Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello dear readers! I’ve put together this handy reference guide so you can keep track of who’s who in this universe, as well as to give you a place to look up any OCs who may drift in and out of the story. I’ll include Quirk details on any OCs as well, to help keep track of those things. Also, I’ll do my best to have this serve as a quick refresher for those who it’s been a while since you read the main fic, or didn’t read the anthology, or for anyone who hasn’t read any of the stories in this universe yet! I know you’re out there. I know you exist. I don’t understand why you’re reading this one first. But, welcome anyway! Hopefully this guide will clear things up for you a little.

So! Let’s dive into it! Here’s a short “chapter listing” for your reference:

1. Characters
2. Brief Overview of “Those Under the Same Stars”
3. Brief Overview of the accompanying anthology

All right! Enjoy!

CHARACTERS

This will be a list of all relevant characters who may pop up from time to time in addition to the main cast. Also included a little bit of information on the pack that Katsuki is a part of.

U.A. Class A Pack and Agency:

After graduating from U.A., many of the students of the former class 1-A joined together to form a pack. They pooled their funds and eventually bought a huge packhouse in a suburb just outside the city. Over time, the packhouse has been renovated and expanded, leaving it a sprawling complex able to accommodate everyone.

While most of the class members joined the pack, many chose not to and instead live in separate houses in other cities or other suburbs. Despite not being official members of the pack, the former class 1-A students are still considered “non-members” with open invitations to join the pack whenever. Essentially, they are members of the pack, they just live on their own. These non-members will come and go from the packhouse from time to time and will pop up here and there throughout the story.

In addition to the pack, most of the members of class 1-A also formed a conglomerate agency together. While they act as individual heroes, they act in tandem with one another and share an agency building.

The pack is ruled by a structure of three alphas who command the pack and a head beta who keeps the pack together. There’s not a head omega technically, and if there was, there would be contention for who would take that spot, though it would probably go to Ochako.

Official Pack Members:

Katsuki Bakugo, AKA: Ground Zero (Yes, I know he has an actual hero name now, but he didn’t when I started this journey and I’m not going back and changing it!) (Alpha)
Mated and married to: Izuku Midoriya
Additional family members: Kazue Midoriya (eldest, only son)

The second-in-command of the pack. Although he no longer lives at the packhouse, he still serves as the second top alpha of the pack. Recently, he ranked number two in the official Hero Billboard Charts, his highest rank yet.

His gear includes a specialized set of gauntlets designed by Izuku that deliver chemical additives to his sweat, allowing him to produce effects beyond just explosions. He also has a specialized mask that interfaces with his gauntlets as well as his communication lines, allowing him easier access to information without having to move his hands from the fight. His communication earpieces also serve as noise blockers to help protect his ears from the noise of his explosions. They used to also block out people with low-pitched voices, but Izuku also helped to find a workaround for this.

Katsuki suffers from PTSD triggered by seeing his omega and pup be hurt at the hands of villains. Although he is fairly adept at hiding this fact, he is known to be overly protective of his family because of it.

Tenya Iida, AKA: Ingenium (Alpha)
Mated and married to: Ochako Uraraka
Additional family members: Fumiko Uraraka (eldest, only daughter)

Tenya serves as the top alpha, also called the pack alpha, as well as the defacto leader of the pack’s agency. In addition to serving the pack’s agency, he also works closely with his bother, Tensei, to run his family’s agency. Due to the pressures on him, he is always extremely busy, but a dedicated and loyal pack alpha. Currently ranked number ten in the hero ranks.

Momo Yaoyorozu, AKA: Creati (Alpha)
Mated and married to: Shoto Todoroki
Additional family members: Takahiro Yaoyorozu (eldest, only son), Sakura Yaoyorozu (youngest, only daughter)

Momo is the third-in-command of the pack, though she has taken on many of the duties of second-in-command due to Katsuki’s absence from the packhouse, as well as his unwillingness to perform these tasks to begin with. As the only female alpha of the pack, she serves a pivotal role in making sure the pack keeps a welcoming, friendly environment for all. Currently ranked seventeen in the hero ranks.

Shoto Todoroki, AKA: Shoto (Alpha)
Mated and married to: Momo Yaoyorozu
Additional family members: Takahiro Yaoyorozu (eldest, only son), Sakura Yaoyorozu (youngest, only daughter)

Although an alpha, he holds no true leadership position in the pack and is perfectly fine with this fact. Instead, he’s taken on the role of watching over and protecting the ever-growing number of pups in the pack, which he enjoys but has trouble with due to his own sordid past with his family. Currently ranked number four in the hero ranks.

Eijiro Kirishima, AKA: Red Riot (Beta)
Married and mated to: Mina Ashido
Additional family members: Harue Ashido (eldest, only daughter), Mina currently pregnant with second pup, gender unknown

Eijiro serves as the head beta of the pack. Although a goofball, he takes his duties to the pack very seriously and has worked hard to keep the pack together, despite how scattered it is. He is Katsuki’s best, and maybe only true, friend and is often his partner while out on patrol. Currently ranked thirteen in the hero ranks.

Denki Kaminari, AKA: Charge Bolt (Beta)
Mated to: Hitoshi Shinso
Additional family members: N/A

The only member of the pack to have a mate outside of the pack, Denki helps to serve as a bridge between the members and non-members, despite not actually doing anything to bridge the gap. Currently ranked twenty-seven in the hero ranks.

Mina Ashido, AKA: Pinky (Beta)
Married and mated to: Eijiro Kirishima
Additional family members: Harue Ashido (eldest, only daughter), currently pregnant with second pup, gender unknown

The only official female beta of the group, she helps Eijiro bring a certain levity to the packhouse. Currently ranked twenty-one in the hero ranks.

Hanta Sero, AKA: Cellophane (Beta)
Relationship status: Single, but ready to mingle (his preferred partner is a female beta)
Additional family members: N/A

A quiet, but necessary part of the betas. He plays off of the others a lot and adds to chaos, but would be missed if he were gone. Currently ranked forty-two in the hero ranks.

Mezo Shoji, AKA: Tentacole (Beta)
Courting: Wouldn’t you like to know *evil laugh* (actually, he’s quietly courting a tiny female omega, who he met online)
Additional family members: N/A

The calm in the storm for the betas, Mezo acts as the balancing force behind the madness the betas sometimes bring. Eijiro leans on him heavily to keep control of the other betas, and Mezo is happy to help. Currently ranked fifty-seven in the hero ranks.

Ochako Uraraka, AKA: Uravity (Omega)
Married and mated to: Tenya Iida
Additional family members: Fumiko Uraraka (eldest, only daughter)

The unofficial head omega of the pack, if only through her being Tenya’s mate, she takes a very serious role in making sure the pack is running smoothly as well as taking care of the different pack members, if only in that she directs other pack members to take care of one another. A vital part to the pack working as a whole, including the non-members. Currently ranked number six in the hero ranks.

Tsuyu Asui, AKA: Froppy (Omega)
Relationship status: Happily single (she doesn’t have a preferred partner)
Additional family members: N/A (though she does keep a very strong relationship with her siblings, even if they aren’t part of this story)

Due to a hormone imbalance, she actually doesn’t display a lot of omega tendencies. Despite that, she still plays a role in caring for the pack, mostly by caring for the pack pups, which she thoroughly enjoys. Currently ranked nineteen in the hero ranks.

Kyoka Jiro, AKA: Earphone Jack (Omega)
Mated to: Aiya Fujita
Additional family members: N/A

Despite being an official part of the pack, Kyoka actually doesn’t really care one way or the other if she’s a part of it all. She plays her part dutifully, but only really began to be involved with the pack once her mate joined. Currently ranked number thirty-nine in the hero ranks.

Aiya Fujita (Omega)
Mated to: Kyoka Jiro
Additional family members: N/A
Quirk: Shine – She can make sparkles appear around her with a flick of her wrist. She often uses this Quirk during her band performances as part of the special effects.

The first official OC! Also, the newest member of the pack. She joined after the Scoundrel incident, during which time she spent a couple of weeks at the packhouse for protection and found she really enjoyed living with the pack. She and Kyoka mated soon after and she was officially invited to join by Tenya and Eijiro.

Pack Non-Members:

Izuku Midoriya (Omega)
Mated and married to: Katsuki Bakugo
Additional family members: Kazue Midoriya (eldest, only son)

Although not officially part of the pack, Izuku is for all intents and purposes another member, he just enjoys living in his own house instead of the madness that the packhouse can sometimes be. Although he was once wary of the pack’s intentions, he has come to accept that they mean well, some of them just have a hard time doing or saying the right things in delicate situations.

After the events of the first fic, he completed his university degree and became a full-fledged support engineer, specializing in chemical-based Quirk support. He joined Mei’s engineering lab and works with her and her assistants helping heroes, though he also creates support items out of his own personal lab at his and Katsuki’s home. He is the exclusive support gear designer for Katsuki, as well as several other pack members, including Eijiro, Tenya, and Ochako.

Izuku suffers from acute PTSD from both his attack and rape by Ryo Yokoyama as well as his near-kidnapping by Hideki Tsuda. His PTSD can trigger panic attacks, night terrors, and acute anxiety episodes, though over the years he’s gotten a lot better at managing these symptoms. Although he can manage them on his own, his attacks are almost always made a little less severe with Katsuki being nearby. When Katsuki is away for long periods of time, it has been known to trigger depressive episodes in Izuku as well, though these are much rarer than his other symptoms.

Hitoshi Shinso, AKA: Psyche (Omega)
Mated to: Denki Kaminari
Additional family members: N/A

A prominent part of the non-members of the pack, and with absolutely no intention of joining anytime soon, Hitoshi serves as the perfect example of what it means to be a non-member. He interacts with the pack only when necessary, mostly through his quarterly visits to the packhouse for his heat, which he regularly shares with Denki. Other than these brief interacts, he is not known to stay at the packhouse, despite his mate being deeply imbedded in the pack. This arrangement works well for them, as Hitoshi needs his space, even in his close relationship with Denki, and Denki needs to be around people, which he gets plenty of time with the pack.

Hitoshi is a close friend of Izuku’s, despite being on bad terms with Katsuki. He teaches at U.A.’s Hero Course for the 2-B class. Doesn’t have a clear ranking in the hero ranks, due to his status as an underground hero, but he would probably rank fairly high.

Fumikage Tokoyami, AKA: Tsukuyomi (Alpha)
Relationship status: D A R K N E S S
Additional family members: N/A

The only alpha non-member. He is only barely tolerated by most of the alphas in the pack due to Tenya’s enthusiasm for keeping class 1-A together as much as possible. That being said, the betas and omegas love to see him whenever he drops by the packhouse. Currently ranked thirty-one in the hero ranks.

Mashirao Ojiro, AKA: Tailman (Beta)
Mated and married to: Toru Hagakure
Additional family members: Okino Hagakure (eldest, first daughter), Kimura Hagakure (youngest, second daughter)

One half of the only couple not included in the pack. He hangs out with Kaminari a lot, but doesn’t really like to hang out at the packhouse. All the alphas make him nervous. Also he’s too boring for me to do anything with. Currently ranked sixty-one in the hero ranks.

Toru Hagakure, AKA: Invisible Girl (Beta)
Mated and married to: Mashirao Ojiro
Additional family members: Okino Hagakure (eldest, first daughter), Kimura Hagakure (youngest, second daughter)

The other half of the couple not included in the pack. She loves visiting to hang out with the omegas and the betas, but has stopped coming by as often due to caring for her two pups. Also, also another person I wasn’t interested in enough to have to juggle on top of everything else. Currently ranked fifty-three in the hero ranks.

Rikido Sato, AKA: Sugar Man (Beta)
Relationship status: Sadly single (broke up with the beta he was with at the wedding)
Additional family members: N/A

Everyone loves desserts, so he stops by the packhouse every now and then to bake for the pack and try new recipes on them, but he likes having his own space. He’s also a big fan of taking care of the pups and has been known to stop by just to play with them. Currently ranked fifty in the hero ranks.

Pack Pups:

Kazue Midoriya (Alpha)
Family members: Katsuki Bakugo (Father), Izuku Midoriya (Mother)
Quirk: Pinpoint Explosion – He pulls hot air toward him very quickly, forming a bubble of heated air next to a bubble of cold air, then introduces a spark from his palms to create an explosion at range. (A very similar situation to his Quirk happens in the canon: see the Deku vs. Todoroki fight during the Sports Festival for an approximation of how his Quirk works, just imagine it with more fire)

The only son of Katsuki and Izuku, as well as the eldest of the pack pups, Kazue exists in an interesting in-between for the pack. Technically, he is the pack pups’ lead alpha, although he doesn’t currently live at the packhouse, visiting from time to time after school or during Izuku’s heats. I wouldn’t say he’s a natural leader, but people are willing to follow him. It’s a weird sort of charisma. You can blame Katsuki for it.

At the moment, Kazue is studying to become a support engineer from Izuku while also going through Quirk training with Katsuki. It’s unclear whether he will be a hero or not, as he has previously stated he doesn’t want to be hero, but he does want to be a certain someone’s hero, but even he isn’t sure what he wants to do.

Like his parents, Kazue suffers from some PTSD from seeing his omega hurt, as well as for having used his Quirk to hurt a villain, however as more time has gone on, he has recovered significantly and does not typically have any symptoms occur on a regular basis.

Fumiko Uraraka (Beta)
Family members: Tenya Iida (Father), Ochako Uraraka (Mother)
Quirk: Engine – She has engines in the bottom of her feet. This allows her to hover off the ground and even fly for short periods of time. Unlike Tenya, the exhaust pipes are mostly retracted into her body, leaving her soles mostly still level with the ground. She does have to have specialized shoes and spends a lot of time keeping her feet clean though.

The second eldest of the pack pups and undeniably the leader whenever Kazue isn’t around, and a lot of time even when he is around. A natural, if not forceful leader, she’s got Tenya’s loud, commanding voice with Ochako’s sassiness. She’s fun. I like her.

Takahiro Yaoyorozu (Beta)
Family members: Shoto Todoroki (Father), Momo Yaoyorozu (Mother)
Quirk: Frostfire Bombs – He can create palm-sized "bombs" that when activated explode with both ice and fire effects. These bombs draw directly from his own internal heat, meaning if he creates too many of them, he can get very sick. In theory, he can create just fire bombs and just ice bombs, but he's too young to have figured that out. In that case, creating too many fire bombs would lower his internal temperature dangerously, as the bombs would draw from his heat, and the ice bombs would make him too hot because of the same concept.

A quiet members of the pack pups. Definitely more of a follower than a leader, but you know what they say. You gotta watch out for the quiet ones.

Sakura Yaoyorozu (Omega)
Family members: Shoto Todoroki (Father), Momo Yaoyorozu (Mother)
Quirk: Hellfire – Endeavor’s fire Quirk skipped a generation with her, then it got empowered with how strong Shoto and Momo’s Quirks are, meaning she can summon huge amount of fire.

At first glance, she appears to be quiet like her brother. However, she’s been known to get into tussles with Fumiko… and win. She’s a powerhouse.

Harue Ashido (Unpresented)
Family members: Eijiro Kirishima (Father), Mina Ashido (Mother)
Quirk: N/A

The youngest members of the pack pups, until her sibling is born. She’s a lot like Mina. Which is to say, she’s loud and cheerful and probably spends too much time admiring cute stuff.

Okino Hagakure (Beta)
Family members: Mashirao Ojiro (Father), Toru Hagakure (Mother), Kimura Hagakure (younger sister)
Quirk: Invisible Tail – Yup. Yo girl’s got an invisible tail. It’s a lot more slender than Mashirao’s. If you could see it, it would be super cute.

Quiet and reserved. I imagine she likes to make miniatures. Everyone needs a hobby. Almost as old as Kazue. Even though neither of her parents are in the pack, she has an open invitation to join and is considered part of the pack until she decides for herself what she wants to do.

Kimura Hagakure (Omega)
Family members: Mashirao Ojiro (Father), Toru Hagakure (Mother), Okino Hagakure (older sister)
Quirk: Invisibility – Same as her mother’s Quirk. She’s always been a little jealous of Okino, since she can see herself.

Spunky and boisterous like her mom. But also has a bit of a temper. Neither Mashirao nor Toru know where that came from. Even though neither of her parents are in the pack, she has an open invitation to join and is considered part of the pack until she decides for herself what she wants to do.

Members of Class 1-A Not Included:

Yuga Aoyama
Look, he’s weird and I can’t write him and I don’t really know if I want to try. Imagine he’s living a glamorous life somewhere. Or that he was the traitor and he’s wilting away in Tartarus. Whatever floats your boat.

Koji Koda
I’m going to be honest, I kind of just forgot about him. Whoops. Imagine he’s running an animal sanctuary while moonlighting as a hero! He’s living his best life, without me there to mess it all up! It’s for the best, really.

Minoru Mineta
Who? Never heard of him.

Characters Outside the Pack:

So I’m going to use this space to talk about both OCs and canon characters that will probably make an appearance at some point. Note, none of these people are villains. There’s another section for that. None of the following characters have any sort of association with the pack. Except for Suzuki, though sometimes she wishes she didn’t have an association with the pack. Speaking of:

Tomoko Suzuki (Beta)
Relationship Status: Married to the job
Additional family members: N/A
Quirk: Keen Senses – Basically, she can pick up on the little details. She uses this mostly to pick up on microexpressions from people she’s talking to and uses this information to better speak with them, usually to get what she wants.

The pack’s PR representative. She’s severe. Very severe. Don’t want to mess with her severe. But, ultimately, she’s a good person. Just might rub some people the wrong way. Mostly Katsuki. But don’t worry. Katsuki rubs her the wrong way too.

She really is a master at her job and is known for getting things done in a timely and efficient fashion.

Sano Nakano (Beta)
Married and mated to: Jin Nakano
Additional family members: N/A
Quirk: Balance – She has perfect balance. Vertigo is a no-go for her. Also means she is rather good and balancing her priorities.

An old classmate of Izuku’s from when he was in high school. She is a paraplegic and is wheelchair bound, but that has never stopped her. She helped Izuku while he was separated from Katsuki, including watching Kazue while he went to class, and currently runs a daycare. Sassy. Super sassy. Like, sass master. She’s always fun to have around.

Jin Nakano (Alpha)
Married and mated to: Sano Nakano
Additional family members: N/A
Quirk: Command – He actually has the ability to force anyone to do exactly as he says through his alpha commands. Super powerful. Super dangerous. But it always made him uncomfortable, so he never uses it.

Izuku always thought that Jin wasn’t a fan of his. But here’s Jin’s secret: he really cares for Izuku. He hated to see the omega struggling so much, but he never knew how to comfort or help him, so he stayed back. Izuku took this as him being aloof and uncaring, leading to his belief that Jin didn’t like him. In fact, Jin is just super sweet and incredibly awkward about it.

He took up Sano’s last name because he wanted to show his devotion to her.

Mei Hatsume (Beta)
Relationship Status: Dedicated to her babies
Additional family members: Thousands of babies

Mei ran the lab that Izuku worked at for several years before she pushed him into opening his own support agency. She still supports him, mostly because he still helps her organize her babies.

Mai Akage (Alpha)
Relationship Status: Widowed
Additional family members: She has a couple of grown pups as well as several grandpups.
Quirk: Memory Walk – She can allow a person to walk through the memories of another. The person performing the memory walk experiences all the emotions that the person felt during that moment and can see what they remember, but cannot touch anything in the world and cannot change what happened. The experience can be deeply psychologically scarring.

Mai worked on and off with the police on highly sensitive cases to try to track down criminals, however she saw how damaging her Quirk was and decided to become a trauma psychologist to try to help the people she’d inadvertently hurt. Although she’s technically retired, she still does take calls from the Bakugo/Midoriya family. Izuku and Kazue have regular visits with her still and Katsuki shows up as well on occasion. She likes the family a lot, but she also enjoys being grumpy, so she likes to tease them, especially Katsuki.

Mirio Togata, AKA: Lemillion (Alpha)
Married and mated to: Tamaki Amajiki
Additional family members: Keiji Amajiki (eldest, first son), Mirai Amajiki (middle child, only daughter), Hikaru Amajiki (youngest, second son)

The current number one hero in the whole of Japan, that’s right, it’s Mirio! Mirio has only made small appearances up until this point. But now that Katsuki is number two, expect him to be a bigger presence. Also, will confirm here that yes, he is the current holder of One for All. Most people don’t know this.

Tamaki Amajiki, AKA: Suneater (Omega)
Married and mated to: Mirio Togata
Additional family members: Keiji Amajiki (eldest, first son), Mirai Amajiki (middle child, only daughter), Hikaru Amajiki (youngest, second son)

Currently ranked number five in the hero ranks, and super awkward about it. He’s gotten better with his self-esteem and anxiety in some aspects now that he has pups, but is super worse in others. Like Mirio, he’s only made sporadic appearances up until this point, but he’ll be around from now on.

Keiji Amajiki (Alpha)
Family members: Mirio Togata (Father), Tamaki Amajiki (Mother), Mirai Amajiki (younger sister, younger twin), Hikaru Amajiki (younger brother)
Quirk: Familiar – Keiji can summon forth basically a clone of an animal he has previously eaten. Like, the actual animal itself. Which, I know, is weird. But that’s the fun of it. He can only maintain two animals at once at the moment, though he is working on being able to maintain a third.

Even as the alpha, Keiji is the calmest, and definitely the nicest, of the Amajiki siblings. He’s a lot like Mirio, if Mirio was on valium. Wicked smart and confident as hell. He’s going to be a top hero one day, and he knows it.

Miari Amajiki (Omega)
Family members: Mirio Togata (Father), Tamaki Amajiki (Mother), Keiji Amajiki (older brother, older twin), Hikaru Amajiki (younger brother)
Quirk: Manifest – This is just straight Tamaki’s Quirk, but she’s vegetarian, so she basically only manifests plants. She’s metal like that.

Sharp as could be and a little mean. It’s weird looking at Mirio and Tamaki, and even Keiji, and seeing this as a result of that family. Although she’s nothing like her family members, she suffers from a lot of the anxiety issues that Tamaki does as well.

Hikaru Amajiki (Intergender – Beta)
Family members: Mirio Togata (Father), Tamaki Amajiki (Mother), Keiji Amajiki (older brother), Mirai Amajiki (older sister)
Quirk: Redirection – He can absorbs most types of energy, which he can then redirect into any person he touches. Through this redirection, he can heal that person’s injuries or make their bodies stronger, until the energy is spent. There are limits to the amount of energy he can safely absorb as well as the amount of energy he can safely transfer.

A spitfire if there ever was one. He’s determined to be the number two hero someday. Number two because he’s seen how much Mirio has to work for number one and doesn’t want all that responsibility. He is extremely driven and outspoken, though he suffers from a lot of self-esteem issues, which he keeps to himself.

Best friends with Kazue. They’re adorable together.

Naomasa Tsukauchi (Alpha)
Naomasa has been promoted since the canon series! He has the job of Inspector now, and he handles a lot of highly sensitive cases. Recently, he’s been working with heroes to track down two large organizations working in the underworld of society: The League of Villains and the strange family run by a man known as Father.

Tsunagu Hakamada, AKA: Best Jeanist (Alpha)
Katsuki’s once-mentor and the former number two hero. Technically, he retired, but he was recently brought back to help with the ongoing investigation into the League of Villains. He’s been working with Katsuki in particular, since they have as good a rapport as people get with Katsuki. Although he only made a couple brief appearances in the anthology, he’ll be around for this upcoming story.

Shohei Ito (Alpha) – DECEASED
A detective who worked under Naomasa and once worked closely with Katsuki on the Yokoyama/Sugawara case. It was revealed he is the product of the villain family run by Father, though he resisted his so-called “family’s” influence and was killed for it.

Villains:

Hiro Sugawara, AKA: Father (Beta)
Mated to: Hina Sugawara
Additional family members: Wouldn’t you like to know!
Quirk: Compelling Scent – His scent compels alphas and betas to obey his will. It often presents as the victim wanting to please Hiro. Omegas are not affected by this Quirk due to their strong sense of smell.

A plain man who just wants to build a maintain a happy family.

Sick.

Real sick.

You’ll get to know him better soon enough!

Hina Sugawara, AKA: Mother (Omega) – DECEASED
Mated to: Hiro Sugawara
Additional family members: Not telling here!
Quirk: Sweet Pheromones – She could copy the scent of anyone she met so perfectly she would look like them. This only worked on alphas and betas, as omegas’ sense of smell is too strong.

The matriarch of Hiro’s twisted family. She couldn’t have pups of her own, so she would track down pups with mothers she saw as unworthy. This mostly meant single mothers trying to raise their pups on their own, though she had a particular hatred for any male omega who had pups, since even she, as a female omega, could not.

After being caught by Katsuki and jailed for her crimes, she took her own life. She has upwards of fifty confirmed murders, mostly young pups and omegas.

Ryo Yokoyama, birth name: Daisuke Abe (Alpha) – DECEASED
Quirk: Primal – He had an ambundance of alpha hormones in his body, presenting him as what once would have been known as a “prime alpha.” He had increased strength, increased senses, and could paralyze anyone he bit with the hormones in his saliva.

Once Hina’s attack dog, she would send him out to kidnap the omegas and pups she had singled out. This included Izuku and Kazue. He raped and nearly killed Izuku but was stopped by Katsuki and Eijiro. For several weeks, he hunted Izuku and other omegas, though Hina ultimately killed him when he accidentally killed a pup while on a hunt.

Hideki Tsuda, birth name: Satoru Shimizu (Alpha/Beta/Omega)
Quirk: Pack – He has three “aspects,” an alpha, a beta, and an omega. Only one of these aspects at a time is completely sentient, though they are all always connected. If the two non-sentient aspects get too far from the sentient one, they melt away. Sentience can change with only a thought. Damage inflicted on one aspect does not show up on the others, however that aspect will need to recover from the injuries as a normal person would.

One of Hiro’s and Hina’s “pups.” Hina sent him to kidnap Izuku a second time, which he was very nearly successful at. Katsuki stopped him the first time, Izuku the second, and he is currently in jail for his crimes. Although a high-risk offender, he is not in Tartarus at the moment, spending his time at a mental facility instead. This was done upon Naomasa’s request.

Hiku (???)
Quirk: Unclear. Rumor has it, he is able to manipulate the gravitational forces around objects, but this has not been confirmed yet.

The mysterious leader of the League of Villains. Assumed to be one of All for One’s “side projects.” In the past, he has hinted at having some sort of connection to Hiro, though this is mostly unconfirmed.

OVERVIEW OF “THOSE UNDER THE SAME STARS”

This is mostly for people who haven’t read the first fic in this series, or if you just want a quick reminder of what’s gone down so far.

Okay, so story starts with 4-year-old pup Kazue having just escaped from an alpha, who has hurt his mom. He’s looking for help and happens to run into Katsuki and Eijiro. The two heroes respond to the scene and Katsuki finds out that Kazue’s omega is none other than Izuku, whom he had a relationship with from basically childhood until he broke things off five years previously. Izuku is badly hurt and is rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, Katsuki realizes that Kazue is his pup and takes him home to his packhouse.

While he gets to know Kazue and settles into the unfamiliar role of alpha and father, he learns that a Ito is the detective assigned to tracking down the alpha who hurt Izuku, the alpha having escaped long before Katsuki and Eijiro arrived. He also finds out that Izuku has been placed in a medically-induced coma because his injuries were so severe. The doctors ask him to sign off on a procedure that will allow them to administer a treatment that will stop any pregnancies that may have occurred as a result of Izuku’s rape. Katsuki signs the forms, but doesn’t feel good about it.

Later, once Izuku’s injuries are recovered enough, the doctors try to wake him back up, but it doesn’t work. The police bring in a specialized individual, Mai, who can allow someone to walk through Izuku’s memories to see if there are clues as to why he isn’t waking up, as well as to get more information about who attacked him. Katsuki volunteers for this venture, even after it is explained that such an experience would be heavily traumatic for him.

He walks through Izuku’s memories, finally getting to see the alpha who hurt Izuku and Kazue, realizing that the alpha kept Kazue nearby, but only ever seemed interested in Izuku. The experience of watching Izuku and Kazue be hurt and not being able to help them is hell, but Katsuki makes it through and is able to report what he saw to the police. The police are confounded, but Mai tells Katsuki it might have something to do with the alpha’s overclaiming of Izuku. Katsuki bites the small scent gland on Izuku’s wrist as a way to try to overrule the alpha’s claim.

The next day, Katsuki is called back to the hospital, as Izuku is awake and has gone feral. He confronts Izuku and manages to calm him, though a tranquilizer team darts both the omega and Katsuki when he turns on them.

Later, Katsuki and Izuku reunite, but it’s awkward to say the least. Katsuki is able to reunite Izuku and Kazue for the first time since the attack but feels he has no place with them.

A few days after, Izuku confronts both Katsuki and Eijiro, accusing them of bringing Kazue into the pack without his permission. He feels like he is trapped by the pack, though both Eijiro and Katsuki reassure him that they aren’t trying to trap him, they were just doing what they thought they could to help him and Kazue. While Izuku adamantly refuses to join the pack, he does agree to go live at the packhouse for a little while to recover from the remainder of his injuries and for help with Kazue.

Katsuki takes Izuku back to his apartment to pick up a few things and he realizes just how much the omega had to scrape by for just the basics. They go to the packhouse, where the pack has turned the guest room into almost a hero shrine for Izuku, Katsuki having told them that he liked heroes. Each of the pack members introduce themselves to Izuku, who is still wary of everything.

That night, Kazue comes running into Katsuki’s room, telling him something is wrong with Izuku. Katsuki finds Izuku in the middle of a night terror, which he tries to wake Izuku from, though unsuccessfully. Ochako and the omegas come in and eventually help wake Izuku, who immediately devolves into a panic attack. They help Izuku calm down, after which they try to let him rest. Izuku asks Katsuki to lay in bed with him that night, as he feels safe with the alpha nearby. Katsuki apologizes for all that has happened to him in his absence.

Katsuki and Izuku slowly figure out how to handle each other now that they’re back in each other’s lives, but it’s awkward to say the least. Neither seems to know what to do with the other, as Katsuki wants to protect Izuku and keep him safe while still harboring feelings for him, and Izuku is distrustful of Katsuki for leaving him in the first place and is angry at the alpha for signing off on a procedure that could render him infertile without his permission, even though he feels warm and safe with the alpha nearby. They navigate these murky waters, sometimes unsuccessfully.

Meanwhile, Katsuki continues to try to track down Izuku’s attacker, eventually learning his name is Yokoyama, though they can’t find out anything else about him. Tsukauchi tells Katsuki that Izuku’s attack may be linked to a series of murdered omegas and missing pups.

Katsuki eventually decides he wants to try courting Izuku, though the omega is initially standoffish to this idea. He agrees to go along with it, and Katsuki tells him he’ll prove just how much Izuku means to him. Although their first date isn’t exactly smooth, they do have a good, quiet dance together at the end of the night.

A few nights later, Yokoyama appears at the packhouse. Katsuki is able to stop him from harming either Izuku or Kazue, though everyone is shocked at his ability to get so close. The pack is riled up by the attack and goes on the offensive to try to find Yokoyama.

Katsuki realizes he doesn’t know a lot about male omegas, despite having known Izuku for a long time, and tracks down Shinso and Amajiki, both male omegas, to try to learn more. Izuku catches onto this and thinks that it’s a very sweet gesture.

Just after that, Katsuki is told to come to a crime scene immediately, where is arrives to find Yokoyama dead, along with a little pup and another omega. It’s believed that the pup was killed by Yokoyama, who was then killed by someone close to him, a partner maybe, and that the partner proceeded to brutally kill the omega. The news of a partner startles Katsuki, but he keeps this new from Izuku, only telling him that the alpha who hurt him is dead.

Izuku asks for them to take a step forward in their relationship by requesting that Katsuki scent him. Katsuki tries to do so, but Kazue walks in on them and thinks that Katsuki is attacking Izuku like Yokoyama did. He responds by unleashing a fiery explosion that destroys the rooms and hurts Katsuki. In the chaos and the stress, he presents as an alpha.

In the hospital, Katsuki comforts both Izuku and Kazue on the pup’s presentation, telling the pup that although he is an alpha, that doesn’t make him a bad person, that he can be a good alpha. Katsuki realizes a lot of his shortcomings as an alpha as he talks to Kazue about his presentation.

On their way out of the hospital, Katsuki, Izuku, and Kazue are photographed by the media, and Suzuki suggests making an official announcement of their courting. They do so with a photograph session, the cameras inadvertently catching the two in a very sweet, intimate moment, which is then immediately plastered all over the media.

Meanwhile, the case on Yokoyama’s partner has gone cold, as nobody can seem to figure out who they are and what they want, though no more omegas or pups have gone missing or turned up dead at this point.

While out shopping for a courting gift for Katsuki, Izuku is confronted by an omega woman who basically calls him a whore and tells him he’s a disgrace. Startled by the encounter, Izuku calls Katsuki in almost a blind panic and the alpha swoops in to take him home. Later, Izuku realizes he recognized the woman and Katsuki lets Tsukauchi know the investigate her.

With their relationship going steady, Izuku takes Katsuki to meet his best friend, Sano, who runs a daycare Kazue used to go to. Sano is judgmental of Katsuki, but realizes that he is doing his best to make Izuku happy, so she doesn’t complain for the moment.

