Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Staring out at the city below, perched neatly on a ledge, Izuku contemplated his life, and how he never thought, in a million years, that here he’d be, sitting ten stories above it all, with no one to look for him, no one to care, no one to mourn him.

No one to even search for his body…

***

He remembered the last day of his life clearly, well, up to a point anyway;

It was his birthday, he had turned a big twelve years old and his Mummy (Mum, big twelve-year-olds didn't call their mothers Mummy anymore, he was sure of it!) had taken the day off with him, going to see the new All Might premier and they had ice cream after, walking home eating their sweet treat, meandering and taking their time.

She’d cooked his favorite meal then, him helping as always, calling him her big helpful boy, making him blush but he loved it, loved it when it was just the two of them together.

The way it was until he got home.

Memories from that point on were fragmented, the smell of drink, thudding feet, harsh yells, hard words, bitter words, quirkless trash, no son of mine, whore, traitor, bitch then screams as he was shoved hard out of the way of his fathers' fire…

She didn't even have time to scream before she died, he does remember that, remembers it clearly, one diamond-hard moment before flames and pain and the raging bellows of a broken man overwhelmed everything.

After that a feeling of falling and then nothing but fragments of moments, mostly sensory-based, hunger, fear, heat, and pain, and cold and a loneliness that had no words but seemed to last forever, like the longest nightmare in the world.

He wasn't sure how long he was lost in his quirk, the one no one knew he had, but he thought it was about eight weeks, or close to it anyway.  His world ended in June, the fifteenth to be exact, and now it was Autumn, leaves turning, nights getting steadily colder, and his coat that was always thick was now growing even thicker in preparation for the snows of winter.

His ears swiveled at the almost ultrasonic squeaking of young rats. 

This area was always good hunting, even if he didn't much care for the taste, but with the piles of trash in the alleyways, the adult rats had all they needed to produce litter upon litter.  The numbers escaped him but he remembered asking for a pet rat when he was younger, how he had researched them, how a mother rat could be pregnant, have a litter of naked pink babies in her nest, and have almost all grown-up youngsters ready to leave the burrow, all at the same time.

So up to thirty lives could be riding on the skills of one female rat cause she sure as hell didn’t get any help from the male.

'Mother rats ROCK!’ he thought as he watched seven mouse-sized youngsters scrambling and playing in the trash below. His eyes easily picked out the movements, despite the distance. ‘Easy to tell the difference between young rats and adult mice, big, big eyes and feet still to grow into.’ He licked his lips, if tonight didn't pan out as he hoped then he’d come back for them later. 

Adult rats were within his kill skill level but only if he was desperate and even then, only if he got the drop on them. Rats fight hard, were cunning and vicious and he couldn't afford an injury.

He had learned plenty in the time he was lost in his quirk, his body, and his instincts in the driving seat as he struggled through the aftermath of his world ending. No shame though, that had burned away sometime in that time as well, only sorrow at his loss, both his home and his life. If his quirk had come in when it should have, then maybe he would still have a home, still have friends, still go to school…

‘Yeah, and pigs can fly and Bakugo is a wonderful person. That fuckwad killed her, my having a quirk or not wouldn't change who he was.’ Was, because one of the few memories he still had of that night was of his father, burning…

Shoving it out of his head he crouched upon hearing the almost soundless thump behind him, the padding of predatory feet, and through slitted lids he watched the dark shape move past him, fluidly leaping to the next roof, a full story lower, and let the figure get a further three roofs away before slowly stretching with a sigh, and following him.

He didn't know who he was, other than a hero, but one thing he DID know was the man carried treats on him at all times, quite often had actual food to hand out, and he would be taking a break in an hour or so, so as long as he hung back and didn't get in the way, a meal was a near certainty. Unless he got into something like a fight, and then all bets were off.

But, if he did get into a fight, then he’d get to watch, and well, win-win either way. Leaping off the roof, he followed on silent cat feet.

******

It turned into a quiet patrol, all told, one mugging and a car breaker. Relieved, he arched his back and then bent into a series of stretches, working his muscles cool so he wouldn't cramp once he sat down.

His shadow was back, after a week of not seeing it he had started to worry but, with a sigh of relief, he took out the can of food he had brought in hopes of seeing him - definitely a him, and too big, too smart, and VERY MUCH the wrong colour to be anything other than quirked - so, popping the can open, he set down a paper plate and softly called “Kitty, here kitty kitty kitty!” and like magic, the half-grown shape materialized out of the darkness, waiting for him to give him space and then sauntering over to inhale the food.

Watching the cat eat Shouta felt relief, at least tonight the thing wasn't off chasing villain fights, and yes, the other unders in this section of the city had reported it to him, but only he was able to get close. Spike said he was just a cat whisperer and Bingo claimed it was a secondary quirk, cat attraction…

Hizashi just said like called to like and then ducked the missile thrown at him for his pains, bastard that he was.

All of the teasing aside, he knew he had a way with cats but it had taken him almost two years of solid work to get this close, and even then, it was like he was dealing with two different animals, one of them completely feral, wild in both eyes and mannerisms and the other, much more recently, the way he was acting now, calm, collected, eyes bright with intelligence, clearly telegraphing his unconcern at the hero's presence, sitting down to lick his whiskers, grooming behind his ear and, when Shouta chuckled and asked “Gonna rain later?” giving him the stink eye but also a slight shrug and even smaller nod.

The jury was still out, at least in Shouta’s mind, on if it was an animal with a quirk, or a human with a quirk, or a human stuck in a quirk but no matter which way it was, they were young. Big eyes and bigger feet, always a prime indicator of age in any mammalian species, and, for all they moved with liquid grace, there was still a hint of kitten clumsiness. He had absolutely not laughed out loud when he saw Cat miss their leap one night, falling harmlessly onto their ass but it didn't save him from the indignant offended glare and the even colder shoulder.

Still, at least he had seen the cold shoulder, which was better than the total vanishing of the last week.

There was also the fact that the cat seemed to age very little across the last two years, only gaining slightly in size but in no way growing into his ears or feet. Any non-quirked cat would be a full adult male long ago but his favorite of all the street cats was still very like the first time he had seen him, gangly, thin, and endearing.

If there was any way to catch him he would but, even the thought had Cat (and he would have to come up with a better name soon or Zashi really was gonna kill him) looking over at him, poised to flee. “Nah, don't worry kid, do you see a cat carrier up here? Even if I grabbed you, what then, eh? Anyway, what’ve you got, a telepathy quirk or something, I didn’t even think it that loud!”

‘Nope,’ Izuku popped the mental P, ‘I just have a working nose!’ The thought sobered him, he now had senses that blew a bloodhound out of the water but so much of what he smelled was too new to know what it meant. His habit of perching on awnings above cafes and restaurants, people watching, and smelling, was helping but it was slow going, to say the least. 

After all, he could hardly ask!

A young couple holding hands smelled of love, well, on her side anyway. His side had love mixed with lust and desire.  A mother holding a child with a scraped knee smelled of alarm, comfort, and love. Love smelled like a spectrum, always the same but with different high notes, like words having different meanings depending on what words came before or after.

The smell of a sexual predator had nothing of love in it, only lust and rage and hate. His ears flattened at the memory, the victim had gotten away only because a hero had happened across the scene.

Right now, his hero smelled happy to see him, relieved (another smell he learned at family restaurants, mothers smelled of it often), and wistful. He had briefly smelled focused and intent and protective, the way he smelled before swinging into battle which, with his staring at him, gave Izuku all the hint he needed on what was going through his mind.

And sure, he’d thought about it. Sleeping alone on the roof of the half-crushed parking highrise he used as his base, maybe just being a pet would be good. It was going to get colder, it was going to get even wetter. The street markets and fairs would close for the winter, the trash cans that now were full of good, easy pickings would be gone and, if he was always hungry now, what hope did he have for later?

But trust?

Trusting anyone to be kind? To be good behind closed doors? To let himself be trapped inside a house or apartment with no way out?

Yeah, hell no.

For now, he would go on as he was, losing himself in the cat mind - he tried to keep track of the moon to know when he missed time, and by his guess he had just missed a full week, no wonder the hero had smelled relieved to see him - but always finding himself again in the end, and once he did find himself, to go back to his routine of weekly changing back to human for a short while.

After all, it wouldn't do to be stuck as a cat forever, would it?

His base had one floor still largely intact, so he had swept it clean of dirt and broken glass, and then swept it again when he got a sliver of glass in his foot, and swept it again because glass was evil and managed to hide on empty flat concrete like each and every shard had a cloaking device but, once he was mostly sure it was safe, he would switch to human and run, using the entire space as his own parkour course.  Leaping naked - clothes did NOT change with him, no matter what he had seen in cartoons or read in stories -  up and over wrecked cars, dancing along the edge of the drop, hanging and hand walking along the beams….

His cat skills moved with him into his human body, even if clothes didn’t, maybe because he used it so little, but being able to see in the dark, hear and smell things almost no one else could, and always land on his feet? Epic!

Winter would at least give him more hours of freedom because he never went out in the light. A dark green cat walking about in the daylight? A certain recipe for doom if ever he heard of one. Quirk traffickers didn't just look for people, quirked animals had value far above their size for some unknown reason so he was base bound in daylight hours.

But all cats are gray at night so night was his realm now.

Finishing his quick grooming he looked hopefully at the hero now sitting with his own food, moving closer and sitting down, tail curled politely around his feet.

Turkey sandwich, his nose told him, but he doubted he would get any of it and, sure enough, “Seriously? Like I'd share my lunch with you?” strong fingers rummaged in a pocket, “However, I do have these. But you know the drill, so you up for it?”

Ears flattening he huffed, trying to decide if it was worth the risk but, again, there was nothing to shove him into if the hero did take the chance to grab him, and he was sure he could wriggle out of the man's weapon - and what a thing it was, so long and fast and how it whipped through the air and could grab and lift and throw villains, ‘Sooo coooool!’ - so, he scootched closer as the man placed a treat two feet from his knee.

‘Bastard!’ he thought with mingled annoyance and pleasure, ‘He’s using the good ones tonight!’ The smell of bacon made his mouth water as, slowly, he crossed the four-foot gap he felt comfortable with and was now close enough to touch, even though the man never tried.

He wanted to, Izuku could smell that clearly, but so far he didn't, just putting the treats out, one by one, as the promise of a next one kept him close until, “Last one kiddo.” and the empty wrapper was tucked into a pocket and with a jump, Izuku was once again at a sensible distance.

Trying to ignore how the heat off the body he was just near didn't make him feel cold once he was away from it, or how hearing the heartbeat was calming, or how… he sighed, yeah, ‘Stupid Izuku, leave the man alone, he’s got work to do.’ and sure enough, Scarf got to his feet and said, “Stay well, Cat.” and jumped off the roof.

Well, the night was young and he was full-ish for now at least so he followed, ghosting after the hero, perching out of any danger zone as he watched him work, enjoying the easy takedowns, the way he stopped and chatted with the homeless people tucked under bridges and in doorways, how they all smiled when they saw him, knowing he was safe, that he was one of the good ones. 

Izuku's face wasn't made for smiling now but his ears and tail did the job for him, curved in a satisfied cat smirk as he matched his pace, one on the ground, one on the roof, and then, out of nowhere, an acrid scent blew up from an alley, sharp and acidic. ‘Poison!’ his instincts screamed, 'Danger!' and he heard a grunt as something flashed out, impacting against Scarf’s leg, causing him to stagger as he spun, kicking out at the hands grabbing him as, horrorstruck, Izuku stared down at the woman backing away from the hero, laughing.

‘Clear scorpion mutation, very narrow tail, most likely highly toxic, Scarf’s already been hit once, he’s staggering, it must act really fast but she can't get close enough to hit him again, his weapon is keeping her back but nobody is here to help him, he’s going to….' He YOWLED a long high pitched scream of cat rage as his hero went down, causing the woman to look up, catching a face full of angry cat.

Latching onto the sides of her head with his front claws, he brought his hind feet up in a rapid thrusting series of slashing blows, claws out and raking bloody gouges down across her mouth and chin. Feeling her nose shred under his claws, teeth clashing against bone as he bit right through the scalp before ripping himself free to avoid the lashing tail. 

Hitting the ground he backed up, giving a second high-pitched battle cry. Noise, no one like noise when they’re trying to strike from the dark so he kept screaming as the villain blundered, blood-filled eyes blind, tail whipping in all directions trying to hit him via sound alone when he slid behind her and attacked behind her knees, bitting deep and slashing with his strong hind legs, thrusting himself free when she collapsed screaming to the ground, finally starting to try escaping, crawling right at Scarf who was still down, no longer moving, so he attacked again, slashing and yowling at her face as she scrambled back, blind and in agony, headed away this time and he let her go now that she was aimed deeper into the alleyway and not towards the person Izuku was trying to protect!

Skidding to a halt he sniffed the hero's breath, smelling the toxin coursing through his system, his heart already slowing down, eyes unfocused as his breath hitched in and out.  Changing to human Izuku felt the hero’s ears, but no comms unit met his fingers, "Shit, he must have lost it in the fight! He’d had it earlier!" Izuku had been close enough to listen to the chatter over it, ears flicking with humor at how stupidly funny some of the dispatchers were.

Now though there was nothing funny as, hands frantic, he patted down every pocket he could find until “PHONE!!! Thank gods," and his hands shaking almost too hard to do it, he punched the three numbers that worked even on a locked phone, even on a phone turned off, as long as there were even dregs of power, the numbers called up 999 and an ultra-calm voice said clearly, “Please state the nature of your emergency!”

“He’s down, a hero’s down!” and the woman screaming in the background wasn't helping him keep calm, the mingled curses and filthy outpouring of words making him flinch as he kept going, “Scorpion quirk, villain, she stung him and and and he fell down, his heart, it's going too slow, too SLOW, and he's not breathing right, please, I don't know where we are, please find us, he's dying!”

He couldn't hear the calm voice anymore, only his rushing pulse, even the villain faded into the background as, with a heartbroken cry, he changed back, latching onto the man's body, purring for all he was worth, praying someone would get to them fast enough.

------

Gripping tightly to the jumpsuit, he resisted all attempts to get him to move, hissing and yowling, not daring to let go in case someone took them away, never even seeing the hand reaching out to touch him.

Lifting the now limp body off the hero, the EMT with the anesthesia quirk laid him gently aside, asking the police to take him to a shelter and let them know someone would be collecting it in a few days before leaping into the crowd trying to get the hero stabilized in order to get them to the hospital.

Ignoring the sound of screaming coming from the subdual of the villain deeper in the alleyway, she requested pictures of their mutation and venom samples ASAP as the door slammed shut, siren wailing as they rushed for the healing quirks and equipment at the hospital, thankfully only a few miles away.

Reminding the team that met them to let the hero know his cat was at the Miashi animal shelter, she made a note to herself to drop by in a few hours to let them know as well, she doubted any of them would remember otherwise.

****

Izuku woke up cold. ‘Strange’ whym I c’ld?’ He growled as he blinked in the bright light, nose assaulted by smells, ears flattening at the din making his headache even worse, ‘W’wrk? Bitch!’ his heartfelt insult gave him enough strength to get to his feet, legs tangling as he staggered to the front of the.... ‘Fuck shit damn fuchshitdamnbastardsfuckpigSHIT!!!’ he ran every bad word he could think of through his mind because he was in a cage…

He’d been knocked out by that EMT and now he was in a cage!

“Hey there kitty, how you feelin’?”

The face that suddenly loomed into his space, way too close and reeking of danger had him slamming an attack at the bars, snarling and spitting, before retreating to the back of the cage, a rising yowl warning everyone that he was not to be messed with!

“Shit! You’re a piece of work, yeah? A hand slammed against the bars and he lashed out in mingled fear and defiance as the voice hissed, “Piece of shit, be glad you belong to a hero, else I’d have your ass sold faster than you can blink!”

‘Sold?’

“Hey! You know better, quirked animals are approached with caution, even with owners you never know how they’re going to react, go on, you have work to do!”

Watching the one that stank of greed slouch away, Izuku turned his eyes onto the woman who gave him a gentle smile, “Don't worry lil guy, I’ll feed you in about an hour when the symptoms wear off, for now though, make sure you drink, ‘kay? Really, don’t worry, I think your owner’s fine but they’ll be stuck in hospital for a day or two, that was some strong shit they got hit with. Now, I’ve got stuff to do but don't worry, foods on the way!”

Watching her move out of sight, Izuku could feel panic building as, heart racing, he tried to make sense of what was going on. One person was threatening to sell him and the other one said his owner was okay and what the fuck was up with that? Owner? Did she mean, 'Ooooooooh, she meant Scarf! She had to,' he remembered holding onto him so, 'she must mean him!' but he wasn't his owner, he didn't belong to anyone so no one was coming for him, he had to get out, he had to before he was sold!

Waiting for the lights to go dim and the people to all go home, he made his way to the front of the cage, sliding his paws through the bars, and tried to open the door.

He tried for hours, tried until his fur rubbed off on the smooth bars and his skin blistered, tried until he was gasping in stress and panic.

Tried and failed.

And even if he had the room to change shapes, the bars were too close together for his human hands to fit through so he was stuck, well and truly stuck.

Leaving the food untouched, he collapsed in the back of the cage, panting as he coated the cage with stress-induced shedding, the layer of hair moving gently with each puff of his breath because no one was coming, no one cared, he was alone and truly doomed.

------------------

“SHOUTAAAAAA, how ya doin’ man? Feeling any better? You look like shit! I’m tellin' you, you look yellow, and the bloody eyes? Daaaaamn, not good, not a good look AT ALL!”

The loud non-stop talking of his friend was interrupted by the door opening and an EMT walking in, smiling as she said, “Damn Hero, you’re looking better than expected!”

At his expression of "Who the hell are you?" she laughed and said, “Yeah, I get that a lot! I was first on scene last night, I just wanted to let you know your cat's waiting for you at the shelter and you might wanna go get him, my sister works there and says one of the volunteers is a bit crazy about quirked animals and your cat clearly has one so, yeah…” She rubbed her neck in embarrassment at the absolute lack of comprehension the two men were showing, “You know? Your cat? Big boy, dark colour, was holding onto you…”

“SHIT! You mean Cat?” And the expression of complete incredulity was almost funny, if the worry wasn't so clear too, “What do you mean he's waiting for me at a shelter?”

“Well, he wouldn't let us work on you so I had to knock him out and I didn't wanna leave the lil guy in an alley so I had one of the officers, Sansa I think his name is, take him in for you. As I said,” she looked at her watch and gave a muffled scream, “he's waiting for you and shit, I’ve gotta go!” and she was out the door, leaving two baffled, one of them quite worried, heroes behind her.

“So Shou, when were you gonna tell me you got a cat?”

*****

Not having slept or eaten, Izuku was feeling both sick and dizzy, his grip on his human mind tenuous at best when a smell hit his nose like a double-barreled shotgun and he was at the bars, both paws thrust through and yowling, reaching for help. Scarf was here, he’d actually come and the person that smelled of greed and anger and entitlement was leading him in, saying “Your cats over here.” And then Scarf said, “He’s not mine.” and the world went silent, the words pushing Izuku past fear, past panic, into a realm of weightless calm as he half lay, pressed against the bars, feeling hope shatter as his eyes locked onto the dark ones now on him as the gleeful words, 

“Oh, not yours? Great! We have someone who wants him, I’ll call Unicon Labs that he's available after all and…”

“HEY! You the hero here for your cat? My sister said you were coming in today, he's gonna be sooo glad to see you!” Her pleasant expression soured as she looked at her co-volunteer when they said with a smirk, “Not his cat, I’m gonna go call…”

“I think you misunderstood me,” Scarf said dangerously, his smell morphing from confusion to suspicion and distrust as he gazed impassively at the man. “When I said he’s not my cat I meant that people don't own cats, cats own people. I’m here to take him home so,” he turned to the woman, “is there anything I need to sign and pay?”

“Yep! Hey, you can go on back and clean the dog kennels, I’ve got this.” And the man, with one more glare at him, stomped away. “Come on, you can say hello to the little guy while I get your total. Do you need a box or anything, he’s great but with as scared as he’s been he might hurt you.”

Stopping at the cage, Scarf said, “No, we're good.” Watching her bounce away he turned back to the disheveled, frightened cat and said, “Green eh? Well, that’s a surprise. Now, if you want out of here, you're gonna have to work with me. I'm opening the door now, that's it…” and with effortless ease his human fingers squeezed the smooth metal pegs and released the door lock, swinging it open wide.

Holding onto his human mind with every fiber of his being, Izuku crept close, pushing into the coils of the weapon he had named the man for, and stood up. Wrapping his front legs around the man's neck and pressing his face firmly under his chin, breathing in the smell of care, calm, worry, the on-edge smell of knowing something's wrong, and, feeling a strong arm cradling his back legs, he tucked himself as small as his size would allow and just held on, the smell of safety pushing the cat mind down and away, leaving the frightened child in cat form gasping for breath, entire body shaking in fear.

“It's okay, I’ve got you, don’t worry,” and a hand was cradling the back of his head, strong fingers gently rubbing behind his ears as the words rumbled through his chest, as much of a purr as a human was capable of, and Izuku went boneless, only protesting when the hand left, “Don't worry, I've got to sign the papers, right, there, that’s done, come on.”

“Bye bye you two, and you be good for your daddy Kitten, stick close to home from now on, ya hear?”

‘She was nice, I wonder why she smelled like Scarf? But not like Scarf, just like he smelled when the bad man was talking, could they be related?’ Letting his mind wander as he gripped tightly to the now striding body, ‘Could she be a hero too? But if she is, why would she be in an animal shelter but I suppose heroes volunteer at all kinds of places and,’ here his train of thought was derailed.

“Come on, we need to go up this way, I live on the top floor, well, I guess for now we both live on the top floor.” And then they were climbing and he was so tired, his head was sagging away from the safety of the sheltering chin so he pushed himself back up, clutching as the man chuckled, “Don't worry, I won’t drop you, here we go,” and he was being held with one arm again as the man fished out his keys and opened the door, heading into a small apartment with windows looking out at the fire escape, with, beyond it, a pretty nice view of the city and ocean in the far, far distance. 

Being moved about as the man kicked off his shoes, Izuku grumbled, not liking the swaying about when he already felt bad, so he sighed with relief when they both settled onto a couch.  He could still smell faint traces of the venom from the attack, and tiredness and pain and relief at easing down into soft support and a deep sigh heaved out of them both as tired eyes closed, a mummer of, “Zashi’s getting everything we need for you so, for now, sleep.”

And as fingers stroked his shoulders, he was warm and the heart beating next to his was steady, all working to lull him to sleep.

Chapter Text

Izuku almost had a heart attack when a voice only a few inches from him said, “Awwwww, Shouta, you didn't tell me the baby’s green!”

Opening his eyes, he blinked for a moment, when the words, “Zashi I swear to god, if you scare him any more than you already have, I’m gonna need stitches!” which is when he realized he had his claws dug in as deep as they would go so, breathing past his panic, he retracted them, feeling a sigh of relief from the man he had just turned into a pin cushion, and then, “It's okay, you didn't hurt me, I’m alright really…” as he kept wriggling, finally kicking free of warm safe hands, backing fast to make room between himself and the tall skinny blond, now smelling of surprised delight but also of remorse and shame, the scent equivalent of “OMG I’m so SORRY!!!”

Which, he had to say, was working because, when he backed into the wall, he didn't leap with a scream of shock so he’d take that win right now. 

Studying them both, one now kneeling on the floor, one still slumped back into the couch, neither one in any position to attack, nor, he sniffed gently at the air, smelling anything other than concerned for him, he gave a huffing breath of relief as he relaxed.

Looking around he took in more of his surroundings than last time, the red brick walls, the smell of coffee - deep, rich, dark mountains and fire, enticing his nose and he had been trying for WEEKS to get some but no one ever threw any away, greedy buggers only threw away empty cups - a tall shelf of books, a low table covered with paperwork and textbooks and smelling of tiredness and determination.

A room for a student perhaps? Or maybe a teacher? But a hero too? It smelled clean, fresh air coming in through the window which was open an inch, the draft coming in smelling faintly of the ocean and strongly of the city.

Sitting down he neatly wrapped his toes with his tail, he may not be human but he had been taught manners and one thing you didn't do was explore someone else's house without permission so when Scarf said, “Go on, you can have a look round, I’ll see what this fool brought you to eat!” and the so-called fool squealed and shoved the dark-haired one hard enough to fall over, where he lay face down, managing to say, “Oh look, now you killed me, you have to feed the cat.” He managed to not laugh out loud but it was a near thing.

And when the blond one pulled them up, saying “Come on Shou, lemme show you what I got, did you know the Wild Wild Pussycats do cat trees? I got two of the biggest ones and some tubes to connect them, hmmmm, it might be a bit tight in here but they should fit, well….” and green eyes were suddenly worried as they scanned the room, a level voice breaking the spiraling scent with, “We’ll make them fit Zashi, now, come on, he needs food, he’s lost weight since I saw him two days ago and he was too thin then!”

