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Snack runs were never really that bad. i mean- if he went by himself, he could basically pick whatever he wanted, no worries about pleasing everyone's cravings.
but had Midoriya ever been good at not worrying about people? god, of course not, he was carrying half the convenience back to the dorms right now. at least it was sunny out, he could make it back before those rolling clouds in the distance made it over the dorms.
maybe he could ask Todoroki if he wanted to watch a movie tonight, it's not that likely that he'd say no, he could probably count how often Todoroki said no to him on one hand.
Ugh, had UA gotten farther away? i swear it felt a lot shorter on the walk here. maybe it's cause all the kids from the primary schools are out and filling the sidewalks like sardines, cause where else would they go?
it's fine, just keep walking, hopefully none of the kids recognize him and ask anything-
maybe Midoriya is the one that should've taken another route, the children own the sidewalk, he's just the collateral damage to the poor 10 year old he just knocked over.
"oh no, I'm so sorry, are you OK? you didn't get hurt did you?" he asks, carefully hoisting the boy back up. maybe if no one sees, he won't be attacked by a gang of preschoolers and turned into their pinata.
"I'm fine, I'm a big boy, i don't get hurt by some silly pavement." oh thank god, the kid's OK, he doesn't have to run from an angry parent.
"that- that's good, be safe kid!" he calls out, walking just a bit faster as he gets away. Ditching the sidewalk this time, no more little kid wrecking balls. besides, the extra back alley or two only adds a few minutes.
weird- my head hurts, like my skull is shrinking around my brain. maybe he actually got more hurt running into that kid than the kid did. did he seriously get taken down by a preschool tough guy? Aizawa would expel him on the spot.
those clouds are definitely getting closer, no way it doesn't rain or storm tonight, maybe he can convince Kaachan to make Katsudon!… well, he'll get Kirishima to convince him, that always works easier.
ugh, now my limbs hurt, what the hell is going on today? did he mess himself up in training? he didn't even do anything new! no broken bones at all. but everything is aching, like my limbs were getting smaller and smaller.
he stopped, resting against a wall. he was so close to UA, surely he could make the last distance? he put the bags down, carefully pushing himself off the dirty wall.
only to fall straight down onto the far worse, grimy floor. he groaned, trying, almost clawing at the concrete. why couldn't he get up? it was like his body was moving completely- well, wrong! his arms felt small, his head spun, every part of him was throbbing like he'd taken a beating.
the floor felt like it was falling away from beneath him, hair falling over his eyes as they kept trying to slip shut. he fought, he really did, but it was like nothing worked. he clawed at the floor like a madman, just to move less than an inch from where he started. his head lulled to the side, his eyes fell closed. thunder roared above, and the rain started falling in sheets.
"has anyone seen Midoriya? Mina said he went out for snacks but that was ages ago?"
"come to think of it, he hasn't come back yet."
"This is preposterous, how could we not know where one of our own classmates is? what if he's gotten hurt, or attacked by villains?"
"chill Iida, maybe he just got caught in the storm."
"that's still a bad option Kaminari."
"….yeah, i just realized that."
"I'll call Aizawa sensei, someone else call Midoriya."
"Ochako already tried, kero, his phone went straight to voicemail."
God. my head felt like it was trying to seep out of my ears, how long had i been on the floor?
clearly long enough for his whole body to get soaked from the rain, which was still stubbornly coming down. why did he never take Iida's advice and bring an umbrella?
i tried to stand, my feet touching the floor, my hands following suit. wait- why were my hands on the floor with my feet? and why did i feel so short when i was already standing?
i stared down at the all too close floor, seeing paws- not hands, paws. green and small and- what kind of cat has green fur?!
the shopping bags were still against the wall, and my clothes were empty beside them. suppose they weren't built for kitten sizes and didn't shrink with me.
the rain was still pouring down, already soaked through the fur now covering every inch of me. how did this happen? some low level villain? no, then they'd take his phone, and that was still in his jeans pocket that he could barely get to now. it must've been that kid he ran into, it's the only other person he encountered!
and considering he has no possible way of finding that kid easily, it would've been better if it was a damn villain.
"Midoriya's been missing for 4 hours already, and hasn't answered any of your calls since he left, right?"
"yes Sensei, he left for snacks and didn't make it back before the storm. he hasn't answered a single phone call from anyone. we believe he may be-"
"Iida, we don't really have anything to believe, you do realize that, right?"
