Then
He spat out dirt with renewed frustration.
The two foxes behind him howl with laughter at his sorry attempt of tunneling.
His "tunneling" had left him with nothing but dirt in his mouth and fur as every single one had collapsed so far.
Really, all he was doing was destroying the clearing.
He was glad he took up their advice on starting somewhere away from the place he called "home." It would've been a mess.
Shaking the grains of dirt out of his fur, he looks back over to the foxes. They were calming down now from their little outburst. He found it funny at first, too. But that was hours and many attempts ago.
Now, he just wants to figure out what he is doing wrong so he can stomp home and nap already.
Even White was doing what he already longed for, snoozing away on a large rock that, the boy is certain, is toasting the cat up with the sunlight.
The feline had managed to grow a significant amount in the past two seasons, filling up nicely. He was still saddened every time his friend had to leave for the day, returning back home with the other cats and his family. Maybe one day White will stay the night. The boy is about to have a more protected home after all!
Well, maybe.
He scowls down at the failure hunk of earth. Why can't he get it right?
[ "Are you sure you do not wish for us to help, green one?" ] One of the foxes offers, their laughter dying down.
The forest beast lashes his spiked tail. [ "I need to learn to do it on my own. What happens if I need a new one and you aren't here?" ]
[ "Then, we'll come back," ] the other fox reasons, [ "we wouldn't leave you without a dry place to call home." ]
The creature remains silent. It's not that he distrusted the two foxes but, well.
You never knew when the last time you'd see the same soul again. Promises can be easily broken, intentionally or not. Survival could be hard to those not prepared enough.
And he wasn't willing to take the chance of losing a way out of the cold and snow when leaf-bare hits. Not when it seemed every new one was affecting him worse and worse, the cold freezing him to his core.
He sighed, turning to his guests.
[ "Maybe you can show me another demonstration?" ]
Now
"Are you sure we can leave you alone... with..."
"With a child? Yes, I do believe I will be just fine handling him. I can't say the same for the boy after getting attacked by five grown adults." Shouta growled threateningly at the heroes who were hesitantly standing outside his door. One hand gripping his shopping bag with white knuckles and the other on his idiot blond menace's arm in a vice.
Awkwardly, the heroes hovered nearby, unsure if they should leave or not but under the eraser hero's glare they dispersed.
Tugging Hizashi inside, he shut his door with a resounding thud. He could feel his friend tense up with a small eep!
The radio star was sweating bullets as he was glared down by the distrusting, furious, overgrown, monstrous rabbit. Mouth drawn in a soundless snarl; his green eyes were mere needle pricks as they refused to leave the nervous man's form.
Shouta was prepared in erasing his quirk to discourage the freaked out boy from attacking the blond oaf. But then he noticed that the kid had moved from the middle of the room, to the farthest corner away. The top half of his furry body was puffed up and out making the kid look even bigger than he actually is. A similar tactic a frightened animal would do when threatened.
He didn't look as if he were about to strike out, probably because Shouta was here now, very much not in danger and going as far to invite the person who attacked the kid inside his apartment.
The kid's quirk must feel like a safety blanket, knowing full well he could protect himself with it. Taking it away now when he didn't feel safe would only freak the kid out farther.
So, Shouta forgoes forcing the kid to switch back. Instead, his attention draws to the other furious residents in the room.
"Look at that, even the cats are mad at you," Shouta observed.
It was obvious who they sided with, pressing up to the kid comfortably and glaring daggers at Hizashi. Shouta sighed and walked over to the kid, checking for any injuries.
"Why was your first thought to attack? You didn't think there was a reason he was in here?"
Hizashi splutters. "But it— attacked me first!"
"You seem unhurt to me," came the unsympathetic reply.
Slumping, Hizashi reddened in shame. "I- was caught by surprise." He bowed deeply at the bristling rabbit form of the kid. "I'm sorry! I freaked out! That was so not a very heroic thing to do! You don't have to forgive me, but I hope you know how sorry I am, big listener!"
Despite not understanding his words, it seemed like the kid got the general idea. His fur started to lie flat as he relaxed slightly.
He still shot Hizashi a dirty look and grumbled, but he no longer looked as if he were about to pounce on the poor man.
It made Hizashi ease up, at least.
Shouta couldn't find any injuries on the kid, and he seemed fine, if not a bit ruffled. He relaxed under the hero's touch, even going as far to nudge his shoulder with a dark muzzle affectionately with a quiet chirp.
Bringing his arm up, he patted his muzzle reassuringly. "That's just my friend. He's an idiot but he won't hurt you."
Green eyes blink slowly at him, and he took it as a sign that he understood. Giving one last pat, he hefted himself up and slumped onto the couch.
Hizashi hovered before doing the same, his plastic bag crinkling. Shouta remembers his own, and places it onto the coffee table.
