’oshi’s biggest tell was his tail and spikes that moved and swayed when happy and straightened when angry. Ur’aka was the only one he couldn’t understand, her movements and attitude were too confusing to him and she didn’t allow him to watch her for long without her storming off in a huff.

Ur’aka seemed to despise him, he noticed, often seen glaring at him by Tsu, who explained that she was most likely jealous that the ‘scary’ predator was stealing all of her friend’s attention. When asked why they didn’t stay with Ur’aka, Tsu stated that they didn’t stay with people who talk about unassuming sentients behind their backs. It made Izuku’s heart feel warm when it was confirmed that Tsu saw him as a friend.

Eri had attached herself to Izuku as soon as she learned he could talk and told fantastical stories. Her eyes widened whenever he spoke of small things from earth. She was often found asleep, clinging to his back as he went and did random chores.

Sho’a seemed to be fine with watching them from afar, sometimes coming round to check on Tsu, his red eyes following them around the camp as they chatted. If Izuku had to guess the feline was trying to learn about him from afar rather than directly like with Tsu.

Hi’ashi would often join in on conversation randomly, like an eager toddler, he seemed ecstatic that Izuku had learned basica common and spent a while trying to reconnect with him. He fell silent when Izuku had mentioned how he killed his opponent to Tsu to help prepare them for any future battles they may face and slowly went back to talk to Sho’a.

“How do I comfort you?” Tsu asked once during the night, the fire Izuku had set up had long since burned out. It would’ve probably been better for them to go back to the cuddle pile that the aliens had and yet they refused to leave him alone.

“... what?” he mumbled into his knees as he drew a shoddy frog into the ash of his fire pit near the forest, far away from the small cliff the aliens took refuge under for the night

“You’re in a new environment, scared and fighting. No one, not even the ‘apex predator’-” they made air quotes with their three pronged hand, something they picked up from him. “-would be able to get through this without support.” they stated, so sure of themself.

It reminded him of when Mei found him in the midst of a panic attack, so blunt and ready to help. It made his eyes well up slightly at the thought of his sister.

“... hug. Just, hug” he whispered. Tsu paused, before wrapping cold arms around his head, pushing it into their chest and rubbing his hair gently.

He missed Mei, but at least he wasn’t completely alone.

Chapter Text

It has been a few ‘days’ since Izuku was shoved into this massive enclosure, and he was getting restless. Staying in this small field of grass when there was a forest right there was frustrating, he wanted to stretch his legs, walk through the woods like he did on earth. 

He understood that the others wanted to keep the ‘ dangerous deathworlder ’ in their sights but he was a traveller at heart. He wanted to go running or camping, maybe find a cool flower or rock. Not… sit in the sun and do nothing. 

“ I want to go into the forest, Tsu. ” he groaned from where he was laying, chewing on wheat. “ I'm getting bored just sitting here. There’s nothing to do ” 

“ It is quite plain here. ” they agreed lightly from where they were sitting next to them “ Do you think it's safe for us to go there? ” they asked.

“ These fields are barren of anything that can hurt us. ” he muttered “ The fish aren’t toxic, the water’s clean, the fruit are edible, there’s wheat and rice. The forest might have some animals maybe. It wouldn’t make sense to keep dangerous stuff here. ”

“ That’s a good point. ” they got up, using their sticky digits to heave his heavier body up too. “ I’ll go tell the adults, so they don’t worry. ” they croaked as they started to make their way over to the murmerick. He hesitantly followed behind.

Sho’a was curled up in the sun, eri was sitting beside him. One of his large, fluff tails was dangling a part of his white scarf in front of her to play with. His lazy eyes rolled over to them as Tsu led them way over, Izuku nervously trailed a few feet behind. 

He liked Sho’a. He really did. The murmerick hasn’t done anything to hurt him but the silent watching, with little pin-prick eyes and hackles raised, made Izuku’s get squirm with shallow fear. He got the impression that the large feline didn’t really like him all that much. Maybe because he was an outsider, a danger to the others. Or maybe that was just how he was trying to get to know him, either way it was unnerving and isolating.

Eri’s little claws reached up towards him as he anxiously walked over. He bent over and picked her up, setting her on his hip like he’s seen mothers do to their children, she curled into his stomach contentedly. Sho’a’s eyes narrowed at the act, making him squirm in discomfort. 

“ We’re going to go explore in the woods, ” Tsu stated, drawing Sho’a’s attention to them. Eri’s eyes widened in excitement at the thought.

“ Absolutely not, we don’t know what's in there ” he said firmly “ I don’t want you lot getting hurt ” ‘you lot’ probably meant Tsu and Eri, seeing as he only ever showed Izuku indifference and wariness.

“ Everything in this field is harmless, it wouldn’t make sense for them to put anything dangerous in here if they want us alive. ”

“ Um. ” Izuku started, drawing all of their attention, Sho’a looked slightly surprised to hear him talk “ if it would ease your nerves, maybe one of you could come and supervise? ” 

Sho’a growled at the thought as Tsu closed their eyes at him, their version of smiling.

“ I could go! ” Hi’ashi cawed from where he was perched on a crumbling pillar “ you can stay here and watch the others ”

They started their trek through the trees, Tsu holding Hi’ashi’s wing to avoid him tripping over roots and Eri clinged to Izuku’s back, nuzzling into his neck.

The trees were thick, meaning they were growing for a very long time, and the canopy only let a little bit of sunlight through the leaves. The pattern danced on the dark grass as the branches swayed and the pebbles and stones dug into Izuku's mismatched feet. There were markings in the dirt and tree barks, implying that there were indeed some animals living in these woods. 

One tree had what looked to be French carved into it, “s'abriter devant” with a little arrow pointing to the right.

“ What is that? ” Eri asked when Izuku stopped to look at it

“French , I think. ”

“ What's Frensh ? ” Hi’ashi asked

“ One of the hundreds of human languages. ” Izuku replied. The answer seemed to surprise Hi’ashi, like other species didn’t have so many. Which would make sense, species seemed to be very uniform, together, a community. With very little deviance from customs and their people and very little separation. From what he heard they all stayed in the same area together, unlike humans who have split into different countries and customs for millions of years.

“ Do you lot know what ‘twenty questions’ are?” he asked, they all responded no. The rules were explained, the game was started.

Tsu apparently had two younger siblings in her small pod and Hi’ashi had apparently travelled a lot when he was younger. Eri’s favourite colour was red, Tsu enjoyed his cooking and Hi’ashi was apparently ‘pack-mates’ with Sho’a, though he didn’t know what that meant.

He had told them about himself too. Like how he spent a lot of time outdoors on earth, built machines and lived with a nice family that wasn’t there own. No his hair wasn’t naturally green, some just chose to chemically change it for a while.

“ What are human parents like? ” Hi’ashi asked when they got to a small, clear and still stream that ran through the forest, the pebbled shore shone wetly as the sun finally broke through the canopy. 

“ Well, that depends on what kind of parents they are. Some are great, loving and protective over their young. Others aren’t. ” he muttered as he picked up a pebble and taught Eri how to skip it across a calmer part of the small pond. It was a little clumsy with her tiny claws, but her eyes lit up when it skipped twice along the water. She started to crawl around and find other pebbles to throw around.

“ ... what were yours like? ” Tsu asked, they seemed to notice his tense shoulders and pinched expression, their voice was soft and gentle despite being slightly congested. 

“ ... Mum was sometimes distant, other times she was too present all the time. ” his voice throat was tight, Hi’ashi cooed softly and a soft wing brushed against his hair. 

“ ... And… your father? ” the large bird asked softly

“ ... Dead. But he was a great person, I loved him very much. ” his voice cracked at the end and instead of looking at them he put all his focus on the trees beyond the little pool of water. “I miss him…” he muttered. Took a deep breath and smiled at Tsu, who returned it in their own way. 

He looked down when Eri tugged at his jumpsuit sleeve that hung around his waist. Her cheeks bunched up in a pseudo smile (trying to copy him?) as she shoved a pretty blue rock into his face. He ruffled her baby blue hair-feathers, crouching down to start playing with her, before stopping. 

The bushes rustled on the other side of the stream despite there being no wind blowing by. An animal for sure, big from the sound of it, maybe a boar. He could see that Hi’ashi heard it too, starting to raise a wing to shelter Tsu. 

“ Let’s… let's just head back ok, nice and calm. No need to scare it. ” he light said, picking up Eri. 

They started the long trek back.

“ What happened? ” Sho’a yawned, exposing his sharp teeth, as he watched them climb up the hill towards them.

“ Was it the Deathworlder? ” Ur’aka yelped, her hands starting to hover around Tsu. The exclamation made Izuku pause. Hi’oshi glared at her, mouth brought back into a snarl, Sho’a hushed her harshly making her puff up her flower-patterned cheeks into a pout.

“ No,” Tsu stated firmly. “ There was an animal, Izuku thinks that it might’ve been a deathworlder one. ” Ur’aka obviously remained sceptical, with her arms folded over her chest. 

“ I’uku? You named it? ”   she gasped, making Hi’ashi’s wings puff up

“ No. He already had one. ” Hi’ashi stated.

“ But it’s not sentient! It’s a dangerous predator! ” Ur’aka argued, making Sho’a start to growl in frustration, his ears pinned back and fur starting to raise. Her tone was getting higher and higher as she shrieked, it was getting on Izuku’s nerves. “ I don’t understand why you stay with it Tsu-y, it’s just a dumb predetor. ”

Izuku made his way over to Sho’a, depositing a very sleepy eri into a pair of his awaiting paws. Sho’a nodded at him before getting up and rocking her back and forth, walking off to the small camp they had under a mossy cliff.

“ It’s rude to talk about someone behind their back. ” he muttered, effectively silencing the jellocent, her mouth hung agape in shock. His statement seemed to shock Hi’oshi too, however he quickly shook his head and sent Ur’aka a smug look. As if he expected Izuku to say something in due time.

“ ITS SENTIENT?! ” Ur’aka’s resounding screech reminded Izuku a lot of his mothers. Ear splitting and blood-curdling, a disgusting noise that he didn’t want to or need to listen to.

Ur’aka’s babbling and dumb pointing made him slightly regret saying anything, he could’ve just sat through it, like he did when being bullied. But a firm grip from Tsu made him reconsider. Nothing would change if he didn’t say anything, he’d rather not be a doormat and fight back. He thinks that Mei would’ve been proud of him for that. 

“ Of course he’s sentient! ” Hi’oshi shot back “ if you had been listening to Tsu-y you would’ve learned that a while ago. ” He turned to Izuku, nodding in what was probably mutual understanding and maybe care. Before turning to face the pouting Ur’aka, who’s response was too garbled for the human to understand. 