"well- i suppose Jirou is right, but still! it's our duty to give all the information that could possibly help to our superiors!"
"thanks Iida… Anyway, we've got a few heroes like Hawks and Mic out canvassing the area around the convenience store, they'll let us know if they see anything." for a man who seemed so unbothered by basically everything, the hint of worry in his eyes was there all the same, even he tucked a little further down into his scarf to hide it from his already worried students.
two things have become very clear to Midoriya after an hour or so as a cat. one, everything thing takes so damn long to get to with theses damn legs, why he couldn't reincarnated into something bigger like a Maine coon?
oh, and he has no goddamn clue to how to talk to people when all he can do is meow.
walking- pawing, prancing? whatever form of cat walking he's doing right now. was getting him nowhere. the rain was pouring, he couldn't open his phone cause it didn't recognize him when he was a cat, and every person he meowed at one the street just passed him without a thought, one even kicked at him! his paw still hurt a bit from that.
walking passed his things again, he grabbed at his tie, tugging it out of the heap of clothes and holding it between his teeth, maybe he'd get someone to realize it was him if he had his clothes. he ran towards UA, paws splashing down in the puddles that felt like lakes.
4 legs are clearly harder to use than 2, cause those lakes became tsunamis with his tie caught around his legs, and his whiskers down in the pavement.
"well, you're not the most agile."
the voice came as a shock, which it really shouldn't have considering how calm it came out. spinning around, Izuku saw a messy mop of purple hair, barely clinging to its volume from the water that had slipped its way past the shield of his umbrella. Shinso!
this was perfect! he could ask Shinso to take him back to UA and it'd all be fine.
i looked up at him, wanting to yell and cheer at the idea of getting out of the rain and fixing things.
"well, aren't you pretty chatty for such a little thing?"
right, meowing, that's what he sounded like.
izuku walked to Shinso's legs, rubbing against them trying to lead him back to his things, to get him to realize. but it just got him a hand under his stomach, getting him hoisted up against Shinso's chest. he squirmed, how could he not?! he was against Shinso's chest and he didn't even know what to do!
"jeez, stop squirming little guy, you're gonna hurt yourself."
Shinso's hand tightened just the slightest, holding Izuku closer to his chest, keeping his paws down so he couldn't wiggle out of his arms and hurt himself.
being a cat sucks, this must be how being swaddled feels.
Shinso started walking again, taking Izuku further and further away from the only evidence of his accident left in the alley. UA got closer, but the idea of getting help somehow felt like it got smaller.
the dorms were much warmer than outside though, so he can't complain about that, but they were much emptier than normal. where was everyone?
Shinso made it to his dorm, wrapping Izuku in a small towel from the bathrooms. he left him on the bed, grabbing his phone, his neutral face managing to drop into something worried.
"Izuku's still missing, he's my friend." was he…? talking to Izuku- well, the cat he doesn't know is Izuku, why does Shinso speak to cats?
"you'd like him, he'd probably save you from the rain to." awww, Shinso thought he was likeable, it'd mean a lot more if he could do more than meow as a response.
"you know, it's gonna be really hard to keep you secret if the whole dorm can here you yowling."
secret!? no! secret is the worst thing right now, Izuku needs people to find him so they can realize that it's him in this stupid tiny cat body!
wriggling out the towel, Izuku hopped off the bed, actually landing on his feet for the first time today. guess he's getting the hang of this. he nudged against Shinso's legs again, trying to paw at his pants. he got a few pats to the head, and was carried into a small, closable cat crate and bed, the tiny metal door closing in on him. he meowed, resigning whatever embarrassment that may have come from it. but the crate stayed closed, Hitoshi left some treats in it for him, and gave him the softest of smiles that could've been so much more comforting in any other moment.
but not this one, not when Aizawa sensei came into Shinso's dorm, not when he was hidden under the blanket Shinso had hastily thrown over the crate. and most definitely not when Aizawa said that Izuku- the Izuku that was right here- was still missing like he'd disappeared into thin air, and they had not a single lead on someone who wasn't even really missing.
the rain continued through the whole night, casting a dull gray over the dorms. the crate Izuku was in was dark, shaded from the blanket shielding it. when Izuku woke up, he could feel the soft padding beneath him, a small cat bed that Shinso must've put in while he was sleeping. how had he not woken up? aren't cats meant to have good instincts or something?
clearly not, cause something in his head was telling him to claw at the cage door and meow until he got food.
ignoring his inner thoughts- as even the human version of him so often did- he crawled towards the crate door, pawing through the grates till he felt the latch on the outside unhitch. he pushed the cage open, poking his head out towards the blanket covering him, and promptly losing footing on the slightly smaller dresser, plunging to the floor while wrapped in the failed parachute that was his covering.
well, at least he was on the ground now, even if his bruised paw kept protesting his methods.
