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Izuku was a smart, obedient boy. Always a follower, always a watcher. Never straying far from home, never curious about anything beyond the white picket fence of his mother’s forested cabin. The boy did his chores, never talked back, and followed the rules.
His heart beat in his chest, leaves crunching beneath his feet as he ran.
Never enter the woods past sundown.
God, he was so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Falling asleep at Ochako’s house was incredibly unlike him— he could already picture his mother’s face when he arrived, terrified out of her mind that he was dead, or worse, taken.
His backpack felt heavy on his shoulders, filled to the brim with medicinal herbs and his mother’s favorite assorted jams. Nightfall fell quickly, too quickly, only the interspersed light of the moon casting twisted shadows along his path, eyes squinting as he navigated through the familiar forest.
He hummed quietly to himself, something he’d later come to regret, but a small comfort for the unbelievable amount of fear coursing through his veins. It was nearly pitch black, and if it wasn’t for the way he degraded himself convincing Ochako he’d be okay walking home, he’d have immediately turned back to the populated human village.
The woods were relatively quiet, only the sounds of hungry bugs and irritated owls filling the space. The constant, heavy presence of life filled his every step, always a pair of eyes connected to his being, watching him, waiting. Something older than time, hiding forgotten stories within the density of its forest and quiet nature. Izuku’s mouth ran dry, swallowing harshly every couple of seconds to check his surroundings, before resuming his trek through the usual daylight path.
“Here..”
He finds the familiar leafy path that takes him home, but it somehow looks just a little different. The slight offness of it makes his chest cave in with fear, whining low under his breath before closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath. He needs to calm down— nothing good will come of his usual freak outs, and there are predators just waiting for him to slip up.
Biting his lip, he looks between the leaves, moving them out of the way as his home path grows darker up ahead. Turning, he sees the other direction, still lit.
What would mother do?
Successfully steeling himself, he continues forward, avoiding the leafy, densely bushed path, towards a far safer, open path just a couple yards away. It’s a longer way, for sure, but allows Izuku full control over his surroundings, featuring a connecting road that a few cars are known to pass through. Though longer, he planned on sprinting— so he pulled the straps of his backpack, buttoned his thick, red coat, and pushed off—dirt kicking up behind him. He tried his best not to look around, focused on the path in front of him, leaves crunching loudly under his favorite red sneakers.
It felt like there was a constant watch, something lurking in the shadows that Izuku could not address. It bore holes into his back, lighting his instincts on fire. How much farther?
It was as he approached the opening road that he allowed himself to relax, finally taking a moment to put his hands on his knees and breathe. He was close, almost there. Just another 20ish more minutes of powered jogging— something he did near daily. This was most definitely the correct choice, that heavy presence fading away, allowing his shoulders to sag, taking one deep, heavy breath—
The distant sound of a howl ran ice through his veins.
He stood frozen in place, heart beating loud enough to shake his skull, blinking once, twice, before breaking into a crazed run. All too aware of his surroundings, of every crunch of distant twigs, of every breath taken by a being that wasn’t him, he ran. He could make it home, he could make it h—
Another howl. Multiple?
The dark concrete under his feet felt heavy, trees obscuring his vision of the further road.
The howls crept closer, on either side of him— he was near tears. Izuku had never been in such a situation, desperate for help or the comforting light of a passing car. Unfortunately, the universe wasn’t feeling graceful, so Izuku ran until his legs felt wobbly, still far from home, inwardly cursing himself for picking the longer path.
Much to his distress, one of the howls came close to his right side, and he stumbled, tripping on his own foot as he hit the ground with a strangled cry.
“ No!”
The sound of a growl shook his bones, coming from right behind him.
Wolves enjoy a prey who runs.
What else was he supposed to do?!
It was as he grit his teeth—ready for something to strike—that the distant headlights of an oncoming vehicle came into view. They were smaller, brighter, illuminating the darkened moonlit path enough for Izuku to freeze. His hands dug into the dirt beneath him, biting his lip as he waited for the lingering presence behind him to vanish.