The others started to join the argument, all of them using terms and words he didn’t understand, it reminded him of when he was younger. When his mum would start yelling at his dad and all he could hear were the muffled shrieking from his room. 

Ur’aka eventually jabbed a translucent brown finger at him, yelling and waving it in his direction. Tsu puffed up their chest, gripping Izuku’s arm tighter but avoiding the still healing cuts.

“ He’s a monster! You heard Hi’ashi describe how he killed that creature! ” Her tentacles floated up higher at the declaration and setting off another screaming match between her and Hi’oshi.

Deciding he didn’t want to listen to the screaming match in front of him, Izuku turned around and started to make his way down the hill. The argument paused before starting up again, this time with Hi’ashi and his powerful voice. 

Tsu quickly followed, a cold three fingered hand gripping his wrist, the pressure was grounding but not like Mei’s tight handgrip and Izuku was filled with an immense feeling of loss at the fact. 

They made it halfway through the forest, pausing at the french writing, the tears that had been obscuring his vision threatened to break loose. He ducked his head, biting his lower lip and started to curl into a small ball. His shoulders were tight, his nails pushed into his palms uncomfortably and his bare feet dug into the sharp stones painfully. 

Tsu awkwardly shuffled beside him, obviously unsure of how to comfort him. A pair of smooth arms wrapped around his head, a soft ribbit croaked from their throat. The act reminded him painfully of Mei.

The last time he felt like this, with his building anxiety and fear, he was eleven and had recently ran away from home; he had immediately sought out Mei for comfort. Just like how he was now, he had curled into a small ball and sobbed. Heaved and shuddered through his powerful feelings while she firmly wrapped her warm arms around his head, and sang a soft lullabye. She had stayed with him in that little playground until dark, rocking him back and forth and promising him that she wouldn’t leave like how his dad had.

Tsu wasn’t like Mei. Where Mei was loud, Tsu was quiet. Where Mei was warm, Tsu was cold. Where Mei had sung, Tsu had croaked. And where he felt safe with Mei, he unfortunately didn’t with Tsu. Not that it wasn’t their fault, far from it. But he was far away from home, from the Hatsumes and surrounded by unfamiliar aliens that didn’t like him only because he was human.

So he didn’t let his tears fall.

Instead he took a deep, gulping breath and pulled himself together. 

“ I… I am not a monster. ” he reassured himself.

“ No, you aren't, ” Tsu agreed. “ you’re a scared little tadpole, like me and the others. Surviving isn’t a bad thing Izuku. ” so sure of themself. They looked to where they had come from, “ they’re still arguing. ”

They were right, shouts could be heard from a distance, albeit quietly. He slowly stood and brushed off his blood stained jumpsuit.

“ I don’t… really want to head back. ” he admitted. 

“ No, me either. ” 

And so the decision to keep walking through the dark woods was silently decided, both of them gripping onto each other as they retraced their walk from earlier in the day, this time going past the small stream and even further towards the large mountain. 

The trees thinned out as they got closer, opening up to a small clearing. The air got slightly colder, making Izuku’s bare shoulders shiver with goosebumps. The clearing had a small cabin, much to their surprise. Made of logs and stone, held together by ropes and clay. The roof was made from a tarp with moss growing on it. Beside the Cabin was a raging river, it practically emanated frost with how cold it was. On the other side was snow, something that was far too sudden for it to be natural, as well as the base for the relatively small mountain. 

Izuku was the one that made his way over to the cabin, Tsu trailing behind him. The inside contained not much of anything, a shoddy table and bed made out of branches balanced on tree stumps. In the corner was a pile of leather bound books. The bed had a woollen blanket half-hazardly tossed on it. The floor was still dirt, worn from being trodden on, the walls had mushrooms and foliage growing on the logs. On one of them hung a bow and knife, both well used and well kept. Meaning that someone lived here recently.

Izuku sat heavily on the bed as Tsu wandered over to the books, picking them up and fiddling around with them. When they turned to look at him, he had already fallen asleep.

Sho’a was getting nervous. Tsu-y and Number For hadn’t come back and it was getting late. He could understand why they had left, that argument was getting on his nerves too from where he watched, threats to use his tribe's ability being the only thing that kept the two from activating their own. He made a mental note to get Hi’ashi talk to Ur’aka about her behaviour. But they hadn’t come back for a while now, paired with the information that there were apparently animals in the woods and he was getting nervous. Sure the deathworlder could handle himself, but Tsu-y wasn’t as strong. They weren’t fond of attacking things and had said that they weren’t trained to defend themself.

His pacing was cut short by twigs snapping, making his ears twitch and eyes snap to the forest. Where Tsu-y hopped out, lacking a certain Deathworlder. He raised an eyebrow as they quietly approached. 

“Where’s Number Four?” he murmured softly, careful to not wake up eri in his lap.

“Izuku” they stated firmly “decided to stay away from Ur’aka, and I don’t blame him.” he hummed in agreement. Ur’aka’s statements made all of them uncomfortable, he couldn’t blame them for wanting space.

“So where is he staying?” 

“In the woods, he’s got shelter. We found evidence of other humans that might’ve lived here.” they croaked, squatting down near him and  far away from Ur’aka.

Sho’a hummed in thought. The deathworlder was sentient, that was obvious. Its personality was nothing like the bloodthirsty stories of warriors, which was probably to be expected. The stories of them came from survivors of the aliens that tried to invade their planet, of course the deathworlders would react in a violent way to hostile enemies. 

From what he had seen Number Four was a soft-spoken sentient. Not one for verbal confrontation if his reaction to Ur’aka’s speech showed anything, where his shoulders had bunched up to his ears and his eyes fell to the floor. 

If anything, Number Four reacted rather than started fights. The guards that took him the first time hurt him, so he attacked brutally. Ur’aka was insulting him, so he responded, albeit quietly. 

It was comforting that the deathworlder wouldn’t hurt anyone without good reason, even going out of his way to make sure that Tsu-y knew how to defend themself from the creatures he had fought and providing food to the ones that wanted it.

Yes the deathworlder is dangerous, but everyone was in their own way even if they don’t want to admit it. He had no doubts that the fully-grown being could help him and the others survive in this hell-hole. A strong ally to have.

He turned and settled down for the night.

Chapter Text

Hatsume Mei had a pretty good life, all things considered. 

Both her mums had good jobs, one running an auto shop at the edge of town and the other building space shuttles for future space travel. She had a good home, loving parents, and good grades. 

But, she didn’t have a friend. It’s not like she didn’t want friends, it’s just that understanding people was hard. People weren’t machines, they didn’t follow set rules and codes, she couldn’t just fix them when they felt bad or replace broken limbs. People, it seemed, didn’t understand her either. Weird looks and mocking were normal, they thought it was unusual when she went on long rants about stuff that interested her. Her lack of boundaries probably didn’t do her much favours. 

So instead of hanging around people, Mei spent her free time at the small arcade in her town. The machines were complex and fun to break down and the games were enough to distract her for a couple hours without getting bored. Hatsume Mei, for the longest time, had the highest score on most of the arcade machines. 

That was until one hot summer when she was ten. 

She stared in disbelief at the new name that shone at the top of the list. The boy before her sniffed before taking a step back and making his way to the exit. He wore a black and white wool letterman jacket with leather sleeves, little embroidered patches brought a pop of colour to the bear jacket. His jeans had tears in them that didn’t look fashionable, like he tripped and didn’t repair them or buy new ones. His green bag was ripping by the seams, a little pink and blue flag stitched onto one of the pockets. 

She immediately latched onto the boy, their occasional meetings in the arcade turned to weekly encounters, which turned to daily milkshake hang outs. Soon they were inseparable, going everywhere hand in hand. Their personalities were complete opposites, allowing them to cover each other's weak points. Mei thought of the world of Izuku, she adored him and his little quirks and ticks. He was like a ratty stray cat she found and took home, he even came with a ratty stray cat for free! They were two side of the same coin, you couldn't have one without the other.

Kyoka came home from work after a successful shuttle launch to chattering coming from her dining room. Mei wasn’t often home at this time, off at the arcade with her new friend, so hearing her laugh so joyously at soft murmuring was surprising. 

Exiting the Genkan she walked further into the house and was met with an unusual sight. The kotatsu table was littered with papers, pages ripped from large A3 sketchbooks with machinery designs scribbled in detail, little post-its stuck on with Mei's massive handwriting covered some of them. On the other side of the small kotatsu was a plate of senbei and drinks, a large brown tabby cat curled near the cool pitcher of juice.

Her daughter sat on one side, dreads flying as she tipped her head back and laughed loudly, clutching her stomach and obviously kicking her feet under the table. On the other side was a smaller boy, long black hair pulled half-hassardly into a high ponytail. Battered letterman jacket draped over the couch behind him. He looked homeless, his clothes ratty and his body too skinny to be healthy. He had a big grin plastered over his face, bunching up his gaunt, freckled cheeks and making him squint at Mei in joy. In his thin and shaking hand was a mechanical pencil and more detailed drawings, his nails had bits of graphite stuck under them. 

She cleared her throat. 

The boy jumped in surprise, Mei tipped her head back to look at her better.

“Mum! Welcome back!” Mei screeched happily.

“Hello, who’s this?” Kyoka asked, smiling at the younger boy.

“Izuku, my future business partner and right hand man.” Izuku waved shyly, she returned it gently.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kyoka-san” His voice was quiet, quite the contrast from Mei’s. They were obviously oppersites, it was surprising that Mei had latched onto someone so different than her.

“Oh, you have to look at his designs!” Mei all but yelled, her remark made Izuku’s ears flush. Mei grabbed some of the papers that littered the kotatsu and shoved them into Kyoka’s face, her big grin widening as her mum read them.

Oh, these were good. Very good. She can see why Mei latched onto the boy, his plans were amazing for someone his age. Definitely a keeper. 

“Are you staying for dinner?” Kyoka asked, eager to get to know Izuku better.

“Um,” he started nervously, looking at the window. The sun was setting, painting their garden in a wash of blue and yellow light, it was getting too late for him to go home alone.

“YES!” Mei cut him off, startling both him and the cat. Kyoka nodded and turned to the kitchen, hearing Mei welcome Izuku to the family, much to the boy's confusion. 

He ended up staying in the night. An occurrence that repeated itself multiple times before they eventually cleared out the spare room and let him stay permanently. 

Hatsume Mei was what some would call a petty bitch. 