Shinso's dorm felt… bigger, like this. he'd been in it before, but it almost felt like a whole different world from this angle…..
a much duller, blurrier world. where did all the colour go? is this how Iida felt without his glasses?
footsteps sounded in the hall, closer and closer to Shinso’s ajar door with every step. Izuku froze, tail going still and hair standing on edge. Even human, he’d always been one for acting first, thinking later.
whatever turned him into a cat must’ve multiplied that tenfold. (it didn’t, he just has an excuse now)
he bolted down the hall, thanking whatever primal part of his brain was helping him not fall over his own 4 feet. are his front paws his feet? his hands?
there was shouting down the hall, closer behind him than he’d hope. he ran past his own dorm already, so there wasn’t really somewhere for him to go.
except straight into the legs of whoever was standing in the middle of the hallway.
looking up, untangling his own legs from his tail, the mismatched eyes of Shoto stared down at him.
Yes! Shoto, he can help him, there’s no way he wouldn’t recognize him!
he pawed and clawed at his legs, meows filling the halls as he jumped and hopped on his hind legs, hoping something would make Todoroki magically speak cat.
“Roki, shut him up, Aizawa will hear!”
Shit. it was Shinso behind him, wasn’t it?
there were hands on him, soft, unsure hands that he was so used to on his skin, not fur. Shoto’s hand clamped over his snout almost haphazardly, trying to keep him quiet without hurting him. and annoyingly, those few fingers clamping his jaw shut were more than enough.
he’d definitely be salty about this later. hell- he was salty about it now, sitting in Shoto’s arms with a cats equivalent of a pout.
‘Shinso, why where you chasing a cat down the hallway?”
“i- ugh- i found him out in the storm yesterday. i brought him back so he wouldn’t get hurt.”
“so… you kidnapped a cat?”
“ah- it’s not kidnapping if he’s a stray, it’s rescuing!”
“…but do we know he’s a stray?”
“i- no, i don’t- but still! and it’s more than that-”
Shinso sighed, eyes darting around for anyone else in the hall, before tugging something small and red from his pocket. Izuku’s tie! he forgot he’d even brought it with, Shinso’s must’ve taken it from him when he picked him up.
“this cat was carrying Izuku’s tie when i found him, i figured he must’ve been around him when he went, i had hoped we could give it to Aizawa sensei to help them find Izuku.”
oh yeah, they were all worried about him. he needed to get through to them somehow, otherwise they’d all go on thinking he was missing or worse. and he could be stuck as a cat for the rest of his life!
Izuku squirmed out of Shoto’s arms, leaping at the tie in Shinso’s hands and snagging it in his teeth. he bolted again, determined this time to get to his dorm. the hallway was dragging on, and he could hear the two behind him trying to chase him down before someone else could see him.
maybe he should’ve been looking where he was looking instead, cause this was the second person’s legs he’d ran into and it was starting to get old. \
“what the hell- why do you stupid extras have a cat?!”
“bakugo! keep it down, the whole dorm will hear!”
“they should! you two just brought a damn vermin into the dorms out of nowhere-”
Kaachan’s hands clasped around him, lifting him to his eye level, stopping for a moment as those ruby eyes met his.
“Deku?”
he recognized him? Kaachan recognized him!
“Bakugo, that’s a cat.”
“shut it eye-bags, it’s not a cat, it’s stupid Deku.” Kaachan turned him around, pointing to his eyes and fur. “what type of cat has green fur and eyes like this? and it’s got his tie, this is definitely Deku.”
“I…. i think he’s right.”
“see? even half n half is agreeing with me.”
i looked up at Kaachan, pawing at his face and meowing, much to my own dismay, but how could i not be excited that they’d finally realized?
“jeez, you’re even more annoying as a cat.”
he handed me back to Todoroki, who seemed all too prepared to hold me swaddled against his chest.
