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Chapter Text

Izuku opened blurry eyes to see . . . bars. A cage. That was new. He shuffled to try and stand and froze. Four legs. What . . .

He was too sore to properly freak out—normally he probably would’ve jumped up and slammed himself against the cage, but he was forced to slowly get up, feeling his body move in strange ways. Izuku immediately fell down when he took his first step forward. 

The sound of a larger being nearby made him cower. He could feel the hair at the back of his neck rising, and his ears flattening to his skull. 

“Young Midoriya?”

Izuku stood and almost fell over again. He stared at the dog in the cage across from his. “I . . . are you . . . All Might?”

The dog’s tail wagged. His predecessor was a golden retriever. The two of them must’ve gotten hit with a quirk by the same person. He could remember hanging out, getting ice cream together. Then shouting, a strangely hot hand on his face. And then nothing.

“Do you know why—“

“I once went against a villain who was changing people into rabbits, and then skinning them alive.” Yagi’s voice was low and intense, and ended in a soft kind of growl. Izuku shivered. “This must be some relation, who wants revenge against me.”

Izuku stumbled again as the cage moved. He looked more closely around him. “We’re in a van,” he realized. His tail hit the bars. He had a tail. A freaking tail. What was his life. 

Yagi walked in a circle before settling down again. “Yes. They shouldn’t have a grudge against you. You just happened to be with me, so you should be safe.”

Izuku focused on the cage. There was a simple latch. His paw—that was a weird thought—could fit through the bars.

“I think . . .” he fiddled with it awkwardly, feeling the odd way his front leg stretched from the position as he caught at the door’s latch with his claws. 

“Nice work, kiddo,” Yagi murmured as he managed to get the door undone. Izuku didn’t let himself bask in the praise, going over to Yagi and getting up on his hind legs to get to his latch. He was so . . . tiny. Was he some kind of miniature dog breed?

“You look like a border collie,” Yagi said. “You should have pretty good speed, so use that to your advantage when we get out.”

Izuku grimaced. “Am I a puppy? Why am I small?”

“Afraid so.” Yagi, freed, touched him with his cold nose, checking him over. “You get hurt?”

“Just a little sore.” Izuku looked around the van. “What now?”

“We’ll need to wait for them to open it for us, there’s no way we can mess with that handle.”

“Maybe I can . . .” Izuku reached inside for One for All, but it was strangely beyond his grasp. He felt a growl reverberate through his chest and shook his head. “I can’t use it.”

“In this form, you could kill yourself using it, so maybe that’s for the better,” Yagi said. He crouched down, facing the rear of the van. “When it stops, we use surprise to our advantage. Jump out and run. No hesitation.”

Izuku mimicked his pose. “It’s more than one person?”

“Unfortunately.” The motion of the van sent Izuku stumbling over his over-large paws, into his mentor. “Just let instinct take over,” Yagi murmured. “If you overthink it, you’ll fall.”

Izuku nodded. 

The van lurched to a stop. Izuku coiled up his muscles, the way he did before he activated full cowling. 

The door opened, and he leapt forward simultaneously with Yagi. He heard a startled cry from their captor, but like Yagi had said, didn’t stop to see who it was. 

Yagi pulled ahead of him, despite the speed that Izuku had; his legs were still pretty short. They took a weaving path in and out of buildings; they seemed to be in a largely residential area. The villains wouldn’t be able to pursue very openly here. 

Eventually, their sprint slowed down to a trot. Izuku tried to focus on what his legs were doing, and promptly tripped and fell on his face. He got up, catching up to Yagi quickly, who thankfully didn’t say anything. 

“What should we do?”

Yagi slowed a bit more, nodding towards another street. “We’ll need to keep our eyes out. The villains may have a way to track us. Otherwise, our goal will be to get back to UA.”

“Shouldn’t we go try and talk to someone?”

“I doubt that would be effective. Communication would be difficult, and chances are pretty high we would end up thrown in an animal shelter and found by the villains before we are able to convey that we’re actually humans.”

“Oh.” Izuku made a face to himself. “So we’re not talking . . . will dogs understand us? Or maybe Koda . . .” he dissolved into mumbling, trying to work through the problem in his head.

Yagi nudged him with his shoulder, almost sending him sprawling. “Easy, Izuku. Let’s focus on finding a map first, huh?”

Izuku stopped walking and turned his head. “UA is that way.”

