Chapter Text
Shota was having a very shitty night. Well, at least more shitty than usual, in his opinion. Luckily, he only had 30 minutes until his nightly patrol was over. Then he could go home and take a long, long nap until he had to wake up in the late afternoon and avoid his noisy best friend who was trying to get him to take a teaching position at UA for a few hours, then go out and start his patrol again. It was the same every night. And that's how he liked it.
Anyways, it was a long night. Shota had stopped four muggings, a burglary, one teenage shoplifter, and two sexual assaults. Needless to say, he was exhausted. He decided to start heading home early. Of course, to his luck, he heard some sounds coming from about two alleys over. It was his job to check it out.
Dropping down into the alley, the sound of soft crying grew louder. Carefully walking forward, Eraserhead saw a small child crying while holding a large dog asleep on the child's lap. Shota was praying that this kid's dog was sleeping and wasn't dead, seeing as it wasn’t waking up to the now louder sobbing.
He kneels in front of the small boy with a minor cat mutation. The kid had golden eyes with slits for pupils, long whiskers, and gray cat ears on either side of his head. If there was one thing that Shota couldn't stand, it was hysterical crying kids. He hated tears with a passion that was more of Present Mic’s thing, or maybe Midnights. They were good at this shit. Eraser? Not so much. But sadly there aren't any other heroes around. Shota took a deep breath before speaking.
“Oi kid are you ok, are you or your dog hurt?”
He of course wanted to ask the kid more. Like ‘why is he out here so late at night?’, ‘where his parents are?’, ‘why was he hiding in a dirty alley in the first place?’. But the kids' health and safety came first. The small cat-like boy looked up at him with fat tears in his golden eyes, lips quivering trying to hold back another sob. He held out the dog which was about the size, of if not bigger, then the kid himself
“Th-this is my mommy! We goeded to a store to pick up m-my birfday cake,”
He pauses to point at a grocery bag that had a cake box sticking out. (but seriously who goes to get a cake at 4 in the freaking morning) next to a pile of what seem to be clothes.
“I saw a big doggy and got scared and grabbed mommy then she saided she feel sick then she fell down and now she a doggy!!”
The kid cried to the tired hero. Damn it. It must be this kid's quirk then it must have just manifested when the kid was scared.
“Hey kid listen my name is Eraserhead I’m a hero I can help you alright. We can get to the police station and they can take care of you, and your mother. What's your name kid?”
“M-my name is up Tamashi…s-sir”
“It's nice to meet you Tamashi, you can call me Eraser.”
Once they finished the introductions, Shota gently took the boy's mother (who is now in dog form) and started leading the way to the station that was luckily right around the corner.
The silence was a bit awkward with Tamashi’s quiet sniffling that he was trying to hide beneath his hands- no wait scratch that, gray cat paws.
The hero decided to try and start a conversation to fill the silence.
“So today is your birthday huh? How old are you?”
“I’m...4 today”
“Was today the first time you used your quirk?”
“Y-yes I just grab mommy's hand and she turned into a doggy that never happens and I grab her h-hand a lot…I get scared easy.”
Shota hummed in acknowledgement. A mutation with a quirk isn't uncommon but still it's interesting. They arrived at the police station a few minutes later in more comfortable silence. After a brief explanation of what he had learned, Eraserhead handed Tamashi's mother over to an officer. He was about to leave for the night when he saw the boy run over to say goodbye. He kneeled down in front of the cat-like kid.
“T-thank you mister Eraser sir…for helping me and m-mommy.”
“It's no problem kid.”
Shota dumbly sticks his hand out for the kid to shake mostly because he has no idea how to interact with kids (also because he really wanted to feel the kids cat paws) Tamashi shakes Eraserheads hand. Just as Eraser was about to let go there was a sudden loud sound of a phone ringing that seemed to scare the kid, because his soft grip on his hand turned sharp as his claws scratched Shota’s hand. Shota hissed in pain and held his hand to his chest. The kid pulled away and ran over to the officer who was taking care of his mother. Shota stood and walked out and started on his way home. While he walked he looked at the small scratch. It hurt more than it probably should, seeing as it was just a few small scratches on his palm that only had a few pinpricks of blood forming but it was burning.
Now Shota was by no means a stranger to cat scratches, his own cat Bastard loved to play rough with him. Shota stopped walking for a moment. How long had he been walking? Where exactly was he? When had he started feeling dizzy? What was with this brain fog?
The moment it hit him he muttered a string of curses. Of course, the kids quirk, he must have used it on me when he was scared. Shota was under the effects of it. Was he going to turn into a dog? He really wasn't a dog person, really more of a cat guy. Shota looked back in the direction of the police station, too far, he had been walking for about 10 minutes give or take a few. I probably wouldn't make it. The kids mom passed out when she transformed so that could be a side effect of it. Passing out here would be a death sentence. This part of town was known for having a high crime rate. Shota quickly ducked into an alley to find somewhere to hide. Damn it, I guess I'm not getting home tonight. Hizashi is going to kill me for this. He barely gets a few feet in before he passes out.