A few days later, Katsuki tries to give Izuku a courting gift and the omega tries to give him one in return. This sparks an argument, as Katsuki feels the gift isn’t necessary and Izuku put himself in danger to get the gift. Hurt, Izuku storms out of the packhouse and goes for a walk. After hours of not hearing from the omega, Katsuki goes to find him. He finds Izuku wandering the streets and apologizes to him, also telling him that it’s not safe for him to run off, revealing to him that they believe Yokoyama had a partner.

Several days later, while walking home to get ready for a date with Katsuki, having just dropped Kazue off at Sano’s, Izuku gets a call from Katsuki’s phone, except it’s not Katsuki on the other end. The voice tells Izuku that he’s captured Katsuki and he’ll kill the alpha unless Izuku comes to the alleyway where he was first kidnapped by Yokoyama. Terrified of what could happen to the alpha, Izuku goes to the alleyway.

Meanwhile, Katsuki, having not been kidnapped by anyone, realizes that Izuku hasn’t made it home and uses a tracker on the omega’s phone to find where he is, realizing that he’s near the alleyway where he was attacked. Knowing he wouldn’t willingly go back to that alleyway, he calls in help from the pack and goes to save him.

Izuku arrives in the alleyway and is confronted by a beta, who tells him he tricked the omega with recorded voices of the alpha. Izuku manages to fight off the beta and nearly gets away, though the beta uses his Quirk, which allows him to summon two clones of himself, to capture and subdue the omega. He ties Izuku up and tells him that Mother is expecting him. Before he can take Izuku away, Katsuki arrives, though he is slowed down by the two clones, allowing the beta to slip away with Izuku.

He shoves Izuku into a car and attempts to escape, but Katsuki and Shinso catch up with him and stop him, rescuing Izuku. Izuku begs Katsuki to take him home, which he says he will, and the omega begs Katsuki for his pup. Katsuki hands Izuku over to his pack to take to the safety of the packhouse while he goes to pick up Kazue from Sano’s daycare.

While the attack was going on, someone who looked like Izuku picks Kazue up from the daycare. Once they drive away though, Kazue realizes the omega isn’t his mom. She takes him to a house he’s never seen before and treats him as if she was really Izuku and he really was her pup. Kazue plays along, mostly because he doesn’t know what else to do. A stranger comes to the house and calls the omega “Mother,” yelling at her, asking her what she’s done, then storming out when she doesn’t give him satisfactory answers.

Meanwhile, Katsuki arrives at the daycare and realizes Sugawara, who can use her scent to look like other people, has taken Kazue. He tells Izuku this, Izuku breaking down at the realization his pup is gone. Katsuki kisses Izuku and tells him he loves him, then goes out to look for Kazue, promising that he’ll find the pup.

While out looking for Kazue, Katsuki receives a text message with an address from an unknown number. He goes to the address on a whim and finds Kazue there, as well as Izuku. He’d gotten news that the beta who had kidnapped Izuku had escaped custody and thinks that he must have gone back and taken Izuku after all, then too late realizes it’s not Izuku at all.

Meanwhile, said beta shows up at the packhouse and attempts to take Izuku, though Izuku, Ochako, and Momo fend him off. Izuku checks where Katsuki is using their phone tracker and realizes he’s in a part of town he shouldn’t be. He tells Ochako he thinks Katsuki is in danger.

While all this is going on, Katsuki stops the fake Izuku, Sugawara, from killing him, though she eventually uses her Quirk to trick him into believing she really is Izuku and stabs him in the chest, collapsing his lung and nearly killing him. Kazue, reacting to seeing his alpha hurt, uses his Quirk on Sugawara, severely burning her and giving Katsuki the opening to knock her unconscious. A fire starts in the house and Katsuki tells Kazue to go, as he’s too weak to take the pup to safety. Kazue does as he is told, effectively leaving Katsuki to die in the burning house. However, Shoto and Tenya arrive at the house, having been directed by Izuku’s call for help, and saves Katsuki, Kazue, and Sugawara.

In the hospital, the family reunites and reaffirms their love for one another. Izuku tells Katsuki he wants to move into his parent’s old abandoned house, as the alpha had suggested, but only as long as Katsuki comes with him and Kazue. Katsuki agrees to this arrangement.

Later, once Katsuki is recovered, he responds to a fire in a suburban area. He goes inside the house to see if everyone made it out and finds Ito dead. After the fire is out and some investigating is done, it’s discovered that Ito was one of Mother’s children after all, that he’d probably been feeding Mother information about Izuku and Kazue. They also discover that he was probably compelled to kill himself by someone he called “Father.” Katsuki realizes that even with Yokoyama and Sugawara dead, it isn’t over.

He goes home to find that Izuku has fully healed from his injuries, the two sharing a happy moment, though Katsuki finds himself thinking about Father, and whether he is a threat to Izuku and Kazue still.

OVERVIEW OF “THE UNIVERSE WE SHARE ANTHOLOGY”

Again, for the people who didn’t read the anthology. Most of the stuff in the anthology was either just fun things or small wrap-up type stories, but there was some information that would be helpful to know. This is that information:

Katsuki, Izuku, and Kazue all moved into Katsuki’s parents old house after renovating it by adding a gym for Katsuki, an engineering workshop for Izuku, and adding a guest bedroom.

Kazue went to school for the first time and met Hikaru Amajiki, Mirio and Tamaki’s youngest child. While at first they didn’t really get along, Hikaru comforted Kazue one day during a thunderstorm and they’ve been inseparable since.

Izuku graduated from university and received his support engineer license. He joined Hatsume’s support agency.

Katsuki taught Izuku how to defend himself against attackers, as well as how to fight off anyone who tries to mess with him. The training is ongoing, and Izuku’s pretty tough!

Kazue realizes he doesn’t want to be a hero.

Katsuki and Izuku get married.

Izuku learns that Katsuki at one point might have had suicidal tendencies while they were separated. He makes Katsuki promise to tell him if he ever feels that way again, though Katsuki reassures him that he hasn’t felt that way since reuniting.

Kazue begins Quirk training with Hikaru, as their Quirks are work extremely well together, and Kazue realizes he might want to be a hero after all, if only to protect Hikaru.

Katsuki achieves his highest hero rank yet, number two overall, and learns that Father’s name is Hiro Sugawara.

While out playing with Hikaru, Kazue runs into Father, who uses his Quirk to control him. He compels Kazue to tell him about Hikaru, specifically his name and his Quirk. Father reveals that his Quirk isn’t effective on omegas after claiming that Hikaru is an omega, since his Quirk doesn’t work on him. Father tries to kidnap both Kazue and Hikaru, but Hikaru’s older siblings arrive and he instead threatens to have Kazue hurt Hikaru then kill himself if Hikaru tells anyone about what happened. Then, he tells Kazue to forget what happened, and he leaves the two to Keiji and Mirai.

Aaaaaand, that’s a wrap! I think that’s all the super important stuff you need to know before diving into the story! I hope it’s a story you can enjoy! See you on the other side!

Chapter Text

It was dark and it was cold and there was an overwhelming sense of dread hanging in the air.

Izuku knew this place. He knew it so very well. He’d been here time and time again. He knew where it had started. He knew where it was going to end. The feeling of dread was his own, the culmination of just how many times he’d faced this darkness and this cold.

And so, he wasn’t surprised when he opened his eyes and he stared up into the grinning face of an alpha, framed by thin curtains of dark hair. He wasn’t surprised when he felt the alpha’s hand pressing him down. He wasn’t surprised when he heard Kazue crying, as if from far away, beyond his reach.

He wasn’t surprised.

He simply let the dread wash over him.

- - -

With a start, he woke, as he had so many times before.

He was laying in bed, pressed against a solid mass of rippling muscle, warm and slightly sticky with sweat. Katsuki could sleep through just about anything. Perhaps to his benefit and Izuku’s detriment. So the alpha slept as Izuku regained his breath, as he centered himself back into his own bed, in his home, with his alpha. His alpha who cared for and loved him and would never let anything like that happen to him again.

He sucked in a breath, tasted caramel, chilies, woodfire. Pressed himself closer to the alpha. Let a shudder travel through his body, let a whine and a sob travel up his throat. Whether it was the movement of his sobbing or the noise or the scent of his distress, a combination of all three, Katsuki shifted.

He struggled in bed for a moment, lifted his head. Turned over, arms winding around Izuku, pulling him to his chest.

“Hey,” his voice was gruff with sleep, “what’s wrong?”

Izuku shook his head. “Nothing. Just a nightmare.”

The alpha shifted again, growled. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” The omega leaned up a little to catch a stronger smell from the alpha.

He wanted to bathe in that smell. To wipe away all traces of the dread that sometimes lingered after the nightmares. But no matter how much he drank in Katsuki’s scent, there still remained a sour note to it all. He sighed, tried to catch the alpha’s eyes in the dark. Despite clearly being somewhat awake, Katsuki’s eyes were closed, his hand traveling in sleepy, meandering circles along Izuku’s back. His fingers were calloused. But they were warm and strong and safe. Izuku curled up into them.

The alpha growled. Tangled his legs with Izuku’s to draw him even closer. “My omega,” he growled, nuzzled into Izuku’s scent gland. The omega said nothing. He just let the alpha slip back into sleep, tried not to remember the dark and the cold and the dread.

- - -

Something clearly shattering against the floor woke both omega and alpha with a jolt. The muttered curse that followed had Katsuki kicking the blankets off with a growl.

“Kazue!” The alpha called, going immediately to see what had happened, leaving Izuku in the bedroom. Izuku watched after him for a moment, then he laid back down, wrapped his arm around the large, long pillow they slept with.

He laid there for a time, until Katsuki returned, holding a tray with breakfast on it. Even as he set it down, Izuku hugged the pillow tighter. “What broke?” He muttered.

“Picture frame. Kazue said it fell off the wall on its own,” Katsuki clicked his tongue. “Probably was running through the house again.”

“Yeah, well, we shouldn’t really be that surprised.”

Katsuki nudged him. “Sit up. Eat something.”

Izuku growled, but the taste of Katsuki’s cooking in the air eventually roused him. He sat up, yawned, caught the alpha looking at him, something dark and guarded in his expression. He’d long stopped asking what Katsuki was looking at in those moments, those pauses when he clearly was focused on something. But those moments were fleeting and weren’t nearly as common as they had been once upon a time. So even then, when he caught Katsuki’s eyes and saw something like sorrow shadowed by forced indifference, he didn’t say anything.

He did, however, take the alpha’s hand, rub against it, pull him back into bed, nuzzling into his scent gland. “Alpha,” he purred, feeling a shiver come over Katsuki at his voice.

Just as the shudder faded, the alpha shook his head. “Eat, Izuku.”

“Alpha.”

“Eat first. Plus Kazue’s still here.”

Izuku whined, but allowed Katsuki to lean away, for the alpha to hand him a bowl of rice and eggs. He sat back, dug into the food happily as Katsuki pulled out his phone.

“I’ve got overnight patrol later. Won’t be home for dinner.”

“Will I see you for breakfast?”

Katsuki wrinkled his nose. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Izuku pushed some of the rice around. “I want to go spend some time at the packhouse.”

At this, the alpha lowered his phone, turned to face Izuku. Waited, though for what, he didn’t quite know. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He shook his head, lifted a shoulder. “Don’t know. Just a feeling I have. Might be post-heat hormonal stuff.” It was true enough that every now and then after his heat, Izuku felt a strange urge to be around the pack, specifically around the other omegas. It wasn’t completely uncommon for omegas in a pack to seek out comfort and companionship with the other omegas after a heat, but since Izuku had never actually joined, it was always a little surprising when it did happen. And the fact that they were a little over two weeks out from his last heat did make it all the stranger. But, he had that weird feeling crawling in his gut. Like he didn’t want to be alone. Like he needed to be near people he trusted.

Perhaps it was his dream. Maybe he was just feeling a little vulnerable. He hadn’t dreamed like that in a few months, and such nightmares were few and far between nowadays. Yes, that was probably it.

Katsuki studied Izuku for a moment longer, before nodding once. “We’ll pack everyone up once Kazue gets home from school. It’ll give the pack time to arrange a guest bedroom for us.”

“Mmm,” Izuku nibbled at his breakfast, peered up at Katsuki from over his bowl. “So. Just the two of us for the day?”

“All day,” a smirk lifted the corner of Katsuki’s lip. “You thinking about something, omega?”

“Actually, yes,” Izuku let the alpha lean a little closer, then said, “I’d like to go down to the lab and set up some of the new equipment. Help me out?”

The realization that Izuku was being facetious pulled Katsuki’s smirk into a grimace. “All right, fine. But you know, you still need a name for the new lab sooner rather than later, otherwise Suzuki’s going to make one up for you.”

“I know,” Izuku grumbled. “But it’s not that simple! You can’t just give it a name and call it a day.”

Katsuki shrugged. “How’d you come up with Kazue’s name?”

Izuku set his bowl down on the side table with a little more force than necessary. “That is not the same thing.”

“You did a pretty good job on him. Naming a business can’t be worse than naming a pup.”

Izuku grumbled wordlessly under his breath.

- - -

After a long day working on the lab, Katsuki and Izuku got home with enough time for Katsuki to take a shower and crawl into bed for a nap before Kazue got home. Izuku spent a little time in his home engineering lab tinkering with a few pet projects of his before setting them aside and going upstairs to slip into bed with Katsuki. The alpha growled at his presence, but pulled him to his chest and settled right back to sleep without a fuss.

An alarm woke them about an hour later, Izuku rolling out of bed to be downstairs for when Kazue got home. Katsuki sat up as well, but Izuku told him to rest for a little while longer. They’d called the pack to tell them they’d be there for dinner, but that was still a couple hours away. Still had some time for Katsuki to sleep and for them to get their things together.

Kazue arrived home soon after, Izuku immediately instructing him to go into the tatami room to work on his homework. The front room of their house was the only one free of distractions, such as toys, televisions, or engineering projects. After cutting up some fruit for them to share, Izuku joined him, helping the pup in the places where he stumbled. He was struggling in math, so Izuku made it a point to go over things with him. Although clearly unhappy with the homework, Kazue was mollified by the presence of the apple slices, which he munched on between problems.

When he had finished, Izuku said, “Go up to your room and pack a bag. We’re going to spend a couple days at the packhouse.”

Kazue paused to raise an eyebrow at him. He was old enough to understand why the family went to the packhouse once every three months or so and why he wasn’t allowed to see his parents for up to a week during that time. Izuku could almost see questions running through the young pup’s mind about the timing, but instead of voicing any of them, he wrinkled his nose and went upstairs to pack his things.

Izuku was cleaning up when Katsuki stomped down the stairs. He yawned, huge canine teeth glinting under the lights. Izuku followed the line of his teeth down his throat to his scent gland, just barely visible under the collar of his shirt. It was a good sight. One he still hadn’t quite gotten used to after all the years they’d been together. He fingered his wedding band and looked away before Katsuki noticed him staring.

“You going to need any special items for the trip?” Katsuki asked, his way of asking if Izuku thought they’d need to bring heat toys with them.

“No. Don’t think so. Just clothes.” Izuku flicked water off his hands. “This isn’t a secondary heat thing, don’t get your hopes up.”

“You’re the one who got them up this morning,” Katsuki grumbled. His stomping around the house made a lot more sense when Izuku considered his frustration.

When the alpha brushed past him, Izuku caught his arm and kissed his cheek, then nuzzled into his scent gland, releasing some calming pheromones. Katsuki reciprocated almost instinctually after so many years, matching his calming scent with his own reassuring one. You are safe with me, his scent said, while Izuku’s said, I’m here, everything is okay now. It was a silent conversation they had often. One that never failed to seep into Izuku’s bones, to warm the aching parts of him. The casual touches, the lingering pauses, these unspoken words, they were his favorite parts of being with Katsuki. Katsuki was never afraid to tell him he loved him. And he was certainly never afraid of showing it. But these moments. The unconscious moments, the silence steeped in comfort and ease, those were the moments that Izuku truly knew.

This particular moment only lasted so long – a breath – before the alpha moved away and Izuku went to put everything away in his lab. Once the house was cleaned up, he went upstairs and found Katsuki throwing a few shirts into their traveling bag, Izuku adding his own clothing, before he went to check on Kazue and helped him pack up. Then, before he knew it, they were in the car and on the way to the packhouse.

- - -

The drive to the packhouse was boring, but it always was. They only lived a couple of minutes away, close enough that they had all walked the distance many times before. But something was off about Kacchan and his Mom that afternoon. Something had been off since that morning, though Kazue couldn’t quite put a finger on it. He had wondered if his Mom was going into heat again, but that seemed unlikely. He didn’t have that horrible scent he got when he was close to heat, so this was something else. Maybe something had happened? Something dangerous? Or maybe his Mom was having panic attacks again?

Kazue chewed at his lip as he wondered this, wondered if his Mom was anxious because he’d asked about middle school and high school. You don’t need to worry about high school for a few more years, his Mom had told him. Maybe he should have listened.

When they got to the packhouse, Kacchan looked into the rearview mirror, a motion that Kazue knew meant he was looking at the pup. “Go ahead inside and make sure the pack knows we’re here. We’ll be there in a moment.”

“All right,” Kazue pushed the car door open, checked to make sure his Mom was getting out of the car, caught a little smile from his omega, and felt a little better. He went up to the packhouse steps, thinking it was a bit quiet really, and went inside.

“HA HA HA!”

Kazue hadn’t had time to close the door all the way before something smacked him full in the head and had him falling off his feet.

“You! You dare intrude on my territory?”

Kazue rubbed his back, glaring down at the pillow that had been thrown at him, and realized the entire first floor was embroiled in war. Furniture had been overturned, pillows stacked up into little mounds, the floor marked up with ash and dust. In the center of everything, Uncle Kiri was already laid out in defeat, his eyes rolled up, tongue lolling from his mouth. Sitting atop of him was little Harue, the youngest of the pack pups much too busy drumming her hands on her father’s chest to notice anything else around her. On either side of the defeated beta, there were two clear camps. Fumiko hovered above the couch, using her rockets to keep herself in the air, while her two minions, Okino and Kimaru, were jumping up and down on the upturned cushions. On the other side, hunkered behind a table turned on its side, were the two siblings Takahiro and Sakura. While Fumiko glared at Kazue, Sakura was violently gesturing him over to their side.

“Kazue! We need backup! Hurry!”

“Ha! It’s too late!” Fumiko propelled herself up a little higher. “You’ve already lost this battle!”

“Kazue! Help! Now! Please!”

Kazue glanced between the two warring sides, then to little Harue and Uncle Kiri. As if sensing he was watching, Uncle Kiri twitched and Harue laughed so hard she flopped over onto her back.

Unimpressed, Kazue kicked his shoes off. “Your mom’s going to be mad, Fumiko. Should just clean this all up.”

“Hmmph!” Fumiko crossed her arms. “Just like you to back away from a fight! What are you, some kind of coward?”

Kazue shot her a look as he stepped up to Uncle Kiri. He poked the beta, who groaned unhappily, but was very much alive. “Whatever’s happening, I’m not going to help either of you. Besides, you have to be careful with Harue.” He picked up the little pup, but the moment he did, Okino suddenly let out a shriek as Sakura took her chance and leaped up.

She held out her hands and unleashed a plume of flames, aimed right for Fumiko. Fumiko shrieked and dropped to the couch, landing on Okino’s invisible tail, the other beta pup screaming in pain and immediately flinging Fumiko away.

“She’s down! Finish her, Takahiro!” Sakura called, just as Fumiko sailed toward Kazue.

Kazue yelped, spinning away to protect Harue, only to be smacked full in the face by a frostfire bomb, which immediately exploded, rippling with ice and fire over Kazue’s body just as Fumiko collided with his back.

For a moment, there was silence, as the dust settled. Fumiko rolled over, saw Kazue’s half-frozen limbs and singed clothing. Then, Harue let out another peal of laughter and Kazue looked up.

“Uh oh,” he heard someone say, but didn’t really care who had said it.

“DUCK!” Okino tried to throw herself over her sister, missed, and rolled off the couch, as the younger, invisible omega pup yelped and dropped to the ground. Both Sakura and Takahiro dove behind the table, and Fumiko scrambled to fly back to her side of the battlefield, as Kazue raised his hands.

The front door opened. “Hey, firecracker, come help your mom with—”

FWOOM!

An explosion shoved back all of the furniture, sending all the pups, minus Harue, tumbling away, clearing the battlefield in one fell swoop. In the aftermath, Kazue lowered his hands, huffed at both the Yaoyorozu siblings and Fumiko and her minions. Then, he turned around, and froze.

In the explosion, Uncle Kiri had been tossed aside and apparently had smacked Kacchan right in the head, sending him flat on his back. That was, however, not really the problem. Because standing over Uncle Kiri and his Dad’s unmoving bodies, was his Mom.

“Uh oh,” someone said again as his Mom surveyed the devastation that was the living room. The more he looked, the more his face turned red. Eventually, his gaze landed on Kazue, who tucked his hands behind his back.

His Mom put his hands on his hips. “You pups,” he hissed, “are in so much trouble!”

Harue fell to the side she was laughing so hard.

- - -

The pack, apparently having been in the gardens enjoying the cool temperatures, came back into the packhouse and found Izuku telling off all six pups, who kept their heads down as they sat in front of the enraged omega. Behind them, Katsuki was yelling at Kirishima for not watching the pups properly, even though everyone knew Kirishima was awful at watching the pups anyway.

Meanwhile, Harue just laughed and laughed and laughed, until she spotted her mom, then she cooed for the beta, reaching for her eagerly. Seeing this, Izuku paused in his ranting to scoop the pup up and hand her to the very pregnant Mina. Then he turned back to the pups and continued his lecture.

Eventually all the pups were set to clean up the mess as best they could. Luckily there wasn’t any major damage, just several scorch marks that could have come from Kazue’s explosion, or Fumiko’s rockets, or Takahiro’s frostfire bombs, or Sakura’s fire blasts. Only Okino and Kimaru, who were visiting while their parents were both out on patrol, were in the clear in that aspect, though they had definitely egged Fumiko on in her attempt to conquer the packhouse.

Once he was done telling off the pups, Izuku immediately spun around and told off every single member of the pack for leaving Kirishima of all people to watch the pups and for not checking up on them when it had to have been quite obvious from the noise, or maybe even the lack of noise, that something was wrong. Even if he wasn’t technically part of the pack, everyone respected him enough to let him rant, standing quite still under his scrutiny.

Yes, just a normal day at the packhouse, indeed.

When all the cleaning had been done, Izuku collapsed into a recliner, flinging his arm over his eyes and groaning. He paused to just try to relax, lifted his arm slightly as he felt Katsuki sit next to him. The alpha was nursing a bit of wounded pride at having been taken off guard by Kazue’s explosion and Kirishima being thrown at him. Not that anyone could have expected that upon entering the packhouse. Or, maybe they should have considered it.

“Just wanted to remind you,” the alpha grumbled, “this was your idea.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and Katsuki chuckled, a low rumble meant only for him. “This is your pack, not mine.”

“Heh,” Katsuki sat back, a smug look on his face. He intertwined their fingers, rubbed his thumb along the back of Izuku’s hand. “Yeah it is.”

For a moment, they sat there in silence, reveling in each other’s company, listening to each other breathe. Then, Katsuki brought Izuku’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “After dinner, I’ll be going out.”

“All right. Things seem like they’ve calmed down at least. Here’s hoping nothing else goes wrong.”

“Nothing will go wrong.” Katsuki sounded so assured. As if by him simply saying it, it would be a quiet night for them. “Don’t know when I’ll be home in the morning, but if I’m not too spent, I’ll try to make breakfast.”

“You don’t have to get me breakfast,” Izuku sighed.

Katsuki studied him, clearly mulling over something he wanted to say. Only when Izuku raised an eyebrow at him did he speak, “Something’s clearly off if you wanted to come to the packhouse. So I’ll spoil you if I want to and I’ll make you some damn breakfast.”

“Nothing’s off and you don’t have to make breakfast.”

“All right, well try and stop me.”

Izuku rolled his eyes again and Katsuki leaned in to kiss his temple. “Jerk,” he teased, and Katsuki smirked in response.

Yaoyorozu called everyone to dinner soon after. A large number of the pack were home, meaning the table was completely full, with an extra chair pulled up for Takahiro. Okino and Kimura were supposed to be picked up by Ojiro soon but while they were still there, all the pack pups were set on one side of the table, Fumiko and Sakura allowed to glare at one another. Katsuki sat as close as Izuku as he could, pressing into his space so much that halfway through the meal, Izuku elbowed him repeatedly, each time a little harder, until the alpha got the message and backed off. If the rest of the pack noticed, they said nothing, wrapped up in their own conversations. The others took seats next to their partners, closer friends, or just anywhere they could grab a seat before it was taken. It was a familiar song and dance, played out night after night. It was, admittedly, nice to be a part of that dance, even if Izuku didn’t actually have to participate as Katsuki always got whatever seats he wanted for them.

Jiro’s partner, Fujita, leaned across the table to talk with Izuku, always taking every opportunity to connect with another omega. Even though she had joined the pack over a year earlier, she still seemed unsteady around some of the members, Katsuki in particular. She tried to fight this by being as close to Izuku as she could be, and Izuku spoke cordially with her, though he could tell they were never going to be best friends. But that was fine. He wasn’t best friends with everyone in the pack. Nobody expected that. Those that he was close to, he leaned in to converse with while keeping a close eye on the glaring contest between Sakura and Fumiko, especially since every now and then Fumiko would try to stare down Kazue too, though the alpha pup never reciprocated.

All in all, it was a successful meal, though Izuku sat there knowing he’d be saying good night to Katsuki at the end of it and sending him on his way to patrol. Katsuki had gone on innumerable patrols while they were courting and after they had been married. But it never got easier for Izuku to watch him leave the house, knowing he may never return again. It did help that he was the number two hero, that he knew just how capable Katsuki was, and that the alpha was protected in part by gear carefully crafted by the omega himself. He knew he’d built good gear for Katsuki. It helped him protect himself, and to do his job to the best of his abilities. So although it tugged at a nerve at the back of his head all through dinner, Izuku didn’t let the thought of Katsuki leaving ruin his time.

As much as he didn’t want it to, time wound away and eventually, Katsuki and Kirishima pushed back from the table.

“Have to get going!” Kirishima announced, then paused to run a hand over Mina’s swollen stomach. It was a ritual he carried out every time he had to leave his mate’s side, one that he had performed when Mina had been pregnant with Harue and one he very carefully attended to now.

Katsuki was a little more brisk about it, kissing Izuku on the mouth and telling him to have a good night before going to ruffle Kazue’s hair and tell him the same.

“Let’s go, Shitty Hair!” Katsuki shouted as he gathered the bag he’d set by the door earlier.

“Ah, right!” Kirishima hurried over to Harue, kissing the pup on the cheek, to her delightful squeal, before racing after Katsuki. The door shut behind them and everyone turned back to their conversations.

Todoroki leaned over the chair Katsuki had been occupying and asked, “Why did you want to come to the packhouse? That’s unlike you.”

Izuku smiled at the other alpha, and allowed himself to forget the empty chair between them.

- - -

Tsu’s garden remained the sanctuary it always had been and for it, Izuku was all too grateful. Although their house was nice and in a nice neighborhood, there wasn’t a yard to speak of, especially after the expansion they’d built onto it to accommodate Izuku’s lab. The greenery of Tsu’s garden, cared for by said omega and the rest of the pack, was a relief after the madness that was day to day life.

Izuku gathered with the pack around the fire pit after dinner, Todoroki working the fire higher and higher. He shivered and leaned a little closer to the flames, smiled when Mina passed by him, running her fingertips along his shoulder. She sat with a huff and a groan next to Uraraka, who patted her knee without once looking away from her conversation with Shoji, Sero, Jiro, and Fujita. Kaminari sat next to them, texting, probably his mate Shinso. Izuku realized it had been a while since he’d seen the other omega, and thought about texting him as well, though he didn’t want to intrude on whatever time he was spending texting Kaminari. Once the fire had stabilized, Todoroki returned to his chair next to Yaoyorozu, who sat at Izuku’s side. Iida sat on Izuku’s other, leaning forward to listen to whatever Uraraka was saying. It was rare to have so many of the pack together at once, there typically being anywhere from three to eight members all out on patrol at any given time. They were expecting a quiet night then. Could be good for Katsuki and Kirishima’s patrol.

Instead of allowing himself to think too long on that, Izuku ran his fingers along the black wristband that Katsuki had gifted him. It was inlaid with an orange X on the inside, so that it sat just at his wrist, above his heartbeat. Izuku pressed that X into his skin, thought of Katsuki, hoped he was safe.

His attention was almost immediately stolen by a shriek from Fumiko, who had been trying to roast a marshmallow over the fire. Sakura had blown a spark onto the older beta pup’s marshmallow, leaving it a charred husk. While the two immediately devolved into a fight that had both Uraraka and Yaoyorozu demanding peace, Kazue was helping Harue hold an empty stick over the fire, the younger pup not have realized it was missing the gooey treat. There was a concentrated twist to his lips as he murmured something to the younger pup, patient despite Harue’s sudden outbursts of laughter, where she would try to swing the stick wildly. Takahiro had crawled into his dad’s lap as soon as the alpha had sat down and was staring passively into the fire. He and Todoroki looked nothing alike physically, but their expressions were immediately recognizable. Nobody would have wondered long who was Takahiro’s father.

The peaceful night with the pack was exactly what Izuku needed. These nights were rare to be sure, especially since most of the betas were home. Putting more than two or three of the betas together almost always spelled chaos, though Kirishima was admittedly a huge part of that problem. With him and Katsuki gone, a lot of the sparks for such chaos were gone as well, leaving the pack to their quiet little night around the fire. The calming reassurance of the others’ presence plus the realization that it might actually be a quiet night after all, let Izuku lean back and close his eyes, if only briefly.

Then, Yaoyorozu leaned toward him, “So, how long were you thinking of staying?”

“Hmm,” Izuku frowned, but considered the question carefully. “Couple of days. Since I’m not working for Hatsume as much anymore, I’m alone a lot at the house, so it’s nice to be around other people if only for a little while.”

“Ah, yes. That makes sense,” Yaoyorozu nodded wisely, then added, “you’ve always been around others, right? This is really the first time where you haven’t had an outlet that includes being around other people. First it was school, then the pack, then work. Now, you’re on your own.” The more she talked, the more her wisdom dripped away for sorrow. She stared at Izuku, biting her lip. “You know you could stay with us for as long as you wanted to, right?”

Izuku grinned and leaned back. “If this is a ploy to get me to officially join, I’m afraid to say, it’s not going to work. I’m very happy with the current situation. I’m just between work, so to say. Once we get my lab up and running, I already have two assistants who will be helping me and they’ll be around often enough to make sure I’m not always alone. Just for now, I might want to pop by every now and then.”

“Of course. And you are always welcome, you know. Right, Iida?” Yaoyorozu leaned a little farther to the pack alpha, who startled at his name.

“Yes, what?” He glanced between the two, catching an unamused look from Yaoyorozu. “Yes, of course. You’re always welcome in the packhouse, Midoriya, no matter the circumstances.”

Izuku waved Yaoyorozu down, laughed as the two alphas sized each other up. “I understand. Thank you, though.”

“Although,” Iida pressed his glasses up his nose. “It would be better if you and Katsuki returned to the packhouse. We could provide—” he stopped very suddenly when he caught the look on Izuku’s face. “— I mean, you’re doing well as it is and we wouldn’t want to impose on that!”

“Mmhhmm,” Izuku paused as Kazue wandered over.

The pup said nothing. He simply dragged a chair up beside Izuku, until the chairs were almost tangled together at the arms, then he collapsed into it, and leaned over to brush against the omega’s side. Izuku ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against him in return.

Across the fire, Mina sighed loudly and dramatically. Harue was balanced on her lap, the pup rubbing her mother’s enlarged stomach soothingly. “Why can’t I get to the part where they’re sweet like that? How much longer do I have to wait for this to be over?” She made a vague gesture toward her stomach.

“Couple more weeks,” Uraraka said, “you can make it.”

“Ugh. Next time Eijiro comes near me, someone beat him away!” Harue giggled at her mother’s request, Mina making a face at the young pup.

Yaoyorozu smiled as pacifyingly as one could. “Maybe some tea is in order? That should help move things along for you at least.”

- - -

Later that night, once Kazue had gone to bed and tea had been had around the firepit and everyone had started to drift off to their rooms, Izuku threw himself into bed with a sigh. The pack’s guest room was not unfamiliar to him, having once served as his and Kazue’s room when he’d first been staying at the pack. That had been… five years earlier? It seemed a whirlwind to think about. Five years since Katsuki had found Izuku. Five years since Katsuki had found out about their pup. Five years since Yokoyama’s attack….

He put the thought out of his mind as quickly as it entered. With Katsuki being gone and him having had a nightmare so recently, he didn’t want to think about that horrible man. He didn’t want to invite the demons that still haunted him.

So he took a breath, curled up in the jacket he was wearing. An All Might jacket Katsuki had given him. The alpha scented it frequently for when Izuku was out and about without him, for nights just like that one when the alpha couldn’t be at his side. His scent washed over the omega, not quite as if the alpha was laying next to him, but as close as he could get while Katsuki was out on patrol.

He sent the alpha a good night text, a good luck text, an I love you, come home safe text, and tossed his phone aside. It was never fun sleeping with Katsuki nearby, and Kazue almost never came to sleep in his bed anymore, so he curled up in the very center of the bed, taking up as much space as he wanted to. If nothing else, the pack had invested in some very comfortable beds and blankets and he dug happily into them. Even without Katsuki there, it didn’t take long for Izuku to close his eyes, to relax into the sheets, to slip into sleep.

