Chapter Text
The rain fell in heavy sheets. It was like a river as water poured down the storm drains making loud glug glug glug sounds. Izuku’s umbrella was barely holding itself together, being blown inside out from the heavy wind and leaving him drenched despite the effort of actually remembering to bring an umbrella and raincoat that day.
Just his luck, he thought. His portfolio was in tatters. He hadn’t bothered to shove the piece of trash in his deteriorating yellow backpack. It wasn’t worth it anyway. All of the publishers he went to rejected the comic he had spent years planning and plotting, meticulously working on the art by hand. They said no one actually draws art by hand anymore, it takes too long, the plot was drab and unoriginal. Romance or superheroes were in, monsters and the supernatural was out… He sniffled, from the cold rain or holding back frustrated tears, he wouldn't be surprised if it were both.
“Dammit!” Izuku dropped the whole stack of papers when a particularly strong gust of wind pulled the pages from his hands. Sure, he had abandoned the piece, but had he really? It was stupid, chasing after a ruined portfolio, but Izuku did anyway as it blew down the street. Luckily barely anyone was outside with the weather so he didn’t run into anyone. He did slip and fall a few times, looking like an absolute lunatic. Seriously, at twenty two he should have an actual job by now. He had his mom’s hospital bills to pay for, he couldn’t afford to continue working part time as a phlebotomist, taking jobs where he was needed.
But something kept him running for those pages, even as the hem of his too long pants got ruined in the rain and his glasses fogged and he ran face first into a newspaper stand that had closed for the day. Like something was pulling him.
A soft grumble made its way to his ears.
Izuku rubbed the rain drops and fog from his glasses as if that would clear up his ears. Had he just heard a… growl? Or was it a whimper? Either way it sounded pathetic.
Against all better judgement (his mom probably told him when he was little to not explore dumpsters that were growling, but who remembers something like that?) he took a step forward, red sneakers dipping into a puddle in the cracked concrete. He heard the soft jingle of a bell. Eyebrows knitted, he stepped forward again, watching as his recently rejected comic was almost… sucked into the small crack between the dark green rusted dumpster and the brick building it sat up against.
When he moved it, he couldn’t believe his eyes. A light colored fox was curled up, trying to stay warm but clearly shivering. Izuku’s eyes first caught on the little bell hanging from a piercing in the fox’s right ear, jingling softly as the ears twitched and eyes opened to reveal bright red irises. The next thing he noticed was that the fox didn’t have just one tail… It had three. And last, he realized that the fox wasn’t sitting in a puddle of dirty water, but bloody water. The blood pooled from lash marks across the fox’s belly and hind legs.
Another whimper sounded from the little fox whose eyes scrunched up in pain. Its tails attempted to wrap tighter to keep warm. Izuku forgot all about the pages that were soaking up the dirt and blood muddled water of the alleyway.
“Oh my God.” Izuku didn’t know what compelled him to, but he took off his rain coat and wrapped it carefully around the pathetic looking thing, scooping it up in his arms. He ran to his apartment. For the first block the fox struggled meagerly in Izuku’s arms, trying to pry itself free. It reared back and bit down on Izuku’s arm. Izuku figured it would leave a nasty bruise, but with his rain jacket at least he wouldn’t have broken skin. Great, he thought, at least I don’t have to worry about rabies. Izuku wasn’t even sure if the thing could carry rabies. It clearly wasn’t a normal fox, maybe some genetic mutation? Maybe a new species? He wasn’t sure what it was. But he wasn’t about to leave it to die in the rain.
Apparently the little feisty thing didn’t have enough energy to keep up the act for long. Slowly it began to flick its tails and ears more weakly until it closed angry red eyes and drifted off to sleep.
When he finally kicked open his apartment door, he raced to the bathroom, not even bothering to take off his shoes. Izuku set the soaking wet lump of fur on his bathroom floor. He looked at the shaking form for a few moments before he stood up and swung open the mirror cabinet door above the sink. He grabbed the first aid kit and set it down before going to hunt around for some towels he could use to dry off the fox.
His mother was a nurse, and he had been in medical school for two years, he knew exactly what needed to be done on a human. The only problem was that this was a fox. With three tails and a need to bite if it were to wake up.
Izuku sighed and lifted the almost weightless creature into the bathtub, turning on warm water. He used the shower head to rinse off the grime and help part the fur to see how bad the injuries were. Once the fox was warmed up and stopped shivering, he dried the thing off, leaving it a puff ball.