You could do anything to her, insult her, bully her or fight her. But as soon as someone hurt her dear friend she would do anything to get back at the perpetrator. Bakugo hurt Izuku? He ended up with wet cat food in his shoes. Izuku’s mum said something hurtful? She ended up with neon paint splattered all over her house in the middle of the night. 

So when Izuku went missing, the only evidence of it being an alien abduction was the security footage that showed him being knocked out and taken away, she threw herself into finding a way to get him back.

Because how dare they. Her Izuku had already been through enough, how dare they add more to it. Her Izuku was kind and smart and would totally demolish them if they tried anything, but he had no way home. How dare they take her only bother away from his home, the one that he had just gotten used to. Just when he was finally starting to feel better.

They better be ready. She would fight the gods and buddha for Izuku, a small alien trafficking ring was nothing to her. 

She and her mums packed a small space shuttle, with full permission to go look for their missing family member from her mum's boss, the Shields.

They better be ready. All their horror stories about them were going to be proven right when they find them.

Hell hath no fury like Mei missing her other half.

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next few days Izuku learned what he could from the myriad of books in the cabin. It was a slow process, the only one he could fully understand was the english book, which was translated from the italian book. Speaking of the italian book, it seemed that little children had helped their guardian decorate it, little drawings signed “Roro and Lala” dotted the margins of the pages, which was a horrifying thought. Little children were kept here, probably experimented on or used in cage fights too…

He spent a couple days learning how to use the bow and what little arrows he had. The books detailed how to hunt the local boars and dears, skin and smoke their meat and how to use most, if not all of the body parts. The knife was useful, obviously hidden from the guards so it wasn’t taken away.

He taught Tsu how to defend themself with the knife, under the watchful eye of Sho’a, they were natural at it, understanding what little terminology he knew. It was entertaining, the two grew closer for it. Mock battles with dull sticks were fought in the field, much like how he and Mei would have “lightsaber” battles in the tatami rooms before being kicked out by Hanabi-san. Eri found these battles delightful, always cheering for Izuku. Kicking her little clawed feet and squealing whenever one of them “died”.

Sho’a seemed more concerned than amused, tails lashing everytime they sparred. He was nervous, probably because of Izuku, warning growls were let out whenever they got too close to actual blows. Surprisingly he jumped up when Izuku got a nasty cut on his elbow from tripping on Tsu, circling around him as he hissed in pain. The cut wasn’t bad, nothing like the playground scrapes he got when he was on earth, but Sho’a cancelled any further spars until the next day. The murmerick practically sat on him and licked his little wound clean.

Hi’oshi soon demanded that he taught him how to defend himself too, it came out of the blue. The two of them hadn’t talked or interacted outside of the arguments that Ur’aka had started. Izuku knew that the siren liked him to a degree, defending him during the verbal spouts against Ur’aka that he was often vocal in.

The two of them ended up getting along like a house on fire, they play-fought a lot dirtier than his scuffles with Tsu, much to Sho’a’s dismay. Hi’oshi also helped Izuku learn a lot more “common slang” and told him fantastical stories of his people. He seemed ecstatic when Izuku told him of western mermaids and sirens, flapping his scaled hands around like how Mei did when she stimmed.

Ur’aka avoided him, sending him scathing looks and pouting from where she floated. Away from the other aliens.

He had explored the mountains alone. 

Tsu said that most aliens can’t survive anymore than an hour in such cold climates. Most planets with snow were uninhabited, deathworlds where no one could survive. Him being able to wander into the cold with only his jumpsuit for 2 hours was a shock, and led to Tsu fussing around him in worry.

In hindsight it was a stupid idea, wondering in knee-deep snow with only a jumpsuit and no shoes. His limbs were numb and he could’ve gotten hypothermia. His fingers or toes would have fallen off from frost-bite if he stayed for too long.

But his little escapade did give him a little hide-hole where none of the other aliens could follow. A small cave at the base of the mountain, a half hour walk from the raging river and fallen log bridge that separated the cold from the rest of the woods. The cave was where he slept most nights. The cabin belonged to another human, one that might still be alive seeing as it was lived in before he even got there. 

As soon as his side had healed he was dragged out kicking and screaming to the padded cell. 

He was tense, he was scared. He thumbed his hair pin, the smooth marble was still stained black, his fingernails had crusty black blood stuck under them. His hair was tugged into a tight bun with a piece of twine to keep it out on his face.

He wandered around the cell, teeth gritted and brow furrowed. Counting. He thinks an hour had passed when the armoured guards came and dragged him back into the waiting cell. He took a deep breath.

The gate creaked open. The cheering started as he ran down the long dusty hall, the light beamed down on him like a spotlight. Like he was the star of a show.

On the other side the gate groaned open. A bellowing roar came from the looming dark and thundering footsteps accompanied the crowd's rising chants. 

A large, muscular beast with pitchblack skin crashed its way into the arena. Much like the last monster it had its brain exposed and a sharp beak with shark teeth lining the insides. Its bellowing roar made the ground tremble and its tail swished rapidly behind it. 

Izuku took a steadying breath and held his ground as the beats charged towards him. 

The beast swung its powerful fist down on him as he rolled to the side, leaving a crater where he once stood. He swung his hair pin down, leaving a pretty slice in its neck, it was too shallow to do enough damage though. 

The beast roared and grabbed him by his mangled and scared foot, swinging him up like a dog toy and slamming him back down onto his back. Pushing all air out and making his ribs creak in protest. The beast let go when he kicked it in the jaw with his free leg with a bellowing groan. 

He felt his heart beating against his chest; drowning out all noise, his harsh, wheezing breaths echoed in his head. He felt numb, like how he felt after the first fight. All movement from the beast seemed… awfully slow, its pounce should've been faster.

He slammed his hair pin up and through the bottom of the nomu’s beak. Effectively lodging it shut, this however didn’t stop it from using its hands.

To Izuku’s surprise, the beast's fists were hot, burning. The pain cut through the distant fog, he screamed. 

Izuku’s arms flailed, jabbing his fist into the nomus eye, ripping its eye out of its socket. 

It let go with a loud scream of pain, grabbing at its eye and slamming into the floor and writhing away. Leaving a blistering and bloody burn on chest and right arm. He heaved himself up, coughing and spitting out blood from his cut tongue. 

The creature never got a chance to get back up.

Izuku beat it to death with his bare feet and hands.

He feels numb.

He feels nothing as he’s dragged off to the tattoo room

Every time he’s fully healed he’s taken away to fight. 

Every time he’s fully healed he’s taken away to be used for entertainment.

Like an animal, a circus tiger stuck in a small cage and only let out when he's used to make the masses laugh and clap. 

He’s tired. He thinks the others are noticing that. He’s the only one that battles. He’s the only one that's hurt. 

Tsu is a dear, always helping him with his wounds and holding him when he feels too overwhelmed. Eri sits in his lap most times. Poor thing doesn’t seem to understand why he’s so hurt all the time. Hi’oshi talks about how he could try and attack the guards, by him some time and escape. His ideas are always shut down by either him or Sho’a, much to his frustration. Hi’ashi likes to preen his hair, chirp little songs to him and Eri and wrap them in his massive back wings.

But he’s tired. His body aches even when the past wounds have fully healed. Phantom pains, a constant dull ache and twinge when he moves wrong. 

He’s so fucking tired. 

Ur’aka’s not bloody helping, always saying that he’s dangerous. Her high pitched voice grated on his nerves and was testing his temper. 

He spends most of his time in his cave. Away from the others, much to their worry. 

Tsu, Hi’oshi and Eri opted to stay in the cabin, shelter from the constant blistering sun was nice. Eri liked to watch from the small doorway when it rained, big red eyes watching as it pitter pattered on the tarp roof. Sho’a paced along the river’s edge most days. Izuku could hear the growls from his small den, though he didn’t know if it was worried or frustrated growling.

The cave walls were covered in pasted parchment paper, charcoal drawings and notes lined them. Some drawings were of his cellmates, others were of the sights he saw. Most were notes about how he could escape. All of them didn’t go that far. 

A few of his drawings were of the Hatsume’s. Most of them didn’t have faces filled in. He can’t remember what they look like. It's been a long time since he saw them. One was of his dad, the only one with his face filled in, he had drawn him so many times that it was ingrained into his brain. Three of them were of his little stray tabby, Tonbo, the patterns were probably wrong but it was close enough. 

The floor was lined with boar hide. Big soft blankets made with the help of Yagi-san’s notes in his book. The outside was cold, the snow made pretty patterns as it whipped around in the harsh wind. 

He is so tired. His body hurt. He needed a shower. At least here, in his little cave he could finally cry. Not vulnerable to anyone's judgement or Ur’aka’s snide remarks.

He wants Mei, and his mums. He really wants to hug Tonbo and hear him purr. He wants his shit-show of a school, he missed easy learning. Not hard learning here, new languages and how not to die of starvation was difficult. Was frustrating. He much preferred the school-yard scraps than the death-matches he has to go through here.

He buried his head into the fur beneath him, and he wept.

Sho’a was growing worried. Fights were getting more and more frequent and despite Number Four being the only one to fight there was still a possibility that the others, him included, would have to fight. Despite the deathworlder training Tsu and Hi’oshi he had a strong feeling that the two wouldn’t be able to fight the nomu that Number Four had.

He also couldn’t monitor the deathworlder, he had hidden himself in the snowy area of the enclosure. His keen ears could pick up movement and breathing a mile into the snowy section, which helped ease his jumpy nerves. 

In all honesty he didn’t know if he could make his way through the snow. His people mainly stayed in forests, up in the trees and mountains. His fur helped defend him from cold winds and rain, but snow was much colder than what he had experienced.

There was a strong possibility that he could make his way through the snow, he was unbothered by the freezing river, but the mountain was obviously a safe space for Number Four. He didn’t want to invade the other's security, he kept to himself and respected the other adult’s wants and wishes. 

He was still nervous, his paranoia crawled up and made his fur itch with discomfort. Hi’ashi could probably sense his rising feelings, he cooed softly and tried to comfort him.

Ur’aka’s constant speeches didn’t help however, throughout their stay she hadn’t faultered once during the many days and nights they were forced to stay here. Her beliefs were firmly in place and spoken loudly, it was clearly getting on everyone’s nerves. Sho’a could understand Number Four’s isolation, seeing as most of her remarks were directed at him.

Sho’a huffed, shuffling down just outside the cabin with the others. Distantly he could hear Number Four’s soft sobs, making him wince in sympathy. 

He had a horrible gut feeling that Number Four was younger than he initially thought.

Chapter Text

One day something changed.

Three days after one of Izuku’s fights, when he was still healing a plethora of guards barged in. Three or more.

