Izuku's picture ended up on the tv, his beast form slightly blurry but clear enough that it was obviously him carrying that dead deer in his jaws with specks of blood spattered along his muzzle.
At first, it amused the boy to see himself on the screen, listening to the humans talk about how a group of people spotted a so-called 'monster'. From what Izuku gathered, the humans were trying to figure out if the 'monster' was real, or if it was some kind of prank at the hands of a quirk. It was kind of funny to the boy. As much as he loves pranks and mischief, him hunting isn't exactly something he found that hit those categories. But humans were strange, and they had different opinions of things. If they found it funny, he would laugh too.
And he did.
Until Shouta figured out that Izuku had been sneaking out from his window and had properly locked it to prevent him from opening it on his own.
Then he saw the tv as a dirty little snitch and cursed it out. Luckily for it , Shouta had managed to stop the boy in time before he got the chance to take his claws to its smooth glassy surface.
The new lock was thick and sturdy and too complex for him to slide one of his claws down to jiggle and dig until it gave way with a click. He could break the window if he really wanted to get out, but Izuku knew that would make Shouta upset at him, so he would rather not go that route.
"I'm not doing this to be mean, I hope you understand that," came the sigh from his dad.
Izuku did understand... from a certain point of view, he supposes.
Shouta didn't like it when Izuku was on his own, preferring him or one of his friends to keep an eye on him when they are not in the house. Izuku understood why that was for the city.
But for the forest?
Izuku grew up in there! He may not know every single tree in it, but it had been his old home and he is more than capable of taking care of himself while in it. What danger was there for him?
The answer was simple.
Humans.
Even now, they swarm around the tall trees and leafy bushes, their feet stomping clumsily into the undergrowth and raising such a racket he did not even need to go out into the backyard to hear them.
The tv snitched about him and now dozens of humans wanted to find him.
That was the main reason he didn't feel too bad about not being allowed in his forest right now. Why would he want to when it was currently being invaded by strangers.
He was only glad they were silly enough to think Izuku was still inside the forest, instead of being safely tucked away in his and Shouta's house.
Shouta was quiet for a few moments, seemingly taking in Izuku's downed expression. Was he waiting for him to talk?
Izuku kicks his feet, swinging them back and forth from where he sat on the couch. "I like to run," he tries to explain. He just... gets so pent up with energy! He needs to let it out! The fenced-in backyard was big, but Izuku preferred longer distances without having to constantly go in circles and see the same sights—that got boring, fast.
Shouta didn't seem to get that, though. "Can't you run in the backyard?" He asks with a sigh.
"It's not big enough," he whines.
Two red eyes look over his carefully. "And what about when you're at school?"
Izuku bites down on his tongue. The window there has yet to be closed off to him, despite his close encounter with the three humans from before. He'd like to keep it that way, for as long as possible.
Shouta sighs yet again . Even going as far as squeezing his eyes shut and pinching his nose as the man considers his options.
"Listen," he finally says after a few moments of silence, "next time, if you need to go run or let off energy just— tell me, ok? Or tell Nemuri and Hizashi if I'm not here. That way, one of us can go with you without," he gestures one arm to a window facing the forest, "getting into too much trouble." He finishes.
He isn't sure if a human could keep up with him when he ran in his beast form, but maybe if they were on his back...?
"Not mad?" He asks, just in case.
"No, Izuku. I'm not mad," he says despite the boy definitely smelling the waves of frustration the gruff man was giving off. "Just don't let it happen again, ok?"
Izuku eyes him curiously, rolling the request around in his mind for a moment before nodding. Either way, his nod seems to reassure Shouta a bit, his scent calming slightly and his features relaxing.
Scratching one of his legs, Izuku's catches movement from outside the window, eyeing a small group of humans as they enter his old home from a distance.
"No running today," he tells Shouta, solemnly.
Shouta follows his gaze. "No, kiddo," he sighs. "No running today."
The humans were still flitting in and out of the forest the next day, so Izuku decided to go next door to visit Koda, instead.