Yagi stopped and turned. Izuku caught sight of his side and grimaced at the area without fur, the twisted scar tissue. “How do you know that?”

“Uh, I dunno. But that’s the way.”

Yagi grinned, his tongue hanging sideways out of his mouth. “Well, we’ll go with your sense of direction, then.”

He tried to absorb everything as they travelled through the city. His eyesight was pretty strange, though he couldn’t quite figure out why. His smell and hearing, though, were incredible. He felt his snout wrinkle as they passed a particularly foul-smelling dumpster. Maybe it wasn’t so great to be able to smell so well.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in this, young Midoriya.”

Izuku trotted faster to catch up to Yagi’s lope. “Well, it’s better, right? Otherwise, how would you have gotten out of that cage.”

His mentor smiled. “I suppose you’re right.”

Izuku caught the scent of something delicious and darted off. He stopped outside a restaurant, whining without meaning to. He was so hungry.

Yagi caught up. “Don’t go running off without warning,” he reprimanded. He sniffed as well. “Food may be difficult. We have a long journey, and it’s not going to be easy.” He looked down at Izuku. “Well, maybe not.”

“What?”

“Make that expression once we make it to a food stand or something. We’ll get food, no problem.”

Toshinori was swimming in guilt. Not an unusual occurrence for him, but he had never had his failings so blatantly on display. Izuku, transformed into a mere puppy, put in harms way because of him. He’d known that retiring, showing his true face to the public would come with risks, but he had assumed the risk would be all on his own. Not three weeks ago, he’d gone to his knees in a promise to Midoriya’s mother that he would keep her boy safe.

“A-All Might?”

Young Midoriya had mostly gotten used to calling him Yagi when they were alone, but he did slip up from time to time. Toshinori turned, finding his young protégée trailing behind, his paws dragging. Big eyes looked up at him, seeming uncertain and lost. 

“You must be tired,” Toshinori realized too late. “I’m so sorry, my boy. Let’s find some shelter.”

Midoriya lifted his nose to the air. “I think there’s some other dogs. We should ask them where to go!” He darted away before Toshinori could say anything.

“Midoriya! No, don’t—“

Like he feared, it was a pack of wild dogs. They were just hitting the outskirts of the town. 

“Um, hi. Can you understand me?” Midoriya asked brightly.

The growls he got in response were answer enough for Toshinori. “Midoriya, back up slowly. Don’t turn your back on them.”

His wagging tail slowly curled down. “Um, okay.”

The leader of the pack stepped forward, snarling. Toshinori felt his own hackles rise and took a step to be in front of Midoriya, upper lip lifting to expose his teeth as he growled in response. 

The dog leapt forward. Toshinori waited until the prime moment before using his right shoulder to slam into the other dog’s throat. It sent the creature sprawling, and Toshinori was on him, jaw clamped down on a throat thickly coated with fur. The other dog scrabbled against his chest with his front paws. Toshinori ignored the scratches and drawn blood, holding steady. Eventually, the other dog went still with a whine. 

Toshinori released his hold, grimacing at the taste of blood. The other dog slunk away to its fellows, the pack of them disappearing into the night. 

“That was amazing!” Midoriya was looking at him with stars in his eyes. Toshinori sighed deeply, looking over his young charge.

“What did I say about running off?” he chided gently.

Midoriya ducked his head. “Sorry, I didn’t think.” The fluffy pup darted around Toshinori, noting the scratches he’d received. “How are we going to clean those?”

Toshinori shrugged. “Not much we can do about it. They aren’t deep. Let’s find some place to rest, okay?” He looked ahead at the forest in front of them. It was hard, sorting through the various scents. They found a stream, allowing them to drink. Nearby he found a promising tree with a decent hollow at the base. “Here.”

It was nice, finally lying down. Toshinori relaxed with a sigh, closing his eyes. 

After a moment, he pried open one eye to find Midoriya on the very edge of the hollow, curled up on himself and shivering.

“Get over here, you prince of nonsense.”

The pup made a funny squeaking noise. Toshinori knew if he was human, he’d be bright red right now. “I didn’t want to . . . presume . . .”

Toshinori snorted, craning his neck to reach over and grab Midoriya by his scruff to scoot the pup into the curve of his body. “Don’t be ridiculous, Midoriya. Just think of it as survival, if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Not . . . uncomfortable,” Midoriya muttered. He devolved into some kind of muttered analysis of the survival class he’d gotten from Snipe. Toshinori took a deep sniff, making sure he didn’t smell any predators before he settled his head down on top of Midoriya’s body. The little one went still. Eventually, Midoriya relaxed with a sigh and Toshinori could feel when his kid finally went to sleep. 

