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Mamma wouldn't let him nest.
Actually, mamma wouldn't let him do lots of stuff, and if he tried to do it anyway, and she caught him, then she hurt him.
So he stood for a long time staring into the alley at the dim pink something waaay in the dark corner of it, just barely visible in amongst the bags and rotting boxes that he’d have to climb through and over just to reach it.
Pink.
He loved pink.
Mamma didn’t let Izuku have anything brightly colored either, or soft.
Said he’d just get stupid Omega ideas in his head so his room was bare, like, almost totally empty.
Nothing soft or pretty, not for Izuku.
He used to sneak in to look into Mamma’s room when he was little bitty, to look and marvel at all the amazing things in there, to touch the blankets and run tiny fingers across the clothes in her closet, but she'd caught him one time too many so now when he got home from school, tiny legs all tired out from the long walk, showered - “You stink like a filthy omega!” - did his homework in his room, came out only when called for dinner, and went to bed.
Standing on the street though, he wanted all of that softness and prettiness, in the way he’d learned was wrong, was omega, was dirty and shameful and bad.
Izuku was bad.
But he wanted it, wanted the pink thing, so, with a fearful look all round just in case his mamma caught him, he sidled into the dark filthy space.
It took him a bit of time to work his way back to it, and when he managed at last, the pink thing was a blanket, to his wondering fingers it was so soft, so pretty, never even realizing that to anyone elses eyes it would be dirty, ragged, and coarse.
Slowly gathering it into his arms it was his, all his, and he rubbed his face into it with a happy sound, but he couldn't take it home, mamma would kill him, would destroy it, but it was his, his very own now cause he’d found it, saved it! Clutching it tighter he thought, ‘Hide, gotta hide you!’
Wandering in and out of alleys, under and over debris, trying desperately to find somewhere safe for it, eventually he found a crack in a wall, and because he was more than halfway home now and getting more and more afraid he'd have to leave his new treasure somewhere not safe at all, he crawled in, despite how it looked like a sideways mouth ready to eat him, finding a space inside, dimly lit from a filthy window, but it was quiet, and empty, he didn't know what the building was but this part of it was so peaceful, and still, so he ignored how the dark scared him, put his blanket in the middle of the - to his eyes anyway - huge space and patted it a few times.
Then he knelt on it, and then rolled all over it, giggling cause it was his blanket.
Then, almost crying at how sad it made him feel to leave it alone in the gathering dark, he went home, tears dripping at the huge big awful feeling inside of him.
*************************
The next thing he found was a pillow, kind of purple, and kinda smelly, but it was so fun as he pushed on it just to watch it spring back into shape, and it was all alone, no one loved it either, so he took it to his blanket so they could be friends.
Then because he'd found two things in alleys already, and mamma didn’t want him home until it got dark now for some reason, he started spending all his time between being let out of school until he could go home looking for things, things that made him happy, wandering in and out of alleys and trash lots, a tiny ghost looking for unwanted things to love.
Bit by bit, his little pile of things got bigger, and happier, he even found toys, and more blankets, and then he started to bring in food because he’d found out what the room was, well, not what it was but that, if he crawled through some really scary pipes towards the smell of food, he found a shop, like the ones mamma got food at.
And sometimes no one was there, when he left the house so early even the sun wasn't up yet, or the two times he'd fallen asleep in the middle of his pile of friends and woken up in the pitch black of the night, so he’d take a bit, not much, and never anything really nice, but things that filled him up, like cans of soup with the kind of lids he could open on his own, and the little flat cans of fish where the juice was the best part, and cans of something he didn't even know what it was but meat butter was his best guess cause of how it felt in his mouth, and he even took blocks of actual butter cause mamma now wouldn't let him have any of it, not even on his rice, just yelling, “You don’t need it, stupid omega diets, not having it in my house!”
And because some of the food was salty, he took water too, a few bottles at a time and having a pile of food, all his very own, made him so happy, made something inside him relax and almost sing, until eventually his blanket was part of an Aladdin's cave of wonders, at least for his tiny omega self, and as mamma got worse, and then worse again, he started sleeping in his cave several times a week, and one day he went the wrong way in the pipes and found if he went up and up and up again then he found all sorts of places, stores and fountains and more stores and places filled with books and toys and clothes and he was very very careful, only peeking out of the vents to see all the pretty stuff, because while he wanted it, he knew it wasn't good to take things.
Taking things was bad, finding things was okay, and he did take food but he was hungry! And he was bad but maybe taking food but nothing else was okay? Because the one time mamma caught him trying to take her food she hurt him so bad he couldn't walk good for days.
School was bad now too, badder than bad, so he started just not going some days, and Kacchan yelled that he was gonna get stupider than he was already - that scared him, because he was so stupid already, the teachers all said so, so he was extra sneaky and went all the way up to the everything stores and took some books late one night when mamma was super scary, all bright pretty colors and big easy words for stupid little him and he cried and cried and cried.
Kacchan said people who take things are bad, worse than bad, that heroes would take that kind of person away and no one'd ever see them again!