Stomach gripping in hunger Izuku decided that food was more important than exploration and followed them, squeezing past the two big boxes that presumably had cat trees in them - what a cat tree was he had no idea, he'd wanted a rat, not a cat, so knew all sorts of things about rat toys and housing, not cat stuff - and with an effortless spring, landed on the counter.

“Woah woah woah, no pets on the counter!” and he was unceremoniously scooped up and deposited on the floor. Blinking in surprise, he stared into determined green eyes when the phissshing pop of a cat food can opening distracted him, the smell alone had him in ecstasy.

“Hizashi, did you have to buy gourmet food? Now he won't want to eat anything else.” But the man smelled happy, so Izuku would ignore the grumpy in his tone and pushed past the rude blond who'd risked his face - after all, he had defeated a villain with these claws! - by touching him without permission, he shoved his face into the bowl placed down for him, mumbling in happiness at the taste. House pet? Sign him UP!!!

Watching Cat eat like he hadn't in days, and having seen the full bowl in his cage he knew he hadn't, made Shouta feel happy, which was weird. Yes, he liked feeding strays but he never brought them home, NEVER!  As a hero, he could die any day, any patrol, any mission. As a teacher, his time was limited so much that some days he barely had any time for himself, never mind a pet.

Two excellent reasons to never, ever, have a pet of any kind!

So any cats he found that needed a home, he took to his favorite shelter, the one that ran a cat cafe he and his friends spent so many hours in, petting the cats and drinking cup after cup of coffee and bitching about their multiple jobs.

And now, here he was, looking at the bony shape of an undeniably quirked animal, dull green fur badly in need of…”I got you grooming tools, a bed, toys, the trees, a week's worth of food and I signed you up for weekly deliveries for more food so you don't have to worry about going out and getting it, a collar and a harness and a leash, yeah, I know cats usually don't but you might need it so just in case and a feather wand and a litter tray and litter is already set up in the bathroom, oh, I put the bed in your room in the closet, I know you said he’s been feral so I thought he might like that but he seems such a sweet baby, maybe he just got lost from someone but if he had then he would have a microchip and you didn't mention one and the shelter let you leave with him so…”

“Zashi,” he said sternly, “breathe!”

Hearing his friend suck in a deep harsh breath, he handed him a second can and said, “Open this, he needs more.”

****

It took them, skilled heroes both, over three hours to assemble the two cat trees, teaching Izuku several amazing new swear words as they linked them up via the clear tubes.  Izuku took that time to examine every inch of the apartment, getting dusty from under the bed and climbing to the top shelf in the closet. He gave a scornful glare at the litter tray but used it anyway. Yes, it was a bit embarrassing but better than using the toilet, at least for now.  He knew they thought he was quirked but the less fuel he threw onto the speculation fire, the better.

Watching the final pieces go on from where he was sitting on the back of the couch, he couldn't help but approve, it even had a swing and slide! He hadn't played in a park in years, well, he did when his mother and he would use their free weekend bus pass and go miles away from anyone, traveling far enough that no one in the park would know who he was, or care.

A sad sigh pulled from him, “Hey, it’s okay kid,” and a gentle hand stroked down his back, “you don't have to use it if you don't want to, Zashi just thought you might like it.”

Swallowing at the memory of his mum, he rubbed his head against the hand before jumping down to the floor. As the blond, Zashi, was now smelling really worried, he raised himself to strop against his legs before jumping onto the second level, poking his nose into the cave. 

By the time he had explored each level, used both travel tubes, and examined the other tree just as thoroughly, both men were sound asleep on the couch. Scarf, well, Shou seemed to be his name anyway, had his head in Zashi’s lap, both snoring gently.

Taking the chance while he had it, he jumped onto the swing, nodding his head and shoulders to gain momentum, claws dug deeply into the carpet to hold himself on, tail swinging behind him, eyes squinted in pleasure.

He never saw the slit of green watching him, or the happy smell of a job well done before Hizashi settled back down into his nap. If this was what it took to keep Shou relaxing while he finished healing, then he would let him lay on top of him as long as possible!

And Shouta’s weird kitty was really enjoying it too, even though a cat on a swing was just adding oddness to oddness.

Smiling, he wondered as he slid back into a doze if he could get Shoua to name his cat Oddball.

*****

Sitting by the window, Izuku watched them wake up, feeling the sun on his shoulders, and, once Shou was looking at him, he pawed at the window and gave a small protesting sound.  He could speak - a tried and tested skill, kept well hidden - hell would freeze before he did it here but his posture was enough. “No, not yet. Don’t worry, it's only for a couple of weeks, long enough for you to get your bearings. I’ll open the window then so you can come and go, I know you’re used to your freedom and I’d never take that away from you.” 

“Come on, get up you!” And he gave Hizashi a smack, earning a protesting whine.

“Shoooooou, u’r mean! Gimme coffeeeeee!”

It was funny to watch them stumble about, packing bags and bento boxes and drinking several cups of heavenly-smelling coffee which, despite his determined effort, he didn't manage to get even a taste of.  Then, to add insult to injury, Shouta knelt in front of him, telling him to be good, not to break anything, and he’d be home in four hours or as soon as the meeting was over, and then the door closed with a click and he was alone.

Alone shouldn’t be a problem, he was always alone now but this time it hurt for some stupid reason so, distraction!  First up, the kitchen counters!

Don't get him wrong, cat food was great and after digging through trash for so long to find things to eat, the floor was fine for eating off of but, as he opened another cupboard, he wanted to know where the good food was!

After poking in each and every cupboard, he came to the sad conclusion that any good food wasn't in these cabinets and must still be in a store somewhere.

But maybe the fridge?

Fridges were easy but, well, after opening this one, there wasn't much, only a small package of pork and a few odds and ends so, with a sigh, Izuku had to admit his snack hunt was a bust.  'I wonder if Zashi had real food in his apartment?'

Going to the full bowl of kibble, he munched his way through it, glad it was there. He thought it was his quirk, always on, that burned his weight away so fast, it certainly wasn't a lack of food on the streets. Food was everywhere, in bins, in skips, scampering through the gutters, flying through the air, cooing and pooing and fluttering on the streets, he could do drop-and-snatch raids in restaurants, slip through kitchen windows to snatch thawing dinners, finding food wasn't the problem, as long as you weren't fussy anyway.

It was the hours he spent hidden away during the day unable to get to food that was the problem so, maybe, if he just stayed here for the two weeks the hero wanted him to, he might gain enough weight to last the winter. Someone like a hero wanting to keep him - although the money spent on cat things boggled his mind so maybe he did want to keep him - was just silly, a pipe dream, but it was a nice thought so for once, he settled down for a nap, for now, he would just enjoy it.

*************

Watching snow fly, Izuku gave a shudder, thinking of his cold cheerless base. He had been with the hero now for eight weeks and, other than the occasional bath - like, why? - life was great!

Well, it was pretty good anyway, and when Shouta had done what he promised and opened the window, he had bolted and been gone for three days, convincing himself that he wasn't really wanted, it was just his imagination but the loneliness was back like a knife in his heart and he had to come back and at least see them.

Dropping down from the roof silently, sure that the window would be closed as the rain was driving down and the apartment had hardwood floors that he knew would get damaged if they got wet....

The window was open.

The window was OPEN?

Poking his head up enough to see in, rain flattening his fur and ears, he saw Shouta grimly staring at a thick textbook, smelling…

Worried? And guilty? And sad.

‘He smells so sad, I don't want him sad!’ Suddenly dark eyes locked on his and the room smelled of bottomless relief, then surging worry and the cross smell that mothers usually smelled like when a kid had done something stupid and then, “Well? Are you coming in from the rain or do I need to get you? You know what, come here,” and he was lifted effortlessly through the window, hanging limp in strong hands, “come on, I have towels in the bathroom.”

The bath wasn't really needed as the rain had done a pretty good job of getting him clean but as it was warm, and the towels were fluffy, and the hair dryer was amazing as it fluffed his fur all dry, Izuku thought that maybe he could stay after all? It seemed that Shouta actually really truly wanted him to so, well, why not?

*****

Four weeks later, life was still good. Izuku was a healthy weight at last, well, at twenty-six pounds he was a healthy weight for a very large cat, and he and Shouta had worked out a system of communication that worked for them both, even if it was mostly just the way normal cats communicated with humans, lots of meyowing and pointed looks, mostly at food and full mugs of coffee.

Izuku was no longer so touch starved either as Shouta and Hizashi both loved to pet his thick fur, to hold him against their chest as he purred in the evening as they watched movies or worked on grading and paperwork. He did wait until Shouta was asleep before sneaking onto the bed but, every night, he lay against a warm back and couldn't help but purr.

After worrying about it for weeks, being skittish and shy, doubting every gesture of kindness, and disappearing for days at a time into his head, Izuku decided to just BE what he looked like, and what they believed him to be and just ignore the guilt at his deception.

He committed to it fully on a cold morning after he had been out for two days, he was feeling chilled and bleak, having followed several hero patrols while out and seen, well, he was trying not to think about it, to be honest.

“Hey, you okay?” And he had shrugged his shoulder, then given a tiny nod of his head, too tired to even think about what he was doing for a moment when he was scooped up, careful hands running across his body, checking for injuries. “Is it anything I can help with?”

Izuku thought for a long moment but finally shook his head, gave a sigh, and pressed his face into the firm chest, wanting to purr but too sad to try.  “Alright, so,” the world tipped slightly as his cuddler sat on the couch, “you're bright enough to respond to simple questions,” and he froze, realizing what he had done but before he could claw his way to freedom, “Relax, I already knew you were smart, I just wanted to know if you needed anything extra this morning. If you're good, then just rest.”

The heat from the large body he was laying on started to soak through him and his misery began to ease, and with it a small murrrp made its way out of him, earned him a chuckle and a careful hand massaging his stiff shoulders. “I'm going to ask you some questions, you can answer them if you want or not, I don't care either way.”

A long moment as Izuku relaxed even more as two hands now rubbed soothing circles down his sides, starting at his ears and working back from there. “Are you an animal?”

‘Well, that's an easy one,’ Izuku thought with a mental grin and gave a nod.

“Huh, good to know. So am I....brat!” and Izuku’s purr doubled in volume as he curled into the arms, rolling over for a belly rub, pleased at the surprise and pleasure Shouta suddenly smelled like at his show of trust.

“Are you a human with a quirk?” Izuku froze for a moment before shaking his head no. To all intents and purposes, he was now just what he was pretending to be, an animal with a quirk. It was just his quirk was to turn human once a week and a secondary mutation making speech possible. So a lie, but not a huge one.

“You clearly are smarter than your average cat, how smart are you?” That got him a growl and he gave another laugh, “Yeah, sorry, need a yes and no question.” Remembering how Cat would sit beside his books and look at them, he suddenly wondered, “Can you read?”

The nod he got didn't surprise him much. ”Would you like me to get you any books or things?” A shake of his head no. “TV?” Another shake, “Computer?” And that got a long, long pause.

“Computer it is, I’ll ask Maijima if he can make me one that will work with your paws. Fair warning though, Nezu will probably want to talk with you if you look interesting.  Oh, by the way, he might want to talk to you anyway. That woman in the shelter? She was an undercover pro, quirked animals are incredibly rare and it looked like they were being smuggled through that shelter but the lead didn't go anywhere.”

“The lab that one volunteer mentioned thought is still being looked into, even though the person themself disappeared, so Nezu might need to speak to you anyway, just to make sure nothing was missed.”

Izuku shivered at the memory of being locked in, curling into himself as his purr stuttered and died, only to be repositioned and held. “Don't worry Cat, I won't let anyone hurt you, well, as long as you stay inside anyway. I’m not too thrilled with you still running the streets but I promised not to lock you in so, just, be careful, all right?”

A small nod and, “Would you like a tracker in your collar? It would help me find you if you get lost.”  Izuku pondered that and finally nodded, help if he got into trouble would be nice, he was a cat after all, there wasn't much he could do if someone got the drop on him.

“Good, Zashi already got one for you, he just didn't want to risk your not liking him anymore by suggesting it. Fool. I swear, he may look all in your face confident but he’s a proper paper tiger, sometimes he really is.”  Stroking Cat's warm fur as he started purring again, he frowned, “I’m worried about him Cat, he’s working so hard and he hates that agency he signed on with, fucking glad I went independent. Sure the pay sucks but at least my soul is my own.”

"At least his contract is up in a few weeks, he can renegotiate or move to somewhere better and I can guess which one he's gonna do."

“Now, about your name.” Izuku opened his eyes, looking up at him in shock, “No need to give me that look, you're too smart to be just called cat so, how smart are you? If I gave you a list of names could you pick one you like?”

Which led to an hour of his offering names and Izuku turning them down. Some of them had him in mental gales of laughter, like, seriously, who would name a quirked cat Lucky?

Fortunately, Hizashi showed up before the game got old and offered, “Mamoru, I mean, he saved your life that night Shou so he’s a protector through and through, isn't he?” 

‘Mamoru huh? I like that,’ so he gave a nod, relieved that both his people were here and, as Hizashi put a movie on, he closed his eyes, relieved that his cover was secure. ‘A quirked cat called Mamoru? That works,’ he thought sleepily, ‘that works.’

-----------

Living with Shou had been the best part of Izuku's life by far but, three times things had gone wrong and they were all due to Zashi. And Izuku never didn't worry about him, he smiled and laughed and danced and was fun and funny but sometimes he smelled of sorrow so thick it made Izuku's bones ache, sometimes he smelled of longing so deep that Izuku felt like he was drowning in it.

Shouta also smelled of longing and want and need but neither of them showed it at all so if you didn’t have a nose like Izuku did, you would never even suspect anything was wrong!

It was weird!

And he wasn't unaware of adult feelings (and the mechanics of sex) he'd read fanfiction for years, after all, often stumbling upon stories mistagged and was well into them when more “adult” themes would suddenly show up and he would make disgusted faces and move on to a different story, so unrequited love wasn't just words, he had context, but they were both so smart! How could they be so stupid too?

The first time it happened, Izuku was blindsided by it, Hizashi swirled in with a bouquet of flowers, talking about a date, and Shouta's scent plunged into darkness but his face showed nothing but calm interest.

The dates lasted two weeks, two horrible weeks where no one smelled right, everyone was unhappy and then Hizashi smelled of tears and doubt and shame, and the words “broke up with me” and “selfish bastard”  and "Never Again!" were thrown about, and slowly things went back to normal.

Then it happened again, only this time it lasted four weeks and Hizashi smelled so hurt that just being in the same room as him made Izuku’s teeth ache and yet Hizashi’s smile never waivered, and Izuku didn't know what to do….

For a while things were fine but then Shouta started smelling really weird, of doubt and want and need and scared and Izuku had no idea what was going on, even the fact that Shouta talked to him like a person did not help because he never said anything about what was wrong until he marched out of the apartment smelling excited and afraid and wound up tight with hope….

And came back reeking of darkness and despair and collapsed on the couch. 

Creeping out of cover, Izuku looked at him, smelling salt tears and Shouta had never cried, never, even when he came home with deep gashes that Zashi stitched up for him he never shed a tear!

Slithering onto the couch, ears pressed flat in fear, tail bottle brush stiff, he reached out a paw to poke him and was scooped up, cradled to his chest as, quietly and with almost no sound, Shouta sobbed into his fur, finally mumbling...

“Too late, I was going to tell him but it's too late, he's dating someone again, I thought I had time but he says this one is the one, he says he's in love, I can't ruin that for him, he's my friend, I love him Mamoru, I always have but he just doesn't, doesn't love me," and a fresh wave of sorrow broke over Izuku. 

Squirming up, he wrapped his arms around Shouta’s neck and hugged him close, ignoring the wet fur, trying to figure out what to do, he loved them both so much, so much, and they loved each other but they didn't know it, and now Shouta had tried and failed because Zashi was dating again and fuck, he didn't know what to do…

He followed Shouta on patrol that night, and the next three as well, watching him be reckless, watching him take risk after risk until he blocked him bodily, hissing at him as exhaustion poured like invisible fog off the tired hero, yowling and striking at Shouta, driving him back from the edge of the building where he was about to keep going instead of turning back to the apartment, as he should have hours ago.

“Shit Kid, what are you doing out here? You know better than that!” and he was scoped up, “we’re miles from home, come on,” and a sigh as Izuku growled at him, “yeah, yeah yeah, you’re so scary. I’ll go home if you come to, right?” And he gave a happy nod and chirped.

When they got up late the next day Izuku was pleased that at least it was Sunday and Zashi would be over. It was a tradition, every Sunday was pancake day, and, like always, Hizashi breezed through the door around thirteen hundred with a huge grin.

Stinking of despair, of sorrow, of shame and self-hate, and a tiredness that was as deep as oceans and just as dark.

But, just as usual, he made jokes and flipped pancakes and they all ate them, talking about patrols, their teaching license refresher exams coming up and then Hizashi jumped up, saying “Gotta Run Lil Listeners" and that was IT!

Blocking the door Izuku hissed, he wasn't letting Zashi out of the house smelling like that, he wasn't and when Shouta said, “Mamoru! Behave!” he hissed into a rising yowl, stitching four lines of fire across Hizashi’s hand when he tried to reach his shoes, causing him to stumble back in shock, holding his hand to his lips, tears starting from his eyes, a quiver in his voice as he said, “I thought he liked me.”

Shouta gave Izuku a stern glare and placed a hand onto Zashi's shoulder, saying “Let me see,” but Hizashi’s eyes stared sightlessly at Izuku as he repeated, “I thought he liked me but, he said, this morning.....he said…”

Realizing this had nothing to do with Mamoru’s inexplicable behavior, Shouta asked softly, “Said what Zashi?”

Baffled green eyes met his, and his words punched him in the gut, “What's wrong with me man? Why doesn't anyone love me?”

“He was down, ya dig? I could see it, and I was wearing my skirt, you know, the bohemian one, and I felt so good, so good Shou, and I thought I’d cheer him up and started singing the macarena,” and his lips wobbled like a hurt child, “I was doin' the dance too, and he said, oh god, he said I was so loud, and stupid, and I was embarrassing him and he, he, he left, he just waked away and the day was so pretty and I was all alone in the square and I want, I just want…” and he was full on sobbing, wave after wave of heartbreak rolling off him, pressing Izuku to the ground, guilt for hurting him aching and then…

Suddenly Shouta smelled so calm, so light, and Izuku could move again and he did, sliding to a position he could see both of their expressions as Shouta gently took Hizashi’s face in his hands, saying “He’s wrong, and stupid, and blind Zashi, fucking blind! You aren't loud, when you sing, the world goes silent and all I can hear is you.” Green eyes widened in shock, “When you dance, ballerinas should weep in shame at how clumsy they are compared to you.”

“I'm not good, words, words are hard, but you make them easy, your loud makes my silence simple. Your light makes my dark okay.”  Tears were rolling down both faces now, “I should have told you earlier, I should have, but I was afraid but,” and he moved closer, and Zashi leaned in, and both of them breathed out the same three words, “I love you…”

Then their combined scent changed totally as they kissed and Izuku, with his entire face wrinkled in disgust, fled to the roof because kissing? Just ewwwwww! And his reading, and experience of roaming the city at night, left him in no doubts as to what came next and he had NO intentions of staying and listening to it.

‘Yeah, no!’

He’d rather spend the night on the roof than be in the apartment tonight! After all, it wasn’t going to rain any time soon and his coat was nice and thick and the stars above would never embarrass him to death like those two pining idiots would!

Morning would be soon enough to check in on them, and maybe they'd have pancakes again, that'ud be nice!

Chapter Text

Watching them both head out a week later (After what Hizashi calls The Great Get Together and Shouta calls When They Stopped Being So Stupid!)  Shouta smelled so tired! They both did, even though Hizashi had come over to walk with him so had at least SOME time awake.

Izuku gave a smug grin though because he could see the half-full coffee cup on the counter, left in the rush to get to school on time. The new year was starting soon so both men were scrambling to get out of the apartment several hours earlier than usual and it showed.

Giving a happy chirp he sprang to the counter, then, sitting beside the cup, he dipped his paw in.  Giving his fur a moment to soak the sweet sweet coffee goodness in, he carefully lifted it to his lips, only to give an indignant squawk when it was caught…

 and held….

AND WIPED OFF!!!

Hizashi was laughing in the doorway as Shouta said, “No coffee for cats, I’ve told you a million times, it's not good for you kiddo!” and the cup was poured down the drain, a kiss was planted on his head and the words “Shit, late late late!!!” and they were gone.

‘Bastards!’ Izuku thought, but his heart was filled with a funny kind of relief too, the way he would feel when mum caught him doing something that might hurt him, ‘Weird, it’s not like I got in trouble or anything so,” he felt his ears drooping, “it’s just they’re so nice, so nice and they wouldn't be if they knew, I mean, they just love me cause I’mma cat, not 'cause I’m me.’

Giving a sigh he checked the clock, ‘Give em half an hour and then do my exercises, no way do I want them walking in on me, that ‘ud ruin everything!’

Dozing peacefully for a while, Izuku finally gave a yawn and stretched, jumping down to the floor and taking a few slow deep breaths, pulling the feeling of longer limbs, cold skin, blunt teeth, around him, shoving the cat deep inside - it had been months since that he had lost any time to the cat brain, he was sooo proud of himself for that - and blinked his eyes, giving a second yawn but this time when he stretched it was to his full height.

Standing naked on two legs instead of furred on four, he grinned. Changing used to take ages, and hurt like the devil, so to do it in seconds totally painless? Magic!

It wasn't the first time, or even the second, that he was human in the apartment.  As both heroes had pretty set schedules, Izuku had hours of free time and access to his computer - well, computerish anyway, as it did not have internet access, being a simple device to help communication between him and the two men, set up with a few games as well but he quickly bored of them - but while that device wasn't much use to him, what he actually had was access to SHOUTA’S computer!

After all, who guards their password against their pet?

So now Izuku spent his days in human form, surfing the web, and loving almost every minute of it. The guilt wasn't fun, and it was getting worse over time, but he shoved it away with practiced ease and logged onto Shouta’s laptop.  Settling down he pulled up his personal account, a pain to have to authenticate himself every time but it was SO important to delete his activities that he couldn't just register the device.

Once he was on though, he turned on his favorite playlist and called up the program on hacking he was working through. Shouta had made good his promise of getting any books Izuku asked for, and wasn't that weird, him using his paws to type out words on the communication thing that he had brought home. Usually Izuku just used nonverbal noises and body language as it was both faster and easier but for special requests, typing them out was the only way.

Even if he felt like a performing pony as he did it.

When the alarm rang he jumped halfway out of his skin but the laptop had to cool off, and he had to wipe what he had been doing, and he HAD TO BE done before there was even a chance of their being back early so, with a sigh, he wiped himself from the device again and padded into the kitchen.

Drinking from the tap using his hand as a cup he slaked his thirst, opened the fridge, and took out one of the onigiri Hizashi had made the night before.  A risk in case they had counted them but, well, it was so easy to think you miscounted rather than my pet cat opened the fridge and took a spicy tuna rice ball so it was a risk he was willing to take.

Wandering disconsolately into the bedroom he studied himself in the full-length mirror, wondering if he’d grown any. He'd tried to measure himself but without wanting to mark the wall it was a waste of time but he was starting to think something was wrong with him, he still looked just like he did before his quirk came in. 

Staring glumly around he felt a familiar kind of sadness drape over him like a blanket at the sight of the scars that now littered his body, burn scars, waxy looking and awful. A sign he had survived sure but they hurt to look at. 

Trying to run his fingers through long matted hair he gave up when his fingers got tangled, wishing he could cut all off it but too much risk of leaving evidence behind, and trying to carry scissors out into the night with him wasn't a great idea either.

Heaving another sigh he turned away, remembering the past week, all the conversations he had been in the room for so, while they hadn't officially told him yet, he had heard them talking and they were moving in together, and to do that they had to move apartments, this one was too small for two people and Hizashi’s was the same so, one of the things they were doing next week was apartment hunting.

Izuku hoped they found one that allowed pets!

Pushing that fear to the mental pile that threatened to fall on him sometimes, he jumped onto the back of the couch, changing mid-leap to cat form, giving a pleased trill at how much better he was with his quirk. Sitting down he hummed a few times and then, reciting aloud, he worked his way through a favorite section of an All Might cartoon he had memorized years ago, using it for his vocal exercises.

He could speak as a cat but it took practice to speak clearly, without a lisp or excessive hissing around his teeth and the ability to speak properly could save his life one day so he practiced daily, first with the speech and then with several songs.  First from memory and then, jumping up on the table where the sound system lived, he turned the radio on and sang along with whatever came on.

Ears swiveling, he heard the distant sound of Hizashi’s voice and clicked the radio off, jumping down with a sigh. The sad feeling was back with a vengeance so instead of running to meet them, he simply sat and watched them come in, the smell of takeaway that normally would have had him drooling only made his tail flicker as he turned to watch a bird fly past the window.

“Awwww baby, what’s up, not glad to see us? Did we interrupt your wild and exciting private life?” And he was scooped up by Hizashi, feet pointed skywards, long fingers tickling his belly.  Grabbing the hand with his paws he gave enough claw to clearly say, “Please don't do that!” and Zashi frowned in concern, saying in a much gentler tone, “Hey lil one, you okay?”