Toshinori lightly dozed on and off through the night, keeping himself awake enough to sense any threats. 

The morning dawned, and Midoriya woke up. He heard the pup’s stomach growl. 

“How do you feel about rabbit, young Midoriya?”

“Um.” 

“Stay here, okay?” 

Toshinori could remember vividly when the villain’s relative had turned him into a rabbit. It was not the most dignified situation, but like this time, he had escaped into a more wild area. The other rabbits he’d found were a little more friendly than the dogs they’d encountered last night.

It made it easy to find a den, and set himself up at the entrance, downwind. 

Toshinori trotted back happily with his kill. Like he’d feared, Midoriya was nowhere to be seen.

“Midoriya!”

The sound of a desperate scramble, and then the pup tumbled out of nearby brush, pink tongue lolling and big eyes trying to look innocent. 

“Um, hi. I was just . . . exploring a bit. I didn’t go far.”

“Uh huh.” Toshinori passed over the rabbit. “Go on.”

Midoriya looked at it dubiously. 

“Don’t think about it. Just think about how hungry you are.”

Toshinori was worried that it would be impossible to turn off that overactive brain, but Midoriya was able to tear into the rabbit and eat. 

“How long will we be like this?”

Toshinori used his hind leg to scratch his side. That was a funny sensation, but oddly satisfying. “Well, with the other villain, it lasted a few days.”

“Right.” Midoriya looked at him. “So you . . . is that why you’re so good at being a dog?”

Toshinori laughed. “I suppose it helps. Being a rabbit was pretty different from this. But I also volunteered at a pet shelter, in my early days as a hero. Now, which way to UA?”

“This way!” Midoriya pranced off in front. He started prattling on about Toshinori’s volunteer time, and what he knew from the articles he’d read. Toshinori watched fondly as his boy kept getting distracted, once by a bug, once by a bird, and once by a strange rock. 

The forest began to thin out, some houses starting to appear from time to time. 

One measly rabbit wasn’t enough to keep Midoriya going. Toshinori interrupted one of his many rambles. 

“Okay, Midoriya. You’re going to go up to that door, scratch on it and whine. Just sit there and think about how hungry you are, and the people might give you food.”

“I’m not hungry.” 

The kid was a bad liar, even as a dog. Toshinori nipped at his heels to get him moving. 

Midoriya managed to beg himself three meals. One of them, he brought back to Toshinori.

“We’re good at being dogs,” Midoriya noted.

He sighed. “Well, the easy part is pretty much over. Mustafu is notoriously strict on strays. We’ll need to stay sharp to avoid being taken.”

“Right.” Midoriya tilted his head. “What if we tried to get video taped? Do you think Koda can understand animals through video tapes?”

Toshinori loved his kid’s mind sometimes. “No idea, but better to stay safe and under the radar.”

The exhaustion was becoming a physical thing. Toshinori could feel his old wounds slowing him down. His reduction in speed was probably for the best, though, as Midoriya was dragging as well. Toshinori couldn’t get over how small he was.

The streets of Mustafu were busy with the end of the day. Toshinori warily kept looking around. They were going to have to go through the entire expanse of the city to get to UA. It started raining, on top of everything. 

Chapter Text

They had been traveling through the wet and dark city for a while. Izuku kept looking to Yagi, trying to figure out when the right time would be to get him to stop. How long could Yagi go without his normal medications?

The squeal of tires made Izuku flinch and run into the golden retriever. The two of them turned in time to see the van they’d been captured in. 

“Run!”

Izuku briefly caught a look at the driver. He could remember her glowing red eyes. They were glowing now. Something in her quirk must keep her connected to the people she transformed into animals. 

He could tell Yagi was struggling. They ran down alley after alley, away from UA. They finally stumbled to a halt. 

They crouched together behind a dumpster. Yagi made an odd hacking sound and coughed up some blood. Izuku nudged at him worriedly. 

“They’re not after you, they’re after me,” Yagi said sternly. “You need to get out of here, and get back to UA.”

“You’re still recovering,” he argued. “They’ll kill you!”

“Midoriya, that’s an order.”

Izuku felt his tail tuck under his legs. He looked out at the raining street, and then back at Yagi. 