They weren’t the usual. Less powerful, lacking the armour that protected them from the deathworlders powerful attacks.

They beelined it straight to Sho’a and Hi’oshi, near the small pool of water. Long marches with purpose. It made Sho’a’s fur raise at the threat. He could distantly see Hi’ashi ready himself for an attack, wings flaring out and feathers puffing up.

Sho’a’s horns ached dully as he gripped his scarf, using his massive tails to push Hi’oshi behind him. 

He threw out one end of the scarf and dragged one of the guards towards him, kneeing him in the face and using his lower arms to push him down. 

The action spurred the others forward. He wasn’t good at fighting multiple sentients. Definitely not larger ones with muscles and trained to detain. He was a stealth hunter, not a heavy hitter.

The one he had captured writhed under his paws as the others ran towards him and Hi’oshi. One of the guards at the back was captured by Hi’ashi’s massive talons and dragged through the ground. The claws gripped the guard's head as he writhed and tried to get away.

Tsu spurred forward, knife in hand, to try and help but was overtaken by a blur of blue and green.

Number Four slammed into the Final guard, hair bellowing out behind him as he slammed his hair pin into the guards back. He stomped on the sentients back several times before stepping off, kicking them in the chest when they tried to get back up with a nasty crack.

Number Four breathed heavily. Tipping his head back and taking deep gulps of air. He grabbed his hair pin and yanked it out with a nasty spurt of blood.

Sho’a’s scarf went slack with shock.

He- He didn’t expect that. That level of violence and power. Number Four completely subdued the guard, maybe even killed him. In under a minute.

He’s heard the stories, he knows that this is what they were known for. But seeing it was another thing. Sho’a was suddenly met with an overwhelming sense of relief that Number Four was on their side.

The guard under him took full advantage of his shock, kick out from under him and knocking Sho’a straight into an unexpecting Hi’oshi. 

And then he realised.

Number Four was still healing. He was probably still in pain. He probably wouldn’t be able to hold off another guard if they attacked. Like the one under him was planning.

The guard barreled into Number Four, a sharp and pained gasp coming from the deathworlder. Hi’ashi’s panicked squawk echoed through the enclosure as Number Four’s head crashed onto the ground.

Sho’a growled from where he layed, scrambling to get up and help his cellmate when more guards entered, batons held threateningly towards them.

Sho’a felt useless as they dragged the prone figure out of the enclosure.

Tsu was worried.

Tsu was scared. 

Tsu wanted Izuku back. But of course, Izuku had to go and fight the guards with a broken arm and still healing torso.

Tsu’s chest felt tight. Like when their baby sibling fell and hurt their knee. They wanted to cry, but held it together like Izuku did. They weren’t going to cry, they were strong, like Izuku.

All these emotions are welling up and making their throat clog up and their chest constrict. Pacing back and forth in front of the door and wringing their hands together. Hi’oshi walked with them, equally worried and voicing their concerns.

“He’s fully grown right?” Sho’a started, making Tsu pause “He’ll be fi-”

“He’s not.” Tsu snapped.

“What?” Sho’a looked over at them

“He’s an adolescent, a tadpole. Like me and Hi’oshi. Barely fully grown.” they stated firmly. Sho’a stared at them in surprise. Shocked.

“He’s… he’s young? A cub?” he uttered. he looked dumbstruck as he collapsed onto the ground. Hi’ashi seemed to be in a similar state of shock. His head wings ruffled slightly as he cooed nervously. Eri stared, confused and scared, chewing on an apple slice Izuku gave them.

“So he’s extra dangerous.” Ur’aka butt in. all of them whipped their heads at her and glared. Hard. 

“What?” She looked confused.

“He’s not a danger to us.” Hi’oshi snarled “he protected us, he taught Tsu how to use a knife and me how to properly fight.”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to hurt us!” she retorted.

“FOR THE LOVE OF THE COSMOS HE’S NOT GOING TO HURT US!” Tsu bellowed, throwing their arms up and stomping over to her.

Ur’aka stared at them in shock and betrayal.

“IZUKU HAS DONE NOTHING BUT HELP.” Tsu continued, oblivious to the others concern, jabbing a finger to Ur'aka's chest “HE HUNTS, HE COOKS. HE TAKES CARE OF ERI AND HE TEACHES US HOW TO SURVIVE.”

“But-” Ur’aka started, nervously looking over at the adults. Sho'a barely looked at her, Hi'ashi was making low hissing noises.

“But nothing,” Hi’oshi interrupted. “He’s a lovely person, kind and very calm. He takes our places during fights. He literally just save both me and Sho’a from being dragged to a fight we probably can’t win.”

Sho’a took a deep, shuddering breath at the statement. His shoulders hunched and top paws wrapped around his head, his lower ones curled around Eri in his lap. She gazed at him in worry, tiny claws patting the massive paws comfortingly.

“He’s a cub.” his voice choked, Hi’ashi rested his massive wing over him.

“Yea and he took down a guard!” Ur’aka yelled.

“FOR US.” bellowed Hi’ashi. Snapping his beak at her, making her jump back.

Tsu glares at the door with a bone-deep tiredness, tuning out their fight. Vaguely they wondered if this was how Izuku felt whenever they fought. 

Izuku. Quite frankly. Wasn’t having a good time.

His hair pin was only an inch away from his crawling fingertips as the thinner and faster nomu grabbed his hair and lifted his head up.

His vision was covered in blood, his right eye was sealed shut, meaning he had a blindspot. His broken arm that was so close to being healed was rebroken and twisted in an awkward bend.

His hand flailed as he desperately tried reaching for his weapon. He felt the nomu tug at his hair and slammed him into the ground with an excruciating and nasty crunch. His cheek screamed in pain. He however, did not. His tongue felt like it was going to fall off with how hard he was biting down on it. 

His fingers finally reached his hair pin as the creature leaned down to listen to his breathing.

He could hear his heart pounding as he held his breath. He thought that playing dead would be easier, that all he had to do was wait. But he was hyper aware of his own heart, sweat and how his muscles protested and shook slightly. He was also hyper aware of the monster that breathed in his ear and stared at him through one beady eye and gripped his hair like a stress toy.

The nomu finally dropped him. 

His chest impacted the floor, followed by his head. All air escaped his lungs, his grip on his precious hair pin tightened.

The nomu lumbered off, screeching at the crowd. 

He got up on shaking hands and knees, spitting out blood and a tooth before shifting to glare at his opponent over his shoulder.

It looked forward to the announcer. He stood up on shaking legs.

It took a step forward. He took a step forward. 

He couldn’t fucking see out of one eye, his chest creeked with every laboured breath. His ears were ringing, his body was covered in bleeding cuts and bruises.

It took a step forward. He took a step forward.

Gods and Buddha above the amount of bullshit he has gone through for those aliens better be worth it. All this fighting better be worth it. They better be grateful because there was no fucking way they were going to survive fights like this.

It took a step forward. He took a step forward.

The crowd was silent with anticipation.

He fucking ran. 

Its blood splattered everywhere as he jammed the hairpin into its neck, a garbled and pained cry came from it. 

He was covered in it.

The crowd roared.

He promptly passed out next to the dead monster.

Sho’a was fucking tired. 

He so fucking tired. And he is so fucking ashamed.

A cub. Number Four was a cub. And he sent that little boy off to fight nomus and monsters.

That little cub got bludgeoned half to death every few day-cycles. Heard lies and slander thrown at him by Ur’aka and healed himself in a space where no one could reach him.

He curled into himself and wrapped his three tails around his body.

That little cub was still healing when he beat up that guard for him .

That little cub was still healing when he was dragged off to fight again .

He failed, so, so very spectacularly.

Ob’ro would be pissed at him. 

He’s surprised that the others weren’t. 

Looking back. It was very obvious that Number Four was a cub. He was always talking about his family. About people who would take care of him back on earth, he liked playing with the other cubs. Little drawings and stories he would tell Eri would consist of “playgrounds” and talks of a sister playing “video games” with him.

He acted a lot like how Sho’a did back when he was a cub, aloof and soft-spoken. Very accommodating considering the circumstances.

Worry was filling his gut and making his fur stand on end. He was drowning in his own guilt, pacing back and forth in his own mind on how he fucking missed this.

Stars above he was so stupid.

Chapter Text

Sho’a was spireling.

The little deathworlder was tossed into their enclosure, bloody and wheezing. His right eye sealed shut with red blood, cheek bludgeoned and ripped open. Old wounds reopened and new ones spurting blood. Limbs and fingers bent and twisted in ways they shouldn't. 

Tsu-y and Hi’oshi immediately grabbed him and carried Number Four to the cabin in the woods.

Dropping Number Four on the wooden bed the sentients in the room started discussing how to help the deathworlder. Tsu had helped with other injuries, however none of them were this bad.

The thought made Sho’a wince. 

He curled on the hard bed, propping the small shivering body up. Number Four’s head lolled forwards, sticky blood dribbling down his nose and chin. Sho’a looked away from the sight over to Tsu and Hi’oshi, who were flipping through the small books in the corner.

Hi’ashi and Eri sat outside, Eri describing what was happening in a soft voice. She looked so scared. Ur’aka was nowhere to be seen.

“Anything?” Sho’a rumbled at them, his tails wrapping over Four’s lap and chest, soothing him by purring deeply.

Tsu looked up at him and slowly shook their head.

“I can’t read it, all the diagrams don’t make sense without its description.” Hi’oshi added angrily.

Sho’a’s ear flicked when a twig snapped outside. He dipped his head and shifted slightly to look out of the small cabin. Hi’ashi scrambled up, slightly shoving Eri into the cabin, his feathers puffing up and hissing lowly.

“That's not Ur’aka” he chirped, readying to tackle the incoming threat.

Tsu readied their knife while Hi’oshi jumped up into a defencive position.

A stumbling blurr of brown and yellow broke through the treeline, two younger bodies following. The sentient paused, catching his breath, before looking up. Face scrunched in worry and confusion. Red markings under his eyes and brown fur flipping all over the place.

“What the fuck ” the sentient uttered.

Rody was panicking, he was fucking panicking.

He and his siblings were taken for their tests and lessons for longer than usual. They’re finally placed back into their enclosure and there's a fucking CAMP in the field. Not to mention the blood that was splattered all over the grass. Thats worrying for his sibling's safety, seeings as they were the only ones that lived in this enclosure apart from the occasional animal.

He and siblings ran through the forest. Scared and worried of what happened in their little home. When they broke through the trees to their cabin they were faced with a very, very weird scene.

A myriad of aliens, all of them that should’ve been in different cages, crowded around a bloodied and wheezing body.

A human. Like his dad.

And then his panic increased tenfold. 

