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Izuku’s music wasn't happy!
In fact, Izuku’s music was so unhappy it’d woken him up, which it’d never done before!
And it was using all instruments he’d never heard before too so even if he didn’t know the names of what his music used to make sounds were called, it’d never sounded like this ever.
All worry and unhappy-stomach sounds. Danger maybe? Izuku hadn’t heard the music sing about danger before, so he wasn't sure if it was or not but it was bad!
Trying to distract himself from the sound of it he crawled out of bed, landing with a thump, and sat on the floor with his computer and looked up different musical instruments, trying to figure out what he was hearing.
He should have done it ages ago cause he’d always heard the music, but this was the first time he’d thought of it so he thought he wouldn’t give himself a gold star like sensei at school did but also wouldn’t mark himself down cause he had started looking it up as soon as the idea hit him.
So not good, not bad, even. Izuku preferred good but would take even any day!
Looking up when the door opened, his mamma stood there, looking down at him with a smile but also with the pinched eyes and worried lines across her forehead that the music didn't like either so Izuku sighed and got up, it was time to get dressed.
Mamma used to have a happy little song but across the last long long time it had gotten longer and sadder and MUCH more worried!
But now even that was gone and just the new music was there, so loud, loud and….
Usually when he did his teeth he got the tooth-brushing song, but not today.
Usually when he ate his breakfast he got any one of a number of tiny songs, like jingles for things on TV, but not today.
Even just walking out the door was usually a familiar song, but sometimes lately he’d gotten new ones, and today was one of the new ones, but today's new one was just more of the same going on and on and on and Izuku HATED it!!!
After looking at music things on his computer, and listening to them too, today's music had something like a violin in it but a really big one that stood on its one leg as someone played it with a bow and arrows only without an arrow, and lots of drums and something high and whiny he'd not been able to find on the computer.
Frowning at how weird the biggest music maker had looked in the pictures, Izuku reached up and took mamma’s hand and stealthily put a finger in his mouth, chewing gently on it.
He wanted to suck on it but at a big five years old now mamma didn’t let him do that anymore, so he had to be sneaky now.
The usual bus music was gone today too, and the bad music was getting even badder.
And then they were standing outside a building and it was all bright colors and happy paintings on the walls and kids and parentals going in and out and smiles and some tears cause kids are like that and the music got louder now every single step they got closer and now that it was so loud he could hardly hear anything else and he just wanted to curl up and hide from it!
Then like a dam breaking, Izuku decided that nope, just NO!!!
He’d been dragging back against mamma's arm for a while but now, planting his feet as mamma grabbed the door handle, Izuku tipped his head back, took a deep breath of air, and SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMED!
A single long ululating shriek of sound that had every adult eye leaping to see what the problem was, and his mamma jerked her hand off the door as she tried to figure out what was wrong so Izuku let the wails morph into words as he continued at top volume to indicate that he seriously did not want to go in the building!
Like, at all!
And when Mamma tried to just pick him up and carry him in the music screamed too, even though no one could hear it, and for the first time Izuku wasn't a good boy, didn’t do as he was told, and instead used the stranger danger move all his class had learned in school and grabbed his mamma’s ankles and wrapped himself around them and continued to scream!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! *suck a breath* NOT THERE NO NO NO MAMMA!!! *suck a breath* NOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!"
It worked!
Especially when not one but seven helpful adults all came over and now there was all taking and fussing and support and smells and most of them were beta's like his mamma but the one big alpha was being so careful as he helped Izuku dry his tears, and the two omega’s were just as careful as they crooned a wordless song and told mamma about a different QC office they could try, that maybe this one was just too big, he was just a tiny sweet pup and all this bustle might have just frightened him and ……
They left.
Walked the half mile to the smaller QC office and took the appointment one of the super nice omega’s had made for him and the music was thrilled.
A high chirping happy almost bubbles of sound, and Izuku’s feet danced in time with it and then, as they went inside, like a radio the music got softer and softer.
Quieter and quieter.
Until he could only just barely hear it.
But it’d done that before in places no one was supposed to be too loud, like the court house the time mamma got a ticket, so Izuku just sat with a coloring page and a tub of crayons and tried to stay in the lines but lines were hard and then he went in when someone called his name and the very nice lady that examined him for aaaaages used all sorts of words Izuku’d never heard before but then she went down on one knee and said, “I know it’s all big big words but what it means Izuku sweetheart, what all that means is you have a quirk.”
“But we don't know what it is.”
“Or how to make it turn on.”