Izuku flicked his ears back and to the side, head turning fretfully away, and shrugged his shoulders. When Shouta took him from Hizashi, holding him dangling in the air, Izuku growled at him but there wasn't any heat to it, so Shouta studied him for a moment before asking “Can you tell us what's wrong?”

Feeling a lot like Simba from the lion king he shook his head, waving his front paws in as close to grabby hands as he could manage and it worked when he was pulled in for a hug. He sighed and burrowed his head in close, shutting his eyes on the day and their concern, and let himself drift.

*******

Something was wrong with Mamoru. 

When Shouta had taken him in he knew right away he wasn’t just a cat. After all, cats don't normally have nightmares and communicate clearly, despite never talking. At the very least he was a cat with an intelligence quirk - he was still stalling Nezu who kept asking to meet him, but as his Sensei was also his boss, the stalling was probably about to end - or at the worst, he was a kid either stuck, or hiding, in his quirk…

And Shouta was almost totally convinced it was the latter.

His being a kid just added up, especially when he helped the two of them get their shit together, no cat would have acted like Mamoru did, no cat would have cared, smart or not, they wouldn't have cared like that.

So in addition to nightmares, and being really smart, dissociation was also something cats didn't get, or depression. 

The problem now was, what to do about it?

Running his hand down Mamoru’s back in a soothing repetitive rhythm, he shared a look with Zashi, who nodded, so he asked, his voice calm and relaxed, “You able to listen to us kiddo?”

A long moment and then a tiny nod against his collarbone where the kid had his face pressed against him. “Good, you’re doing really good kid, that's it,” and he kept his calming hand running up and down the shivering back, “it’s okay, no rush, we have all day.  When you're ready though, we have something to tell you.”

Knowing how curious the kid was, he wasn't surprised when the not-so-little - the kid had gained at least half again his body weight in the last few months, finally filling out his impressive frame - head popped up, an enquiring chirp making both men smile.

“We found an apartment and,” - he hastened to add when sharp claws dug in - “before you panic, pets are allowed."

They had both decided that, until Mamoru came to them with who and what he was, they would treat him as they did right back at the beginning, with love and attention and as if his situation was totally normal.  They had tried to find any trace of a missing persons report for someone with a cat quirk but came up with nothing, despite even getting Nezu involved. 

And to help keep things at least kind of normal, with their new love life, they tended to enjoy time together in Hizashi’s apartment and had asked for the bedroom to be soundproofed in the new apartment. No need to traumatize their kid, after all, he chuckled to himself.

“Heeey Lil Listener, would you like to hear all about it?” And Mamoru nodded excitedly, looking at Hizashi with wide green eyes, clearly much happier now. “Well, it’s got three bedrooms so we’ll have lots of room, it's got an even better view than this dump,” - “Oi, whatdaymean dump?” - “And, I don’t know if this last bit is important but,” he gave a big grin, “Shou and I both work at UA and decided to ditch the commute so it's on campus, in one of the staff apartments…”

Which was as far as he got before Mamoru launched himself into Hizashi's arms, making enough noise that he could almost imagine the kid was hitting him with a barrage of questions. Smiling in equal excitement, he said, “I KNOW, Right? How amazing is this? We’re all gonna live on UA's campus like, O…M…G if you’d asked me ten years ago if I thought I’d ever be a teacher, I’d have said you were fuOOOW, Shooooooou, no hitting!”

“Then no swearing, it's bad for cats.”

The insufferable smug smell had Izuku chuffing in amusement and the equally smug expression had Hizashi pushing Shouta over with his foot for the two to watch on in amusement as he face-planted into the couch and lay limp, moaning “Mooooooving is sooooooo haaaaard!”

“Aaaanyway, how do you feel about living on campus at UA? It’ll be sooo much safer than you roaming the city at night, I’ve NEVER been a fan of that, ya dig?” Seeing the stink eye being aimed at him from the still-prone figure, he rolled his eyes and continued, “So, you up for it?”

A hesitant nod met his question, and “It’ll be fine kiddo, no worries. We’ll get you fitted with a breakaway harness that’ll let you past the barrier wall if you really want it, but UA campus spans several square miles so it should keep you busy learning your way around for a while.”  Sitting up, Shouta continued, reaching out to ruffle the kids' ears, “It’s not just that either, you'll be allowed in the main buildings as well, as long as you don't get underfoot or be too distracting.”

By the time he was finished, Mamoru was almost vibrating in place he was purring so hard, finally struggling free and bolding to his toy box, where all the cat toys they and their friends had bought lived.  Slamming the lid down, Izuku looked expectantly at them and they both chuckled, Hizashi saying, “Come on back SweetHeart, we don't move till next week, you can help Shou pack up tomorrow since you’re done already!”

***********

Izuku was going to see UA tomorrow, he was so excited he could hardly sit still, in fact, he'd already been grumbled at for jumping on and off the table repeatedly so he didn't fight too hard when he was scooped up and held forcibly, trying to calm himself as warm arms held him and, for a bit, it worked.

Until he heard a weird sound, like a musical warble, coming from the street below.  Perking his ears up, he turned to listen but it was gone.  When it came back in a few seconds he lifted a paw, pressing against Shouta’s arm as he sat up, both ears now focused on the window that held the cat door insert.  Shouta had fitted it when he first came to live with him, keeping his promise that he wouldn't be restricted.

Jumping down he padded over and jumped up, pushing the door open with his head, standing half in and half out, looking at the ground below, seeing…’Oh, it’s a box?’ He didn't hear Shouta telling him to be careful as curiosity had him totally focused when the weird sound started up again so he bolted down the stairs, pausing for a moment before jumping the last six feet to the ground.

Stalking the box he gave it a cautious sniff before rearing back, trying to scramble away as the scent of the man from the animal shelter all those months ago hit his nose but he was too late, something had him around the neck, a capture device of some sort, attached to a long, smooth pole that he couldn't get a grip on as he spun and writhed, trying to break free and, failing that, he opened his mouth and SCREAMED, yowling in an ululating screech as he fought, crying out for help as the man said, “Found you ya bastard, you're worth a fuckin MINT to me and its taken me all this time to fucking find you!” and he was lifted clear of the ground and shaken hard.

Head spinning as he saw a carrier in place that he was being shoved into and he screamed again, “DAAAAAAD HELP ME HELP ME PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME !!!” words mixed with terrified feline vocalizations into an incomprehensible yet loud cry for help…

A cry that was answered as, fist cracking against a greedy face, Hizashi laid the man out with one punch and turned and grabbed the capture pole, knowing Mamoru was frightened out of his mind and would run, dragging the encumbrance behind him, possibly ending up stuck or hurting himself.

With Hizashi holding the kid in place, Shouta could get closer, saying, “Hey hey kiddo, easy” and he was glad he was out of reach of the claws as, still fighting and yelling, he simply rode the spell out. Knowing Hizashi wouldn't let go, he kept talking, telling the kid he was alright - his own heart was pounding with his own adrenaline reaction to the near disaster, the bastard almost kidnapped his kid, his cat, his his his THEIR KID!!! - and finally, it started working, the thrashing ended with all four feet braced on the ground, the cries turning to gasps, as, eyes fixed on his in incredulous hope, he finally reached, ever so carefully, for the collar, “That's great, good job kiddo, easy now, let me get this off you there you are, come here,” and he was holding a shuddering armful, the kid still beside himself with fear as he clutched him back just as tight. Still non-stop talking, it didn't even matter what he said, only that he kept it up as, with gentle motions, he got to his feet.

In a few terse words they decided what to do about the villain, and then he left Zashi to the clean up as he took Mamoru back to the apartment, bypassing the living room totally and settling into the bed, curling up around the still-shaking body, listening to the frantic sounds they were still making, words only just barely understandable in between the growls and yowls and shuddering cries.

They had suspected the kid could talk but gods, what a way to find out for sure!

It took well over an hour for the kid to fall asleep, long after Hizashi had joined them in the cuddle pile.  They all needed it, as, holding tight, their weird little family had almost been shattered beyond repair and they would have had no idea of where to even start looking had the bastard managed to abduct him.

Somewhere in the night Shouta managed to slip out of the bed, intending to remove the cat door and lock the window down, only to find it already propped against the wall and the window closed down tight. Hizashi, he smiled at the thought, Hizashi must have done it before even coming to bed. ‘Fuck I love that man!’ 

*******

Waking up to an email from his boss, Shouta gave a groan but reluctantly agreed that the plan laid out was a good one - it should be, it was from Nezu, after all - the movers would come that morning and, while they moved all his and Hizashi’s shit (two apartments worth, did they actually need that much shit?) the two of them and Mamoru would meet up in Nezu’s office and, with his help, all of them would try to get enough information from the kid to move the investigation along. 

The fucker who had tried to abduct him wasn't talking and the only lead they had from before was the animal shelter and lab that hadn't panned out.

And Shouta wanted, with a viciousness that surprised even him, to get to the bottom of it!

Nudging Hizashi enough times to get a grumpy grumble (honestly, people thought him a morning grump!) and went to shove the coffee maker on. The package delivery notice on the floor made him open the door, collecting the parcel with a frown. Seeing the UA support department label, he had a fair idea of what was in it and sure enough, a harness and leash, both a crisp black, met his eyes when he opened it.

Watching Mamoru poke at the now closed window he poured two mugs of coffee, saying, “Change of plans kiddo, we move today! Oh, and while that's going on we’re meeting Tsukauchi and Nezu to talk about what happened last night.” Watching Mamoru freeze, his head swiveling to stare at him in clear horror, he gave a small smile and said, “Kid, that bastard last night tracked you down, don’t you want to find out why?”

They were forty minutes late leaving because first, they had to get Mamoru out from under the couch and then into the harness which took time and so much patience that Shouta ran out of any he might sometimes possess, finally saying in his sternest teachers voice, “Mamoru, come here…now!”

Slinking from under the couch, belly pressed to the floor, Shouta didn't relent. “That's right, right here, now, hold still, let me adjust this bit, there, now, how does that feel? Too tight, no, look up here, that's right, now, how does that feel?”

Sulky, borderline frightened eyes finally met his and he got a nod and one shoulder shrug which usually meant things weren’t too horrible so he nodded to Hizashi and said, as a saucer with about a tablespoon full of coffee the way Shouta liked it (ultra strong, ultra sweet, lashings of cream) was set down in front of the fretting cat, who gave a shocked gasp, looking up eagerly at the two men, one of whom smiled and the other said, “Yeah yeah yeah, that’s cause you listened. Now, don't get used to it, clear?”

By which time the cat was too busy lapping it up to even flick an ear at him.

Coffee to the rescue again!

Nothing got the kid out of a grump faster and they'd used it a few times, most notably after nightmares or the horrible time spent at the vets getting the kid up to date with his vaccinations - and hadn't that been a nightmare, trying to figure out what he needed in that department - but it worked a treat this time too so he scooped the kid up, clipped the leash to the D ring on the harness (already fitted with tracking tech and a passcode to get into UA) and off they went. 

Hizashi had already told the two they were meeting they were running late and why so, as long as traffic was kind, they would only be an hour and a half late.

Good thing they weren’t still students, they would have been in Soooooo much trouble!

****

UA!  Izuku stared up at the iconic building, not even feeling the harness anymore - Hizashi was right, he did get used to it! - as they stepped through the gates, having to be told to, “Breath Mamoru, take a deep breath for me, there you go kiddo, it’s just a building!” and his head swept up to chatter in shock at anyone who could be so blasphemous only to get laughed at. “Yeah, it’s only exciting for a few days, Zashi and I used to go here after all and now we work here so we should know!”

Sulking a bit because, well, U fuckin A was amazing, he lashed his tail and squirmed to get down, only to be held firmly and told, “No, you can get down AFTER we have the interview, we’re late enough as it is!” And they didn't pause or linger and Izuku was annoyed enough at the hurry to spend most of the time growling but, as they finally skidded to a halt, and why were they smelling so apprehensive, Izuku finally figured it out when they both bowed and said together, “Sorry we’re late Nezu-sensei!”

‘Ohhhhhh if they went here then they were students and hahahahaaaa ohmygosh, I made them late and they must be remembering getting detention or something for being late!’ and he couldn't help it, he snickered only to come under sudden scrutiny, gulping as he met sharp black eyes in a soft, fur covered, face.

‘Nezu, oh my fucking gods, it's Nezu, the thinking hero, and I just laughed, and now he's looking at me!’ Izuku gave as deep of a bow as he could while being held in comforting arms, trying to show with his ears and tail how sorry he was only to be told, “Nonsense child, you will never be admonished for finding something funny, especially when I think I know what it was that tickled your funny bone. You are very perceptive, are you not?”

Shaking his head no, he pushed his face into Shouta’s chest, ‘I’m really not!’ And proceeded to pretend he didn't exist as embarrassment warred with amazement at being in a hero’s office. Sure, he LIVED with heroes but damn, his mind was blown and he needed to take a moment.

Chuckling, Nezu said, “Tea?” And when they all, bar Izuku, accepted, the group sat down on two comfortable couches, being served their cups by Nezu himself. “Now, I believe you said your companion is called Mamoru, is that correct?”

“Yes sir, as we don’t know his actual name, that’s what Shou and I named him.” At the sound of his name Izuku peaked out of the comforting arms cradling him, noticing the fifth cup on the table. “Yes, that one is for you child, it’s beef tea, you might like it if you decide to give it a try.”

Studying it suspiciously, Izuku finally gave in to the smell, rich and seductive, leaning over he gave a squeak of surprise when he was deposited unceremoniously on the table, being told to “Drink it, or else Nezu-sensei will have his feelings hurt.”

Whipping his head round to check, Nezu gave a sorrowful sigh and said, “Indeed, it would pain me greatly if my guests didn't all enjoy their tea. “

Frowning, Izuku couldn't tell if he was making fun of him or not, his smell was simply too new for him to decipher it, but as all three adults smelled like they were resisting laughing out loud, he gave a gruff rumble and bent to taste this tea. A surprised trill broke from him, it was good, like, really amazingly good, so he ignored everything else going on and simply concentrated on the flavor.

Sadly, the cup was very pretty, and dainty, which meant it was small so it didn't take him long to drink it all. Looking hopefully up, he met Nezu's eyes and was smiled at, “Yes, you may have more but first, we need to hear your side of what happened last night.”

‘Ohhhh,’ Izuku thought in shock, 'how is this going to work?' His body unconsciously mirroring his increasing worry he crouched down, only remembering there was another person in the room when Nezu said, “Our detective friend is going to help us as he is lead investigator on the quirked animal case, mainly because, sadly, no one realizes it actually IS a case, and a dangerous one at that.”

“You, my young one, have now encountered it twice, and twice you have been rescued, for which I am eternally grateful.  Do you know what my quirk is?”

Izuku nodded hesitantly, “Good. Then you know that we should be able to understand you, even if you choose not to use the speech I am certain you are capable of.”

When that bombshell hit his brain, Izuku’s eyes opened wide in shock, shaking his head no no no, as he tried to back right off the table. Only the leash Shouta was still holding kept him from falling right off, Hizashi standing hurriedly to scoop him up, his voice quirk infused with a warm rumble to help calm him, as he said, “Heeey hey hey, now, it’s alright baby, shhhhh, no one here is gonna hurt you, you know that. Shou and I have kept you safe this long, yeah? And Tsuka is our friend, and Nezu is our,” he paused for a moment, trying to find the right word to cover what Nezu was to both he and Shouta, “Ummmm, Sensei?” 

Nezu laughed, “My children, you need no other word than Sensei if you have none better, just know that this is a safe place Mamoru, no one here will hurt you.”  

Letting that thought sit quietly in the air for a moment, he added, “Furthermore, know also that we ask no questions of you, only that you tell us all you can about the individual that tried to abduct you.  Tell us only as much, or as little, as that, child.”

Izuku had only his eyes visible as he hid in Hizashi’s arms, looking with extreme distrust at the strange furred person, but as both of his people smelled of total trust, as did the stranger, he looked hesitantly up at Shouta, ears down as he tried, and failed, to speak, only making a plaintive little sound.

Reaching out, Shouta cupped his entire head in his hands, soothing voice saying, “Have I ever asked you to speak?”  When Izuku shook his head no, he continued, “Then why would Hizashi or I be mad at you for not speaking?”

“That's right sweetheart, no one here is gonna be mad at you for anything, we promise,” Hizashi added.

It took a few moments which were spent by both men in comforting the frightened cat/kid before he managed, “Are y-you ssshure?” And while it was slightly stuttered, and slurred, it was clearly understandable.

“Yes kiddo, we are all very sure!”

*****

In his own words, and damn he was glad he had practiced every day just so he didn't embarrass himself, he told them about the man in the shelter, and then about how he heard the sound that lured him to the street (“Using your curiosity against you, clever” murmured Nezu) and how he had started screaming for help “Because I knew Da….um….Shouta and Zashi were still up there an' I can scream really really loud and they came and rescued me….”  A long pause and then he wrinkled his face in puzzlement, “He said he'd been searching for me, and that I’m valuable? Why'm I valuable? I’m just a cat.”

At their bemused expressions, he hurriedly added,  “Well, a talking cat but he didn't know that! To him I was just a big cat with green fur, why’m I worth anything?”

“Ahhhh, that my young friend, is where we're stumped." (Nezu kept what he did know to himself, no child needed the nightmares this case brought with it especially when they were still in danger of being part of it.) "But fear not, we will get to the bottom of it. Until then, I would ask that you remain on campus rather than roaming the streets as is your usual habit. Your harness gives you access to the entirety of the area within the boundary walls, including every building that is not of a sensitive or dangerous nature.

“Will you be able to follow that restriction?”

Izuku nodded his head frantically, he was still deeply frightened by what had happened to him, and desperate to not be caught again. If someone was really targeting him then UA was a safe place and no one was mad at him for being able to talk and not talking up til now - and he knew it, not only did his nose tell him so but the one his D… well, Hizashi called Tsuka had a truth quirk and had said, soft but clear, “true” when they said they weren't mad at him - so “Yes please, I’ll stay on the grounds, I promise!”

Chapter Text

The new apartment was fantastic, even piled high with boxes and with beds still to be assembled. Why he had to have a room and a bed, well, he wasn't even going to try to argue. He'd already spoken more words today than in the entire time he had lived with… and he practically bluescreened, ‘Oh my fucking gods, I almost called him dad!’ Burying his head in his paws, he gave a moan of mortification, ‘but,’ he tried to comfort himself, ‘no one smelled upset, and no one smelled even a little bit mad when they found out I can talk so, if I just don’t do it again, then yeah…’

“Heeeey lil one, you hungry?” And while he was, usually he was fed in the morning and evening and it was only lunchtime so he was confused as he followed the long legs of his second favorite person (totally not a father figure, totally!) to the other room.

“Here,” and a plate was plunked down at the table in front of a high stool. “Sorry it's not a chair but it's the only thing we could come up with so you could sit at the table too.” Seeing his confusion, Hizashi smiled, “Well, people who talk don't eat off the floor.”  Waving his hands vaguely he said, “It’s like a rule, ya dig? If we’d'uve known sooner, you’d've been at the table sooner but since we didn't, floor it was.”

“Now though, table from now on.  Oh, and your water and kibble are on the counter if you need a drink or snack between meals, you're a growing boy still.  We talked with Chiyo about your digestive system and it looks like you should be able to eat anything we do but for you to pay attention to how you feel during, and after, every meal for a while.”

“You're also going in for some more tests, bloodwork, and the like.” Shouta’s voice came from the doorway, and seeing how the expressive ears instantly flattened out, he said, “Yeah, I don’t like needles either but you're in luck, one of her interns had a leech quirk so no needles needed.”

“Wish the fuck she’d had them during our last physical!” Came a heart-felt grumble from Hizashi, who also had a needle phobia.  Seeing Izuku's surprise, he gave a laugh. “It's a surprisingly common problem with heroes, not wanting someone to stab them with sharp bits of metal. Go on, eat up you two,” and the adults sat, smiling as they all ate together.

*************

Being able to sleep in for an extra hour was bliss, especially as Izuku (still Mamoru to his people, but maybe soon he might change that?) had slipped into their bed in the dead of night when a dream of fire and screaming woke him, gasping, in the room they said was his.

A truly strange, but not unwelcome, thing, having his own bedroom again but being able to sneak in with them was even better. Pondering the thought for while, his mind moved on to wondering about the appointment he had for today, with Power Loader, to get him an internet-enabled computer that he could actually use in his cat form, as well as his human one, even though no one yet knew he had a human form.

But with what little he knew about Nezu-sama, he probably suspected Izuku wasn't just a REALLY smart quirked cat!

‘Never mind,’ he thought to himself as his heart rate began to slow down, now that he was able to smell the peacefully sleeping forms, to hear and match his own heartbeat to theirs, he gave a sigh, ‘tomorrow is soon enough to worry about all that.’ and he fell back asleep, curled at the foot of the bed.

Waking snuggled in Hizashi’s arms as the alarm gave a musical cry, he blinked in sleepy surprise, “You got within reach of the snuggle monster kid, you didn't have a prayer!” came the quiet grumble as Shouta made his way to the kitchen, coffee being the only lure that might get Hizashi to actually get out of the bed on time.

Even the extra sleeping in time didn't seem to help but, with a full mug to replace Izuku with, Shouta somehow got Hizashi at least sitting up, a nonstop grumble about how stupid morning was, how they should just replace it with evening and be fucking done with it…

“Yeah yeah yeah, drink up and get dressed, you slug!” Izuku laughed as a short, fierce pillow fight ensued, and he almost, ALMOST reached the spilled coffee before he was scooped up and carried from the room, Hizashi being left to clean it up.

****

"Come here kiddo, if you're going to wait for your appointment with Power Loader in the classroom with me we need to get you dressed.” Letting himself be strapped into his harness, Izuku grumbled in discontent, hating the feeling of it rubbing against him but as unexpected hands ruffled his fur, Zashi said, “You know the rules Sweetheart, if you leave the apartment, you have to be in your harness, at least until we know why someone wants you so bad, yo!”

Ears flattened, Izuku said, still slightly unsure about talking with them, “Yeah, but it feels icky!”

"Awwwww Lil Guy, you know you won't even feel it as soon as you get thinking about anything else, here," he handed over a bacon treat, "are you gonna be with Shou or me this morning?"

Being careful not to accidentally bite him, Izuku ate the treat as he thought about it, finally saying, "Shou’s class I think, they all sound more interesting than yours do."

Shouta gave a shout of laughter at that, “I wish you were wrong Mamoru, my life would be sooo much easier if they were boring too! Not even a full week in and I'm ready to just kick most of them off a cliff!”

***

Izuku had enjoyed being carried (being told, "Hold still, you can explore after your appointment." made him feel, well, special) but now that he was outside the classroom, hearing the noises from inside, he felt his fear starting to spike, only to be tucked under that wonderful chin, hearing the rumbled words, "I won't let any of them touch you kiddo, you don't have to interact with them at all, you don't have to talk to them, be near them, anything. If you want to sit under the desk or in the window or on the podium, it’s okay, got it?"

It took him a moment to nod, and then they were striding in, the class falling silent until, with a squeak in her voice, one of the class squealed, "Oh My GODS, is that a CAT Aizawa-sensei?"

Before the rest of the class could erupt, Izuku felt the tingle of Shouta’s quirk wash over him, and everyone fell silent, waiting, eyes fixed in rampant curiosity on him, for their teacher to explain…

And he did, voice shockingly stern - Izuku had only been on the receiving end of THAT tone a few times, his ears flattening in reflex as he too held very still and listened - “This is Mamoru, he will be in the class this morning. You will none of you approach him, or try to touch him, or initiate contact in any way shape, or form!"

"Do you understand me?"

"HAI, Sensei!" They all said together, then at least a dozen hands thrust up, the scent of eager teens almost overwhelming Izuku as Shouta said, "I’ll take three questions, yes Shinso!"

“Sensei, what happens if they approach one of us?”

"If that happens, count yourselves lucky, and allow him into your space, do NOT try to keep him when he leaves. Next, Mezo!"

The entire class knew enough sign to understand, "Sensei, he isn't a real cat, is he?"

Well, anivoice would know, “It doesn't matter what or who he is, only that he deserves the respect any visitor will be given in my class.” His glare made several of the students shrink down, “A five-page essay awaits anyone forgetting their manners in this matter.”

"Final question, Hagakuri!”

"YES! Oh, sorry, ummmmm, how long is he staying?”

"Good question, he'll be here this morning and any time he feels like joining us. If and when that happens, I don't expect to have any upset in the classroom again, am I clear?”

Murmurs of assent rippled through the room as Shouta asked, almost silently, "Where do you want to go kiddo?" and Izuku whispered, "The window?"

Setting him down, he gave him a brief stroke down his spine and then turned to start the class, moving easily into announcements and schedule changes.