—
By the time Shota regains consciousness, he’s in incredible pain. He feels like all his bones have been broken and stretched and then squished back together. Given the circumstances, that's probably what happened. Shota slowly opens his eyes and sees two key things: The dumpster he's behind is huge now and it's already light out. It was probably the afternoon at this point. As Shota tried to move around a bit to see what exactly he was. He noted that the pain quickly started to fade away. He wiggled his way out of his hero costume that is now 100% too big now. He tries nudging his suit and capture weapon under the dumpster wanting to come back to get it later but keeping the yellow goggles around his neck though it was mostly hidden due to his long black fur. Testing out his new body, Shota sighs in relief when he sees that he's a cat. Some kind of longhaired black cat, he was also larger than most cats but still tiny compared to the large world he was used to. After a few failed attempts he gets to his feet.
A few moments of trying later he was walking out of the ally and now into the populated streets. He starts his way back to the police station. Though he had underestimated the foot traffic. He was kicked around quite a few times by businessmen and women rushing to work or people on bikes that he had to leap out of the way. With all of his senses enhanced it was too over stimulating. The sound of footsteps or chattering people yelling honking horns of cars, was all amplified. Or the smells, everyone smelled different there was too much information all at once. It was driving him crazy. One particularly fast cyclist, even ran over his tail which was so painful Shota yelled out a loud yowl then hissed before he ran away to find somewhere less populated.
Shota found an empty street to hide. It was behind what looked like an old apartment building, he sat back on his haunches and looked over his throbbing tail pawing at it carefully. It didn’t look broken or anything, it was bleeding a little though. He will have to learn how to keep it out of the way when he's walking.
For research purposes only, and not because it was an instinct, he licked the cut on his tail to clean it. As weird as it was, he wasn't embarrassed. It felt…normal.
Shota stayed there for a while to calm himself from what felt like a nightmare. He hated walking in crowds when he was a 6’1, 22 year old, human on a good day, but now? He was barely a foot tall, overwhelmed, hungry, and a damn cat, his quirk wasn’t working, and despite having slept until noon he was very very tired. Shota decided he would try out the one thing he had always wanted to do. He laid down and took a cat nap.
—
Shota woke up to a strong kick in the gut. It wasn’t the first time a kick in the gut had woken him up, but as a cat he got thrown up against a hard brick wall,he tried hard to keep his grip on consciousness, black spots danced at the edge of his vision, all the air in his lungs had been knocked out of him. Once he recovered enough he jumped to his feet and started hissing at his attackers.
A bunch of elementary brats judging on the school uniforms all three of them had on.
The kid that had kicked him had springs connecting his hands to the rest of his body instead of arms.
The next brat to his left side had little rocks for hair, some pebbles were floating around him like he was controlling them.
The last boy on springy kids' right had green and purple scales in patches all over his skin and a lizard tail flicking behind him quickly, his red eyes glaring down at Shota, a pointed smile splitting his face. Shota had no idea how to defend himself in the situation. He tried to extend his claws but before he could swipe at any of them a small rock flew and hit his paw. damn that hurt. He tried to dart to the side to get away but the rock kid stepped in his way again, he turned to run the other way and of course the lizard kid was there waiting for him. Spring kid kicked him again, this time it landed on his back. What is wrong with these kids? Who the hell thinks it fun to kick around a cat. Shota just laid there and he couldn't stand up anymore, exhaustion, hunger, and pain keeping him down. Damn It!
The little shits were laughing at Shota giving up like it was the funniest shit in the world. Behind the laughing kids ,Shota could see from his spot on the ground, a pair of legs running toward them. Great another one. Then he could hear a new voice shout.
“HEY!! Get…get away from him!! H-he's just a-a cat! He didn't do a-anything to you!!”
The next moment ‘spring kid’ was pushed forward and a small body was shielding Shota from his three attackers. To say he was surprised was an understatement.
“What the hell do you think you're doing, useless Deku!? You think you can tell us what to do?” ‘lizard kid’ yelled at the smaller boy
“I'm not going to let you hurt him!”
The little hero shouted back at him. He then very gently picked up Shota and wrapped his body around him in a protective way to shield him better and just waited. What are you doing? Kid, they could hurt you too! Run damn it. Shota mentilly scolded the kid.
When ‘rock kid’ started throwing stones and rocks at them Shota didn't even feel it. The green child just tightened his grip around Shota and waited for the kids to get bored and leave. ‘Spring kid’ kicked and punched the boy for pushing him and ‘lizard kid’ kept yelling insults and laughing.
The kids are little psychopaths. Shota thought regretfully. Every time the little hero let out a grunt or wimpier due to a particularly brutal attack Shotas little feline heart cracked. He cursed himself for being so useless.
After what was far too long for Shotas liking the brats got bored and left. The green boy stayed hunched over Shota until the brats were far enough away, and he slowly sat up.
“H-hey there l-l..little guy…a-Are you ok..?” the boy smiled down at Shota brightly.
He must be used to this treatment if it doesn't even phase him anymore… damn it. Because he couldn't answer the boy he just stared up at him and blinked slowly.
He had read somewhere that when cats blink at you it's a sign of trust and respect.
The green boy adjusted his grip on the pro hero in his arms, being careful of any visible injuries Shota might have and finally stood up.