To Izuku’s dismay, the fox’s tails began to twitch again as he began to work on cleaning the deep gash that left a red stain on the fox’s hind leg. Izuku sped up, hoping that he could finish up the stitches while the fox was still asleep, lest he get bit again.
That didn’t happen. Instead the fox grunted and jumped back a few feet from Izuku, yelping when the needle and thread was yanked out of Izuku’s deft fingers and tugged against its skin. It growled, ear twitching again as it backed away, into the corner of the bathroom looking for some place to hide.
“It’s okay, little one. I’m just trying to help.” Izuku’s voice was soft in an attempt not to startle the creature currently bleeding all over his floor. The fox stopped growling, its eyes opening wide in what Izuku assumed was surprise.
“Shhh, let me help, yeah?” The fox slowly blinked, as if it understood. Izuku took this as a good sign and shuffled forward, hoping to grab the fox and put it back on the towel to finish the stitches. At the movement, the fox bared its teeth, lips pulled back in a snarl, eyes squinting.
It was missing a canine. The gap looked almost silly, like when a little kid loses their front teeth. The fox hardly looked fierce with the missing tooth. That combined with its currently puffed up fur, Izuku had to stifle a laugh.
He failed, giggling softly at the pathetic and cute sight in front of him. Again, the fox stopped growling. Its ears pulled back to its head as it tilted to the left, curious. The fox watched as Izuku kept laughing, head tilting side to side, taking in the soft chuckles. If Izuku was delusional he might have thought the fox looked like it had seen a ghost. Something flickered as red eyes met green and Izuku could almost see the torn emotions running through the fox. It clearly wanted Izuku to stay near, but at the same time it seemed like a trapped animal (which, Izuku supposed, it was).
Izuku tried again, and this time, the second his fingers brushed against the soft straw colored fur, the fox seemed to make a decision, and took a hesitant step into Izuku’s hand. He figured the fox would put up more of a fight while he finished the stitches now that it was awake and staring at Izuku’s hands, body twisted as it watched the needle thread through its skin, closing the multitude of deep gashes covering its body. To Izuku’s surprise, the fox stayed still, only blinking a few times and switching between observing Izuku’s face and his hands.
Finally, after everything was stitched and Izuku had put some antibiotic (he hoped that it was safe for foxes) on the wounds, the fox was curled up on Izuku’s bathroom floor. The thing had gotten up again while Izuku worked and sniffed around the room until it found the laundry basket filled with Izuku’s dirty laundry. Izuku had watched as it looked back for a brief moment before grabbing onto one of Izuku’s heavy green sweatshirts and tugged it out of the basket and onto the floor before curling up on it. Izuku was able to work easily when the fox had gone back to sleep, comfortable on the dirty hoodie, so he didn't complain about the blood stains that would inevitably ruin the clothing item.
He wiped his brow. He hadn’t realized how sweaty he had gotten while working. It had been a while since he had given anyone or anything living stitches, but he still had the skilled hands. Closing the bathroom door behind him in case the fox woke up while he wasn’t watching, Izuku went back to his small bedroom and stripped out of the soaked clothes that were clinging to his skin. He dressed in warm pajamas, not planning on going out of the house anytime soon, deciding to make food. While he waited for his packaged ramen to cook in the microwave, he set up his drawing easel, fresh paper and used pens and pencils arranged in ordered chaos.
Izuku found himself listening to the soft patter of rain as it hit the windows of his apartment. He munched on the noodles while drawing rough sketches of the little fox he had stumbled upon. Dozens of post-it notes and old sketchbooks from months, even years prior, were filled with similar sketches of a very familiar looking fox.
Hours later, Izuku woke up to the rummaging of pots and pans coming from the small kitchenette in his apartment. He hadn’t realized he dozed off, but the drool currently running from the corner of his mouth was a sure sign that he was awake and not dreaming. He stood up quietly. Someone was in his apartment but he didn’t feel a lick of panic or fear. A trait his mother would smack him over the head for had she known Izuku went to confront the person without grabbing anything to use as a weapon.
He tiptoed to the kitchen.
There, standing by the stove, boiling water, was a blond haired man. Wearing a pair of Izuku’s black sweatpants, the ones he'd worn on a jog a few days ago, two white stripes running down the legs, stirring something on the stove. The man’s back rippled with muscle that was covered in scars. Izuku’s gaze traveled up the stranger’s frame. He found himself staring slack jawed.
Izuku opened his mouth and paused before speaking.
“Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? And why are you wearing my clothes?”
The man turned around, bright red eyes glinting in mirth as he smiled, a gap where one of his canines should be, and a bell ringing softly as it dangled from his right ear lobe.