A HUMAN was lying on their bed and bleeding out and obviously the aliens here knew how to fucking treat him.

Roro and Lala, bless their little souls, managed to shove most of the aliens out of the cabin. The only one not leaving being the massive 10 foot murmerick, who glared and growled at him when he suggested leaving.

Resetting the arms and fingers was easy enough. He and his siblings had broken a few when climbing rocks and trees, much to Rody's dismay and horror.

The crushed cheek and various cuts and burns, however, were much harder, they would surely scar. Washing off all the blood was a chore in itself. Rody was just hopeful that the human wouldn’t have to suffer through infection.

“What’s his name?” Rody asked while wiping crusted blood from the pretty boys bloodied face.

“... name?” the murmerick questioned softly from his corner, curled into a ball and watching him with lazer focus.

“Wow… you don’t even know his name?” Rody snarked, a sly smirk stretching across his face, puffing a breath to push his fringe out of his face.

The murmerick didn’t answer.

“... Wait, you actually know?” he questioned further, smirk dropping off his face.

“... Izuku.” the anurea uttered, a scathing look shot over to the murmerick, who winced and looked away. There was a story there, one that Rody didn't really care about all that much so long as it didn't hurt his siblings.

“Ok. Well, Izuku’s probably gonna be fine.” Rody nodded, grabbing Izuku’s hand and ushering his siblings over to the sleeping boy.

“What are you?” a sweet voice asked, the Screechern hushed the Chiro aves, uttering something about manners.

“We’re half human!” Lala yelled, hands thrown up at the exclamation and bapping Rody in the nose.

The aliens looked shocked.

“Our mama was an alien from a trading world!” Roro added, oblivious to the aliens' silent crises. “We don’t know what kind though.”

Rody tipped his head back and sighed, thumb rubbing slight circles into Izuku’s hand as his baby siblings continued chattering to their new cellmates.

This. This was going to be a strange thing to grow used to.

Izuku’s head is pounding.

He’s been awake for a while now. It's in the middle of the night cycle. Eri’s curled into his uninjured side, dozing silently. Sho’a’s curled around Hi’ashi, both sleeping. Hi’ashi’s coos and Sho’a’s purrs filling the stiff air. If he tilted his head slightly he could see Tsu and Hi’oshi sleeping outside the cabin.

His eye was covered in bandages that wrapped over and under his long hair, his arm in splints and makeshift casts. He looked like a ridiculous mummy. He desperately missed painkillers.

Something shifted on the floor, making him tense a bit, before a head of brown hair and feathers pushed up and lolled around with exhaustion. The new figure looked over at him, cheeks with red markings and eyes lined with thick lashes tiredly looked over at him. shock and then lazy happiness spread on their face.

“ Hello ,” They whispered, “ you’ve been out for a while. ” a dopey grin plastered his face. “ The name’s Rody. ” he stuck a hand out to him to shake. 

Rody? That's a very western human name, they look very human too, especially the eyes. It probably wasn’t that far-fetched that a human would end up falling in love with an alien. Does that make him half human? Which parent was an alien? What characteristics carried over to him? Is that why part of his hair was made of feathers? Why are his eyelashes so thick? What's up with his leather-like hands? Does he know how to speak any earth languages? Does he-

“ You ok? You’re kinda just staring? ” Rody asked, face twisted in concern making Izuku looked away in embarrassment. “ Hey man it's ok! I don’t mind, you’ve got very pretty eyes. ” he waved his hands back and forth.

Izuku stared at him with his one eye. Rody coughed awkwardly, face flushing at his mistake.

“ Do my legs work? ” Izuku rasped painfully. 

“ Oh! Uh, yeah? ” Rody spluttered, “ I wouldn't recommend it though. Once you're better I can help you out of here though. ” he carried on with a flippant wave of his hand.

Izuku hummed, disappointed, flexing his hands before Rody started asking more questions

“ What’s earth like? ” he whispered “ I have, so, so, so many questions for you. You’re not sleeping any time soon that's for sure, so how about we get to know each other? ”

For the first time in this god forsaken cage, Izuku had someone to talk to about his home and not have to worry about scaring them. 

Rody was fun and joking. Somewhat of a flirt, though Izuku chalked it up to Rody imitating his dad. The constant stream of awkward flirting and chatter helped ease Izuku into a sense of calm that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Chapter Text

He’s spent weeks in that tiny cabin and he’s slowly losing his mind. 

Rody’s a darling, he really is. A constant presence helping him through healing and trying desperately to make Izuku laugh and blush. His baby siblings remind him of the little kids that would run around the arcade, constantly talking and chattering. Their little curious minds were rarely silent, asking questions left and right. Lala liked writing and drawing, she thought that his charcoal portraits were the coolest. Roro enjoyed cooking, he would shove whatever he made into their cellmates faces and watch their reactions when they chewed. 

Ur’aka hovers from the sidelines. Her crude comments are few and far between, Tsu had told Izuku that a massive fight had broken out. One that ultimately made Ur’aka separate from the group, her reasons were unknown to Izuku. She seemed troubled, though Izuku didn’t care all that much, seeing as she didn’t seem to care for him that much either.

Sho’a was a constant presence, constantly watching and laying in the corner, soft purrs came occasionally whenever he shifted and winced. Eri would sit on the floor with the other soul kids, chattering and playing with them. Often where Sho’a and Rody could see them, sometimes fiddling with Sho’a’s capture scarf thing.

Hi’ashi, much like when they shared a tiny cell together, was a constant, always preening and chattering. The bickering between the two adult aliens was what often lulled Izuku to sleep. 

Tsu and Hi’oshi quickly became a duo, visiting and hunting together. He was glad that the two had become such good friends, their personalities were very similar: Painfully blunt and honest. They seemed to revel in giving the adults heart attacks when telling stories of what they did in the forest.

He enjoyed their company. He really, truly did. But unlike how he can spend every waking moment with Mei, their presence slowly started to grind on his nerves. Rody seemed to realise, so did Tsu and Hi’oshi. His pain made him irritable and the constant noise was driving him insane.

He could probably say something. 

He probably should. But all other instances where he’s said something even slightly “rude” or even slightly showed an aggressive emotion would make the others bristle and look at him like a ticking time bomb.

He’s in so much pain, it’s actually pretty impressive. Back on earth the worst pain was when Bakugo poured chemicals onto his leg and permanently damaged it. Here it was the throbbing reminder that his cheek was ripped open, his chest and back were covered in scars and sticky wounds, his bones were snapped in two like a pencil. The amount of damage done to his body was frankly, horrifying and very surprising that it didn’t prevent him from fighting further.

The night cycle was in full swing, the aliens were sleeping, most inside to avoid the creeping chill that Izuku couldn’t feel due to his warm body.

Sho’a was usually awake at this time, but his low rumbling purrs and steady rise of his chest indicated that he was snoozing next to Hi’ashi and Eri comfortably.

He carefully got up, draping the soft and worn blanket over Rody who was curled up at the end of the bed he was occupying with his siblings. He carefully made his way out of the cramped cabin with well placed steps and pauses to ensure that no one had awoken. He looked to the forest, where Ur’aka sat sulking, they made eye contact. She froze up, mouth parted and hands coming up to her chest. He nodded at her, which she hesitantly returned, and carried on his way to the rickety bridge that precariously stood over the raging river.

The short and familiar trek to his little hideyhole was calming and cathartic. The wet snow made his feet tingle as the soft snowflakes drifted down in its smooth ballet recital. His little shuffle soon became a full march with arms swinging side to side despite the sharp pain in his side that would flare whenever he moved his limbs. He started dancing as he walked through the tundra to his camp, smile on full display in his solitary journey.

It was moments like these that only just made up for the torture he’s put himself through for these aliens. 

Sho’a stirred awake when he noticed that the cabin was lacking Four’s signature body warmth and wheezy breathing. His ears flicked as he got up and stretched his back, yawning and silently lumbering his way out of the cabin and into the chilled air of the night-cycle.

There were tracks in the snow that lead off into the distance. Sho’a internally groaned as he trudged over to the river that separates them from the unnaturally cold section of their enclosure. 

A hestient step onto the wood made him shiver, the cold from the river seeping through the rotting logs, uncomfortable but not unbearable. He reached the end of the bridge and slowly laid one of his back paws onto the crunchy snow.

It wasn’t painful, or all that cold, though he could see how his paws could become numb if he stayed too long. Maybe it was the massive amount of fur that he had that kept the cold from seeping through his skin. Maybe ‘snow’ wasn’t as dangerous as others had said, but judging by how Tsu-y ‘call me tsu’ and Hi’oshi reacted to such a chill it must vary from species to species.

The snow shimmered and danced with each blow of the wind. Sho’a marvelled at how pretty the deathworlder climate was despite how dangerous it was. 

There were footprints in the snow, irregular and messy, trailing up to a small cave on the side of the mountain. Sheltered from the snow by a cliff and burrowing deeper into the ground, a small campfire was lit in the middle, beyond it was a pile of animal furs and other belongings, along with Number Four. He sat in the middle of the pile of furs, flexing his arms and stretching, face scrunching up as his limbs reached up towards the ceiling. 

Sho’a huffed as he crouched down and crawled towards Four, who paused at the sound. His head dropped and he sighed heavily. Turning to glare at Sho’a, his cheeks puffed up and his eyebrows furrowed down, they stared at each other, both unblinking.

“What do you want?” Four grumbled, he tipped his head back to the wall of drawings. What did he want? Sho’a didn’t know what he wanted from the sentient. Honestly he just followed to make sure he was okay. 

“Are you properly healed to be moving around?” he rumbled, the question made Four blink in surprise.

“... what’s so different now compared to the other times?” he grumbled, turning back to the wall, shoulders hunched and scars on full display. 

Sho’a winced.

“Is it because you know I'm a child now? Is that it?” Four challenged “What pathetic bullshit.” his hand whipped around with each question, his voice sharp and unflinching.

“Four-” he started before being cut off.

“Izuku. Not Four.” Fo-Izuku interrupted, levelling him with an impressive glare, frustration and anger came off him in waves. “Honestly, you didn’t even try to learn my name! What was I to you? Death fodder? A shield, a tool? You didn’t care for me, why seek me out now?” he bared his teeth, not the smile that Tsu-y had mentioned. His rightful anger made Sho’a’s ear flick nervously as he tried to right the wrongs he had inflicted on this child.

“Izuku.” he agreed, inching towards the other sentient, front paws up placatingly. Izuku eyed them with distrustful disdain. “I’m sorry for how I've treated you. It was wrong, I thought you were an adult.”