“So what I want you to do for the next while until your next appointment is think a lot about your quirk and how it’s like a light switch and YOU are in control! It’s your quirk, and you can make it switch on, but it might take a while because we don't know how it’s supposed to work.”
“Like, " she paused for a moment and then smiled, “oooh, like a riddle, but we only have a few of the words so we know it's a riddle but not what it means.”
“YOU get to figure out the words so pay close attention, okay? And your mamma will bring you back to us next month or when you feel anything new.”
Nodding Izuku smiled cause the music was still sooooo quiet but it liked the nice person, and he took his mamma's hand and they went home.
STILL not having a quirk was going to make Kacchan so sad but that was okay, Izuku was sure they’d figure it out somehow.
“Whadda’ya mean, they can't find a quirk?”
Sparkler pops had Izuku grabbing Kacchan’s wrist cause the music was worried, and he knew it only sounded like that when his bestest friend felt scared, and good touch helped him calm down, but the music got scared and even more scared and Izuku pulled out his big guns cause this was desperate now so he glomped onto Kacchan and held him tight tight tight!
“If’n ya don lemme breve I’mma gonna splode you!”
The words were muffled from where Izuku had Kacchan’s entire head wrapped up in his arms and pressed to his chest and the music was calming down now so he said, very carefully, “It’s gonna be ‘k, the nice lady said so. We just gotta think hard ‘n pay tension ‘n my quirk’ll show up.”
“Now, I’mma gonna let you go, so, breve in’n out ‘n calm down cause otherwise y’er gonna end up inna naughty corner an me too cause of me bite’en sensei if he puts you there, so breve good!”
Making sure his friend breathed all the time was important, Kacchan sometimes forgot so much he went bad colors and the music got really frantic. Fortunately though, lately it got worried first, so Izuku could remind his bestest friend to breathe, so that was good good good!
Sometimes the music didn’t know what to do, like maybe it had too many choices, and those were usually bad days.
Like, bad bad days!
So Izuku was already on edge, eyes watching, attention clicking from face to face as he trudged his way to school.
A rumor last year had his morning walks usually had Kacchan on them with him but he was sick all this week, and while the walk used to be good every day, now they were't as much fun as they used to be, cause everyone thought he was quirkless now cause of the rumor.
He and mummy had talked for a long time about it, and how lies run fast but the truth was like it only had one leg and no crutch for how slow it was.
And how people loved to believe a lie and would ignore the truth, so Izuku had decided to stand up for truth and begun carrying his quirk status paperwork with him, cause his ID didn't have it yet.
It wouldn't have it until he presented his secondary gender and then it’d have both, and his big boy picture, and he’d be such a big grown up twelve years old but now he was just six.
But every time anyone yelled or hissed or spat quirkless at him - he still didn't know what was so bad about quirkless and no one could give him a good reason any time he asked and last time he'd bitten sensei it was cause of askin and not gettin a good answer - he’d shake his head and say “No I'm not, here, look!”
And show them the page that said: Quirk , Unknown. Activation , Unknown. Status , Hidden.
But he only did it when the music said they might listen, not after the first time when the man had hurt him!
Just a shove, but he’d fallen down cause they were big, betta, and smelled bad, and then heroes had shown up, an Alpha/Omega team that Izuku'd never even heard of, and he’d gotten to pick and chosen Present Mic bandages for his palms where they’d gotten scraped, and they didn't care if he was quirkless or had a quirk, they just made everything better.
Izuku liked heroes!
But now Izuku was a big six years old the music could do something different!
If Izuku changed the direction he faced when it was a bad day, the music changed too, and sometimes, well, once anyway, he’d found a direction with good music in all the bad and he’d gone that way and had found a fifty yen coin and bought ice cream and gotten to school late but the music was good all the rest of the day.
That wasn’t working today though so whatever was upsetting the music wasn't something Izuku could change, so he hunched in his chair in class and tried to focus, but the music got worse, a building wailing heart thumping sound and then, it crashed to a finale, and now it was soft, and slow, and so sad Izuku was crying already, long before the call came for him to go to the office.
Curled in a chair Izuku felt limp and so tired, too sad to even have a word for it, the music one long cry of sorrow.
Izuku’s mamma was gone.
That was the word they said but Izuku knew what gone meant, it meant dead.
Why grown ups didn't want to use the word dead was weird, and he distracted himself with remembering the cat getting run over when he and Kacchan were walking together home from school, how it rolled and spun and twitched and stopped moving and was flat and still and the wind ruffled its fur but its eyes didn’t blink anymore.
Was his mamma like that now?