So Izuku hunted the back streets even harder now, looking for books to make him not stupid when he didn't go to school because even if he was getting behind so bad, no one wanted him there anyway!
Sensei even said it, one day when Izuku was close enough to hear, "That stupid quirkless omega, talk about a waste of my time, I wish he’d just stop coming, I mean, he’s out half the time already, how hard would it be for it to just stay the fuck away?”
So Izuku thought about it, thought about it as hard as he could, and because it was all so bad, because it made him so sad at the mean butt-head things the other kids did and said, he stopped going to school, just spending that time with his blanket and his other found friends, cuddled up in a pile, reading the books he found, even if the big big words didn’t make any sense.
Maybe one day they would if he just kept trying.
He even gave up on going home, because if mamma didn't want him there, and hurt him when he did try, he’d stay with his blanket, cause blanket loved him!
**********************
It was the third time Izuku’d seen the man, asleep on the ground, and he smelled terrible, like just nasty, his little nose wrinkled at how bad bad bad but, like a song through the nasty, something smelled good about him too!
Maybe it was the bad omega part of Izuku that liked someone so nasty smelling? Mamma said he was a disgusting, awful, terrible, stinky, nasty omega so maybe he just liked people as bad as he was?
Sneaking closer, he silently set a can of soup and a bottle of water beside the figure, and padded away.
Just cause the man had a tiny good smell to all the bad, he was big, and dangerous, and scary.
**************************
Snowing, it was snowing!
Izuku thought he loved snow but it was so cold, and mamma screamed when she saw him, the cold had made him wonder if it really was so bad at home so he’d tried to go back but she screamed and screamed and screamed and he ran and ran and ran.
It was days and days ago now, he was living with his blanket forever and ever and was never ever ever going back, no matter how much it snowed, it wasn't too cold wrapped up in his blanket all his other friends he’d found, the pile was almost as tall as his shoulder now, a big wall he built and then rebuilt and then did it again when he was super sad, leaving a dip in the middle where he curled up, pulling the walls down on himself, to hide from the sad and the cold.
Frozen toes and fingers, cold cold food, in desperation he crawled and scrambled through the vents, up up and more up and finally out of a vent way way up in the special store that had all pretty winter clothes and things for good kids in it and took a snow suit, it even had boots built right in, and a hood, and it was like the sun, so yellow it made him squint cause he didn’t see the sun much now, hunting treasures in the dark cause if he did it in the day people yelled and chased him.
Mamma said Omega eyes were evil but Izuku liked his eyes, they let him see in the dark, and his nose let him smell in the dark, and he covered his sunshine suit up with a ginormous hoodie he'd found, hanging all the way to his knees, so no one would see him in the dark.
And he kept his pockets full of cans of food now, cat food was yummy, and it came in tiny cans that were easy for his little fingers to open, and sometimes the pretty fluffy cats would let him get close when he gave some of it to them, and he found the sleeping man a few times too if Izuku started his treasure hunting early, only a little bit after the sun went to bed, and he always snuck up and left something, cause the-tiny-nice-smell-man looked like he needed a friend too, and so did Izuku, so they could be friends together.
As long as they never actually met, of course.
Cause that was dangerous.
********************************
There was another gift near him when he woke up, and he cursed, because he had to sleep sometimes, reaching out he touched them, a can of sardines and a bottle of water.
The smell clinging to the gift was clearly that of a child, omega, and dirty.
Sighing he pulled a bottle of whisky from the depths of his sleeping bag, pouring some into his hand and rubbed it across his hair, and face.
Near gagging at the smell he made sure to cover each and every major, and easily reached secondary scent gland, liberally enough for him to be wet and even colder in the slushy snow now falling.
But he had to not only look the part, but smell it to, and he revved up into a chuntering mumble, tucking his bag under his arm, heading out with a stagger and a lurch, he’d already sent word in for someone, please gods, for anyone to find the omega kitten gifting him with tiny cans of food, so he focused on his job, trying to ignore how every single part of him insisted he turn, track, hunt find clean feed love care keep….
Bloody shitting omega drives, he spat at the feet of a respectable couple walking down the road, selling the homeless mentally ill vagabond perfectly.
Shoving the omega kitten to the back of his mind because that was NOT his job, he tried for another long night to find the source of the drugs now flooding in from Asia.
Bad shit, cut with gods only knows what, killing people, killing kids!
He’d find them, find them and stop it all!
*************************
He found it, finally, after weeks of hunting, a portal quirk, but from the state of the area it was clearly an anchored or tethered portal, getting close enough to confirm what he was seeing, silently text it in, making sure the intel got out, and he was already sliding away into the night when bad luck, icy footing, and a sudden blinding light coming round the corner, and the world lit then not with light but with tangled sensations, the color red of his blood tasting of tin in his ears, the sound of yelling a harsh blow to his skin, everything confusing and he was tangled in a mire of nightmare feelings as he struck and kicked and fought and screamed fragments of jagged bone into the air…..
*-*
In the howling nightmare that was all that was left in the world, suddenly, like a gift, a blessing, a sigh of relief, there was a smell.