“Oh yeah, and because you thought I was an adult it makes everything you did okay!” he retorted, eyebrows scrunched and mouth twisting up in a manic grimace. His face flushed pale pink as his brown eyes shined wetly, he threw his hands up to emphasise the point.

Sho’a dipped his head down in shame.

“No, it doesn’t.” he admitted “I just- Izuku I thought that… I let what I was told about deathworlders get to my head. It was illogical and stupid, but I thought that syrely  the fabled deathworlder wouldn’t need help-”

Cruel laughter echoed throughout the cave, making Sho'a flinch in surpise.

“Oh that’s rich!” Izuku exclaimed “The almighty deathworlder surely doesn’t need support like any other animal or sentient! He’s a killing machine!” he took a shuddering breath, his wide smile looking painfully manic as tears dribbled down his cheeks and soiled the bandage around his eye.

Anything that Sho’a could say to comfort the cub caught in his throat as Izuku laughed and cried.

“I AM A PERSON!” He jabbed a finger at Sho’a, making him gulp. “I DESERVE TO BE TREATED AS ONE! NOT AS A KILLING MACHINE OR A ‘DANGEROUS PREDATOR’. I’M JUST A KID, I SHOULD BE BACK ON EARTH WITH MY SISTER AND MOTHERS. NOT HERE. Not killing people just to live.” He tipped forwards, his forehead bushed against the rumpled furs as he held his hands close to his chest. Soft sniffles and sobs came from the lone cub as he rocked back and forth in what Sho’a assumed was an imitation of his parent’s comfort.

He carefully clambered over, laying beside the boy and purring softly.

“You’re right, it is wrong. I’m sorry that I was a contributing part of your suffering. But, I promise that I will try and do better.” Izuku side eyed him “I will try and talk to you more, like how Tsu-y did for you, if that will help?” he offered.

Izuku was silent for a long time, staring at the patterns in the boar hide, before tipping to the side and slumping into the fur with a heavy fall. Sho'a lurched up at the action in concern.

“I’d like that.” Izuku mumbled “this is your only second chance though.” he warned, Sho’a nodded in relief. The cub shifted so he didn't have to look at Sho'a and wrapped himself with the thick blanket.

Sho'a took the action as an invite to look around the cave. Scraps of tree skins were scattered further in, all stained with soot, decorated in detailed drawings of people and places. A few of an animal that looked like a baby murmerick, much to Sho’a’s surprise. Many of the drawings contained another human, their face never finished. Either left blank or scribbled out furiously, the sight made him feel queasy with sympathy. The cub had tried to remember someone dear but couldn't remember what their face looked like, it was a horrible thing to realise. He had faced a similar thing when Ob’ro died, captured by poachers.

His lazy gazing came to a halt when he heard Izuku’s breathing even out. Wheezy breaths came from him as he curled into a tight ball and grabbed at the fur beside his face, if he was on ‘earth’ maybe he would be curled around his sister that he mentioned. Sho’a huffed into his crossed front arms and curled his three tails around the small figure.

Sho’a was still asleep, Izuku notes. 

The pale light filtered into the burrow, reflecting off the various geodes that decorated the walls.

The cold air must make him extra tired then, like how his kitty Tonbo would curl up beside him under the kotatsu during winter. Deep rumbling purrs came from him as he curled around Izuku, reminding him of a massage chair that Mei would spend hours in when their mums were looking at new appliances.

He forced himself up, swaying slightly as he braced against the wall of the cave; stumbled over the sooty campfire at the base and out of his cosy little den.

The sheer shock of the harsh cold made him more awake, the tracks from last night covered in a thick layer of powdered snow that shone in the artificial light. The pond of water freshly frozen over, the pebbles at the shore covered in a thin layer of frost. He trudged his bare legs through the snow to the ice.

His reflection, refracted and shattered in the cracking surface, blinked back with multiple eyes. He pawed at his cheek, the bandage loose and falling off. Izuku grabbed it and pulled the messy bindings off his head, releasing his other eye and cheek. A bright pink scar traced his lower eyelid in a crescent shape, touching it made Izuku shudder at the rough texture.

Several footsteps alerted him to Sho’a’s presence. The murmerick came to his side, staring down at the ice, before huffing and turning to look at him.

“We match.” he rumbled, pointing to his own white scar on his right cheek.

“We do.” Izuku agreed, turning to look at him.

“Your feet are going to get cold.” Sho’a nodded, making Izuku look down at his red toes. 

“Yes, they will.” he responded awkwardly, wringing his hands together, making Sho’a huff in amusement. He looked back to the snowy woods in response. “This is just like home during the winter.” he sighed with melancholy, his shoulders slumped at the thought.

He felt a fuzzy forehead press against his.

“We’ll get home cub.” Sho’a rumbled and wrapped one of his tails around Izuku’s wrist.

“Or die trying.” Izuku smiled at him. Sho’a’s face making him snort slightly before starting the short treck back to the cabin. 

Sho’a followed, starting up another conversation about his homeland.

An understanding between them was reached. A powerful bond, forged in blood and sweat, was formed.

Chapter Text

It was raining.

Soft showers came down and made the surrounding area chill with a mist that drifted lazily across the river and dewy grass. Most of the warm bodied sentients had huddled in the small cabin while Tsu and Hi’oshi pranced and giggled in the light downpour. Izuku had wanted to join but was immediately grounded by Sho’a, who grumbled about how his wounds still needed to heal.

Izuku instead resided at the doorframe of the cabin in Sho’a’s lap, the murmerick’s large paws ensuring that he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Eri in his lap and batting at the long strands of hair that hung from his shoulders, a soft chirp came every now and then that sounded a lot like a laugh. Judging by how happy Hi’ashi sounded it probably was.

Ur’aka was sitting just outside, obviously listening, her long tentacles wafted through the rain and danced like ribbons. Hi’oshi’s sharp gaze would drift over to her every now and then huffing. 

Rody had sat on the other side of the doorframe, holding his hand, watching his siblings make mud balls in the rain. His large pink bird perched on Roro’s head as they poked and prodded at the squishy ground.

“ ‘Zuku, did you play in the ‘rain’ back on Terra? ” Eri suddenly asked, tugging at a lock of green and black.

“ Yes, it rained often in the autumn and spring. We used to make Teru teru bōzu and run around in the puddles of water that built on the streets. ” he reminisced. 

“ Tera tera bozo? ” Hi’ashi repeated

“ Little craft toys that children make, it’s meant to drive away rain the next day. ” izuku waved his hands around, nearly smacking Sho’a in the furry face.

“ We? ” she tilted her head like an owl.

“ Me and my sister, Mei.” she frowned at the response. 

“ But you’re not together any more. ” she mumbled sadly, Sho’a’s grip tightened around his stomach as Rody turned his attention to the conversation.

“ No, no we’re not. Knowing her she’s probably off trying to find me. Probably built a ship or something similar and is slowly making her way here. ” he sighed and relaxed into the soft fabric of Sho’a’s jacket and shirt.

“ Being an older sibling is really stressful huh? ” Rody offered “ I don't know what I'd do if Lala or Roro went missing. ” He rubbed smooth circles into Izuku’s hand.

“ But what about your parents? ” Hi’ashi cooed from where he was perched. “ You haven’t mentioned them yet. ”

“ I lived with Mei’s mothers. I didn’t live with my mother. ” Hi’ashi’s feathers ruffled slightly.

“ If you’re not uncomfortable with it, may I ask why? ” Sho’a rumbled lowly, tails thumping on the dirt and moss floor. Likely agitated, Tonbo did the same thing when Izuku wasn’t giving him attention.

“ She didn’t take care of me in the way that matters. She ignored me when I was in pain, she didn’t really listen to me? She was better when my dad was around. ” he reminisced. 

“ What happened to your papa? ” Eri turned to look at him in his battered face.

“ He died. ” A long silence followed the statement as the others shifted awkwardly “ He was amazing, if a bit tired. Every few days we’d go and ride his car off to the woods and hike up there until it was well past midnight, and if it didn’t matter if we were tired because we were happy. ” he smiled fondly at the memory. “ One day he got sick, he couldn’t get out of bed. He got better before he got worse. ” he pulled at his cheeks to try and stifle his oncoming tears. 

“ Were you alone after that? ” Rody whispered, poking him lightly on his hollow cheek.

“ A bit, me and my mother argued a lot. She didn’t like that I was like my dad so much. Kept trying to enforce what she wanted onto me, eventually I realised that staying in that house was bad for me and my health, it hurt staying there. Mei and her mothers took me in and I’ve stayed with them ever since. ”

Sho’a huffed and squeezed Izuku in his tight grip, a fluffy chin laid on top of his.

“ A failure of a parent, ” he rumbles, deep vibrations making Izuku relax minutely into him. “ My people prioritise family, your mother would’ve been banished for treating her child so. ” his maul snarled to reveal sharp fangs that peaked out.

“ Murmericks are very family based, my species aren’t really. Lone vagabonds that rome the endless expenses of space. However there are times when we stop travelling, often to stay with the people we love. Children are often taken around the world, never far from their parents until they decide to leave. ” 

That was interesting. Much like how baby birds stay with their parents until they leave the nest on earth. Hi’ashi is the more lax out of the adult pair, letting the older adolescents muck around and do as they please. The different upbringings and culture must be what makes them such an effective pair when it comes to rounding up the group of children they’ve found themselves with. 

“ I don’t know much about humans, ” Rody added, he squirmed under the added attention. “ My father was one. Kind and caring, he taught me how to survive and take care of my siblings. I think… that a parent is someone meant to teach and care. Someone who will always be on your side and help you through whatever you struggle with, even if it’s dumb. ” 

Izuku paused as the others agreed and added more to the conversation, turning to Ur’aka’s gaze. She huffed and looked away, arms firmly crossed and face contorted into a furious pout. Izuku turned away when Eri started chittering away about her mother, Ur’aka hadn’t once uttered a word to him since the last battle.

Mei, for the most part, thinks she has made good progress on finding her beloved brother. 

Despite having nothing to go off of, her family had managed to steal a larger ship. Her new oni suit helped the aliens of the blackmarket fear her, distorted vocals and off-tone common making her sound like some horror movie monster to them. Large pink cape obscuring her body, lacking in the embroidered patterns and sewn patches customary of her younger brother. 

Her favourite part by far was the large pink gauntlets that cracked concrete with each powerful hit and hissed steam ominously when the gears shifted. The impacts like high powered cannonballs, able to break any armour the filthy traffickers may have.

Her mama had managed to track down a trafficking ring, her mum went in with her to raid the place. A large part of her crew came from the captive aliens that they had picked up, her favourite one being “ Power Loader ”, an alien who had been captive his whole life. His inventions were marvellous, and for that reason alone Mei had adopted him as her weird uncle.