Since the Kodas were the next house down, Shouta only dropped off the bright-eyed boy before returning home himself. As long as Izuku kept in sight of his friend and his mom, then the dark-haired man saw no reason to intrude on his neighbors himself. And while Izuku was not a big fan of him going away while there were so many humans in the area (even if he was holed up inside) he felt comfortable enough around the quiet household and its occupants to feel safe.
That, and Hitoshi was here too.
"How come it didn't bite you?" Hitoshi asks, eyeing the little white rabbit warily.
Izuku smirks, boldly wiggling his fingers as Yuwai nibbles unflinchingly on the bits of carrots in his palm. "Bunnies like me." To be more accurate, Izuku had coaxed his mind into the small rabbit's and simply told her that he was no threat, and to please not mistake his fingers as food. The trick always worked on rabbits in the forest if he got close enough, and Yuwai was no exception.
The only difference was that he was feeding it, instead of the other way around.
Hitoshi sniffs. "Probably because you're a rabbit, yourself." He sounded jealous and bitter. Maybe because Yuwai took no hesitation in chomping down on one fat finger.
Depositing the rest of the carrot chunks on the floor of Yuwai's enclosure, Izuku removes his hand and wipes the excess crumbs off on his pants. Movement from the corner of his eye catches his attention, and Izuku turns around just in time to catch Koji's hands stilling.
"'She doesn't like strangers?' Shouldn't she be used to both of us by now? We're not that strange," Hitoshi snorts.
"Maybe Yuwai doesn't like purple," Izuku chirps.
[ "Actually, rabbits can't see color like we do. They can only see greens and blues with accuracy," ] Koji responds back in Izuku's native language, while also moving his hands through those funny motions again. Sign language , it was called. Where humans use their hands to talk instead of speaking out loud. And, as Koji and his mom were soft spoken and only very few could speak in animal-tongue, they used their hands instead.
Izuku liked the concept. The language was similar enough to how animals would communicate through body language and tells. It was something Izuku was a lot more accustomed to as the boy would study, not only the animals he could directly speak to, but also animals he hunted. Prey was a lot easier to track when you knew what they were planning ahead of time.
Hitoshi already knew the hand language when his green-haired friend introduced him and Koji for the first time-- his hands moving with confidence as he held his own conversation with the craggy faced boy who seemed absolutely delighted and relieved. Izuku figures Koji might have been worried about holding a proper conversation with his friend.
Really, that was all Izuku needed to demand that they both teach the hand language to him as well, not wanting to be left behind.
At first, Izuku had trouble memorizing the signs and struggled to follow what the duo were referencing, even when they would often speak the words out loud as they signed. It quickly became clear that the animal tongue did not... go well with the hand language. Too many things didn't line up correctly or were untranslatable on both accounts, so Koji had to switch to soft muttering instead.
But in all... they were a bunch of kids. Teaching a language you are familiar with sounds easy in thought. But when it is put into practice? Where do you even start? What is an easy starting point to help ease someone into something new? How does it stick?
The trio of friends weren't entirely sure.
And that was how it led to Nezu finding Izuku glaring down at his hands that were twitching and making aborted, jerking motions as he struggled to recall half-remembered motions not long after he had started to learn.
Nezu's ears twitched in amusement as he watched the sight. Then later, he sat Shouta down and so kindly told the man to teach Izuku the new language as the principal did not have the proper hands to teach the child himself. From there, Izuku was able to make more progress as he constantly badgered the older man to continue teaching him whenever the urge struck.
So now, Izuku had a basic understanding of the hand language, but he still needed the motions to be slow so he could properly follow through.
"Purple is close enough to blue to count. It's more on the lavender side, anyways," Hitoshi retorts.
"It's a weird color. Hitoshi is weird."Izuku had to duck as Hitoshi threw a carrot at him.
"Whatever you say, lettuce head."
Snickering, Izuku grabs the carrot from where it fell beside him and makes sure to bite into it with a forceful chomp, his sharp fangs on full display. Rolling his eyes, Hitoshi turns to Koji, conversing with their hands once again. Izuku tries to follow their movements but soon finds his attention drifting.