- - -

Izuku woke with a strange pain in his scent gland. He grumbled, ran a hand along it. Katsuki had renewed their mating mark during Izuku’s last heat over two weeks earlier, so it wasn’t lingering pain from that. Strange. But the more he rubbed it, the less it hurt, so he thought he must have just slept on it wrong. He pulled the blankets up around himself a little more, wondering if he should try to catch a couple more hours of sleep. After laying there for a few more minutes, he grabbed for his phone, checked his messages.

Katsuki had responded to his texts about two hours earlier, telling him he was all right and that he’d be on his way to the packhouse soon, followed by a text that said he’d gotten there safe and would be getting breakfast ready for him in an hour or so. That message had come through just about an hour earlier. Izuku let the phone fall through his fingers, considering if he wanted breakfast in bed again. While nice, it was also nice to get to eat with his family at the table.

Groaning, he kicked the blankets off and reluctantly rolled out of bed. He had to make sure Kazue was playing nice with the pups after their little fiasco last night anyway. Pawing through the bag they’d brought, he found a shirt and some loose shorts to wear and went down the hallway to use the bathroom. There, he peered into the mirror and made sure there were no strange marks on his scent gland, before finally wandering downstairs.

Most of the pack seemed to be milling about, the betas gathered around the television in the living room. The news was on, a villain expert speculating about the recent League of Villain propaganda that had been appearing online. Izuku lingered behind the couch to listen for a moment, but the smell of something cooking drew him to the kitchen.

He passed through the dining room first, Uraraka poking a finger into Iida’s cheek to wake the clearly exhausted alpha. She waved at him as he passed and he allowed a tired grin. The kitchen, remodeled a few years earlier, was filled with the smells of frying potatoes and sizzling eggs. A fresh pot of rice was sitting next to the stove and there were several bowls laid out, ready for serving. Alongside Katsuki, who stood at one of the stoves, Tsu and Yaoyorozu were cooking, the omega showing the female alpha something. Todoroki sat in the corner of the kitchen, entertaining Harue and Sakura. Kazue stood at Katsuki’s elbow, peering down at what he was doing.

Tsu was the first to spot him, calling out, “Good morning, Midoriya.”

Katsuki turned at his name and Kazue chirped, hurrying over to hug his omega. Izuku drew the pup into his arms, Kazue rubbing against his stomach. “Morning, Mom!”

“Good morning,” Izuku ruffled his hair affectionately, paused as Katsuki stepped away from the stove. There was a haggard look about him, the exhaustion dripping off of him like sweat. “You need to get some sleep.”

Katsuki smirked. “Morning to you as well. Coffee?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Izuku paused to watch Kazue hurry back to the stove as Katsuki went to the coffee pot. “Don’t burn yourself.”

“Mom, my palms don’t burn that much anymore.” He showed his palms, unmarked from his latest explosion, as if that was exactly what the omega had meant.

Izuku chewed at the inside of his cheek, smiling gratefully as Katsuki offered him a mug. The ceramic was warm against his fingers, but he invited the heat, blowing into the coffee. He glanced Katsuki up and down one more time as the alpha poured himself a mug.

“How was your patrol?”

“Fine,” Katsuki growled, swirling his coffee. He liked it black. Still something Izuku couldn’t understand. “I’ll finish up here, then I’m going to take a nap.”

“Think I’m just going to hang out here for the day. Maybe work in the gardens some.” Although Izuku couldn’t really garden all that well. Tsu had tried to teach him. Tried being the operative word. But, it was still nice to try. He checked the clock on the wall. “Hatsume wanted some help on a big project, but she’ll be okay if I don’t come in today.”

Katsuki grunted, turning away. “Breakfast will be done in a few minutes.”

Izuku nodded. “I’ll get the pack together—”

Katsuki’s mug crashed to the ground.

It was so sudden, so unexpected, that Izuku flinched, nearly flinging hot coffee on everything. “Ah! Careful! Kazue step back, the shards are sharp!” He set his mug down, intending to start cleaning up, and realized everyone was staring at him. And that wasn’t figurative.

Everyone had turned and was staring at him. The archways into the kitchen had filled with those members of the pack that had been in a different room, all staring right at him. Even the pups, his Kazue, were all looking at him. The only one who didn’t was Katsuki. Katsuki had his back to Izuku, having turned to go back to the stove, but he held his hands in front of him, his fingers shaking as they sometimes did when he was in pain.

Izuku looked around the room, tried to find a place where eyes weren’t staring at him, but couldn’t. “What’s… what’s wrong?” He tried to stand still under the pack’s scrutiny, but he couldn’t, not with all of them looking at him, their faces impossible to read, a blank stare etched along each, as if they were all entranced by something.

This must be a bad dream. It was the only explanation. Izuku had had a lot of bad dreams in his time. This one was certainly the strangest, but at least it wasn’t the worst. He swallowed, wondered if pinching himself would wake him up, then Katsuki turned.

It was a laborious movement. Aching and slow, as if his joints were straining. Izuku had never seen the alpha’s eyes blown so wide. His pupil had filled every part of his iris, but when he turned, when he saw Izuku, they narrowed to pinpoints from one blink to the next. His mouth hung open, the alpha breathing deeply, as if hungry, as if taking in his scent. It reminded him a lot of when they were in bed, when Izuku was pulling the alpha closer, when Katsuki was ravenous for him. But, there wasn’t hunger in the alpha’s expression. It almost… almost looked like shock. Fear? No, that wasn’t it. What was going on with him?

Movement behind him startled Izuku, but he was glad to see it was just Uraraka. She stepped carefully forward, took his hands in hers. Her palms were very warm. She smiled, and her eyes shone with unshed tears.

“What’s going on?” Izuku asked her.

The other omega smiled. “I think you know.”

But he didn’t know. He… couldn’t know. Because… this was familiar. Everything, from the pack’s sudden stillness and alertness, to Uraraka’s gentle reassurance, was very familiar. Katsuki was the only strange piece of it, but his position was one Izuku had seen before. He’d seen Todoroki and Kirishima standing in Katsuki’s place before, had seen Yaoyorozu and Mina standing in his place.

But it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be what he thought.

That was… impossible.

Impossible.

…wasn’t it?

Uraraka squeezed his hands. She closed her eyes, and smiled. But her voice shook with emotion when she spoke, “Izuku,” she whispered, “you’re pregnant.”

The words didn’t make sense. They didn’t make sense.

He couldn’t be pregnant. The doctors had told him. It was practically impossible. He and Katsuki had been trying… for years. They’d given up hope. Izuku had given up hope. He’d thrown himself into caring for Kazue, for the pack pups, because he’d always known it was impossible. After everything that he’d gone through, from prior medical procedures to stress to simple biology, it was impossible.

It was impossible.

And yet, it was the only thing that made sense. Only a newly matured pregnant scent could draw the pack in like this. Only the newly formed call of a pregnant mate could make an alpha react as Katsuki was.

But it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t give into hope. It was too painful to give into hope. To believe it could be true.

Uraraka’s smile softened. She stroked a hand along his cheek, then she turned him to Katsuki, nudging him toward the alpha. As Izuku stumbled forward, Katsuki took an immediate step away. It was fear Izuku saw in the alpha’s face. Because he, too, had given up on hope. He’d stopped believing months if not years ago. How could this be at all possible?

Izuku swallowed, glanced around the pack one more time. “Katsuki, I—” The alpha lurched forward and Izuku stilled.

He only seemed able to take one step at a time, moving toward the omega hauntingly, a specter, a lost soul. When he reached for the omega, there was something cold and guarded about him, but he was still drawn inexorably forward. Something within Izuku told him to move, away, forward, he couldn’t decide, nor did he have any place he could move to. So he stayed very still, as Katsuki came to stand in front of him, as his hands gently, gently, ever so gently, came to a rest at his stomach.

All at once, the alpha breathed out, and all the cold wiped away. A shine rung through his eyes, different from the fire that always burned there. This was something like wonder, like amazement. When he met Izuku’s eyes, he did so with his jaw slacked open, with an awe that the omega had never seen before.

For a moment, Izuku was terrified. He didn’t know why. But he was. Even with his alpha so close, he felt a trill of fear crawl up his back. He might have run if there was an exit, but the pack had blocked up any available route for him to flee. All he could do was stand there, allowing the alpha to run his hands along his stomach, flat and innocuous.

It couldn’t be true.

“Katsuki,” he tried to say, but his voice wavered, “I… I—”

Katsuki reached up to touch Izuku’s lip, to ask for quiet. He never once took his eyes off the omega’s stomach. Slowly, he lowered to his knees, hugged the omega’s waist, pulled him closer, until he could press an ear to Izuku’s stomach, listening. Izuku swallowed, glanced again for a way out, caught a raised eyebrow from Kazue, who was stirring whatever was on at the stove while also watching the spectacle happening in front of him. Somehow, it was the skeptical look on his pup’s face that calmed Izuku, that grounded him into the moment, that made it feel very real.

When he looked down, he saw that something wet was dripped down Katsuki’s cheek. He nuzzled into Izuku’s stomach, kissed him, took a deep breath to hide a shudder.

And somehow, this was what allowed Izuku to settle. Katsuki hugged him a little tighter as Izuku ran his fingers through the alpha’s hair, as he hummed, quiet and content.

And maybe, just maybe, he believed. Yes. Yes.

They were… they were going to have another pup.

They were going to have another pup.

He was pregnant!

Izuku paused, caught in the sudden wave of emotion that washed over him. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what that emotion was. Excitement, terror, disbelief, joy. As he peeled through each, Katsuki surged to his feet, wrapping him up, covering his lips with his mouth. He led with his teeth, hungry, devouring, but paused halfway through their kiss. Paused, and softened his grip, hid his canines behind his lips. Kissed him like he was more than precious.

When they broke apart, it was with a sigh, Katsuki cupping the back of Izuku’s head, running his fingers along his stomach, Izuku pressing his palm over his hand. Their foreheads met. They didn’t need to say anything to each other in that moment. There were no words to describe that moment.

Chapter Text

“Kazue!”

Upon hearing his name shouted, Kazue braced himself just before a weight crashed down upon him. Another pup laid across his back and shoulders, Kazue not looking up from the worksheet he was hunched over at his desk. The other pup sighed when he gave no reaction. “Kazue, you’re more quiet than usual today. What’s going on in your head?”

It was so like Hikaru to ask it that way. As if the beta pup thought he had a whole other set of people running around in his head dictating things. He parsed through his thoughts, trying to decide what he wanted to tell Hikaru, and eventually said, “My Mom’s pregnant.”

Immediately, Hikaru flipped over and flung his arms around Kazue’s neck. “Really?! That’s so exciting! My Mom says he isn’t going to have anymore pups. He says I tire him out too much.”

“You are a handful,” Kazue muttered, earning a discontented chirp from the beta pup. He rubbed against Hikaru’s cheek to calm him. “It’s weird. Mom always said we weren’t going to have any more pups in the family.”

“Leave it to adults to get that wrong,” Hikaru finally leaned away, though he did so with a dramatic sigh. “Well, anyway. That’s good for your mom and dad. I’m happy for them. You think you want a little brother? Or a little sister?”

For the first time, Kazue turned away from his worksheet to consider Hikaru. The beta pup was shorter than him, slim but sharp like a whip, and fast as one too, with little elfin pointed ears and dark navy hair he kept long and wore in a ponytail nestled at the back of his head, leaving long bangs to frame intent, startlingly blue eyes. It was ironic, in a lot of senses, how he seemed the dark shadow to Kazue’s light, to the alpha pup’s bright blond hair, large crimson eyes, and sharpening features. The older he got, the more he grew, developing wider shoulders and larger palms. Everything about Kazue was attention getting, even down to the galaxy of freckles that dotted along his nose and cheeks. But the truth was, Hikaru was the light and Kazue was the shadow. The beta pup was the hope to Kazue’s destruction. It was something he thought about from time to time, particularly when Hikaru glowed with the energy to save others and Kazue found his palms sparking with the energy to destroy them. In the classroom, neither of them were glowing at all, so Hikaru sunk along Kazue’s larger frame like a shadow in wait. A strange thought. Just as strange as the thought that he was going to be an older brother.

Not having considered this piece of information, Kazue turned it over silently, then shrugged. “I don’t know if I care.”

“You could have a sister like Fumiko, or a brother like Takahiro,” Hikaru teased.

Kazue grimaced at the thought of having a family member anything like Fumiko. “I don’t know if that’s how that works, Hikaru.”

“Ugh! Just look at my siblings. Keiji and Mirai are nothing alike! And even though Keiji’s the alpha and Mirai’s the omega, she’s so much meaner than anyone else in the family!”

“Is that why you wanted to be a beta?” It wasn’t something Kazue wondered about often. But putting Hikaru’s older siblings together like that, alpha and omega, he turned to Hikaru with a curious tilt to his chin. “If you’re a beta, then the three of you are each your own secondary gender.”

Hikaru blinked at Kazue, then scowled deeply. “That’s got nothing to do with it! ‘Sides, would you like me as much if I wanted to be a soft, squishy omega?”

Kazue stared at the beta pup, then poked at his cheek. “You’re still kind of squishy.” Hikaru sunk into his seat unappreciatively, finally earning a little smile from the alpha pup.

Hikaru’s intergender identity didn’t bother Kazue. He’d always known him as a beta, despite him also possessing a lot of omega qualities, so he had never thought of Hikaru as anything but a beta. Besides, Kazue knew plenty of omegas that didn’t really act like how people said omegas were supposed to act, just as he knew alphas and betas who acted outside of what they should. In the end, Kazue didn’t put a lot of stock into what adults said how he was supposed to act. As an alpha, he should be tougher, meaner, more dominating. But he didn’t mind that Hikaru was louder and more assertive than him. In fact, he rather liked that the beta hogged the spotlight. It just meant he could do what he wanted to do without anyone interrupting.

And besides, being an alpha wasn’t all about being the toughest person in the room. His Mom had taught him that. And Kacchan. Kind of. Because Kacchan was always the toughest alpha in the room anyway.

“You know, you didn’t answer my question.” Hikaru grumbled.

“I don’t think it matters,” Kazue said honestly, though the beta pup still grumbled at it. “Anyway, are we going to train again soon?”

“Soon. My alpha’s out on a mission. Probably beating up the League of Villains or something,” Hikaru shrugged nonchalantly, though Kazue frowned. Even though Hikaru’s alpha was the number one hero, Lemillion, if he really was taking down the League of Villains, Kazue really would have thought his Dad would have gone to help. Kacchan was the number two hero, after all. “Mom keeps saying he should be home soon, but that doesn’t really mean anything. So soon. Whenever that’s supposed to be.”

Kazue chewed at his bottom lip, then went back to his worksheet.

Not long after, someone brushed past his desk. Kazue didn’t need to look up to know who it was, but he looked up anyway, caught the eye of the other pup, saw the grin, the arrogance and distaste all along his face. Takagi.

Takagi’s eyes slid over Kazue’s shoulder to Hikaru, his grin deepening to something that made Kazue’s skin crawl. Without thinking about it, he lifted the corner of his lip and growled warningly, very suddenly aware of how far away Hikaru was. Within reaching distance, but not close enough with Takagi right in front of them. As the only other alpha pup in their class, it seemed Takagi had zeroed in on Kazue, on wanting to take a stand against him. To claim what he thought was Kazue’s. And that, primarily, meant Hikaru.

Kazue had seen plenty of times when Kacchan had growled or hunched possessively over his Mom. His Dad could turn into a monster in an instant, something that loomed over his Mom, protective and aggressive all at once. Somehow, it was easy to feel what he thought Kacchan must feel in those times, to hunch over slightly, to warn with a look alone for Takagi to stay away.

The alpha pup glanced between the two of them, never letting his grin waver. This time, he decided to walk away. As he did, Kazue let his snarl fall away, though he kept very aware of Hikaru glowering behind him.

“That guy’s a freak. Wonder why he hates you so much, Kazue.”

Kazue didn’t need to wonder. Maybe it was an alpha thing. But he knew exactly why Takagi hated him. Unbothered by the encounter, he turned back to his worksheet without another word. After all, he had won this last little spat. There was nothing for him to be worried about when it came to Takagi.

For now.

- - -

“Hands up,” Todoroki said, then struck out. Izuku caught his attack at his arm, twisted it away from his body, then slid forward, trying to get a foot between the alpha’s legs. Aware of his tricks, Todoroki quickly backed off, keeping his arms raised in front of him. Izuku let out a breath, feeling several beads of sweat trail down his spine.

Training with Katsuki over the years had evolved into full out sparring. Izuku couldn’t beat Katsuki when it came to brute strength, so he had to be more clever about what he was trying to do. Most of the time, Katsuki outmatched him, but every now and then, Izuku found a way to surprise him and beat him. When at the packhouse, he’d taken up sparring against many of the other heroes, finding a rhythm to each of them. Some went easier on him than others. Kirishima was always interesting to spar with. Due to his Quirk, he was almost explicitly a brawler, meaning he knew every trick in the book. Todoroki, on the other hand, who was much more of a long-ranged attacker, Izuku found he had a bit of an easier time with. If nothing else, Todoroki also had to smart about close combat due to his focus on ranged attacks. Todoroki, as it happened, was also the only person currently in the pack who was willing to spar with him at all.

The change from him being not pregnant to being pregnant had an immediate shift in the packhouse. He’d never once considered how the pack treated their pregnant members, but now that he was that pregnant member, it had a bit of a whiplash effect. Everyone knew he didn’t like to be coddled, so they’d tried to never overtly gave him differential treatment. Now, that was different. Everyone went out of their way to make sure he was doing well, that he was feeling okay, that he was relaxed and rested. It had only been a little over twenty-four hours and he was already miserable with it.

Not that he didn’t understand. Male omega pregnancies were notoriously fickle. Getting pregnant was hard enough. Keeping the baby to term was another matter entirely. Since he’d had Kazue, he had a better chance at carrying to term, and although the procedure he’d had years ago after the incident with Yokoyama had nearly negated his chances of getting pregnant, it didn’t affect his chances of staying pregnant. In theory, as far as male omegas went, he had a fairly good chance of having his child with little or no problems.

Trying to explain that to the pack was an entirely different beast. It was almost as if he were made of glass. Like he could be shattered if anyone did anything too suddenly, if he was handled too roughly. Everyone wanted him to just sit and relax, to put his feet up, to allow himself to be pampered. But he didn’t like being pampered. Even the things Katsuki did for him on a normal basis were sometimes over the top. What the pack was doing was completely out of his comfort zone. And when he’d asked if anyone had wanted to spar with him? It was almost as if he’d asked someone to go rob a bank with him.

Todoroki had agreed on the principle that he understood Izuku wanted to keep healthy. Yes, he needed to be careful. But he also knew that Todoroki wasn’t going to go and kick him in the stomach. The alpha was always careful with him. But he didn’t go easy on him. And that’s all Izuku could ask for.

They went back and forth for a moment, then Todoroki got under Izuku’s arms and swiped his legs out from under him, Izuku falling back onto the mats. He sat there for a second, panting, paused when Todoroki offered his hand.

“You all right?” The alpha asked.

“Yeah,” Izuku took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

Todoroki glanced him over, as if to check, and nodded. “We should probably take a rest anyway.”

“Right,” Izuku groaned, rubbing at the sore spots in his back. They’d been sparring for a few rounds at that point and while Izuku was exhausted, Todoroki only seemed mildly tired. He wanted to grumble and complain about this, but didn’t get a chance as the door to the pack’s gym was slammed open.

“Oi!” Izuku groaned again as Katsuki stomped into the room. “The fuck you think you’re doing, Icy Hot?”

The other alpha blinked at Katsuki. “Training?”

Katsuki crossed to where Izuku was standing and very deliberately placed himself between the omega and Todoroki, showing his teeth in a clear display of aggression. “You really fucking sparring with my omega right now?”

“Of course. We were being careful. Besides, it’s better for the baby if he keeps a certain level of activity.”

“Yeah. Maybe in a way he can’t accidentally get hurt.”

“Kacchan, I asked him to spar with me,” Izuku tried to pull Katsuki back but the alpha just spun on him.

“Then you’re part of the problem! Things happen. How many times has one of us accidentally gotten each other when we weren’t expecting it? You got me in the jaw just last week! Someone gets one good hit in at the very wrong place and that could be it.”

Izuku slid a hand protectively over his stomach, couldn’t think of any arguments to say. What he said instead was, “I still want to be able to keep training.”

“We can do that. Just not any physical sparring right now.” Katsuki waved Todoroki off. “I’ve got it from here. Next time, don’t fucking encourage him! The rest of the pack might be too stupid or chicken to tell you outright, but sparring is completely out of the question. In the meantime, we’ve got other options.”

“Right.” Izuku thanked Todoroki, who shrugged and went off to do his own workout. Katsuki clicked his tongue, then grumbled under his breath, handing Izuku a water bottle. Izuku unscrewed the cap, then tightened it again. “While I’m still able to, I want to be able to keep this up as much as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you.” Katsuki leaned into a lunge, taking his time in the stretch. “Until we get to see the doc, let’s just take it easy.”

“Appointment’s next week,” Izuku complained, but Katsuki just shrugged. “I’m not just standing around for a whole week.”

“Didn’t ask you to.” Katsuki gestured for Izuku to follow him. The omega frowned, but sunk into the same stretch as Katsuki, relishing the pull along his muscles. He hadn’t realized how much he was aching from his sparring with Todoroki.

For the next few minutes, Katsuki stretched and Izuku followed along. He found himself woefully less flexible than the hero, but he always had been. Katsuki needed to be able to move in very precise ways, and that meant having a control over his body that most simply never achieved. Izuku did at least know he could type faster than the alpha. For what little that was worth.

He was silently stewing over this sad little fact when Katsuki said, “Look. I’m going to try very hard not to go overboard. But. Just so you know. It’s going to be difficult on me.”

The broken way he said it, like each word was a complete thought, had Izuku frowning. “What are you talking about?”

The alpha wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was very intent on glaring at the far wall. “With you and the baby. I don’t know how it’s going to affect me. But I’ve seen what it does to the other alphas in the pack when their mates were pregnant. I’m going to get real annoying real quickly. I think that’s almost unavoidable. But I’m going to try to not be obnoxious.” He paused, lifting his arms above his head to stretch upward as far as he could go. Then, he let it all fall, loose and light and ready for the next step. Still, he didn’t turn to Izuku. “I just want to make sure you’re okay through this. I just want to keep you well.”

This was not the first time Katsuki had expressed such concerns. In fact, when Izuku had first demanded real, actual martial arts training from Katsuki, the alpha had refused him for similar sentiments. He’d wanted to protect Izuku. To keep him safe. He hadn’t wanted Izuku to feel like he needed to protect himself. That he was the alpha and he was going to take care of everything. There were undertones of that same thought in his words. That was clear. But Izuku could tell this was also something entirely different. Katsuki hadn’t been there for Izuku’s first pregnancy. He’d never before had a pregnant mate. He didn’t really know what to expect. Seeing his packmates go through a pregnancy was one thing. It was another entirely to be suddenly faced with it himself.

For Izuku, it was an interesting position to be in. While he’d already had Kazue, and had clearly gone through all the physical parts of pregnancy, his situation was vastly different from when he’d been pregnant with their first pup. Not withstanding that he was now in a relationship with an alpha who could help carry some of the emotional burden, if not the physical. But he was in a much more stable place financially, mentally, and emotionally to begin with. He wasn’t alone. He knew where his next meal was coming from. He knew exactly where to go if something went wrong. He didn’t have nearly as much to worry about. He knew what to expect. And yet, he didn’t really know what to expect with Katsuki there.

He ran a hand over his stomach, even though it would be many weeks before he would begin feeling anything. Getting pregnant had been a surprise, so he hadn’t really prepared for the possibility of it happening. There was some catch up to do, but not enough to make a huge difference. Mostly, he was still just getting over the initial shock of it all. They’d been trying for so long. They’d both all but given up on hope. Now it was happening. And now, he had to remind himself what all to do. But the truth was, for now, there wasn’t a lot different to do. He needed to start taking some extra vitamins. He’d have to start watching what he was eating. And he would have to be careful about getting hurt. But for now, that was really it. He wasn’t expecting much else to change. Unless he started getting sick. He remembered being terribly sick with Kazue. Like an alarm clock, he’d get woken up right around 7:30 every morning to be sick. He was not looking forward to that possibility.

Having Katsuki there to witness that would not be fun. Izuku knew the alpha too well. He’d be a mess about it.

Ah well. Something to talk to him about, he supposed.

“I’ll be okay,” Izuku smiled, really smiled, like he always would when Katsuki said something a little ridiculous. “I have successfully done this without you. So don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Less surprises this time around.”

“Hopefully,” Katsuki grumbled.

“Hopefully,” Izuku echoed, mostly because he didn’t want to know what surprises could possibly come up this time around. “Now. Training?”

“Nope. You’re done for the day,” Katsuki held up a hand when Izuku went to complain. “You’re exhausted. The stretching was just to cool you down a little. You should go sit down. I’m sure Icy Hot got plenty out of you for now. We’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow.”

Izuku wrinkled his nose, but he was feeling tired. He remembered being exhausted almost all the time when he was first pregnant with Kazue, but he’d always chalked that up to depression more than anything else. Maybe he’d misattributed that. Or maybe he was thinking too much about it and he was just tired from a good workout with Todoroki.

Still, he made a disgruntled sort of noise. “Don’t tell me what I am.”

The alpha smirked. “You prefer I tell you you’re sexy instead?”

“Ha ha,” but he still grinned in response. “All right fine. Tomorrow, though. Don’t short me.”

“I know you wouldn’t let me.” Katsuki leaned in for a quick kiss before he ushered him away. “I’m sure the other omegas are looking for you. Can’t get enough of fawning over you, huh?” Izuku groaned a little, but Katsuki just chuckled as he walked away.

- - -

Hikaru, the social butterfly that he was, liked to spend their break after lunch hanging out with other groups of students. Kazue, meanwhile, was quite content to stay at his desk, going over some worksheets. He liked getting a head start on things. Plus his Mom had said he’d have to do really well in math and science in order to do some of the engineering work required to create support items. And math was especially difficult sometimes.

He was mulling over a problem that had tripped him up when he glanced up, catching sight of Hikaru talking to a couple other betas and an omega. As if sensing his gaze, Hikaru glanced back and grinned at the alpha. Kazue found himself looking after Hikaru a lot more often nowadays. It had really started a couple months back, when they’d been playing in a nearby park. Hikaru had told him he’d convinced the alpha pup to slip away from his older siblings, Keiji and Mirai, but that the beta pup had gotten lost and somehow Kazue had skinned his knee, though he didn’t really remember how. All he knew was that Hikaru had cried that day and Kazue had never seen Hikaru cry before. Even when he’d fallen out of a tree and sprained his wrist, he hadn’t actually cried. Something strange had happened that day. Kazue knew it. He just couldn’t remember what. And since that day, he found himself drawn to the beta pup, as if drawn to the vulnerability he’d seen in him. He couldn’t place why. But he did know he never wanted to see Hikaru crying again. That had been a horrible thing to see. It had clawed at something within him, something that had begun stirring about a year ago. Something that paced like a wild animal inside of him, searching for a way out. Kazue didn’t know what to make of it. He’d thought about asking Kacchan about it, but hadn’t actually gotten around to it yet.

Still, that part of him settled happily whenever he saw that the beta pup was okay, so he turned back to his worksheet without any other acknowledgement of their little exchange.

Not two minutes later though, a commotion had him looking up again, then rising to his feet. Takagi had wandered over to Hikaru’s group and had leaned in toward the beta pup, saying something to him in an undertone. Kazue stepped to intervene, but Hikaru scoffed and jammed his head forward so quickly he nearly headbutted the other alpha pup.

“You’re such a loser, Takagi! Nobody thinks that! I don’t know why you’d even suggest it,” he put his hands on his hips as the alpha pup growled. “You’re not the boss around here. And you’re certainly not going to just tell me what to do, no matter what you say about anyone else. If you’re going to be mean, then I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” He spun around in a huff. The betas and omega Hikaru had been talking to clearly weighed what they were going to do, but when Hikaru started a conversation with them again, his back still to Takagi, they carefully joined in.

For a moment, it looked as if Takagi was just going to let it go. But before he stepped away, he caught Kazue watching from across the room. The other alpha pup’s lip raised in a half snarl and he grabbed onto Hikaru’s shoulder. Without thinking about it, Kazue took the first step toward the two, but before he could take his second, Hikaru had shaken him off and suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. The sound rattled every bone in Kazue’s body, though it only had the effect of silencing every other person in the classroom and summoning their teacher so quickly she seemed to just materialize out of nowhere.

“What in the world is going on here?” She asked, and Hikaru pointed at Takagi, reporting exactly what the alpha pup had done.

Seeing that Hikaru had the situation under control, that the teacher was turning on Takagi with her hands on her hips, Kazue went back to his seat. Still, he put his worksheets away and kept careful watch as the teacher called for everyone to return to their seats. When Hikaru walked past him to get to his desk, the beta pup made a funny face at him. Kazue felt his lip curl toward a half smile, an almost-smirk his Mom called it, and sat up as the teacher called everyone to attention.

- - -

After school was over, Hikaru slipped out with a couple of his other friends while Kazue lingered to gather up his stuff. He was still thinking about things, wondering over them. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that his parents were going to have another pup. Kacchan had once told him that even if they had another pup, they wouldn’t love him any less. But was that still true? Could it still be true with how they didn’t think they’d ever have another pup? Surely they’d love this pup more than they could ever love him?

“Midoriya.”

Kazue glanced up and saw his teacher lingering at the front of the room. Everyone else had left already.

He grabbed his things. “Sorry. Thank you for the lesson today. Good night.”

“Good night, Midoriya.” He slipped out of the room before she could ask him anything.

The hallways were practically deserted, everyone else having already left the building or gone to their afterschool clubs. Kazue ducked his head and tugged at his uniform’s sleeve as he went to change his shoes. All along the way, he didn’t see Hikaru anywhere. For a moment, he wondered if the beta pup had left without him, though Hikaru never had before. If anything, he was probably still waiting for Kazue outside.

After tucking his shoes back into the locker and hurrying outside, he paused to glance around. Like the hallways, the school grounds were emptying quickly, only a few pups still standing around. Kazue looked between all of them, half expecting for Hikaru to jump out and surprise him. But no. The beta pup wasn’t there.

Something crawled around in Kazue’s stomach. Something that had him sniffing the air, trying to pick up on Hikaru’s honey-sweet scent. However, with so many pups having gone through the area, it was impossible to pick out any one scent, even one he was so familiar with. He glanced around the school grounds one more time, then heard something. Something that sounded like… a yelp? Someone in pain?

Without really thinking about it, Kazue stepped toward the noise.

At first, his steps were slow and uncertain, pulled more by curiosity than anything else. Then, as he approached the corner of the school, he heard voices, low and menacing, and he paused, wondering if he was about to get into something he didn’t want to be a part of.

Then, another voice, rising high above the others, quickly cut off with another yelp.

That was Hikaru.

Kazue charged toward the voices, already snarling, spun the corner, and almost immediately locked eyes with Hikaru. The beta pup was pressed against the school, holding a hand to his cheek, his eyes wide and unblinking. Standing in front of him, Takagi and one of his friends were pressed into the beta pup’s space, hissing in his face.

“You’re not even a real beta!” Takagi was saying. “You’re just some freak. What’s even wrong with you?”

A spark of indignation had Hikaru setting his teeth but the moment he looked like he was going to say something, Takagi released a heavy cloud of his alpha pheromones, Hikaru swaying under the sheer pressure they put on him.

Kazue, another alpha, took in Takagi’s aggressive, assertive scent, and snarled deeply.

Takagi and his friend spun over his shoulder, but before either could act, Kazue lifted his hands, and pulled. The air hissed briefly enough for Takagi’s eyes to widen, then an explosion rippled over him, his friend, and Hikaru. In the cloud that hung over the scene afterward, Kazue charged forward, twisting his fist into Takagi’s collar and yanking him away from Hikaru.

Even as stunned as he was, Takagi grabbed Kazue’s hand in turn and hissed as well, steam issuing between his teeth. Kazue just managed to duck as the other alpha pup opened his mouth and spewed a stream of scalding water from his hose-like tongue. Out of his line of fire, Kazue elbowed Takagi’s jaw shut, grabbed his arm, and twisted him over his body, throwing him to the ground. Takagi landed with a gargling hiss, blinking in confusion as Kazue suddenly stood between Takagi and his friend and Hikaru. Takagi’s friend, another beta pup, glanced, slack-jawed, at Kazue, but when the alpha pup snarled, he grabbed Takagi’s arm and pulled him away.

Takagi clicked his teeth along themselves and hissed, “Watch yourself, Midoriya. I won’t let you push me around!” And yet, he did allow his friend to pull him frantically away, the two turning the corner and disappearing.

Kazue paused for a long moment before he knew the two were gone, then he turned to Hikaru. The beta pup was glowing. A soft, rich glow as if in rival of the sun itself. Still holding onto the energy that Kazue had poured into him with his explosion. If Hikaru hadn’t been there to intake most of his explosion’s power, both Takagi and his friend would have been severely hurt. However Hikaru, as wonderful as he always was, had soaked in all the destructiveness of Kazue’s attack, leaving only the after affects, the startling noise, the plume of smoke.

