Work Text:
The first time Katsuki Bakugou nests, he is five.
Mitsuki is thrilled to know that her mini-me is an omega like her. She immediately takes him to a high end nesting store to pick out pieces for his nest.
There’s only one problem. While Katsuki settles on an All Might themed nest base pillow, he proceeds to turn his nose up at the blankets and other items available to line said nest base properly. All of them. He takes one sniff at a distance and refuses to even touch them.
Finally, a clerk suggests going to a specialty scent-neutralized store where the items smell of blankness rather than stink of newness.
It helps a little. Grudgingly, Katsuki does pick out one large blanket, dark green with orange flames all over it. And by large, she means a queen-sized blanket, far too large for his nest. But it’s the only thing he consents to put in the cart and at the very least it’s big enough that he can line the nest with it and still cover himself with it. Mitsuki doesn’t even try to dissuade him, even if the store clerk gives her a judgmental eyebrow raise.
After letting him arrange his meager nest to his satisfaction, she takes him over to Inko’s house to see if her friend has any suggestions.
They are busy looking up things to get for fussy baby omegas on their phones when Katsuki stomps out of Izuku’s room, holding a well-used All Might blanket with a smug expression, while Izuku follows him, asking why he took his blanket.
“It’s mine now,” Katsuki states.
Little Izuku looks like he might argue or burst into tears, but Inko intervenes. “Katsuki, honey, why do you want that?”
“For my nest. Smells right.” Katsuki folds immediately under Inko’s gentle tone.
“Oh, that makes sense. Izuku, we’ll just replace it with that new All Might blanket I got you last week. Katsuki is an omega and he needs your scent in his nest. That’s why he wants your blanket,” Inko explains.
Izuku pouts for a moment at having to part with a treasured blanket, then perks up, presumably at the mention of new All Might merchandise. “Okay, mama.”
It’s cute as hell. Her baby boy wants familiar scents! No wonder he didn’t like the store stuff. Inko gives him a cashmere scarf that she scents for him, which Katsuki accepts politely. Mitsuki can’t get over the cute.
Until Katsuki proceeds to steal her favorite blanket out of her nest and refuses to return it.
Masaru ends up separating them when they end up in a stand-off growling at each other, promising to buy her a duplicate blanket, pointing out that Katsuki is too young to have control over his instincts and he needs parental scents in his nest. He even offers Katsuki his favorite, worn soft sweater, well scented, which Katsuki practically snatches from him. The brat.
~
At fifteen, the only thing Katsuki has consented to add to those items is a new, oversized nest base that actually fits him with room to spare. What was once plenty for a tiny nest is meager in a nest sized for a teenager and a friend. He sticks to those five items, demanding the various things be re-scented periodically.
Katsuki insists that he doesn’t need more, that he’s not some soft omega obsessed with the need to nest.
Mitsuki worries about him, but there’s little she can do. It’s not like she can force more bedding on Katsuki. A nest is far too personal for that.
And then the dorms happen and he’s on his own.
Her only solace is that sweet Izuku is very much alpha in his tendencies to look after Katsuki, no matter how much Katsuki protests. Izuku will take care of him.
Imagine her surprise when Izuku calls her up a couple months later.
“Auntie Mitsuki? Do you think you could get some unscented blankets? Kacchan has a fever and his omega isn’t taking his usual nest very well. He stole my laundry and Kirishima’s too, which would be fine, except we kind of need our gym uniforms. I’ll have his friends scent the blankets,” Izuku rambles in explanation.
“Sure, honey. Give me about three hours and I’ll hand deliver a box of them,” she replies without hesitation, despite the fact that she’s at work. That new girl Susume can just take over for her for the day. It’s not like the girl hasn’t been panting after the opportunity to do just that.
“Thanks, Auntie Mitsuki,” Izuku says gratefully and hangs up.
“Itadori, something has come up with my son. Can I trust you to look after things here for the rest of the day?” she asks curtly.
Susume has the courtesy to actually look concerned for a moment before nodding. “You can count on me.”
“Good.” She grabs her keys. Fortunately, she has the van for the day and more fortunately, the scent-neutralized nesting store is only ten minutes away. Even better, she has a rough idea of Katsuki’s preferred textures. Soft, like he claims he isn’t.
Upon entering the store, she grabs one of the flat cart things meant for putting nest bases on and goes through the store like a whirlwind, grabbing the most luxurious large blankets that they have available, including a couple thicker, padded ones.
She curses when the haphazard stack starts to slide off the cart.
“Ma’am? Can I offer you this?”
Mitsuki turns to find herself faced with a giant open topped box labeled Emergency Nesting Supplies. She grabs it. “That’s perfect.”
Dumping the stack on the floor and the box on the cart, she moves the now mess into the box, grudgingly grateful when the clerk takes it upon herself to arrange the blankets she’s tossing in neatly, so they fit in the box with less wasted space.
“If I may suggest, I would include a few smaller items as well for ease of arrangement,” the clerk offers.
She narrows her eyes at her, but the clerk doesn’t back down. With a huff, she gives in. “That’s a good idea. What would you suggest?”
“How about I just show you where to look? They’re this way.”
Mitsuki wrenches the cart around and follows. Her brat of a son better appreciate this blanket bribe. It’s very Katsuki-like to deny his own needs and then resort to stealing laundry that smells good to him the instant his guard goes down. She’s going to tease him about this later, once he’s well. But at least he’ll have a proper nest now, so she can worry less about his emotional health.