*****

Sitting in the sun on the window ledge, Izuku studied the class, not just how they looked, but how they smelled, and for the first time in a very long time, he wished he had a notebook or something to write his impressions down, there was just too much for his brain to keep track of…

One of the class, the purple-haired boy, smelled really stressed and upset, but stressed in the past, right now he just smelled interested and hopeful. Maybe he just really liked cats and hated getting up in the morning?

Actually, lots of them smelled the same mix of hope/interest so maybe the class just consisted mainly of cat lovers. Lucky for him if so.

One boy smelled of ozone that made him want to sneeze, another girl smelled sharp and sour, acid he guessed, the mutation girl smelled nice, of water and mud, several smelled waaay too complicated for him to even bother trying to understand, and one, one smelled in pain?

Standing up, he focused on the pain scent, he couldn't see anything wrong but, jumping down, he stalked between the desks until he reached the one he was aiming for, jumping up and standing nose to nose with the boy sitting at it, his hair split down the middle, smelling of snow and bonfires.

And clearly of pain too, ‘His breath reeks of pain, it's also too shallow, and while he's sitting alright I think it's his stomach or ribs? Shouta and Zashi smell like this when they come home with bad abdominal bruising.’  Leaning into the wondering hand tentatively reaching for him, he curled up on the desk, as the pain scent was already being replaced by happiness. Yeah, he’d tell dad, no, he’d tell SHOUTA that his student was in pain later, for now, he’d give comfort where he could.

***

Seeing Mamoru going to a student he had already spotted several red flags from was concerning, to say the least.  After calling roll and marking Bakugou absent - he’d check with the office and see what excuse was given, he marked the rest of the 19 students present, the odd numbers gave him a bit of a headache when adapting the exercise for the class later but nothing he couldn't manage.

He moved on, wrapping up his part of the morning, telling the class to be quiet for the remainder of homeroom and to not press too close to Mamoru.

Sliding into his chair instead of onto the floor as he usually did, he tipped it back and closed his eyes, - mostly anyway, he wanted to keep an eye on the class this morning - waiting to see what the students did about the stranger in their midst.

After all, a cat in the class was exciting and they were still kids, when all was said and done.

True enough, as soon as his eyes “closed” every head in the room swiveled to look at the cat currently sitting on Todoroki’s desk, as his legacy student (one of his THREE fucking legacy students) ran wondering fingers through the soft thick fur.

He hid his smile at how the kid looked to be freaking out at Mamoru’s attention but it was strange too, hadn't the kid ever petted a cat before? Because that’s what it looked like anyway, the expression a toddler usually gets meeting a soft fluffy animal for the first time.

Yeah, no red flags in that at all!

***

Izuku was glad that the rest of the class took the hint that he didn't want to interact with anyone other than the bicolored boy and gave them space, even if the pressure of their eyes was a weight he could do without.  At least Shouta was keeping an eye on them all too, even though he looked sound asleep.

Yeah, like a hero that good would ever leave kids like this without adult supervision.  He gave a muffled snicker at the thought, startling badly when the kid asked, "You can laugh?”

He would have ignored the question but the kid sounded so sad, even while being happy to pet him, that he replied without even thinking it through. “Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“That's good.”

And that seemed to be it for their conversation so Izuku gave a sigh and asked softly, “Will it hurt you worse if I’m in your lap?”

"Worse?"

"Ummmhmmmm, 'cause I know you're hurt, I just don't wanna make it worse.” he chirped.

"Ah, well, as long as you don't lean on my stomach I should be fine. Why do you want to be in my lap though?”

"Oh, it’s so no one can see me? I’m kinda feral and people staring at me freak me out a bit and....” he noticed two of the students immediately looked away, allowing him to pinpoint hearing quirks. “And if I’m out of sight, it’ll let people concentrate on their work? I guess that this school isn't easy so they should be paying attention to what they need to do and OH! Here he comes!!!”

Perking up at hearing Zashi’s voice approaching, he looked up at the puzzled eyes and finally got a nod so slipped out of sight as the door banged open and the beloved voice filled every corner, "HEEEEEEEEY Lil Listeners, Who’s EXCITED for Some ENGLISH?”

‘Damn Pop,’ Izuku winced (not even bothering to edit his slip) and flinched at the volume, giving a sigh as pain boy covered his ears with his hands, giving him some relief as Zashi continued excitedly talking about today's lesson as Shouta slouched from the room, only pausing to wave his finger across the space, saying “Remember, no crowding!” and then he was gone.

“Crowding?” Asked Zashi and every hand but one raised. Laughing he gestured at the girl with long strings coming off her ears, "Hit me Jiro!” and only the super sensitive of hearing actually caught her mutter of, "Only in my dreams sensei!” but she spoke up enough for everyone to hear when she said, “Aizawa-sensei bought his talking cat to school today and he doesn't want anyone to crowd him.”

Giving the class a dead-eyed stare when several yelled "TALKING CAT?" She just said, “Yeah, now, can everyone try to be a little quieter 'cause he’s already complained about the noise level in here!”

“Oh my god, I complained?” Izuku asked in shock, only for her to twist right around and say to the eyes and shocked ears he had poked above the desk, “Well, you sighed in relief when Todoroki covered your ears so that’s as good as a complaint, yeah?”

“Okay okay okay, lets everyone have eyes on me, ya dig?” and with visible reluctance, the class all looked to the front of the room and the lesson began, no one other than Izuku being able to spot - bless you super nose - that he was privately freaking out over Mamoru having outed himself as a talking cat less than a full hour into the school day.

****

Spending the morning in Todoroki’s lap, Izuku kept up a rumble of a purr going, soothing both himself and the boy, ramping it up whenever a sudden move spiked pain through him. However he had hurt himself it was bad enough for him to not be able to move much without aggravating the injury so he was definitely going to be telling Shouta and Zashi about it so, as soon as the bell rang for lunch, Izuku jumped down and ran for the teacher's desk, figuring that no one would bother him if he ducked under it.

Hearing a few Awwww’s as he disappeared from view, he nodded in satisfaction, the great escape worked!

Waiting for the din in the halls to die down, he poked his head out to check that it really was mostly empty before venturing out, trying to remember the way to the teacher's lounge where his people should be, as well as food.  It would be a cold day in hell before he would go into the cafeteria but lunch was an attractive idea right now when hunger nibbled at him, so, head and tail up, he boldly ventured forth!

*****

Mistake! This was such a bad mistake!

He scrambled around another corner, three people in hot pursuit yelling for him to come back, they just wanted to check his ID but with how they smelled and were yelling, he wanted a teacher at LEAST before he would willingly slow down!  Skidding, he tumbled into a wall before finding his feet again, leaping up the nearest stairs! He remembered that the lounge was up so up he went but they were still right behind him making him almost cry in relief when he saw adult legs, tall and thin so he was praying it was Zashi when he slid between them, yelling “Help me, they won't stop chasing meeee!”

"Whoa now, everyone jest slow down an’ stop your runnin in tha halls!” 

'So, not Zashi then,' Izuku thought in amused relief as the three students that had been chasing him all tried talking over each other, explaining that they thought he was an intruder or something and they just wanted to see who the cat was and…

"HUSH all your caterwauling, honestly! What’s wrong with your eyes younguns? Can't you see his harness?”

Feeling safe enough to peek from behind the teacher, he moved enough into view for his support harness to be visible, sharp black against his green fur, and they all turned various shades of red - smelling all kinds of embarrassed too - as they all bowed and stumbled through apologies that honestly made him feel even worse and then Snipe-sensei (as they called him) assigned them each a SIX-page essay on “Usin' your own danged eyes before runnin' head first inta somethin' plumb stupid!”

His heart hadn't even begun to slow down its rapid-fire beat before the students were dismissed to their lunches and the strange teacher was kneeling down and asking, "You alright pardner? Do ya need any help findin' tha teachers lounge which is where I’m a guessin' you were headed for before our very own idiot brigade tried to round you up?”

Looking at him, Izuku could see and smell nothing but gentle concern, despite the fact the man was clearly armed and a hero, as well as a teacher so he should be someone to tentatively trust so Izuku managed, with far more squeak than expected, "YeeeSH, ummmm, yes please, I think I’m lost?"

"Sure are, you're near the support departments and honestly Ducky, that's a bad place to be any time o’day or night! Are ya comfortable with me carryin' ya or would-ja rather I jest walk slower than usual? Either way works fer me.”

The thought of a stranger carrying him was as freaky as a teacher actually helping him but, as he delicately sniffed the air, the man clearly smelled of his people, most likely from earlier in the morning, and he really wanted to get to them, and he was tired from the run, even though he could keep up with a human - even one with legs this long - but suddenly it was all too much, the place was too big, too many people, too strange, and he gave a tiny cry and reached out a paw, only to be scooped up and cradled carefully.

"Awww pardner, it’s a big ol’ place to get used to all at once, come on, I gotcha.” and the world rocked gently from side to side as “Heeeeey, I never tolja my name, Snipe is what most people call me…."

"Is that cause of your guns?" Izuku asked, and before he could panic over asking a total stranger - a stranger carrying him OMG - about the weapons they had on them, "Yep, my quirk controls ballistic trajectories, hence the guns. You're pretty smart, youngen, now, if you’d kept going up the stairs to the fourth floor and turned left, right down here ya find," and he opened the door carefully, "your people!”

"Mamoru? What's the matter?" "Kid, you okay, what's wrong?" Two wonderful voices overlapped in concern and he was handed over, no longer caring to listen as he pressed into Zashi, paws hugging his neck tight, face pressed into his collarbone, as the man, Snipe, as Snipe described how he had rescued him from some second years and it didn't matter, he was safe now so he just held on, letting the reaction wash over him, purring hard as he made tiny distressed sounds, only fully calming down after being held for the better part of an hour.

*****

Izuku finally remembered to tell Shouta about the injured boy when Shouta himself asked him, "Hey kiddo, any reason you sat with Todoroki this morning?”

"Oh hey yeah, I was gonna ask the same thing sweet heart, and sorry for being so loud when I came in, I forgot your delicate ears were gonna be rockin in my class, ya dig?"

Shaking his head until his ears flapped, Izuku got himself 'round the questions and apology, managing to say, “He's hurt. I could smell it, he smells like you two do when you get all banged up, it must have happened either late yesterday or really early this morning by the smell of it, and I just felt bad for him sitting there hurting.  I remember what it's like so, ummmm…..”

The sudden concern surrounding him brought him to a halt, wondering what he’d said, but Hizashi distracted him, asking, “You can smell when we get hurt?” And when he nodded “Oh baby, oh no, we're so sorry, we’d never worry you for the world!”

“No, oh no, it’s okay, I can smell all kinds of things like that, I'm getting really good at it now!” He never even noticed the glance exchanged above his head at the two clues to his past he had just dropped like anvils, “The boy, Todoroki? Yeah, he’s hurt but it's not bad enough to be dangerous, or else I’d have told you right away!  Will you help him?”

“You bet kiddo, as soon as I get back to class for heroics I’ll send him to Recovery Girl and she'll sort him out. Any ideas on how he got hurt?”

His ears pinned themselves back all on their own and a low growl vibrated from him as he remembered the mingled scents clinging to the boy, mainly the ones of an angry man, of fire and disdain and contempt...how it smelled so much like he remembered his father acting with him, even though he couldn't smell emotions back then.

“I think someone close to him hurt him, like his father maybe? He smells like that anyway. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.”

The sudden mix of scents, not just from the two holding him but from everyone who had been pretending not to listen in was overwhelming, causing him to cry out and bury his face again as a new voice piped up, a voice that made him think of beef tea and safety. “All right everyone, that's enough, I know we're all concerned but for now at least, you all have classes to get to. I’ll be taking this from here but, if you could all keep an eye on the situation as well, I’d be grateful.”

Hearing the bustle of bodies moving and the sudden surge in the vent fans above his head, the rush of fresh air and reduction of people to three gave enough relief for him to peek out at them, sighing as careful hands stroked along his spine, rubbing behind his ears in a way that was known to relax and comfort.

"Right, for now, we all have to head back to class to. Do you want to stay in here where it's quiet, go with Zashi while he does more English classes, come with me and watch the hero class or go with Nezu-sensei?" - "For tea!" Nezu said brightly - "It's your choice kiddo, any of those will work."

It took him a moment but he finally asked, "Can I come watch the hero class? That sounds like the most fun."

If all of them laughed when Shouta grumbled the word fun like a swear, then it was worth it to see the kid perk up and relax.

It would be interesting to see how the class reacted to him watching their practical lesson too. After all, Mamoru'd already spotted something deeply concerning with one of his students so there was no telling what he'd spot with a bit more time spent near them. 

Chapter Text

Watching the hero class was A M A Z I N G !!!

Izuku watched in excitement as they played a game much like capture the flag, only with four teams and only one flag…

Gasping, he suddenly bolted for the nearest tree, climbing quickly to the lower branch to get a better view as the invisible girl had grabbed the flag and it disappeared! He was right in his guess, 'She can control light, how cool is that!' He thought with excitement. 

Following where he thought she was by the scent wafting up to him on the breeze, he suddenly caught the purple-haired boys interest and, as their eyes widened in shocked glee and he tracked what Izuku had been looking at and tackled the invisible figure and captured the flag, only managing to keep it for a brief moment until the big one with all the arms took it…

Following the flag as it zipped from person to person, he was enjoying the game far too much to notice, until right before the end, that several of the students had figured out HE could see the flag, even when they couldn't and were using him to try to win the game!

When time finally ran out, the frog girl had managed to capture the flag and climbed to the very top of the tree next to the one Izuku was in, holding everyone off for the final few seconds, cheering loudly with her teammates at the win.

"Wow," he breathed, "that looked like so MUCH fun!!!"

Staying where he was, he listened to Shouta critiquing the performances, and he almost fell out of the tree when seven people got extra credit for using him to spot the flag!  He wondered if anyone would be mad at him but no, they all said such nice things that his tail went all floofed up with embarrassment and happiness at being helpful.

Seeing them all being sent off to shower and change, he looked down at the words, "Do you need some help getting down?" And oh yeah, this wasn't a building, was it? Studying the problem, he moved to the main trunk, hesitantly trying to go head first getting down but that made his stomach try to crawl out of his mouth so he tried backing down and that was, shit, that was bad too and he gave a small scream as someone asked, in a bright helpful voice, “I can carry you if you’ll let me!"

And saw the gravity girl, Urar-something or other, floating beside him, Shou’s capture weapon looped around her waist.

He would have been a lot more standoffish but she smelled really happy and he was getting really tired after such a long day so, without giving himself any time to think about it, he got close enough for her to wrap her arms around him, holding him almost tight enough to hurt, saying, "Sorry sorry, I don't want to eeeeep!" she squealed as she was tugged towards the ground, "don’t wanna drop yooooooooou gosh Sensei, we might have to do that a few times in practice, I think it’d be really useful but," she made a face as he jumped out of her arms, "it made my tummy go squeeeeee!"

Izuku was grateful forever that he could smell exactly how much that amused Shouta because if all he had to go by was his expression, he’d have missed it when the man just waved a hand, "Good job Uraraka, catch up to the others now, see you tomorrow!" And he was scooped up again, only this time with the proper amount of force, comforting instead of restricting, and he relaxed totally at the words, “Let's get home kid, it’s been a pretty full day!”

******

Izuku had managed to eat, although his nose kept dipping into his bowl as he kept almost nodding off until he was scooped up and carried to his room. Being settled into bed - four pillows in a square for him to nestle into the hollow created on the normal, human bed - and given a kiss on his head, he sighed in contentment and fell asleep before Hizashi was even out the door.

Unusually for him, Izuku slept the night through, only waking when he heard Shouta grumbling at Hizashi to get him moving.  Giving a jaw-cracking yawn, he proceeded to spend several minutes stretching as it felt like he hasn't moved all night long!

Following the heady scent of coffee, he staggered into the kitchen and, when presented by a plate of omelets and rice, he shoved his face into it, mumbling happily as he ate voraciously, only slowing down when, "Woah kiddo, slow down, no one is going to take it from you, no, s*l*o*w down!" 

Giving him a glare he did as told, ears perking up when he got a "Good job, there's even seconds if you need them!"

He even got thirds, staggering over to collapse in a sunbeam, falling so deeply asleep that he didn't hear them leaving the apartment, only finding the note and lunch set out for him after the sun moved on and the lack of its warmth woke him up.

*****

Getting into his harness without help was a pain and a half, but he managed it in the end, even if it wasn't buckled on properly. At least it wasn't falling off so that’ud do. 

Poking his head out the small door they had installed for him, he carefully listened but, after hearing nothing for going on ten minutes, he finally stepped through, making his way down to the ground floor and, true to what he had been told, the electronic device in his harness had the door swinging open for him.

Bounding through he stood, taking in the late afternoon before him. Full belly, totally new territory waiting for him, now, did he explore or find his people?

****

He hated nature!

It had all started off great, trees smelled amazing - he never climbed too high, just in case he got stuck again - fresh spring plants growing thickly in between the trees were perfect for punching through, and the border of the small river he had followed to where it joined a large pond was so different to his life experience he may as well have been on another planet!

The scent of plants towering over his head distracted him to the point he never even noticed the small herd of deer sleeping in the grass until he was almost killed as the entire herd panicked when he suddenly appeared, all stamping feet, grunting and kicking and he was leaping and twisting and dodging and yelling in shock and then SPLAAAASH!

Entire body aching as he dragged his way out of the muddy water - it had looked deep and clean but that was a trick, once he hit it he was in only a few inches of actual water and way way WAY too much thick black ice cold mud!

'The bastards, why'd they do that?’ He had no idea that a bunch of things that should have been like Bambi in the movie instead were all like evil spiky kicking machines of death throwing him into the pond and trying to murder him!  Whyyyyyyy?

And his harness hadn't survived the scramble, it remained in the pond while he was standing shivering on the edge, trying to spot if the demon deer were still there, only daring to move off when all remained silent.

He ran when he heard something big flying his way, if fucking deer acted like that, he didn't even want to imagine what big ass birds might do so he broke into a run, never seeing Hawks landing and getting totally bogged down in the mud trying to fish his harness out, he also didn't see how relieved the hero was when the harness was attached to nothing, rather than the drowned body of his best friends kitten kid!

Dragging himself up the steps of the apartment block, Izuku almost cried in relief as he was grabbed off the ground, wrapped in a towel, and brought back to the apartment, Hizashi frantically scolding the entire way until he was bodily pried out of his hands and Shouta took him into the bathroom to wash the mud off, being told sternly to “Get some towels and get the hair dryer ready, he’s fine Zashi, just a bit cold, if you need to panic call Nemi and get it out of your system before we're done with the bath!” and the door was closed between them.

Normally baths were a hated occurrence that he did anything in his power (not much in other words when up against someone as wily as Shouta) to avoid but now, as the warm water soaked the cold from his bones, he even didn't hate the soaping bit as strong gentle hands massaged suds through his fur, finally turning the spray head on to wash it all out. 

The fact that Shouta made him talk the entire time, explaining how on earth he had managed to get in this state (the muddy bloody bundle he had taken from Zashi frightened him badly enough to know it was going to feature in nightmares from now on) only to privately declare war on all of nature on Mamoru’s behalf once the story was finished just made him feel that much more comforted.

The hot fluffy towels used by Zashi - who had somewhat recovered from the shock of it all - and then the hair dryer to finish getting him de-natured was pure bliss, only topped by the not one, but TWO tablespoons of heavenly coffee he was given once they were all finished with dinner and cleaning up the bathroom.

Snuggling between the adults, he agreed that maybe tomorrow he’d join Shouta’s class again, rather than running around the forest, it was probably safer!  

*****

Tomorrow happened as normal and he wasn't given any choice in the matter, he joined Shouta’s class by being picked up and carried. His new and improved harness - this time in purple and much easier for him to get in and out of himself - gleaming against his green fur.

Huffing in mingled frustration and a weird contentment, he accepted his fate and settled in to watch the class from the window, knowing that Todoroki was already being investigated, now that his injuries were known. The now uninjured boy would be called into Nezu’s office to meet with him and Hound Dog later, and see how they got on.

Now that he wasn't worried about him at least he couldn't ignore how the sad purple one smelled even sadder and guilter and more frustrated this morning so he hopped over and asked him, quietly, “Are you alright? Shinso isn’t it?”  

"Yeah, I’m fine, why? And is it alright to pet you? You’re not a normal cat, after all." And Izuku jumped up on his desk, chirping "YEP! But only if I say it's alright, ‘kay?"

"You got it green bean," and he gave even better pets than Todoroki did, causing Izuku to rumble into a purr but he managed to say, despite how purring and talking didn't exactly go together, "You smmmmmell sad nnnnnnnd guillllllty, a bit annnnnnyway?”

"Wait, you can smell emotions? Holy fuck, that would be amazing for heroics!  You can really smell how I’m feeling right now?"

"Yep," he popped the p, "but please don't tell ‘kay, I don't think people would like that." And his sudden anxiety stopped his purr dead as he hunched down, causing Shinso to say, "No, of course, I won't, it's like my quirk I guess, if no one knows then we're stronger, better able to take care of ourselves and others."

When Izuku butted his head against Shinso’s chin, he laughed, finally saying, "You’re not wrong about my being sad and feeling guilty but it's stupid."  Suddenly being faced by the biggest set of kitten eyes he had ever seen, he gave a theatrical groan and said, "Finnnnnne, I’m grounded, see, I said it was stuuupid!"

He rolled his eyes and continued, "But I didn't get my room clean by the deadline and now I don't get to go to the first showing of the new All Might movie this weekend cause I have to stay in said room and it sucks, it really does, but if I’d just fuckin cleaned it when my mums said then I wouldn't be grounded so, yeah, past me is a stupid shit!"

Izuku couldn't help it, he giggled, "Oh ho ho, laughing at my pain, you villain?" And the two of them might have continued for longer but Izuku could hear Zashi approaching so he said, loud enough to be heard by the sharper-eared members of the class, "INCOMING!!!" And watched them cover their ears, Shinso doing it for him, as Present Mic slammed into the room, yelling about how much fun English was!

******

Still sitting on Shinso’s desk, Izuku was enjoying the lesson, even though he knew almost no English at all, when Yaoyorozu was called on to answer a question about something on prepositions. Whatever the hell those were!

Watching her rise gracefully to her feet, clasping her hands loosely behind herself as she answered the question, Izuku’s blood froze when he heard someone behind and to the side of him say, waaay too quietly for most of the class to have heard….

"Yeah, just like that bitch, only hands tied and maybe kneeling? Yeah, kneeling for me, ohhhhhh and naked with my hands on your...." Izuku turned with shocked a hiss to face him, a rising tide of rage building as his hiss turned to a yowl increasing in pitch as, ears flattened, he coiled to spring until his attack was disrupted. "MAMORU!" And Zashi was beside him, not reaching for him yet but still speaking, using the tone that was always so unexpected from such a bright and sunny personality.

It was easy to forget he was a pro hero but when he used that voice, his pro voice? Well, Izuku listened, even when he knew the worst he might get is a lecture for not listening, so he looked up and met stern green eyes, eyes that softened as he asked, "What's up Lil Listener, something bad I’m guessing but until you tell me, I’m working with an empty playlist!"

"Oh yeah, that's right, no one else heard!" He glanced at the girl with the earphone jacks and she was hunched over, twisting her hands, so she had Definitely heard the little fucker!  He opened his mouth to tell Zashi what he’d said but he stopped, he couldn't say something like that where the others might hear, it was dirty!

Raising up he placed his front feet on Zashi's shoulders, grateful he had knelt down to be more on his level where he was still on the desk, and put his nose right beside his ear and repeated what the nasty boy had said, smelling the instant disgusted rath the words elicited. He managed to add that someone else had heard too, Jiro he thought her name was?

A quiet, "Thank you little one, I’ll take it from here." and it wasn't Zashi who stood up, it was the pro hero Present Mic who said, "Jiro, I’ll need to talk to you in a moment but right now, Mineta, come with me!”

The very air vibrated with suppressed rage as they exited the room, a stern “All of you sit still until someone comes to take the class, ya dig?” and they were gone.

"Holy FUCK! What the hell was that?" 

Izuku thought it was Kirishima who asked, but he wasn't sure still of all the names but whatever the name, he was asking him so he said, “He said something nasty so I told Zashi and now he’s gonna take care of it! I’m sorry you had to hear it too Jiro-san!”

"Yeah, me too Greenie, but he’s been saying things like that the entire time, it makes me sick!" And Shoji nodded, signing “He makes me feel bad even looking at him.”

Suddenly smelling shame/fear/disgust/humiliation Izuku’s head swiveled and he was leaping off the desk he was on, almost flying across the room to the kid that usually smelled like ozone, the one now nearly in tears, and he softly asked, "Can I come up there?"

"Yeah, I’d li-like tha-that." And tears were easy to hear in the broken voice as Izuku jumped up, pressing against the shivering form, purring for all he was worth, finally raising himself to coil both his front paws around the boy's neck and press against him, hoping to give enough support to prevent the full-on panic attack that he could smell building.

"How do I help?" he whispered, "Did he do something to you?" And that was all it took before tears were soaking his fur, and between sobs he heard words that chilled him, "He touch-touched m-m-m-me, wh-when I use my quirk so-sometimes it m-makes me he-he-help-less and he touched me he touched meeeee!" and he was never so grateful as when he smelled Midnight as she gathered the sobbing child into her arms and led him from the room.