Koji's room was very tidy and neatly organized, Izuku thought. It was a stark difference to Izuku's own room where he would just scatter the things he found remotely interesting all over the floor and expertly dodge his feet around the maze of objects to avoid stepping on and damaging his possessions.
Hitoshi's own room, while not to Izuku's level, was similar to his. But with more of a, lived in feeling. Hitoshi had a lot of stuff—more than Izuku, even!—but it was more cluttered together, clothes and toys on the floor swept aside just enough for there to be a path to walk through unhindered. The room was dark, more often than not, as his purple haired friend preferred having the curtains drawn shut, giving his room a blue glow that reminded Izuku of his forest den. The shelves against his walls were full of books and trinkets he had collected (and Izuku gifted). Izuku liked Hitoshi's room, it felt like home to him.
Koji's, meanwhile, was the opposite of both. There wasn't a whole lot in it and seemed rather barren to Izuku's tastes.
But.
It was extremely colorful and bright in a way that made the base of his tail tingle in pleasure.
It was so very... neon; and it made his eyes happy to see.
The color kind of looks like when the pond would get a lot of moss in the summer. When the water got like that, Izuku enjoyed swimming through it and watching the moss part very briefly before joining back together again, as though the boy had never disturbed it. He would always come out of the water almost completely green, matching his half transformation and tangled hair. There were some fun games where Izuku would pretend to be a water monster and spring out at any animals that would come too close to the pond's edge. It took a total of three times of scaring his feline friend before White got tired of his 'game' and hissed at Izuku to cut it out, the party pooper.
" Hey! "
Izuku snaps his head towards Hitoshi's voice. The purple-haired boy frowns at his reaction. "You were kind of spacing out there, er, is everything alright? With your, uh." Hitoshi falters, stumbling with his words and gestures vaguely at the green-haired boy, who only blinks slowly and questionly at his friend's actions. Hitoshi sighs. "Your leg, dude. You've been scratching at it like mad and it's not looking too good."
Pausing, Izuku becomes aware that he had been scratching his leg, and looking down he can see bits of flaky, dried skin peeling from his scales and clinging to his fingers—and ew—some under his claws.
He wipes it on the carpet. Koji gives him an unimpressed stare.
"Y'know, I've noticed it a few days ago, but your scales really have been looking... pretty dull and dry. You're not sick, are you? Do you even get sick?" He leans close to Koji. "Do you think we're going to get sick?"
"Not sick," Izuku replies as Koji shakes his head. Izuku knows he isn't. This is something that happens at least once a year but— oh what's the word? What did Shouta call it...
"You're shedding?" Hitoshi questions, looking away from Koji's hands—oh did he know what it was called? "Like a snake?" Izuku smiles at the comparison and nods. "...huh. I didn't know you did that."
[ "It would make sense, if his quirk is part reptile." ] Koji adds.
"I suppose so... but I've known Izuku for a few years and haven't seen it before now."
"Doesn't happen a lot," Izuku shrugs, "only sometimes." Izuku was glad he didn't shed often, the process was annoying, messy, and itchy. The old skin could be fun to play with and tear into tiny pieces afterwards, but over the last couple of years it started to get too tough for him to rip apart, and if he can't do that, what was the point? Come to think about it, Izuku isn't even sure what Shouta has been doing with his old skins afterwards. His dad would take them away and Izuku never recalls seeing them anywhere around the house afterwards. Does he bury them like Izuku used to? But no, Izuku would've realized if any dirt had been freshly dug up. What does Shouta do with them?
Koji gives a small wave, catching Izuku's attention. Instead of speaking in the anima tongue, the quiet boy signed with his hands. Despite his slow, easy movements, Izuku only understood a handful of the motions. Eyes squinting, Izuku takes what he knows and tries to connect the context.
"You... want to help me shed?" He guesses.
Smiling softly, Koji nods, this time speaking along with his signs. [ "I have a few reptile friends that live in the forest and city. They allow me to help them get rid of their old skins to make way for their new one." ]
Izuku was about to reply back, but Hitoshi bumps his shoulder and points at the green-haired boy's hands, prompting him to speak that way instead. Huffing, but still complying to his friend's wishes, Izuku makes the signs for; ' You help?' and ' How?'