Or was it like the show he’d seen late one night from behind the couch as he slipped out to get a drink, where the woman had their eyes closed as someone said, "She's dead….” and everyone had looked shocked and ever so sad.
Izuku didn't know, and knew if he asked no one would tell him, just try and hug him again, but the music didn't like that! No one in here where after a long scary drive he'd been put had good music so Izuku kept saying no to hugs, and then he’d get frowned at or hugged anyway so now he just kept his head down and huddled behind his knees and listened to the music drip like his tears were still doing.
It was nice that everyone had music of their own, because it let Izuku know if his music liked them or not, and most of the people around in this new place had bad music but Izuku was too tired now to care much, just blinking slow as the music went on and on and on and his mamma was dead.
Kacchan had great music, his mamma ‘n daddy had good music too, soft and gentle for one and loud and marchy and happy for the other and Kacchan was like both of them all combined and mixed together, which was so cool.
His bestest friend was the best ever music, he wished Kacchan was here now.
Eyes sliding closed the music faded away as he did too.
Waking up in a strange bed was scary, but the music wasn't bad or good, neutral was the word, well, Izuku thought so anyway, a wait-n-see music so Izuku got up, found a toilet and cause he was a big boy he did everything needed, washed his hands, and went to find a grown up.
All Might said grown ups helped and while All Might was right about lots of things, Izuku’s music disagreed on that one because only some grown ups helped but some of them made things worse!
But it was the only plan he had for now so he did it anyway, listening to the music in every direction, finally heading to the best of a bad lot.
A kitchen, and a large playroom, and a masc and a fem, and leaning against the counter was another masc, who all turned and looked at him, and the music got a bit worse, but not awful yet.
“Ummmmm, wha’s goin’ on?”
And then he remembered, and the music began to wail, and Izuku's mamma was dead!
Eventually he ate cause they told him too. He only did because some people, even beta’s some times, got weird over food, and as he ate they said he lived there now.
But then they said that he wasn’t in school yet and they wouldn’t tell him where he was or where Kacchan was or when he’d get to see him or where his stuff was or if he could go home and then, after a really sad sad day where the music never got happy….
Izuku was finally in his new bed, one that smelt funny and not a nice funny either and he was so tired and his eyes were closed but then the music got suddenly spiky and loud loud loud, danger, hide, danger is coming.
He was glad he knew what danger sounded like now but it was scary and he was scrambling down and under the bed and wriggling to be behind the dusty boxes already crammed into the space.
So the masc with the hot fire hands that Izuku didn't know his name yet didn’t find him, and while forced quirk activation was a big bunch of words, Izuku knew what it meant cause other people had said it to him before and he’d looked it up!
It meant the man wanted to hurt Izuku until his quirk turned on, like melting a light switch to make it work.
But light switches didn't work like that, and little boys didn't either!
So when the man had kicked and yelled and hit the walls and banged the door and finally left, Izuku crawled out from hiding and stood in the middle of the room while spinning slowly in a circle and the window sang a nice song and everywhere else was just nasty bad so that was the way he went, out the window.
He’d followed the new song for a long long time, every time he’d try to stop it would get loud and bossy and he’d keep going and it was dark now, and he was so tired and cold as he leaned on a wall but the music finally got quiet at last, and easy, the way it should be at bed time and he crawled behind the big box beside him and slept.
A crinkling noise woke him up, and the sounds of mewing cats, and someone saying, “Yes, yes, I have it, noisy useless freeloaders, fuzzy tapeworms, parasites, all of you, yes, you too Mittens, you’re the worst, you really are, pretending to be a friendly and then when I try and pet you, wham….”
The voice kept going, and the words were kinda mean really but the tone was warm like a blanket, and the music was really happy, like, singing the way it did that time Izuku was lost and then Kacchan found him!
Well, they’d been tiny, how was Izuku to know when the ground dipped and you couldn't see anything from down there and it felt like being all alone and lost even if he really hadn’t been?
But the music was the happy-we-found-each-other-music, and Izuku crawled out from behind the box, rubbing his eyes as he blinked at the plates on the ground, and each one had a pile of food and a cat eating and it was hard to stand up on his tired legs so he sat down again and just watched.
The masc was big, but crouching down to coo and insult the cats he didn’t look scary at all and the music was even happier now!
Sniffing deeper he smiled, Omega, sure to be, even scent blocked like his - Izuku’s mind skittered off the word mamma and his breath hitched soundlessly - well, he’d been told it was rude to show your scent too much.