Latching on, the mindless thing it had become followed, hunting, needing…..
**************************
Izuku found his friend again, but unlike normal when he saw him at night, the man was face down in the snow, a long way from Izuku’s blanket’s home, and he was shaking and blue all over.
Izuku was cold too but not so much in his sun suit that it was painful, it was why he’d taken it in the first place, only his hands now hurt from cold, red and stinging, but the stinky man was shaking so hard it hurt to look at him.
And he seemed different, and he had no clothes on, and his sleeping bag was gone too.
Izuku didn't know what to do!
He only had this one person shaped friend and he didn't think a can of cat food was going to help with the way they looked right now.
Sneaking closer he pushed on the shoulder nearest to him, and the man said something, but it was jumbled up, and Izuku leaned closer to see if he could hear better and he could smell now, and ‘Oh, that's new!’
Leaning closer again he sniffed deeply, and then again, his nose almost touching his friends neck now because while the nasty smell was kinda still there, the good tiny smell was HUGE now, but so to was how bad the man felt, and Izuku grabbed his hand, tugging and pulling and the man moved, stumbled and fell again and Izuku wasn't giving up, not now the man smelled like a dream, like all the good things in the world Izuku had no name for, and if they tried together then they could do it and Izuku pulled and pulled and the snow fell and fell and fell and then it was only a little way left to the crack in the wall, and Izuku was crying now cause it was so hard and he was so tired!
He was backing into his blankets home, pulling both the man's hands, but he had to let them go so the man could use them to try to pull himself in with and he was big and the way in was small, and then he stopped and Izuku, in a moment of desperation, grabbed his friend with all of his need and PULLED!
************************
Nothing was right, the world so cold it burned, and it pulled and tugged, pain a sound in his bones, a taste on his hands, breathing the pressure of fear, Shouta followed the smell, the one good thing, a tiny sound in his heart, go go go follow find save the smell the pull the smell find the smell follow the smell keep the smell.
But the misery of the moment tried to obliterate it, a blind worm struggling through the screaming wilderness but the smell led him on.
*****************************
With no idea of how long it had been, no real idea who or what he was or what time even meant, he curled tighter in the pile of softness that hammered at his nose with the smell of mold, a warm/soft/hard/sweet/perfect bundle of something clutched in his arms. Content at last, he fell again into darkness, no longer cold.
Eventually though the something in his arms started to wriggle, and was gone, leaving only a pocket of cold in the warm/comfort/rank/mildew of where he was, and he whined, a sound of loss and need and it was answered with a double chirp chirp, and again, chirp chirp and this time he answered, a chirrrrow chirrrrow call, a summons, one he’d never used before, and the warm was back, filling the cold empty lonely space, and it came with water.
What a good....
....good....
With no idea of what the good thing was, just that it was good and he needed it close to him, he drank, and then drank some kind of thick something that slid across his tongue, and then something that tasted the same but was mushy crunchy good need more more more!
And more kept coming, although the good thing kept leaving, and he’d call, and it would call, and then there was more chewing and drinking and then, between one moment and the next, he held on to the chirp chirp to keep it near, to not let it leave, and slept.
*************************
“ThREe DaYs, it’S beeN THRee DAys peOpLE!!!”
Gentle hands touched his shoulders and he almost launched the person into the sun but realized it was Nemuri, and he braced, trying to stand tall, refusing to bend, to curl, to take any kind of comfort because he was Alpha, he had to be strong and she said, “Stop it, let me fucking hug your dumb ass and then Nezu can get on with this shit show.
Giving in he curled in the chair, crammed in with her, letting her purr and comb through his hair, trying not to shake as Nezu gave them the only information they had.
Bad information.
The drugs ring had all been caught, every single cursed one of them, Shouta had managed to hit his panic button, only minutes after texting the information they needed to find them with, letting them know he was in distress, was most likely hit by a quirk, it was the only thing that made sense.
They now had all the quirks tested, and only one made sense.
“I’m going to microchip his ass when we get him back.”
He didn't realize his words were aloud until the room broke out in giggles, a hard thing indeed when….
The only thing found were Shouta’s clothes, cast at random along a half mile of city streets.
All of it had been recovered but it meant that, because his friend was now seemingly naked, in a steadily falling snow, they had no way to track him.
And how a man as tall, strong, dangerous looking AND FUCKIN NAKED hadn't been spotted yet?
Anybody's guess.
Now though it was worse, Feral, the quirk is called feral.
Nezu’s ears, always so expressive, were pinned right back, his lips ever so slightly wrinkled, hint of fang as he said, “The initial hit scrambles the senses, it’s been likened to tasting colors, feeling sounds…. hearing, sight, emotions, logic, touch, smell, all twisted into a nightmare of confusion.”
“No matter how bad it sounds, in actuality it's worse.”
“Because then, as a result of that sensory trauma, the victim falls into a feral state and because they can’t be restrained, they fight so hard, are impossible to reason with, resist any chemicals that might calm them, they are almost invariably put down on scene.”