Izuku would never, ever forgive himself for this.

He slammed his head into Yagi’s bad side. The retriever crumpled with a whimper that cut Izuku to his core. He didn’t waste time, darting away from their brief respite and into the street. He could see their pursuers searching a few blocks down. Izuku waited until he was across the street and half out of sight before barking. He followed it up with as deep a growl as he was able to make. Hopefully, that would make them think that both All Might and himself were going in this direction.

He led them down alley after alley, but eventually his luck ran out. It was long enough for Yagi to get away, though. He got cornered in a dead end. He whirled around, hackles raised and ears flat against his skull to analyze the villains. The one with the quirk who had turned them into a dog was hanging back, her quirk of no use here. The other two, he wasn’t sure about. One of them was holding a bat. 

“Where’s All Might, huh pup?” The man hefting the bat came closer. Izuku watched carefully, waiting for his moment like Yagi had with the wild dogs.

The man swung the bat, and Izuku darted to the side, and then straight for the man’s ankle. He sank his teeth as deep as he could into the man’s Achille’s heel. The shriek the man gave was mildly satisfying. Izuku didn’t hold on for long, expecting the man to kick in reaction. He darted past him to the other man, head butting straight into the other one’s groin. He toppled over with a high-pitched scream.

Izuku turned to the last one, but the first one had recovered quicker than he’d thought—Izuku felt the solid bat slam into his side, sending him sprawling with a strangled yelp. He tried to stand, but the bat definitely had cracked a few of his ribs. The pain kept him from rising.

An unrelenting hand came down on his back, clamping down. Izuku whimpered at the pain from his side.

“You’ll pay for that, you little brat.” 

“Make him cry,” the woman said. “That’ll bring All Might here.”

Izuku tried to bite the man, but wasn’t able to twist enough. A pocketknife came out, and first flicked at a part of his ear, and then his tail. Izuku couldn’t stop himself from crying in pain. 

“Finish him off. We’ll go find the so-called hero.”

Izuku cringed as the knife was held over his head. 

A deep growl ripped through the air. All Might pounced. Izuku watched in amazement as he took down all three of them, using the momentum of his body to throw the villains into the walls, or the nearby dumpster, knocking them around viciously. 

“Izuku.”

Izuku caught the whine between his teeth before it could escape. “All Might,” he panted. “I—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh. Where are you hurt?”

“R-ribs.”

“I need to get you out of here. Does it hurt when I grab you here?”

Izuku blinked as All Might gripped the scruff of his neck. “Uh, no, it’s fine.”

Yagi was running with a limp. Izuku had probably made it even worse for him. He shut his eyes against the guilt and the pain. 

Eventually, Yagi took them into a park, finding a bench for them to huddle underneath. Izuku stayed at the edge of the dry area, unable to look his mentor in the eyes.

“Izuku.”

He flinched, and then bit back a whine as his ribs were jarred by the movement. 

“Let me look at you. Do I need to try and find a hospital?”

Izuku laughed hollowly. “Don’t you mean a vet?”

“Or that.” Yagi lifted one paw up to Izuku, carefully tilting his head and examining his ear. “How’s your breathing?”

“Hurts, but no punctured lung or anything.”

Yagi’s large head dropped down so that he was on Izuku’s level. “Don’t lie to me, Izuku. You’re okay?”

He nodded miserably, unable to escape Yagi’s piercing gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you were doing what you thought was right.” Yagi’s cold nose bumped into his. “And you did give me time to regain some strength. But you need to listen to me, okay? Your death isn’t worth it.”

Izuku gave into the urge that had been plaguing him since they stopped to rest, and scooted forward until he was curled up underneath Yagi’s head, in-between his front paws. “I didn’t want you to die,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Enough apologies, you menace.” Yagi gently used his snout to tuck Izuku in more firmly against his chest and leg. “Get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”

“B’you were hurt too,” Izuku mumbled, eyes already starting to slip closed.

“I’ll be okay, little one, as long as you are.”

Toshinori had slept too deeply. He woke up, filled with terror that Midoriya had been taken, or they had been found by the villains.

Midoriya was between his front paws, asleep. His ear looked mangled and sore, dried blood matting his fur. Toshinori had failed him so badly. 

The sun was just beginning to rise. Toshinori hadn’t killed any of the villains, but he must have injured them enough to deter immediate pursuit. 

“Young Midoriya.”

He stirred and whimpered.

“Easy. How is your breathing?”