And this man didn't show much at all so he must be really not rude and there was a word, a word for not rude, oh, polite.
Polite.
That was the word.
Sniffing again as the nearest cat abandoned the plate when Izuku put a hand closer and the music got happy so he didn’t get sad at not petting the cat and instead took a fist full of the abandoned food and, nibbling one at a time on the crunchy pieces, he watched the man now using a feather wand to play with some of the cats.
Most of them just hissed or kept eating but a few played, and Izuku couldn't help it, he giggled as two collided in the air jumping for the wand rather than the feather and -
The man was fast!
He spun and jumped back and was in a crouch but not a good one like on a playground before racing but instead it was a dangerous fight-me-crouch and the music….
Swelled and sang and was like a song of pure joy.
Blinking sleepy eyes, Izuku ate more of the kibble and cocked his head, trying to understand how the Omega could be not just nice but super nice the way the music insisted, while looking so dangerous and scary.
A long moment for them to relax, to drop the couch into actually kneeling to not be too tall, and then they looked at their phone after tapping at it for a bit, and a voice, deep but not too deep, harsh but like a purr rather than a bark, “Midoriya Izuku?”
“Uh huh, tha’s me.” He gave a tiny wave, “Hi.”
The mans voice got even better, softer and like a hug, “Hey there kitten, did you know lots of people are looking for you?”
He shook his head, blinking in surprise, “Why?”
“Well,” and the man scootched closer, “it’s cause you went missing, and people worry when kids go missing.”
“Oh,” Izuku said, “well, here I am.”
Eating another fistful of the kibble he thought the man's eyes twitched the way omega’s sometimes did around him, but he didn't say anything so Izuku ate faster, just in case the man wanted the food back, cause just cause the music had never been wrong before didn't mean it couldn't never ever be wrong!
“Can you tell me what happened sweetheart?”
Chewing carefully he wished for a drink and then the man was giving him one, a little Izuku sized bottle of water which was already open for him and really nice and then he said, “I’m Eraserhead, I’m a hero, it’s going to be okay, but how about,” - Izuku was scooped up as he was distracted drinking - “we sit over here and you have my energy bar instead of the cat food.”
“I’m sure it’s not bad for you kitten, but you’ll like my meat bar better.”
“Now, in your own words, can you tell me what happened?”
Having been put in time out a few times, and even yelled at for talking about the music and how he'd promised himself to never ever talk about it ever ever again, Izuku thought he must be more tired than he thought when he opened his mouth to say he’d wanted to go for a walk and instead said, “The music wasn't happy so I lefted, no, left, where they put me when mamma died.”
Munching the tough snack he simply nodded when the hero asked carefully, “Music?
“Uh huh.”
“What music kitten?”
“Hmmmmm, oh, no!” giggling at how the man was cocking his head like he was trying to listen extra hard, “YOU can't hear it, no one can, but it plays alla time for me.”
Finished with the bar he handed the wrapper to the hero who balled it up and stuck it in a pocket.
“What does the music sound like?”
Izuku gave a big yawn as he said, “All sorts.”
“Okay,” and the man sounded quietly interested, and the music was sweet like a lullaby, and happy, like a hug, and Izuku was so sleepy, “what does it sound like now?”
“Omega happy, like nice hugs n’ soft beds n’ love.”
Yawning another huge yawn, Izuku managed to mumble, “No one ever believes me, but itsh real, really….” he yawned again as he turned and burrowed against the man's neck, the happy omega song now all he could hear, and the nice smell of the man filled his nose as he managed to say the word real one more time before he was out like a light.
Shouta had been taking an enforced break but despite a day off patrolling he was in uniform, because it was late, and the streets were dangerous. Not just for Omega's, but for everyone, so gearing up even for a walk was just a good idea.
That’s what he’d insisted anyway and so far he’d gotten away with late night walks using that logic.
Because his big alpha (and the rest of the pack) was dead set on his being safe, yet both being heroes Hizashi knew no amount of coddling would help on the job. Not for Shouta and not for any of them really.
So he coddled at home!
And insisted everyone (But mostly Shouta cause damn!) take every possible precaution, up to and including an implanted tracking device, emotion activated so in the normal course of events it was off, dead, undetectable.
When Shouta hit fight or flight mode though, when he entered battle, adrenaline singing in his blood and the urge to kill having to be forced into its ancient box, taking down villains and criminals alive because killing them sadly was not allowed and just sometime for some extra fun, hammering drunken Alpha’s - that should fuckin know better than to mess with him - into the ground….
The device activated in those conditions.
Sending a ping to highlight his biometrics, and location.