'With a hot bath!'
"Uh, wait," Hitoshi interrupts. "Izuku, when you shed, is it only your human form, or is it... y'know." Hitoshi closes his eyes at Izuku's sheepish smile. "...we're gonna need a big bathtub."
Koji makes a questioning noise.
'I don't think we're supposed to be here ,' Koji signs frantically at Shinsou, who merely waves him off, much to his dismay.
"It'll be fine." ' This place is closed for another two hours, we'll be out of here before they open the doors to the public.'
'We broke in!' His friends even lied to his mom! He lied to his mom! Shinsou had managed to convince her that the three boys wanted to go see the latest All Might movie in the theaters, then swayed her that they were old enough to go in all by themselves. They were thirteen , afterall. Reluctantly, she agreed on the condition she will drop them off, then pick them up after the movie was over. They waved her goodbye and sat in the theater lobby for five minutes, and then with Koji's heart full of nervous guilt, the three ducked out and walked to their real destination.
"Actually, we walked in. Just not through the front door," Shinsou points out. And wait no, that's not the point! Koji was about to beg for them to go back, when just ahead of the duo, Aizawa let out a gasp of amazement.
"Hitoshi! Koji! Come look!"
Koji already knew what Aizawa was looking at, the boy comes here at least once a year as a school field trip. So when Koji rounded the corner and saw a large expanse of shimmering blue water surrounded by slides and equipment prime to be a child's greatest wonderland, he was not as impressed as the green-haired boy in front of him as his tail swished in increasing excitement at the sight before him.
Instead, Koji nervously scans the area, looking for any other sign of life and sighs when he sees that they are alone.
Koji taps Shinsou's shoulder. Why are we here?
"You said Izuku taking a bath would help?" Shinsou reminds.
I said a warm bath! He doesn't really need an entire swimming park for that.
"They do have a hot tub, though. That's the main reason I picked this place."
A hot tub...? Why? He signs with great exasperation. Why not use a bathtub? We have one at home if the Aizawas do not.
"No way would Izuku fit in a normal bathtub," he snorts, and that... just doesn't make any sense. How could Aizawa not fit in a bathtub? He was shorter than the both of them! Catching his confusion, Shinsou gives him a bewildered look. "Have you... not seen Izuku's other form yet?"
Koji pauses. Other form? His quirk? Koji knows Aizawa has some sort of shifting quirk that gives him the appearance of part rabbit, part reptile. The energetic boy always seemed to have those animal traits up, but there were several times that Koji had seen him without his fur and scales and long ears. But that doesn't affect his height, not from what he has seen.
Shinsou's eyes widen. "You haven't, " and then he lets out a short laugh. "Well, just don't freak out, ok?"
Why would he freak out? His confusion follows him as Shinsou swiftly darts around Koji, grabbing at the younger Aizawa before he could jump towards the pools. The green haired boy makes a disgruntled noise at being interrupted.
"C'mon, we have to go to that one, over there," Shinsou informs, pointing to the bubbling, smaller pool.
Aizawa looks at it, seemingly curious of its current state, his green eyes flickering up once to watch as hot steam rises and disperses into nothingness. And then, without warning, he leaps into the boiling water, sending hot droplets flying in all directions.
Shinsou sighs. "That idiot didn't take off his clothes. What was even the point of bringing swimming trunks?" He grumbles under his breath, taking off his own shirt. Koji, who didn't approve of this plan from the very start, stayed where he was, fully clothed.
Or, at least until he started to get worried when Aizawa still had yet to resurface.
What if he hurt himself when he jumped? So, missing Shinsou's warning look, Koji steps forward and peers down into the dark water.
When a giant, furry muzzle springs out of the water and snaps deadly, sharp fangs inches from where he stood, Koji let out an honest to god, shriek that was quickly snuffed out when those teeth snip at his shirt and throws him into the water with a sharp jerk of its neck.
