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They just happened to be at the age; moments away from getting their designations, a thrum of anticipation felt in every corner, masking the small ebb of dread that seemed to permeate from him.
He knew there was no possible way this went well for him.
It wasn’t unusual to have inclinations about what you were before the official diagnosis. Behaviors that had been noted and thusly explained through one of the four designations in the back of your mind.
And Midoriya was no different.
But while his peers shuddered in excitement over coming into their majority he knew he’d be taking a major step back.
The scent of pup clung to them all, waiting for them to mature into the sweet and musky scents of Omegas and Alphas or the more subtle scent of a Beta.
He knew that soon the scent of pup would dissipate from most, leaving him little cover from the keen nose of his teacher.
“Quiet down, soon you all will be classified, some of you may not like the results. There is no changing what you are, who you are, as you all graduate up from being pups let me warn you now that my lenience thus far will be nothing but a memory.” Aizawa lectured, excitement dulled down due to their teacher's admission.
Aizawa couldn’t be considered a warm soul but he had been caring in the way adult Alphas usually were to pups, even pups of their age. Comfort, patience, he could tell Aizawa’s sudden sternness was putting a damper on the excitement of those who had been ecstatic about finally being grown, now sobered by what was sure to be a more serious classroom atmosphere.
He almost wanted to cry at the admission, if things were picking up in class, if patience was no longer a factor, where did that leave him as a dumb puppy?
As a puppy who was sure to stay a puppy.
Aizawa had always had that underlying sternness and now it was on full display.
After today, after the results, was he going to be allowed to stay? Or would he be kicked to the curb? He couldn’t tell, even though Aizawa was stern that softness before wasn’t fake just reserved for few, and from the way things would play out he would still be a part of those few.
In the end, being kicked to the curb might be an exaggeration but he certainly would not be treated the same.
“Recovery Girl will come around with a tablet for each of you to take, it is a synthetic hormone that should push you all to present at the same time. Coming into your designation should be fairly simple. The only discomfort should be in your scent glands as your mature scent comes in and for any alpha students the lengthening of your canines, besides that it is a comfortable process.” Aizawa informed as Recovery Girl puttered around the classroom handing tablets to each student.
He startled as his own tablet was put in his hand, hesitatingly clutching it in his palm as he glanced around at his peers swallowing the small pill.
Aizawa leveled him with a look that had him wanting to hunch over and hide as he shoved the tablet down his throat, gagging as the tablet dissolved halfway in his mouth. He was never good at taking pills.
As his classmates scratched at their necks in discomfort and new scents floated through the room he shuffled away hiding amongst the crowd and hoping -praying really- that Aizawa didn’t question him.
As the last of the class presented whispers filled the room, excitement even disappointment as everyone compared scents and designations.
He wanted so desperately to be a part of it, to gush about his scent like they all seemed to be doing.
Instead, it was the same, honey sweet and milky yet not in the way a teenager before presentation should be… maybe it had changed.
As he has gotten older his scent had seemed to lose a bit of that sweetness as distinctly pup as it was. Now though, it was right back to the start almost cloyingly sweet, it seemed to scream pup.
“Wait guys, is there a puppy here,” Kaminari questioned, sniffing the air with his now superior sense of smell.
He cringed as Kaminari’s question prompted the majority of the class to sniff the air, shaking as everyone seemed to zero in on him.
“Deku ?” Uraraka whispered.
“Maybe he just didn’t take the pill..” Sero theorized.
“No you idiot, did getting your designation not improve your sense of smell at all? He smells younger if that’s even possible.” Kacchan added.
“Bakugou is right. Besides, Midnight Sensei taught us about pup designations as rare as they are weeks ago.” Momo interjected, trying to keep the peace.
As each new voice filtered in he found it harder and harder to breathe.
“Enough, you’re scaring him. Heroes to be and yet you scare a puppy like this?” Aizawa scolded making his way through the crowd of teens with a sharp twist of his scarf.
Aizawa’s immediate acceptance of his designation didn’t comfort him one bit, it unsettled him even as the man’s coal-colored eyes studied him.
What a sight he must make, tear-stained cheeks and disheveled clothing from too much fidgeting, definitely not the look of a hero to be… of a grown-up.
He couldn’t help but flinch as his teacher's hand reached out for him, whining as he was picked up by the erasure hero, confused and unsettled.