"So, what do I owe this sudden visit?" He asked, getting straight to the point.
"Oh! Well—I was worried, you know! You didn't come to work today, so I thought you may have overworked yourself, so—I brought you some food, proper food!" His friend declares with a flourish, brandishing his bag of goods.
Shouta brushed him off. "I have food here, you know."
"Jelly packs! Are! Not! Food!" Hizashi declared eccentrically, puncturing each word with a sharp jab of his finger. "And I sure hope you haven't been feeding your new buddy those, either!"
He gestured to the corner. Green eyes narrow curiously back.
"Which," the voice hero deflated into the couch, "you need to explain why you are currently living with a monster rabbit in your home."
Shouta sighs, tired. "He isn't a monster. He is a child. And as for why he is here, well..." He trails off, explaining his story about the run in with the traffickers and the kid's involvement in taking them down, the kid's injury, and then the predicament afterwards.
All the while, he could feel wary eyes boring into his back.
He didn't like the bright yellow two-leg.
The two-leg was loud, bright, and obnoxious—not to mention he tried to break into Shouta's den! Doing that without the den owner to invite them in was a sign that someone was untrustworthy! That they were up to no good! Den break-ins usually led to dead kits and stolen food. Or a slain intruder if they stupidly picked the wrong den to mess with.
And as Shouta couldn't defend his den, that meant he had to.
That would be how it was in the forest.
But it seems with two-legs, it seems things are different.
Or maybe it was because they were already friends that the two-leg was allowed inside before Shouta. Did they do that often? Or maybe the yellow two-leg had no idea his friend was here?
It's still rude, he sulks bitterly.
When the loud two-leg's screeching brought the attention of other two-legs with mean expressions on their faces, the forest child almost freaked out. He was so sure this was going to turn into the situation with the bad two-legs from before and he would get hurt again, but this time be completely trapped in with his only exit being blocked. He wanted to run away so badly. To run, and hide, and be safe from danger.
It was scary . Something it seemed like most two-legs had in common.
But then Shouta arrived and swooped down on the invading two-legs, shooing them off.
Except for the one who started the mess.
As he glared at the new arrival, his nose twitched a mile a minute, taking in the newcomer's scent.
It was... strange.
If "loud" had a smell, then this would be it. Where Shouta smells null and muted, the newcomer smelled sharp and deafening, overwhelming his senses.
He wrinkles his nose.
And promptly sneezes.
Beside him, Mocha is gently lapping at his fur, murmuring soft comforts into his ear.
The yellow two-leg let out a particularly loud screech not unlike a bird, that had the rabbit hybrid flinching back. Too loud.
This two-leg was eccentric. He was constantly moving, waving his arms with fluid, over-the-top motions, expressions and intent as clear on his face as a cloudless day.
He didn't... seem bad. He couldn't be if Shouta was friends with him.
But still, the boy's fur prickled nervously. He wasn't sure if he could ever—
The yellow two-leg pulls something out of a white carry-bag that had him perking up straight. He recognized that scent! What held in his hands was oblong, pink, and had the smell of strong copper.
Meat!
"Hizashi, while the kid would definitely eat that, I doubt he would enjoy it."
"Nonsense! What kid doesn't like tacos, Shouta?" The small beef roll nearly hits Shouta in the face as Hizashi waves it about. "Just one taste of my cooking will change that big listener's life, forever! He won't be able to resist! How he managed to survive off your cooking is a down right—"
Two tiny green hands shooting between the two interrupts the radio host. They latch onto the beef roll in a firm grip, yank it free, and deftly hops off the back of the couch and into the bedroom before the two could even process what had happened. The bedroom door shuts close with a resounding click .
A beat.
"Who was that?" Hizashi asked dumbly, staring at the door in befuddlement.
"That," Shouta started, "would be the kid."
"He stole the hamburger."
"I saw."
"And ran off with it." Hizashi's face twists then, chancing the question Shouta himself is wondering. "Er, what's he gonna do with it?"
And, well, Shouta has a sneaking suspicion. It would only make sense, wouldn't it? For someone raised in nature and around no human contact? Shouta doubts the kid knew how to set a fire.
His mind flashes to the meals he had cooked meat for. How the kid would eat it yes, but never without pulling a face as if he were eating it through sheer obligation.
Getting up, he opens the door where the kid disappeared off into, Hizashi hovering right behind him.
Sitting there in the middle of the room, with one hand halfway to his mouth holding a chunk of hamburger meat, was the kid. Sluggish blood ran down his chin in a thick congealed trickle, his mouth stuffed full until his cheeks bulged out.
On the floor, the packaged, raw hamburger laid torn into, already missing two thirds of its contents.
As Hizashi peeks over Shouta's shoulder, the kid's head snaps in his direction, sending a few small chunks of hamburger flying out of his fanged mouth with the movement.