He still had his hand pressed to his cheek, and he wouldn’t look up at Kazue.

Kazue carefully pulled his hand away and saw the beta pup’s cheek was red and starting to swell. He growled, that animalistic part of him demanding that he find Takagi and rip him apart, though he focused instead on Hikaru.

“Do you need more energy to heal yourself?” He asked.

Hikaru blinked, as if just realizing Kazue was there, and shook his head. He pressed his hand over his cheek, the glow fading from his skin, and when he pulled away, it was as if nothing had happened.

“Sorry. They just said they wanted to talk. I thought they were going to apologize.”

“Who? Takagi?” Kazue scoffed. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s a mean alpha.”

Hikaru twisted his lip, as if thinking, and bent to grab his bag, which had been tossed aside at some point. Kazue went to help him and when they had gathered all of Hikaru’s things, they started toward the bus stop. They had probably missed the first bus, but they’d make the second one. In the meantime, Kazue stuck as close to Hikaru as he could.

Hikaru didn’t say anything, kept his eyes on the ground. Kazue watched him, and eventually said, “You know, you’re not a freak. And you’re not a fake beta. You know that, right?”

At first, Hikaru didn’t react. He was quiet for so long that Kazue started to get really worried. Then, the beta pup lifted his head and grinned. “Course I know that! No fake beta could manage to snag an alpha as great as you, Kazue! I mean, you even came running to my rescue! It’s just like all those shows that my Dad watches!”

“Your dad watches what?”

Hikaru threw himself over Kazue, wrapping his arms around him. “Ah, what am I going to do with you, Kazue? I mean, as great as it was for you to come rescue me, you can’t just use your Quirk like that on other people! What if they’d gotten hurt?”

“I knew they wouldn’t be hurt,” Kazue said seriously, despite Hikaru’s continued antics, “because you were there. I knew it’d be okay, because I knew you’d back me up.”

The beta pup shivered in delight and purred happily. “You really are too sweet, Kazue. Are you sure you’re an alpha?” Kazue smiled softly, kept walking as Hikaru began spouting off about whatever gossip he’s heard that day.

- - -

As soon as Kazue got home, Izuku set him to start on his homework, with the added bonus that once the rest of the pups were home as well, they would all be working to clean up the living room as part of their collective punishment. The scorch marks they might not be able to get out, but Izuku was going to make sure they at least tried so they learned just how damaging their Quirks could be. The fact that Kazue had used his at all still kind of astounded him. Kazue did know how dangerous his Quirk was. For him to use it freely had him pausing. It was good progress, probably brought upon by his continued workings with Hikaru and Katsuki. But for him to be comfortable enough with it to use indoors? Not as great.

Katsuki had popped by the agency to rework his schedule. He was determined to be home with Izuku more, though that was extremely difficult to do as the number two hero. There were media appearances on his schedule, his normal patrols, sponsored events, and other things that typically drove him crazy anyway but now especially were making him more than a little insane. To help counter this, Suzuki, the agency’s PR representative, had been brought in to rework some things. Upon hearing of the couple’s second pup, she hadn’t seemed surprised at all. She’d just gotten to work.

Katsuki returned home right before dinner. His first order of business was to check on Izuku, the omega knowing this was only the start of the hovering that was to come as they got further into his pregnancy.

“You all right?” He asked.

Izuku sighed, having beaten that question out of the alpha years ago. “Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry, I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”

The alpha grunted and went into the kitchen to start cooking. At Kazue’s request, he made a huge batch of spicy noodles, setting a small amount aside for extra spice while leaving the rest at a normal spice level for the pack. Only Katsuki and Kazue ever ate the really spicy stuff. Living with them was always a challenge in how much Izuku could tolerate his mouth burning. Although, Katsuki was generally very good at keeping it to a level he could eat and enjoy.

They gathered at the table for dinner, Izuku immediately noticing as several of the pack went out of their way to cater to him. Two days in and he was already kind of tired of it. When he’d been pregnant with Kazue, he’d lived on his own, with no one around to wait on him hand and foot. He’d figured it out for himself and been quite successful, all things considered. Now, he’d have to start beating the pack away from him if he wanted any sort of independence.

He sighed at the inevitability of that battle to come.

As he did, Katsuki leaned toward him. “Everything okay?” Izuku groaned in response.

That night, Katsuki pulled him into bed and kissed and teased him and spoiled him with all the attention the alpha could lavish onto him. As much as he’d been silently complaining about the added attention earlier, Izuku rather enjoyed having Katsuki cater to him in these more intimate ways, and there was no complaining to be had that night in bed.

Then, when it over, Katsuki pulled him close, hugged him around his waist, and kissed the warm skin of his stomach. Izuku purred and hummed for his alpha, carding his fingers through his hair, feeling like he was practically glowing.

They fell asleep still curled up around each other.

- - -

Izuku opened his eyes, and it was dark and it was sweltering and it was… it was….

Horrid.

Something horrible was happening. Or going to happen. Yes. That was it. Something terrible was coming. Something, something, something—!

Something was coming and he wasn’t prepared. He wasn’t prepared for it and something horrible was going to happen because of it. Because—! Because—!

Izuku sat up quickly, pressing one hand to his stomach and the other to his heart. His heart was ramming against his chest, as if searching for a way out. He could feel it in his toes, the anguished throbbing. What was going on? Why had he woken like this? Had he had a nightmare? No, not that he could remember. So what was it then?

Next to him, Katsuki was sleeping, as still and unmoving as he always was during the night. Izuku thought about waking him, but decided not to, instead carefully getting out of bed and going out into the hall. Maybe he just needed to use the bathroom. Just cool himself off a little. Whatever this weird, unquantifiable fear squirming in his gut was would go away once he’d gotten up and walked around a little.

The packhouse was quiet. Unnervingly so. He hadn’t checked to see what time it was, but it must have been the dead of night for nobody to be stirring. With the quiet and stillness of the pack around him, the dreadful feeling worsened, as if now that he was alone, that terrible thing was one step closer to him. Izuku felt his breath hitch and he hurried a little faster into the bathroom, flipping on the light as soon as he got the door closed behind him. Under the florescent light, the bathroom felt like a giant void. As if all the air was being sucked out of it. As if the light was glaring down, hiding something sinister under its false pretenses.

Okay, now I’m starting to sound a little crazy, Izuku thought, then laughed, because yeah, he was going a little crazy. He was feeling crazy. He was feeling really crazy. His heart would not stop beating. Am I having a panic attack or a heart attack? He brushed over the idea, letting it fall through his thoughts before suddenly seizing on it again. Was he having a heart attack? He pressed a hand to his chest. His heart really was hammering away under his fingers. Oh gods, am I really having a heart attack after all?

But no. That was ridiculous. He wasn’t even thirty years old and had no history of any heart problems in his family. The possibility of him having a heart attack was almost zero.

Tearing his hand away from his chest, he lurched to the sinks, snapping open the tap as wide as it would go and splashing water on his face once, twice, pausing to try to take a breath, before doing it again. The water ran off his face as he leaned over the sink, gasping, gasping. Why was it getting hard to breathe? What was going on?

Something kicked at his stomach.

The logical part of his brain immediately flipped on, telling him, no, he had not just felt what he thought he had, that the baby was still much, much, much too small for him to be feeling anything at all. His emotional brain ran right over his logic and he wrapped his arms around his stomach, cradling the tiny, fluttering, unborn pup.

“It’s okay,” he breathed, then dragged in another breath to say again, “it’s okay. It’s okay, pup. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here, I-I—” he gasped, gasped, looked around for something, something.

He sunk to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest, protecting the precious little life within him, feeling that terrible dread pressing down upon him. He gasped again for breath, realized the room smelled like cleaning supplies and mildew.

He need campfires and sweat and caramel and chilies and he needed Katsuki.

“K-Kats-Kats,” Izuku shivered violently, so much that he dry heaved over the floor, but refused to unwind from protecting his stomach. “Katsuki. Katsuki! Katsuki!” The more he said the alpha’s name, the easier it was to yell. “Katsuki! I need you! I need you, right now! KATSUKI! Katsuki, please!” He gasped, searched, felt so alone, so hopeless.

It’s coming.

“KATSUKI!! Help me! Please, someone—” he heaved again, felt a little bile rising up his throat, though he managed to swallow it back down. “Someone help me. Help me. Help me. Help me…,” he kept repeating it, over and over again, as the room seemed to dim, as everything collapsed in on him, as the world reduced to just him, and his pup, and the dread that was sinking over him.

The bathroom door opened and every muscle in Izuku’s body spasmed, his limbs flailing for purchase, for something solid that made sense, before wrapping tightly back around his stomach. It took him a moment to recognize the scent that wafted into the room, alpha, definitely alpha. He picked out the little notes, of old book pages and wrinkled money, of the sweet taste of silver and other precious metals. When he looked up, it wasn’t to Katsuki leaning into the bathroom, but Yaoyorozu, her hair down, dressed in only some pajamas.

“Midoriya!” She hurried over to him, but Izuku shied away when she tried to touch him. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Izuku shuddered deeply. “Katsuki,” he said. “Katsuki.”

“What about Bakugo?” She paused, but he didn’t know what to say. “Do you need me to get him?” Izuku gave her the barest of nods and she leaped up, hurrying out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Izuku regretted sending her away. He was so alone again, and the room was pressing in on him again, and he thought he could feel his heart beating in his stomach, or maybe that was the pup’s heartbeat, or maybe it was something bad, something terrible, something—

The door flung open and Katsuki burst into the room. Before Izuku could even really register that he was there, he was right there, right in front of him, crouched down and running his hands along the omega. “Deku? Deku, what’s wrong? Talk to me, what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku said, and when he opened his mouth again, he sobbed, and tears ran quickly down his face.

Katsuki’s face fell as Izuku started crying, but when the omega unwrapped himself and reached for the alpha, he scooped Izuku up, pressing him close to his body. His arms wound around Izuku, tight and protective and warm. The dread that was hanging over him remained, but at least with Katsuki there, he was warm. He was warm and Katsuki would keep him safe.

“Sorry,” he muttered, trying not to sob into Katsuki’s ear.

“Just tell me what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Izuku shivered, despite how tightly Katsuki held him. “I just feel like… like something terrible is coming. It’s just… this awful feeling that something’s going to happen.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Katsuki lowered his voice. He didn’t very often. In fact, the only thing Katsuki ever really seemed able to do was to increase the volume of his voice. But when he did speak quietly, he spoke with an assurance that tightened in Izuku’s chest, that rattled his heart a little, even as it still pounded fiercely against his ribs. “Here. Breathe with me. In and out, nice and slow.”

Izuku could practically do these breathing exercises by himself, had been able to for years at that point. But it never was quite as effective as it was when Katsuki was there, walking him through it. As he breathed, trying very hard to stop sobbing, to stop gasping, he felt Yaoyorozu take a seat on the floor next to them, felt as she tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. He half expected to flinch, but didn’t. With Katsuki there, everything felt a little easier. A little better.

He rested his forehead against the alpha’s cheek, felt teeth grazed against his neck, the quiet growl that radiated from the alpha. His scent was washing through the bathroom. I’m here, and you’re safe now.

“Sorry,” he said again, steadier this time.

“Stop apologizing. It’s annoying and unnecessary.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” He could practically feel the alpha’s eyes roll up into the back of his head.

Slowly, they unwound a little. Izuku had been so tense that releasing his grip on the alpha made all of his limbs feel like jelly. There was no way he was going to be able to stand on his own, but he didn’t try to get up and nobody pushed him to.

In fact, when he finally pulled away from Katsuki, Yaoyorozu squeezed his shoulder. “It’s all right. Were you worried about the pup?”

Izuku frowned, ran his hand along his stomach. This was so different from when he’d been pregnant with Kazue. Already. Everything should have felt familiar, but so far, nothing was.

He shrugged. “I… don’t know. Maybe. Partly.” He glanced to Katsuki, who was biting at the inside of his cheek. Although he was trying to be sneaky about it, Izuku knew him too well not to notice. “It’s just… if something happens, this is it. There’s no way I’ll be able to get pregnant again. We won’t get that lucky twice. So. I don’t know.” He hugged himself. “I don’t know.”

As he spoke, Yaoyorozu nodded, smiled, even if she seemed a little sad. “I know. I understand. It was the same for me, worrying about Takahiro then Sakura. Never once believing that I’d see the day when they would look up at me. I think I was always just waiting for the day I would wake up and they would be gone, instead of waiting for the day I got to meet them. I just never thought I’d get to that day.” She sighed, shook her head. “It doesn’t get easier. The worrying and wondering, I mean. All you can do is the best you can to take care of yourself and the pup. If you do everything you can, then either way, you’ll have nothing to regret.”

She was right, of course, as bitter the truth was. Beyond doing what his doctor said and being careful about what he was doing, there was nothing more he could do to guarantee a successful birth. Having a miscarriage had never once occurred to him when he’d been pregnant with Kazue. And, he supposed, it hadn’t really consciencely occurred to him until Yaoyorozu had spelled it out so plainly. But maybe that was the dread that was hanging over him. The dread that this happy moment wouldn’t last, that it simply couldn’t.

He hugged himself a little tighter, unable to meet either alpha’s gaze.

After a moment, Katsuki tugged at his arm. “C’mon. You need some sleep.”

He couldn’t argue with that, and allowed the two alphas to help him to his feet. He didn’t know what to say to Yaoyorozu, how to thank her, how to ask her how he could stop the worrying. But she smiled at him, and perhaps in her smile she promised that he could ask her those questions when he figured out how to. For now, Katsuki was right. He needed some sleep.

The alpha led him back to their room, nudging him toward the bed while he rattled around in their bags. Izuku sat at the edge of the bed, waiting as Katsuki fiddled with something. When he finally drew it out, it revealed one of Kazue’s baby blankets. Izuku had kept a couple, even though they had long stopped smelling like the pup. Except, he swore they still did. Kazue hadn’t had his milky pup-scent for five years at that point, but whenever he pressed his nose into the fabric, he knew he could still smell it.

He purred happily when Katsuki handed it to him, curling up around it as the alpha crawled into bed. It was a little easier to follow him then, to sneak under the covers, to press into all the familiar curves of Katsuki’s body. Katsuki pulled him close, as close as he could.

“My omega,” he whispered, then nipped at Izuku’s scent gland. “My strong, handsome omega.”

Izuku hummed in agreement, though he kept one arm wound around his own stomach.

Chapter Text

When Kazue spotted Takagi lingering by the front of the school, he lifted his lip in a snarl, a challenge. The other alpha pup eyed him flatly, then walked away. Good, Kazue thought, glancing to make sure Hikaru was still nearby. The beta pup was slouching in exhaustion, having spent the previous night playing video games with his older siblings.

“Keiji kept letting me win,” he’d whined earlier. Kazue had only half listened. “And Mirai kicked my butt. Ugh. Siblings are the worst.”

Siblings. Siblings, siblings, siblings. Kazue had rolled the word along his tongue, but hadn’t said it out loud.

The morning passed by with contented predictability. Kazue liked when he could predict the outcome of any given situation. He’d found that when he couldn’t accurately predict an outcome, that bad things happened. A lot of bad things.

A lot of bad things had happened to their family. Sometimes he wondered if even worse things could have happened but Kacchan had stopped them before he’d known about it. Because since Kacchan had entered his life, the alpha always protected him. No matter the situation. His Dad had never once abandoned him, never once not been there when he’d needed him.

Kacchan’s predictability made Kazue feel a little better about some things, but not all.

Case in point, this baby.

What was the new pup going to be like? Were they going to be a girl? A boy? He supposed it would be a while before they knew if they were going to be an alpha, beta, or omega. But still, what would having a new pup around do for the family? How were his Mom and Dad going to react? Were they going to forget about him?

Kazue didn’t know what was going to happen. He was a little excited. It was always exciting whenever someone in the pack had a pup. It was always exciting to have that new pup to play with. Even Harue, for how small she was, was fun, in her own way. Kazue liked playing with other pups. But this was different. He knew it was different. And he didn’t really know how that different was going to play out in the end.

Hikaru’s scent wafted over him but didn’t give him enough time to brace himself before the beta laid across his back and shoulders, pushing him into his desk. “Kazue,” the beta pup sighed, “you’re so boring recently. Is something wrong?”

“My Mom’s pregnant.”

“Yeah, you already told me, silly!” Hikaru frowned. “Are you worried about that?”

“I don’t know.” And it was true. He didn’t really know if he was worried about it. But he was thinking about it a lot. “What would you think if your omega was going to have another pup?”

“I’d be happy!” Hikaru lifted his arms into the air and grinned. “Maybe I’d be able to beat them at Super Smasher!” Kazue weighed his opinion carefully, as he always did with Hikaru’s opinions, but decided it wasn’t relevant to his considerations.

The beta pup rolled off of Kazue’s back so he could better look at him. “You know, it’s really nice having siblings. I know I complain about Mirai and Keiji, and that’s mostly because they totally deserve it and are really annoying, but they’re great! They’ve taught me a lot and they’re super cool! And whenever I need help, they’re always there for me! It’s great!” He grinned at Kazue. “I guess it’ll be different for you, since you’ll be the older pup. But it’s still great! You shouldn’t be worried at all!”

This information was much more relevant. Kazue was going to be the older of the two pups. He was older than any of the pack pups, on top of being the only alpha. It was different being around the smaller pups, even if Fumiko never really treated him like the alpha. So, maybe it would just be the same as any one of the other pack pups?

But no. That didn’t seem right.

Kazue scribbled at his worksheet. “Maybe,” he said.

Hikaru pouted as if his response was not satisfactory, but sat back down at his desk with a huff without saying anything else. He passed the time by flicking small bits of paper at the alpha’s back for the next hour or so. When the teacher wasn’t paying attention and Kazue felt the second bit fall down the collar of his shirt, he whipped over his shoulder and bore his teeth at the beta pup. Hikaru flicked one at his forehead.

Disgruntled and annoyed, Kazue fumed through the second part of class, and when Hikaru tried to bounce over to him, he growled at the beta pup, who blinked in surprise.

“Sheesh, something is definitely going on. If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep annoying you! You know you can’t stay away from me forever!”

Kazue threw his things into his bag and marched out of class without once turning to look at the beta pup. He had half a mind to go home by himself, even, but he knew unless Hikaru missed the bus entirely that he’d be there either way. Fine. He’d wait for him. But at the edge of the school grounds! Plus Takagi was still around. So maybe he’d wait at the front doors. Or maybe he should go back to make sure Hikaru was okay.

Kazue growled at his options, paused as he spotted Takagi down the hallway. The other alpha pup hadn’t noticed him, was too busy talking to a couple of his friends. Good. That meant he wasn’t bothering Hikaru at least. Taking a little solace in this, Kazue went to change his shoes.

He hadn’t gone but a couple of steps before someone called out, “Midoriya!”

Kazue paused, and realized it was Takagi, the alpha pup accompanied by his two friends. He snapped his jaws. “What do you want?”

“Let’s go talk,” Takagi grinned when he said it.

Kazue just rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to fall for that, Takagi. And I don’t really want to talk to you anyway. Just leave me alone.”

“Oh, what? Too good to talk to us because your alpha’s a top hero?” Takagi hissed it with enough fury that Kazue turned to consider him.

Most of the pups at that school had parents in some sort of hero-centric and law enforcement career. It was supposed to be a safe haven for these young pups, a place where villains couldn’t hurt them and the media was kept far away. So Takagi’s parents probably had some sort of connection as well. But he certainly wasn’t the pup of any of the top heroes. Kazue knew most of them.

“It’s got nothing to do with that,” Kazue grumbled, heading toward his locker. “Just don’t want to talk to anyone. Besides, you’re mean to Hikaru. And I don’t like it when people are mean to Hikaru.”

Even as he walked away, he was aware of Takagi following him. “Yeah, your freaky beta has some nerve, standing up to an alpha like he does. It’s not like he’s at all better than me!”

Kazue flicked an impatient glare at him. “Of course he’s better than you are, Takagi. He’s not a jerk.” He paused, then tilted his head as he felt a rolled up bit of paper brush along his collar. “All right, he can sometimes be a jerk. But he’s not mean. Calling him a freak is just mean.”

“I call him a freak because he is one!” Takagi grinned as his friends snickered, echoing his words with snide murmurs. Kazue cut a glare toward them and they quieted, though Takagi kept sneering. “You know who else is a freak? Your weird mom.”

There were few things in Kazue’s life that he got upset about. Hikaru was one of them, though only on specific occasions. Kacchan sometimes, though honestly Kacchan could fend for himself. The pack, though nobody dared question the pack.

And his Mom. Without exception.

He snarled at Takagi, leaping toward the other alpha pup and only pulling himself short when Takagi stumbled back in shock. “Don’t you ever,” he hissed, “talk about my omega!”

A hush had fallen over the school as the two alpha pups squared up to each other. After the initial shock had worn away, Takagi dug his heels into the ground and faced Kazue, attempting to match his snarl with a growl of his own. Kazue, however, had learned from the best, and when Takagi growled, he let out a deep, face-contorting snarl that had everyone taking a step back. His palms felt hot and sticky. The air seemed to whisper around him, but he stayed the urge to pull it to him. Hikaru wasn’t there to absorb the damage this time around. But he didn’t need his Quirk to set Takagi straight. He’d already scared off the two betas he’d been hanging out with. If Takagi was smart, he’d back down too.

But of course, he wasn’t smart enough to do that. Instead, he took a step toward Kazue, taking back the space he’d ceded when the smaller alpha pup had charged him.

“What’s wrong? You feel like you need to protect your omega? Ha! He’s not even a real omega! If he were, he’d be female, right? Only females can be real omegas. Yours is probably just some freak beta like Amajiki—”

Kazue grabbed Takagi by the face, and let his palms grow hot and spark. Something else had taken over him. Something that had dug through every barrier in his mind. Something that howled and raged and wanted to tear Takagi to pieces. He could feel the heat racing between his skin and the other alpha pup’s, could feel it burning away, and when Takagi screamed, Kazue ripped control away from the monster, yanking his hand away as he remembered his Mom’s face melting into the face of someone else, someone he didn’t know, the fire he’d summoned blistering their skin as it burned away at their flesh—

A heavy, solid hit landed squarely at his cheek, knocking Kazue to the side, only to be hit again, this time in the stomach. He glanced up, registered that the two betas Takagi had been talking with were looming over him. Takagi was approaching, his pain replaced with fury. One of the betas reached for Kazue and without thinking, he bit into their hand, the beta reeling back with a cry.

The air shifted and Kazue’s hands sparked. There were several people yelling in the hallway. Takagi drew back his fist but when Kazue moved to intercept him, the betas grabbed his arms and held him back, even as he snarled and thrashed and his hands kept sparking.

Stand your ground.

His Dad’s voice was the last Kazue expected to hear, but as he looked up, he saw Takagi’s fist coming toward him, and he twisted. Takagi’s fist swung wide and struck one of the betas in the jaw, knocking him off of Kazue. Kazue kept twisting, throwing the second beta off of him, then he turned toward Takagi. His palms sparked just as he went to attack and this made him pause, remembering the terrible smell of burning flesh. In that hesitation, Takagi spun, rearing up for another attack, his fist closing in on Kazue.

A shadow leaped onto Takagi, wrapping their arms around his neck and yanking him back. Takagi shrieked in surprise and one of the betas went to help him, but Kazue caught Hikaru’s scent, realized he was in danger, raced forward to save him.

A door slammed open. “What is going on here?!”

Pups everywhere turned toward the voice. One of the teachers. Kazue didn’t know which one. Instead of stillness, many of the pups moved toward the teacher, or away, trying to escape the situation. The two betas immediately fled and Kazue felt someone grab his arm. He went to bite them, then realized it was Hikaru. The beta pup looked grave, but yanked him away. “C’mon! You’re going to get in trouble!”

- - -

Just beyond the school grounds, Hikaru dug into his backpack and pulled out several bandages. “Mom always gives them to me, but I never have to use them,” he explained as he pasted one onto Kazue’s cheek. It was swelling. His teeth were hurting.

“Why not just heal me?” Kazue grumbled.

“Because you can’t get into fights at school and just expect me to heal you! That’s dumb, Kazue!” Hikaru checked to make sure the bandages were in place, then wrapped his arms around Kazue’s neck and rubbed against him. “Don’t do that again, please? That scared me.”

Kazue didn’t want to admit it had scared him, too. Why had he just attacked like that? Why had he just snapped? What had happened to him?

He ran his hand over his cheek, which really did hurt, and felt tears welling up in his eyes. “Hikaru? Can I use your phone?”

The beta pup blinked at him, but dug out the phone his parents had given him for emergency use. Kazue punched a number into the phone, aware that Hikaru was watching him, aware that a terrible feeling was welling up inside of him. When he finally put the phone to his ear, he was sniffling, and when it was picked up, his voice wavered a little. “Daddy,” he whispered, “can you come get me from school?”

- - -

Katsuki did not immediately call in an emergency upon hearing his pup crying on a phone number he didn’t recognize, and for that he should have been praised. He did speed unnecessarily fast to get to the school, leaning forward when it came into sight to find his pup. Kazue was seated against the gate pillars just outside the school grounds. Togata’s youngest was pacing in front of him, as if guarding the alpha pup. Both of them paused as the car screeched to a halt in front of them.

He got out and swept the pups up and down. Hikaru looked perfectly fine, though Katsuki had never seen him with anything more than a bruise, and never for more than a day. Kazue, however, was sporting several bandages along his face, practically on his cheek, which was painfully red and swollen. One glance and Katsuki knew what had happened.

He looked over the school grounds for any signs of other pups, but was not surprised when he didn’t see anything. Having taken account of everything, he shifted, then gestured to the pups. “Get in. I’ll take you home, Hikaru.”

It was awkwardly quiet the entire way to the Number One Loser’s house. He put in a call to the hero communication network and reached Togata, letting him know he’d picked Hikaru up from school and was taking him home.

“What happened?” Was the natural question that followed.

“To be determined,” Katsuki grumbled, then hung up.

Hikaru paused to try to smile at Kazue, though the alpha pup didn’t look up at him. “See you tomorrow, Kazue,” he said, then clambered out of the car. Katsuki watched to make sure he got to the front door and went inside the house before driving off.

Without Hikaru there, it was even more awkwardly silent. And it was a long drive from Togata’s house back to the city, even longer to cross the city to reach the neighborhood where the packhouse was.

Once they reached the other side of the city, Katsuki flipped the rearview mirror so he could get a better look at Kazue. “What’s with the bandages?”

“Fell,” the pup muttered.

The alpha waited, but he said nothing more. “You got into a fight.” Kazue deliberately looked out the window. “And don’t try to bullshit me. I know what it looks like when someone gets socked in the face and when they fall on their ass.”

Kazue snapped his jaws, his scent strong, angry, upset. “Fine. Yeah. I got into a fight.”

“Why?”

“These pups were saying Mom’s a fake omega cause he’s not female.”

Katsuki paused. It was something he’d heard before, of course, from the more close-minded of society. The inability to accept the minorities of the secondary genders because they didn’t fit neatly into what an alpha should be or an omega should be.

He fought to not click his teeth in anger, instead said, “Well, did you win?”

“Yeah, ‘course I did.”

Katsuki nodded. “Good pup.” He felt, heard, and smelled as Kazue shifted, as he relaxed, as he smiled and settled happily into the thought. “By the way, you owe every single person involved an apology and you and I are going to sit down later to discuss this more.”

Immediately, Kazue snapped toward him. “You just said I did good!”

Katsuki pulled the car into the driveway, turned it off, spun in his chair to look Kazue in the eye. “You always stick up for your family. You never stoop to their level.”

Kazue blinked, took in the words, looked a little more ashamed. Katsuki ruffled his hair. “Oh, and you’re telling your mom.” That pulled a whine from the pup, but Katsuki got out of the car and shut the door halfway through the noise.

Outside the car, he paused, taking in a breath. How many times had he gotten into fights when he was in school? Too many to count. Izuku had always told him off for it, even when it had been in his defense, especially if it had been in his defense. To be fair nobody had ever insulted his mother or father – most people had been too afraid to – but he had the feeling this confrontation Kazue had had was something more than just someone insulting Izuku. As Kazue trudged out of the car, Katsuki wondered if he’d started feeling more of his alpha brain coming up. He’d been in middle school when it had gotten particularly bad, but maybe Kazue was progressing faster.

Could be a problem.

He clicked his tongue along his canines and put a hand on Kazue’s back when he passed, guiding him back to the packhouse. When he did, he didn’t feel the pup tense up or pull away. In fact, he seemed to sink into Katsuki’s touch, as if he were still comforted by it. That would change, eventually. For more than a couple years, it had been difficult for him to accept care and attention from his mom. Their alphas just didn’t get along. He hoped it wouldn’t be the same for him and Kazue, but he also allowed himself to relish this little moment with his pup, trying not to wonder if it would be the last.

Inside the packhouse, there was a low murmur as people crowded around the television. Katsuki paused to gather what was going on, but it was just some sports game. It was strange to see the pack together for something like that. The only sporting event the pack paid any attention to was the U.A. Sports Festival. Generally speaking, heroes didn’t have a lot of time to keep up with their favorite sports team. But Katsuki understood the draw of watching a low-stakes sports game. The League of Villains had been slowing ramping up activity lately. Everyone was on edge. Everyone needed to blow off a little steam. Sports was an easy out.

Still, he took no interest, following Kazue as the pup tried to slip away. “Here. You hungry?”

“A little,” Kazue grumbled, wiping at his nose. Katsuki tried to see if his palms were red, but couldn’t tell. However, the pup was always hungry after using his Quirk. Took a lot of energy to pull air around with that much force.

He tipped his head toward the kitchen and Kazue obediently followed him, still sulking a little. Away from the rest of the pack, Katsuki got a chance to really look at him. There was frustration in the way he looked around the room, as if it were about the last place he wanted to be.

While the pup was distracted, he stepped forward, startling Kazue a little when he wiped some dirt off his face. He also ran a hand over the bandages, pulling away when Kazue winced.

“You’re looking rough, pup,” he grumbled.

Kazue pouted. Even all these years later, he still had a wonderfully expressive pout. “ ‘S fine.”

“It’s really not.” He stood up and opened his mouth to say more when someone slid into view from the archway, Katsuki registering first as Deku’s scent washed over him before his eyes even realized it was the omega standing in front of him.

“Katsuki!” Uh oh. First name. And he was a little red in the face. Clearly unhappy. “Kazue’s school just called! You won’t believe what—” For the first time, the omega realized the pup was standing in the room with them. He blinked once, twice, while Kazue squirmed uncomfortably.

Then, with a whine of panic, Deku leaped to the pup, hands fluttering uselessly over him as he whimpered, “Oh, Kazue! What happened to you?? Does it hurt? Are you in any pain? Is your vision blurred at all?” The more his omega fussed over him, the more Kazue withdrew from him, though Izuku matched him, step for step.

Katsuki let him fret over the pup for a minute longer before he cleared his throat. “What did the school say?”

Immediately, Izuku’s focus snapped up to the alpha, and indignation flooded his face again. “They said Kazue got into a fight! A fight! I can’t believe—” he stopped suddenly and looked down again at Kazue’s face.

The pup whined and wrapped his arms around his head. While Izuku put his hand on his hips and went immediately into “mom mode,” Katsuki turned to get Kazue that snack.

- - -

Kazue didn’t cuddle very much anymore. As an alpha, he would stop those kinds of behaviors altogether before long. Even if he wasn’t, he was getting to the age where he wouldn’t want to cuddle anyway.

Obviously upset and hurt, when Izuku and Katsuki sat on a couch in the living room once the pack had dispersed to start making dinner, Kazue crawled up into their laps. He pressed himself mostly to Izuku, clinging to his omega almost as he had when he’d been a very small pup, though he also made sure to keep one hand touching Katsuki. Izuku pulled the pup close, one arm supporting his back while he ran his hand through Kazue’s hair. Katsuki put an arm around Izuku’s shoulder and pulled them against him, warm and steady. Izuku listened to his breathing, could have counted the hours off on how constant and rhythmic it was.

“I’m sorry,” Kazue said fifteen minutes into their cuddling. He curled deeper into Izuku’s arms when he said it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit him. There was a monster that did it.”

“A monster?” Alarm had Izuku sitting up slightly, especially when he caught a grimace on Katsuki’s lips. The alpha shook his head, squeezed his shoulder in what he assumed was supposed to be a sort of pacifying gesture. But it most certainly was not. “What do you mean, a monster?”

“I don’t know,” Kazue wouldn’t look up at either of them. “There’s a monster in my head. It says things sometimes. And it stomps around and makes me feel angry. I don’t like it.”

Izuku blinked and glanced to Katsuki, who raised an eyebrow at him. He laid back, still a little nervous, but he felt better when Katsuki nuzzled into his scent gland. “Maybe that’s something you can talk to Kacchan about. I think he knows a couple of things about monsters.” Katsuki grumbled, a little too focused on nosing into Izuku’s neck. He pulled back and lifted his shoulder to shake the alpha off.

Katsuki blinked as if shaking himself awake, still grumbling under his breath. “Nothing to be afraid of, firecracker,” he ruffled Kazue’s hair. “We can talk about that later. In the meantime, if the monster starts getting angry, just close your eyes and count back from ten. If it’s still angry after that, then you should walk away from whatever is making it angry.”

Kazue wrinkled his nose. “Takagi’s a jerk. He deserved it.”

Where the pup couldn’t see him, Katsuki flashed a proud little grin. Izuku just sighed and tried not to roll his eyes.