Not much later that day they all had a group session with Hound dog, (and several had individual talks both with the Hunting Hero and with Principal Nezu), letting them all talk about what had happened, how it had made them feel, and talking about what to do when someone makes you uncomfortable in a sexual way, and later again they all got a lecture by Aizawa-sensei - and he was Aizawa-sensei, not the Shouta Izuku was used to - about how teachers and adults at UA would do everything in their power to keep them safe but none of them were mind readers!

“If you see or hear or encounter a problem, of any kind, then you need to bring it to someone! Any one of us, all the way from the cleaning crew right on up to Principal Nezu, there will always be someone you can talk to or tell it to!

His dark eyes swept the room, seeming to stare into their souls, "Right, five pages or two thousand words, whichever is the longer option, due next Friday, subject; When is an adult useful to you?"

He softened as he said, "None of you should ever have gone through what happened with that person, especially not in your first week of school, but no one could help you because no one knew it was happening. That not one of you reached out for help is deeply concerning so, from now on, once a week for the next six weeks at least, you will all have sessions with our counseling staff."

He paused before continuing, "The essay and the sessions with Hound Dog are not punishment, not one of you did anything wrong, they are to help you learn that, no matter what you may have learned in the past, every adult at UA is here to help you, to teach you, and to keep you safe!"

"Now, collect your things, your guardians have all been contacted and are waiting for you, class is dismissed for the day, I expect to see you all on time in the morning and we'll go from there, got it Hellspawn?"

His use of a nickname for the class actually made the entire room brighten up, as, smiling and chatting, they all exited the room, leaving Shouta and Izuku behind.

****

Izuku spent the rest of the day exploring the main campus building, peeking into classrooms at the other classes taking place, knowing that his people were dealing with the expulsion and charging of the little pervert. He shuddered remembering the words spoken like poison in what was supposed to be a safe space and he was glad, so glad, that he had been there to speak up.

Even if he wasn't a hero, and would never be one, he'd made a difference today and that was good enough for him.

Good enough for him to be brave enough to finally think about what he had been ignoring ever since the day started with a spiky-haired blond kid saying, in shock, "What the FUCK is a giant green cat doing in here?” in a voice that was achingly familiar.

****

He remembered the last time he'd seen his one-time friend, walking home the same way he did, hanging way back to avoid any hurtful words the small pack of pre-teens would hurl his way if they noticed him. He felt so sad, all he wanted was to just be normal, was that so hard?

Watching the five boys, pushing and shoving and laughing with each other, he remembered envy and want mingling with the sadness, remembered shoving it aside when he thought of his birthday coming up, how excited he was to be turning twelve, and how cool was that and what would Mummy have gotten him and the sun was shining and he remembered thinking, maybe this year he and the blond could be friends again, they had all the time in the world after all.

But they didn't have all the time in the world as it turned out.

******

Thinking about his not friend, seeing how big he'd gotten, he wondered exactly how much time really had passed, because UA first years would be fifteen and he had turned into a cat when he was…

Sucking in a horrified breath of air, he realized it had been 'Almost THREE YEARS? But it only felt like a few months, not YEARS!!!'

Huddling in the bed he gave a shuddering moan, he was old! If Bakugo was fifteen, then so was he, how had he lost so much time?  Suddenly rushing for the bathroom, he skidded to a halt and changed, looking at himself in the mirror, seeing that he still looked the same, still scrawny, still with tangled hair, still with scars, but not any different really, maybe a little bigger but nowhere near what Bakugo looked…

So, if Bakugou had aged, and he hadn't, then it must be something with his quirk.  Hearing shuffling footsteps headed his way he quickly changed, slipping past Zashi and back into his room to spend the rest of the night fretting.

How was his quirk stopping his aging and what should he do about it?

And would Bakugo realize it was him?

More and more he wanted to just tell Shouta and Zashi who and what he was but now it was even more complicated.

He was glad he wasn't an actual student because at least he could sleep in class and not get in trouble because he certainly didn't get any more sleep that night!

****

He did spend much of the morning sleeping in class, even though he did it on Kaminari’s desk, well, the sun was hitting it just right and he still smelled sad so he lay, mostly asleep, while gentle fingers carded through his fur, knowing it was as comforting for his...friend? Well, for his, huh, he frowned with his ears, classmate didn't work either, so what did he call all these kids that had accepted him unquestioningly into their midst?

Sitting up with a huff at his interrupted nap, he gave Kaminari a head butt and jumped down, strolling for the window ledge to give some thought on what to call the people surrounding him, only to be scooped up and carried from the room by Shouta. Hearing the "Awwwwww don't take our emotional support cat away Sensei!" he laughed, asking, "Where we goin?"

"You are going for your appointment with Hound Dog, I’m dropping you off and then meeting with Nezu-sensei to finish blacklisting Mineta. Once you’re done with Hound Dog you can meet us in the teacher's lounge for a snack and then do your own thing."

He suddenly stopped, looking sternly down at his armful, "You do NOT have to do the work of an emotional support animal, or counselor, do you understand me kiddo?"

Izuku ducked down, ears flattening to the side in abashment, and he nodded, managing to say, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, but I can smell when things are wrong, and hear things others can't, and I’ll try if you want me to stop but I don't really know how and…."

A roughly gentle hand ruffled his ears, and a warm voice said, "Easy there, don't hurt yourself. If you're happy doing what you're doing, then keep doing it, just understand that you don't NEED to, okay?"

Chirping happily, he nodded.  

****

Talking to Hound Dog was both easier and much harder than expected.

Easier because he let him talk about anything he wanted, harder because, for some reason, the guilt he was feeling at not telling Shouta and Zashi that he was human was getting worse, and the pro seemed to pick up on it.

And hidden in the rambling talk they had were questions that made that guilt worse, even though he was sure that wasn't the effect they were going for.

Shyly, right at the end, Izuku managed to ask, "Hound Dog, what’s imposter syndrome, and how do you make it go away?"

He left with a mountain of new information, and even less idea of what to do!

******

The next month was hectic, to say the least, although so much of it was fun beyond his wildest imagination.

Like the USJ, where he got to meet 13 and Cementos and Snipe again as the class got first a lecture on how quirks could be both a life-saving, or life-ending, ability.

Well, his time on the streets had taught him that at least, even his quirk was dangerous, pound for pound, a cat was one of the most dangerous predators on the planet and he could easily kill if his target didn't expect the attack!

And then they went inside, and Oh….My…..Fucking……….GODS!!! It was huge, like, mind-bogglingly huge, and the class was split up and he was grouped with Uraraka, Sero, Shinso, Tokoyami, and his sister Nazuke to find and rescue casualties in the landslide zone.

How he became part of the rescue was a mystery to him but not only was it exciting, but he was amazingly good at it! 

The dummies in use to simulate the injured didn't smell like people but they did have a distinctive scent that he could find easily so, as they worked their way through the debris he took lead, using his nose and smaller size and his speed to search and find bodies for his ('fuck, still don’t know what to call them!') people to uncover, stabilize, and carry to the aid station.

When all the groups were done in their areas, they were shuffled again and moved a zone to the right, making sure not to repeat a zone yet have all new groups to begin again.

By the time the day was finished, even his tail hurt, and his paws were blistered and bleeding. All the students were in rough shape but instead of sympathy, all they got was, "Remember how this feels because a true disaster is a million times worse!"

"Now, every one of you, form a line and let the medical staff look you over, any injury picked up at a disaster zone is going to be dangerous, much more dangerous than many injuries you’ll gain on the job because when things like cities break, dangerous chemicals, as well as sewage and contaminants, are encountered, often when you don't even realize it."

"NEVER neglect to be fully checked over after a shift on rescue, or be assured that a five-page essay will be the least of your worries!"

Every single member of the class smelled small, young, and tired as they assured Aizawa-sensei that they would never forget his order.  He then gave them a totally unexpected smile as he said, "Every one of you did well today, be proud of yourselves!"

Once they were all cleared to go and the bus took them back to the main campus, the students that lived in the UA dorms staggered off to their rooms while the rest were collected by parents who had been warned to not let them travel on their own as the day would be too tiring for them to safely negotiate public transportation.

Hanging limply from Shouta’s hands, Izuku was asleep before they were halfway home.

******

Playing in the unseasonal cold spell that had hit due to a quirked attack on the city, he enjoyed the game of quirked tag they were all putting their all into, finally winning the game with a team move with Ochaco.

Crowing in victory, they all collapsed under the big tree and fantasized about living in the tropics, how much fun it would be, but he would miss snow, and sitting inside as the sleet hammered on the windows, how it felt to be warm and watch weather happen as he snuggled with his people.

Speaking of his people, the kids were all waved off and he was carried home, movie night and they were going to watch a pre-quirk movie about a circus and Zashi was really excited, it was a musical, and despite Shou’s gagging sounds when Zashi picked - after winning the right to choose what they were going to watch - the movie, Izuku couldn't wait to see it!

He wondered at the feeling of being watched but shrugged it off, Nezu-sama had cameras everywhere after all.

***************

Sitting in the class, waiting for Shouta to show up, Izuku suddenly realized that six weeks had gone by and he was part of the class. Like, totally part of the class, even if he doesn't have to do any of the academics.

Every day, without fail he was included in the hero training, either in a support role or as an active participant. One day he was the flag for capture the flag, and wasn't that a blast, several times he'd made up team numbers, and pulled his weight well enough that people actually asked for him to be part of their teams, and he even spared, teaching how to handle a much smaller, yet deadly, opponent.

How was this his life?

Watching Shouta finally drag himself into the classroom, he'd been injured last night so was still dealing with the after-effects of being healed, and start the day, the ever-present guilt simmered in Izuku’s mind but at least this time, he knew what to do about it.

Weeks of talking to Hound Dog, in what he was assured, and believed, to be totally confidential, had led to his making the plan he was going to follow through that evening.

Even if they hated him for it, even if he was kicked out of UA, he was going through with it.

His people deserved it.

*****

Jogging along beside his long-legged adults, Izuku tried not to be nervous, focusing on the moment, just as Inui had taught him, enjoying the late spring weather, listening to Shou and Zashi arguing about a song they both hated. Like, if they both hated it, why argue about what was so awful about it?

Laughing to himself, he raced ahead, springing up to climb the tree beside the path, only to be caught and lowered to the ground with Shou's capture weapon. "No climbing trees until you can ALWAYS get down yourself!" came the stern words but the smell that accompanied them was amused concern so he shrugged the scolding off and, tail suddenly bottle brushing behind him, bolted for the apartment, zigzagging and leaping over bushes as he ran, filled with too much nervous energy to not try to burn some of it off.

"What's gotten into him?" Zashi asked with a laugh and Shou shrugged in reply.

****

Waiting on the table beside the couch, Izuku almost vibrated as his nerves tried to take over, only managing to avoid a full-on panic attack by doing a breathing exercise as he waited for them to catch up.

As he watched them take off their shoes, he said, voice only breaking a few times, "Can I tAlk to you foR a second, please?"

"Sure thing Baby! "And Zashi jumped over the back of the couch, landing with a bounce and a beaming smile, Shouta moving much more calmly, taking the time to run his hand over Izukus ears, "Shhhhh, whatever it is, it’ll be fine." He said softly as he melted into his chair, both of them waiting for Izuku to start.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “My name is Midoriya Izuku, and I used to be human.”

******

Extra;

It took several weeks to sort out all the legalities of his new situation but with two guardians that loved him and a pseudo-grandfather in the form of Nezu, he was legally adopted by his new Dads (but his always heroes) Shou and Zashi.

Schooling was a bit more difficult but again, as he was already integrated into the class, that was where he stayed.  His classmates were surprised, to say the least, when he walked into class in his human form, but they all got used to it faster than he did.

Even Bakugo, even he accepted it, although there was some yelling and tears, surprisingly on the explosive blond's side. It took some time but they eventually came to a peaceful decision, classmates first, friends maybe in the future.

As Hound Dog said, mental health was a process, not a destination!

Spending his time in class catching up with almost three years of missed education, Izuku sometimes bemoaned his choice of being human again, but only until foundational heroics began, and then he embraced it, even if it was just a lecture or a full-on city-wide battle, his new life was everything he had ever dreamed about having, even if his quirk did make it so he was the unofficial little brother of the entire class.

No one passed up the chance of pointing out that, even though he was officially fifteen, he was still only just barely THIRTEEN in human years and that made him little, not just in age but in inches.  He might hate it but he also loved it too, so that was something he was working on with all of the helpful adults in his life, how confusing being human could be.

Shouta wasn't much help with the emotional stuff, but he agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment! And Hizashi was, for all his loudness, a solid rock when emotions got too difficult for Izuku.

And life moved on, and was good!

_______________

Extra extra;)

A quirk expert was flown in from New Zealand as she specialized in how transformative quirks affected the passage of time and aging in the human body.  It took her some time but she worked out that, as Izuku was human in a cat body, then the cat body was trying to age in human terms, while still being a cat.

“What that means," she explained to the small audience in Recovery Girls Office, "is that a normal cat goes from birth to a human equivalent of their early twenties, despite what the internet will tell you, in their first year of life. In that first year, they can have their first two litters of kittens and are fully adult in every way.”

So Izuku, in cat form, was still aging, but at human speeds, so, about twenty times slower than a normal cat.

Add to that his human body was in a kind of stasis, only aging when he actually wore it, so, a few hours a week, at most.

Which is why you've lived the last three years and still only look, and biologically are, thirteen.

It was a lot to take in but as he got to stay in the hero course, he didn't mind so much. He always wanted siblings anyway and now that he had nineteen older brothers and sisters? He could live with that, especially as his new life came with an easy dozen uncles and aunts too.

Truly rags to riches, pauper to prince…

A bit like a fairy tail, only without a wicked demon king to defeat!

Chapter Text

Alone in his room, a boy looked at his hands.

Lying limply on his lap, palms up, he studied them.

They were supposed to be the hands of a hero.

Supposed to be, those were the keywords.

But last night someone had died and he hadn't been there to save him…

It was his birthday, the day he died, but Katski hadn't gotten him a present, well, other than ignoring him the day before.

He hadn’t said anything bad about him, or to him, did that count?

No, it really didn't.

How long had it been since he had gotten him a birthday present?

Years, but how many?

And why?

He could feel tears dripping onto his open hands, useless, stupid, helpless, hopeless, all the words he had spat at his one-time friend over the presentless years, and for what?

Lack of something he had no control over, either the getting or not getting, no one chose that shit, certainly not shitty Deku, no, not Deku, not now he's dead, call him by his name at least, even if it's too late.

He wondered what it was like, being dead, if they were happier now, or if it was worse. He always knew Izuku’s dad was a piece of shit but Aunti Inko, he really had liked her, and when he was little he had loved Izuku but then all that happened and….

It was all his fault, he hadn't stuck by his friend when something out of his control happened and now look at them, his hands, his perfect hero’s quirk and Izuku was DEAD and he never gave him a birthday present and suddenly he had arms around him, holding him, words trying to comfort him but he was screaming, telling them he wasn't worth it, that he was evil, he was a villain and Izuku was dead and it was all his fault and the world spun and darkened and went away…..

****

Intensive therapy was needed to help their son get back on track, both for him and for the entire family and while it did take time, twelve-years-old is not so set in their ways that they couldn't change and grow.

And if the therapist broke protocol, just a tiny bit, to email their once (and always) sensei the words Aldera Elementary School then she lost no sleep over it. A villain factory is a villain factory after all, and who better than Nezu-sama to smash them?

Sitting in a session later that month, listening to her client telling her all about how most of the teachers had been replaced, how the new ones took no shit, how much BETTER it all was in class, even if he now had three days detention and an essay to write because of it, she held the knowledge of how it came about like a gem in her heart and asked, "How do you think Izuku would feel about it?"

Clear red eyes smiled up at her as Bakugo Katsuki said, "I think he’d feel great about it!"

____________________________________

Dr. Garaki was given exactly forty-two seconds to grab one item from his lab before bolting into the escape tunnel and running like hell as it collapsed behind him…

Fucking All Might, it could only be him, no one else was capable of creating so much destruction so quickly!

Clutching his only remaining asset, he continued to run, knowing that if anyone survived - please Kami, let Master survive! - then they would gather at the third emergency rendevous point.  The number changed every day on a rotating logarithmic sliding scale so today was third, which left him running across the distance, all ten bloody miles of it. 

At least his pet remained quiet in his hold, having to subdue it would have added insult to injury.

It had been his pets that had first drawn Master's attention to him, his experiments with quirked animals, but then, once he had his backing, he could move on to larger, more important experiments, but his pets always remained dear to his heart. If he could only rescue one thing from his lab, he was glad it was one of them, and his most useful one at that.

Grateful to his Master for having gifted him with enough quirks to make him useful yet leave him with his higher intellect intact, he felt his minor healing alleviating the damage his jog was causing as he entered the final stretch of his run.  Allowing his mind to ponder his own quirks kept him from panicking over Master's condition so he allowed himself to focus first on his original quirk, Combination Probabilities.

Totally useless in any normal setting, the ability to know with a 98% probability what the outcome would be if two quirks combined, his working with Master allowed him to shine in ways his traumatized younger self would have shouted in joy for if he could go back in time and tell him.

Of course, his percentage correctness did drop somewhat when adding more than two quirks together but he was still able to create his pets for Master, and he had almost finished the greater plan, they were only a few years away from his perfect tools being finished. Giant, filled with quirks, unstoppable, perfect.

Reaching up he felt tears falling down his face, when had he started crying? How foolish, Master was going to be fine, no one could kill him, or defeat him, ‘Focus,' he growled at himself, 'next quirk!’

Healing, well, self-explanatory really, and while nowhere near as strong as the several that Master used, it combined with the final gift, Longevity, to turn him into a tool to be at Master's side for as long as it took to complete Master's vision of the world they were going to create together.

Of course, he knew the fourth quirk Master gifted him with had been a risk but he could forgive Master anything, and Venerate, while amazing, was totally unnecessary, anyone who could be in Master's presence and not venerate, worship, and obey him wasn't human.

So even without it he would have followed Master but with it, well, the feeling of ecstasy he would get whenever Master was pleased with him, aaaaaah he shivered in excitement, yes, earning Master's notice, in any way, was pleasure to make the greatest orgasm in the world pale in comparison!

Slowing down, at last, he walked the final mile, meandering through the crowds, keeping Pet tucked into his lab coat, after all, the hair loss was unsightly, although the many modifications were hard to spot in this position, but a naked cat tended to draw stares. He was pleased with how, despite the hairless state of the skin, he had managed to induce it to be tough enough to be impervious to most blows. Useful indeed, as was it's camouflage ability.

Three quirks and it could still think? Yes, he was pleased that he had been working on it when the attack started so could grab it as he escaped.

Animals alone were useless to him, but when they had a quirk factor, ooooh then, then indeed they were amazing. He could spend days just examining a new specimen before he began to play with it.  Being small he could only force one or two quirks into them before they became totally unstable but, for espionage, theft, and infiltration, then his very first creations truly shone, and if he had to only have saved one, then Pet was perfect.

He needed to remain unnoticed though so he took off his coat, wrapping Pet into it and carrying it as a parcel. Yes, that was better, no one would notice a slightly portly man walking at his ease in these crowds, and was that, yes it was, the safe house at last!

No one met him.

No one came later either.

Master was gone, truly gone!

The screaming void that claimed him when it truly became clear that Master was gone took him days to recover from, only his obligation to finish Master's work keeping him from following Master into death as a truly loyal servant should.

Well, he comforted himself, after he was done he could join him, for now, he had work to do!

For that though, without the resources he once had at his disposal - not money, he had that to burn, every safe house was stuffed with untraceable millions - he badly needed more quirked animals!

Pet just wasn't going to be enough but for now, he could use her to recover, and or acquire, the tools and assets he needed!

Now to put the word out!

________________________________

Pet was confused, to say the very least.

One moment she was crouching on the table and Pain was doing something to her and the next she was grabbed and they were running and the smells and sounds of fighting were ringing in her senses and then they were two, and not many many.

She could count, at least enough for her needs - mainly to follow directions to her objective - but had never tried to use that skill to know how many people kept her captive.

Only the one called Sensei, or Master, the one who even the barest thought of made her cringe and cower, the one who was filled with so much power that the very air crackled with it, making breathing almost impossible in his presence, and Pain, the one who hurt her and who had conditioned her to never hurt him in return.

Other than those two the rest didn't matter, perhaps a doubling of her feet and tail in number but they came and went so fast that she never bothered to remember what they smelled like, never mind their names or appearances.

And now that number was reduced to two, just her and Pain.

Having been given her target, she slunk across the rooftops. Finding the proper building, crawling down the wall and, with diamond-hard nails, she cut the window glass out, allowing it to fall the eighteen or so stories below her as she squeezed her way inside.

Not knowing what actually went into her makeup, she only knew that she could fit where no normal cat could, sliding almost bonelessly through any opening she could make.  Landing on the floor with all the noise of a feather touching down, she scanned the room. Knowing that the camera glued between her eyes was seeing with her, the speaker in her ear would give harsh directions - and pain, if she didn't obey fast enough, it would spike with enough sound to feel like a nail being driven into her skull - if she failed to find the target.

Catching scent of her objective, she used the floor plan she had been shown and followed her nose to the bedroom, finding the target asleep.  Leaping lightly to the bed she made her way to where the sleeping person was lying face up, snoring loudly.  Shaking her head in disgust at the stink of alcohol she gently patted his face, tickling until he swiped at the air and rolled over, whereupon she opened her mouth to its widest and bit right through the base of his skull, killing him instantly.

Leaping out of the way of the death throes, she waited until the body stilled fully before going to the safe in the corner.  Ignoring the voice in her ear as it yapped at her to hurry up she placed her hand on the controls, pressing the code she had been given. The beep was high-pitched enough for her to flinch but she pressed forward, opening the door and giving Pain a moment to tell her what to retrieve for him.

She worked for the next several hours, ferrying the contents to a nearby location and then from there to the base she was now in, smaller but just as cold, just as harsh as the last one.

Tired meant nothing to Pain, nor did fear or sadness or anything other than obedience so she continued until given permission to return to her cage.

But she never stopped thinking, and the thing she mostly thought about now was numbers and how there was only one of her....

But there was only one of him now too.

***

Stretched full-length along a branch, her skin ridged and rippled, blending in both with the colour and also the texture of the bark beneath her, she watched a kitten at play.

Not just one kitten either, but several, although only one had four legs.

She never knew that humans had a kitten stage and she was totally enjoying watching them play, the sounds they all made, she had so seldom heard joy but she did know what it was, and here it was in real life.  How strange.

Keeping her eyes mostly closed - eyes draw eyes, it was a hard fact - she watched the target, knowing that, if she succeeded in acquiring it, then Pain would have someone else to hurt, to adapt, to change….

And she didn't like that. The image of this fluffy kitten - now floating in the air with one of the other kittens to keep out of reach of all the rest - screaming as Pain twisted and reshaped them was enough to have her growling.

On any other job that would have earned her instant punishment but for this one, with all the surveillance gear the one called Nezu already had in place, anything extra brought near it all would have shown up like a bright light in the dark so, for this short time at least, she was free of any voice in her ears.

Bracing herself when the entire pack ran at her tree, she only relaxed when they all fell to the ground, panting and laughing as they all pulled food from various pockets, complaining about the cold, and she agreed, she was always cold on assignment! The kittens spent much of their time sharing out their various bites as they talked loudly and freely about things she just didn't understand.

Oh, yes she knew what the words meant but without context, much of the babble was incomprehensible so she closed her eyes and simply let most of it go in one ear and out the other until, she perked up when one of them started with the words, “Have you ever thought what it’d be like to live on a tropical island and ALWAYS BE FUCKING WARM?”

'Always warm? Is that possible?'

And that sparked a debate that she found herself fiercely interested in as one said, “Yeah, like, just hit the pilgrims trail south and never look back!” and another one said, “Sun sand and sea forever? Of course I've thought of it, it’s just UA's here so I’m stuck with fuckin' winter until I graduate, and then BAM, Ima headed South and I’ll never be cold again!!!”

'South is warm?'

She knew where south was, her basic nature allowed her to know all of the compass points. Her ear flicked as she fought off a shiver, the evening sun held no warmth at all and she was bitterly chilled now but all thoughts of her own comfort disappeared at the sudden scent wafting up to her. 

Oh yes, she knew that smell, that was Big Cat - she knew all humans had names but the ones she encountered that deserved to be so honored, she gave names of her own and this one had earned his name - and he was standing right under her as the green kitten cheered at seeing him, all the kitten's scents brightening even more until it felt like a summers day was radiating up at her…

All of them were thrilled to see Big Cat who was now cradling Green in his arms and Green was purring so hard she could almost feel it vibrating the very tree she was in, what was this? How were they all so happy? Big Cat was dangerous, truly and ooooooh, maybe it was like her, she was dangerous but if she cared for someone like Big Cat seemed to care for the kittens, then maybe she would only be dangerous outwards, not inwards at them?