~
Notes Section:
Nesting is not considered a sexual behavior. Though it’s not uncommon for omegas to want to retreat to their nests during a heat. Demanding to make a nest is generally considered THE early sign of dynamic expression for omegas. Baby alphas tend to suddenly get more protective of people around the same age. I wonder what signs show up to indicate a baby beta? There’s probably more medically based ways of determining dynamic, too, but it’s probably more popular to do it the ‘traditional way’.
I’d say for kids in foster care, dynamics are probably mandatorily medically determined and social workers are required to check on the state of omega children’s nests because it’s a serious crime to deny an omega a nest. An omega child with no scents other than their own in their nest is considered ‘at risk’ and extra visits by a social worker are mandated. If an omega child bonds enough with other children to take their scents into their nest, it is considered policy to try and keep them together in the same homes, particularly if there are no adult scents in their nest. A closer eye is kept on the adults if an omega child won’t put their scents into the nest and it is considered a crime to falsely place scented items in an omega’s nest to indicate a bond that is not there. If an omega child does bond with an adult in the home, the social worker is to leave them in that home if possible.
Okay, I need to stop going down the rabbit hole.
Izuku’s and Katsuki’s relationship didn’t sour as much as canon, because Katsuki DID get the message when Izuku attempted to refuse to re-scent the blanket for him after a week where Katsuki’s behavior had been particularly bad. A grudging apology happened and Katsuki backed off on his bullying in general. Unfortunately, being a little less of an asshole to people weaker than him doesn’t translate to increased social or emotional intelligence.
Mitsuki absolutely showed up with the van full of options, including a few smaller items liberally scented by her, Masaru and Inko.
Katsuki is far enough into his instincts that he allows negotiations. But he vets each item before accepting it and demands most of them be scented by specific class members and even some teachers before they’re allowed in his nest. He successfully negotiated for half the class’s scents and Kirishima in his actual nest before he gave back the laundry.
Aizawa just sighs when informed that Katsuki is ill and has essentially kidnapped Kirishima and excuses them both from classes until Katsuki gets better.
Once Katsuki’s fever breaks, he wakes up confused about his now large nest and Kirishima emerging from the bathroom. A hasty explanation ensues. Anyone who mentions it afterwards is threatened, but Katsuki doesn’t give anything back. The blankets are his now. Also, his omega is much more satisfied with his nest now. So, the class just silently re-scents things when he storms up to them with a blanket or other item.
There is some social prejudice about omegas being the weakest sex, but there’s always going to be prejudice and it’s accepted for omegas to go into heroics, so Katsuki isn’t the only omega in class, just the only one who pretends he’s above needing a full nest. So, no one is going to tease him about needing a fully stocked nest or needing scents. They do have to bite their tongue on saying things like “Aww, Blasty loves us after all!” though. He may never live down bargaining for Kirishima to stay in his nest, however. Haha.
I borrowed a few things from The Lorekeeper (LyingHonesty)’s work Social Necessities, since that was the fic with the ‘blanket bribe’ that poked the muse. (This was probably not what you were expecting when I said it poked the muse. I wasn’t either, truthfully.) Mainly Katsuki falling into his instincts because he’s sick and Izuku bringing a ‘blanket bribe’ in form of an Emergency Nesting Box, though I got the impression that those were prepackaged in Social Necessities, so yes, I did keep that bit but there’re also empty boxes that can be filled with whichever textures one knows an individual prefers instead of the standard set. In general, all the textures fall under ‘soft’ but there’s a huge variety of soft textures out there that I didn’t have the brains to try and describe properly within this fic.
Several of the blankets and smaller items are knit or crocheted, since his father’s sweater is a key piece of his nest. Likewise, several are the softest plush you can imagine, since that’s what the blanket he stole from his mom as a kid is made of, along with soft flannel and thin silky materials like Izuku’s stolen blanket and Inko’s cashmere scarf. Mitsuki also introduced some heavier materials suited for shaping the sides of the nest higher or snuggling under during winter, as well as some other interesting textures, most of which he rejects.
He probably only accepts about half of what Mitsuki brings to the school, but the Bakugous are well off enough for Mitsuki not to mind that. She just donates the rest to a shelter, which is very happy to get them. Shelters are often connected to prefecture-run nesting hostels, which are open to very low to no income omegas, because leaving an omega on the streets long term is considered a death sentence. There are some caveats. No drinking, smoking, drugs, prostitution or fighting. Mental health meds that are working must be taken. The hostels are guarded communities, surprisingly enough. The individual units are tiny, even for omegas with children, but they are relatively safe compared to the streets. The hostels also provide food cards so no one starves. Provided nesting materials tend to be very low quality, however. Either you bring your own or you suck it up.
While Mitsuki brings them, she doesn’t come up to deal with Katsuki, because they are saving that for in case he gets worse. Instead, Izuku and Kirishima are stuck trying to bargain blankets and smaller items for the return of their gym clothes. (In Social Necessities, Kirishima bargains the blankets for the return of the couch cushions and Izuku keeps his distance.) Not all the items/blankets Katsuki accepts get scented. The unscented items will eventually soak in his personal scent, making it clear who the nest belongs to. This is actually typical of omega nests.