- - -

The next morning, Izuku sat up and just like that, whatever hormones had been driving him to stay with the pack were gone because he had that irresistible urge to fix things.

“Katsuki,” he shook the alpha awake, Katsuki snarling in half-sleep. “Do you have patrol today?”

“Tomorrow,” he growled.

“Good. We’re going home. And I want to go to the lab to do some work.”

“Fucking shit, you’re doing work. Not with the baby.”

Izuku took in a deep breath and reminded himself that he really did love Katsuki.

Then, he pressed his hands on either side of the alpha’s face, finally waking him enough to make eye contact. Just to be sure he got the message, Izuku leaned in a little closer. “Katsuki, I’m going to pregnant for the next eight and a half months. If you let me do nothing for the next eight and a half months, Japan is going to need a new number two hero. Got it?”

Maybe still half asleep, Katsuki parsed carefully through these words before sitting up and pinching the sleep from his eyes. “Not until we see the doctor.”

“I’m pregnant, not an invalid! And I am going to the lab! You can come with me or not!” He paused. “In fact, maybe it would be better if you didn’t come. Stay home and rest up. I’ll handle it.”

Katsuki sucked at his canine, examining Izuku closely. “Why are you so touchy?”

Without another word, Izuku tossed the blankets aside, making sure some smacked Katsuki directly in the face. Out of respect for the pack, he didn’t slam the door when he marched out of the bedroom.

By the time Izuku had taken a shower and cleaned himself up for the day, he returned to the bedroom and found Katsuki finishing up packing their things. The alpha glanced Izuku up and down, then cleared his throat. “I told Kazue to take the bus back to the house this afternoon. Once you’re ready, we can drop our things off and go over to the lab.”

“Well aren’t you amenable,” Izuku grumbled, but the spark from earlier had gone. He sat next to Katsuki and leaned against him, humming when the alpha wrapped his arms around him. “I know you said you’re going to get annoying, but you could tone it down a little. This is a marathon, not a sprint, Kacchan. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Katsuki chewed at the inside of his cheek. He didn’t say anything, but he did kiss Izuku at the temple before scenting him thoroughly, much to the omega’s delight.

- - -

Hikaru was waiting for Kazue before he even got to the school. The beta pup hurried forward and grabbed his hand, walking next to him the rest of the way. At the school, he had to deliver apology letters to the school’s principal, his teacher, the teacher who had come to break up the fight, and the three other pups involved in the fight. In return, he also received apology letters from Takagi and the two betas. Takagi’s was noticeably shorter than the other two. Kazue only skimmed them before scurrying off to a quiet corner to let his palms spark and watch the letters burn up.

He wouldn’t forgive them like this. Hell to that. Takagi had insulted his Mom. A letter wasn’t nearly good enough for that.

The three had extra cleaning duties as part of their punishment, probably for the rest of the year, though this didn’t bother Kazue. If anything, the extra quiet time cleaning gave him an opportunity to think a little more about what had happened over the last few days. Between his Mom’s announcement and the building tension between himself and Takagi, Takagi’s attack on Hikaru in particular, he was feeling quite uneasy. Kacchan had promised to sit and talk with him about the monster in his head soon. He wasn’t really looking forward to it, per se, but he was interested in what his alpha had to say about it.

As if nothing had happened at all, Hikaru was his normal self. It was more than a bit of a blessing to see Hikaru unchanged by what had happened. He was a constant Kazue could rely on. A spot of warmth in the unsettled darkness.

Beyond delivering apology letters he may or may not have been sincere about and extra cleaning duties, the day went on as usual. At the end of it, Hikaru bounced up to his desk and grinned at him. “You’re going home home, right?”

“Yeah.” Kazue had mentioned that to him earlier in the day.

“We should hang out a little before you go. Since we won’t ride the same bus anymore!” Hikaru wrapped his arm around Kazue and yanked him around as he bounced up and down. “Please!”

“Okay, fine,” Kazue sighed. “What do you want to do?”

“Hmm,” Hikaru rocked back on his heels, still holding onto Kazue even as he started packing. “Dunno. Any ideas?”

Kazue considered this as he carefully arranged everything in his backpack. “We haven’t been to the park in a while. That could be fun.” He paused when he caught the look on Hikaru’s face.

The beta looked vaguely terrified. It was really the only thing Kazue could think of. He’d dropped the alpha’s arm and was staring at him with a tight-lipped, wide-eyed expression. As if Kazue had suggested something absolutely unthinkable.

“Hikaru?” Kazue paused and when the beta just kept staring at him, he reached across and poked him on the nose. Hikaru blinked several times and rubbed at his nose, pouting as Kazue shouldered his pack. “Let’s do something else then. You want to go to the comic store?”

“Ah!” Immediately, the beta perked up again. “Great idea! We can see if there’s anything new to read! And my Dad gave me some money so maybe we can get the latest chapter of Accidental Hero. That’ll be fun, right? Ha!” Without waiting for Kazue to respond, Hikaru leaped off as if it was a race to the store.

Kazue carefully readjusted the pack on his shoulders and frowned slightly.

Why is Hikaru afraid of the park?

He turned this question over a couple of times, and only when the beta pup came sliding back into the classroom doorway calling for him did he step to follow him.

- - -

The lab smelled like oil and iron and plasma and it was absolutely perfect. Izuku stepped inside and breathed in deeply, relishing it. He was enjoying it so much he could forget for a moment that Katsuki was standing right next to him, glowering. But the longer he stood there, breathing it all in, the more he could feel the heat of Katsuki’s annoyance radiating outward.

“Kacchan,” he sighed, “I love you. I hope you know that.”

Katsuki shifted next to him. “I feel like there’s a qualifying statement to that.”

“But,” Izuku opened his eyes to glare at him, “if you’re going to pout, you really should just go home because it’s not going to be pleasant for either of us if you make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

The alpha narrowed his eyes slightly. Izuku could tell he was deciding between two different things to say and hoped for his sake he’d figure out which was the right one. Eventually, he opened his mouth with a quiet pop. “What, exactly, did you want to get done today again?”

“No idea!” Izuku stepped into the lab before he could catch the inevitable grimace to follow.

While in his last semesters at school, Izuku had had the privilege to work with Mei Hatsume as an intern, and was then hired by her as an assistant right after he’d graduated. He’d worked with her for the last five years, learning everything he could from the spastic engineer. She was brilliant and creative in so many ways that Izuku was not that he’d tried to soak in as much of her technique as he could. Even if he never used her exact process, it was always good to see how another engineer did something, to open up new pathways to solutions he would have never thought of on his own. Working with her, and her many haggard assistants, had been a blessing in his life, no matter how stressful it had sometimes been.

Three years earlier, Hatsume had moved into a large space to accommodate more assistants to help her with added requests from more hero agencies. Mostly because she wanted more time to work on her personal babies on top of being able to fulfill requests. The end result had been she’d been so overworked she’d often gone days without basic human functions, such as eating or sleeping. The old lab had been relegated as a storage unit for old, broken, or otherwise unused gear, and it had remained that way until a few months back when Hatsume had practically leaped onto Izuku’s desk telling him they were getting enough requests for his work that he could start his own support agency business, and that he should do so. She’d helped to get him started by offering the old lab and all the equipment within it as a beginning point to his support agency, though he’d had to wade through the old support items as part of their deal. He and Katsuki had long cleared out the space, leaving several pieces of old but extremely useful equipment, equipment Izuku was very familiar with as he’d used it for a couple of years before they’d moved over to the new lab.

Now that the space was clear and things sat in an organized fashion, Izuku could stand at the overhang and imagine just what working at his agency would look like. The front doors opened to a secretary desk, a position he was still on the fence about filling, as Hatsume had operated without one and he saw the merits to directly talking to people who called, as well as the drawbacks. The entry level opened to a wide, empty warehouse, dotted only with pillars to support the tin roof. It overhung an engineering floor several steps below, with a railing Izuku was leaned over to peer down at everything. In the far back corner he’d set up an office and conference room for the more paperworky side of running such a business. In the other, he’d organized a full diagnostics lab that could run physical, chemical, and biologic simulations and testing, something Hatsume hadn’t fully invested in, though Izuku was very proud to cater to. And the main floor was broken in several engineering stations for him and his assistants, the largest at the far back of the warehouse for himself and four smaller stations for any assistants he might hired. Two from Hatsume’s agency had already said they would work with him, once he got this up and running. And Hatsume went through so many assistants that she hadn’t really cared about him taking a couple of hers. It took a very specific kind of person to work well with her for any length of time. Izuku had been lucky to be one of those people, though it had sometimes been a struggle.

Still, he found himself missing parts of Hatsume as he looked out over the space. There was no frenetic energy there, no piles of things being worked on, no sparks of creativity flying about. It was just an empty space at the moment. A thought. An idea.

As much as Izuku had dug his heels in at the thought of creating his own agency, he felt a little better now that he could stand and look out over it all, to see the start of something that could be great.

His musings were interrupted when Katsuki came to lean over the railing as well, though he frowned and shook the railing a little, feeling it was a little loose. He pulled himself off of it and hooked an arm around Izuku’s waist, as if he were ready to catch him if the railing gave way. For once, Izuku didn’t tell him off. It was nice having the alpha’s arm around him.

“So,” Katsuki muttered, “thought of a name yet?”

Izuku grimaced deeply. Never, not once, had he ever thought that a name would be the biggest problem he would have in moving forward with his career. The fact that he hadn’t settled on a name for his new agency had set several things back, including him getting proper licensure for the business as well as the ability to hire on employees and have the government recognize his agency as a legitimate support agency.

“No,” he grumbled. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Katsuki grunted and rolled his shoulders. “I could think of a couple.”

“No.”

“C’mon. I’ve got some ideas.”

“No way. I know what your first hero name suggestions were first year.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Sad to say, I don’t really know if you’ve gotten any better.”

“Ground Zero’s not bad.”

“No. It’s fine.”

Katsuki grimaced. “Could have been worse. I was kicking around Dynamite for a while.”

Izuku thought this over carefully, then shrugged. “Eh. It’s fine.”

“Just fine? It doesn’t strike terror?”

Izuku gave him a sly little smirk. “I know you too well for anything about you to strike terror.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes again, but he was smiling this time. He pulled Izuku to his waist, leaned in to nip at his ear. “I’ll show you how terrifying I can be.”

Izuku laughed, then purred when the alpha nuzzled into his neck. The warehouse was huge and even when five of them had worked in it, it hadn’t ever really picked up the scent of Hatsume or any of the assistants. Likewise, the space was too big to fill with the scent of their togetherness. But it lingered around them, a sense of peace and happiness. Of together. Just as they always would be.

- - -

Part of the process of setting up the lab was moving over old equipment and gear Hatsume didn’t want anymore and was willing to donate to Izuku and his lab. Katsuki drove him over to her lab, which wasn’t very far. On the way, Izuku reflected on how he’d forgotten to tell just about everyone that he was pregnant. He’d gotten washed up in the moment, and with the pack all around him, it had been difficult to remember there were other people who might have wanted to know.

And, he’d really only wanted to tell his Mom. He still wished he could reach out to her. Tell her a miracle had happened. Tell her he was so happy.

A thought struck Izuku so hard to physically flinched. Katsuki glanced over to him. “What?”

“Fuck,” Izuku mumbled, then groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What?” Katsuki said a little more forcefully.

“I forgot to tell Sano.”

“…About?”

“The pup!”

“Oh,” Katsuki relaxed a little. “Well she’s going to lose her mind.”

“I know,” Izuku pulled out his phone, fingers hovering over the keyboard. Eventually he typed out that he wanted to see her for dinner sometime. She responded back almost immediately, chiding him for being so quiet recently, and telling him to bring Kazue and Katsuki with him. Maybe she’d forgive him for not immediately telling her if he pawned it off as wanting to surprise her about it.

“You know what we’re picking up today?” Katsuki asked as he turned into the parking lot.

“Uh, tools mostly I think.” Izuku scrolled back through his latest messages with Hatsume, but she’d gone on a tear about a new project and he couldn’t go back far enough before Katsuki had parked.

“Tools,” Katsuki repeated. The distrust in his voice was valid. The last time Izuku had said they were going to get tools, they’d left with an industrial table saw that had taken three people to move.

“Handheld tools,” he clarified, and the alpha relaxed a little.

He paused before getting out of the car, then looked at Izuku distrustfully. “Okay, I know I’ve been bad about being overly concerned about you working while being pregnant, but be straight with me. Do you have a recommended lifting weight limit while pregnant?”

Izuku sighed, but he supposed it was a valid question. “Later on, yes. It’s not as big a deal right now.”

“So that’s a yes.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Katsuki frowned deeply. “Make it simple for me.”

Izuku got out of the car without answering.

They had to key into the building to get past Hatsume’s over the top security system, which Katsuki peered curiously at while Izuku called out for the engineer and her assistants. While the old lab had been an open warehouse, the new one consisted of several more hallways that led to quartered-off engineering labs. This had helping to keep Hatsume a little more focused. A little.

The hallway design meant that only one person came to greet them, even after Izuku had called out a couple times. Hatsume’s oldest assistant Hanako, the one who had been around even longer than Izuku, stuck her head out from a nearby doorway and smiled brightly.

“Midoriya! Good to see you! Oh, and Ground Zero too! Are you here to pick up—” she stopped very suddenly, halfway through stepping toward him, every inch of her rising up a little.

It was reaction Izuku was going to have to get used to. He smiled patiently through it as realization dawned on Hanako, but when she screamed, he jumped about two feet into the air.

“I can’t believe it! I’m so happy for—” she’d raced across the space and grabbed onto Izuku, leaping excitedly around him, yanking him around, but only for a split second before Katsuki was between them.

The alpha’s eyes were pinpoints. He was snarling, showing his huge canine teeth. His scent poured off of him, possessive, aggressive, alpha. Fear raced over Hanako’s face as his palms sparked dangerously, and Izuku felt his heart racing as everything began heading in a very bad direction.

He didn’t really get a chance to think. He just made a sharp chirping noise, similar to what he’d do to Kazue if the pup began acting up, and Katsuki stilled so suddenly Hanako stumbled from the whiplash. Even with Katsuki standing so still, the tension was so tight, Izuku didn’t know what would happen when someone broke it. Katsuki was on a hair trigger. His eyes were still pinpoints, his lip raised in a silent snarl. Hanako was pinned in place by the sheer force of his rage, prey caught in a predator’s gaze. And Izuku was in the middle of it all, the trigger that could lead to bloodshed.

As he scrambled to find a way to settle things down, Hatsume dashed in from one of the hallways, paused, and shouted, “Midoriya! You’re here!”

The situation could not have gotten any worse. If a villain showed up and attacked Izuku outright, it couldn’t have been worse. Katsuki did not particularly like Hatsume. He found her annoying and hyperactive and he didn’t like when she got so close to Izuku, which she often did, lacking certain decorum when it came to boundaries. Boundaries such as recognizing when an alpha was in protective mode over his pregnant mate. They’d only ever gotten along because Hatsume was too blind or uncaring to social cues that she hadn’t ever been bothered by Katsuki’s clear dislike of her.

So when she saw them, when she tilted her head to the side, clearly taking in Izuku’s new scent, he braced himself for the inevitable, watched as Katsuki turned his attention to Hatsume, also expecting what was to come.

“Ah!” Hatsume leaned toward him. “You’ve got yourself a new project there, Midoriya? Don’t have any tools for that one, but you have fun with that. Speaking of! You have to come see this new baby I’m working on! It’s gorgeous!”

Somehow, Hatsume’s brushing over the issue, as she did everything else, made Katsuki twitch. But for a reason Izuku couldn’t have guessed. Katsuki’s pinpoint eyes filled out to glare down at Hatsume, to turn his snarl of protectiveness into a growl of indignation. Izuku could almost hear what he was thinking: My omega is pregnant and you don’t fucking care?! The fuck is wrong with you?

He sighed, but was happy when Katsuki stood up and shook himself out of the instinctual reaction. Still, it was up to Izuku to carefully step past him and greet Hanako, to give her the space and permission to touch him and interact with him, even as Katsuki loomed nearby.

- - -

Just to make his point, Izuku pouted on the way back to their house.

Amajiki had contacted them to let them know that Hikaru and Kazue had stayed out a little later to stop in through the comic store near their school, but that they would be on the bus later that day. The pup was due home soon, but not soon enough for Izuku to have to ignore what had happened at Hatsume’s lab.

For his part, Katsuki acted like he’d done nothing wrong. Nothing wrong at all.

It was infuriating.

When they arrived at the house, Izuku got out of the car before Katsuki had even turned it off, going immediately inside with a heavy sigh. Having been empty for several days, the air inside was a bit muggy and a bit stale. He turned on the air just to get things moving a little. As he did that, Katsuki wandered in behind him, sweeping the room with a noticeable arch of his body, as if he were on patrol and was expecting a villain to leap out behind every corner. Izuku purposefully put his back to the alpha and went into the kitchen to get something to snack on.

While he was rummaging through the fridge, he felt Katsuki shifting nearby, the alpha’s presence taking up space in the house, even if he wasn’t standing right beside Izuku.

“You’re upset,” he said, even though the omega wasn’t even looking at him.

“I’m hungry,” Izuku clarified. “You should probably get used to that.”

Katsuki said nothing, even when Izuku glanced over at him. He was watching the omega, though Izuku could tell a lot of attention was going into his hand, the alpha stroking his wedding band with his thumb. Katsuki didn’t get to wear it all the time; it didn’t really go well with his hero costume, though he had talked about getting a black band sewn onto his ring finger of his glove to signify their bond. When he did wear it though, he was often running his fingers over it, twisting it. It was a soothing sort of motion, not far off from when the alpha would run his hand along Izuku’s arm or back. This was different. The alpha stroked his wedding band, pressing it into his skin, as if using it to reorient himself.

Izuku could tell when something was bothering Katsuki. Katsuki kept his emotions close to his chest most of the time, but Izuku had known him long enough and knew him well enough to know when something was wrong. This was one of those moments. And he had a pretty good idea what it was.

There was a thin line to walk, he knew, between being encouraging and being supportive. Those were two very different things. Especially when it came to Katsuki Bakugo. But there was such a thin divide between them. Izuku knew how to navigate that space, but it was still a very careful balancing act.

However, he felt fairly confident when he stood up straight, when he made a short calling sound, low and needy, when the alpha’s eyes snapped to him, reducing in size not quite to pinpoint, but certainly focusing in on him. At first, the alpha didn’t move, so Izuku called again, the vibrations catching in his throat and coming out a little sadder than he’d wanted, though it immediately drew Katsuki to him.

The alpha responded to his call with a low croon of his own, a sound that sent little trills through his body and into Izuku as Katsuki pulled him to him. Their bodies lined up as they usually did. Even if it was familiar, there was still a bit of a spark to the movement, a settling of things into places they so naturally belonged. Izuku leaned forward until their foreheads rested against one another, until they felt safe and secure in each other, until all was right and well.

“Alpha,” Izuku said, though not low enough to be a call for more intimate gestures.

“Omega?” A question. An uncertainty. Katsuki didn’t quite know what he wanted, but he wanted to know what that was.

Izuku trailed a hand along his jaw, getting a thrill at the shiver that went through him. “I’m okay. You know that, right? I’m okay. You don’t have to be on alert all the time.”

Katsuki tilted his chin down, as if to draw away from Izuku, but the omega followed him, kept their forehead pressed to each other, kept them sharing the same space, there in that moment. “I feel like I have to. It’s my duty.”

“Duty,” Izuku scoffed. “This again.”

“It’s what I feel.”

“I know.” A pause, maybe where they both considered the other. “Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then please trust me in this. I know what I’m doing. I know I’ll be okay. You don’t have to give in to your inner alpha.” He smirked, leaned a little closer, as if he was going to kiss Katsuki. “You know, you really should take the advice you gave Kazue earlier. Your monster’s taking control a lot. Should just walk away from it.”

“I ain’t walking away from anything,” there was a sudden fierceness to his voice, an absolution. Katsuki followed it with a growl that rose up from his chest, something Izuku could feel as much as hear. “But I get it. I’m going overboard.”

“Way overboard.”

“I told you I’d be obnoxious.”

“Not an excuse to not try.” Izuku opened his eyes, but this close, he couldn’t quite see Katsuki. He could just feel him, there, with him. The alpha’s hands were firmly planted on his hips, but as if sensing his gaze, they traveled up, caressing the length of the omega’s body, up his neck and to his face, cupping him gently.

He kissed Izuku softly, much softer than he normally did, with none of the possessiveness he’d exhibited earlier. This was him at his most comfortable, his more confident. When it was just them, alone, in their house. But they couldn’t remain like that. Not forever. They both had to go out into the world eventually. They both knew that.

So Izuku said, “Please try a little harder for me. Just try. Things’ll get a little easier as we go along. You’ll get used to the idea of me being pregnant.”

“Doubt that,” Katsuki grumbled, but he sighed and said, “Fine. For you, omega.”

“Thank you,” Izuku’s lips twitched up to that smirk again, “and if you don’t shape up, I’ll just have to kick you out until the pup’s here.”

“Never,” Katsuki pushed in on the omega, a bit of his possessiveness in the fierce grip he took on Izuku’s body. “No matter what, I’m here for you. I’m here for the long run. For everything.” He rubbed along Izuku’s scent gland, pressing his scent into the omega, merging them as one. “I’m here. I’ll always be here. And I’ll shape up so I can stay here.”

“Promise?” Izuku didn’t ask for promises that often. He knew promises were easy to break.

He knew, when Katsuki kissed him, when the alpha enveloped him, when they were together and one and wholly in their own moment, that Katsuki would not break this promise, “Yes, Deku. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Train rides with Katsuki were always interesting affairs. Mostly because Katsuki had to go into such deep incognito whenever venturing out onto the street so not to be swarmed by fans. The alpha had a pair of sunglasses he preferred, wearing them even as the train sped along underground. He also wore a beanie to hide his hair and large jackets to mask his frame. In addition to the disguise, he tended to loom over Izuku, never taking a seat, even if it was available, preferring to hand a handhold either from a grip above or on a pole. Since he was an alpha, this behavior was often forgiven, though it was still generally frowned upon.

Now, things were practically unbearable. Katsuki was still wearing his usual disguise, but his looming was so intense that he’d scared everyone away from either seat beside Izuku and Kazue and kept people at as much of a berth as could be allowed in the confined space.

Izuku, who had never taken up disguises before, was also wearing some sunglasses and had stuffed his hair into a cap. Most people wouldn’t recognize him, and most of the time they didn’t, though it had lead on occasion to rather awkward encounters for him by fans of Katsuki’s with and without the hero present. However, they wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret for now and since one whiff of him gave that away, he had opted for hiding his identity instead.

Despite their efforts, Katsuki’s overly aggressive attitude toward anyone who tried to step near the omega was drawing a lot of attention. Even though the reason was obvious, Izuku’s pregnancy-scent no doubt filling the train, it did not make the situation feel any better.

Izuku kept glaring at Katsuki, but the sunglasses blocked the look from sticking. Not that Katsuki was paying attention to him. No, he was too busy staring down whoever happened to be closest to them.

Kazue, oblivious to it all, had turned to lean his back against Izuku’s arm, staring out the train window.

Not soon enough, their station came around and Izuku immediately took Kazue’s arm and led the pup off the train, not really caring if Katsuki was behind him or not.

Eight and a half months, he seethed to himself, eight and a half months of this bullshit. And I haven’t even gotten to the really hard parts yet.

He was thankful they were going to see Sano. Although she had never been pregnant herself, she ran a daycare where she was around pups a lot and had had many conversations with moms about motherhood, all aspects of it. And she had been with Izuku through almost all of his previous pregnancy. Maybe she’d be able to get Katsuki to calm down a little. Though he doubted it.

Still, he could hope.

It was a short and familiar walk to Sano’s home and daycare. At this time of the evening, she wouldn’t have any pups around, but Izuku still stepped up to the door knowing she might be busy, so he was not surprised when her alpha, Jin, answered the door.

“Izuku,” he greeted with a rumble, “please, come—” he stood up straight, eyes very wide. Izuku didn’t say anything for a beat, waiting for the shock to wear off. Kazue poked at Jin’s leg, then leaned against the alpha, wrapping his arms around Jin’s thigh. This shook him out of the shock enough to gently pry Kazue off of him and turn around. “Sano! You should come here!”

“What did you do this time?” Sano groaned as Jin backed away from the door. Izuku again waited, a little less patiently, as the red headed beta wheeled to the door, nudging it open with her wheelchair. “Well hey, stranger! Long time no—” Izuku could have almost counted down to when she, too, sat up in her chair, when her eyes locked onto him, specifically on his flat stomach.

When she was held in the trance for a little longer than usual, Izuku cleared his throat. “Hey Sano. Thanks for having us over. May we come in?”

Still, Sano didn’t move. Izuku heard Katsuki begin to grumble behind him and almost turned around to snip at him when Sano suddenly screamed. At first, it was hard to tell what kind of a scream it was, Katsuki shooting upright by some strange hero instinct while both Izuku and Kazue flinched back. Jin appeared to hover behind Sano as she threw herself toward Izuku with such force she nearly ejected herself from her wheelchair. Izuku scrambled to right her and as he did, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“BABE!” She shrieked right in his ears. “By the gods, babe! Babe! Babe, you are carrying an extra passenger!”

“Uh, yeah,” Izuku laughed, allowed himself to feel a bit of joy as Sano shook him side to side in pure excitement. “Surprise!”

“OH! Babe!” Sano leaned back so she could glare at him. “How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Izuku tried to smile, but she met it with a glower. “It’s only been a couple of days. Still within the first week of finding out.”

Sano considered this with an extra glare, then scoffed. “I’ll accept it this time. All right, you can come on in. I want to hear all about it.”

- - -

Sano was, as always, high energy. Strange as it was, Kazue thrived off her energy, sitting next to her and bouncing around with her whenever she got excited. Izuku attributed it to just how much time he’d spent with Sano when he’d been pregnant and how often he’d left Kazue with Sano and Jin so he could work and go to school after his birth. It was nice to see the pup having fun, nice to see him smiling so much and so freely. It was nice to have that be the focus of attention, rather than his pregnancy or Katsuki’s possessiveness.

At first Izuku had worried that Katsuki would be just as overly protective of him with Jin in the room as he was with other alphas, but apparently he didn’t consider Jin a threat, and the dinner passed without any outwardly aggressive protective moves from Katsuki. He did keep a hand resting on Izuku’s thigh for most of the dinner though, out of sight but always there. It was a casual sort of touch that Izuku had missed with the new Katsuki. The quiet reassurance that all was well.

As dinner wound down, he leaned into Katsuki’s side and the alpha rubbed against his cheek, growling quietly yet calmly.

“Tell me about school,” Sano commanded halfway through dinner. Kazue immediately glanced to his parents, both of whom gave him a stern look. “Uh oh! What happened? Does it have anything to do with this?” She ran a hand over the bandage on Kazue’s cheek.

The pup pouted and waved her away. “It’s nothing. School is fine.”

“Oh, no!” Sano waved a hand in the air, “You don’t get to tell me it’s nothing! What happened?”

Kazue shifted and glared into his food. Eventually, Izuku sighed. “He got into a fight.”

“Oooh,” Sano leaned a little closer to Kazue, who leaned away, “was the other guy big and mean?”

“Y-yeah,” Kazue murmured.

“Was he saying bad things?”

“Yes.”

“Like what?”

Kazue frowned deeply and glanced up at Izuku. The pup had already told him, of course. The reason he’d attacked the other pup in the first place had come up in their initial conversation about it. And even if he knew the pup was in the wrong for saying what he had, Izuku did frown. It was more difficult for Kazue having parents who were a little… unconventional. With him being a male omega and Katsuki being a famous hero, he hadn’t had a chance of having a normal experience growing up. And it wasn’t Izuku’s fault. He knew that. But it still stung him a little to think his pup was being discriminated against because of who his omega was.

It took a little more coaxing from Sano, but Kazue eventually admitted, “He said Mom’s not a real omega because he’s not female. And I didn’t like that.”

“Ah,” Sano leaned away. “Well, isn’t that rude. And wrong. You should pity him for being so ignorant. Besides! Would you love your mom any more if he was female?”

Kazue frowned deeply at the question. “No!”

“And do you think your alpha would love your mom any more if he was female?”

“No,” this time, Kazue glared suspiciously at Katsuki, who drew Izuku closer as if to prove the point.

“Right! So him being male or female doesn’t matter much at all, now does it?”

“No.”

Sano nodded, once, a strong, sturdy motion. “Well, that settles that.” She took a couple of bites, then added, “You know the truth. So no need for fighting anyone next time, ya, pup?” She ruffled Kazue’s hair just like Izuku and Katsuki did.

Kazue blinked up at Sano, but said nothing else, going back to his dinner seemingly unconcerned by the conversation. Izuku couldn’t quite tell if the pup had really listened to Sano, but he hoped he’d learned his lesson. The fact of the matter was, Katsuki had been in several fights when they’d been in school and that set a bad precedence for what kind of trouble Kazue could get into. Izuku didn’t want to see his pup going down that same path.

After dinner, Sano forcibly pulled Izuku away from Katsuki, much to the alpha’s displeasure. “This is best friend time!” She shouted as she dragged the omega into the kitchen. “You three alphas can sit and glare unhappily at each other while we have some alone time!” Katsuki did glare, quite openly, at Sano as she and Izuku disappeared around the corner, but did not follow after them.

Once they were alone, Sano whispered, “I know there’s nothing to see, but pull your shirt up a little for me, please!”

Izuku sighed, but did as she asked, allowing the beta to run her fingers over his stomach. Still flat, still without any sign of what was to come. Still, Sano stroked her hands over him, the scent glands in her wrist instinctually releasing calming and reassuring pheromones. She had done much the same with him when he’d been pregnant with Kazue. It was a beta thing, she had told him at the time, the want to reassure both omega and unborn pup that they belonged with someone.

“Betas tend to be polyamorous, you know,” Sano had told him years earlier, while stroking a much more extended belly at the time. She’d grinned at Izuku’s stunned face. “Alphas are too possessive and territorial for more than one mate, so it wouldn’t work out with Jin around, but I can do this for you at least.”

Now, even knowing both their alphas were just a room away, Sano’s smile dipped into a concentrated line as she stroked Izuku’s belly, pressing her comforting and welcoming scent into his skin. He hummed appreciatively, though he knew Katsuki was going to have a fit later. Ah well. Something for future Izuku to handle.

As she worked, Sano let out a sigh. It was not often she was calm. She lived at a level of intensity that Izuku sometimes found overwhelming, but she knew where to curb herself, where to breathe. That moment, with her running her hands over his stomach, was as calm as she ever could be. She had a breadth and depth of love for Izuku and pups, in general, that made this moment as special for her as it had been for the omega when he’d first found out. He could see it, in the slight drooping of her eyes, the gentle, deliberate way she stroked him, her settled, effusive scent.

“Aw, babe,” she whispered, “you just have no idea how happy I am for you.”

“Thank you,” Izuku laughed, shook his head. “It’s… more than a little surprising, after all this time. We’d given up. Basically.”

“Well, isn’t that always when it happens? When you just let go?” She rubbed her thumbs in little circles right above his navel. “You’ll be okay. Katsuki will take care of you. I’ll take care of you. Jin. The pack. All of us. You’ll be okay. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Izuku sniffled, not realizing how emotion had swelled in his throat. “I know.”

“Oh,” Sano reached for him. “Come here, come here, let me hug you.” He crouched into her arms, hugging her tightly. She kissed his cheek and squeezed him. “Love you, babe. You know that, right?”

“Yes,” he laughed, even if it sounded a bit like a sob, “I love you too, Sano.”

“Aww,” she let him go, then shook herself out. “Okay! Got it out of my system. Let’s go make sure Katsuki hasn’t run circles in my carpet while pacing from the separation anxiety.”

When they returned to the alphas, Kazue was sitting in Katsuki’s lap, dozing contently. Despite being away from the omega, Katsuki looked about as content as he ever did, though his eyes did spark when seeing Izuku. Kazue lifted his head to watch as Izuku rejoined them, leaning against his omega, who wrapped his arms around him. Katsuki went to touch Izuku, then stiffened suddenly, shooting a glare across the table at Sano, who had begun talking as soon as she had entered the room and did not pause, even though she clearly noticed Katsuki’s gaze. Jin, too, noticed the glare, and narrowed his eyes in warning at him. Tension boiled just under the surface for several seconds, with Sano talking through it as if nothing were happening at all.

Eventually, Izuku huffed out, patting Katsuki on the knee to knock him out of his trance. The alpha blinked at him, then scowled, but turned back to the conversation with neutral interest.

Oh yes. They were going to have a discussion about that later. And hell if any of the pack betas smelled Sano on him. They might want to scent him as she had. Future Izuku suddenly had a lot of problems to deal with, but in the moment, present Izuku enjoyed the company of his friends and his family, surrounded by their warmth, their joy, and their love.

- - -

Katsuki had gone to work since Izuku’s pregnancy had been revealed. But he had yet to be called by Tsukauchi.

As the night at Sano’s wore down, the message came through, and the world stilled to the few words dotted across his screen.

Case update meeting. Tomorrow, 3 pm. Attendance is required.

There wasn’t a question as to what case Tsukauchi was talking about. Father.