Something else to think about, she thought as she watched Big Cat dismiss the pack, taking each in his arms in a display of affection she had never seen, and now another hero was there, doing the same to Big Cat and Green, and they were moving off as the sounds of laughter faded in the distance as the other kittens were finally gone.

Stretching, she followed Green. Her objective, “Bring me the green quirked cat you find on UA grounds!” so, with her mind spinning in confusion and conflicting thoughts, she trailed them, following by scent rather than sight.

Pinpointing their den was easy as the yellow one was so loud she could hear him from the ground yelling about how beautiful the sunset was and how the other two should come see and, she nestled under a bush to wait for full dark before climbing the building, curiosity to see how this small pack behaved in the privacy of their own den beginning to burn inside of her.

She had never paused in her missions to observe how humans acted before but now, after watching the kittens play, she was alive with interest. How did these humans differ from the ones she had dealt with?

Suddenly she realized, Pain had no recall on her right now, he had given no limit to how long, or short, the time she had to retrieve Green was so she could take her time and just watch, at least for a few days. After all, the entire building was filled with people, how did they all act with no eyes on them?

She was going to find out and for once, no one could stop her!

**********

She spent a full week just watching the teachers and staff and students of UA live and work and play and love….

It was a week that changed her in ways she didn't understand but, after watching not just the other adults and kittens as she hid in the dark on their balconies and during the days through windows in the school buildings and on the training grounds, she watched the way they all touched, how contact didn't mean agony but rather was an expression of care, and how Green interact with Yellow and Big Cat all the time...

She didn't want that to change.

The thought of giving Green to Pain, to hear how he screamed like his latest plaything, Rat, who never stopped screaming now, the thought hurt her in a way she didn't understand.

Curled out of sight, she listened to Geen talking about his day and thought of herself, alone and, other than Rat, how Pain was also alone now and an idea, blinding in its simplicity, flooded her mind…

Pain was alone.

Pain had no backup.

Pain was vulnerable and she was a killer.

He had made her a killer.

Standing up, she stared into the brightly lit room where three people lived, loving each other in ways that would remain mysterious to her forever, and then turned and disappeared back into the dark.

****

She killed Pain that night, slipping into his room as she had been trained to do, his healing quirk not powerful enough to handle three-inch-long canine teeth piercing deep into his brain.  She then, with care and gentleness, did the same thing for Rat as it lay whimpering, still tied down to the table.

The deep well of sadness she felt as she watched the blood trickling from the now limp little body was something new, as was the regret for her having found, caught, and brought him to Pain in the first place but, she sat until the emotions began to ease enough for her to function again, at least now the poor thing wasn't in pain any longer.

Setting the building on fire, she moved far enough back to be safe from the flames and watched it burn, only heading into the maze of dark streets when the first responders arrived, knowing that by this time the flames had destroyed most of what had been held in the building. 

Nothing remained of her, so no one would ever think to look.

Turning her nose South, tail held high, she started walking. 

She didn't know how far it was until winter didn't exist anymore but she had the time, and the skills to survive on the journey so she was in no hurry, she’d get there eventually.

And if she held three people in her heart to keep her warm on the way, then only she knew that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bloody string of murders came to an abrupt end with the body found after a house fire, the killer's MO of a single bite to the back of the skull, long teeth killing instantly, was unmistakable.

As so little remained, no one would ever know what was going on in that quiet residential abode, only that quirked animals no longer had an instant buyer and so the market, unlike for human trafficking, died down.

A direct causal link or a coincidence of timing perhaps?

Whichever it was, the relief for Nezu was tremendous. As his unofficial grandson was still a cat, for now at least anyway, it wouldn't do to lose him any time soon! If that happened he would have to destroy the world all in the name of revenging him, and no one wanted that!

_________________________________

It was pure luck that had Kurogiri and Tomura away from the base when All Might attacked it, not on his own as had been expected, but with a full task force, not that they knew that until MUCH later....

Tomura had, once again, seemingly overnight, outgrown everything he owned, hence the shopping trip that probably saved both their lives.

Between one moment and the next, with only a few items in their basket, every nerve in Kurogiri’s body lit up like a fiery kaleidoscope of agony as he dropped to the floor, screaming as the feedback loop between his collar and the Doctor's equipment flashed and frizzled until, with blessed relief, someone broke the collar off his neck and he dropped into unconsciousness.

*****************

Tomura, when Kurigiri screamed and fell down, fully expected to be ignored, for them both to be ignored, because that's what people do, so for a hero to suddenly appear, claw the sparking collar off, and tend to (his slave, person, caregiver?) Kurogiri, he was deeply shocked, to say the least.

Even when medical personnel came, the hero stayed with him, talking to keep him calm, even getting him special gloves when he said his quirk was in his hands and too dangerous for him to be touched.

They even rode to the hospital with them in the ambulance and found him a place to sit in the hospital while he waited for either Kurogiri to get better or for Sensei to come for him.

Neither of which happened for a very long time.

Sitting beside the bed, waiting for Kurogiri to wake up, one of the nice people called nurses - he had asked who they were when so many of them kept popping in and out of the room, seemingly at random - put the tv on for him.

Watching the news, he felt his mind trying to find any reason no one had come for them, and how frightened he was starting to feel, and how the now escalating worry over what would happen to him, and even what would happen to Kurogiri, if no one ever showed up?

Suddenly All Might was on the news, and, behind him where he was talking to the person with a microphone, was a place he was totally familiar with but now, now their base was gone, just enough remaining to identify but that was it. He was saying something about casualties but Tomura for some reason couldn't hear him properly, staring in horror at the figure he had hated for so long, that Sensei had said was the fault of every bad thing in the world…

All Might, the symbol of true evil!

Evil hidden in plain sight, evil that everyone had been tricked into believing was good.

True evil!

But, instead of his normal screaming rage at the sight of them, the numbness crept further, he couldn't feel his hands or his legs anymore, and breathing was getting harder and harder. Reaching up to claw at his skin where the itch was driving spikes into his neck, he couldn't move them, couldn't do anything other than stare at the blank screen and listen to the words being calmly spoken, words counting for some reason, and he simply listened, listened to the words of a stranger who was kind enough to be with him as he fell apart…

Sensei was wrong, he thought as he gave a shaky smile at the hero who had come back to check on them, this hero was good, they helped, and so did everyone who was trying to make Kurogiri better.

And if Sensei was wrong about all the people he had met today, what else had he been wrong about, and where was he?

****

Waking slowly, all Kurogiri felt was a deep, almost bottomless well, of confusion.

Where was he? He didn't know.

How had he gotten there? No idea.

Who was he, well, now that he did know, he was……he was……something, he did something, something important, something…..

Tomura, he took care of Tomura!

Letting himself bask in the success of figuring that out, he finally wondered, 'Who's Tomura?'

****

The next time he awoke, he opened his eyes and saw Tomura, sitting on the floor, coloring in a book as if he was a much younger child than he really was, and the floor was clean?

Struggling to sit up, he tried to make any sense of what he was seeing. A clean room, not very large, equipment like the Doctor used, but unlike that equipment, this wasn't covered with dried streaks of crusted blood and filth and cracked panels and dents. Instead, it was, like the floor, clean.

"KUROGIRI, you're awake, thank everything, I don’t know where Sensei is but All Might knocked down the base and you fell down in the store and you screamed and a hero came and helped you, and then they helped us get here and its called a hospital and there's nurses and everyone is really nice but I don't know what to do, they keep asking me things I don't know and feeding me, it's very strange."

Taking the time to understand the word tsunami he was just hit by, he managed to ask, voice scratchy with sleep and disuse, "How long?"

Two days!

Falling back flat in shock, he was suddenly filled with an emotion he had long since forgotten, hope!

Hope because, if neither his master nor the doctor had come for them, and they were both so valuable, so important, then they couldn't, and if they couldn't, then he and the boy were free.

Free for now anyway.

"Drink!" And, in a totally uncharacteristic display of helpfulness, the child brought him water, even helping him to hold the glass as he drank.

Easing back down, he raised his hand to his neck when he felt no constriction, no pain, and found the collar gone, he was wearing only a gown for the first time in, how long?

Closing his eyes he tried to remember, tried to figure out how long, how long had he been, what, a glorified Uber? Servant to a spoilt child? Slave?

Murmuring a quiet, "Give me a moment Tomura, I need to figure out what to do," he turned his entire attention to their predicament. And as his mind felt free at last, moving fast and easy, even with the strange blanks and areas of confusion, he fell asleep without even knowing it as he tried to make a plan…

He had it once he woke again and was seen by a woman he was surprised to be told was a doctor because she didn't hurt him! At all!

Nor did she hurt his charge. Because despite his now being seemingly free, something still joined the two of them together, and although he didn't know what it was, he was unwilling to simply abandon him.

Trying to answer the questions she asked him proved to be harder than expected because he didn't know the date - it wasn't necessary for his being everyone's transportation to know that, after all - or his address - yes, he had coordinates but not an actual address - or even what year it was or who was prime minister was or really anything she asked him.

It was embarrassing, to say the least!

****

After being left to eat the lunch they brought to him and the boy, Kurogiri thought over his plan one final time and sighed, it wasn't much but at least it was something.

Sum total of said plan? Take the boy and run!

He had gone through all the implanted coordinates he seemed to have in his head, implanted because he sure as hell didn't remember memorizing them, and settled on one that might work. A little house in the village of Ogasawara on Chichijima Island, well tucked out of the way and maintained, as all the safehouses were, by him and him alone.

It would have enough money hidden in it to establish them both, and, if he was right, then no one would ever come looking for them and if they did, then it would be much easier to spot strangers on a small island than in a nameless ward in amongst millions in a place like Tokyo.

Yes, and he would be able to hide the boy while he made his way to each of the safe houses and gathered the resources hidden in them. They needed them and, as he knew where it all was hidden, then so be it.  They both needed fake IDs and histories as well and those didn't come cheap.

Deciding on who to use for that he settled on someone he had a grudge against (anyone who trafficked humans deserved his grudge) that, once he had the required official paperwork to prove they existed, the world wouldn't miss them so one info broker would go missing permanently. Perhaps dropping them into a volcano would be nice? At least it would be quick anyway.

****

It took time to settle into their new life on the island, but using the cover story of having inherited the house and a history of poor health, they avoided any undue curiosity from their new neighbors, and, slowly, life moved on and they both changed.

He regained very few of his old memories and instead, he rediscovered his emotions. Most importantly, he found himself loving his charge, finally realizing almost a year into their new life that he no longer had a charge at all and instead, he had a son.

And the boy learned how to be a child, rather than a tool, and met and made friends for the first time since sensei had stolen him.

Being grateful he had chosen family names that matched on their new IDs, Muramoto Shoji (his son) was finally enrolled into a real school at last, and he, in his new persona of Muramoto Satoshi, became an English tutor.

He had no memories of having actually learned English, but he appeared to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject so he made a small income (their rather surprising wealth kept well hidden) to hide any nefarious past, and time, as it does, moved on.

*****

Sitting in the audience, watching Shoji graduating from Heroes of the Islands High School, Satoshi felt nothing but pride, joy, and love.

His son was going to be a wonderful hero!

Chapter Text

Fujita Mio knew her Mummy loved her because Mummy said she did and why would she lie about that?

She wasn't sure about her Daddy. He never told her he loved her and was scary sometimes but, well, that was okay cause Daddies sometimes were weird and mean, at least that’s what the other kids at playgroup said.

The way he looked at her sometimes though, made her stomach all squirmy, and when they would talk about her when they didn’t know she could hear - and she'd kept how good she could hear a secrete like Miki-chan said to cause, “Nobody likes someone who can hear secrets Mio, nobody!”  - made her hearts hurt.

That was another thing though, how they didn’t let her call them her hearts, even though the nurse at school said she had three - and how super duper cool was that - but that just brought her right back in her circle cause of what Daddy had said…..

“How the FUCK,” (such a bad word, she’d have time out forever at school if she said that one) “did we get THAT?” She’d peeked round the corner of the kitchen door and watched him wave his hands and flinched, “You look normal!” He rounded on Mummy, “I LOOK NORMAL, how the fuck did we get that gods damned freak?”

Freak, there was that word again - Mummy’s soft voice in her memory “ We don't want to look like a freak do we Mio? Come on, put the trousers on properly, you know how to do it.”

“No matter how you dress it it’s always going to look like THAT!” And Daddy was so loud and angry and…. Was it her fault?

She slipped away to her room, wondering what was so wrong about how she looked? Sure most people only had two legs and two arms like her parents but she had EIGHT legs and no arms or eight arms and NO legs and how cool was that! She had the best of both her parents, Mummy had a firefly squid mutation and could light up her skin so pretty and make it ripple in all kinds of textures and colours and Daddy could squeeze himself through the tiniest spaces cause his bones were all soft and squishy cause of his octopus mutation and his quirk was like his sisters, secr secre seee making goop come out of their mouths that hardened into a shiny pearl stuff.

Sooooo cool!

She ignored how Auntie scared her even more than Daddy did, her eyes were so mean when she looked at her, even though her mouth smiled and smiled and smiled.

But now that she was bigger she never got to move right, all on the floor or walls and fast and easy, no, she had to cram six of her legs into pants and the rest of her into a shirt and “Walk like a person!” yelled Daddy and “You can do it Mio, hold onto your shoes properly, heal toe, heal toe, that’s it, no stopping now!”

She hated it so much and the kids at school called her octopussy but when she asked what it meant she got corner time just for saying it so it must be bad.

Was she bad?

****************************

Her quirk came in, the councilor called it Call, an irresistible summons to everyone who heard her sing, she could pull people from as far away as her voice was audible.

She didn't get to sing anymore now, or even talk much.

She thought not getting her quirk at four was bad, thought waiting until she was almost NINE for it to start working was awful but now, well, she sat in her room and wished with all her hearts that it had just stayed away.

Singing used to make her so happy but today Daddy caught her singing to herself and no matter how much she said she didn't have her quirk on and that no one could hear, he yelled and yelled and called her, she looked at where her laptop usually lived but he’d taken it when he locked her in.  She’d have to look up the new words when she got it back, hore and prositoot she thought they were.

They must be bad things to be if Daddy yelled for so long about her being them.

Looking fearfully at the door she started to hum ever so softly, wrapping all her legs around herself tight like a ball, rocking gently back and forth, wishing everything wasn’t so horrible now.

**************

Standing frozen as she came through the door from school - late from detention again, she’d been accused of instigating the fight and the other kids had gotten hurt when she fought back, stupid fuckers never learned that she was strong and fast and would ALWAYS fight back - she looked up at her father (not daddy, not now she was twelve and knew what all the words he called her meant) and asked, “What?”

“Stupid bitch, are you deaf? I SAID I’ve been offered a job in the UK, it’s a ten-year contract and your mother is going with me. We don’t want you with us so you’ll be living with your Aunt, pack your stuff, you’ll be moving there tomorrow morning and we,” he gestured to the woman standing meekly beside him with excitement shining in her eyes, “will be on a plane in the afternoon.”

Numb, she couldn't even feel her tentacle tips as she wavered in her stance, “Stand up STRAIGHT Mio, Head shape, HEAD SHAPE you KNOW how to do it!” as her body tried to withdraw into its natural figure ("Hey look, it’s the tree octopussy!”) and asked, “With Aunt Keiko? But Aunt Keiko doesn't like me.”

“What does that have to do with anything, stupid girl, get your stuff, she’s giving you room and board and you will be fucking grateful for it, no one else wants a freak like you in their homes, do they?”

He’d moved towards her then, just a step, but it sent her fleeing down the hall, rushing to her room where she fell out of her clothes and skidded under the bed, curling tight and small as thundering thuds hit her door, yells and swears and threats making her ears ache but nothing like her how her heart felt. (“Hearts, she whispered to herself, my hearts hurt.”)

*-*

She’d packed her stuff, all of it into one small duffle bag, only realizing how little she had when it had room left over.

‘Does everybody have this little of stuff?’

Sitting in the room she’d been shown, hoping the sick fear was wrong, that the pink walls and the clamshell sink in the corner - “You need water more than normal people, right?” - was a sign of kindness, instead of something else.

Not daring to look anything other than normal she slid one tentacle out of her trousers and wrapped it around herself, soundlessly vibrating to a rhythm she usually used to calm herself down.

It didn't work, and her parents didn't say goodbye.

*-*

School had always been the worst part of her day but now, now she dreaded going back to where she lived, back to where, three days after she’d moved in she came back from school and found all her stuff gone, the shock causing her ears to ring, almost blocking out the hateful words.

“....threw it away, no one YOUR age needs toys and games anymore, big girls don't play like that anymore…. Time you grew up and stopped being a….. Love you? Who’d ev…. Freak….”

By the end of the week there was a grid on her window, pretty and decorative of pierced brass, welded in place with mother of pearl from her Aunts quirk, there was even a circle of it welded over the drain in the sink….

Yes, she could fit through tiny spaces like her father, squeeze herself bonelessly through them but the sinks drain? Really? Even if she tried it was at least three times too small for her but the sight of it blocked so only water could get through chilled her to the marrow.

She was locked in for the entire weekend, no food, no contact, it seemed “Looking at me funny!” was a terrible thing to do to someone and deserved it.

Only having the water kept her alive through it and she’d known, she’d known when she’d seen it in her room what her aunt planned for her, she just hadn’t wanted to believe it.

School breakfast wasn't enough to fill the hole in her, nor did lunch fill her all the way up either but she got no dinner, only more alone time in her room, but at least this time she had her computer and school work to do, and her one last thing from life before Aunts house, BAH she’d started calling the two halves of her life….

Her baby blanket - oh, not hers, one she’d found, thrown away and covered in mud, that when she’d sneaked it into the wash and managed it get it back before anyone noticed, was so soft, so fluffy, she’d kept it in her bed for years, hidden flat between the top and bottom sheets.

Tentacle tips shoved under it in the dark helped her feel that somewhere, somehow, it was possible for someone like her to be loved too because on the soft fluffy fabric were undersea creatures, fish and seahorses and clams and coral and even things like her, she could draw them from memory if she wouldn't be punished for it, the amazing octopus.

But if octopus were amazing, why wasn't she?

Detention again when the bigger kids tried to hurt her - “We read that an octopussy’s tentacle will grow back if we chop it off, wanna see if it's true, freak?” -  but it was better than going back to her aunt's house so she sat quietly and watched the clock tick the time down.

Hell. She’d read about it but never expected to watch a clock marking the moments until she had to return to it!

***********

Aunt had left her computer in her room when she said she had a project to do over the weekend. A lie but better than sitting in an empty room, only a few clothes and her uniforms in the closet and nothing else other than the bed.

Curled up on the floor she scrolled through pictures of places in Japan, wondering what it would be like to live in them. Snow deep enough to cover houses? ‘Brrrrrr nope, just nope!’ Mountains high enough to catch clouds on? ‘How cool would that be, standing in a cloud, I wonder what that feels like?’ 

She’d grown up in Musutafu, in a very poor part of the city, and had only ever known grime and city sounds so the pictures gave her a window on other things, other places, farmland (how weird to think of food coming out of the ground or chickens bottoms) rivers and trees and temples…..

The newest image caught her, held her riveted, a tiny ancient temple, blazing white sand, deep crystal blue water, the dark green of forest with palm trees and flower-covered vines.

She almost couldn't breathe for how pretty it was.

It was getting dark by the time she took her eyes off of it and tugged the energy bar out of her bag. She’d stolen it on her way home, knowing that she’d get no food again over the weekend. Steeling was wrong but so was starving so she’d taken not just one, but twelve.

Looking normal yet being able to stick one of her arms out behind her from under her uniform and pick things up behind her back was a blessing, no one spotted her doing it, and now she had food. Of course, it wouldn't work in that store again because someone might link her and the disappearing bars so she’d have to do it in a different store next time but for now, she munched on the horrid thing, now she’d see if she could find out more about the picture.

The Haunted Cat Shrine, it was called, it’s nearest town Kagoshima, 1256 kilometers away from her, and if she was walking the online map thought it would take 261 hours for her to get there.

Almost eleven days, if she walked it all at once. A full month if she only walked for eight hours every single day. 

‘Yeah, as if!’ 

‘With no money, no way to get food, no one to go with me, it’s not like Call works on fish or birds or anything!’  Thoughts screeching to a halt, she suddenly wondered, ‘Does Call work on fish?’

The quirk councilor had asked if she wanted to be a hero and she’d said “No, no of course not! Cause heroes fight villains and villains are scary and the kids already make me be the villain when we play an I donwanna do that!”  His answer to that was, “Then don't use your quirk kid, it’s useless in real life, just keep it turned off.”

And that was that, she’d never been allowed to use it at home, didn't get to take the school quirk use classes cause her parents had written no on the permission slip, and wasn't allowed to be out on her own where she might have tried it in private.

‘I’m TWELVE and I’ve never even used my quirk!’ Which is when she truly realized that she was planning to run away, to run as far as one actually could in Japan, all the way away to a haunted shrine - ‘Maybe what's haunting it won’t hate me too?’ - and to live on fish and never see anyone who might hurt her ever again.

Sitting up she dragged her computer closer, this was gonna take some research!

*******

Detention again, or at least that's what she told Aunt Nasty, which gave her three hours free and clear, and she knew where a park and a turgid (she loved that word) looking canal was, overgrown and deserted mostly so, as soon as the bell rang she was off, heal toe, heal toe, heal toe, “Look NORMAL Mio, keep your head shaped properly, humans have a nose I know you know how!” and finally stood at the gates of the wasteland, fear aching in her but if she had to be brave to be free - she slid inside, swallowing hard - then she could do this!

~~~~

The long-ago words of the doctor who examined her when her quirk came in, (not the quirk-councilor who told her to just not use it) - had been kind, she had been kind too, not just in her words, and smiled as she explained - “Your daughter needs so much liquid in her diet because her skin is permeable, she regulates her temperature primarily through evaporation so never let her get dehydrated,” (her parents cut her water by half as soon as they got home) “and, you really are so special Mio, you can breathe water too, did you know that?”

She’d shaken her upper body but, seeing her parents freeze at the motion, remembered herself enough to only move the part of her that they forced her to keep pinched in so it looked like a head, despite being mostly unclothed on the table.  “Normal Girl, you need to look NORMAL!!!”

“Well you can, you clever thing you!” And she’d been booped on the nose bump and even with her fuming parents in the room she’d giggled, the nice lady made it easy to be happy, at least while she was with her anyway.

“It might burn a bit when you transition from one to the other, do you know what transition means?” And she’d said yes and the nice doctor continued, “Well then, the more often you change from water to air to water and back to air again the less it’ll hurt so practice lots, okay kiddo?”

Then she’d been given a sweetie and sent home.

She’d never been let near water deeper than the shower tray again.

~~~~~~~~~

Standing beside the almost black water of the canal, the fear of deep water having been screamed into her for the last three years, she frantically looked in all directions, no one could see her try, no one could tell on her.

Her Aunt would kill her if she caught her!

Sliding from her clothes to keep them dry she settled down on the ground, slowly dropping three tentacle tips into the water, yanking them right back out when she thought of the fish and monsters that might be hiding in the inky darkness but, if she was ever to get free she had to do this, had to, so she wrapped two tentacles around the sapling she was beside, tugged to make sure her grip was secure and jumped into the water, sucking in a deep breath of it as soon as her head went under….

Burn a bit was a fucking understatement!

Only her stubbornness kept her under, breathing liquid fire and counting, desperately counting and ignoring how she jerked and floundered in agony but, by the time she reached three hundred it only hurt, and by the time she reached seven hundred it had faded to a background burn, still bad but not so bad she couldn't ignore it to focus on trying to activate her quirk.

“Whore bitch no good piece of shit…” She ignored the words that had been spat at her by her sperm donor (she loved that insult to him and all he stood for, had begun to hate the man, glad he was gone but so so so sad to be thrown away) and tried singing, the sun moon play me song from hundreds of years ago, it reminded her of her two favorite heroes, Eraserhead who had saved her class during a fieldtrip (he had looked grumpy but had smiled at her, actually smiled) and Present Mic who she used to listen to on her little radio that Aunt Awful had thrown away, it was one of her favorite songs so she started with just trying to sing….

Singing underwater was weird, cool and strange and a bit like whale song but not really and it was nice to do and all but nothing was happening so she thought about calling fish to her, or calling anything really and she felt something, a liquid grace, heavy and big and yet so light and it was coming to her, and it was suddenly not alone, as more and more joined and they were coming faster and faster and she couldn't stop the Call and they were almost at her and she tugged hard on the sapling and flew out of the water and was suddenly being hit by flying bodies!

Gasping as air hit her lungs again she blinked and saw bright koi, snapping snakeshead, the round bodies of bluegill and so many others that she didn't recognize, but she was laying in a pile of flapping gasping soon-to-be-dying fish and she scrambled to help, shoving and pushing them back into the water, she even managed to shove the HUGE carp, bigger than she was, back into the water.

Finally flopping into a limp puddle, she began to laugh, it was so funny and she was so alone and she was crying now, sobbing as the fright of it hit like her father used to and she curled up small and just let it happen, she’d learned at some point that when she broke, to just hang on and ride it out.