“Timeline?”
Hizashi didn't know who asked it, numb terror filling him, Shouta, Shouta was dead, had to be, no one fought like Shouta and if he did go feral, did go wild, no one would ever be able to subdue him.
“Two days from initial hit to becoming feral. So far, no victim has survived.”
“HOWEVER!!!”
Nezu never raised his voice, never yelled, so for him to do it now, Hizashi lifted his head, not noticing his hands were pinned claws deep into the wood of the table, and Nezu was looking right at him, “However, we know he’s not dead because you, Yamada-san, are still lucid and sane.”
It took far longer for Hizashi to process that statement than it should, and even then it was only confusion as he asked, “What?”
“No one in this room has bonded with Shouta, nor does he have any living family, but you and he are closer than normal in an unmated friendship, and you are still lucid, hence Aizawa-san is still alive.”
“And please do not insult my intelligence by saying you’re not that close, I do have eyes, and my nose does work. You've loved him from the moment you laid eyes on him in my class, I was there, I watched it happen, and right now, that fact is going to help us find him.”
“You may not be bonded but you are close enough for a quirk to hopefully follow that connection to give us a lead, Now, you may come in please.”
A tall young woman obeyed, Beta by smell, and she blushed at the gazes that hit, and flinched a bit at the high level of stress hormones filling the air but the kid was brave, squaring her shoulders and advancing, as Hizashi would expect from a medical track student, final year, which her uniform clearly stated she was.
(Risk versus reward, the eternal struggle with any goal because the quirk he was about to use on his Z-chan didn't just attach a direction, but boosted the connection, made the link between want-er and want-ed exponentially stronger, a risk indeed with a quirk already ripping into the one being searched for but Nezu NEEDED Shouta, needed him safe, home, protected, any risk was worth it because without it, Shouta was a dead man walking!)
Some brief conversation, an explanation of her quirk - straight line, establishing a straight line between the focus and their desired item’s location - and she was sitting in front of Hizashi, knees almost touching, as she reached out to place her fingers gently onto his temples.
“Focus on what you want, feel it, remember it, emote it, you want it,” - “Him,” Hizashi had to correct the girl, “Him, Shouta.” - “Yes, yes, Shouta, good, you want him, reach for him, feel….”
The world evaporated, all that was left was Shouta, Hizashi needed him, had to have him, his non designation presenting omega, Alpha in all but name, his, he liked to joke in his head that, if Hizashi was an Omega alpha, then Shouta was an ALPHA omega, designation failures they were called, scorned, pittied and looked down upon but they were just who they were, and Hizashi needed him, his friend, his anchor in a wicked world, his could be love but instead was FRIEND friend friend friend cause Shouta didn't want more.
Logic, focus, training, skill!
That was Shouta, not messy emotions and secondary gender driven behaviors.
Standing up Hizashi knew where he was, that way, so he tried to go that way, not even hearing - “Get a fix, focus on his eyes, pinpoint the exact direction he’s focusing, trying to go, catch him, he’s going to run into the wall….” - but was stopped, and now he did fight back, but he didn't have much time, pinned and inhaling to scream the world snapped a tiny bit back into focus, his nose only an inch from the wall, ropes of blood holding him in place.
“Kan, I swear to mother fucking god if you don't let m,” - the ropes fell away, leaving him brushing his arms down, “Ewwww, man, you know I hate that!”
“Right, we have a line to investigate, I want all of you on it, no, not you Yamada-san, I’m sorry but your emotional state…..”
The words faded away again, (no one noticing Nezu's gestures to the student, easing off and then re-powering her quirk) focusing on his chest/heart/mind Hizashi knew the direction he needed to go, had to go!
“……side effect of the quirk that hit Aizawa-san, it's affecting you too, despite not being bonded, it seems to be echoing ba……”
Yeah, as soon as everyone just got busy, Hizashi knew what to do.
****************************
Sometimes not being human was a right pest!
Nezu knew what to do, let Z-chan go, and follow him, find Sho-chan before he died or was killed, simple.
But humans had rules about using people as tools, so that was not allowed behavior.
It had taken Nezu longer to learn the rules than how to work around them, once you knew the rules breaking them was easy.
So he got everyone out of the agency, he’d carefully set it up that the meeting was there, not UA, it was too hard to get in and out of UA, his Zashi-chan had to have free running room, so Nezu got them all out, happy hunting for their friend, happy knowing their compromised - so stupid, that word, Zashi-chan wasn't compromised, he was affected - friend was safe at base and then as all would expect, he sent the student away (after making sure her quirk remained active, she was getting extra credit and a financial bonus for every hour she held it) made tea, his back turned to the door, and with a whisper of air, Zashi-chan was gone.
Smiling, Nezu gave it five minutes, called out, “Oh dear, it seems Yamada-san has gotten away from us, let everyone know please, I'll see if I can find him.”
And then he just followed his nose.
***************************
Hizashi was going to KILL whoever thought it was a good idea to put buildings in his way, and streets, and people and cars and busses and trains and fucking TREES!!!