It would power off then, but if the emotions remained powerful, it would ping again, and then again.
Low level pings, aimed to ride other signals, very difficult to detect, so far no one ever had.
And Nezu had them in all his staff (Pack, Shouta preened at the honor and joy of it all, Nezu was Shouta’s pack-sire, Shouta was his, his teacher, his hero, his pup, loved, safe!) even if the rest of the teachers weren't part of Nezu’s actual pack, because Nezu’s teachers belonged to him.
Every single student had them too, and wasn't that a way to find the hidden horrors no amount of paperwork could discover!
So far the device had saved Shouta’s life once, and prevented serious injury thrice, and in reverse for Hizashi, so while he’d fought against it’s implantation fiercely, to the point Nezu himself had scruffed him and pinned and not let him go until Shouta was crying, promising to behave….
Well, he’d come to understand, and to love, the hidden safety line, even if it got him caught for Alpha baiting more often than he’d like.
So he felt easy and confident in himself roaming late at night, and especially in the alley where he’d stashed a few surprises if he ever needed to fight in there.
Felt comfortable feeding his ravenous hordes, already making plans to trap the newest queen that’d shown up to freeload off him, spaying her would prevent his colony getting any bigger, and he gave blandishments and praise and love in vocal form - they were feral after all so no touchies - and then, the most fun, he pulled out his feather wand and played with the cats that were youngest and most comfortable around him.
That is, until the sound from behind explained why all the cats had been checking the alley out more than usual, focusing behind him, a space he’d already checked out twice yet now….
Behind him!
A tiny nose, he spun, ready to fight for his life when his eyes hit a tiny kitten, matted and dirty and clearly almost asleep on its feet, well, on its bottom anyway as it sat and…. Ate …. The …. Catfood…..
Oh gods, it was eating the kibble!
Not usually interacting much, if at all, with tiny children Shouta tried to remain calm, to throttle his inner Omega that wanted to snatch and clutch and hold and groom and feed and could fuck right off cause that would be too fast for the situation and would just frighten it!
Him? Her? Hard to tell and quite frankly didn't matter, getting it in his arms did!
A bit of maneuvering and he succeeded, much easier than expected, and then the mite was telling him about some kind of music and falling asleep on him and shivering.
The quick search he’d already run had given him the name, a brief bio, including his missing and presumed in danger status.
As well as his unknown quirk.
Obeying his impulse rather than his logic, Shouta called Nezu rather than the police after he’d tucked the sleeping kitten inside his jumpsuit, zipping it up enough to keep them curled in place and warming nicely now.
Tiny, much smaller than a six year old should be, genetics or abuse, no idea, but regardless a recently orphaned, lost and then found kitten was not going back to the system until Shouta understood fully what the music meant and that the weight now snuggled against his chest was going to be safe!
Holding the phone to his ear with one hand he gently stroked dirty hair with the other and then the call went through.
"Oh," he said blankly, "ummmmm....” because it was suddenly all a bit much, how did he say he had a kitten and should have called the police but what if they took it, Shouta wasn’t gonna let it go but what if….
A long pause while Shouta’s mind galloped uselessly at high speed getting nowhere fast when there was a chirriring huff and the order, firmly stated and quite simple, “Shouta, tell me everything.”
So he did, and damned near preened when he got, “Well done, now, just to be sure I have all the information, you are still an hour out from UA at a walking pace?”
“Yes, I’m just out of the alley now and headed home….”
“No. You are passing a conbini on your right, go inside, buy a bottle of kombucha, sit near the doors, that one has a seating area, and drink it. I don't care what flavor you choose, but by the time you’re done with it your ride should be there.”
“I have you on the surveillance cams, we’ll continue the call once you're in place.”
The line went dead so, with a bit of reluctance, Shouta did as told. He wasn't usually a fan of the drink but, “Oh, Lychee, good.” It was one of the few that tasted nice to him, sweeter than the rest, and the brand was one of the few that was fuzzy enough too rather than flat vinegary nastiness so he smiled as he bought it, going to the tables set beside the glass frontage to wait for his ride.
Feeling the phone vibrate he picked it up and smiled again when Nezu said, “Good, I'd hoped they’d have your favorite brand, now, I’ve looked up your search history so I know you have the basics, but I’ve had a look at the kittens history, just a brief dip, and I do not like how he’s being viewed by the system, the child is - ”
A huff from the end of the line and Shouta tensed with a growl.
“No, relax sweetheart, I’m not upset with you. I am upset for our kitten, the home he was put into has someone with a criminal record of abuse linked with it, although as he is not an official member of that pack there is nothing I can use against them.”