“Calm down Midoriya, I know this is scary and my sternness was definitely not meant for you but I’m sorry you had to be on the receiving end regardless.” Aizawa soothed, scenting him casually as he was propped up on the man’s hip.
He hadn’t been scented much, the last time a memory now hazy with age as he faintly remembered his aunt's plum and cherry scent sticking to his skin in a way that was so unfamiliar yet so calming as he held the proof of someone’s care and protection for him on his skin until it slowly faded away.
His mother had never bothered to scent him after the age of four, and nobody could really blame her, reprimand her, when they found out he was a quirkless brat.
As cherished as pups were he was more likened to a monster; a mistake.
So, as the woody scent of his teacher leeched onto his skin he couldn’t fight the way his body sagged in relief, head lolling as his neck muscles went lax at the feeling of scent glands rubbing against his.
“Good puppy.”
He felt floaty like he was suspended in the air with nothing to cling to as he sat firmly in his teacher's hold.
Ever so slowly, Recovery Girl made her way around the room, documenting his peer's designations as they were each given what was sure to be a mortifying pamphlet.
He reached out his hands towards the pamphlet as she brushed past them, not wanting to be left out any further.
“Ah, not for you Midoriya, although we do need to have a chat later.” RG scolded lightly, a soft expression on her face. Kinder than she usually was to him; things were already changing with this new designation.
He pouted in discontent as teachers suddenly seemed to fill the room, more eyes shooting him curious looks than he cared for.
Present Mic, Thirteen, and Midnight trickled into the room as they rounded up each group of students for a private lesson, Omegas with Thirteen, Alphas with Present Mic, and Betas with Midnight.
“Go?” He asked words sitting heavy on his tongue in a way that made talking seem almost impossible, but the simplified question slipped out anyway.
“Sorry greenie, this is one station you can’t tune in to,” Mic said apologetically as the groups were ushered out of the room.
For some incomprehensible reason, he began to whine frustrated and jealous, “Enough of that nonsense pup, we need to speak to the principal and Recovery Girl,” Aizawa informed the fussy pup.
“B-but my friends,” he tried to explain, not wanting to leave them, especially without getting answers on the confusing expressions on all their faces, sullen and resigned.
“You can play with them later,” Aizawa soothed, barely flinching when small fangs, definitely those of a pup, sank into his palm as he tried to smooth green curls.
“Ah Aizawa, maybe he should come see me before you talk to the principal he seems to be settling into his classification pretty fast,” RG informed, gathering up the last of her materials as she made to leave.
Izuku just chewed softly on his teacher's hand in response to the conversation being had over his head, not really listening but displeasure coursing through him when he finally realized they were headed to the nurse's office.
“No, no, no Zawa’ no.”
“Yes, yes, yes Zuku’ yes.”
He was placed down on an examination table despite his protests.
“As long as I’ve been teaching I don’t think I’ve ever had a student actually present as a pup, what’s the protocol here Chiyo?”
“A check-up, informing the parents, meeting with the principal, and usually a gentle transition to a pup-only school, UA is dangerous you know, but with the mess your class is in I’m not sure how safe that course of action would be,” She added, frowning.
She was right of course, in the past maybe the kid could have silently slipped into obscurity and lived happily, the hero course a distant memory.
Unfortunately, he was too well known, wrapped up in the mess his current class had found themselves in, broadcasted to a formidable enemy, they knew his pup, his name, his face.
“I- I’ll have to talk to the principal about it,” he said, as Recovery Girl washed her hands, moving to the examination table.
“Hello Izuku, an exciting day isn’t it?”
“No! I wanna see my friends, please go to friends?”
Chiyo hummed, shaking her head, “ Not right now dear—his speech is regressing, not completely but his sentences are simplified, his emotional regulation is low as well, self-soothing is hard for him right now he’s waiting on an adult to comfort him,” she observed, informing Aizawa.
Aizawa said nothing, but his eyes were zeroed in and observant, mentally noting it all down.
Next, Recovery Girl put a gloved hand up to Izuku’s mouth, prying open his lips as he whined to examine his teeth, and taking notice of his shortened fangs, too small to perform a mating bite; the teeth of a pup.
She took some blood as well, testing his hormone levels, and examined his scent glands, undersized and faint.
“Hmm, not good, his scent glands are undeveloped for his size they weren’t stimulated enough when he was growing up and now they’re struggling to produce a scent, it’s making him susceptible to scent sickness. He has no means of producing enough scent of his own to fight off others scents that aren’t his or a part of his pack,” she explained.