So far he’d run into just about everything imaginable in his straight line quest for his....
His....
Shouta!
Yes, his Shouta, and now there was another fucking building, huge, spanning a full city block at the least, a mall in a rebuilt repurposed pre-quirk building all glitzed up to look new without the cost of actually building something new.
Cursing he found a way around, down an alley and through and then the line twisted, snaking away behind him.
Crying out at losing his line, Hizashi backed up, charging through the mountains of stinking rubbish piled high, following the line back the other way when it did it again, shifting and sliding so this time he caught it, this time creeping down the alley, and it wavered, right as the building jutted out, the alley jenking like a dog leg, and Hizashi simply backed up, a pace at a time, until the line was strong again.
Even then it took him more time to find where Shouta was, pulling bags away from the wall, the corner, where he could see a crack ripping up to the upper levels, it was the base of that crack where, once he got the trash out of the way, he could see an opening, only barely wide enough for a very agile man to get through, and he put his face to it and inhaled.
************************
The place smelled right, smelled good, smelled perfect, of him and chirp chirp, the mountain of soft smelled like them too now, reaching out to swipe his wrist glands across every bit he could reach, spending much more time on the good thing, his good thing, his chirp chirp, he practically soaked it in his fragrance, pulling them closer, purring loudly in contentment, and they chirrrrred in their sleep, a tiny little noise that went right through who ever he was, warming him like summer, the world was smells and textures, soon he’d have to go make the scent pile bigger, pressure in his bowls signaling that need, but now, now he'd hold tight to his good thing, basking in the smells of home, and hold his good thing tight.
Purrring like an engine, he dozed in the mountain of soft soft soft smelling like home.
*************************
First thought to the smell that hit his brain like a brick at high speed was RANK!!!
Like a lion or bear was trapped in a small place, no sanitation, garbage and dank and mildew and mold and manure and urine.
Next though the smell blew away all other thoughts because it was DEN!!!
Safe, small, defendable.
Shouta Shouta Shouta was in the den den den Shouta Shouta Shouta WAS the den! Sliding and pushing he was halfway through when his brain, what little was left of his cognitive functions was totally derailed by a single word ripping through the icy air.
“MINE!”
Meeting the snarling demon that crouched, defensive rage meeting his approach, the thing that had been Hizashi softened his own snarl as he tugged at the restrictions binding him, pulling them off, tossing them clear, reaching the nest naked and croooning, nose to nose with the puzzled one no longer warning him off.
Air sweetening in welcome/relief/joy and they were together, careful of the warm bundle still held carefully between them and they bit, hard, deep into each others necks sucking and lapping, tangled together and then tiny happy chirp chirps came from the bundle, deeper purrs and grumbles from them and they were each alone and yet one together and the walls of the nest needed to be built better, showing big strong hands how to, positioning tiny fingers how best to, where to place, what went where…..
Curling after the rebuilding, a brief pause to add to the pile in the corner, den small, safe, pungent with their smells, no one would intrude, no one would dare, spraying the only ways in and out with his hot yellow stream, smoking in the bitterly cold air, mine...
Mine!
MINE!
Then back in the warm, curled, hunger a thought but not enough to deal with yet, a mate and kitten to provide for, food and water soon, rest now, stay hidden, dim light still too much.
Closing eyes nuzzling noses shared breaths purrs and coos and sleep.
*******************************
Even expecting something to happen didn't change how shocked and delighted Nezu was as he watched,
He’d thought his Zashi-chan’s mind would help Sho-chan to find himself, to shake off the quirk, not for Sho-chan’s fall into utter instinctual behavior to drag Zashi-chan down with him.
There might be a problem with consent, he thought as he watched the mating bites, and the kitten held so carefully between them was a shock indeed, but as long as they were all three contained, they were safe, and Nezu would provide for as long as it took for them to come out of the quirk effects.
Trying to get a look at the kitten Nezu gave it up for now, simply setting a few tiny spider cameras into motion, letting them crawl through a crack in the glass, and headed out to get provisions.
Knowing his people, knowing basic biology, they needed high protein foods, high fats, good oils and pure butter, some fruit perhaps but mostly rich fat meat.
And water, sweet water.
Yes, he could easily provide that.
Oh, and to keep the rest of his people away, with how deep the three were into their secondary genders evolutionary past, any intruder would be met with death.
**************************
The smell of rich hot meat roused them all, and only the fragrance of musky meadow-sweet laid their hackles, assuring them it was safe, a gift, given by their leader.
Who their leader was they neither knew nor cared, only that food was there, was safe, and their little one was hungry.
Biting tiny bits off the massive hunk of marbled flesh, Omega fed them all, but so too did Alpha, also tugging bites off, hand feeding omega and kitten, each one in turns, kitten chirping, mouth open for the next bite, and then, all full, setting the bones aside, curling together, licking each other clean, grooming and fussing and rebuilding the nest again.
Sleep and drink and bowels empty and scent not just the entrance but exiting just enough to do the same outside, strong yellow pee liberally splashed around, retreating and grooming and food again…..