“But, possession is nine tenths of the law, and you my ever so clever Shouta, have the kitten!”
“So, for tonight and tomorrow at least, as no one will be heart sick at his continued absence, he will remain with us.”
“That way we can make sure they are healthy," a pause as Shouta eyed the trio of slightly drunk people who came in just then, saw them clock the bulge of the hidden child, suddenly seeing that with how they’d slipped down and curled up and what it looked like, and realized how vulnerable they both were - “Easy Shouta, yes, they think you're pregnant, it's alright, stay seated, Hizashi is right behind them, see.”
And not only did Shouta see but he smelled too and smiled, lighting up in a way that had the three spinning to see who could make that dark figure light up into luminous beauty.
And then they scattered as the smell of enraged/protective/possessive/near feral Alpha hit their noses and even being drunk wouldn't save them if they didn’t get the fuck out of reach!
Smothering a laugh Shouta drained the last of his bottle and set it down as he rose, one arm curled down and around his “bump”, letting Hizashi take his hand, lean into Shouta’s space and drape an arm round him, tucking them into safety.
Having felt vulnerable, having been vulnerable, it was a good feeling indeed. Three against one was usually nothing but Shouta had a kitten hidden in his clothes, it was fragile, tiny, his!
“Hey man, ummmmm, you good?”
Realizing his scent had soured at the thought of running from a fight while at the same time had gotten thick with distress at having someone so helpless to protect and that, shit, his scent blockers had clearly failed, Shouta blinked in surprise at the fem of the trio, Omega if he had to guess.
Oh, oh no, she thought Hizashi was the reason Shouta was upset! Hastening to reassure her, “I'm good, sorry, long night and,” he placed his other hand across the stretched jumpsuit, “just got overwhelmed a bit, thanks though, for asking.”
Smiling she nodded in relief, “Good, I’d have sicked these two idiots on him if you weren't, gotten you away if you needed.”
Air sweetening, despite the vodka fumes, as the misunderstanding eased and faded, it had been a surprisingly nice encounter, over all.
Getting in the car Shouta said, voice a soft growl, “If you even think the words fragile flower I’ll -”
“Fragile flower? Nawwwww, murderous succubus is more like it, all pretty and then wham -”
“Shut the fuck up, seriously Zashi, shut up -”
A blinking message on the gps in the dash *Drive now, flirt later* had them both making noises somewhere between laughter and expiring from embarrassment.
A familiar sound with Nezu as their sire!
Curled eventually in a deep soft chair, the kind he tended to dream about when stuck on hard school seats for long boring meetings, Shouta held the still unwashed kitten, attempting to not growl at anyone.
Attempted and failed!
“Sorry.” Ducking his head as Chiyo paused in her purposeful advance, towel across one arm, shampoo and soap and wash clothes in a carry-all in the other, and blinked in surprise at his uncharacteristic sound. “Shouta dear?” and took two steps closer and this time the snarl wasn't tiny or muffled in any way!
It was deep and from the heart as he curled up into a crouch, the kitten now under him where like lightning he'd placed them as his legs tensed, claws fully unfurled and dug deep into fabric to give extra power to his attack, it was only a high bark that had him stalled mid strike as Chiyo took two sharp steps back to give him space.
Every eye in the room was now on him, and usually at that kind of behavior he’d have a flaming face, be stammering apologies for reacting without thinking first but instead he bared his teeth even more and snarled, tucking the kitten deeper into the chair under him, and kept the warning growl going as silent unspoken conversations went flying around him.
He didn't care, as long as no one touched his kitten, all was good.
A deep sigh and he turned to look, just a bit, he had to keep an eye on everyone else, and oh, he gave a double chirp to acknowledge his sire who was now almost close enough to touch.
“Good, you remember who I am, good Shouta, well done.”
Preening a bit at the praise, he huffed a warning when Sire started over to him, only to flatten a bit when a stern, “No, now, you know better than that sweetheart, I need to see your kitten. Look at the little thing Shouta, smell them, dirty, they are dirty.”
“And they smell hungry too, don't they?”
Nodding as he caught them up again, clutching the sleeping kitten close, dirty, his kitten was dirty, he needed, needed, oh, Alpha had what he needed, and Beta, safe beta good beta had water, hot yet not too hot, he could smell it, and now smell the touch of soap, sweet, apples maybe….
Sour, his kitten smelt sour and of sadness and tears!
