Chapter Text
Rumiko could not wait for winter to be over.
The walk home from work was enjoyable, she much preferred it to crowding into a train car. But when bitter cold nipped at her legs, it wasn't as fun. Even with a packed sidewalk, there was not much ambient heat to make it more bearable.
Something warm for dinner tonight, then. Did she have enough for hotpot? Maybe not the meat, but that was something a quick trip to the butcher's shop could fix. There were two on her way home, one was closer and would give a brief repreive from the weather.
The doors to the shop were in sight when they opened and a figure darted out, chased by the owner with a broom in hand.
"Get outta here you goddamn vermin!"
The chasee's form morphed and shimmered, turning into a brown tabby who darted into an alley.
Murmurs abounded at the sight.
"Another hybrid..."
"Those are everywhere these days..."
"When will animal control do something about them..."
Rumiko winced at the words, turning away. The other shop would have to do for today.
Hybrids...a bit of an open secret, one that everyone knew but never talked about. Beings that could shift between animal and human forms, distinguishable by the ears and tail that remained, and seemed to only be cats. As intelligent as humans, and able to talk like them, but retaining animal instincts and about the same lifespan as them.
Which left them in a very grey area, legally. They were not human, and so didn't have the protections of citizens, but animal welfare refused to do anything, saying that they were not equipped for hybrids (and apparently never would be, as it had been years since hybrids had first appeared with no movement in sight.)
Distrust in what was different led to mistreatment. Hybrids could blend in with humans by hiding their tails and ears, sure, but Rumiko knew that it was painful for extended periods.
She hated how they were treated, the words she heard towards them. They were beings too, with thoughts and feelings. Why should their differences deny them basic decency?
She shook her head. No. Those thoughts would slow her down. She could do the best she could to help hybrids, but right now, Rumiko needed to get home.
They were waiting for her.
^.V.^
"I'm home." Rumiko called out, relaxing with the warmth that permeated the apartment, quickly toeing her shoes off.
Bells jingled from the couch.
"Welcome home, Master!"
"You're finally back, damn Owner. What took you so long?"
She smiled at the two figures on the couch. Two cats, one black-green and white longhair, one blonde shorthair with golden shades bordering point coloring.
"Sorry, Katsuki. Had to take a detour to get everything for dinner. Izuku, could you take this for me?"
The longhair jumped off the couch, form changing into a late-teen boy with freckles, the collar from his feral form still present as a hybrid, rushing over to grab the plastic bag she held out.
"Of course! What are we having?"
"Beef tanindon. Don't worry, only mine is gonna have onions. If you two can pull everything we need out while I'm changing, we can eat that much faster." Rumiko hung up her coat, starting to make her way to the hall.
Katsuki shifted to hybrid, the same age as Izuku with a permanent scowl and a more spiky hairstyle. "Whatever, just don't take forever."
"In the near three months you've lived with me, when have I ever?" She huffed a laugh. Even as she walked to the bathroom, Rumiko could hear them going back and forth about who would grab and prepare what.
Her boys. Her hybrids. It was still surreal sometimes.
Rumiko could remember the night she'd found them, ducking into a side street after a late night at the office to escape a bitingly cold gust of wind and snow. Seeing two figures huddled in the doorway to the back of a restaurant, trying to stave off the chill. Both barely concious enough to hiss at her but not enough to fight when she'd scooped them underneath her coat and booked it for home.
She hadn't known they were hybrids. Not until she'd given them warm baths and a good meal did Izuku work up the courage to speak. Katsuki had snapped at him, berating him for being so trusting; they were hybrids, she was a human. They all knew what the general public concensus was about their kind.
It hadn't changed a thing about them for her.
She'd offered them a place to stay, at least until the weather changed and they weren't at as much of a risk of freezing to death.
It took three weeks before they asked if they could stay with her, permanently.
The transition hadn't been smooth sailing. Adjustments, misunderstandings, but Rumiko wouldn't change it for the world.
Even if she had to bolt down the hallway to keep them from burning the rice cooker again.
^.V.^
"Master? Master, you need to wake up."
A gentle pressure on her cheek had Rumiko returning to the world of waking. Izuku was on her lap, paw outstretched to her face.
Right, dinner, then to the couch to brush the boys (oh how they begged for it), then the TV on for them to watch while she went over some papers from work...
"Sorry, Izuku. Is Katsuki already in bed?"
"Mhm. We put your papers on the table, so they didn't scatter all over the floor."
A soft smile, scratches behind the ears and a kiss to a fuzzy forehead. He purred like her motorbike.
"Alright, let's not keep him waiting, we don't need a second new set of pillows."