Time and time and time and time sliding past in a haze of comfort and love.
And then Shouta woke up.
From one instant to the next he was awake, fully aware he was tangled in some kind of nest - he didn't, he refused, he needed no jumbled pile of extra bedding in his space just because he was always cold - and it smelled like home.
Like Hizashi.
Like the kitten he was currently holding against his chest, all of them naked and covered with a layer of nesting…. stuff, the heat soaking into his bones.
Trying to summon up his loathing for all things designation and gender linked, he failed utterly.
Only comfort lived here, only love, and he relaxed into the feelings, trying to figure out how he was so different now, yet still him.
It was like a computer, running for so long on a single program, suddenly everything else turned on, he was the same computer, just so much more now.
Nuzzling the tangled golden hair, Hizashi, Zashi, Zashi-chan, mate/mine/us/we he faded away again, not quite as far….
******************
Izuku was very confused, but also very very happy!
Mamma making him go was bad, like, so bad, and the way everyone at school had been was bad as bad too so it only made sense for Izuku to hide away when he found his safe place.
Well, his safe place for his blanket, and then all the rest of his friends.
It was his safe place too, and all the pipes and spaces in the walls and all the shops and stores and he could get food and not be hurt by anyone so it just made sense.
His friend pile was high enough to keep the afraid away, to keep the lonely and sad out too, as long as he made the walls high enough so he just had to keep finding new friends to add to it.
Then the man, the one he liked so much, dragging him back, pulling and pulling and pulling. It was so strange to have someone with him, so strange his head went all weird, soft and fluffy like blanket.
Maybe Kacchan was right, that Izuku was broken, maybe mamma was right that Izuku was bad but, letting the cloudy feeling fill him up, all he wanted now was to be with the one making his safe place feel like heaven.
It was bad when he had to crawl away to find food, but then there was another one, and they showed him how to make the friend wall better, they were warm and soft and firm and careful and the soft feeling inside of Izuku was so strong now he could only chirp his needs and when he did he was fed, or taken to the pile and held as he messed, chirrrrgle as his face was licked clean after being fed, sigh as he was held, the contact soothing the frozen place inside of him made when mamma first hit him.
Sighing as the dream faded away a little bit, he blinked and smiled, the two people were still there, so either the dream was still going on or they were real.
Really, Izuku wasn't sure which he preferred.
*************************************
The wiggling woke him up, and the press of a tiny curly head under his chin had him smiling, his yawn and stretch got him a tiny giggle as Hizashi reluctantly opened his eyes because, he was back in his right mind at last but….
Mated, mated and parentally bonded at the very least, and he’d dreamed of it for years, a family, Shouta as his mate, but Shouta didn't want to be omega, or mate, or anything other than a hero/teacher of heroes, fucks sake, Shouta didn't even nest!
Yet here they were, and Hizashi could feel the bond, the link, strong and secure, strong enough to feel how the kid was alight with hope, Shouta starting to freak out properly, the kitten picking that up, tiny distressed whimpers souring the air and not on his watch.
Sending out waves of heat/comfort/love/care he said aloud, "Calm down, both of you. Nothing is happening right now other than us all getting to know each other, so, I’m Yamada Hizashi, the most omega alpha you’ll ever meet."
"And you, little listener, are who?"
A whisper of sound, more chirp than word, Zuzu.
It is so nice to meet you Zuzu, he gave a deep purring rumble and repeated, "so good, so good little one!"
A shy nod and big green eyes turned to the other person in the nest who said, a tiny twitch of a smile on his face yet blazing delight in the bond, relief and joy and said, "I’m Aizawa Shouta, kitten…."
Feelings in the bond from the kitten, *trust/love/respect/awe need/keep lovelovelove feardon'tleave love/me?*
Hizashi watched Shouta, with hands strong enough to snap a man's neck like a twig, reach out and card through tangled green hair, so soft, so gentle, as he said, "Never leave you, mine, you're mine ours all of us together." And the bond between the three of them swelled with love, beating in time to their hearts and then, between one breath and the next, their kitten was asleep again.
Shocked delight radiating through the bond as they held him, Shouta looked at Hizashi and said, "About the bites, um….." And despite how Hizashi tried, tried to hide it, the bond was too strong and Shouta’s eyes blew wide as he said, "You bastard, how long have you loved me?"
Laughing in defeat, Hizashi said, "Always Shouta, always."
"Then thank fuck for that quirk cause, I did too, I just didn't know it."
Staring down at the tiny kitten in their arms, they both stiffened, matching snarls on their faces, only to relax as a voice from the crack in the wall said, "Now now, is that any way to greet your amazing provider of both food and drink? And now clothes as well?"
"Nezu, bastard, you have got to explain this cause, it’s nice and all but," Shouta sighed, "I feel like someone's stuffed me full of outdated programming and my system keeps trying to reboot, I can feel it now, trying to fuzz my brains right out."