Her new room in the ship matched her old one. Glow in the dark stars were pasted across the roof, futons engulfed with pillows and blankets that hung from the high ceiling and acted as a tent, the corners pinned down by heavy books. A good view of the window could be seen from such a perch. Izuku’s shark plushie lay on the ground by his futon in the tent, Tonbo’s little bed next to it. 

The room lacked Izuku’s drawings and general energy. His music wasn’t playing, his dad’s jacket that he never took off was hanging on the wall. The posters of the cartoons he loved never pasted on the walls and his clothes tucked away carefully rather than splayed out on the floor. Tonbo seemed especially depressed, yowling and crying for his human. Waiting for Izuku’s soft strum of the bass that would rock it to sleep, or the morning head pats and nightly cuddles.

Mei missed him.

Mei found the aliens hard to connect with. It felt like school all over again, never with friends that understood and always hauled away in her room that missed the other half. Izuku was so lax when it came to her and her manic energy, so willing to listen and add to the conversations. Izuku’s voice and music was what lulled her to sleep every night, without it she was restless. Izuku was the one that liked to write down her crazy rambling and surprise her with a cool prototype of whatever she was thinking of later that week. 

Izuku was her other half, and without him she felt extremely numb. Her growth as an inventor had become stagnant without someone to show who simply understood what she was trying to accomplish.

The last ring had mentioned a “ deathworlder ” on the “ Eues-jay” ship for the fifteenth moon from there. It was only a few more day and night cycles before they got there, and with each passing star the Hatsume’s worry only grew and their hope burned brighter. They were getting closer, and despite the crushing odds, despite the fact that it might not be Izuku or that he may be hurt, they were determined to get their family back.

Mei looked out to the abyss of white streaks and oppression dark from her futon, petting Tonbo, her gauntlets sat by the door, ready for action and she resolved that she would get her dear other half back.

Or die trying.

Chapter Text

Izuku stood in the arena. 

His chest heaved and his arms ached. The nomu under him gave a last death throttle before slumping against the wall it was braced on.

The crowd roared when he glared up at them. All except one. 

A pink oni mask stared at him with unnerving familiarity. 

They stared at each other for a long while before the other reeled back their arm from under a pink cloak, revealing a massive gauntlet, and ribbing the alien next to them in the face, causing a domino fall to occur. 

A mosh pit broke out as everyone started to fight each other. The oni masked stranger turned to him and lifted the wooden mask.

Mei Fucking Hatsume, the crazy bitch. 

His cheeks hurt from how much he was cackling. 

She jabbed her massive mechanical finger over to the gate where he came from, making him scamper down where he came. 

The halls felt much shorter than when the guards dragged him to the matches, they ignored him as nomus crashed through powered off cages. The alarms blared and lit the ship with an ominous red that faded in and out, casting shadows that crept along the wall ominously.

One of the guards that usually handled him was curled around the keycard to his enclosure, protecting it like one might for a newborn child, completely dead. Climbing up over his prone body with the key card was a struggle, the green blood making his armoured shell slippery and hard to get a grip on. 

Eventually the door slid open despite its protests, allowing Izuku to crash into the enclosure. The aliens all looked at him with fear before Eri ran up to him, distressed sounds and chirps coming from her tiny body. Rody followed, crushing both of them in a tight hug.

“ I was so worried, ” he whispered into Izuku’s long hair. “ The alarms went off and you weren't back. I thought something happened to you. ” his grip was tight on Izuku's jumpsuit.

Tsu made their way over with Izuku’s go bag, knife in the other. The others already walking over to the gate. 

Sho’a scarf held Eri tightly to his back, her head hidden by the mass amounts of fur. His paw grabbed Izuku’s hand. 

Izuku took a deep breath.

“ Follow me. ” he uttered “ My family has arrived, and they aren't happy. ” the aliens shuddered at the remark.

They ran down the red hallways, screams and shouts echoed as everyone, prisoner or guard, desperately fought for their life. Rody held on to his younger siblings as Sho’a hushed Eri and kept a tight grip on Izuku's hand, Hi’ashi went up ahead, his large talons and impressive hearing making him an excellent guard for their group. 

Izuku’s chest hurt, his ribs ached with each heave of breath. A flash of pink caught his eye, he turned to look down into the massive courtyard. Mei stood in all her vicious glory, mask pushed up to the side of her head. She was visibly vibrating at the sight of him. 

“IZU-KUN!” she screeched, throwing her hands up in the air.

“MEI!” he vaulted over the fence and harshly tumbled down to the metal floor below, he scrambled up from his painful landing and leaped into her outstretched arms. Encased in a tight embrace and twirled around, for the first time in forever, he felt genuinely safe. 

“Are you hurt?” he sobbed, tears pouring down his face.

“No, no! Are you?” she gasped, cheeks flushed and eyes squinting through her own tears.

“Who cares!” he laughed.

“I do!” she picked him up in another hug, their foreheads pressed firmly together. “Oh my god, dude! You aren’t going to believe what I’ve been doing, you went missing so I built a fucking rocket to go find you and man has it been a wild ride, also our mums are here. Oh fuck what happened to your face?! I’ll bloody-”

Sho’a huffed and stepped forwards, silencing Mei's rant. A heavy paw landing on Izuku’s head, making him scrunch up like a cat. Mei glanced up at him in surprise before looking back to Izuku and grabbing his hand. 

The others shuffled over awkwardly from the stairs, Tsu being the one brave enough to approach the girl

“H-llo.” they croaked in wobbly japanese, making Mei’s eyes widen and a manic grin stretch on her face before yelling her own greeting.

Rody came up next, sticking his hand out and grinning a lazy smirk, Mei shook his hand violently before turning to Sho’a and Eri. Sho’a only blinked down at her.

A scream from where they came made everyone jump.

The group started to hurriedly make their way through the winding passage ways. Mei holding his hand in a tight grip.

“We have a ship that's parked on top of this trafficking ring!” Mei’s distorted common rang out over the fighting, “Shame we have to fight our way to it!” a guard flew over them as she yelled. Both humans continued to talk as though nothing was happening, sprinting ahead of Sho’a and the rest.

“That’s fine! ” Izuku bellowed, pausing to stab at a nomu that came to close with his hair pin.

They had ended up on the upper deck of the ship, the vast expanse of space covered them, the only thing keeping them from flying off the gravity shield that covered the ship.

Mei slid to a stop by the doors of a, quite frankly, massive ship. It was nothing like anything Sho’a had seen before, bits of the outer shell had been replaced with thick sheets of metal and newer additions slapped onto the sides and the top, somehow not flying off when being driven. It reminded him of a distant sea beast that was rumored to be on Terra.

Mei had managed to somehow open the ship despite all the chaos that was happening around her, ushering in the aliens that her people had gathered into the humongous maw of the ship.

He grabbed the younger Soul cubs with his tails, guiding an overwhelmed Hi’ashi into the landing of the ship with the other aliens. Eri’s talons gripped his mane with terrifying strength. Hi’oshi and Tsu both ran in with their paws held tightly together. 

Ur’aka stood back, her paws wringed together in worry. Her blank gaze shifted from the maw to Rody and Izuku, who were fending off the massive guards that swiped at the escaping aliens. She was obviously scared of the new humans and what was going on around her, entering the massive ship with multiple predetors must be terrifying for a jellocent like her.

Her hesitancy allowed an armoured guard to swipe two large blades down at her.

Sho’a yelled, but too occupied with the cubs around him to run out and help the poor alien.

Her face was contorted in fear.  Her species weren’t fast, they float gently along the water's edge. She wouldn’t be able to get out of the way fast enough.

She was going to die.

And Sho’a couldn’t do anything. Just like with Ob’ro.

A loud, wet, and crunchy sound rang out.

His mouth stayed open in a silent scream as he covered the younger cub's eyes with his tails. 

Hi’ashi screeched at the sound in panic.

Ur’aka stood unharmed, shoved out of the way towards the ship. Izuku screamed in pain as blood started pooling on the floor. The guards blade held an eyeball at the tip of the knife.

His hand grabbed at his face, as he curled into a tight ball. Blood seeped through his paw as the other tried to swipe blindly at the guard in front of him. Despite loosing an eye his swipes still managed to land on the guards hand, making him drop the weapon and shriek in pain.

Mei charged past him, distantly he felt one of her mothers dragging him further into the ship, but all his focus was on Mei as she barreled into the guard that dared harm her brother. The massive pink gauntlet delivering a bullet like punch that shot the disgusting thing back several paces. It clunked and shifted as she readied herself for more battle, she cracked her neck like how Izuku did before a strenuous task.

Rody dragged the poor cub into the ship, arms firmly around Izuku’s torso and face set in horrified determination. He softly whispered comforts to the cub. Ur’aka followed with a grim expression, her paws shook slightly.

“I can’t see. I can’t fucking see Rody whats going on, where are we? Rody?” he babbled before switching to his native tongue, his hand still grabbing at his bloody eye. 

Sho’a put down a crying Eri, her little claws reaching out for the injured human before being taken away by Hi’ashi, and picked up the cub with his front paws. Uncaring of the blood that stained his clothes and fur. 

His sobs and cries of pain lessened as his grip started to go slack.

That sickening crunch of Izuku’s skull and flesh, that haunting scream of pain will follow him to the ends of space.

Chapter Text

The torrent of sentients that ran up and down the hull was astounding. Astounding, yes, but Mei didn’t care.

She squatted outside the infirmary as her mothers rushed back and forth with scared yet practised ease. Her fingers were pressed against each other and on her forehead, alien blood would flake off with every little movement. Mei didn’t care.

Her beloved brother, her Izuku, who’s smile outshone even the brightest star was in that room and nothing else mattered. Not the nervous aliens that came with him, not the panic in the crowds, not the brain matter that dusted her cheeks.

She had beaten that alien to death. 

She didn’t care. 

Its screams will likely haunt her coming dreams.

She didn’t care.

Its blood still crusted his gauntlets, her hands. Her face as she ripped its jaw from its skull.

She did not care.

Its spinal cord smacked the wall when she tore the upper half of its face from its body.

She did not care.

She stared at it as it bled. Her hollow gaze turned to the group in the hanger. They were scared of her.

She did not care. 

She muttered a prayer. To any god, to Buddha, to her late family. To anything or anyone that would listen.

“ What are you saying? ” huffed the large cat. The one that patted Izuku’s head. The one that carried his contorting and screaming body to the med bay. 

She swallowed.