“What does that mean exactly I scented him earlier and he seemed fine, if a little drowsy,” Aizawa confessed.
“It means someone has neglected him, not scenting him enough when he was younger and now without a regular routine of scenting it can make him ill, my recommendation is for him to join a new pack immediately, I don’t even think he has an old one, to be honest,” She confessed.
“How would a new pack help, I agree he needs one if your suspicions are true, no puppy should be without one, especially a classified puppy.”
“He needs a new pack to scent him, their scents will protect him from outside scents until his glands grow a little better, though, I’m not sure how big they can really get at this point, he needs a buffer regardless, the scents of his pack won’t make him sick.”
“I’ll check in with Nedzu on what exactly the kid's pack situation is like but if he’s really got no one then I have to have a conversation with my husband,” he whispered, keeping quiet due to little ears listening in.
Recovery girl nodded, finishing up the exam and giving Izuku a clean bill of health besides his scent glands.
“He’s about as fit as he could be for a newly presented puppy, through the next few days he’ll settle into it, he’ll lose those older instincts, though, he might fight it.”
That sounded about right, so far Izuku seemed to be in denial.
Turning towards a thoroughly displeased little boy he picked him up again, thankful for the kid's relatively short stature but wincing when a still-muscled leg kicked out at him. The kid would lose the physique he’d built pretty quickly in his new designation but for now, he was still abnormally strong for a puppy.
“No! I wanna see Roki’ and Raka’.”
Aizawa paused, unsure of how much longer he could refuse the kid, they had both presented Alpha surprisingly, and realistically they posed no threat to Izuku but he was feeling unreasonably overprotective for the time being.
“We can see them before schools out for the day I promise, but we need to talk to the principal sweetheart,” he tried to explain.
Izuku felt frustrated, disturbed that no one was listening, yet embarrassed that he was acting so childish, but he couldn’t seem to filter it out. Instead every feeling, every word, spilled out raw and simplified.
He had enough reasoning after his outburst to sag in the man’s arms, understanding he had little say anymore and the compromise did well enough to soothe his nerves, besides the principal might stop this nonsense.
As much as he knew things would take a turn after his presentation this was much too far, and he had a feeling it wasn’t just his teachers but his friends as well. He was so desperately anxious to demand what those odd expressions meant for their friendship.
Finally, Izuku’s unsure future would be laid out by the principal, Aizawa wanted to help this kid -his kid- as much as he could but a small part of him hoped for that not to be his fate. For Izuku to have options, a multitude of people willing to protect and care for him, but Nedzu would be the final say, he always was on almost everything, even when it didn’t seem to be in his jurisdiction.
“Aizawa! How wonderful it is to have our newest batch of heroes to be classified, though this is a surprise.”
Raising a brow he ignored Nedzu’s inane little greeting wanting to know why Yagi was here of all people instead.
“All Might!”
Izuku’s current status didn’t seem to damper his appreciation for the number one hero.
Laughing boisterously Yagi opened his arms to hold the kid, not that Aizawa really wanted to give him up but Nedzu’s discreet motion was enough to have him placing Izuku in the surprisingly sturdy grip of the skeletal man.
“Why don’t you go take Izuku out for a little walk,” Nedzu suggested.
Ah, so a distraction then. He felt a little nervous that the man wouldn’t be able to carry Izuku but in the end, Yagi was an Alpha despite his medical issues and was able to lift the puppy easily enough. He couldn’t help but feel a little envious at how happy Izuku seemed in All Might’s arms.
The door clicked shut, privacy to have a hard conversation it seemed, at least if Izuku warranted distraction.
“I’ll be frank, Inko Midoriya is an unfit guardian and even if she wasn’t Izuku can’t leave the protection of this school, not easily anyway.” Nedzu began, reiterating what he had already assumed.
“So he’s stuck here. I can’t imagine this will help him cope with the changes he’s going through, if anything it will make him hold on to hope that he can continue in the hero course. He needs supervision, he needs a pack, and he needs to be safe. I don’t know how we could possibly have a pup living on campus without them being exposed to things much too scary for a pup to witness.” He tried to explain, wanting to be able to support the kid but knowing it wasn’t the best idea.