*********************************
A quirk, of course it was a quirk, and only the luck of providence had saved Shouta from it, the quirk fucking right with his instincts, and then another quirk, this time to link them so they could find him, but instead it reached out through him to snare a child and Hizashi and now they were all three bonded and Shouta should be upset and angry and frustrated and he was not only not all of those things, he was thrilled instead.
Which was all part of the brain rebooting thing that Nezu was trying to explain.
"Think of it like this Sho-chan, the quirk triggered traits you have not only not expressed but that you have actively repressed, early trauma will do that to a person, but once you were overwhelmed, once they expressed properly, then now, now you are feeling like you would have had you been a happy healthy omega all along, with a VERY strong side order of your normal, powerful, alpha leanings."
"So not only protective and guarding as is normal for you, but also nurturing and comforting. As well, you are accepting being comforted, accepting these two people inside your heart, and that, my dear one, feels very good indeed."
"It will take time to adjust fully, and the quirk effects are reducing much slower than expected, a surge and flow like the tide going out, so I have arranged a dwelling for the three of you in UA, near the teachers apartments, I think a few weeks time off, spent together, with lessons and counseling sessions on dealing with gender changes, and bonding issues, as well as lots of time spent in activities as a family, will do you all lots of good."
"Now, as to your kitten," - matching growls as four arms tightened protectively over the sleeping bundle had Nezu rolling up a poster he found tucked into the walls of the nest and thwacking them both on the head, saying, "BEHAVE, both of you!"
Abashed appeasement scent wafted through the air and he nodded, "Better, and this is exactly why the counseling sessions you are already booked in for start in two days time."
"Now, as I was saying, this," he offered his phone to them, "is your kitten, family name Midoriya, given name Izuku, mother recently arrested for attacking an omega co worker. She is now in a secure psychiatric facility being treated for a very rare hormonal-driven secondary-gender instability driving her into feral behaviors, targeted against omega's for reason's no one yet knows, her prognosis for recovery is very poor indeed, her sons whereabouts unknown, no missing person report was ever filed on him."
"I searched the school records, his attendance was never reported for being very spotty, days of his being out and no contact ever made with the mother, his omega status would usually assure someone looking into him, making sure he was alright but him being quirkless, at least to the people in that school, seems to have trumped that."
"The last known sighting of your kitten was eight weeks ago, and I have spent many hours looking for him on street cams. He seems to have been spending his time hunting for something," patting the towering walls of the nest, "hunting for materials to add to this frankly amazingly wonderful edifice, I think."
"I took the liberty of trying to search the family home but it has already been moved into by a new family, so I have no idea how his life there was but, as his mother was unstable at best, I can't imagine it was good in any way shape or form."
"Finding him on the security footage of the grocery store adjacent to this hide away, and the mall that exists throughout the building, was surprisingly difficult, but the few times I did catch sight of him, he is a lovely kitten indeed, only taking what he absolutely needed to survive."
"He never even took a sweetie, just the bare necessities."
"Now, I have a vehicle waiting, clothes for all of you, and while you are all getting settled in the car, I have a team now on the way to collect every item in this place of refuge and, while you will have to scent it all again, to clean every item thoroughly."
"I have already taken at least two fleas off of me and no one needs those little horrors in their nest."
"So, come, get dressed and let us go, while your two apartments are being packed up and brought to your new place, you will spend the time with me, when your kitten wakes we will all eat together and tell him what's going on. Although with as deep as you both still are in this quirk effect, please don't worry if he is non-verbal, as young as he is, some regression, or even quite a bit of it, is only to be expected."
****************************************
Izuku wasn't really sure what was going on, his head still felt fuzzy and words were really hard, both to use and to understand so he frowned and tried something really simple, cause it was important.
Like, really really important.
But all he could do is feel it at them, so he felt it as hard as he could as he double chirrped and immediately both his new people chirrred back at him, not the summoning sound like when he left his nest but a comforting and soothing one, it made him feel so good his eyes closed all on their own, and he rubbed his face on the yellow one, and got his face washed making him giggle, and the words/feelings that came from him was "MINE, mineminemine forever!"
The dark one, his friend who he never really met on the streets, said, voice deep and soft like all good things were, "Keep you forever kitten, always, no one," a deep rumbling growl from each, a warning to bad people everywhere, "no one will ever take you from us, ever!" and the feeling from them both was so big, so strong, he was floating on it, in it, he was their's, they were his, forever.
Being in a strange place was okay as long as he was with them but it was really important so he managed to fill the bond with how his blanket friend felt, how much he needed it, loved it, to beg for it back again.
Cause the one from before never let him have anything good, or soft, or nice and he was afraid, so afraid they they were like that, even though they were goodgoodgood he might be wrong.
His heart went all happy when the Yellow said, "Blanket is being cleaned sweet one, all your nest is, once it’s clean we’ll make it again, only this time it'll be in our new home, how does that sound baby?"
It sounded so good Izuku had no words for it, only gave a mewl, rubbing and head butting, and then Sire fed him again, and Yellow helped him use a toilet because he’d forgotten a bit how it worked, and then he was cuddled into Sire’s arms as they walked through trees and paths and streams and pretty flowers and big rocks and moss and buildings that fitted in perfectly and then around a big big rock there was a house, like he’d once seen in a picture book, and he gave a happy churggle which was echoed by Yellow and Sire, and the one he’d been told to call ojiisan gave a contented chuff.