On cue, the lights became bigger—blinding—until the roar of a motorcycle hit his ears, and Izuku gave a sigh of relief. Wolves were averse to the public, usually avoiding concrete roads in favor of dense woods with heavy coverage. One obnoxiously loud motorcycle would definitely do the trick.
Sure enough, that heavy feeling faded away, Izuku giving a weighted sigh of relief as the vehicle approached, probably checking in on the lunatic who was laying on the side of the road after sundown.
The motorcycle slowed down, coming up to his side as Izuku put his hand out to avoid the blinding headlights.
He was about to speak, to explain himself and his predicament, before fanged teeth flashed in the shadow of bright light.
“Now, what do we have here?” The driver said, voice husky and low, so masculine it threw Izuku into a slight shock. He blinked his eyes, finally adjusting to the brightness, before going speechless.
Because sitting on that obnoxiously loud motorcycle, running through the most dangerous forest in Yueii at night, was a devastatingly handsome wolf.
His eyes were carmine red, blonde spikes styled messily, sharp jaw adorned with a filthy little smirk. It was the best descriptor he had, because there was no way that was the smile of a decent man.
Izuku squeaked in reply, and watched as the wolf smirked wider.
God, danger had never looked so good .
“You mute or something?”
Izuku blinked a couple times, willing himself not to look stupid in front of the… wolf.
A real werewolf. In the flesh.
Crap, where was his deer-skin notebook when he needed it?!
“I-I’m sorry! I just got held up in the village a couple miles out and these jams ” He said, pointing to his backpack like it mattered, “— my mothers— need to be stored away quickly! So, I had to run through this way to get home, but I heard howling and I got scared and then I tripped and I—”
The blonde looked like he was two breaths away from laughing, watching Izuku flounder about— but he kept his cool, standing on the ground with one foot as he balanced the motorcycle between his legs.
“A wolf, huh?”
Izuku blanched, face cold as he realized the implications of offense.
“That’s not bad! I mean, like a wolf wolf, y’know! The ones that walk on all fours! Have a snout! And big teeth!”
The blonde smiled wider, enough to show the big enough canines sitting in his mouth. “You don’t know much about hybrids, do you?”
Izuku tried not to focus on the sharp teeth, doing his best impression of a wobbled smile.
“...No?”
The wolf finally barked a laugh, dark and amused, echoing a rumble that Izuku could feel to the tips of his toes.
“The name’s Katsuki. You?” He asked, ears twitching with interest.
Crap. Was it wise to give a stranger his name?... Was it wise for him to be out past sundown in the first place?
“It’s.. Izuku.” He answered nervously, looking down at Katsuki’s black combat boots.
“Well Izuku, how were you planning on getting through these parts with some wolves chasing you?”
“I–” He started, looking up through his lashes, “I don’t really… know. I was just hoping to outrun them?”
Just the thought of taking off running again made his legs start to sore, pleading for a break after the crazed run and fall he’d endured. What else was there to do? Of all things, the wolf’s loud motorcycle engine and bright light was keeping whatever lurked in the dark at bay… How could he keep Katsuki here?
“Hah! Outrun them? Are you crazy?” Katsuki laughed, sitting back with leisure, like they weren’t in the middle of imminent danger. It was kind of hot, in that scarily sexy sort of way.
Get it together, Izuku!
He did his best impression of a pout, “Well! What else was I gonna do?!”
Katsuki let his laugh die out towards a soft smile, “Hop on.”
“Eh?”
“You heard me. Get on, I’ll take you home, Izuku.” Punctuated with a kick of the motorcycle stand, and a pat on the seat behind Katsuki.
“This is a bad, bad idea.” He muttered, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
“Those are the best ones.” Katsuki replied, and before he could hesitate, Izuku found himself hopping on the back of the werewolf’s motorcycle, face buried in one broad, muscled back and holy shit he smells so good— “Ready?”
“Wait, where do I hold o— AHHHH!”
Yeah. A bad, bad idea.