The streetlights were coming on by the time she made it back to where she now lived, bowing and saying the teacher forgot she was there, just left her alone in the room and she was sorry she was late and was shoved into her room and, ‘Step one, complete, fish really do answer my quirk!’

********

Looking at her belonging she thought, ‘I don’t have much of anything left but I can’t take it all with me so what’ll I need to walk so far alone? I’ll keep to the small roads, to fields and woods and away from people, like, hiking trails and things like that, and pilgrims trails too but I might need to go into towns instead of going around sometimes so I’ll need some clothes but if I’m all alone I’m fucking gonna just be me for a change instead of a fake person so I’ll have to be able to carry them instead of wearing them so…’

Once again the internet was her best and only friend, and because her Aunt didn’t like to talk to the school and never even tried to double check anything she said she had to do, she got away with the lie of a project, “It’s called Carry With Your Quirk and we have to make a container that works with our quirk or mutations and we have to do it all by ourselves and I thought I could make a head-pack, see,” she held up her drawing, “if I get two cheap plastic bowls, I can connect them together by their bottoms, see, I can use a nail and the stove top and kinda weld them together by melting holes in their bottoms like spot welding and one will go on my head and the other one can hold things and I can put a gathered cover on it, just the ones in the hundred yen shop to cover salad and things, the whole thing won't cost very much, I can get it all from the same place but I need the grade so please….”

Standing in the kitchen with a nail held between the jaws of pliers being heated almost to red hot in the burner, she carefully didn't grin. But she couldn't believe it worked! And melting the two bowls bottoms together a bit at a time worked too but gosh, did it ever STINK!!!

Wedging it onto her head later she shifted her head shape just enough to create a slight vacuum and climbed the wall, and other than everything she'd packed into it falling out when the cover slid off, it was a success.  A bit of string to tie it on tight and the next time, everything stayed put.

Now she just needed to memorize her route and to actually be brave enough to do it.

Hiding under her bed she sobbed silently while fear raced along her limbs, causing them to twitch and writhe. She didn't want to go but she couldn't stay either so it was better to go before she got hurt or killed, it was all just so awful but she knew, she knew that looking like she did (“Freak! Worthless piece of shit, I just wish we'd had a real daughter instead of you!”) no one would help her so if she wanted to live, she had to save herself.

She spent the next day's “detention” at the library, planning her route, trying to keep it close to water all the way so she’d have food to eat, and as rural as possible to give herself good cover.  Mid spring and heading south, no money, no goal other than a haunted shrine, no friends, no family….

Laughing bitterly as she packed her head-pack with the bare minimum, she ducked on her way out as Aunt yelled something about how awful her project was, how she was gonna fail just like she always did, and bla bla horrible words bla-de-bla evil nasty bla bla shit!

Heal toe, heal toe, heal toe, tentacles curled tight to hold her shoes in place, she made her way to the train station, stretched tall in clothing not built for her body, excitement racing along her limbs, making them want to writhe and wriggle but through a lifetimes repression, she never even twitched, just got onto the train after pressing her pass to the reader.

Her travel card would take her to the outskirts of the city by train and then, she managed to catch the bus to a tiny village, the very farthest her pass would take her, only twenty miles as the crow flies from her aunt's house but a world away when she stepped off the bus.

Up until then, she'd had her nose pointed at her laptop, keeping an eye on her route and searching last-minute quirk tips and travel guides and “WOW!” standing as she stared at the huge temple complex before her, she felt both shock and awe, if for nothing but the age of the place, over a thousand years the temple had stood, right here, and seen so many different kinds of people.

‘I wonder if it's ever seen anyone like me?’ she suddenly wondered, a tree octopus dressed up as a person.  From now on though, that’s what I’m a’gonna be, no clothes, no rules, no abuse, just me and getting to the Cats Shrine and the sun and sand and pretty flowers.’

Having studied the temple grounds closely online she turned left onto the path that wended its way through old-growth forest, trees towering above her, and almost at the bottom of the valley she broke from the official route, pushing through the greenery and fetched up at the base of a cliff, towering stone and deeply drifted leaves and dark shadows.

Suppressing a shiver at the coolness of the air she compressed herself and let her clothes fall to the ground, stepping from her suddenly sticklike girth to a much more normal one, and kicked the clothes against the stone.  Next, she placed her laptop on a sharp-edged boulder - no phone, she was never allowed a phone - she lifted a chunk of rock high and brought it smashing down. A few blows and she was gathering the fragments and tossing them over with the discarded uniform.

Piling stones and leaves and sticks over the discarded items, after making sure her bookbag was in the pile as well, she made sure it was totally covered before checking her head-pack (loving and hating the name but it was like a backpack but it went on her head, what else was she gonna call it?) to make sure nothing had gotten dislodged or shaken out.

Nope, her art pad and pencils were fine - she planned on drawing her journey - as were her shoes, jogger suit, baby blanket (hidden in the bed her aunt had missed it in the purge), and energy bars. There was even room left over for things she might find on the way.

Taking one final glance around she shoved her head into the bottom of her carry-all and let herself drop to the ground, all eight limbs spread around her, as she had never done outside in her life. In her room yes, she would play with her body, see how far, how fast, how small, how big, how amazing she was but in public she’d always been forced to look as “Normal” as possible so for the first time in her life she shoved the hate-filled words that usually echoed through her when she did something natural to her body shape away, ignoring the words of her parents at last and let herself move across the leaves naturally.

With a sidewinding motion she was incredibly fast, well, she thought so anyway, but she’d never measured herself against anyone so wasn't really sure how fast she truly was but now wasn't for speed so ("steady progress is better than rapid progress because steady will, over time, get you farther than tiring yourself out trying to go too fast and not being able to continue") using good words, useful words, words found online, to encourage herself, she set off, it was only eleven in the morning and she had hours before anyone would even notice she was gone.

*************

The school called her aunt the second day she didn't come in, her aunt said she should be at school, the school asked when she’d last seen her, her aunt lied and said that morning….

It was a long fuse but it was lit at last and five days later after investigators forced their way into the missing girl's bedroom to find it little better than a prison cell, the ones who’d done it faced charges at last and a national alert for Mio was published.

Her trail went to a temple in the mountains and not a step farther.

It was like she’d dropped off the face of the planet!

*-*

In sorrow, a hero studied the reports and the one photo in it because he remembered the child, how their smile had drawn forth one of his own, how they had lit up to see him, while most her age drew back in fear.

Nothing he could do helped to find her though and the trail grew cold.

***********************

Uncaring of any search because who’d look for HER, Mio made her way deeper into the woods, finding the small river the map said should be there, only a few feet across and crystal clear it sounded happy to her ears as she slid into it.

‘If they send trackers, not that they will but if I pretend like they would act for normal kids, for good kids, then my smashing my computer will destroy any searches I did, and being underwater should throw them off.’ So, her bowl looking like floating trash, she endured the pain of switching from air to water and set off downstream, letting the water do most of the work.

It was hard to keep track of the speed of her progress and to keep her stuff dry when the bowl wanted to keep tipping off her head now she was all wet and slippy but with the first part of her route fully memorized, she got out of the river at the second bridge and set off overland, feeling wild and free as she slithered across the ground, ignoring the occasional pain of rough branches and stones to revel in the feeling of almost flying across the ground.

Focused and intent on getting to the spot she’d picked for resting the night, she finally made it, panting and overheated so was glad to shed the carryall and slide into another river, this one larger and as she anchored herself to a boulder, she sucked in deep breaths of water and equally deep swallows to slake her thirst, she’d forgotten to bring a bottle, something she was sure was gonna come back to bite her, and sent Call down-river, trying this time to be gentler.

Feeling it wash over water-smoothed stones, larger boulders, moss and waving water weeds and, more importantly, small bright bodies (‘How strange, I can feel things my quirk touches!’) she gathered them to her, bringing them in, not afraid this time because Sweet Fish were small, too small to hurt her, and as each one reached her she learned to not grab at them, sudden movements spooked them out of her control, she lost the first few that way.

Slow easy motions though kept them in her quirks grip and, as she finally caught the first one and brought it to her mouth, she smiled at the taste, fresh fish and freedom, the best things in the world!

Full to the bursting at last she totally forgot she was going to stay the night where she was and set off again.

*************

By nightfall she was so tired she could hardly see straight and finally shoved her pack under a bush and scaled the biggest tree she could find. Getting up off the ground was important, there could be wolves or wild boars or or or bears (or monsters) in the woods but up in the tree - she curled up tight in a crook in the branches, almost like a bed shaped just for her where four branches met - all she had to worry about were owls and maybe eagles but she was an octopus, letting her skin roughen to match the bark texture, darkening her colour to blend in seamlessly, not only would an owl not want to eat her, now it wouldn't even be able to see her.

Eyes wide open, she flinched at every sound, wished like mad that she'd remembered to bring her blanket up into the tree with her, cringed at every imagined shape in the night woods, and it was a testament to how frightened she was that she could imagine anything with her night vision making the woods appear leached of colour yet still almost as bright as day, but she eventually found herself slowly beginning to blink, each one longer than the one before, and without her even trying, she was finally sound asleep.

*****

Waking slowly she slowly realized several things, one, she was draped across a branch upside down like wet laundry, limp, her arms flopping in the light breeze.

Two, that when she tried to move she gave a sharp cry of pain when yesterday's exertions caught up with her….

And three, cramps in all of her arms while on a branch eighty feet above the ground are to be avoided at all cost because successfully catching said branch as she fell hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before.

Seems that changing the entire way she moved to a brand new method and then using it for over twelve hours straight gave one full body pain. 

Who knew?

*******

It took almost three weeks of combining walking like she used to with her proper way of moving for her body to adapt to it, and to toughen up on the undersides of her arms so the thorns and rough ground stopped scratching and bruising her.

Eating was easy though and she never got tired of fish so every time she got to a stream or river in she went, Calling anything in reach to her to be eaten before moving on.

Any glimpse of water made her instantly happy.

Until she found the lake that is. Hidden in the cupping fingers of high mountains, deep and dark and looking at her….

‘Water doesn't LOOK at people stupid Mio!’

“Argh, not stupid, not stupid Mio, clever amazing wonderful yet MISTAKEN Mio!”

‘Good words are hard to remember!’ she thought to herself as she looked into the water, or tried to at least, only a few inches in, and then it got so dark it looked like space, or a storm sky at night, or…..

It felt like it was looking back at her and she shivered when she thought about going in, backing away without thinking about it, edging even farther back when she realized how scared she was.

Which was stupid, it was just water!

Talking to herself out loud was a new thing she was trying because of how lonely she felt, a cheerful voice, even if it was hers, just felt nice so she said, “Well, maybe something is in it? Like, remember how big that carp was in the canal? And if something that big was in something that small, how big could something get living in here?”

Looking up she tried to guess how big the lake was but gave up with REALLY FUCKING BIG and edged to the side. Sure, she was hungry, but maybe she’d find a better place to use Call, for now she’d keep going.

The sun was edging to the horizon when she finally found a small river flowing into the lake across a shelving slope of smoothed and rounded pebbles shallow enough that made her feel comfortable to edge into the water, keeping three of her arms clutching tightly to a branch low enough for her to catch.

‘Better safe than sorry!’ she comforted herself at her perceived cowardness and she aimed Call at the lake, rather than up the river, and had a fraction of an instant when her quirk felt the HUGE form heaving itself at her and she screamed and pulled herself free and was running as fast as her limbs would propel her and just managed to catch sight of the unbelievably enormous catfish that had JUST TRIED TO EAT HER!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A shape, moving near the water's edge, it was so hungry, the prey was so close.... Fins hardly moving it followed the thing, close enough to see/feel its path and then, yesssssss it was coming into the water and it heaved its bulk into motion and was opening its mouth and so close so close yet it MISSED and the prey was running was on the dry was out of reach was…..

Gone.

Flailing to escape the shallows it sank to sulk at missing its meal, so hungry, it was still so hungry!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mio didn’t stop running until she was so hot she just might die of it and slid into the tiny stream she found, inhaling water in great gasps to try to help cool herself down and then she realized….

Her container was gone!

Everything she owned, gone, just like that.

Because she could remember how, in her panic, she’d knocked it, knocked it into….

Dark water looking at her, monster form heaving mouth open wider than she was tall

…..the lake.

‘No going back, it’s already sunk by now and that thing is still there, it’s waiting and I’ll never get my blanket back!’ 

Cold water washed the tears away as fast as they came to her eyes and nothing above the surface could hear her cries, but she wished someone would hear, someone would come, but people like her didn’t get heroes.

29 days and counting, and now she had nothing but the skin she was born with.

*******

On day thirty-seven the road she was following - she’d long since lost her way, now only traveling south, SOUTH was enough of a map for her now, south south south - led into a biggish town that seemed to have some kind of festival going on, streets thronging with people and the smells, ‘Wow! Yakitori, oh my gods, it smells so good!’ drooling she wondered how to get some but decided, sadly, to not even try and began to make her way around rather than through the town.

‘Foods not worth getting caught over!’ she thought as she slid and flowed through back alleys, up and down walls and over roofs, passing the faded jumble of cloth before backing up and looking at it a second time, seeing one badly scratched glass eye staring mournfully back at her.

Reaching out a tentative tentacle tip she poked it, watching as it flopped over and became a dirty stuffed bird, beak drooping in a frown, one eye missing where the fabric was savagely ripped and her heart went out to it, unwanted, and unloved too, just like her.

Pulling it closer she gave a tentative sniff but it smelled clean like dirt and fresh cut grass and she was suddenly holding it tight, a crushing hug as she gave little hiccupping sobs, telling it that she understood, that she’d help, that she wasn't very good with a needle but she bet she could come up with something for that eye…

Traveling wasn’t so sad now that she had a friend with her.

******

All told it took her (and Pirate for lots of it) 103 days to reach her goal but now she was standing there, clutching Pi tight, all she could feel was fear and loneliness because….

…. it was just a shrine.

Too small even to have regular priests and people to care for it.

On her journey, she’d seen dozens of shrines of all sizes and shapes so why this one felt so weird was beyond her.

It almost felt like the shrine was looking back at her!

Remembering how the lake had felt like it was looking at her she shivered. Maybe it really was haunted? And if it was, what was haunting it, and would it try and eat her?

“No Mio, stop being silly,” (not stupid, never stupid, no one got to call her stupid now) “and go in at least, you’ve walked the length of Japan to get here so whatcha gonna do, go away now? Where to?”

Only the fact she had nowhere else to go got her moving in the end and it was her innate stubbornness that had her going up to the shrine rather than full speed away from it but once inside, the wooden floor cool against her underside, she paused to just look and feel and eventually the urge to run became overwhelming and she gave in to it, fleeing back down the stairs and into the woods bordering the sandy cove.

Coming to a halt she heaved for breath, gasping from how hot she was, and peered back up at the unchanged building “Somethin’s lookin’ at us Pi, I c’n feel it!” Clutching Pi tighter she settled down and studied the building but, even an hour later, nothing had changed other than the shadows on the ground so she either had to go back inside to sleep or come up with somewhere else, and from having spent months getting to where she now was, sleeping outside was not a problem if it kept her away from the clearly haunted shrine.

“Maybe I shoulda picked a shrine that WASN’T called haunted?”

*-*

Being hungry and beside the ocean though, that was scary in an entity new direction because if the fish that tried to eat her got so big in a lake, how bloody big did they get in the OCEAN?

*-*

It only took her a very short while of searching to find not a tree to live in but a full-on cave! 

It wasn't very large, only about twice the size of her bed back when she was living with people but she didn't need much room really, just enough to get out of the weather and maybe hide some clothes and things, Pi’d like a softer bed than a tree branch and so would she if she was being honest.

“Ooooooo maybe a beanbag to sleep in? Oh gosh, that’ud be ACE! But where would we find one Pi? And am I strong enough to drag it all the way back here? And WHAT are we gonna do about food cause I’m really hungry but its the ocean Pi, the OCEAN! How big do fish get in there? And sharks, and snakes?” She didn't even think the word sea monsters but she shivered all the same but hunger didn't get any less for ignoring it and the sun was getting lower and lower and as bad as it might be in the light, then in the dark hell would freeze before she got near the water so it was now or never….

Sliding gently under the lapping waves she was grateful the water was so calm, she’d never felt waves before and wanted to get used to them so, holding tightly to the fallen tree she’d crawled out onto she held tight and switched to breathing water and, ‘Oh my GOSH! It doesn't hurt at all!!! I wonder why salt water doesn't hurt at all? Fresh water always stings for a bit but, huh, this is great!’

Peering in all directions, only a couple of feet deep, she was amazed by the fish she could see, used to the pretty boring colours of river fish she was amazed to see bright blues, flashing reds, shocking and vibrant and, when she ever so carefully activated her quirk, pulling some of them gently to her they tasted better than any river fish had ever done and she had LOVED what she’d eaten so far.

‘WOW, even if the shrine really is haunted I am NEVER moving away, the food here is fantastic!’

She wasn't brave enough to explore too far underwater but the little bit she did see and felt through her quirk amazed her. ‘So pretty, it’s all just so pretty!’

*-*

Stretching fully before jumping silently down from the rafters, the being no longer called Pet followed the strange kitten down the stairs, easily keeping out of its view.  Normally she didn't bother paying any attention to the humans that came to its shrine but the energy radiating off the tiny thing was worrisome, fear/hunger/hope/loneliness/defeat reminded her of how she too had felt long before she found her new home.

‘If this strange one smells to have no family, does it have a home?’ she wondered, and then, as the kitten climbed the cliff that bordered the cove and slid into one of the many caves and pockets, she decided that no, this kitten didn't have a home.

‘What does one do with a homeless kitten?’

Hidden from view she watched the kitten, having come back down from its new den, edging along a half-submerged log and then slipping under the tiny waves and then….. Nothing.

Even SHE could only hold her breath for a double handful of moments so she was starting to feel properly frantic when she ran onto the log to peer down through the crystal clear water and then, ‘Oh, the kitten must be able to BREATHE water!’

Watching it catching fish - and wouldn't Pain have loved that quirk, and that body, she was never so glad he was dead - and then to explore a tiny bit, ‘Poor kitten, it seems so frightened.’ she moved back under cover when it came out of the water and collected the bundle of rags that somewhat resembled a bird and scuttled back into the tiny cave it had clearly marked out as its own.

Feeling uncomfortably concerned and uncertain she climbed to a position to be able to see some of the space inside and settled down to watch. Perhaps she would figure out what to do with it after a period of observation?

After all, that had worked for Green so it should work for, ‘Hmmmmmmm, I wonder what to call it?’

*-*

The feeling of being watched as she curled up to sleep was stronger than ever but at least it didn't feel like the big fish that nearly ate her, this feeling was more curiosity rather than hunger so, clutching Pi close, she closed her eyes and eventually managed to sleep.

It had been a long trip and a stressful end of the journey and beginning of her new life.

She couldn't get out of the room, it was like being trapped inside a pearl and now it was getting smaller and smaller and she was hammering and screaming for help and now it was pressing on her and starting to crush her and….

Jolting out of sleep she gave a cry, sharp and shaking as she tried to figure out if the cage pearl was gonna come back to get her but, suddenly giving a gasp of relief, “A dream, it was only a dream!” Crying in earnest now she huddled, pressed tight to the wall, even being able to see clearly the night was scary and it smelled so different than the mountains she was now used to and the trees hisssshed in the cold dawn wind and waves were crashing on the shore and everything was suddenly too much.

She’d done the impossible, reached her goal and she was all alone, still so alone.

*-*

Watching the kitten jerking from sleep, gasping that it was only a dream, and then bursting into silent tears made her want to do something strange. Not being able to understand why she wanted to get close to the kitten, to lick its face clean and to hold it tight and purr at it, she did what she always did when things were confusing, she watched.

She continued to watch for hours as the kitten gradually calmed enough to sleep more and then as the kitten got up and caught her meal and then, jumping from tree to tree to keep the submerged figure in view, watched as the kitten played in the shallows.

Eventually, she got tired enough of the kitten being underwater and out of reach to want to go in and get her which made no sense at all!

‘Perhaps I am becoming unhinged as I age? Or perhaps my alone-ness is affecting me? But if they don't get out of the water soon I really will go in and get them out!’

Huffing a sulking breath she was thrilled when the kitten came out at last.

She was less thrilled when the kitten didn't go to its cave and be safe but instead headed into town.

Rolling her eyes in frustration, she trailed along behind. There was no telling what kind of trouble a kitten would get into in town!

*0*

She’d been right, the kitten found more trouble than even she’d expected!

-------------------

Mio had enjoyed playing in the cove in the bright light of morning, finding corals and rocks and sand and shells and more fish than she even knew existed and it had been so much fun but….

After awhile it felt too deep, too far from shore, to different from the rivers and streams she was used to and her fear had her crawling out and onto dry land again which is when the major drawback to reaching her goal hit her at last.

Not moving on every day and having food so easy and quick to access meant she had NOTHING to do.

Like, at all!

How much time spent swimming - well, sliding along the bottom anyway - could she do before she got bored?  

Her best guess was three hours and she'd already spent uncounted hours exploring.

Now she was trying to decide if she should just hide in her cave or explore the woods more or go to the scary shrine or, “Oh, town, I could go dig in people's trash and see if I can find a toy or game or something soft to sleep on or well, Pi, we could find anything if we just go look!”

Heading back to the town she’d already slipped through in the dark of night once, this time she went in bright daylight, forgetting for a moment that she was NOT inconspicuous.

She made it a few houses in from the edge of town before a gang of five older teens spotted her, first pointing and yelling “LOOK AT THAT! WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?” and then chasing her, trying to catch her not just with their hands but their quirks as well and she was flying across the ground, skidding low under any brush she could spot and then took to the trees where she swung from branch to branch and finally, finally, managed to lose them.

She spent the rest of the day crying in her cave.

The creature watching her later found the five and, while she didn’t hurt them too badly because older kittens were still kittens after all but she did teach them not to chase something if they didn't know what it was! 

She didn’t like how it felt when HER kitten cried!!!

******

It was official, she wanted to grab the kitten, drag them into her shrine and keep them safe forever.

Which was the strangest thing she’d ever felt, and she’d felt some very odd things indeed in her life.

What to do about it though was making her pace and fret, worrying at the puzzle to the point she forgot to eat so, in the dark of the night she made her own way to town, prowling through the quiet streets and back alleys and eventually found, hanging on a clothesline, a soft towel, damp with dew.

She’d passed it before even noticing and had to double back but, once she was staring at it, the sudden urge to TAKE IT was irresistible so she did, catching it with her hands, carefully unclipping it, and then carrying it away, head lifted high to prevent it dragging too badly as she held it tight clenched in her jaws.

Carrying it all the way back she scaled the cliff - clever kitten to find somewhere so hard to reach - and carefully covered the shivering kitten with it.

Nodding sharply as the shivers trailed off, she lay near until the subtle movements indicated they were waking up so she slid away, leaping to the nearest branch to blend in with the mottled bark, watching to see what the kitten would do with her gift.

******

Waking warm was strange, she’d been cold at night for as long as she'd been traveling, well, as long as she’d been traveling after losing her stuff anyway so to wake warm was so alarming she froze.

Cracking her eye open ever so slightly she suddenly gasped and sat up, the faded towel gliding off to pool around her arms as she gently stroked it, proving to herself that it really was real.

“Pi? Who gave us a towel?”

Hugging her one friend closer she peered out into the bright light of day, totally missing the eyes watching her, and didn't see anything to answer the puzzle of the suddenly appearing towel but, as it was still slightly chilly in the cave, she pulled it back over her and curled up again, it was just too early to deal with this.

*******

Pleased that the kitten had accepted her gift, she purred quietly to herself as she kneaded the branch she was on and wondered what next to bring them. Kittens needed more than a barren hole in the rock and she would provide.

Giving up on even wondering why she continued to watch the sleeping child, determined to find something else soft and nice later in the night, for now, she would relax and enjoy the heat of the rising sun.

Several hours later she was NOT enjoying the sun as it dazzled her eyes while she peered frantically into the depths, trying to spot the kitten as it swam and glided through water deeper than it had ever gone before.

Breathing a sigh of relief as it turned and made its way up and out of the lagoon, still munching at a hard-shelled SOMETHING it had caught, she wondered if it was possible to die of kitten-induced stress.

And to wonder if she could swim.

Yeah, swimming seemed like a thing she should try now, just in case!

*****

Curled up in her nest, now deep and soft and filled with so many pretty colours, Mio smiled. “I don’t know who loves us this much Pi but it’s really nice in here now.” Not only did their friend give her blankets and pillows and throws and cushions and even two more cuddle toys to be friends with Pi, they had also brought a few pretty things like marbles and feathers and shiny rocks and even a glass sparkly thing like a huge diamond that made rainbows fill the cave when the sun hit it just so.

But in all the weeks - she’d made a mark for each day she’d been in the cave to keep track - she had never seen them. 

Not once.