Shouta’s own tears started to fall as he edged closer to Alpha who was near the kitten wash water, finally sliding in behind him, knowing Alpha would guard them, and then he hit a snag his instincts couldn't help with.
He’d never bathed a child!
A gentle laugh and Chiyo was there, huffing a chuntering Beta mumble, calming/soothing and “Yes. Good. Good. Shouta, like this, just like this.” and he had help, and kitten was clean, still asleep, dressed not in clothes but in a towel and Shouta was frowning now, clothes, kitten needed….
“It’s just so I can make sure he's not injured sweetheart.”
Head snapping back at the thought, panic slashing through but Alpha was crooning now, “No baby, just to make sure, here, come here.”
Shouta was now cradled across Hizashi’s lap, and Izuku in his arms with Hizashi’s arms around them both, and it might be difficult to actually reach the kitten but Chiyo made the best of it, and eventually the kitten was judged in good health, dressed warmly, and the three of them remained in the chair together as Sire spoke.
“Seeing the way our ever so logical Shouta is behaving, I’ve already set in motion to have the kitten fostered with us, as at this point only death would pry him loose, and even that is doubtful as if anyone tried they would the the ones to die for it, and tomorrow I will be able to expedite the proper adoption because I’ve never seen Shouta like this, it’s delightful!”
“Shouta sweetheart, rest now, that's it, close your eyes, and breathe with me, good, put your nose against kitten's hair and breathe deep in, good clever Shouta, now out, good boy, good boy indeed.”
By Nezu’s count it took forty-seven seconds for his usually logical and insomniac kitten to fall asleep, but bonding, emergency trauma fashion, tended to take it out of anyone.
If he’d realized his so sensitive kitten was going to trauma bond a kitten of his own perhaps Nezu would have arranged a different collection point, but hindsight is twenty twenty as they say and it was done now so dealing with it was all they could do.
Looking at the picture the three presented as they all slept tangled in the chair, Hizashi only just barely dozing, he too now being heavily affected by the bonding.
Looking around the room at the rest of his pack and they too were near glassy eyed with the cocktail the trio were producing so he clapped his hands softly, saying, “Gather the futons, pillows and blankets, we all sleep here tonight.Turn off all alarms and phones as well, no one leaves the room for more than the bare minimum time needed to relieve yourselves.”
“Hurry now, we need to build a nest for them.”
The single word was all it took to get them all lunging into motion, and in less time than it took to tell they had a large, soft, well scented nest against the wall, in a corner so they had two angles protected, with enough members to guard the open sides.
“Now, Oboro my lovely, if you’ll lift them in for us, good, yes, just like that.”
The gift of his cloud kittens quirk was so versatile, and it easily lifted all three into the middle of the nest, right towards the back for maximum protection for the new kitten, and one by one the rest slid in. Keigo setting his feathers into a pile beside the nest so his wings wouldn't be in the way of snuggling, and Ryou took that side with him.
Chiyo, Tensi and Nemri piling in right after, and a few soft directions from Nezu had them all arranged properly for maximum comfort and efficient bond integration and protection of the nest.
Easing in himself at last, right into the middle as befitted his status as Sire, he made sure to scent everyone before letting loose a jaw cracking yawn and sagging into the near doze the mingled pheromones laden into the air was creating in him.
The easy breaths and slitted, heavy eyes of all of them as he checked again on his pack had him smiling, because they were all the same, deep now into the instinctual behaviors of bonding in a new pup/kitten/cub. Call Izuku what you will, he was their new little one and the sweet sweet scent of him in the air was a soothing balm to the soul.
The music was happy, a soft deep rolling beat like the bump bump bump under his ear.
He was happy too.
Sleepy and contended and so comfortable.
Izuku agreed with the music, cause this was sooo good.
It got better when he opened his eyes, someone was nudging him. “Come on kitten, you need to eat.”
It was the Omega, Izuku knew that one!
Giving a deep sniff just to confirm the music was right, and the smell and sound and how he felt mingled into a feeling of utter safety, and something was at his lips, and even though he wasn't tiny, he was a big six after all, he opened for it, and it was rich and meaty and warm and he ignored how it was a bottle and just sucked it all down.
The music plus warm full tummy had him asleep before he managed to finish it but that was okay, sleep was good.
Watching the kitten fall asleep between one suck and the next, all of them cooed over how sweet they were, and how nice full-pack cuddle-time was.
It’d been too long since they’d done it, and Nezu had already decided to ink more sessions into his calendar, his family clearly needed this.