He coughed a bit. Toshinori watched carefully for blood, but he didn’t see anything.

“It’s . . . tight. Sore.”

“Keep taking deep breaths, or you’ll risk getting pneumonia.” Toshinori stood, wriggling out from under the bench and waiting for Midoriya to follow. 

“Right.” Midoriya looked around, seeming more alert. “Any sign of them?”

“Not yet. But we should start moving.” 

Midoriya stood and and promptly collapsed. Toshinori rushed back, feeling woefully inadequate. What he would give right now for arms to carry Midoriya.

“S-sorry. Just stood up too fast.”

“If you can’t walk, I can carry you like yesterday.”

“I can walk.” It was harder to read Midoriya, like this. Toshinori unfortunately knew his successor’s tendency to push through pain. 

“Midoriya. Look at me.”

Toshinori wondered if his boy’s eyes were green. Being color blind was odd. 

“Don’t lie to me. Can you walk?”

Midoriya shuddered. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s alright.” Toshinori geared himself up for a long day. Midoriya was small, yes, but he would be a heavy weight after a while. “Which way?” He gently grabbed Midoriya by his scruff with his teeth. 

“Straight ahead. That’s the way home.” 

Toshinori had a pretty good system when the pain got too much from his wounds. It was a distraction technique that Gran Torino had taught him long ago. Counting the steps up to ten, and then resetting. At the same time, he tried to recite an old piece of poetry he loved. The two simultaneous tasks were enough to distract himself. 

“I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” 

That wasn’t fair. Toshinori couldn’t speak while carrying Midoriya.

He found a discreet side street—not a dead end, so they wouldn’t get cornered—and set his young charge down carefully. 

“Midoriya. There is no one else I’d rather have with me.” He considered that. “Actually, I’d prefer if no one else had gotten caught with me. But without you here, I would be dead right now.”

Midoriya tucked his head up under Toshinori’s chin. It was a behavior he’d seen from young pups at the shelter too. A move to demonstrate deference or respect. 

“I think I can walk a bit, now.”

Toshinori looked over him. “You’re sure?” 

“Yes.” Midoriya took a step forward, and then another. 

“You let me know the second it’s too much,” he said sternly. 

“Yes sir.” Midoriya licked Toshinori’s cheek and then froze. “I’m so sorry! I don’t know why I did that!”

“Dog instincts.” Toshinori laughed. “Have you been trying to resist the urge to pee on random objects?”

Midoriya laughed in delight. “Yes! I thought I was going crazy!”

“Alright, we can do this, young one. Slow and steady.”

“D-did the dogs at the animal shelter . . . did you learn anything from them?”

Midoriya wasn’t looking for an answer, he was looking for a distraction from the pain. Yagi kept his steps measured as he walked next to him.

“Quite a lot, actually. Hierarchy was very important. And it’s surprising, watching human interactions, how important it is for humans as well. Determining who is the top of the pack, the alpha, which one of the dogs are interested in challenging the right to be alpha. What a cornered dog will do when it’s desperate. It’s helped a lot, actually, in dealing with villains.”

“Really?” Midoriya was panting lightly. 

“The more panicked we get as humans, the more we rely on animal instincts. Watching a villain, to see when they’re hitting that point of panic and feeling trapped . . . it helps you to see what they might try to do, in their desperation, and to stop them from hurting themselves or others when they finally break.”

“Wow. Maybe you should teach a class on that,” Midoriya said.

“After this, I just might do that.” The streets were starting to look familiar. “We’re getting close, Midoriya. You’re doing great.”

Midoriya’s smile was bright, even as a puppy. Or maybe especially so. 

Chapter Text

Izuku looked up to see none other than Aizawa walking in the street in front of UA. 

“Sensei!”

Aizawa turned, looking at them with disinterest. 

“Shoo.”

“I bet he’s more of a cat person,” Yagi muttered.

Izuku felt a little humiliated, but went the distance to beg at Aizawa’s feet. “Sensei, please, it’s me!” 

“Get out of here, mutts. I don’t want to have to call animal control for you.” Aizawa was checking his phone, mumbling to himself about a search pattern. Was he talking about the two of them? 

Izuku slunk back to hide behind Yagi. “I don’t think this is going to work. If he would just let us in, then on Monday when Koda was here . . .”

Both of them stiffened at the distinctive sound of a van. Aizawa was about to walk through the barrier into UA.