“I understand your concerns but the fact of the matter is that UA is the safest way to protect him right now. And regarding the situation with him trying to work his way back into the hero course Yagi has that under control,” Nedzu added ominously, “I do agree that he can’t be toted around the school, too many risks, but a schedule could be worked out. There’s more than a few unmated Omegas and Alphas that could benefit from having a pup around, there could be a rotation of supervision, though, I’d appreciate it if you and your husband could take over primary care.”
That was always a possibility and he wasn’t particularly angry that it had come to him becoming the kid's pack but his husband would need to be on board.
Almost alarmingly fast Izuku and Yagi were back, a mournful-looking blonde and an unbelievably distraught little boy.
“Zawa!” And just like that the kid was reaching out to him instead, seeking out comfort.
“What happened,” he questioned glibly, unimpressed with his student's distraught state.
“Ah, well Izuku is taking his removal from the hero course badly,” Yagi confessed, and he had a feeling there was more to that statement than anyone was letting on but he didn’t push, not when the kid was crying his little eyes out.
Izuku would never reveal the secrets of one for all, the secrets of its transference, of its great power to anyone. It was too important, even under the haze of his designation he knew that but it didn’t change the fact that it was ripped away from him and he could do little more than sob about it, mourn its loss, mourn what had made him great, what had brought him here in the first place. Even if it had been at the risk of hurting himself it had been worth it and now all he was left with was pain, nothing left but the tremors in his hands and a broken dream, though it had been broken by his unfortunate classification regardless of his quirk status.
Still, he soaked up every bit of comfort he could from the dower man he had been so frustrated with earlier, some instinctual part of him wanting to cling onto one of the few people who had ever dared scent him. Who had dared to publicly show their affection for him, even if Aizawa’s woody scent had made him feel off-kilter it was better than clinging onto All Might. He couldn’t bear to be with him right now.
“I’m so sorry Izuku, I really am. This will be better in the end, you’ll feel better I swear,” Aizawa soothed, sympathy for whatever traces of his old pupil still stuck around, he was a puppy that was just a fact Izuku would have to face eventually but with fresh memories of a life he could no longer live he could understand any grief that persisted, even in himself this was an adjustment.
“I’ll work out the details of our discussion… if you’d have that conversation with your husband before school lets out I’d appreciate it,” Nedzu dismissed.
Aizawa tucked the sobbing boy into his neck as he passed Yagi, not sure what happened but sure enough that his pup had been wronged by the man in some way, expelled from the hero course or not Izuku should not have come back that distraught, Yagi had done something, some long-buried parental intuition told him as much.
“Relax Puppy, you’ll still be at UA, you’ll still have all your friends. Things are changing, you can't be a hero right now that much is true but you’re still one of us until the very end.”
Izuku raised his head, sniffling every now and again as he looked into Aizawa’s eyes, finally nodding, not acceptance as much as it was acknowledgment.
It wasn’t fair, none of it was, and some part of him wanted to question his circumstances, to his knowledge pups were immediately transferred out of UA but he was just too relieved at the prospect of not leaving his life behind, not completely.
“Cheer up kid, you get to see your friends now,” Aizawa cheered, odd coming from the normally monotone man but his efforts to cheer him up were appreciated as he stuck scarred fingers in his mouth, smiling in excitement around them as he soothed the ache in his fangs.
Grimacing Aizawa let it be, mentally making a note to get the kid a pacifier as they arrived at Hizashi's classroom, overly decorated and cozy.
Being confronted with a classroom of newly presented Alphas wasn’t his first choice in comfort despite the cozy atmosphere, most were friends of Izuku though, and eager to check on their newly vulnerable friend.
He was content enough to let Todoroki take the kid while he talked to his husband especially when Izuku seemed the most like himself all day in his friend's presence. Giant smiles and loud giggles as he was held against the dual-toned boy's chest, an overeager Uraraka bounding over already as his husband paused at the front of the room.
Izuku was relieved to be surrounded by his friends and, furthermore, his peers. They just had to agree with him, they just had to, being his friends meant they were on his side he reasoned.
“I stay hero,” he said, placing his hands on Todorokis cheeks as his friend studied him.
He knew his quirk was gone, but Todoroki could help, he could get everyone to see he was the same and maybe All Might would give it back! Todoroki was very… what’s that word? Influ- infla- Influential!
“Ah, I’m sorry Midoriya I don’t think that can happen right now,” Todoroki started, panicking when Midoriya’s lip started to wobble.