“ Where I was raised, in my culture, we pray for the lives of our loved ones, that the spirit of our ancestors will protect us and let us prosper. His blood family does not care for him, so I pray to mine that he will come out victorious. ” she winced at the translator's inability to produce the tone and words, too formal.

“ Ah, I think I understand. ” the large cat murmured, “ My people are very family oriented, even if it isn’t by blood. We do not pray to our dead though, it wouldn’t change anything. ”

“ I know, I know that the dead don’t speak or help. But I have only just gotten him back, to lose him again would surely drive me mad. ” she could feel her throat becoming tight, her chest squeezed. 

“ It’s not stupid, if that's what you think I’m saying. ” the large cat rumbled. “ I’m just- curious. I want to understand more. ”

“ My father used to pray too. Not to past lives though, a ‘higher being’ ” Rody chimed in. “ are there multiple cultures on your planet? ”

“ ... yes, thousands. ” she sniffed. 

The sounds in the room got louder, she scrambled up to her feet to stand by the door.

“Ma? Mum?” she called, her throat clenched and hands shook. She wasn’t allowed in the room, covered in blood and guts, more a hazard than help.

The little white alien clawed at the hem of her cuffed combat trousers. It whimpered as its big eyes turned to look at her. Someone yelled in the room.

“Mum?!” she called. The other aliens started to fidget, the little aliens grip tightened. Little specks of gold started to float in the air.

Mei grabbed the sliding door handle and shoved it open. She did not care that she wasn't allowed to.

The heart monitor was going crazy.

The blood bag was nearly empty. 

The heart monitor was going crazy.

Her mothers yelled for more blood.

“We’re losing him!” someone yelled.

Mei's ears rang.

The heart monitor was going crazy.

She can’t move.

Why is this so much more terrifying than the aliens she killed?

Because right now, right then and there, she was facing the fact that her brother may very well die. And she can’t. Do. Anything.

The little alien rushed past her, the alien that spoke Japanese rushed to grab it. 

“ Eri! ” they called.

And a bright flash overtook the room.

Gentle and warm, she felt like she could breathe again. 

The heart monitor was beeping steadily. 

She could move.

Eri was grabbing Izuku’s hand.

Mei’s mothers moved together to resume their work, they didn’t seem to question anything. 

She was ushered out by the frog alien as the cat grabbed Eri.

They all stood outside the theatre. Her hands tingled and her eyes watered, her throat hurt. Her knees felt weak, she took a deep breath and found that her stomach could not handle what was happening. She swallowed bitter bile down and grabbed at her chest, leaning forwards. 

The cat’s head lowered on top of hers and a deep rumbling came from his throat.

“ Um. ” the alien that Izuku lost an eye for stuttered, dark transparent hands wringed together and twisted uncomfortably, like it had no bones. “ I don’t get it. ”

“ What? ” the crocodile harshly snapped.

“ Deathworlders are meant to be able to live through stuff like that. ” it stated, its hands fiddling with the ribbons that came from its weird head “F ighting through broken bones and lost limbs. Isn’t he over reacting? ” she gestured to the operating theatre. 

The others blanched at her statement. Mei started to laugh despite it all. 

“Overreacting? ” Mei laughed “ Overreacting! God you really are a jellyfish huh? All toxins and no brains! Tell me! Have you ever seen someone live through an attack like that? Someone with a need for an actual brain to function! ” she yelled, the cat jolted but remained in place.

“ ... No. ” the jellyfish shrinked back.

“ Everything he endured was for you! All of that was pure adrenaline, under any normal circumstances he would be dead! Cracked ribs that healed wrong and stabbed into his lungs with each breath, a fractured cheekbone, a crushed leg, multiple stab wounds and now a missing eye.” she listed off on her fingers “ Does any of that sound like something you would have survived?”

The alien whimpered. 

“ And you have the audacity, the nerve! To say that he’s overreacting. ” she huffed, heaved and shuddered, her eyes finally seemed to reach a breaking point as hot tears began to slide down her face and onto the modulator around her mouth. Her fists clenched at her sides in tight balls of rage.

“ I nearly lost my baby brother because of you and your stupidity. There’s still a possibility that I will. ” she glared at her. The alien looked away.

The door slid open, her mum walked out with a tired sigh and looked up at the argument.

“He’s stable.” she smiled.

He’s stable. Stable. He'll live! Mei collapsed to a squat and sobbed, the cat bending over with the movement. Her mum rushed to support her.

“It would be better to take him back to earth so an actual doctor can look at him though.” her mama called from her place on the floor. Laying exhausted. “We already have permission to land, with the aliens that don’t want to leave. The ship will be a great way to learn how to build better ones, heck it would be a great opportunity to establish a relationship between us and the galaxy.” 

She didn’t care. Her baby brother was alive, and that’s all that mattered to her.

The world rang as Izuku came to.

The world was dark, a suffocating darkness that wrapped around his head and pushed at his temples like a nomu’s crushing claw. There was chatter around him, his lap was weighed down by something warm.

He winced as he opened his eyes, the light burning his retinas. Before it was gone, someone pulled the blinds shut.

Blinds, shut. 

He opened his eyes to a familiar room. Glow in the dark stars plastered the ceiling above him. The blankets that covered him had little cartoon triceratops on them, a stuffed shark was being used as an extra pillow. There was a trans flag to the left of him that draped over the shelf after it fell from the wall. His little cat Tonbo curled in his lap on top of his father’s prized letterman jacket.

A grinning face loomed into view. Mei’s dreads brushed his forehead as she pushed her face up to his. 

“MORNING IZUKU!” she yelled, he winced.

“Is this a dream?” he rasped. Mei promptly smacked the top of his head and laughed. It hurt.

“Did that feel like a dream?” she leaned back in her pink plush spinning chair.

“MEI!” Hanabi-san yelled at the action, making Izuku look up at the rest of the room. He blinked in surprise at the sight of Sho’a curled at the end of the bed on their beanbags, eri snoozed from where she lay in the middle of his curled body. He had to turn his body to see Rody, who was looking up from his place on the floor, his siblings stared at the Italian book in his lap. 

“Glad to see you up and awake, pretty man.” He grinned at him, Mei’s brows furrowed and threw a pillow at him, smacking him point black on the nose, he squawked in protest. His siblings laughed at his pain.

Sho’a and Hanabi-san huffed at their bickering. Tsu leaned into his limited field of vision, eyes scrunched shut, Hi’oshi’s head was laid on top of theirs, big grin plastered over his scaled face. They shoved a glass of water into his hands.

“I am glad you’re awake, my dear friend.” Tsu croaked. Hi’oshi gave a thumbs up.

Izuku’s eyebrows raised up at the wonky japanese. Hanabi-san opened the door he could no longer see and called for Hi’ashi and Kyoka-san, scrambling could be heard downstairs.

“So! So. you’ve been out for a month.” Mei stated, Izuku jolted, the cat mewed for attention. He patted the little brown tabby as Mei continued. “You’ll have to start physio-therapy, the doctors said it was rather impressive that you managed to survive that long. They said that the first-aid you were able to do was ‘above your skill level’, but I’m not that surprised. You’re you.” she was beginning to ramble.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, she took in a shaky sob. He could feel his throat start to tighten. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at him. 

“You’re a really fucking cool dude, man. People have begun calling you the boy who can never die! You’re in the news man! And not for beating up a bunch of school-yard bullies! I even have plans for a new eye for you” she laughed, he reached up to his scarred and mattered right eye. The texture of the grotesque scar made him cringe a bit. Sho’a huffed for attention, he turned his one good eye to him.

“We had a choice, go with you or return back to our planets. But going back would mean that we wouldn’t know what happened to you.” Sho’a rumbled as Hanabi-san came and sat on his bed hugging him. He leaned into her warmth. “I happen to be part of the UA institution meaning that us being here is now part of my job. I report back on relations with earth and studies on your societies.”

“It’s lucky that we live near my work.” Kyoka-san announced as she walked in with the massive bird that is Hi’ashi. “So close to a military base, the government can keep a close eye on us and the aliens while making plans for the future.” 

“Where’s Ur’aka?” he rasped, the question made everyone pause.

“She didn’t come.” Rody huffed, crossing his arms “For the better I think. She wouldn’t have lasted that long here surrounded by a bunch of ‘dangerous predators’, nah she chose not to come.”

“We’re still in contact though.” Hi’oshi said “we dropped her off at UA. She calls us every 10 day cycles , she says she’s learning a lot about other aliens. I think it’s good for her, she’s even apologised to you and your family for the comments she made.” 

“She hasn’t said it to his face.” Mei huffed.

Izuku couldn’t keep up with this, he fell back with a huff. The others took it as their cue to leave him in peace, each offering him their good-byes as they left the room to go downstairs. His family remained. 

“Are… are you okay?” Mei asked softly, her hands wringed together.

“... I think I will be.” he stared at the stars on their shared ceiling. “Thank you for coming to get me.” he murmured.

“Thank you for waiting so long.” huffed Hanabi-san, kyoka-san leaned on her wife. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“It’s good to have you back.” she sobbed and leaned her head on his. It seemed to cause the other two to collapse on top of him.

For the first time in months he cried, sobbed and smiled into his family's embrace.

Izuku’s physio-therapy soon allowed him to actually walk around properly without a limp or any pain after a couple months. His therapy sessions were weekly and often, with Mei usually going with him. The hospital visits slowly died down, and eventually he was allowed to go on his weekly hikes like before with Sho’a, play at the arcade with Mei and Rody and visit his fathers grave at the end of the month.

The “nebula crew”, as Mei called them, had all stayed with the Hatsumes. Meaning that they had to be moved from the tiny house to a larger military issued one not that far away, something that Mei and Izuku had cheered at. The new house was massive, and allowed them to carry out as many crazy ideas as they wanted. Said ideas would often give the aliens and their parents a heart attack. 

Ur’aka soon called from her dorm in UA, her apology was sincere and full of regret. Izuku could not find himself forgiving her, though her calls did not stop after the rejection. She slowly reconnected with the group, like HI'oshi had guessed, the slow process of staying there had led to great improvements in her view on predators. Even able to hold a conversation with Hi'oshi and Tsu without starting an argument.

He and Mei got their hair re-dyed, making the aliens jump in surprise at the sudden change in appearance. It felt good having green hair again.

It felt normal. It felt safe, and while that was a terrifying fact he could not be happier.

He stared at the mirror. His right eye at a large x-shaped scar that ran over it, the ends meeting up with the ends of his crescent cheek scar. A brand new eye had replaced his old one, able to zoom in and record what he was looking at, courtesy of his mad sister.

It was him. Despite everything, it was still him.