Katsuki set his teeth, confirmed he would show up, and told Sano and Jin they had to get home. That night, he scented Izuku thoroughly, still peeved that Sano had scented the omega’s stomach. He’d seen this practice in the packhouse, but it was different having someone not from his pack scenting his omega. It made every nerve in his body rise up and want to rip something apart. The only reason he didn’t was because he was absolutely certain Izuku would reject him outright if he ever laid a finger on Sano.

But still, he made his position on the matter very clear without saying so much in words.

You’re mine to protect. Mine to love. Mine to serve. It was a familiar mantra, one that had been banging around in his head since he’d first smelled the pregnancy pheromones on Izuku. Keeping the reins pulled back on his alpha brain had been difficult to say the least, so he was happy laying in bed that night, his arms wrapped around Izuku’s stomach, pulling him flush against his body. Izuku hummed and purred happily, settling the parts of Katsuki that wanted to do violence in the omega’s sake, the parts of him that had been rebelling.

Even as that part of him relaxed, the more rational part of him stared forward into the dark, wondering what updates Tsukauchi had on Father. The supposed ringleader of the family Hina Sugawara had been a part of had been underground since showing his hand in the killing of Detective Shohei Ito, someone who had supposedly been part of his family. Sugawara had directly been a threat to both Izuku and Kazue, having kidnapped them both and threatened Izuku’s life. They simply didn’t know if Father would have the same infatuation or not. They had no idea what to expect from him, if he would stay away because Sugawara had been caught, or if he would be emboldened by a need for revenge, a need to finish the job.

But with Izuku pregnant, with him vulnerable and carrying something more precious than words could describe, Katsuki wanted to find Father. He wanted to find him and put him away. Forever. To get rid of even the potential threat he represented. To keep his family safe. No matter the cost.

- - -

Katsuki told Izuku to stay home while he was gone, much to the omega’s disapproval.

“Katsuki, you can’t make me stay home whenever you’re away. You’re going to have to learn how to let certain things go, all right? You’re going to have to let me live,” the omega had told him.

How ironic it was that Katsuki was trying to make sure that he lived. To keep what was threatening him away from the omega.

He went on patrol with Kirishima before the meeting, the beta taking up time chatting about his own pup, soon to be delivered. He joked with Katsuki about them being new fathers together, grinning like he always did. Katsuki let him talk. He was focused on other matters.

After patrol, he headed to the police station, walking his usual route back to the inspector’s office. He found it empty, though another officer pointed him down the hall to the conference room. Katsuki all but kicked the door in, disgruntled by the entire affair, and saw it was filled with several other officers associated with the team working the case, Tsukauchi, and Best Jeanist.

The retired hero had been brought in to help consult on this case. After all, Best Jeanist had worked closely with the police and other heroes in taking down the League of Villains and had kept an interest in the organization afterward. He’d already refocused the police to consider the League of Villains as an entirely different organization to when All for One was alive and Shigaraki had led it. With All for One long dead and Shigaraki rotting in Tartarus, the remnants had converged into an entirely different League of Villains than before.

Best Jeanist was there because of his expertise on the League of Villains. And Katsuki was there because he knew about Father.

Hiku, the League of Villain’s current leader, had a connection to Father. Probably as one of the members of his family, potentially as one of the pups Sugawara had kidnapped and brainwashed. Kazue had nearly shared that fate, becoming just another of the puppets in Father’s sick family. If Sugawara had gotten her way, that would have been what he’d become. Katsuki had stopped that. But there were still an untold number of others who had already been brainwashed, were already under Father’s spell. Hiku was probably one of them. Meaning Father, and Sugawara by extension, had a direct tie to the League of Villains.

That was old news. If Tsukauchi had brought them all together, then he must have found something else. Any steps closer to finding Father, to putting him away for good, to tracking down members of his supposed family, were top priority, almost parallel with investigations into the League of Villains. It was highly probable one was feeding the other. And they both had to be stopped.

As much as he wanted to destroy the League, Katsuki’s focus was on Father, on the threat he was to Izuku and Kazue. Whatever route he had to go through, either through the bastard’s family or the League, Katsuki would do whatever and look wherever to find and stop him.

Several of the officers turned as Katsuki entered the room, though nobody dared approach him until Jeanist noticed him.

“Ah, Bakugo. Good to see you.”

“Shut it, old man,” Katsuki growled, earning a noise of disapproval from the retired hero. Katsuki, however, stared only at Tsukauchi. “You got something to say, I want to hear it. Otherwise, don’t waste my time.”

Tsukauchi frowned, then gestured to a nearby chair. “We’re waiting for one last person, then we’ll get started. Go ahead and relax a little until then.”

Katsuki snapped his jaw, not particularly happy with the answer, though he paused as Jeanist came to stand beside him. “How are you holding up? You seem tense.”

The alpha grimaced, looking away. He hadn’t told anyone at work about Izuku. The less people who knew, the less likely it was to leak to the media. Suzuki was still coming up with a clever way to announce the pregnancy that still kept the omega safe. Katsuki had already declined several of her ideas, so she was busy at work getting things together. Until it was announced, he was keeping tight lipped.

So instead, he said, “Don’t like my time being wasted.”

Jeanist sighed. “Still so impatient. Isn’t it about time you grew up?”

Katsuki only half listened. Because there was something nagging at him. Something he’d been thinking about for a long time. Something that he’d been thinking about more since recent events. “Jeanist,” he said without looking at the hero, “tell me. You have any intelligence that suggests the League has particular targets of interest?”

Jeanist put a hand on his hip. “Mind sharing what you mean?”

“The League’s connected with Father. Father might have someone of interest he’d like to get his hands on. So. Any word on the League having a strange interest in someone? Maybe someone they’re only interested in because Father is looking for them?”

Jeanist lowered his chin slightly, so his eyes ducked to peek just above his collar. He seemed about to say something, when the door burst open.

“IIIIII AAAAMMMM HEEERREEE!”

Katsuki groaned loudly, knowing there was only one moron that could be. Hearing him, Togata laughed. “Ah, Ground Zero! Weird to see you here! You’re involved in tracking down the League?”

“I’m the number two hero, Loser! ‘Course I’d be part of tracking down one of the biggest threats to society! Who the hell do you think I am?!”

“Ah ha! So right!” Without saying anything else, Togata turned to Tsukauchi. “Good to see you, Inspector! Thanks for inviting me.”

“My pleasure. We’re lucky to have you for this investigation. Please, take a seat. We’ll get started, everyone.”

Jeanist tapped Katsuki on the shoulder. “Let’s talk after the meeting, shall we?”

Katsuki thought about pressing the issue, but it was true that he wanted to hear what Tsukauchi had to say first. He collapsed into a random seat and glared forward as the inspector stood at the head of the table, rifling through a file of papers.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said as he began, “as you know, we’ve been tracking the League of Villains’ activities for a while now, and we’ve intercepted a message we believe was meant for the League’s leader, Hiku.” As he talked, he gestured for someone to hit the lights, turning on a screen on the back wall.

The message came up, in plain text letters, as if it were just any other email to and from any other normal people. Its contents made Katsuki clench his fists.

The time for grieving is over. I have some business to attend, but I shall be able to assist in some of your endeavors as you require.

Speaking of such endeavors, I ran into a darling little one recently. I think he would be someone of interest to you. For your succession musings. In fact, you are probably already aware of this little one, but I have some information that will be of much interest, I suspect.

The little one has a friend I am interested in, for my own purposes. It might not be a bad idea for you to try to introduce yourself to them soon.

Let’s have dinner and go over the details. Wednesday evening, yes?

Your loving Father

Katsuki read the words over and over again, until they were seared into his mind. Particularly, the first line rattled against the inside of his skull. The time for grieving is over. Father had been silent for the past five years. Was that why? Had he been in grieving over the loss of his mate? Or had he been torn up over him murdering his “son,” Ito? Somehow, Katsuki highly doubted it was the latter.

But this also suggested that no, Father hadn’t necessarily been hiding. He’d met someone recently. “Little ones,” as he called them. Pups? Must be, right? What else could that be talking about? And he was telling the League to target them. For… succession musings? What the hell did that mean?

Half of the message made no sense. But it did confirm that Father and the League were working together. Even if in small ways. And that was not good news for anyone.

On a whim, Katsuki glanced to see Togata’s reaction. The number one hero wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked rather grim, his fists clenched a little too tightly.

“We intercepted this message a week ago,” Tsukauchi’s voice caught both Togata’s and Katsuki’s attention, “but it was encrypted and it took us until yesterday to be able to read it. So we’ve missed the Wednesday date, and we aren’t entirely sure whether they met or not.”

"Seems like they’re on the move either way,” Togata said, glaring at the screen.

“Right. But the League’s movements haven’t been congruent with them seeking out whoever Father has mentioned here. We suspect they’re pups, but the League has never dealt with pups before, nor have we seen any movement in or around schools or playgrounds,” Tsukauchi tapped the table, glared at the screen. “It’s possible during their meeting that Hiku and Father couldn’t come to an agreement, or that they decided on focusing on another of their goals for the time being. Still. There is an active threat out there, but we aren’t sure where exactly.”

“Whole lot of good that does us,” Katsuki snapped.

Togata nodded to the end of the letter. “Do we have a good reading on who this “Father” is?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot you haven’t been updated recently,” Tsukauchi turned the screen off and passed Togata a couple piece of paper. “You’ll remember the Sugawara case, yes? At the time, we confirmed the presence of a “Father” to Sugawara’s “Mother” persona. Several months ago, we traced this “Father” back to someone called Hiro Sugawara, though there are no records of any such individual. We believe he is using an alias on official records, or that Sugawara is his alias name. Either way, we haven’t been able to track him, but he is connected directly back to the family that Sugawara fostered with the brainwashed pups. He is their leader. Although we haven’t confirmed this, we suspect he is probably an alpha and acts as head alpha to their family, which may or may not act more like a pack,” he paused as Togata frowned at the papers. “We also believe that Hiku was once part of the Sugawara family. That he might be a brainwashed pup. He fell in with All for One and the League, though we aren’t sure at this point how or why. Either way, even though Sugawara has been underground for so long, if he has started to stir, he might be an easier way to get to the League than simply just trying to track their movements.”

Togata flipped back and forth through the files with an intense frown on his face. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, him and his family are probably less dangerous. Even if marginally so,” Tsukauchi sighed. “They seem to want to keep to the underground, which means they’re less likely to cause a scene, rather than the League, which has been almost exclusively about causing scenes anywhere they can. Hina Sugawara was sick in many ways, but she wasn’t someone capable of causing mass harm at a whim. She needed a lot of planning and work to do her schemes. We believe Hiro Sugawara will be of the same caliber. If we can find him, it should be simple to stop him. And with him openly admitting to wanting to start making a move, we can assume that he’ll expose himself, even if inadvertently, giving us the opportunity to close in on him. We have to take that opportunity before he has the chance to harm anyone.”

“I see,” Jeanist nodded, “and preferably before he has the chance to start planning anything serious with the League.”

Katsuki snorted, pressed his palms flat against the table. “You know I’m all in on stopping Father,” the alpha glared at Tsukauchi, who had never once backed down under the weight of his intensity, and certainly didn’t start in that moment. Usually, it annoyed Katsuki. In that moment, it just made him grin, made every fiber of his being shiver in anticipation. This was what he’d been waiting for, after all. For people to get serious about finding Father. It was finally happening. “So. What’s the plan?”

- - -

Nothing.

The plan was to do fucking nothing.

Katsuki couldn’t believe it. He wanted to rage and scream and break things, but he settled for fuming through the rest of the meeting instead.

Tsukauchi set several of the officers to keep an ear to the ground on who these “little ones” could be. It was top priority to find them and protect them, though nobody had any idea who they could be. For a terrible moment, Katsuki had entertained the idea of it being Kazue, though he didn’t know why Father would want to give Kazue over to the League. Plus, it was unlikely Father had ever met Kazue. Kazue had told investigators that he’d only seen Sugawara at the house, and another person had come to the house, though he hadn’t seen who it was. Investigators were fairly certain that had been Ito trying to stop Sugawara from continuing her path of destruction. So at no point had Kazue been exposed to Father.

And besides, who could the second pup be? Hikaru? Hikaru was often with Kazue. But neither pup had mentioned meeting anyone out of the ordinary, and Katsuki would think an encounter with a sick freak like Father would have had a lasting impression on them. Plus, it wasn’t public knowledge what Hikaru’s Quirk was. The media had been fed a line about him having a slow manifesting Quirk, something uninteresting and not likely to stir attention, especially since his siblings had such flashy Quirks of their own. Even the Quirk registry had a false file on him, with a secret secondary one with his real information. So Katsuki didn’t know why Hikaru would be of interest to Father and League, beyond maybe him being Togata’s pup. But the same could be said for Mirai and Keiji. Maybe they were the “little ones” mentioned? They were older, for sure, but perhaps…?

Or maybe it was someone completely unrelated. The truth was, that was probably the case. Katsuki was too close to the case. He knew that. He’d seen his own family nearly torn apart by these freaks. Sometimes it was hard to take himself and them out of the picture, to realize that Father and the League had larger machinations than his family. But he still wondered.

Katsuki’s marching orders were to continue what he was doing. Tsukauchi had said he’d only wanted him there for his information on Father, for his thoughts on the message. Nothing more. With his purpose there done, all he really wanted to do was go home. However, he waited for Jeanist to finish speaking with one of the officers, for the retired hero to spot him across the room and turn to join him.

“Now. What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

What was it indeed?

Katsuki turned to look at the screen, which was off now, though he swore he could see the words burned into it. It might not be a bad idea for you to try to introduce yourself to them soon.

It was probably nothing. Tsukauchi didn’t have any idea who Father could be interested in. If he thought, for a second, that it was Kazue, he would have said something. But, still, what if it was?

“Bakugo?” At the sound of his name, Katsuki turned toward the retired hero. Jeanist gazed down at him, frowning intently. “Something on your mind?”

Katsuki clicked his tongue. “Let’s talk later. Tea or something. A little more private than here.”

Jeanist blinked, but nodded. “Very well. You can come to my home. I’ll send you the information.”

Katsuki grunted, turned and walked away. Jeanist may have called something else out to him, but he paid it no mind. His thoughts were elsewhere. Especially since this meeting had been about as informative as a pup’s school report.

When he got outside, he called Izuku, the omega picking up immediately. “Hey Kacchan! How’d your patrol go?”

He sounded happy. That was good. That was always good.

- - -

Izuku stared at the front door of a rather lavish home far out of the city, so far they had taken a train to reach it. Katsuki had rung the doorbell and now stood slightly in front of Izuku, not so subtly tapping his finger against his leg. The alpha had said they’d been invited to tea by a coworker of his. At the time, Izuku had assumed he meant a hero, but the house seemed very far outside the city for that. Maybe someone who patrolled neighborhoods surrounding the city? But when would Katsuki have interacted with them? And just who would Katsuki of all people want to have tea with?

It was all a bit of mystery, one that was cleared up almost instantly as the door opened and a tall man stood before them.

Two things were immediately clear to Izuku. One, this was Best Jeanist, Katsuki’s old mentor. He’d never met the old hero before, despite having had multiple opportunities to. Katsuki seemed to enjoy finding ways to not run into his old mentor, though in recent months apparently they’d been working on a case together. And two, Jeanist was not expecting to see them.

Or, as it turns out, specifically he wasn’t expecting to see Izuku, as the retired hero said, “Ah, Bakugo. I didn’t realize you were bringing a guest. And who might this be?”

Katsuki swept the old hero with a careful look. It wasn’t like the looks he typically gave people. He wasn’t assessing him for potential danger or worthiness of his attention. No. He gazed up at the older hero with something a little more calculated. Katsuki was planning something. And he was trying to figure out if that plan was working as he’d intended.

Finally, he stepped to the side, gesturing to Izuku. “This is my mate, Izuku Midoriya. Deku, this is Best Jeanist, as you probably already know.”

“Ah, I do!” As much as Izuku wanted to watch Katsuki and try to unravel exactly what the alpha was thinking, he did find himself standing before a former number two hero in Best Jeanist, and he couldn’t help but to feel a little flutter of excitement in his stomach. “It’s so great to meet you! Your Fiber Master Quirk is amazing! You have such precise utilization of it for it being such a technical Quirk!”

“Well, well,” Jeanist seemed more than a little amused, “thank you very much. Are you a fan of heroes, then? Is that how you and Bakugo met?”

“Ah, no. We grew up together. I’ve been a fan of heroes since way before he was one,” Izuku grinned at Katsuki, who didn’t even seem to realize they were talking about him. He had that distant look in his eyes, that vaguely troubled expression that he sometimes got when he was thinking of particularly tough cases. Izuku didn’t know what he could be thinking about, nor did he have time to consider it more as Jeanist opened the door a little wider.

“You’ll have to tell me about it. But please, come in. And call me Hakamada. I am retired, after all.”

Despite his seeming disinterest in the conversation, Katsuki did place a hand on Izuku’s back to encourage him forward, both of them stepping into Hakamada’s home. It was a beautiful place, peaceful in many ways. Izuku glanced to see if there were any other members of his family around, though he couldn’t see any. In fact, when he thought about it, he didn’t know if Hakamada had any other family members. Perhaps Katsuki was the closest thing he had, or maybe he was close to other heroes he’d fostered.

Izuku mulled over this as they followed Hakamada into a sitting room. “Please, make yourself comfortable. I’ll bring the tea in a moment.”

Once he was gone, Izuku elbowed Katsuki, jolting him out of his trance. “You didn’t tell him I’d be coming!”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Katsuki tried to look away, to start his thinking again, but Izuku elbowed him one more time.

“You can’t just invite me over to places without telling the homeowner I’ll be coming as well! That’s so rude, Kacchan!”

Katuski scoffed, eventually gesturing for Izuku to sit, which the omega did, still glaring at the alpha. Katsuki, too, sat with a huff, glowering forward as Hakamada returned. He set a tray on the table in front of them and sat across from them, gesturing with an open palm to Katsuki.

“You failed to mention you’re expecting. Congratulations to both of you. Your second, yes?”

“Thank you. And yes, this will be our second pup,” Izuku thought about elbowing Katsuki again, but figured it was a lost cause at this point and turned his full attention to the retired hero. “We’re trying to keep it a secret as much as possible before we can make a public announcement, so we would appreciate some discretion for the time being.”

“Of course. I’ll not tell a soul.” He handed Izuku a cup, Izuku taking a moment to smell the tea. Some sort of green tea, he thought. He noticed that Katsuki was aware enough to take the cup Hakamada offered him, but he didn’t otherwise acknowledge them. “I have to say, it’s quite an unexpected pleasure to get to meet you. Although we’ve been working together recently, Bakugo is not one to speak much about his family. I of course knew about him marrying, but I had no idea you’d known him for so long beforehand.”

“Right. I’m sorry Katsuki didn’t tell you I was coming with him. He, uh… well he’s Katsuki, as you know.”

“Yes, I do,” Hakamada sighed heavily, such a familiar noise of resignation that Izuku felt immediate kinship with him. “Don’t be too concerned about that. You are more than welcome here. I would say hopefully some of your manners rub off on him, but it may be far too late for that.”

“I can always keep trying.” Izuku glanced to Katsuki as the alpha set his cup down. He tried to meet the alpha’s gaze, but couldn’t. He couldn’t tell if Katsuki was purposefully avoiding him or not, but he had a strong feeling it was not a coincidence. He set his own tea down. “I’m sorry to ask, but is there a restroom I can use?”

Hakamada gave him directions to the bathroom and Izuku stood, brushing a hand over Katsuki’s shoulder as he passed by. Once he was around a corner, he pressed close to the wall, listening as silence overcame the two heroes, but only for a moment.

Then, Hakamada sighed again, heavy, resigned. “I assume you brought him here for a reason? It isn’t like you to do something impulsively.”

Izuku was not surprised to hear Katsuki respond immediately. “This case. I’m too close to it. I know that. But… I have a lot at stake.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Izuku,” Katsuki drew his name out, one syllable at a time, as if he couldn’t quite decide what he was going to say after it, “is… precious to me. The only other thing in this world that could come close is our pup Kazue. Nothing else can ever matter as much as them. Well, and the new pup, when they come.”

“While I understand the sentiment of loving your family, I still don’t know why you brought him here.”

Katsuki paused. Izuku held his breath, wondering if Katsuki somehow knew he was listening. But then, the alpha said, “You remember the question I asked you earlier? I asked you if you’d heard of the League being particularly interested in anyone other than who we expect them to be. I have a suspicion. A theory. I want to be wrong. But I don’t have the evidence one way or the other.”

Hakamada was the one to pause, the clicking of a cup being set down ringing out between them. “I’ve not heard of the League having any one person or even persons of interest. They’re in a recruiting frenzy at the moment. They’re indiscriminate. That’s what makes them unpredictable. Other than this message we were just informed of, I’ve not heard of them seeking out anyone.”

“Good. I want to keep it that way.”

“Do you mind explaining any of this?”

Katsuki paused. For a long time. Then, he said, “Hina Sugawara. You know her? Izuku was one of her victims.”

A pause. Longer. A little more weighted. Izuku found himself sweating a little, even though it wasn’t all that hot in the house.

“That’s quite terrible to hear,” Hakamada said eventually. “I assume then, that you believe he might be a person of interest for Father?”

Izuku strained to hear. Thought maybe he must have heard wrong. Father? Who was Father? What was he talking about?

“I don’t know,” Katsuki’s voice cut through his thoughts, silenced them, “but I want to know. You get why this is important for me. Why it’s too close to home. I’m too close to the case. Sometimes I see things where I probably shouldn’t. But I have to. Because I have to keep Izuku safe, no matter what.”

Another click. A cup being picked up. Silence long enough for someone to take a drink. “I understand. If I hear anything that might indicate, one way or the other, to your theory I will tell you.” A pause. “Remember you’re not doing this alone. I’ll help you watch out for your family. I’ll help you keep them safe.”

More clicking. Izuku strained to hear more, but didn’t, until, finally, so quiet he almost didn’t hear it, Katsuki said, “Thank you.” Hakamada hummed, then started talking about some interaction he’d had with another hero recently.

Izuku lingered at the wall for a while. Thinking.

Who was Father? Why would he be interested in Izuku at all? It seemed like he was connected to Sugawara? But how and why?

What was Katsuki keeping from him?

He stayed there long enough to catch his breath, to force himself to relax, even if he was just pretending, before he stepped out into view. Katsuki saw him, flicked a gaze over him once, twice, before turning back to his tea. Hakamada said, “Ah, there you are. Was wondering if you’d gotten lost on the way.”

“No, I’m okay.” Izuku sat next to Katsuki, and immediately pressed a hand to his knee. Katsuki lowered his cup, examining the omega. He was rather good at picking things out of Izuku’s expressions. Too good. Izuku looked away, hoping he wouldn’t see guilt and fear in his eyes, and cleared his throat. “Would you tell me about what mentoring Katsuki was like? Seems like that would be quite a task!”

“My toughest challenge, to be sure,” Hakamada said, and rolled into a story about a younger, more fiery Katsuki, Izuku listening keenly, if only so he wouldn’t have to see Katsuki looking at him, so he wouldn’t have to think about Father, and just what he could mean for them.

Chapter Text

If it was at all possible, Katsuki was even more nervous than Izuku. He did well hiding it, sitting with his head tipped back against the wall, staring half-lidded up at the ceiling as if he were thinking about something rather pleasant, right up until the door opened and he just about leaped out of his seat.

“Hello,” the doctor raised his hand, laughing as Katsuki sank back into his seat. “First day jitters I see! Well, well, no need to be nervous!” He held out his hand, first to Katsuki, “I’m Dr. Wanatabe. I’m the OB-GYN specializing in male omega reproduction. It’s good to meet you both, congratulations, of course!”

“Uh, thank you,” Izuku muttered, somewhat distracted. He was surprised to see Katsuki take the doctor’s hand, though he didn’t actually shake it, the doctor then turning to shake Izuku’s hand.

Introductions out of the way, the doctor spun his chair backwards and sat with his arms crossed on the headrest. “I’ve been in contact with your agency, Mr. Bakugo, and rest assured everything will be kept absolute secret. You aren’t the first hero couple I’ve dealt with, so I know how to handle the media. Your confidentiality is one of our top concerns, next to the health and welfare of your mate and pup. So just relax and let me do all the hard work. You just get excited for the new addition to the family.”

Katsuki clicked his tongue but didn’t say anything else. Seemingly unperturbed, Dr. Wanatabe gestured to the clipboard in Izuku’s lap, “Did you fill out that questionnaire?” Izuku nodded and handed it over. The doctor flipped through the paperwork for a few minutes, hmming and haaing at certain answers. “Well then! Second pup, I see. So not first day jitters?”

Katsuki glowered at the doctor, so Izuku clarified, “This is the first pregnancy that Katsuki will be involved with.”

“Understood! Well, in that case, let me go over a few expectations for you,” the doctor flipped to the first page. “You marked your alpha as being ‘overly possessive and territorial.’ Is that correct?”

Izuku glanced to Katsuki, who sunk into his seat, still glowering. “It’s been… excessive.”

The doctor chuckled. “That can happen with first time fathers. I’ve even seen betas acting on the extreme side of territorial. However, just so you’re aware, that does disqualify you from being in the room during the birth.”

“WHAT?!” Katsuki roared to his feet immediately, Izuku grabbing his shirt to try to tug him back into his seat. “What the hell are you talking about?! I want to be there for my omega every step of the way!”

The doctor held up his hand, asking for peace. “Please, let me explain. The birthing process can be lengthy and stressful for everyone involved. If you’re showing overly possessive qualities now, when such stressors are put on you, when your omega is screaming and there are hospital staff all around him, things start to go badly and things get a little more hectic than usual? It’s not unusual for alphas to go feral in the delivery room. And under no circumstance can we allow that to happen during a birth. It could be disaster for you, your mate, and your pup, as well as all the hospital staff. I’m sorry it has to be this way, but it’s for everyone’s safety.”

Katsuki snarled deeply, but at nothing, an anger at everything about the situation. After a moment, he sat back down with a sigh, Izuku rubbing his leg comfortingly. As much as he had also wanted the alpha to be in the room with him, it made sense that Katsuki couldn’t be allowed. Truth be told, he didn’t know how the alpha would react in that situation, and the doctor was right, it could get very bad very quickly if the alpha lost control.

Dr. Wanatabe paused as Katsuki collected himself, as he muttered, “Wanted to be there for you, Deku.”

“It’s all right,” Izuku smiled, trying to comfort Katsuki. “We can have someone else in the room with me, right?”

“Not another alpha, but yes, anyone else you may want.”

“Did Sano attend Kazue’s birth?” Katsuki asked.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah. She was with me through the whole thing.”

The alpha considered this, then sat back. “Either her or one of the omegas from the pack, then. Ponytail’s out because she’s an alpha.”

“Right,” Izuku wondered for a moment if Katsuki would be eternally pissed if he asked Shinso to sit with him. But he wasn’t all that sure Shinso would want to do that. The omega, while he thought pups were fine, was not at all interested in the pup-birthing process, having firmly said he had no interest in carrying pups of his own. Uraraka would be nice to have around, though, maybe even Tsu. But the more he thought about it, the more he knew he wanted it to be Sano. It only made sense. “It’s something to think about later. Long way off from that.”

“Right you are,” the doctor flipped through the paperwork again and as he did, his cheer faded quickly away. “Let’s talk about something a bit more sensitive now.” He looked up, eyed both Katsuki and Izuku equally, took and breath, and carefully said, “About your rape, and the trauma from it.” Katsuki immediately wrapped an arm around him, and Izuku felt himself growing a little smaller, placing his hands on his stomach. “It says here you didn’t need any reconstruction done due to the trauma, which is good. That means everything is still lined up the way it needs to be, there should be minimal scar tissue, and things are working as intended. All good news. None of the procedures you had should affect the viability of the pregnancy itself. Okay? Let me be the first to reassure of that.”

It was good news. Izuku hadn’t even really considered that the rape itself could have put him in jeopardy of losing the pup, but then again, he hadn’t had any lasting damage to his reproductive organs in its wake. If he had, it might have been a different story. It was a bit stunning to think that such an even could have been even more tragic than it already had been.

“However,” the doctor said, and the little spark of hope in Izuku’s heart puttered out, “what that kind of trauma can do is trigger night terrors and high anxiety. Added hormones in your body can magnify stress to several times higher than typical. And that kind of stress can be bad for the pup. I see you’re on antidepressants now?”

“Uh, yes,” another little trill of apprehension clawed up Izuku’s spine. He’d relied on those antidepressants to help make coping a little easier, to take the edge off his worst moments. If he had to get off of them for the next eight months, he wasn’t really sure what he was going to do.

As if sensing his fears, the doctor raised his hand again. “I don’t recommend you come off of them. If you’re stable on them now, then the risks of you coming off of them far outweigh any risks they might have to the pup. That being said, there are some risks, though it’s very unlikely to have a lasting adverse effect. However, I wouldn’t recommend you go any higher on your dose. So if you start having additional problems, we are going to have to consider other options.”

“Okay,” Izuku nodded, even as Katsuki glanced between them in alarm.

Seeing this, the doctor smiled. “Don’t worry. The name of this game is to keep your mate’s stress as low as possible. High stress is a known threat to pregnancies, particularly male omega pregnancies. Anything we can do to keep his stress low will help in the long run. Unfortunately, you’re coming out of the gate with a higher risk, due to your PTSD and anxiety. So we’ll aim to curb it as much as possible and keep a close eye on things. Okay? So deep breath, both of you, it’ll be okay. Besides. As you probably know, once a male omega has had one pup, the risks of miscarriage and stillbirth drop significantly. And since you said you hadn’t had any previous miscarriages or stillbirths, that’s an even better sign. We might be behind the ball on this, but we’re not that far behind, okay?”

Izuku found himself staring at the floor, not really knowing how to take the news. He’d already known most of it, of course. He’d had similar things told to him during his first pregnancy. But he hadn’t gone into those doctor appointments with a diagnosis of PTSD and high anxiety with a history of trauma to back it all up. It wasn’t his fault, of course. He knew that. But he still felt as if he were already failing the little life struggling to find its way within him.

Some of that anxiety fell away as Katsuki ran his hand down Izuku’s spine, a deliberate, massaging motion that made Izuku smile, even if just a little.

“Ah, and there lies my first recommendation,” the doctor flipped to the last page and scribbled something down. “Touch is exceedingly important for any pregnancy. Touch with mates, especially if they’re the sire of the pup, is even better. It’s an easy, free way to release stress reducing pheromones and hormones. Massages are helpful, as well as just general snuggling. It says here you’re part of a pack?”

“Sort of,” Izuku muttered, catching a surprised look from Katsuki. The technical answer was no, but he was associated with a pack via Katsuki, so he figured for the purposes of this, it was better to say yes.

And as he suspected, the doctor nodded approvingly. “Good, good. Pack piles are excellent for stress reduction, especially if you have a good core of betas. Betas release a very specific pheromone when around pregnant people that can help with keeping your stress low and actually aid in some developmental stages for the pup. You don’t have to be around them every day, but every once and while, it might be a good idea to sleep with a pile.”

Well that was going to be a little tricky with them not living at the packhouse. Izuku bit his lip, trying to think of how they could manage that. He would have to coordinate with Iida and the rest of the pack. Maybe they could invite a couple of the betas over every now and then. Their bed at home was big enough for a few people, especially if they were piling together. He glanced to get Katsuki’s take on this information, but the alpha just looked on passively.

The doctor, meanwhile, was moving right along. “So, on top of keeping a strict management of your stress, we’re going to have you start taking some prenatal vitamins. You’ll be familiar with those, I assume. If you’re not already, you should start a regular workout routine. That’ll help with later stages of the pregnancy. And, oh, what else?” He flipped through the clipboard, shook his head. “Well, how about before I go on, let me ask if you have any questions up until this point.”

Katsuki scoffed and leaned forward. “Several, actually,” he grumbled, and Izuku took a deep breath.

- - -

Katsuki was still particularly green when they got into the car. He hadn’t taken the risks involved with pregnancy, specifically male omega pregnancy, too well. Too much testosterone didn’t mix well with pregnancy hormones. Complications could arise. Katsuki just never realized how many.

Having had the explanation before, Izuku was less startled by everything. The only complication he’d had with Kazue was he’d come a couple of weeks early, which was fairly common for male omega. It hadn’t been enough to do any real harm to either Izuku or Kazue, and they had gone on with life quite easily after that. Yes, things could be different this time around, but Izuku chose to believe everything was going to be okay while preparing for if the worst came about.

When Katsuki just stared forward with his hands gripping the steering wheel, the car not even on, Izuku reached over to pat his knee. “It’s okay. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

The alpha let out a huge amount of air. He might have wanted to growl, but it all just whistled through his teeth. “Lot to think about.”

Izuku hummed quietly. “Don’t worry. I’m the one doing all the hard work. You get to just sit back and be pretty.”

Katsuki jammed the car into gear, then realized he still hadn’t turned it on. He reset it, then turned it over. “That’s what makes this shitty. There’s not a whole lot I can do to make it better for you.”

“Oh, that’s not true,” Izuku grinned, “you can be a little nicer to me. That would be helpful.”

Katsuki thought about this, then shook his head. “If I was any sweeter on you, omega, you’d fucking hate it.” And Izuku couldn’t say he was wrong.

“You know what you can do? Work on your possessiveness. It’ll make things a little easier on both of us.”