Reaching out to card strong fingers through Keigo’s tumbled fluffy hair, getting a happy chirp in return, Nezu didn't even have to look to know his own mates were grooming their grown kittens, just through the purrrrs now beginning to rumble into the room, and he too added his slightly higher pitched croon to the familial song now being sung.
Yes indeed, he’d absolutely be scheduling more of this, he’d not even noticed how little they’d had lately or how much he was missing it.
It took three days to finally leave the nest, and in that time the new kitten had regressed to about four, still verbal, surprisingly so for a kitten that young, an expansive vocabulary indicating their intelligence, and for now, although it would take a few months for them to fully regain the lost ground, it was normal and nothing to worry about.
Taking advantage of how easy the kitten was to direct in conversation, Nezu asked carefully, “Izuku, Shouta told me you hear music, can you tell me about that?”
Pausing to cock his head at him, Izuku asked, “Why?”
“Why what sweetheart?”
“Oh, ummmm, no one ever beleveded me a’fore so ummmm…..”
Not letting the kitten spiral into sadness at his past life - and Nezu had already discovered it was a sad life indeed, a teenage mother, very poor, a struggle just to put food on the table, no pack, only two friends, and those only close because the two kittens were close friends, the adults more acquaintances than actual friends…..
They were working with Izuku carefully to separate him from that past, while still eventually giving him access to his one sibling-friend because litter mates were important!
“We believe you kitten.”
It was Hizashi who said it for all of them, and Izuku perked up, and smiled a huge grin, "Da music's happy happy now, singin’ so happy!”
“Awwww that’s lovely, I like how the music’s happy. How long have you heard music, petal?”
“Al’ays, i’s al’ays been dere.”
“Wow, so cool, is it always happy?”
A sudden surge of sorrow/loss/need hit the air and Shouta lept over, scooping the kitten up and scenting him liberally, and as he included tickling the kitten too it was easy to get the first giggle, and with clever fingers he had the kitten squealing and gasping, eventually letting the still laughing and panting kitten catch his breath.
Saying softly to the kitten clinging to him now, face tucked into the shadow of his jaw, “The music isn’t always happy, is it.”
“No,” a tiny whisper, “i’s not.”
“Izuku.” Nezu’s voice was just as soft, “When the music is unhappy, can you sometimes find a way to make it happy?”
A green eye peeked out at him, “Uh huh, s’m times, if’n I turns I c’n find a good bit’n follow it.”
“Good, oh what a clever good boy, now, Oboro has a new bottle for you, would you like it?”
A tired nod and they all watched him, so terribly tiny and thin, eagerly suck the bottle down and fall asleep again.
Looking down at his armful Shouta said, “Explain, please dad, I think I’ve got some of it but….”
“Of course my Shouta, even I don’t have all of it yet but I do have most of an explanation for you all.”
“Midoriya Izuku, single kitten born to Midoriya Inko. An unbonded Beta with no pack. A single and very young mother doing the very best she could.”
“As you know she herself died less than a week ago, landing our kitten into a fosterage situation that proved to be both dangerous and indeed life threatening for him.”
“The man now in jail awaiting proper sentencing, as well as his two mates, well, it was ugly, and I am just glad indeed he got away.”
“What were they gonna do, dad?”
“Oh Keigo my lovely, they wanted to force activate his hidden quirk and then, because such quirks are almost always much more powerful than the usual, he was already booked for collection to a trafficking ring running cargo through the actual system designed to keep kittens safe.”
A low deep satisfied growl from Ryou, “Shut down now, got em all!”
Giving a nod to Chiyo when he went non-verbal in remembered rage at what might have happened to their kitten, she climbed into his lap and nuzzled against him, efficiently soothing him, as they sometimes had to do because, despite being beta, he had deep and powerful instincts to guard and protect.
“But,” Nezu spoke a tiny bit louder to catch everyone's attention again, “what they didn't know was, our little one already has a quirk, was born with it if I had to guess, and it’s why he is so tiny still.”
“It's always on, burning the energy he needs for growing, but because he always heard the music, it was just a part of life, and because no one ever believes a small child when they talk about invisible friends or seeing things no one else can see or hearing things no one else can hear, no one caught it.”
“A quirk, fully active, incredibly powerful, and only getting more so.”
“I think perhaps we might call it Sound-Track.”
Laughing softly at the reactions to his frankly appalling name choice for a powerful music-based precognition quirk, Nezu settled back in his chair and watched his family, all of them still so soft from the recent bonding episode.
They’d toughen right back up soon enough so for now he’d enjoy having them all together, and watch and laugh at how silly they were, and how much he loved them all!