Then, with enough speed to match a high speed truck, the kid swallowed his mouthful on the spot, grabbed the reminder of the meat, and swiftly devoured it within a few famished gulps that leaves Shouta wondering how he didn't manage to choke during the process.
He finished, and still not breaking eye contact over Shouta's shoulder where Hizashi stands unmoving, he swipes his tongue over his lips, cleaning himself of leftover blood and fat.
It wasn't until the kid started to lick his hands clean that Hizashi finally spoke.
"Oh my god, Shouta. Please don't tell me I killed your child already with raw meat," he fretted, voice strained.
A frantic phone call later reassured Shouta that since the kid was most likely of a carnivorous breed of a quirk, that raw meat—as long as it was healthy—is completely fine for him to eat.
That didn't ease his fears entirely.
If the kid got sick, then that would be on Shouta. He agreed to take him in and watch over him. Keeping him in good health was his responsibility as a temporary guardian.
But he couldn't deny the fact that the kid actually enjoyed eating the raw hamburger meat more than anything Shouta had placed in front of him.
Genuinely, thoroughly, enjoy.
"I can't withhold it from him if there are no consequences to eating it," Shouta grumbles to himself quietly. Carnivorous based quirks required the user to eat meat in their diet as well, or they fall ill.
"Did you say something over there?" His friend calls over his shoulder, pausing in his cooking.
"I did not," Shouta replied from his spot at the small table. Looking up from his phone where he had been researching carnivore quirk diets, his sights fall to the kitchen entryway.
In his indecision to be near Shouta, but away from Hizashi, the kid compromised by sitting down in the joint that connects the living room and kitchen.
For a while, the kid had been flipping between the pages of a book he snatched from the shelf. Shouta recognized it as a UA textbook he must've left on the coffee table.
It was filled with battle and strategy formulas and scenarios for hostages and civilians, among many more. Stuff that would no doubt fly over a child's head.
Still, with every page turned the kid would stare at it for several moments, taking it in.
It took Shouta a few minutes to realize it was the pictures he was looking at, and he files away to possibly buy a few picture books for him.
Children usually use those to learn to read anyway, don't they?
It didn't take long until Shouta realized he hadn't heard a page turn in a while, so he glances back up.
Leaning against the wall with barely closed eyes, he dozed lightly, his tiny hands curled onto the heavy book on his lap. Having his nap interrupted seemed to have finally take its toll.
Shouta looks away, allowing him to doze.
Later, after his nap, the kid mellowed out. Even going as far as to sit at the table with Hizashi hovering nearby.
Although... that may just because he can be easily bribed with food, Shouta observes to himself, watching the kid warily eye the extra food the blond is offering him. He slowly takes it out of Hizashi's hands, and once he was sure he wasn't going to yank it back from him, the kid perked, chowing down on it happily.
Hizashi beamed.
He decides Shouta's friend isn't that bad.
His change in decision certainly not because the loud two-leg was currently giving him more and more fruit, oh no, not at all.
It was all coincidental, the actions and character judging merely aligned into the same slot. He was never one to turn down food, after all.
Mocha had told him about the yellow two-leg. His name is Hizashi and he is friends with Shouta. Hizashi and a woman named Nemuri often showed up at Shouta's den, either dragging him off somewhere or hanging and lounging around for a few hours before leaving again.
He didn't like the sound of someone dragging Shouta away and out of his sight. Him leaving sent a prickle of panic blooming in his chest.
But it seems like Hizashi was doing the latter, and he was grateful for it.
When no more food was distributed and none was left, the boy decided that he could trust Hizashi and not worry about him attacking Shouta.
He hopped off from where he sat, stumbling a little over his feet before righting himself. He could hear Hizashi say something behind him, but figured he was talking to Shouta and paid him no mind as he bounced on his heels to the other room.
[ "He doesn't seem bad," ] he informed Mocha, flopping down onto the soft cushiony surface. [ "You were right." ]
The tortoiseshell cat flicked her tail at him. [ "It was all a misunderstanding, I believe. Granted, that did not make his actions correct." ]
[ "He is an idiot," ] Bastard snorts. [ "I like this place because it is quiet. And that banana shaped moron is anything but." ]
[ "I thought you liked having fun with him?" ] Juice Box pipes up, stretching his forepaws out.
[ "Terrorizing, yes. It is my brand and I need to stay on it." ] Bastard pointed out. [ "But with his shrieking, it is nearly not worth the effort." ]
"What's up with the toilet paper, by the way? You couldn't wait?"
Shouta sighed. "The kid shredded every single roll I owned."
Hizashi stared at him, a beat of silence passes.
"What is he, a cat?"
"Honestly, at this point, I am not sure."
A few hours later as Hizashi leaves, he waves energetically to Shouta and the kid who was peeking over the top of the couch.