At this, Katsuki wrinkled his nose in distaste before turning his attention fully to the road in front of him. Dr. Wanatabe had given the alpha several things he could do to help curb some of his more aggressive tendencies, but the truth was, he was going to be what he was going to be. Katsuki had always been somewhat possessive of Izuku. Even when they’d been kids. That had only gotten worse after their complicated reunion. It would be ridiculous to ask him to change at that point.

That being said, he’d been way over the top in recent days and Izuku was already sick of it. He was glad the doctor had reiterated what the omega had been saying – that it was a marathon, not a sprint, and that Katsuki would need as much energy and patience as possible for the last trimester. Izuku did remember those last couple weeks being particularly painful. And slow. He’d never known days to crawl by so slowly.

Instead of addressing his possessiveness, what Katsuki said was, “We’ll need to talk to Iida. Might be a good idea to get a routine up of being by the packhouse. For doctor-recommended cuddling.” He sneered the last part and had Izuku rolling his eyes.

“I know it’s highly recommended, but I do not want to pile every week.”

“Yet.”

Izuku clicked his teeth together, a bad habit he’d picked up from Katsuki. “We do need to call him about potentially taking Kazue on short notice. I remember having that secondary heat last time that Dr. Wanatabe talked about.” Katsuki smirked deeply at the news.

As one of his last points, the doctor had mentioned that sometimes omegas had short twenty-four-to-forty-eight-hour heats about a month after conception. They were coming up on that time but it was known to come on quite quickly and unexpectedly, so there was very little planning they could do besides just being aware that it was a possibility.

“So,” Katsuki sighed, tapped on the wheel. “December 6.”

“Mmhhmm,” Izuku ran a hand along his stomach. “Less than a month from Kazue’s birthday.”

“But you gave birth to him early?”

“Yup. High chance of that happening again. So maybe late November?”

Katsuki tilted his head up and down, but it somehow didn’t feel like a nod. “Wow.”

Izuku leaned across to kiss his jaw. “Mark your calendar.”

An easy grin slid along Katsuki’s face. One not seen very often. But always wonderful whenever it emerged. “Can’t wait to meet them.”

Izuku hummed quietly and leaned back in his seat, still rubbing his stomach. December was a long time to wait. But at least it was a date. Something tangible he could look forward to. Another marker to prove this was actually happening. They were really going to have another pup.

They arrived back at the house and checked the time, seeing Kazue was due home soon. Izuku laid out on the couch while Katsuki began rummaging around in the tatami room. He snuck up behind Izuku and wrapped an arm around him, then presented him a little box wrapped with ribbon.

“What’s this?” Izuku took it, turning it over.

“A gift.” Katsuki kissed him, nipped at his ear. “Just a little something I got for you.”

Izuku shook his head, but he couldn’t hide the little quirk of his lips up towards a smile. He unwrapped the ribbon, opened the box, and pulled out—

Socks.

Two pairs of socks wrapped around each other.

Izuku blinked up at Katsuki in confusion, who chuckled quietly and unwrapped the first pair, revealing a small glass All Might figure. It was pristinely crafted, with precise details despite it being small enough to sit in Izuku’s palm.

“Wow,” Izuku turned it over, admiring the little things about it, the exacting costume design, the prominent smile. “It’s beautiful! Thank you!”

“It’s not all,” Katsuki unwrapped the second pair, something dropping into his palm, which he clasped his fingers over. “This one is admittedly more selfish, but,” he offered his hand, and Izuku opened his palm to receive what Katsuki held.

It was a miniature of Katsuki, dressed up in his full costume, his gauntlets, designed by Izuku himself, on display, little pops of explosions emitted from his palms. Just as the All Might figure, this one had been crafted with the utmost of care, and it made Izuku laugh.

“Aw, look at you!” The omega poked at the figurine’s cheek as if he were doing it to the alpha himself.

“Turn it over,” Katsuki said, and Izuku did.

On the bottom of the glass stand were the words “Your hero.”

Izuku grasped the little Katsuki tightly, feeling each of its edges cut into his skin. But he didn’t care. He leaned up and kissed Katsuki, deeper, a little deeper, until he almost pulled the alpha over the back of the couch with him.

“Yes,” the omega whispered between breaths, “my hero.”

- - -

Kazue walked in on them kissing and immediately slammed the door closed to make his point. Then, when Izuku got up to open the door for him, the pup wrapped his arms around his omega and glared at Katsuki, who just smirked.

“Mommy,” Kazue grumbled.

“Yes, Kazue?”

“Mommy.”

It had been a while since they’d done this song and dance. It was almost nice to have this little exchange of theirs, something that harkened back to when Kazue was small enough for Izuku to sweep into his arms and throw up into the air, where he would shriek out in laughter. Those days had long gone, but it was for the better. Watching Kazue grow up was one of his greatest joys in life. Even if it sometimes made his heart very heavy.

Once both the alphas had settled down somewhat, Izuku went into his lab and began working on a project he’d been tinkering with. Part of his job was upkeeping Katsuki’s gear and he found ample opportunity to improve it, even if by the smallest of margins. Since his last overhaul of the gauntlet chemical systems, he’d started finding more and more faults with the electronics. As he feared, things were becoming a little too complicated, meaning things were liable to break, which was not ideal for a top hero. He’d been corresponding with a researcher in America, recommended by a former professor of his, and she had been helping him to try to streamline some of the wiring and systems so things ran a little smoother.

Working with his hands and his head gave Izuku the space away from everything else that was happening, namely the new pup and Katsuki. Katsuki’s constant hovering was annoying as hell and while Izuku half expected the alpha to walk into his lab at any moment, at least he knew to stay the hell out of the omega’s way while he was working.

While he worked, his phone went off, Izuku digging it out of his pocket to check who it was. Shinso.

Hey. Bakugo still driving you batty?

Izuku sighed. He’d confided in the other omega that Katsuki had become overly protective of him rcently, mostly because he and Katsuki were still not on the best of terms. Katsuki hadn’t quite forgiven him for using Izuku as a hostage in a combat demonstration for the benefit of his students. With how aggressive the alpha had been, he hadn’t wanted an accidental confrontation between him and Shinso. He was almost certain that would end in some sort of violence.

He peeled off his rubber glove so he could respond. Yes. Even the dr. said he was going overboard. But I think that’s just Katsuki. He was protective even before this. I knew it was going to get worse. Might just have to figure out how to live with it.

Maybe. Came the curt reply. There was a definite pause between his response and his next words, a break in the conversation, then, You still working on that special project with everything that’s happening?

Without meaning to, Izuku cut a glance to a box shoved underneath his desk, away from where Katsuki could stumble upon it. Within that box was a half-finished project. Well, half-finished prototype if he was being serious.

Biting his lip, Izuku responded, No. Between the pregnancy and figuring out things for the support agency, I haven’t had any time for it.

Shinso was quiet. For long enough that Izuku carefully pulled his glove back on. Then, his phone dinged one more time, and Shinso replied, You should make time.

He was right, of course. Right enough that Izuku glanced more deliberately at the box. With a sigh, he pushed his chair away from his worktable, rolling over to his desk and checking to make sure nobody was in the room with him before pulling it out. Within, there was a glove. It looked shockingly just like the long leather brace that he always wore on his right arm. It helped to stabilize his wrist and arm, both of which had residual pains and stiffness from being broken, but also to hide some of his more prominent scars. At a glance, the project looked like just a heavier version of that brace. However, if you looked closely enough, you would be able to see the thin metal tubes that rested alongside the wrist and the ring of metal inlaid in the palm.

Izuku tapped at the box, then pulled the gauntlet out, laying it on the desk. It wasn’t functionable. For one, it didn’t have any fuel to work, nor were the fuel ports connected to anything. But, in theory, the finalized gauntlet would let Izuku open his palm and let it spark like Katsuki’s and Kazue’s palms, even to the point of summoning a bit of fire. It was… an insurance policy, really. Izuku had learned how to defend himself through Katsuki’s and the pack’s training. But this was more concrete.

Most people could fall back on Quirks, even mostly useless ones, when confronted with a bad situation. In a dire situation, creativity in using your Quirk could mean the difference between getting hurt and staying safe. Izuku didn’t have that option. It wasn’t anything that was brought up very often, but his Quirkless nature did make his life a bit riskier in general. He could hold up his fists and try to look intimidating, but there wasn’t anything inherently threatening in a Quirkless omega holding their fists in front of them, even if it looked like they knew what they were doing. The gauntlet made that little bit of difference. It was a threat he could brandish, something that more concretely could convince anyone threatening him to back off. As an engineer, he could get a license to wear gear like this, he just had to take a couple of classes on it, and since it was his own gear, he wouldn’t have to do additional classes to learn how to use it. Plus, he’d always thought it would be nice to be able to connect himself even a little more to Katsuki to Kazue. To be able to summon a few sparks at his fingertips like they sometimes did. Though that part admittedly had nothing to do with defending himself.

Katsuki didn’t know about it, of course. Izuku wasn’t really sure how the alpha would react. In the past, he’d always been resistant to Izuku making progress toward defending himself. Part of that stemmed from pride and part from fear. But Izuku couldn’t afford to give into the alpha’s pride nor to be fearful. Especially not now.

The conversation between Katsuki and Hakamada flooded back to him. About Sugawara. About the League of Villains. About Father. He felt a breath catch in his chest at the thought. Katsuki hadn’t mentioned anything about it to him, of course, and he was too afraid to ask anything either. It was unlikely he would say anything about it anyway. Izuku thought about asking Shinso about it, but ultimately, he didn’t want to go behind Katsuki’s back. Not yet at least. He wanted to hear it from Katsuki. Katsuki owed him that, didn’t he?

But it wasn’t that simple. Not at all.

He stared at the gauntlet, then peeled his rubber glove off one more time. You’re right, he told Shinso, then he got to work.

- - -

“Hey Kacchan?” The alpha grunted as Izuku turned toward him. “Is there… anything going on at work? Anything… I should know about?”

They were lying in bed. It was late. It was dark. Katsuki was half asleep. But that’s why Izuku asked when he did. Katsuki wouldn’t be thinking clearly. Maybe he’d get something out of him.

The alpha, however, laid there for a moment, then sat up. He gazed down at Izuku with piercing red eyes, eyes that searched him, up and down. “Why do you ask?”

Izuku returned his gaze, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible, then hugged his pillow a little closer to his head. “Well, because you haven’t been talking about it a lot recently, which makes me think you’re keeping something from me. And your reaction kind of confirms it for me.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, ever so slightly. Then, he laid down, his back to Izuku. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. Confidential stuff. Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to.”

“But you don’t want to.”

“Don’t want to worry you about something you shouldn’t be worrying about.” The alpha shifted slightly. “It’s my job to handle it. Won’t do you any good worrying about it.”

Izuku considered this carefully. His question had obviously woken the alpha, meaning his moment of surprise was gone. But he could at least tug a little at his more sympathetic nerves. Just a little.

“In the past, you’ve told me not to worry about things that I really should have been worrying about. I’m just concerned you’re keeping something that you should at least give me a little warning about. You know. So I’m not caught off guard.” He was careful with his wording. Intentional. Yet, gentle. After all, he knew how sensitive Katsuki was to it all. No matter how much Izuku was still trying to shake off some of the effects of what he’d suffered, the impacts of Sugawara and Yokoyama, Katsuki had suffered because of them as well. And he was probably having a worser time reconciling with it all, honestly.

The careful wording didn’t stir Katsuki, the alpha stubbornly staring at the far wall. “Izuku, I told you. It’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m taking care of some things and it’s a bit stressful, but I’m doing okay. Plus, like I said, it’s confidential anyway.”

Not a real answer. Not the truth.

The word Father danced at the tip of Izuku’s tongue, but he thought it better than to push the alpha now. Maybe he would have to ask others about this mysterious person. Maybe he would have to go behind the alpha’s back, just as he was going behind the omega’s. Maybe he didn’t have much of a choice.

Still, it didn’t make him feel good.

Izuku pushed himself across the bed, sidling up to the alpha with a purr, burrowing into his strong back, running his fingers along the definition of muscle in his skin. He kissed at Katsuki’s neck, nuzzled his scent gland, murmured, “Alpha,” and felt Katsuki relax, just a little.

But not enough that he turned to face the omega.

- - -

Iida, have you heard of a villain called Father?

A pause.

I don’t believe I have, Midoriya. What’s brought this on?

Oh, nothing. Just heard the name mentioned somewhere.

Another conversation.

Hey! Got a question for you!

Of course. How can I help?

I caught mention of a villain I’d never heard of before. Someone called Father, maybe? Ring a bell?

Another pause, though not quite as long.

Sorry to say I haven’t heard of him.

Ah, that’s okay. Thanks, Todoroki.

And again.

Hey, can I ask you a question?

Sure, man! Go for it!

Have you heard of a villain called Father? Katsuki mentioned him the other day but he wouldn’t say much else about him.

Another pause. Longer. Heavier.

Listen, man, that’s not anything for you to worry about. Kats has it handled, all right? If he mentioned anything, it’s probably just because he’s been working on a case or something recently. Nothing to worry about, of course! Just normal hero stuff. But yeah, don’t worry about it. Just another villain.

Izuku read the text a couple of times. Kirishima was typically the weak link in the pack. He wanted to please and keep the peace, as was his nature as a beta, particularly as the head beta. This was especially true when it came to Izuku, whom he’d had a strained relationship with in the past. Even as a non-pack member, he was Katsuki’s mate and Kirishima and Katsuki were very close. The beta wanted to keep Izuku happy and he knew Izuku wasn’t a huge fan of his. So he didn’t want to lie. Izuku could see that. But he also wasn’t willing to tell him the whole truth.

That actually told him a lot. Mostly that Father was a larger threat than he’d realized. If he wasn’t, Kirishima might have been more willing to give some more information about him. The fact that even he was keeping quiet meant a lot. And it meant a lot of bad things.

Izuku couldn’t quite tell if the other pack members truly didn’t know anything about Father or were simply unwilling to give him any information. He suspected the latter, but it was hard to tell over texts.

With a click of his teeth, Izuku glanced up at the television. The news was on. Katsuki was out on patrol, but the anchor was going on about the unusually warm spring they were having, going into speculations of a hot summer. He frowned at the news. He remembered being very hot with Kazue. The pup had been like a personal space heater he could never turn off. Could get uncomfortable for him rather quickly.

But that news was better than looking up and seeing Katsuki in danger.

With Kazue at school, the house was empty, leaving Izuku a lot of time to think. Mostly about what he was going to do in his quest for more information. Whoever Father was, he was someone to be wary of. Sugawara had taken him off guard. He didn’t want that to happen again. Any information he could get could potentially save him later, if things were to ever escalate.

Maybe he was being paranoid about it. Maybe he was thinking about it too much. Maybe he was expecting something that would never come. But he couldn’t help himself. Not after everything that had happened. And he couldn’t afford not to think of the worst while he had the new pup.

At the thought, he stroked a hand in a lazy circle around his abdomen.

Nobody in the pack seemed willing to talk to him. Luckily, they weren’t the only people Izuku could call on. He scrolled through his contacts and picked one out, pressing the phone to his ear to listen to it ring. He half expected it to go to voicemail, but to his surprise, it picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Izuku kept his tone light. He didn’t want to rouse suspicion. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t think about the time. Are you with a class right now?”

“No, just doing some lesson prep,” Shinso sounded slightly bored, which was always a bad sign. If he was bored by what he was doing, he was more likely to start thinking about what Izuku was saying. If he caught on too quickly, he wasn’t sure what the other omega was going to do or say. Shinso wasn’t as likely to turn him down. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

To Izuku’s dismay, the omega said, “It isn’t like you to call out of the blue. Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah,” he bit his lip, hating that he’d stuttered. “Umm, I was just thinking about something. Something’s been bothering Katsuki recently. And you know how he can be. Won’t tell me anything. So I was wondering if maybe you’d heard of anything at the agency that might be on his mind.”

“Well I’m not at the agency nearly as often as I used to be,” Shinso sighed, his voice barely covering up the clacking of a keyboard. “I haven’t heard anything recently and Denki hasn’t mentioned any particularly interesting drama. So no, I don’t think anything’s happened that would be bothering him. Not anything more so than usual.” A chair creaked in the background. “Maybe he’s wearing himself out being so protective of you.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Izuku tapped his knee, wondering how he wanted to approach this. However, he quickly came to the conclusion that the more he squirmed around it, the more suspicious Shinso was going to get. So he took a breath, and said, “You know, he mentioned a name. A villain, I think, but I’d never heard of them before. Maybe that’s what’s bothering him?”

“Who knows,” Shinso sounded a bit distracted. Maybe that was good. “What was the name?”

Izuku glared at the television, the anchor having moved on to something about Quirk discrimination. “It was someone called Father.”

The clacking stopped. It was almost imperceivable with how short of a pause it was. Almost like a breath caught in a throat. But when it resumed, it did so with renewed vigor. “Oh was it now?”

“Yeah. Heard anything about them?”

“You know,” Shinso sounded like he was smiling, “you’re not fooling anyone with a question like that.”

Izuku gripped his knee. He had been afraid this was where they were going to end up. But he couldn’t just back down. Not now. “Is that a yes, you’ve heard of him?”

“I’ve heard of him. But I can’t tell you much about him, Zuku. It would be better if you just let it go.”

“I can’t, and you know why.” This time, the clacking stopped completely. It was absolutely silent on the other end of the phone. “Someone called Mother tried to have me killed. Twice. She kidnapped my pup. She almost killed my alpha. And now I hear of someone called Father? You can’t tell me they’re not connected, that it’s just a coincidence, that there’s not something else—”

“All right, all right,” Shinso raised his voice so Izuku heard him, but he lowered it once the omega quieted. The chair creaked again and Izuku heard him mutter to someone, “I’m stepping out for a moment. If someone asks for me, tell them to wait here.” Izuku bit at his bottom lip as he listened to Shinso walk through a door, that door sliding closed, then as the omega seemed to collapse onto something, a chair or a sofa. The silence ticked by after that.

Then, “We don’t know a lot about Father. He’s been quiet for five years, even though we’ve been looking for him. It’s unclear at this moment whether or not he’s truly a threat to anyone. But rumor has it he’s started coming out of the woodwork. Rumor also says he has ties to the League of Villains,” the more Shinso spoke, the more Izuku felt his fingers digging into his knees, until he was practically trembling. “Which is good news for you. Sounds like he has bigger fish to fry than you, Zuku. Plus it means he’s got all the top heroes and police brass looking for him. I get why you’d be worried, but in this case, I really think you’d be better off just letting us handle it. All right? We haven’t heard of Father hunting down anyone, pup, omega, or otherwise. And with how much the police are looking into him, we would have heard by now if he were specifically targeting someone.” Shinso paused, then chuckled, though it was a low, dissatisfied sound. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m worried!” Izuku couldn’t help to but to hiss it. “What if he wants to finish off what Sugawara started? What if he comes after Kazue?”

“He’s not going to go after Kazue. And he’s not going to come after you either,” Shinso spoke lowly, but sincerely. Izuku had never known the omega hero to lie to him. He didn’t know why he would start now. But, somehow, he didn’t believe him. “Listen. If Katsuki thought you were in danger, immediate, real danger, he would act. Has he ever not acted when he thought you were in danger?”

“No.”

“Right. Especially with how crazy he is nowadays. It’s okay. You’re okay. I know it’s worrying, but it’s unlikely for anything to come of this. Do you believe that?”

No. But he didn’t say that. He didn’t say anything at all.

Shinso sighed again. “All right, I’ll make you a deal. If I hear anything, anything at all, I’ll tell you. I know Bakugo’s not the best at keeping you in the loop, but if it’ll help you, I’ll keep you updated on if anything changes.”

“Really?” Even as Shinso said it, Izuku still couldn’t believe it.

“Yup. I know you’ll keep digging otherwise and you’re liable to hurt yourself more doing that than if I just tell you. So yes, I’ll let you know. In exchange, I want you to just relax. Focus on your family and the new agency. Heard you haven’t come up with a name yet.”

Izuku wrinkled his nose. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not, I’m not,” the omega hero actually laughed. “So. We have a deal?”

Could he trust Shinso to keep such a deal? Did Shinso actually believe Izuku would stop looking for more? Did he believe himself that he would stop looking for more?

Maybe.

“Okay.”

“All right, it’s a deal.” Shinso sighed again, as if releasing a bit of tension, a noise of settling. “Listen, Zuku, you know none of us would ever do anything to intentionally harm you, but sometimes the pack’s awful about unintentional harm. Don’t be too mad at them, all right? I know it’s annoying, but it’s not done maliciously. They just want you to be happy.”

Happy. Blissful and happy. And completely unawares.

Izuku clicked his teeth. “I don’t want to be taken off guard again.”

“Understood. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

“Okay.” Izuku wanted to press for more, but he didn’t know what more he could ask for. Wasn’t he essentially getting what he wanted? Hadn’t Shinso told him more than anyone else had? Somehow, that didn’t matter. What mattered were answers, and it seemed nobody had any.

“Anyway,” Shinso brushed right along, as if they’d been talking about the abnormally hot weather or other riveting subjects, “heard Suzuki’s finally got a plan together for telling the media about the new pup. Bet that’s something you’re looking forward to, huh?”

Despite them not being in the same room, despite Shinso having no conceivable way of telling what Izuku was doing, the omega hero laughed fully as Izuku grimaced deeply, and the conversation flowed along, even if Izuku kept thinking of what was shadowing over all of them, the name that kept repeating like a spell in his mind.

Father. Father. Father. Who is Father?

Chapter Text

That night, Izuku had a nightmare.

He woke with a startle and a gasp, so sudden and violent that he tore the bedsheets nearly off the bed. A single corner remained, peering over the mattress as if afraid of him. For a moment, Izuku stared at that square, trying to regain his breath, both his arms wrapped around his stomach.

It was late. Very late. Katsuki was still out on patrol. He would be getting back soon, if work didn’t hold him up. But until then, Izuku was alone.

But that was okay. It was tough, but he’d learned how to calm himself down after nightmares, had learned how to control his breathing so not to spiral into deeper anxiety. Sometimes it didn’t work, but as he sat up in bed that night, counting off his breaths, it wasn’t too hard. He didn’t quite settle, but he did stop shaking. The bedroom seemed less dark and scary. He felt comfortable enough to remove his hands from around his stomach. For a while, he sat back, and he listened to the house creaking contently in the cool night breeze.

With a final sigh, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed. Katsuki would be home long before he could find sleep again on his own. It wouldn’t help his anxiety any to just lay there, waiting. He’d learned that years ago. So he stood, pausing to throw the comforter back on the bed before heading downstairs.

He didn’t turn on any lights to avoid waking Kazue, though he did flip on the television, muting the sound and flipping to his favorite news channel. Nothing going on. No big villain attacks or anything obvious that would keep Katsuki from coming home soon. Mostly reruns of the day’s stories. All good news.

He set the remote down, letting the television silently play, and went into the kitchen, flipped on a light that hung over the sink. In that low light, he went to the pantry to pull out a snack from him to munch on. Technically he was trying to watch what he was eating, so not to gain weight too quickly, but hell to it that night. He was hungry and tired and still felt a tremor of fear running down his spine.

As he turned from the pantry, he saw a bit of movement in the dark along the staircase and froze, his mind spinning through every horrible possibility. He saw Yokoyama and Sugawara and Scoundrel and the League of Villains and a shadowy man who might be called Father— then realized the movement was a little leg kicking out between the banisters, saw the shine of huge crimson eyes watching the television.

“Kazue,” Izuku’s voice felt loud in the space, as if the dark magnified it. Even Kazue flinched at the sound. “What are you doing?”

The pup pulled his leg back to his body, standing to peer down at the omega. It was a little too dark for him to tell, but he thought the pup might be frowning. “You smelled sad, Mom.”

Ah, yes. Alphas weren’t as sensitive to scents as omegas were. But they were overly sensitive to particular scents. But still, Izuku didn’t think his scent alone had woken Kazue. The pup still had nightmares of his own, he knew, and sometimes he struggled to get to sleep. He wondered if they’d both had a bad night so far, his heart squeezing in sympathy at the thought.

“Here,” Izuku gestured for Kazue to join him, going to the couch and turning the volume low.

Kazue carefully stepped down the staircase and came to stand beside Izuku, only moving onto the couch when Izuku waved for him to come closer. He sat beside Izuku, a bit awkward, as if he wasn’t quite sure what else to do. Then he crawled a little closer and leaned into his omega’s side, Izuku humming quietly and wrapping an arm around him. He stroked Kazue’s face, enjoying the feel of his warm skin, moving little bits of hair from his face. Kazue watched him for a moment before turning his attention to the news, relaxing himself into Izuku’s touch.

“Love you, firecracker,” Izuku muttered.

“I love you, too, Mommy,” Kazue replied almost automatically, but not without warmth.

They watched the news for a few minutes, until Kazue asked if they could change the channel. Then Izuku found reruns of a hero documentary he’d seen before. Kazue’s eyes sparked curiously, leaning forward to listen to the narrator.

After a few minutes of watching, Kazue tilted his head to the side. “Mom, has Kacchan ever been in a documentary?”

“Uh,” Izuku blinked, trying to think. He would know if Katsuki had been in a hero documentary, right? Or any documentary? But he couldn’t think of anything. But also he was the number two hero and had been in the top ten for the majority of his career. So he had to have done something like that, right? Then again, it was Katsuki. It was hard to pin him down for a sensible interview. “I don’t know. You should ask him.”

“Mmm,” Kazue wrinkled his nose. “He’s busy.”

“Never too busy for you, firecracker,” Izuku nuzzled against Kazue’s cheek, Kazue growling quietly in response. He’d stopped chirping in delight in recent time and Izuku sometimes still wished to hear that little noise of happiness from his pup, one last time.

Ah well. The rumbles from Kazue’s growl still satisfied some inner instinct of his, settled a very omega part of himself. It was different from when Katsuki growled, but similar. There was a lot of love his two alphas surrounded him with. He was a bit spoiled for it all, honestly. Not that he would ever complain.

They laid on the couch together, occasionally commenting on whatever was discussed on screen, each of them growing more and more tired, until the door opened. Katsuki stepped into the house. The alpha was clearly taken aback by the sight in front of him, but only momentarily.

Then he crossed to the couch, reaching over it to stroke a hand along Izuku’s jaw. “You all right?”

“Fine,” Izuku said, though he knew Katsuki could guess why he was up so late.

Katsuki studied him, eyes flicking over the television once before he ruffled Kazue’s hair. “Bedtime, firecracker. For all of us.”

“Aw,” Kazue could still pout like a champ.

“We can watch the rest later,” Izuku said, then patted his back. “C’mon. Kacchan’s right, it’s bedtime.”

Kazue popped up off the couch, unsuccessfully hiding a yawn behind his hand. Izuku stood as Katsuki came around the couch to more properly greet him with a peck on the lips and a lingering stroke along his stomach.

“Nightmare?” He whispered, Izuku nodding.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” he said, though the alpha frowned.

He tossed his back over his shoulder. “Let me take a quick shower and I’ll be up to bed.”

Izuku watched him trudge up the stairs, following closely behind Kazue. He followed them up as well, going with Kazue to his room, pausing to kiss him on the cheek, then to nip playfully at him, growling quietly when the pup laughed, though he eventually ducked away from the omega and threw himself into bed.

“Good night,” Izuku said.

“Love you,” Kazue replied.

A little flutter raced up Izuku’s spine. “Love you, too, firecracker.” He stepped the bedroom door closed and listened to the pipes rattling in the walls as Katsuki turned the shower on. After pausing briefly to consider his options, he took the stairs back down to the main floor and slipped into his lab.

Tucked behind his computer monitor, there was a little journal. Mai had recommended he start journaling years earlier as a way to get rid of anxiety he was carrying. For a while, he’d done that. Pouring his thoughts onto a piece of paper hadn’t really been all that anxiety reducing however, as he’d suddenly been faced with just how many thoughts he had in a day and how often they led back to things that made him anxious. For a while, he’d stopped journaling altogether. Then, he’d turned it into a different sort of journal.

At the front of the journal, the first twenty-four pages were a two-page spread of each month, a little box arranged next to each day. It was supposed to be used for ticking off every day the owner journaled that particular month. And, Izuku supposed, he did still use it for that purpose. Just… slightly different.

He flipped to the current month, April, and checked the box next to the current day, then flipped to the next blank page, writing at the top the date.

In the lines below, he wrote, Nightmare. Yokoyama present. Mother heard. Mattress. Kazue crying.

On the next line, he wrote, Katsuki on patrol.

Everything written out, he paused again, and flipped back through the previous pages, each marked by a date and short descriptors. Night terror, panic attack, rushing thoughts, memories. More in depth details were just as succinct, Tsuda present, alleyway, Katsuki gone, Kazue gone, teeth, blood, R. The uppercase “R” was all he managed to write about the worse of his memories and nightmares.

However, he didn’t do more than skim the details, instead looking at the dates, realizing he was having attacks closer and closer together. He’d gone two weeks without anything only two months previously. Now, he was having something about every three days.

“Izuku?”

Izuku startled so hard he almost threw the journal. Katsuki was standing in the doorframe, eyes narrowed, not wearing a shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Izuku tucked the journal back behind his computer, trying to hide where exactly he was putting it from the alpha. Then, he cleared his throat and ducked under Katsuki’s arm, “we’re going to bed, right?”

Even as Izuku hurried for the staircase, Katsuki lingered in the doorway. He seemed to be considering what exactly he wanted to do, if whatever he was thinking was worth the fight, but eventually he let the door closed and followed Izuku up the stairs.

In their bedroom, the alpha lingered in the doorframe as Izuku threw on some more comfortable clothes, passing a hand over his stomach, still feeling nothing. The alpha watched him with narrowed eyes, tapping thoughtfully on his leg. “Here,” he grumbled, “lay down.”

Izuku glanced at the bed, then at the time. “Uh, I’m not sure I want to—”

“Just lay down,” Katsuki repeated.

Izuku still glanced between the alpha and the bed, trying to decide what his best course of action was, though he eventually did as Katsuki said. As he laid back, Katsuki crawled up over him, growling low and steady. He was so loud he vibrated the bed, the little tremors making the tips of Izuku’s limbs tingle.

“Katsuki—” he said again, but the alpha stroked a hand up his arm, passing his fingers over the omega’s lip.

“Shh,” he grumbled, focusing intently on Izuku’s body. It seemed like he was avoiding looking him in the face. “Doctor said that touch and massaging was good for stress reduction, right?”

Izuku blinked. “Um, yes?”

“Good. Just lay still and let me take care of you, then.”

The omega opened his mouth, still about to protest, though he stopped when Katsuki’s touch traveled down to his stomach, fingers spreading over his skin. The alpha’s eyes reduced to pinpoints as he stroked the omega’s abdomen, taking care to rub the scent glands in his wrists into Izuku’s skin as he stroked and massaged him. It was a lot like when Sano had scented him, but so very different as well. Sano’s scenting had had the effect of making him feel warm, welcome, contented in the space he was in. Katsuki’s touch unspooled every bit of energy that had been zinging through his core, relaxing him fully into the mattress underneath him. That feeling seeped out, spreading to his heart, his arms, his legs, even his jaw slacked open, a sort of total bliss. Katsuki could have done anything he wanted to Izuku in that moment. The omega didn’t think he could have moved a toe he was so relaxed as Katsuki stroked and rubbed him. But he trusted Katsuki in that moment. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to be putty in the alpha’s hands. His hands, which were calloused and worn and rough but oh so gentle, so focused, so strong and protective. The touch was so simple. And yet, it felt so powerful, so absolutely wonderful.

Izuku let his eyes droop nearly closed and he purred, deepening the sound when one of Katsuki’s hands dropped to his thigh, rubbing in little circles. The alpha leaned up to kiss him, soft and sincere. “My omega,” he growled, nuzzling into his neck, “my strong, handsome omega.”

Izuku curled inward, pulled always toward the alpha, relishing as Katsuki’s hands moved beyond his stomach and massage all along the rest of his body.

- - -

Suzuki dropped the short press release about Izuku’s pregnancy right as he, Katsuki, Iida, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu arrived at the restaurant.

This had two desired effects, in theory.

One, the media swarmed the restaurant windows to try to get a picture of the couple. Two, the wording of the press release made it absolutely clear that Izuku was not to be disturbed for the health of the pup, so when Katsuki spun toward the cameras, a silent snarl etched into his face, almost all of them backed away.

“You have to let them get a couple photos, otherwise they’ll just keep trying,” Izuku warned, as Suzuki had told them.

Katsuki drained his glass and flagged down a waiter to order another.

Although they had been out in public before, this was their first venture out while knowing everyone was aware of Izuku’s pregnancy. Katsuki, already possessive, protective, aggressive, and very alpha, was so tense through the first part of the meal that the waiters simply refused to go anywhere near him or Izuku out of fear of retaliation. Likewise, Izuku found it hard to concentrate on anything except just watching Katsuki, making sure he wasn’t about to leap up and tear someone’s throat out. The alcohol did not help any, though Katsuki rarely got drunk. Something to do with his Quirk and how it interacted with his metabolism. So there was no reprieve, even as he continued to drink.

But, as the night went on, as his anxiety remained high, Izuku reached under the table to trail a hand along his thigh. The alpha actually flinched at the contact, staring resolutely forward as if ignoring everything else going on around him. As Izuku’s touch lingered, as he pressed circles into his skin, the alpha slowly unwound, little by little, until he was actually able to let his fists uncurl and his hands relax on the table.