“Deku! Jeez I don’t think he understands-”
“You nerds suck at this, give him to me,” Bakugou interjected, brow twitching in annoyance as the pair who deemed themselves Deku’s closest friends fumbled.
Izuku stiffened as Bakugou held him in his lap, “Real talk nerd, and I know your brains a little mushed up already, but hey, I knew you back when we both had mushy brains so I think I can be the one to say this,” he stated, Izuku nodding along, it was true they’d known each other for ages, and although he was upset Bakugou was being his same blunt self, it was comforting.
“You need this, this isn’t as big a surprise to me as it is to everyone else. I know you want to be a hero and as much as I hate to admit it you’d be a great one, but now isn’t the time. We both know you didn’t have a great go at being a pup the first time around and maybe you’ll never present as anything different, but so what? It doesn’t mean you’re not still inspiring everyone around you, you little optimist. Take a moment to stop worrying about other people and let yourself go, let yourself feel loved as gross and lame as that is.”
Izuku wanted to cry, but there had been enough tears today. Instead, he settled for hugging an unwilling Bakugou who was suspiciously red in the face.
“Class, dismissal will be a little early today, I gotta deal with a little pack issue ya dig’?” Yamada said from the front of the room, halting any heartfelt conversation still being had as Izuku was removed by Aizawa, a little sad to watch his classmates… former classmates trickle out.
Hizashi had agreed of course, he wasn’t one to deny a pup in need, especially one that had endeared him as much as Izuku and he could feel his husband's excitement hum through the pack bond as the classroom emptied and green eyes turned towards the pair instead.
“Hi,” Izuku decided on, breaking the silence as he opened and closed his hand in a gesture he guessed was meant to be a wave.
“Hi there listener! I’m glad to see you feeling a bit better, it’s nice to have good friends isn’t it?” Hizashi cooed, Izuku settled enough to not feel patronized by the action as he enthusiastically nodded in agreement.
Zashi was always good with pups, more so than Alphas usually tended to be outside of their engrained protector role.
Aizawa stayed relatively quiet, confident enough in Hizashi clicking with Izuku despite the vagueness of their relationship to let his husbands do the talking.
“So Zuku’, I was wondering what you knew about packs, can you tell me about them, sweetie?” Hizashi prompted, smiling as freckled features twisted up in concentration, the stress of the day had settled Izuku a lot further into his instincts than was typical and now that the initial panic had subdued it had their resolve hardening in taking care of him.
“Um, I- dunno… dunno much bout packs,” he whispered, fists clenched in the black jumpsuit of his homeroom teacher.
That basically confirmed the kid had never been in one.
“Well, we were thinking you could join ours, someone has to take care of you sweetheart, and how things are playing out that’s gonna be us and we’re so so excited! Medically not just emotionally it’s important you’re in a pack,” Hizashi lectured, sure to be firm in what he was saying when Izuku was so terribly confused.
“So pack… need a pack?” Izuku mumbled, looking up to Aizawa for confirmation.
“Yeah kid, you need a pack.”
“… Kay!” Izuku nodded, as though he understood the terrible importance but they didn’t think he really got it in the end, regardless the kid needed a pack and they had given him the reason, they respected him enough to, even if his older self was slipping away or at the very least changing.
Not one to stall Hizashi grabbed the kid, rubbing his scent glands against each of Izuku’s instead of the usual friendly brushing against just one, he’d need to be saturated by everyone in the pack to truly settle in and thankfully it was just him and Aizawa. The teacher's pack was a different story but that would be a long way off with the kid's scent glands this weak.
Even now that he was being initiated into the pack before Aizawa would complete the bond Izuku looked almost green, the scent sickness Chiyo had mentioned rearing up.
Aizawa finally scented the boy completely Izuku’s cheeks returning to a normal color as everything clicked into place and oh… he really was a baby.
Through the bond, he could feel the kid's inner pup, tiny and helpless and reaching out so desperately for care and he and Hizashi were more than willing to indulge the boy based on the glance they shared.
Izuku again was nearly boneless, pup content now that for the first time, he’d been properly scented.
Now that he was part of a pack.
“Sleepy…”
“Sleep puppy, you’ve earned it,” Aizawa soothed, green eyelashes resting against freckled cheeks.
One thing was for certain, it was by far the best designation day he’d ever been a part of at this school.
Instead of the heavy scent of newly presented teenagers, he was surrounded by the soothing scent of his pack, now complete; now perfect.