Shouta watched as his head tilts, then slowly, unsurely raising his own arm and waving back.
Hizashi, delighted, cooed and gave one final wave before sweeping out the door in a flourish, wishing the two a goodnight and a promise he'll see them tomorrow at UA.
Shouta hummed to himself in the now quiet apartment. From the corner of his eye he watches as the kid grins and waves to Juice Box, still repeating Hizashi's action.
I should warn the other staff of this kid's arrival, Shouta muses, I bet Nezu was going to wait until the very last minute to mention him .
That could be a recipe for disaster. The last thing he needed was for grown adults to freak out and in turn freak the kid out when he is still learning to get used to and trust other people.
He wasn't exactly sure how to inform his coworkers, though. How do you explain the situation Shouta is in? That this six foot tall carnivorous rabbit kid that understands no Japanese was completely harmless if you just keep your heads on?
Shouta thumbs his phone. It lights up and he scrolls and swipes, searching for the correct item.
Behind him, the kid leans against the couch, peeking over his shoulder. "Sho'ta?"
Without looking, Shouta reaches his arm behind him to give the kid a quick pat on his head, still looking through his phone.
He finds what he is looking for, taps on it, and leisurely types before hitting send and putting his phone back away.
That should take care of it, he thinks to himself.
Flip.
...
Flip.
...
Flip.
A pause.
Naomasa Tsukauchi looked at the page file in his hand, a surge of hope flowering in his chest that he may have just finally found what he had been looking for these past few days.
The woman on the page looks back at the detective, green eyes as bright and charming as her smile.
She had long green hair, and a few freckles dotting along her nose and cheeks. In place where human ears would usually be placed, were two green, floppy rabbit ears.
Compared to the picture of a green wild haired, rabbit eared child, the resemblance was similar. Naomasa's belief ran stronger as he continued down the woman's information on her quirk.
A rabbit based quirk that was a cross of mutation and shifting. Her appearances included taking on rabbit-like qualities that only affected her ears and an added bobbed tail.
A simple, minor mutation.
But not the full extent of her quirk.
Her quirk allowed her to transform.
She could shift into a gigantic, ten foot tall, monstrous rabbit.
It was a dangerous quirk and labeled as such. As a civilian she had to be monitored despite her having a clean record. Naomasa didn't understand why. He disregarded that for now.
The file included a photo of her transformation, and while it wasn't... exactly the same as the little boy there were certainly uncanny similarities.
The first one being, she was very green.
Green, green, green.
Green fur, green eyes, green arms and legs and paws, all so very green.
But where the boy was quadruped, the woman was biped. Where the child had a scaly lower half, the woman's fur continued down and all around, thicker.
There were differences.
But too many similarities as well.
And in the age of quirks, it was not unheard of for them to mutate in some way or form, depending on the other parent's ability.
Naomasa was convinced that this must be that boy's mother.
But as his eyes trail down her file, he frowned.
He stared at it for a bit longer, willing the words to form a different outcome. Give him something that tells him that his search is over.
But they do not magically shift and change.
Naomasa sighs, suddenly exhausted.
This woman's file was, ultimately, useless.
Instead of putting it with the other discarded files, the detective sets it off to the side. It may still be possible for her relatives.
The child, from the data the hospital gave him, informed him that he was ten years of age.
Not only was Midoriya Inko listed as never married and without offspring, but she was also listed to have died a little over fifteen years ago.
Aizawa Shouta has shared a photo to UA Teaching Staff Group Chat
[ Picture of appears to be a large, green, furry. It is belly up with it's forepaws tucked to it's chest while it's hindlegs are stretched out behind it. The creature is easily as big as the couch it is laying against as it snoozes away completely relaxed. Three cats are curled around it. ]
[Aizawa Shouta]
New cat, what should I name him.
[Midnight]
excuse me, new what?
[Vlad]
Where did you pick that up?
[Power Loader]
You seriously believe he just found it on the side of the street like some stray?
[Nezu]
Oh! Interesting!
[Vlad]
He could've.
[Vlad]
What do we know.
[Snipe]
name it Midori
[Midnight]
green? really?
[Cementoss]
It's a cute name.
[Midnight]
It's unoriginal!
[Thirteen]
What breed is he?
[Aizawa Shouta]
Big.
[Thirteen]
Thank you for being as helpful as ever, Eraserhead.
[Midnight]
hey!
[Snipe]
Meiji
[Midnight]
is no one going to question that is not a cat!
[Cementoss]
Matcha.
[Midnight]
because it looks nothing like one!
[Snipe]
seaweed
[Cementoss]
Mochi.
[Ectoplasm]
Are you positive you two just aren't hungry?
[Midnight]
am i being ignored
[Snipe]
Kakigori
[Midnight]
shouta i hope you are prepared for tomorrow, first thing im doing is hounding your ass