“Y-your hurt… I can.. t-t…take you…um h-home and fix you u-up th- then I'll find your owner…i-is that ok kitty?” he stuttered out as he started walking to his home. Shota really didn't know what to do. He was basically getting kidnapped but he didn't care.
His kidnapper smelled like cinnamon apples, dirt, and tears. But somehow, Shota felt so safe in the young boy's arms. He was exhausted and hungry and hurt. He tried his best to stay awake. But the gentle rock of the boy's arms as he walked and his quiet muttering slowly lulled Shota to sleep. The last thought that crossed his mind was Hizashi can never find out about this.
—
Shota slowly began waking up. Before he opened his eyes he tried to figure out where he was. Was he home? No, this place felt different. It smelled different. He heard the sound of tapping on a keyboard and the low murmur of someone talking. Who? He had no clue. He opened his eyes slowly. He looked around the room. It was a small bedroom and had quite a few All Might posters on the white walls along with a few other lesser known heroes like Thirteen,Crimson Riot, and Sir Nighteye. He's a hero fan, how ironic. There was a bookshelf in the corner that was solid full with notebooks and other thick books that all looked old and worn out. His eyes finally landed on the green haired boy. He was sitting on an old looking office chair that could give out any moment. The kid was typing at his computer and taking notes on something.
Shota enjoyed the relaxed environment for a few more minutes before he decided to stand up but found he couldn’t move. Right before he started panicking he realized dumbly that he was swaddled in a blue blanket. His front right hand paw was wrapped in a white ace bandage, so was his tail and most of his torso.
Eventually, he got bored of his warm fluffy prison, and wiggled out of the blanket. Even though moving was quite painful at the moment. He tried an experimental swish of his tail and hissed in pain. That got the boy’s attention. He spun around in his ancient looking chair and smiled.
“Hey! Are you feeling better? I looked up how to treat your in..injuries umm.. I think I did ok…you should probably lay down t-though…” he stood up and slowly walked towards the bed. Shota tensed, this kid was pretty scrawny and short he had done absolutely nothing to hurt Shota in fact he had done the exact opposite but in this form, the kid was huge. The kid seemed to notice his discomfort and stopped. He sat down on the floor in front of the bed looking at Shota with a smile.
“S-sorry i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable i-i just never get to see cats a lot…oh! my name is Izuku Midoriya, you didn’t have a name tag..but!” The boy jumped up and walked over to his desk again and grabbed his notebook and Shotas yellow goggles.
“you d-did have these goggles on and i-I recognized them! These are Eraserheads aren't they?! Um…so you must be Eraserheads cat right.. unless he lost his goggles and you just found them…i-i doubt he would lose something important like that though..” the boy- oh Midoriya started muttering and writing in his notebook. Now sitting criss-crossed on his floor. Honestly Shota was impressed, barely anyone recognized him, especially kids. He wasn’t flashy enough for them his friends had told him. Anyway, this kid was pretty smart. Shota wanted some more information and since midoriya for some strange reason knew Shota would understand or at least pretend that he could. The feline hero meows quietly to get the kids attention once again. Midoriya looks up at him curiously. Shota poked at his bandages and sniffed them trying to get him to understand. Of course he did.
“Oh! Um.. you were pretty beat up… sorry i couldn’t get there sooner…” Midoriya stuttered his apology.
Was he serious? I should be thanking him if he hadn’t stepped in. I could be dying on a street corner right now. And he got his ass kicked and he’s apologizing for not being there sooner??
“I fixed your tail, it was bleeding and I saw them kick you a bunch…and I know cat bones are pretty delicate… i don't think you broke anything though i was just being careful you know? Just in case…oh and your paw was bleeding too…” Midoriya scowled at his bed. And started muttering again. Shota left him alone as a sign of him being grateful for his care. But honestly he owed this kid his life. He layed back down and watched Midoriya for lack of anything better to do. Eventually he got up and walked over to his closet and pulled out a white t-shirt. Shota noticed he was still in his school uniform other than his pants that he must have changed while Shota was sleeping. Shota turned and looked away to let the boy have at least some privacy.
When Midoriya sat on the edge of the bed he assumed he had changed his shirt. He was wrong, the kids shirt was off and the sight honestly broke his heart. The kid's back was covered in bruises, some probably from earlier today, others still healing. He also had a few large scars that looked like burns and many smaller ones that looked like starbursts all over his pale skin.
Who the hell could do this to a kid?
He asked himself.
Shota stood up and walked over to Midoriya, wanting to offer at least some comfort. Midoriya just sat on the side of the bed, looking at his scarred body sadly. Shota rubbed his soft and bandaged body against Midoriya's side, careful not to apply too much pressure. The boy had unshed tears in his Eyes. He looked down at Shota with a shaky smile.
“Hey, l-I’m ok…it doesn't hurt that bad anymore….” Shota allowed himself to be picked up and hugged tightly by the now-crying boy determined not to let the pain in his ribs get to him from the tight hug. He needed to save this kid from either abusive parents or an extreme case of bullying at school. He owed him that much. But for now, he did his best to comfort the child as he let out his pain.