Izuku’d never had an ojiisan, and he wasn't sure if an ojiisan was supposed to be small and covered in soft white fur but his Sire and Yellow seemed to do what he said, to watch him with respect and love, so much love, Izuku could feel it in the family place inside him, the place the one before, the one it was getting so hard to remember, never was.
Being set down, his hand held as they scented the doorway, he smiled because the place felt even better than it looked, and then he was scooped up and they went inside, and it was open, and bright, and clean, like nowhere he’d ever seen, other than pictures, and he gave a happy chuff, high pitched and delighted, feeling the family place inside filled with laughing happy joy home.
He wouldn't try to get down, not yet, cause his legs were being funny like his head was, but he didn't have to, they took him all over the house, letting him rub his wrist glands - not working yet but he didn't care, it made him feel so big to scent with his family - on the doorways, and then they found his blanket and all his blanket's friends, smelling clean and fresh, and they all, even ojiisan, helped him build the wall again, but this time the inside bit was left big, big and open for all of them, and they all made it smell even better as they rolled and snuggled and he got tickled and laughed and then he tickled them too and eventually they ate again, and the adults talked and talked and talked but he didn't care now about the words, just how he felt, happyhappyhappy.
Falling asleep, filled to the brim with family, he gave a tiny chirrrrring mumble and was gone.
*****************
"Nezu?"
It was Shouta, and the worry was unacceptable, so Nezu said, "Don't worry, the ground he has lost to the quirk effects will be regained, for now, all of you will live here but you will also get out and meet people, get reacquainted with the world, just UA staff for now, they are almost as close as pack anyway, it will be good for you all."
"Developmentally he seems to be about three or slightly younger, and as his age is seven, that is quite the regression but as you both have regressed too," their surprise at his words made him laugh, "oh yes, you have indeed regressed, you are acting much younger and more dependent than usual but again, don't worry about it, you will come back to yourselves fully soon, and if not, why care if you are all happy."
Curled into the nest, leaning into Sho-chan’s chest, gently untangling green curls as they were held by Hizashi, feeling their fingers cardigan through his own fur, he said, "Later today we will all bathe, and eat, and go for a nice long walk before settling in for the night."
"Tomorrow your closest friends will come over, no, behave!" He was stern for a moment, until they both showed the appropriate amount of neck, smelt properly abashed, and then he softened. "You know you've missed them, and they you, so tomorrow they will come over to meet your new kitten."
"For now though," he yawned, "I think the kitten has the right idea." Closing his eyes he smiled as they snuggled down, both of them asleep before he could do more than close his eyes.
Silly kittens, he loved them so much.
And while it might be a worry, he was certain that they would regain all of their usual mental sharpness, and assuredness, and he knew they were already excellent parents, that they loved their kitten very much indeed.
After all, that was all that mattered.
Yawning, he relaxed, safe in his own territory, protecting his family.
************************
Nezu found it interesting indeed that - as he'd expected, this time at least - when their long time friends came over, Oboro and Nemuri didn't lift Shouta and Hizashi back to modern levels, instead, the almost link they’d all shared for so long snapped deeply into place, pulling them into the pack bond, and Nezu had to find substitute teachers for all of their classes, having their appartments also packed up, having them stay in the house as they're fall took Hizashi and Shouta deeper again.
For four young heroes that had never had any kind of pack, had in fact avoided it due to childhood trauma, it was a beautiful thing indeed to watch, to be a part of.
Nezu loved them all so much, however, a single kitten was not acceptable, Izuku needed litter mates to tumble and roll and play fight with, a single kitten with four dedicated parentals was in danger of being smothered in love.
Turning his eyes and search engines to the foster system, he set about looking for just the right ones.
'Three, I think, three kittens, right about little Zu-chan's age, so,' he settled in for his search. 'Let's see who needs a good, proper, loving home!'
*-*
Only two days later, because Nezu not only worked fast but he wanted the strongly lingering effect of the quirks that led them to this moment to pull the new kittens into the family bond, a tiny brown haired girl, a sweet little crow headed boy, an invisible girl and a little purple haired boy joined Izuku in his nest, and while it was a bit of a surprise to get a shadow kitten along with little Fumi, which made it two kittens more than he’d gone looking for, they fell so deeply into the bond it was as if they'd simply been waiting all their sad little lives for it to happen.
Watching them all playing, all of them gone nonverbal with the bonding effect yet so lively, so happy! Curled in a basket chair in the big family room, feeling the love soaking the very walls, Nezu gave up any fight against his own animalistic nature and started purring, contented down to his very bones.
Family, pack, love.
He needed nothing else.
________________________________________________________________
It took time but their kittens did regain their proper mental ages, over the course of about a year, and the adults did too, much quicker, but they were all deeper, and richer, filled now with the ancient certainty of pack, and family.