Izuku barked frantically, darting for Aizawa and grabbing onto his pants with his teeth, right before he walked past the barrier. 

“What the—“

“Hey!”

The yell was from the villains. Izuku tugged at Aizawa’s hem until he accidentally tore it. His teacher didn’t seem inclined to give way, so he let go, choosing instead to get back to Yagi. He wasn’t much defense, but he could do his best.

“Midoriya, don’t.” Yagi gently pushed him behind. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not! We’re right here, I just . . .” Izuku desperately felt for One for All, but his quirk was still buried deep. He could’ve cried in frustration. 

“Those are our dogs!”

“Oh yeah?” Aizawa’s arms were crossed. “They don’t seem to recognize you.”

“They’re just frequent runaways.” 

Izuku felt a growl involuntarily grow in his chest as the villains took a few steps closer. Yagi was also growling, and it sounded far more intimidating. 

“They don’t seem to want to go with you.” Aizawa took a step towards them, away from UA’s barrier. 

“Unfortunately they were badly trained before they got to us. Don’t worry, sir, we’ll take good care of them.”

One of them had a pole with a loop on it. Izuku knew that was for their necks, and watched it nervously.

“Do you have any kind of paperwork?” 

“Enough of this,” the ringleader said. She reached towards Aizawa, who activated his quirk and knocked her hand away. Yagi used the distraction to leap forward and bite the arm of the man holding the stick. Izuku knew he couldn’t do much with his ribs except get hurt more, so he tried to wait back. 

He couldn’t stop himself when he saw the other man with a knife, though. Aizawa was caught up with using his capture weapon to subdue the woman who had turned them into dogs. 

Izuku coiled up all of his leg muscles, and sprang forward. He tried to latch onto the hand with his teeth, but his grip wasn’t good enough and he fell to the ground. 

A large boot came towards him. Izuku braced himself.

Aizawa kicked the man away from Izuku, taking him down without trouble. Yagi had managed the other guy himself.

“Huh.” Aizawa looked at the three downed villains. “Care to tell me what’s really going on here?”

“Screw you,” the woman spat.

“Midoriya, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Izuku inhaled a little too deeply and winced. “What do we do?”

Yagi came over to him, checking for himself that Izuku hadn’t gotten injured further. “I guess that’s up to Aizawa, here.”

“Uh oh.” Izuku looked up. “He’s calling the police.”

Yagi swore. “Right. We’ll need to get out of here. Her quirk shouldn’t last too much longer. Maybe a day or two. In the meantime, we can hide out in the forest nearby. Now that they’re apprehended, we’ll be safe.” 

Izuku looked longingly at UA before sighing, dragging his sore body to stand again. 

“Come on, then.” Aizawa’s voice was a surprise. 

Izuku tilted his head up in question.

“It wouldn’t be very sporting of me to let you two starve and die after being abused by these characters.” He typed in something on the UA gate and gestured. “Come on.” He crouched, reaching out a hand. 

“Do you think he knows?”

“Not yet. But let’s take our chance and figure out how to communicate once we’re in there. If we can get Nedzu to see me and my side, I bet he’ll figure it out.”

Izuku limped through the gates, relaxing for the first time since he’d been turned into a dog. Safety. Finally. He couldn’t stop his dumb tail from wagging, no matter how sore it was. 

“Maybe I could go point at my locker?”

“Let’s just wait. I am not sure if running around could trigger some security on the UA campus.” Yagi was swaying with exhaustion. Izuku shuffled over to him, sitting down next to him and pressing his shoulder against Yagi’s side. 

“You two are in pretty bad shape.” Aizawa crouched down in front of them. Izuku tensed as he reached out, but his teacher’s hand was gentle. He scratched under Izuku’s chin. He was too tired to feel embarrassed at how weirdly good that felt. He let his head go heavy until Aizawa was the only thing keeping him upright. 

“Alright. Follow me. I don’t have a lot of time, but I can get you two settled before I join the search party.”

Yagi whined, looking up at Aizawa and then bumping Izuku with his nose. 

“Yagi?”

“Let him carry you, Midoriya. Your ribs.”

Aizawa was watching them curiously. “Odd little things, aren’t you?” He knelt down, hands going around Izuku. Izuku yelped as the pressure increased on his ribs, which made Aizawa back off. 

“Hurt?” He touched more gently. Izuku whined a bit as he touched his ribs again. “How have you been walking like this, pup? Guess we’re going to Recovery Girl. I wonder if she’s ever healed animals.”