Resurfacing with a splutter, Koji flails his limbs until his palms smack flat against the cold tiled floor and uses one arm to support his weight, while using his other hand to dry his eyes. He flinches when something large bumps against his side and despite the hot temperature of the water, Koji finds himself trembling as his head whips around, immediately locking with the feral green eyes of a monster.
The monster had fangs as long as his hand, and nearly as thick. They were pulled back into a snarl, showcasing the dozens of deadly sharp objects that could end the boy in a single bite. The eyes shone almost unnaturally as it looked down at him with slitted, narrow pupils. Koji's gaze flickers down sharply at the sound of a clack, and the boy nearly fainted when he saw just how massive the monster's claws were, and the faint scratches already being made into the tile as the beast flexes them ever so slightly.
This is that monster everyone is trying to find! He thinks, whimpering. Koji remembers the news story. He remembers being so curious as to finally finding out about the monster in the forest, after hearing about it for so long from his animal companions who feared it so much. He remembers seeing an unedited picture on the internet and wishing that he had not bothered to do so. For him, seeing something so large carrying a bloody, dead deer in its jaws was like a limp doll was, horrifying.
And now it was here. And Koji was terrified.
He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He stays absolutely still and squeezes his eyes shut, some silly part of his brain thinking that if he does, maybe he will be ignored, maybe the monster wouldn't see him.
When something touches his shoulder, Koji's heart stops.
But then he realizes that the touch was a hand. A human hand.
Slowly, Koji opens his eyes, immediately meeting the monster's gaze once again.
He realizes then that the monster wasn't snarling. It was grinning. The body language wasn't tense and ready to strike, it was loose and relaxed. And the eyes weren't narrowed in anger, but rather an infectious playfulness that shone with mirth, though it was quickly being replaced with worry as it took in Koji's fear.
" Ko-ji? " The monster warbled in a distorted voice. No... not a monster. It was—
[ "Izuku?" ]
Izuku croons delightfully and throws his soaking wet mane back to give it a small shake. Koji brings an arm up to protect his face from stray droplets.
"Izuku loves that trick," Shinsou says, removing his hand from Koji's shoulder. "That's why if he goes in the water it's best to stay clear of the edge."
Noted, Koji thinks to himself, watching in amusement as Aizawa uses a large paw to splash at Shinsou who had no chance in defending himself in time.
Not a monster at all.
Just a mischievous child.
"You know, I don't think that is how lizards normally shed."
"The bath helped?"
'We got kicked out...'
"Why did you bring it with us?"
"You want it?"
"Absolutely not."
[ "Why did you bite the security guard?" ]
"He was mean. Hitoshi, you can have it."
"Absolutely not."
"I'll give you a leg?"
"NO!"
Shouta's pen scritches along the surface of the three page packet before him, writing a big fat 'D-' in bold red, finalizing it with two sharp circles.
Another failed grade... this makes three. Did these kids even bother to study? It was like they did not care that Shouta would be dishing out punishments for their failure. It wasn't like they were struggling, either. Shouta knows these particular students are knowledgeable in this subject. Theyjust choose to half-ass the assignment, refusing to do more than the bare minimum of work required.
Sighing through his nose, he leans back, his eyes slipping closed behind tired lids. They burned with exhaustion. Between his hero duties, teaching, and the worry of people hunting his son for sport, Shouta had hardly slept over the past few days. His only reprieve being the sparse naps he managed to catch here and there.
The phone rang.
Biting back a groan, Shouta grabs it, looking at the caller ID as he rubs one eye.
Tsukauchi.
"Hello."
"Eraserhead! I hope I didn't disturb you."
Shouta's gaze sweeps over the neat stack of papers. "All you're doing is giving me a break in grading. What do you want? I doubt you're calling just to say hi."
"Ah, no. Actually, I have something I need to ask of you."
"Which is?"
"Really, I should have asked this sooner but--" the detective cut off suddenly and seemed to think over his next words before continuing. "I want to ask Izuku if he knows what happened to the boy who went missing roughly eight years ago."