“soooooo, we should go tell Aizawa now, right?”
“No purple head, we should make him do a warrior cats role play.”
“you know warrior cats?”
“SHUT THE FU-”
“so, you three believe-”
“no, we know.”
“OK, you three know that this cat…is Midoriya?”
“Sensei, i know it sounds dumb, but it makes sense! i found him with Izuku’s tie, and he was really close to where Hawks found all Izuku’s things, it has to be him.”
Izuku looked to Aizawa, still sitting in Shoto’s arms, tail flicking back and forth as the silence drawled on. most of the class was here, staring at him like they almost couldn’t believe it was him.
“I mean- it would explain why he’s… green.” of course that’s what Momo would say, at least she’d been sweet enough to make him a little cat sweater to fight the cold. it’d really gotten chillier since the rain.
“OK, Iida, go call Kouda, we’ll get him to translate Midoriya for us.”
Iida ran off, a silence filling the common room.
well, a temporary silence. Shoto had started to stroke and scratch at his head almost subconsciously. and as much as Izuku would’ve preferred to stay quiet, every instinct he had was fighting against it.
a soft, low purr rumbled in his chest, slowly filling the room’s silence. his friends stared at him for a moment, and all Izuku wanted was to curl into a ball and go missing for real this time.
“OH MY GOD, he sounds so cute!” well, at least Mina broke the awkwardness.
“can’t we keep him as a cat a little longer? he’s so cool like this!”
“Kaminari, we can’t just keep him as a cat, he’s our friend.”
“C’mon Jirouuuu, he can still be our friend as a cat, he’ll just be our furry friend.”
Iida and Kouda came back, and Shoto dropped Izuku onto the floor, much to the dismay of his still achy paw. he really had to sort that out.
“uh, Midoriya?” came Kouda’s quiet voice.
“meow?”
“oh no, it really is you.”
“mreow, reow?”
“so you can still understand us, how did this happen?”
“meowww, reow reow!”
“you bumped into a kid on the snack run? you think their quirk did this?”
Izuku nodded, and Kouda stood up straight again, looking to Aizawa.
“Kouda, ask him where the kid came out from.”
“Meow meow!”
“he said it was after that kindergarten by the convenience store came out.”
Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, looking back down to Izuku. he had no way of proving it, but Midoriya knew deep down that his teacher was holding back from petting him. he could see it in his eyes.
“OK, we’ll contact the school and ask if anyone has a quirk that can do this. for now, take care of Midoriya and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”
he left the dorms, and part of Midoriya wondered if Aizawa was gonna take a nap before he even got around to messaging the school. he wished he could take a nap, why was he so tired all the time now?! maybe he could borrow Aizawa’s sleeping bag for a while.
Shoto picked him up again, though he hadn’t really seemed to grasp how to hold him yet. he kind just had him up by his armpits, hanging, his body getting annoyingly longer for how small he actually felt.
“awww, he’s so long and slinky! Kaminari was right, lets keep him as a cat forever!”
“Mina! don’t agree with him!”
“sorry Uraraka, he’s just too adorable.”
“ugh, why does stupid Midoriya get fawned over just cause he’s a cat?'“
“uhh, seriously Mineta? he’s the cutest, you’re just jealous.”
“shut it Sero.”
Izuku kept looking ‘round, head swiveling on his shoulders as he tried to keep up. everything felt a little louder than it was meant to be, and he was starting to get sore with how Shoto was holding him.
he squirmed, trying to snake his way out of this uncomfortable grip. Shoto dropped him, and the fall was just a bit too high for his paw to handle.
he winced when he hit the floor, lifting his paw up as it touched the ground. even as a cat, he couldn’t get away from his arm-breaking habits.
“stupid nerd, even as a cat you’re uselessly reckless.” Kaachans hands scooped around him, shoving him back into Shoto’s arms.
“c’mon Icyhot, lets go fix your boyfriends stupid paw before he hurts it more.”
“awww, look at Kaachan being all soft.”
“you’re going on the couch shitty hair.”
“aw man.”
“have you…had a pet before Bakugo?”
“3 cats, Lord murder, King explosion and Sparks.”
“sparks?”
“she was a real firecracker honestly.’
they were back in Shoto’s dorm, sat on the bed. well, they were on the bed, he was on Shoto’s lap, Kaachan holding his paw as he carefully wrapped it in bandages.
“do you think Izuku will turn back anytime soon?”