Talking to herself she wondered, “How can we meet them Pi? How do we say thank you? And how do we know if it’s alright to have a friend like this? I know kids like me can go missing or get hurt by strangers but this doesn't feel like that, I can feel it looking at me all the time but it feels nice, not scary like it did at first.”

Suddenly frowning she crawled to the cave mouth and said, nice and clear, “Thank you very much for all the stuff, it really makes it nice in here.” Peering out, clearly feeling the gaze on her, she still, STILL!!! couldn't see who or what it was but, giving up again, instead, she studied the darkening sky.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to fish now, before the rain she could feel in the wind got here cause when it rained the wind blew harder and then the waves got bigger and while she was doing really good in the lagoon now, being brave enough to go all the way to the barrier reef that protected it, even peering down into the black water of the drop-off, it was still so scary and big waves just made it so much worse.

“Yeah Pi, I think I’ll do my fishing now instead of later!”

********

Having the kitten call out a thank you for the things she’d brought made her feel a bubble of joy inside her but watching them enter the now choppy water popped it sharply leaving only dread in its wake.

Having practiced swimming every day now she knew she was skilled enough to rescue the kitten if they got into difficulties and had even started shadowing them in the water, her own abilities when submerged being a surprise to her but, well, Pain had used so many different things to make her that maybe being able to swim so good was just part of it.

She didn't care, only that she could keep up with the kitten in the water, albeit from a position of being able to breathe, rather than breathing the water itself as the kitten did.

Something felt off today though, and not just because the water was rougher than normal so she swam closer than ever before and was only a few feet away when she spotted the sleek shadow, watched as the kitten froze as they too spotted it, and she was already kicking out to strike as the sharp-toothed fish - she had no name for it, only knew its danger - tried to snap up HER kitten but she was still so far, too far away!

The fight was short but brutal and she was both pleased and relieved when the kitten, with no help from her at all, wrapped it up with all her arms and killed it with a single bite. Watching Kitten eat enough of the thing to round herself out - with the storm on the way, knowing her kitten wouldn't need to eat for a few days was a relief - she was relieved to see her dragging herself out of the water and onto the beach.

With the waves only getting higher it was time and past for both of them to be back on dry land.

Which is when she realized that instead of safe the kitten was frozen in terror as a large feral dog studied her, fur raising higher on its back, head lowering and muscles tensing to attack when, with a savage snarl, it lept and she was jumping right over the top of her kitten, hitting the dog mid-leap and using her weight to shove it off course as she ripped its throat out and pinned it to the ground until it finally stilled.

Turning from the now dead dog she stared into beautiful brown eyes at last as she and the kitten studied each other, free of the shadows and secrecy.

“Ummmmm, thank you?”

A skill she had only used for Pain and his master returned to her easily as she hmmmmmm for a moment before saying, a faint lisp caused by her teeth, “You are welcome kitten.”

Being a patient creature she simply waited as the kitten goggled at her before managing to ask, voice breathy in shock, “You can talk like me?”

Her soft laugh surprised even her when she said, “Of course Kitten, it would be a poor tool indeed that couldn’t communicate with its creator. Even when the creator is gone, the skills given remain.”

‘Perhaps that is too grand a concept for a kitten this young?’ so she continued, “Yes Kitten, I can speak.”

“Are you the one who brings me things?”

“Again, yes. I saw you alone which is perhaps not good for a kitten as young as you so, trying to make you more comfortable I brought you soft things. Did they make you feel any better?”

The ever-growing winds suddenly picked up as the storm front hit and rain began hammering down so in order to get the kitten undercover faster she leaned close, saying over the thunder of the storm, “Get ON!” and, when the child did, rather than the shrine which was closer instead she bolted for the cave, judging the more familiar space would comfort the kitten in the storm and aftermath of the attack.

Glad she had made that choice when, once they were inside, she realized the kitten was now crying. She wrapped herself around them as they both curled up in the nest that Mio had made with the gifts she’d brought her.  An unexpected purr rumbled to life as she pressed against the shivering body of her kitten and she let her instincts guide her as she held the kitten close, tugging a blanket over them both, and simply held her as she cried.

****

“What’s your name?” was whispered at her from the darkness and just as softly she answered, “I don’t know.”

*****

Mio pondered how someone as nice as the one who’d rescued her from the dog attack - and while she was a big girl the dog was even bigger - didn’t have a name. How was that possible? And were they the one who was haunting the shrine? That would make sense cause she'd been in her cave for weeks and weeks and had never seen her but had felt her the entire time so yeah, she must be the spirit of the shrine but….

What was she supposed to call someone with no name?

Falling asleep to the sound of the storm, Mio pondered names and if the person holding her close might want one, and if Mio herself could help with that.

***********

The storm raged for three days, high waves crashing against the beach washing the dog's body away making the newly named Chika happy she’d not need to deal with its disposal.

Chika. The kitten had asked if she might like a name and then suggested one that meant flower or wisdom, Chika, which was short yet so unlike Pet so that it felt good to her, pleasing….

“Yes kitten, I am neither wise nor a flower yet Chika is a nice sound so being called thus will be good.  I think.”

She’d frowned then, “What is your name kitten?” Having only just wondered if they had one, names had never been a part of Chika’s world, only orders, pain, and then solitude.

Mio.

The kitten was named Mio, named Beautiful.

‘Fitting’ she purred to herself as she kept watch over her sleeping kitten, my kitten is so beautiful!’

****************

They swam together when the storm waves calmed, Mio was filled with the ecstatic feeling of not being alone in the vastness of the ocean and Chika was just relieved that she could swim down and point to shallower water and the kitten would obey.

However, it didn't solve what had made Mio go into town the first time which, when explained to her, “Ohhhhh, I understand. The long times of mind blankness yet energy filledness would be hard for a kitten, what then would you expend that energy and fill that time with if you were not here?”

Games, books, comics, toys, computer - most of which had to be explained to her and could be obtained even in the small town nearest to them but the risk of stealing so close to home was great so she carefully asked what each thing did so she could rank them in order of importance and how exactly each item would help with the new word, yet old feeling, of boredom.

Slinking into town that night, having made the kitten promise to remain safe in the cave, she forced her way into a computer store.  Only a computer had so many different things on the list inside of it, games AND books AND comics AND ways to fill the time not just with play but with learning.

Because kittens had so much to learn yet she herself had almost nothing she could teach.

Well, other than to be a stone-cold killer.

And while she would indeed teach the kitten to fight and to defend it was much too early to teach them to kill.

Fitting the device into the bag she’d chosen for it she next placed a solar charger in to keep it powered and a tiny thing, only just too big to be held in one hand, that made sounds when she touched it.  ‘Ahhhh music, it is a music maker of some sort and Mio’s quirk is music based so perhaps this will be a good thing to take as well.’

The bag was heavy when she headed home but nowhere near past what she could handle so she was pleased with her night's hunting.

Mio was even happier with it all, thrilled was an understatement on how she felt to once again be able to go online, and for a few hours she mostly spent searching for anything that caught her attention and then, when she realized she was hogging the thing, taking turns with Chika who had never spent any time just looking at things that interested her….

So between them, they looked at flowers, fish, Big Cat who was named Eraserhead (that had been a search and a half to figure out who he was) UA high school, hero student education, hacking, online protecting of kitten identities, how to make necklaces out of shells, what the sharp-toothed fish that tried to attack her was called and anything else their combined interests hit upon.

And in the breaks they took - because Chika had discovered too much computer time was bad for kittens - both of them tried to learn to play the music generator Chika had stolen.  It combined very cleverly aspects of guitar, piano, harp, and finger lute so, with the help of the internet again for instructions, they both began to enjoy learning new songs and practicing together.

Eventually, two empty lonely lives became filled with love and songs and laughter.

And then the pirates came, and things changed.

***************

Mio was a full year now in the cove and almost nine months into her online education when she first spotted the boat five coves over from home.

(Home, she had a home now, the small space jumbled and filled with their joined interests and even more stuffed with love)

Keeping totally still, ignoring the tiny shrimp frantically cleaning her, she focused on the large craft sitting submerged on the bottom, not liking the feel of it at all.

They had learned between them that they both had an empathetic component to their selves which was why they could bond so quickly, why Mio could feel when something was about to attack her from the water, why Chika always felt it when Mio was frightened so she wasn't too surprised when she felt…

‘Ohhhh nasty!’ Flinching she drew back and fled away, Chika needed to know what she’d found and she wasn't gonna stay anywhere that felt like that ship did!

*********************

Feeling her kitten’s emotions on the thinnest of thin connections she suddenly looked up sharply when she felt the connection strengthen and flood with shocked disgust laced with fear so was already on her way to meet Mio and together they looped back around to where Chika could take one good mental sniff and send them both scrambling for home with the order to, “Come with me and don’t go anywhere near this place again!!!”

She knew what emotions like that meant and she wanted her kitten as far away as possible before she took a proper look.

It was late in the night before Mio was sleeping deeply enough for her to risk leaving, knowing that she would follow, regardless of any instructions to stay safe.  If Chika went, Mio would follow, it was as simple as that.

So Chika took every bit of care she knew how to exercise because, as she slid into the dilapidated building facing the cove that the submarine had been anchored in, choosing it because the mental scents of despair/hunger/thirst/desperation matched the vessel, as did the humans that stank of greed/lust/entitlement/anger/pride, they too matched.

‘Slaves. It’s a slave depo. Pain’s master sent me into many of them to find subjects for what they did, quirks they wanted, nowhere on earth feels/smells like a place with human slaves in it.’

But she needed to see, to confirm, and used every skill she possed to do so, knowing that not just her life now rode on her actions.

Before it didn't matter, there was only obey in her life, obey or be punished but now she was free, now she’d watched how lives should be led, and NOW she had a kitten of her own that needed her to be alive and free and with her.

It took her less than five minutes to get in, get confirmation, and get out.

Her heart was screaming at her because so many of the captives were children.

Kittens in cages.

The urge to kill, to attack the villains and kill them all was strong but there were too many of them, her strength lay in sneak attacks, in single kills, and there was no way she could get them all so, reluctantly, she headed back to the den.

She needed help.

*****************

Pondering deeply how, and better yet, WHO to get help from because in the entire wide world she only knew one person. She had watched a few in UA, only three of those had she even bothered to name.

But one name kept coming to mind/heart, Big Cat, Eraserhead, Aizawa Shouta, hero and teacher at UA.

She admitted it to no one but whenever Mio wanted to read about UA, or practice any of the work UA gave to students (and wasn’t her kitten so smart, so clever, to be doing work so above her age level) or watch the sports festivals from past years or read the school blogs or really anything at all about UA she happily joined in because they just might catch sight of Yellow or Big Cat.

They were the first humans she’d ever liked.

Yellow and Big Cat and the little kitten she’d named Green.

They both knew how to contact UA, how to send a message to Eraserhead and to Present Mic (what an odd name for Yellow) to ask for help but that was the problem, when they asked for help they would get not just help BUT very smart predators who would then be wondering….

Who asked for help?

Where were they now?

And can we find them?

*-*

Having both looked up the proper form for writing a letter Mio and Chika wrote one together, deleting and starting over several times until they were happy with it.

Dear Eraserhead;

We were on holiday last week and saw something that worried us very much when we were snorkeling.  It was a submarine kind of vessel and it seemed to be hidding in the cove we were in. The reason we think it was not safe or good is because we weren't supposed to be in that cove either cause it was all big rocks and no sand and on shore is all broken down buildings. Our parents told us to NEVER stray from near our holiday place but we were following a big fish and kind of forgot.

We won't tell you who we are cause then we'd get in trouble but we can’t stop thinking about it because we looked up why a ship like that would be hiding and it was bad.

Please follow the pin drop and bring help too because we also read that heroes should never go in alone to something bad like this.

Two Admirers

Putting it into a flash drive Chika set out - after giving Mio a very strict talking-to about not following her and staying safe - to run to the nearest train station. She would cling to the top of the first train and in the first big city she came to, drop off and send the letter at the first place she could slip in and do it. An apartment with an open window perhaps, or something of the like.

All told it only took her five hours to get the letter sent and get home again, and she was sure no one spotted her.

Now just to wait for help to arrive.

************************

Sitting in slightly baffled confusion Shouta looked at his official UA email inbox where a letter unlike any other sat like a ticking bomb because if the kids that had written it were correct, nothing good was coming out of this one.

Forwarding it to Nezu he sat back and waited, knowing his skills well enough by now to know that, if he didn't have the kid's names by the time he had a fresh cuppa coffee brewed, then he’d eat his hat. Well, IF there were kids anyway, and if not, then Nezu would for sure have enough information to put a team together to check it out.

*-*

A team was put together in record time because despite not being able to find ANYTHING (and wasn't that a surprise) other than the letter was sent from an internet cafe - a CLOSED cafe - what intel Nezu had been able to garner was worrisome enough to warrant an not just an exploratory but a full taskforce mission.

If he was right, it was going to take every hero he could bring to the table!

*-*

Eraserhead was grateful that not only had they gotten Gang Orca’s agency involved but also the water rescue team High See’s (a name he’d always thought ridiculous) and the Put Your Hands Up agency as well so they were hitting from the land and the sea and it was a fucking good thing they had because it wasn’t just ONE ship or ONE building of victims but three ships and an entire enclave of traffickers and victims and support personnel and contraband and drugs and supplies and it was a total screaming nightmare…

But they won, the despicable excuses calling themselves human beings lost, and almost ninety people were rescued, most of them under the age of twenty-five.

Being grateful to the tips of his toes that Hizashi had gotten sick right before the op - he’d sent his team, of course, all highly trained and experienced heroes but with no voice, Present Mic was benched - when he found the nursery where there were even stolen babies because that would haunt his sunshine forever.

It was gonna haunt him too but he’d taken the first heat of his rage out on the ones who’d done it, breaking ribs and arms and faces as he took them down with maximum force, skating the line between excessive and lethal yet through skill he kept to the right side of the line.

Only just.

What these people had done deserved some force if you asked him!

In the debriefing afterward, he asked, right at the end, if anyone had had the feeling or sensation of being watched only for three of the team - all with mental components to their quirks - said yes, that they had in fact felt watched but not in a bad way.

The information was written into the file and everyone finally disbanded, heading back to homes all over Japan.

Sitting later with Hizashi (the poor dear snuffling and wheezing with his cold, voice still almost gone) and Nezu they went over it again (all photos omitted because those that had seen didn't need to see it again and no one wanted Zashi to cry) and how the informants that had brought it to life had still not been found and that perhaps it wasn't because they weren't children, because it was very hard indeed to fake the childlike letter that they'd been sent but because they didn’t come from the city the letter had come from.

Perhaps they were there all the time and were the source of the feeling of being watched.

********

It had taken very little work for Mio to convince Chika to let her watch not just for the help that was coming but then to watch the action itself, even if she insisted they stay properly hidden and NO ONE could hide like Chika.  Even so, she got the distinct impression that several of the heroes sensed their presence so as soon as things started to wrap up, she hustled her kitten away.

After all, it was Big Cat who was looking and sniffing and just generally being ultra observant and he was no one at all she wanted hunting for them.

***************

Nosing about in the remains of the base a week later just to be sure everything bad was gone - she knew how much could be hidden, how bad it could be, and was grateful the place really was empty - but because so much of the base had dealt with captured humans, she suddenly wondered, “Am I allowed to have a human kitten?”

Waiting for Mio to go to sleep that night she searched it up and no, no she wasn't!

Not only that but when she looked up why it led to several searches culminating in research on isolation and socialization in children….

‘I’m hurting her, she thought numbly, my kitten is alone and yes she was alone before I took her and now she has me but together we are ALONE!’

‘And alone is no good for kittens!’

*******************

Watching the thing searching through the buildings, watched how methodical they were, how they used their clever human-like hands - despite their cat-like body - to open and push and pull and dig and search everywhere that might hold items hidden by the ones who’d used that base, the three heroes were glad they’d taken the precaution to not just set surveillance in place but to use Power Loader’s newest gear, ultra tiny cameras with scent blocking tech in place….

Nezu had requested it when one of his ops almost came crashing down due to one of the villains SNIFFING OUT his gear, in the most literal way possible!

And judging by how this thing's nose was never still, its ears constantly twitching to catch every sound, its eyes roving without pause at all yet it clearly seeing every detail, it certainly would have spotted his old tech.

“Sensei, what is it?” Aizawa frowned at the closeup of the thing, cat like yet no cat on earth ever looked like THAT! Somewhat larger than a Cerval yet shaped very like it, naked of fur yet clearly - the thing pushed through a pile of broken glass, not even a scrape to show for it - tough to the point of being impervious if he had to guess.  Then when it had heard or smelt something and had blended in with the rubble, both colour and texture blending in seamlessly….

Its size and intelligence alone made it interesting but, he made a connection with several cases in the past the instant it yawned, showing shocking teeth, wasn't there a serial killer that killed with a single bite to the base of the brain?

Matching the dentition to the victims was easy but then he had a brand new mystery because the victims all had one thing in common, villainous connections or villains themselves.

A final nod, seemingly of satisfaction, and the creature was gone, leaving behind a mountain of questions and absolutely no answers at all.

**************

“Mio, are you happy here?”

Chika using her name was a bad sign, and the question was even worse. Feeling herself pale to light gray in a fear reaction she wasn't surprised when Chika wrapped around her, tucking her under her warm velvety chin, a rumbling purr soothing the fear away, as did the words, “I am sorry Kitten, I did not mean to startle or worry you, I love you and want you and that will never change!”

A long quiet moment later she spoke again, “I have merely been researching child development and the harm isolation can cause to young brains and, it isn't good Kitten, this life we have, while safe, has a hidden danger for both of us and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Snuggling closer Mio wrapped all her arms around the trusted form, pressed her face against it, and said, “I like it here! I like being alone with you, it’s not lonely if you're here!”

“Mmmmmm I agree that being alone together is better than being alone apart, my life is immeasurable better being alone together with you…. yet….”

“How much better could it be if we were alone together with more people in our lives?”

It took Chika some serious study to come up with an answer, one that wasn't perfect but then again, what was in life? But when Mio agreed then, after a full week of studying various ways to fool computers and lying on forms, she finally signed her up for online classes, not just self-study like she’d been doing for months now but actual in-person virtual classroom teaching, with actual human teachers and classmates.

Restructuring their days around the three hours she spent in class was a bit annoying but listening to her laugh and interact with her classmates, and with her teacher, made something in Chika relax slightly at last.

Her kitten was the most important thing in the world to her but she would give her up in an instant if it was best for Mio, healthiest for her, but maybe this would be enough? She would continue to study hard and time, as always, would tell.

*********************

Nezu blessed high specks as often as he cursed it and this time he gave a satisfied grunt when he got a ping on the blanket worm he’d put in place across a fifty-kilometer chunk of the country, centered right on the hidden slaver base.

It was more open-ended than most of his programs, it was simply set up to spot anything out of the ordinary and what he’d gotten pinged on was a new student signing up for an online school he’d created a dozen or more years ago, one that was designed to help students at risk avoid the discrimination and bullying that took place in so many schools.

But this student looked very very much like a missing person, one who had gone to a temple and never been seen again.

Oh, they looked very different too but the differences were superficial and mostly to do with clothing and makeup, rather than being a different person.

Steepling his hands together he studied the enrollment photo and an actual freeze frame of one of her class interactions from right before she disappeared and, yes, some hacking was involved, some photo changing and maybe even a bit of voice modification but it was her. “Fujita Mio, where have you been for this long child and what have you gotten yourself into?”

***************

Several weeks after signing up for school, Chika was happy and contented with how their lives were going right up until Mio told her about the newest member of her class and it all crashed to pieces when she looked over her kitten's shoulder and saw….

Green?

The new kitten in class was Green!

But Green was in UA….

And if Green was part of UA then he would NEVER need a school like this, they had an entire hero school to help them learn so…

Where had she gone wrong? How had anyone found them? She’d been so careful but clearly not careful enough because if she was right, then someone not only was hunting them, but they’d found them too.

Only one hero was smart enough and closely enough connected to Green to fit her guess and that one was Nezu.

They were found, a trap was already set and no matter which way she ran, no matter how hard she tried to take her kitten and escape, the trap was already closing!

Invisible jaws snapping closed to bite deep into her heart, it felt like it was being chewed right out as she gasped for air, only Mio’s shocked questions giving her enough awareness of her surroundings to follow along when Mio told her to “Breathe Chika, it’s okay, I’m here, you’re here, we’re safe, we’re in the cave, we don’t need anything, it’s okay, I’m okay!”

Leaping forward she cut the power to the computer, grabbed her kitten, and backed them both into the hidden room she'd dug out right when she'd started living with Mio, almost pushing the disguised door closed but stopping herself in time, no one was at the cave yet, she couldn't hide them away in there for more than two days at most so to waste that time now, “Stupid stupid stupid!”

“No your not!” Mio wrapped her tighter, “STOP it, no one calls you stupid, not even you! Now, it's the new kid in class yeah?” (her heart swelled with pride at how fast she connected the dots, her kitten was so smart) “So what about them is so dangerous? Do we need to pack or just run and leave everything behind?”

Managing to force out the words, “A moment, just….. need….. think…..” Mio went quiet in her arms, letting her focus.

They were found already, that much was a certainty, she had heard enough about Nezu when she was a slave, when she was Pet, to know they were found so, why then were they using their kitten to connect rather than just catching them?

Could they be as worried as she was?

“Ohhhhhh,” she gave a long drawn-out sigh of understanding, “they don’t know either!”

“Know what Chika?”

“Know if you’re safe or not? If I will hurt you if approached? If I’m keeping you by force and how dangerous am I? Even who am I and how do I have you with me?”

“Of course, of course, how stup…” - she gave a huffing laugh when Mio growled at her, changing her wording to - “silly of me! When we watched the heroes take that place I did a follow-up, even knowing how Big Cat, how Eraserhead was looking, how they seemed to feel us, it still seemed important enough for me to do a sweep through but Nezu must have put in something I didn't spot, some kind of surveillance devices, they SAW me!”

“And seeing me they tracked me back to you.”

“I don't know how but Nezu is smart enough for anything, the one who controlled the one who made me was afraid of no one but they were afraid of Nezu!”

“Mio,” she pressed her nose against her kitten's head, smelling the sea freshness of her, the flower bright sweetness, “we can’t run, he knows we exist now. I can’t hide us from him, no kitten, no no no no don’t be afraid,” (the scent of Mio’s fear had lit the air at her telling of Nezu) “they will NEVER hurt you, they have a school, a safe place for kittens to learn and grow and he is safe, he is SAFE kitten, he and Big Cat and Yellow and even your new classmate Geen who is their kitten the way you are mine….”

“It’s because they are safe, because they are so GOOD, that they will never ever stop hunting us.”

“To make sure you are safe they would tear the world to pieces!”

“The only question now is, do we wait or do we meet them? Make them come to us or us go to them?”

Holding her crying child to her she felt tears of her own falling, having never been afraid for herself she’d learned all about being afraid for someone else after learning to love but it seemed she still had much to discover about fear because her entire world was crumbling now and she shook with terror.

*-*

They decided, after waking the next morning in a tangle of limbs, to reach out, to try to control at least some of what was about to happen.  

So when Mio logged in to her class Chika sat in full view beside her and, without even a pause, instead of the picture showing the teacher it instead showed the principal of UA, the thinking hero, Nezu.

The one person on the planet All For One had been afraid of!

Resolutely not shivering, Chika lifted her chin and said, “I believe you were looking for us?”

******************

With his quirk, it was very very hard to surprise Nezu. He could count on one hand the people who managed to surprise him repeatedly, on both hands the ones that had done it once and for both categories, he’d have fingers left over.

Yet the two people he’d talked to today had surprised him totally and completely.

Gob-smacked was the old English word for it and he agreed, he still felt totally gob-smacked!

A tool, a created tool (and the reason for the former value of quirked animals, another mystery solved) used by that horror and his empire, escaped and free at last, winding up in a hidden temple was miracle enough but for the running child, so abused and frightened and hurt that she just ran, for them both to come together as a family?

A guiding presence behind the math of existence was hard indeed to believe in but sometimes, sometimes it made even Nezu wonder because the odds against them meeting, of loving each other, well, no number against was too big, and yet, there they were.

Family, mother and daughter.

How best to help them though, that was now the question!

*****************

Help turned out first to be visits, he and his family to them first and then they came to UA, spending a full three weeks on campus while his team of tame legal eagles got to grips with their pasts. 

Sitting with Chika, almost at the end of the second week, as together they watched their kittens - both the little ones and his all grown-up ones - play capture the flag, hero style, it was as much fun to watch as it was to play, especially with Shouta and Hizashi on opposing teams - he breathed in the wildness of her scent, felt the danger held within that relaxed form, and said, “Have you ever thought about being a teacher?”

_____________________________________

The newest teacher at UA added a brand new class to the curriculum - Infiltration and Espionage - and Nezu got something he never expected to find, a non-human friend who could understand him at a level no one else ever had.

Having been Pet, how could she not understand his being Subject 9 and with that understanding, how could they not be friends?

******

And Chika and Mio found a brand new world of family and love and friends to be alone together with while teaching, and being part of, an entirely new generation of underground hero hopefuls.