Aizawa had to be figuring it out. Izuku could see him calculating, as he picked up him and cradled him upside down in his arms. Izuku was too tired to figure out any other way to tell him, though. He felt himself drifting to sleep in his teacher’s arms. The last thought he had was how embarrassing it would be once he was human again.

As Toshinori had hoped, Shuzenji had recognized his scarring and was able to call off the search. He heard Aizawa discussing the villains over the phone with the police. 

Young Midoriya slept through the entire thing, his exhaustion probably compounded by Shuzenji using her quirk to heal his ribs. 

Aizawa eyed him, Midoriya still in his arms. “You couldn’t think of some way to tell me?”

Toshinori rolled his eyes. 

“Trouble magnets, the two of you.” Aizawa sighed. “How much longer until you become human again?”

Toshinori softly barked once. 

“One day?”

He nodded.

“Well, that gives us enough time.”

Toshinori tilted his head in question. 

“Enough time for 1-A to come say hello.” Aizawa’s smile went distinctly evil. “After all, they’ve been so worried. How could I not let them see proof that the two of you are alive?”

Toshinori growled, but he knew he couldn’t really win at this argument.

Aizawa brought Midoriya over to Yagi’s hospital bed. “Stop looking at me like I’m going to hurt him. Will you rest if I hand him over?”

Was he that transparent? Toshinori huffed, muttering to himself about nosy teachers and underground heroes. Still, his tail started wagging inadvertently as Midoriya was placed on the mattress next to him, allowing Toshinori to curl up around him and know he was safe and breathing. 

“Ridiculous,” Aizawa muttered. His hand went over to Toshinori’s head and pet him. Both of them froze and looked at each other for a moment.

“Not one word,” Aizawa promised. He retreated hastily.

“Yagi?”

“Sleep, young Midoriya. All is well.”

“Y’okay?”

“Yes. We’re safe. We’re at UA.”

Shuzenji came over, peering narrowly at the two of them. “You better rest up, Yagi. The amount of work I’m going to have to do to get you back in shape after this . . .”

The next thing Toshinori knew, it was to wake up to nineteen pairs of bright eyes staring down at them.

“They’re so cuuuuuute!” The squeal was high-pitched enough that Toshinori winced. He stared warily up at his students. They had woken up Midoriya, and that was enough to annoy him. 

“Yagi?” Midoriya yawned before stiffening, staring up at his classmates. 

“Can I pet him?” One of them cooed.

Ashido grinned. “I can’t resist!” She reached for Midoriya.

Toshinori couldn’t stop the automatic growl that vibrated through his chest. The kids all froze comically. 

“Yagi, it’s okay,” Midoriya muttered. 

“You don’t have to make yourself uncomfortable for them,” he said. “Just because we’re in this form, doesn’t mean you don’t have to give up your personal autonomy.”

“Can you understand us?” Uraraka crouched down by the bed, smiling at Midoriya. “I bet this has been stressful.”

Midoriya stood, wobbling a little on the bed as he walked over to Uraraka. Toshinori watched fondly as he head butted her hand. Uraraka looked delighted as she gently pet him.

“Sensei, are you doing okay? Do you have fleas?” Asui, as practical and blunt as ever. Toshinori barked, making the kids jump and laugh. 

“Oh, go on,” he sighed. “Koda, tell them it’s okay.” He didn’t want the kids to see his bad side, so he carefully scooted forward and thrust his cold nose against Bakugou’s strange smelling hand. The boy flinched, and then carefully scratched under Toshinori’s chin. 

Koda conveyed his answer to the class, and started translating the questions the class had for them. 

Pretty soon all of the class was taking turns petting the two of them. 

“This is gonna be really embarrassing tomorrow, huh?” Midoriya grinned at Toshinori. Todoroki was awkwardly touching the top of his head with two fingers. 

“I’m pretending this isn’t happening,” Toshinori told him. 

Koda herded everyone back. “They need rest,” he said, abnormally bold. Toshinori murmured his thanks, watching his student take care of the two of them. 

Midoriya scooted back over to him, pushing Toshinori’s head until he moved it to allow him to curl up close. 

“Night.”

There was something soothing about being in this form, and being able to keep Midoriya close to him. Like maybe he could still protect his boy, somewhat. Toshinori was a silly old man.

Still. 

He would enjoy this while he could. 

"Goodnight, young Midoriya."