“why, miss your boyfriend already Half ‘n Half?”
“yes.”
“i hate when you don’t understand sarcasm.”
Kaachan dropped his paw, Shoto’s arms tugging him the slightest bit closer. bakugo got off the bed, heading to the door.
“he’s your problem now, don’t let him rip anything up.”
Katsuki left, and judging by the loud explosion that sounded seconds later, someone had clearly decided it was their time.
but that sound -the explosions Izuku was so used to- sounded like a jet engine in his head. his ears folding flat, his hackles raising, his claws coming out and tearing at whatever it could grasp on.
"Izuku, calm down.”
Shoto held him close, clearly hoping that the tactics he used when he was human would still work. he held his head to his chest, breathing slow and deep, urging Izuku to do the same.
slowly, his tail stilled, his fur no longer on end. it was just an explosion, he was OK, he was home, he was in his friends arms, his boyfriend, Shoto’s arms.
the very arms that he’d just clawed apart without even realizing.
he practically jumped up seeing the blood on Shoto’s arms, eyes wide, then drooping. he’d done that? he hadn’t even meant to, but it had been so loud and sudden…
“Zuku?”
he slinked away from Shoto, crawling his way off the bed, almost stumbling on his aching paw as he tried to get away, from what? shoto or his own stupid mistakes?
“Izuku? don’t hide, it was an accident.”
he crawled his way under the bed, a spae that felt annoyingly safe for how small and cramped it was. maybe that’s why it felt so perfect, so little space, enough for him alone, and none for his worries.
he heard a sigh above him, quiet and almost resigned. maybe Shoto was going to bed, it was getting late already, maybe he could escape during the night and become an actual stray cat, he could probably survive it, it couldn’t be much harder than running away as a human, and he’d done fine when he did that.
there was a quiet thump on the floor beside him, and he looked to see a pillow and duvet thrown onto the floor, and Shoto was on them, rolled over to face him through the small gap between the bed and the floor.
“goodnight Izuku, come out when you’re ready.”
his eyes shut, those sweet, calm, always wondering eyes. Izuku almost wished he could stare into them for hours longer. he didn’t even seem mad, he just patched up his arms and laid down beside him, waiting. Izuku had spent so long waiting for others, always willing to help at his own expense, and now…
he had someone willing to do the same, even when things went wrong. and knowing him, well- they went wrong a lot.
slowly, he crawled out, steps not even audible against the wooden floor. he padded onto the duvet, sneaking under the blankets, curling himself against Shoto’s chest.
maybe things didn’t always go as planned, if they ever did when he was around. but it didn’t matter, not when he had all these people who meant so much to him. he had Kaachan and Shoto and all his classmates, even All Might.
he didn’t have all the answers, or any right now for that matter. but he had people he cared for, and people who’d say that their bodies moved on their own just for him. maybe that was more than enough.
the late morning sun just barely reached his eyes from where he was still on floor. his head against the pillow, hands curled against him. hands…. HANDS! not paws. his eyes widened as he stared at himself, human, a normal, non-furry human.
a normal, non-furry, completely bare human in Shoto’s sheets.
“you’re awake, don’t freak out.”
he stared up at those calm eyes, that quiet voice.
“i- I'm normal again?”
“yeah, Aizawa said the quirk was gonna wear off on its own. i think you were still asleep though.”
“oh- oh thank god, I've never been so happy to be normal and human again.’
“well, mostly.”
he stared up at Todoroki, confusion lacing his gaze as his hands reached out, going for his hair and-
he winced, caught off guard by the sensation. it felt so familiar, like a hand in his hair but a hundred percent stronger, what had even happened-
“you kept the ears, and the tail i think.”
he felt up to his own head, rubbing a hand over the emerald green ears tucked into his mess of hair, his newfound tail curled around Shoto’s waist.
“Noooooo, this is terrible.”
“i think they look cute.”
“of course you do.”
well, i suppose he should’ve expected something to go terribly wrong, but at least this was… the least terrible thing it could’ve been, i suppose?
but for a moment, when the sun was still shining through the blinds, while the dorms was still only a whisper of its usual chaos, while he was in the arms of someone he loved. maybe none of it had to matter.
“Shoto?”
“mhm?”
“you can stop playing with my ears now.”
“No, no i can’t.”
“Sho-”
“Shh, go back to bed, take a cat nap.”