Thankfully, the rest of the pack members carried the conversation, just as Suzuki had hoped they would, meaning the dinner did not seem at all that strange despite both Izuku’s and Katsuki’s silence. Perfectly aware they were simply props for the media, Iida, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu carried on as if nothing was happening. Todoroki was the only one who quietly watched the two, meaning more than once he and Katsuki locked eyes and a challenge started to rise up between them. Even if they were not mates, Todoroki was the second most protective alpha of Izuku, which had caused trouble between him and Katsuki in the past. Luckily, Yaoyorozu was quick to tug Todoroki’s attention away, either with a soft hand or a bit more forcefully, whenever she sensed tension building between the two. She’d gotten used to smoothing out such issues, having lived with them in the pack for years even before Izuku had come along.

Izuku and Uraraka, the only omegas at the table that night, shared frequent eye rolls and smiles.

The dinner itself was fine. The food was very good and Izuku did like the chance to dress up a little, even if it was just for a media stunt essentially. As Katsuki settled, the night became even more enjoyable, Izuku able to spend less and less time making sure he was okay and more and more time talking with the other pack members. Now able to publicly talk about the pup, they were each eager to have some input on the pregnancy, especially when Izuku reluctantly agreed when Uraraka said her doctor had once told her that pack piles were good for mother and pup.

“Excellent!” Yaoyorozu clapped at the news. “We don’t get to pile as much as we used to, but I think it would be wonderful for us to—” she stopped when Katsuki growled.

“No alphas,” he snapped, causing Yaoyorozu to quickly close her mouth and glare back, a rare sight from the female alpha. Although an alpha, she rarely displayed more aggressive tendencies, but she and Katsuki very quickly began growling quietly between each other, until Iida suddenly began shouting about how he knew beta piles were very healthy for even omega pregnancies and that Izuku should try to pile with the omegas well, as they would have similar health benefits. The tension broken between them, Yaoyorozu leaned back, prim and proper, which just made Katsuki glower at her.

Izuku had to admit, if asked five years ago whether he’d find himself being fought over by three alphas, including his closest childhood friend and mate, he wouldn’t have even laughed the idea was so ridiculous. And yet, there he sat, silently hoping Iida didn’t get the possessive bug. Luckily, with his own omega sitting next to him, that was very unlikely.

After dinner, the pack members left to return to the packhouse while Izuku and Katsuki got in their car and started on their way toward Sano’s home, where Kazue had been staying. Once it was just the two of them, Katsuki finally relaxed completely, even after a short almost-scuffle with one photographer who dared approach them as they were trying to get into the car. Izuku, exhausted from it all, leaned back in his seat, purring quietly when Katsuki’s hand found his, their fingers interlacing. The alpha kissed his knuckles, but said nothing, allowing quiet music from the radio to fill the car.

It was late by the time they reached Sano’s home, meaning when Kazue clambered into the car, he was sufficiently exhausted as well. Katsuki turned the music down a little more to let them sleep, though Izuku found he couldn’t quite let himself relax completely. His stomach was turning slightly, maybe a bad sign with his history of morning sickness, though he tried not to think about it, instead turning the car’s AC colder.

When they got home, they ushered Kazue into bed while Katsuki flipped the news on. Of course, everyone was talking about their pregnancy, many celebrating, some wondering how this would impact Katsuki’s hero work. A couple discussed whether it was ethically appropriate for a couple with known enemies to bring another pup into danger. Katsuki, who never liked the media anyway, turned it off, but only after indulging in a long, sustained string of curses at the reporters.

Izuku, still feeling run down and a bit feverish, took a cold shower and went to bed. But he didn’t sleep. Even when Katsuki joined him and almost immediately went to sleep, Izuku laid in bed, feeling something turning over in himself.

At about one in the morning, he shot up, realizing what was happening.

He shook Katsuki urgently, even as his stomach convulsed again. “Katsuki,” he hissed, the alpha growling in his sleep. “Katsuki, get up.”

“What?” Katsuki grumbled.

“Katsuki, get up! I— need you.” That wasn’t what he meant to say, but even as he said it, a little shiver traveled from his lower region up along his limbs. He shuddered, feeling sweat beginning to gather on his body.

It seemed the alpha wasn’t paying attention because he continued to just shift in bed, grumbling to himself, until Izuku made a low whining noise, a sound that bubbled up from deep in his gut, and had the alpha shooting up.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Kacchan. Need you!”

“I know, I know,” Katsuki hushed him, springing from the bed. Izuku reached out for him, his head starting to fill with cotton. Dr. Wanatabe’s warning about a secondary heat roared back to him and he spat out a curse that was quickly followed by another whine for his alpha, even as Katsuki wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him from the bed. “Here. Hang out in your nest, I need to handle Kazue.”

“No! Don’t leave—” Izuku bit off his pleas, knowing Katsuki had to get Kazue out of the house. He was thankful they’d planned this out earlier. “Hurry up.”

Katsuki deposited Izuku in their closet, which the omega had converted into a nest he sometimes used, though only on very rare occasions. Knowing he’d be using it more as he was pregnant, he’d recently cleaned it up and made it a bit nicer, meaning he was able to crawl into his nest and feel very secure, even as his inner omega whined at being left alone. He needed his alpha. He needed Katsuki. And that need was getting worse.

He groaned in discomfort, his insides stirring up more and more the longer Katsuki was away. He tried to quiet down to listen, heard the alpha’s voice from somewhere down the hall. He was close enough for Izuku to walk, to find him. To show him how much he needed him.

“Fuck,” Izuku pressed his forehead against the wall. His heats didn’t usually come on this strong. Had he even had any signs of preheat? “Katsuki!”

A shrill cry echoed from beyond his nest, almost instantly quelling all of his heat instincts. Instead, a different instinct roared forward, deeper, stronger, brushing away his desires as something else rattled along in his head. His pup. That had been Kazue’s voice.

Without really thinking about it, Izuku pushed himself to his feet. He had to use the walls to walk, his feet still unsteady despite how his head was clearing, his focus intent on Kazue’s bedroom. He chirped sharply, trying to call to the pup, as he might have when he was young. But he hadn’t done that in a long time. And Kazue didn’t respond to his call anyway.

As he fumbled with the door, he heard Kazue’s voice again, stronger, louder, followed immediately by Katsuki’s as well. Was something happening? Was someone hurt? He got the door open and called again, a sharp, shrill sound, something to rise over the voices of the alphas. Katsuki almost immediately appeared from the room down the hall.

“Deku, go back to your nest!” He tried to step toward the omega but as soon as his back was turned, Kazue charged out of his room and threw a pillow that smacked his alpha across the back.

“It’s not fair!” The pup screamed. “You can’t just send me away!”

“Kazue, stop it,” Katsuki growled.

Izuku glanced between the two of them, realized they were fighting. They were having a fight. While he was going into a full blown heat right in the middle of the hallway.

He opened his mouth to tell them both to shut up and listen, but the instant he opened his mouth, both their alpha scents raked along his tongue, filling up his senses. Both of them were upset. Both of them were releasing more aggressive pheromones. And they both smelled so good. It was a strange feeling. Izuku wasn’t attracted to Kazue’s scent as he was to Katsuki. But he still wanted to grab the pup, to hold him close and cuddle with him. While Katsuki’s scent made his nether region squirm in dissatisfaction, Kazue’s calmed him, settled him, made it a bit easier to think. However, the two warring feelings just meant he stood there, mouth open, looking a little dumb as the alphas continued to bicker.

“Mom just had a heat! He can’t be going back into heat! And he has a pup! Why would he go into heat anyway, that’s just dumb!”

“Kazue, I can’t explain it right now. Someone from the pack is going to pick you up and you’re going to stay with them for a couple of days.”

“No! I’m staying here! You can’t send me away! I won’t leave my Mom!”

Katsuki was straining at his jaw, trying hard not to snap at the pup. “You can’t stay here. You have to go.”

Kazue squared his shoulders. “You can’t make me leave. I’m not going to leave my Mom like you left him!”

All semblance of calm evaporated and Katsuki snarled, deep and menacing, so much so that Kazue immediately stumbled back, whimpering quietly, and Izuku instinctually lurched forward to stop the alpha. However, his legs still weren’t steady and instead of racing forward to grab Katsuki, he fell face first onto the floor and missed the staircase by only a couple of inches.

The sound of him smashing to the ground jolted both Katsuki and Kazue out of the argument. “Deku!” Katsuki was at his side in a heartbeat, pulling him up. “Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?” His hand pressed flush to Izuku’s stomach, but with the alpha so close, Izuku’s brain was starting to get foggy again.

“Alpha,” he whimpered.

“I know, Deku, I know,” Katsuki glanced over to Kazue, who was still staring, wide-eyed at him. “Get a bag packed and wait downstairs. I have to take care of your mom.”

Kazue glanced between him and Izuku, clearly saw that the omega was spiraling quickly. His startled expression settled to one of discontentment and he huffed. “Fine,” he muttered, and slammed his bedroom door behind him.

With one final growl, Katsuki hooked his arms under Izuku’s shoulders and knees and pulled him off the floor. “I told you to wait in your nest.”

“Heard. Arguing,” Izuku nuzzled into the alpha’s scent gland. “Want you, alpha.”

A shuddered traveled through Katsuki as he set Izuku in his nest. “Soon, omega, soon.” He growled. “Fuck you smell so good. Going to make you feel amazing.” Izuku purred happily, even as the alpha stood. “Just stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He shut the closet door, leaving Izuku to stew in his heat pheromones. Which was really quite rude when he could think about it. In the few moments he had where he wasn’t quite writhing around in discomfort, he listened, straining to hear any other shouts from either alpha, but he heard nothing, and not soon enough, the closet door opened again and Katsuki crouched down to scoop him up.

“Alpha,” Izuku whimpered.

“All right, omega, you’ve waited long enough.” Izuku felt the soft mattress of the bed spread out under him, then felt the press of the alpha’s body over his, felt his teeth graze over his scent gland.

A moment of clarity washed over him, Izuku managing to whisper, “Kazue?”

“With Uraraka,” Katsuki growled, nudging his knees open a little more. “Just focus on me, omega. We have all the time in the world.”

- - -

All the time in the world amounted to about two days of blissed out heat. It was not the first time they’d shared a heat while in their own bed and while it had never affected their enjoyment of it beforehand, Izuku did find that Katsuki was rather… unsatisfying. No matter how much he pulled and tugged and begged for the alpha, Katsuki was restrained and careful. And not in a particularly good way.

The only time he got the alpha to react was once, after trying everything he could think to get the alpha to react, Izuku snarled deeply and bucked the alpha off of him. Taken off guard, Katsuki scrambled to reorient himself only to have Izuku leap on top of him, still snarling. Katsuki’s alpha snapped into focus and despite his earlier reluctance to handle Izuku too roughly, he immediately snarled in return and a short scuffle ensued, both of them fighting for dominance. When Katsuki had sufficiently proven his worth again, Izuku rolled over and let him have his way and found this the most satisfying of all their encounters throughout the heat. Even though Katsuki went right back to handling him carefully after that, much to his annoyance. Still, it was enough of a spark to carry them through the rest of the heat.

And when those two days were up, when Izuku woke early in the night, his head finally empty and his body sore but satisfied, he rolled into Katsuki’s side and purred happily. The alpha, completely exhausted from even just the two days they’d spent together, acknowledged him with just a short growl of contentment, until Izuku suddenly flailed so violently the sheets were torn away from them.

“Wait! Where’s my phone!” The omega yelled, wincing as his body protested the sudden movement.

“The hell is going on?” Katsuki growled, but Izuku ignored him, grabbing for his phone. He turned on the screen, and let out a sigh of relief. He laid back down, staring up at his phone, even when Katsuki said, “What are you doing?”

Izuku waited, waited, then smiled as the time rolled over, and it was officially 00:00 on April 20.

Then, he tossed his phone aside and leaned up to kiss Katsuki. “Happy birthday, alpha.”

Katsuki blinked, clearly not having thought about his upcoming birthday at all. But then he grinned, and pressed toward Izuku for another kiss.

- - -

Uncle Kiri told Kazue that his parents were going to come pick him up.

Good. He thought, then sat on the packhouse’s front steps to glower at every passing car, even though he knew which one was his parents.

They pulled up slowly, clearly spotting Kazue. Kazue saw that Kacchan was driving and glared hard at him. The alpha was wearing sunglasses, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking, but he didn’t seem particularly bothered. He waved for Kazue to come get in the car, but the pup stayed right where he was, on that step, glaring.

Eventually, Kacchan rolled down the window, “C’mon, Kazue! Let’s go!”

Kazue snapped his teeth. The voice in his head was growling at him, happy to be disobeying his alpha. He didn’t have to listen to him, anyway. What gave him the right to tell Kazue what to do?

“Firecracker!” His mom’s voice wasn’t as easy to ignore.

At his call, Kazue reluctantly stood and stomped over to the car. He got in, slamming the door closed harder than he should have. He caught a look from Kacchan in the mirror and his Mom turned to blink at him, but he just glared at them both.

“What’s wrong?” His Mom asked.

Kazue crossed his arms and turned to glaring out the window instead.

Kacchan clicked his tongue and put the car in reverse. “Wise up, firecracker. Take a deep breath if you need to.”

He huffed just to show he wasn’t paying attention.

At the house, he stomped all the way upstairs without saying anything to either of his parents. He could smell that the house was freshly cleaned. He couldn’t smell any of the heat pheromones he’d smelled coming from his omega when he’d been forced to leave. And somehow, that made him even madder.

He went to his room and slammed the door, hearing Kacchan calling something after him, but the frustration in the alpha’s voice just made him smile, so he didn’t acknowledge it.

Soon after, there came a knock at his door, but he didn’t get up to get it, burying his face in his handheld video game. Kacchan opened the door, glaring down at him. “Something you have to say, Kazue?”

“Nope,” the pup grumbled.

“Why are you slamming doors?”

“Because.”

Kacchan waited. “Explain,” he demanded.

Kazue hated that. “Nope.”

“Kazue.”

The pup growled at him and Kacchan narrowed his eyes. He took a step into the room. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing.”

“Obviously something.”

“I said nothing!”

“Kazue.”

Kazue growled and tossed his game aside. “Just leave me alone! I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Too bad. I’m not leaving and you’re going to tell me what is going on.”

“Katsuki,” he heard his Mom in the hallway.

Still, he growled, “Go away, Mom! I don’t want to talk to you either!”

He saw his Mom try to get into the room, but Kacchan gestured for him to stay away. To keep away from Kazue. Forcing him to stay away.

And Kazue hated that.

He leaped up and shoved at Kacchan, who took only a single step back, and only because he seemed more surprised than anything else. “I hate you!” He snarled, his Mom immediately gasping.

“Kazue!”

“But I do!” The pup snapped his teeth, but Kacchan just looked down at him, his gaze unreadable. “You’re pushy and mean and you make my Mom do whatever you want!”

Kacchan stared down at him. “Rest assured,” he grumbled, “your mom is very capable of doing whatever the hell he wants.”

That’s what he’d gotten from what Kazue had said? Seriously?

The pup snarled again. “You were gone for four years! You didn’t want to be there when I was in my Mom’s stomach! And now you’re here for the new pup? And you’re telling me what I can do?” He shoved again at Kacchan, found him easier to push. The alpha’s unreadable expression had morphed to one of shock. With one more push, Kazue managed to shove him beyond the doorframe. “I! Hate! You!” He yelled again, and slammed the door in the alpha’s face.

- - -

For a moment, neither Katsuki nor Izuku knew what to do. Then, Izuku cleared his throat. “Here,” he gently put a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, “let me talk to him.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything. Mostly because he wasn’t sure what to say. He stepped back as Izuku carefully knocked at Kazue’s door, calling to him before opening the door and slipping inside. At first, Katsuki heard Kazue snarling and snapping at Izuku too, but that soon died away under the omega’s soft and reassuring voice. When all seemed well, Katsuki went back down the stairs. With each step, he heard another word from Kazue’s mouth.

I hate you! You didn’t want to be there when I was in my Mom’s stomach! You were gone for four years! I! Hate! You!

He slumped onto the couch, running his hand along his chin. Felt very tired very suddenly.

“Happy birthday,” he muttered to no one at all.

Then, his phone rang. It was Tsukauchi.

- - -

Izuku came back downstairs and found Katsuki on the phone. The alpha was glaring forward. Much as Kazue had glared forward as the omega had tried to talk to him. He waited patiently as Katsuki finished his call and got off the phone, running his hands over his eyes.

He stood, saw Izuku standing there. “I have to go into work.”

Izuku blinked at the time. It was almost dinner time. Fairly late for a call to work, even for a hero. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Katsuki growled, going up toward the bedroom. “It’s urgent. They need me.”

“Okay,” Izuku followed him, frowning at his back. “You know that Kazue didn’t mean what he said, right? He’s just a young, upset alpha is all.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki didn’t look back at him. “Right.”

- - -

Once he’d grabbed his things, Katsuki went and knocked on Kazue’s door. He didn’t know what to expect, but he didn’t want to leave before having a few more words with the pup. Even if he didn’t apologize. He didn’t want “I hate you” to carry him into his shift.

Not when he was going to face the League of Villains.

“Firecracker,” he called, “it’s me. I’m coming in.” He figured if he’d asked, Kazue would have refused him anyway, so he just opened the door.

The room stank of upset alpha. Upset in an angry, sad sort of way. In the confused, scared sort of way. In the sort of way that told Katsuki he really needed to sit and talk to Kazue about his inner alpha.

“Hey,” he said, even though Kazue was laying in his bed with his back to the alpha, “I’ve been called into work. I need to go, but I’ll see you after school tomorrow, okay?” The pup didn’t move. Didn’t acknowledge him at all. Still, he pressed onward. “I want you to know that I love you, Kazue. I love you more than you could ever know.” He paused. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you were born. If I could have been, I would have.” Honestly, he didn’t really know still if he would have been there for the pup if he had known about Izuku’s pregnancy. He’d changed a lot since he was young. But if the Katsuki in that moment could have gone back to see the birth of his precious pup, he would have traded almost anything for it. And it hurt him to know he couldn’t get that moment back.

Still, Kazue just laid there.

Realizing he wasn’t going to be getting that apology, Katsuki started to close the door. “Good night, Kazue. I love you and I’ll see you soon.” The door shut. He waited to see if the pup would get up to come say something to him. But he didn’t.

Eventually, he had to shoulder his pack and go back downstairs. Izuku was pacing anxiously in the living room. Katsuki paused to kiss him, to scent him, to try to relieve some of the tension. “I’ll be back.”

“When?” Izuku asked.

Katsuki sighed. “Don’t know. Probably not until morning. Go to bed, all right? I’ll be there when you wake up, or soon after. If not, I’ll text you when I can.”

“Okay.” Izuku smiled, squeezed his hand. “I love you. And remember what I said. Kazue didn’t mean what he said.”

Katsuki couldn’t help but to hear those words, one more time. I hate you. “Right,” he said, and kissed Izuku’s knuckles before letting him go.

“Be safe,” the omega said.

Putting aside all that had happened, even if only for a moment, Katsuki smirked. “Always am, love.”

- - -

Izuku tried to talk to Kazue again, but the pup was being stubborn, so he decided to wait until morning to breach the subject, instead telling him good night. He sat up in bed for a while, reading a couple of articles on societal demands of hero life, skimming a couple of articles on his announced pregnancy. Since he’d been in heat, he’d missed most of the initial reaction, and he found he was glad to have unknowingly weathered the first waves of articles and comments. Things were starting to calm down, staring being the operative word, so it wasn’t an intense as he’d been preparing for.

But there were still strong reactions on both sides. Some people saying it was irresponsible for them to have another pup when they knew Katsuki was a top hero and his family would be a top target for villains, that Izuku himself had already been the victim of villains before and it was unwise of them to make him even more of a vulnerable victim. But there were also people who were ecstatic for the couple, a veritable flood of congratulations streaming through just about every media site that Izuku visited. All in all, these outweighed any of the negative commentary. It was also nice to see many people, while expressing their excitement, understood Izuku’s ask for privacy and said they intended to respect that. Time would tell if they would keep their word or not.

Eventually, his eyes grew heavy and he was able to toss his phone aside. Being so close to the end of his heat, he found Katsuki’s empty side of the bed to be colder than usual. He hated that the alpha had to go away so soon after they’d been together like that. Izuku was still getting over some of the postheat hormones and he could have used a massage from the alpha. But he could be patient. Katsuki would come back and if he asked, the alpha would oblige him.

So, he sighed unhappily, but crawled into Katsuki’s empty space and curled up with his pillow, drinking in his scent.

He fell asleep. But only briefly. Because three hours later, the front door was kicked in.

He knew it was three hours later because as soon as he heard the smashing of the door, he scrambled, grabbing for his phone, for the lifeline it represented, and saw the time.

His mind was still groggy with sleep, but adrenaline was coursing quickly through his body, focusing him on one thing: Kazue. He raced from bed, going immediately out into the hallway, preparing to face whatever he had to to keep his pup safe.

Standing at the bottom of his stairs, he found Yaoyorozu, Iida, Todoroki, and Kirishima. For a moment, Izuku was so taken aback that he glanced around, not believing what was going on. But no. The door had been broken off its hinges. The heroes were standing there, staring up at him in as much shock as he was staring down at them.

What the hell was going on?

Yaoyorozu was the first to recover. She raced up the stairs toward him. “Midoriya! I’m so glad you’re okay! We were—” she paused as Izuku took a step away, not completely convinced it was the female alpha. She raised her hands. “It’s okay. We’re here to keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe?” He repeated, a little numbly.

“Yes,” Yaoyorozu insisted, taking the last few steps a little slower. “We were afraid you and Kazue would be gone, too. We didn’t know if they’d gone after you two as well.”

Gone? As well?

Izuku stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

Yaoyorozu’s lip quivered a little, but it was Iida who spoke next. “That’s all right, Creati, let me take care of this.”

She stepped aside for the pack alpha to come up the stairs, Iida standing tall in front of Izuku. Izuku didn’t know why, but he could hardly look at him. “Midoryia,” Iida said carefully, “Bakugo was requested to help with in the takedown of a known League of Villains associate. Their leader, actually. Hiku. Have you heard of him?”

That was a stupid question. And Iida knew it. “Where’s Katsuki?” He could hardly say it. It came out as a breathy whisper. Because he couldn’t make himself sound strong. Not with how scared he was.

Iida paused. Took off his helmet. He was excessively sweaty inside. “Midoriya,” he said again, “Bakugo didn’t come back from that mission. He disappeared during the confrontation. Nobody saw what happened. We’ve been looking for him. But as of right now, he’s missing in action.”

Missing.

In action.

Missing.

Katsuki was—

Izuku didn’t even realize he felt faint until his knees collapsed and he was suddenly being supported by both the female and pack alphas, Yaoyorozu and Iida carefully keeping him up. He licked his lips. “Where’s…. Katsuki?” He asked again.

Iida shared a look with Yaoyorozu. “Let’s get you to the packhouse, Midoriya. It’ll be safe there.”

- - -

Twenty-four hours after Katsuki went on that mission, the first media releases were put out.

GROUND ZERO MISSING IN ACTION

WHERE COULD THE NUMBER TWO HERO BE?

LEAGUE OF VILLAINS STRIKES AT TOP HERO

DEVESTATION FOR THE COLLECTIVE HEROES OF GZ’S PACK

And on and on and on and on.

On and on came the condolences and supporters. Those who promised Izuku they would take care of him and Kazue. Those who promised they were doing everything they could to find Katsuki. Those who promised that Katsuki was strong and he would be okay until they could find him. That he would never give up, and he would never, ever leave Izuku alone.

Izuku didn’t have the strength to tell them they were flat, fucking wrong.

He waited.

And he waited.

As the days went by.

He watched.

As those days went on, Kazue began staring. Forward. To a long distance. As the pup replayed the last conversation he’d had with his alpha, over and over again. Izuku could do nothing to resolve his pain, could think of nothing to say as the pup devolved, slower and slower.

A week after Katsuki went missing, Togata and Amajiki came to see him in the packhouse. The number one hero took his hand and squeezed it while Amajiki looked on, frowning. Meanwhile, the alpha was smiling. He was often smiling. Katsuki had once commented on how much he hated Togata’s smile. In that moment, Izuku agreed. He didn’t want to see Togata smiling. His smile meant nothing. Nothing. Not while Katsuki was still gone.

“Don’t worry,” the number one hero said to him, “I’m going to find Bakugo. I’ll bring him back to you. You can count on me, okay?”

Izuku didn’t say anything. He just stared at Kazue, watched as everything started to fall apart, pressed a hand to his stomach, and waited.

Chapter Text

May 1

Mai suggested I started journaling again. She said to pretend I’m talking to you. That it might help.

So. Here we are.

I miss you.

Please come home.

May 5

I keep having nightmares. I can’t stop. Iida tells me I should come to stay at the packhouse while all this is going on. But I have to keep going. Even if it’s painful.

I’ve already done this. I know how it goes.

Plus, you’ll be home soon.

Right?

May 7

Kaminari and Sero came to sleep with me. Just laying beside them helps. A little.

At least when I have nightmares, they can wake me up.

I’ve put plans for the support agency on hold. Hatsume is helping me out, in her strange way.

Everyone is trying to keep me on my feet. I don’t know if I could stand anymore without them.

May 12

Kazue says he wants to apologize. He wants you to come home. He loves you. I told you he was lying when he said that he hated you.

Please come home.

May 15

Are you hurt?

Are you alone?

Are you even still alive?

If you are, please come home.

I love you.

May 21, 2:36 am

It’s been one month since you disappeared. Where did you go?

May 27

Mina had her baby. A little boy. The pack was very happy. I was happy, too. Kirishima wants you to be in his son’s life. He knows you will be.

Or at least, that’s what he told me.

The pup’s name is Ren. He looks just like Kirishima.

I know you’ll love him.

May 29

I don’t want to sleep anymore.

I think I keep seeing you, in my dreams.

But it's all a lie.

May 30

Mai told me to stop journaling.

I think that might be smart. But I don’t think I will.

I love you.

Come home soon.

Chapter Text

June 8

Kazue got into another fight at school. I think he’s starting to hate himself for what he said to you. I think he’s starting to hate me, too. But I don’t know what to do. I’m trying to be strong. I’m trying to be as strong as you always thought I was.

But the truth is, I’m not that strong. I’m weak. Very weak. You helped make me strong. Now, I have nothing.

June 21, 2:36 am

I love you.

I miss you.

Come home soon.

I don’t know how many more times I can write these words.

June 23

Shinso is worried about me. I heard him on the phone with Kaminari. Neither of them have been willing to leave me alone. Shinso even tracked down Sano to keep her in the loop.

I wonder if Kaminari only cares because Shinso is one of my best friends.

Your pillow stopped smelling like you. There are a few things in my nest that still do.

But I know that won’t last much longer.

Date omitted

I miss you.

I need you.

I know you didn’t want to leave me.

But you still did.

I felt the baby move. I think. It might be a little early for that. But I swear, I felt them.

Chapter Text

July 1

Todoroki has started to ease me into the thought that you might be gone forever.

He doesn’t need to ease me into it.

It’s a nightmare I keep having.

Your face has been haunting me with that reality for a long time now.

July 2

I found out a statistic today.

Heroes who go missing in the line of duty have a 40% chance of surviving after being gone for eight hours. This statistic has a lot to do with heroes who get trapped by natural disasters or falling buildings or whatnot.

After that, chances of survival go down substantially.

Today, you’ve been gone 72 days.

Your official chance of coming home alive is 0.7%.

But it’s not zero.

We beat the odds once, didn’t we?

It’s not zero.

July 5

Kazue got into another fight.

He said he’s not hanging out with Hikaru anymore.

I’m really worried about him.

July 6

You aren’t gone, are you? You’re out there, somewhere. Eventually, someone will find you. They have to. You’ll come home. And maybe it’ll be hard. Maybe you’ll be hurt. But I know what it’s like to be hurt. I know what it’s like the suffer. So I’ll help you. I’ll stay by your side, no matter what. I’ll be there for you.

I’m waiting.

So don’t be gone.

Not forever.

July 7

Uraraka sat me down and asked me if you had a will.

I called her a bitch.

Then I cried.

I think it’s the first time I actually cried.

She forgives me.

I still feel like shit.

July 14

Tomorrow is my birthday.

There’s only one thing I want.

I’m not expecting it.

I still love you.

Even if you never come back.

I’ll always love you.

Thank you for everything you did. For me and for Kazue.

Thank you.

Chapter Text

Izuku had just tucked his journal back behind his computer when his phone rang. Now, he was standing in the principal’s office, frowning down at Kazue, who glared into a corner of the room, his arms crossed at his chest, his scent heavy and aggressive. There as an omega teacher in the room who looked a little faint because of it. She apparently had also witnessed Kazue’s latest fight at that school. Izuku couldn’t blame her for being a little stunned. The sight of Kazue unleashing his Quirk was quite a thing. Seeing it done inside a school, resulting in the sprinkler systems going off and several pups being terrified, along with a couple minor injuries, would have shocked anyone.

The principal was also frowning, but not at Kazue. Instead, his gaze was fixed right on Izuku. “I know things have been very hard recently,” he was saying, “but, at least for the time being, we can no longer allow Kazue to attend our school.” He shook his head at the pup, the one who had once had so much potential, who had shown such promise. “That being said, because of the circumstances, we won’t expel him. However, we do ask he not return for the last few days of school. Take the summer break to calm down. We’ll see how he returns.”

“I understand,” Izuku bowed deeply, feeling the bulge along his abdomen protest at such a movement. “Please forgive my son. It’s been a trying few months for us both. He will do better after the break.”

The principal made a dismissive noise, as if he didn’t believe Izuku for one moment, but he still let them go without questioning him further. Izuku stood and put a hand on Kazue’s back, the pup following his command without once looking up at him. As he turned toward the door, Izuku noticed a new cut on his forehead, above his right eye. Someone had plastered a bandage on it, but it was already bleeding through.

Without commenting on that, Izuku led him from the room, keeping his hand on the pup’s back, pausing only to grab Kazue’s bag and sling it over his shoulder.

They made their way through the mostly deserted hallways. It was after school hours now and the only ones still there were pups who had after school clubs. It was a small blessing. The less people saw them walk out of that school the better. They were lucky Kazue wasn’t getting expelled. Four fights in one semester was an astronomical problem and if he went by anything that Izuku knew from the fights Katsuki had gotten into while they had been in school, he’d been in many more than just four.

Izuku had tried to talk to him about it. They’d talked the first time, the second. Izuku had lost his temper at the third. Now, he didn’t have anything else to say. He didn’t know how to stop the pup. How to ease his pain and his anger. Even if it was an anger he could so easily pick one It was an anger that Katsuki had struggled with his entire life, and although Izuku could spot it from a mile away, he didn’t know how to quell it. Maybe if he did, things would be better.

Maybe things would be different.

Before he let himself go too far off on that thought, Izuku turned the last corner before the front doors, and paused. There was someone seated on a bench right next to the doors, holding a soda and kicking their legs out, staring at their feet.

Kazue turned the corner too, and skidded to a stop. “Hikaru?” He called.

The beta pup jerked up. His eyes locked on Kazue for a moment, then he glanced up at Izuku. After spotting the omega, he seemed taken aback, uncertain. Then, he clenched his hands around the soda in his hands, and shook it hard. Where he had even gotten a soda perplexed Izuku. Him shaking it confused him even more so. The pup glared hard at the bottle in his hands and as they watched, the gathered fizziness seemed to drain away, a glow seeping into Hikaru’s hands, starting at his fingertips.

“Hikaru,” Izuku hissed, hurrying to cover his palms, “you shouldn’t do that here. You don’t know who—”

Completely ignoring him, the beta pup raced over to Kazue and grabbed him by the cheeks. Kazue stiffened at the contact, his eyes reducing to pinpoints as some of the glow leeched off Hikaru’s hands and into his face. The beta pup stepped away and Kazue reached up to tear the bandage off his forehead, revealing clean, unbroken skin. Hikaru glared at him for a moment, then nodded once.

Then, he turned to Izuku. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it. Slowly, he crossed to where Izuku was standing and took his hand. The glow left the beta pup’s fingertips and as it did, Izuku felt a powerful heat rising in his chest. He hadn’t realized he’d felt so cold, but as Hikaru filled him up with that little bit of light, that last spark of warmth, Izuku pressed a hand to his heart, and smiled down at the pup.

“Thank you,” he whispered, “but please, don’t do that again, all right? It’s not safe.”

“Yes, Mr. Midoriya,” Hikaru’s voice cracked. He stared at the floor for a moment, then glanced back to Kazue, who hadn’t moved since spotting the beta pup.

Izuku glanced between them, sighed. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“No. I need to catch the bus.” Hikaru looked between them one more time, then bowed his head slightly. “Good night, Mr. Midoriya.” And with that, he hurried out the front door, never once looking back.

Izuku followed him out and watched him race off school grounds, heading for the bus stop. He watched until the pup turned the brick fence and disappeared from his sight. Then, he put a hand on his rounded stomach. The warmth in his chest hadn’t quite reached the new pup, but he stroked his stomach, hoping to bring a little spark down to the pup.

The school doors opened behind him, Kazue coming to stand next to him. Izuku held out his hand, which Kazue ignored, so he let it trail back to his stomach. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

- - -

The car drove automatically, for the most part, but Izuku kept his hands on the wheel. He still hadn’t said anything to Kazue, nor Kazue to him. It seemed neither of them had anything or say, or knew how to say it. That was the hardest part, in all honesty. Izuku didn’t know how to talk to Kazue anymore. The thought evaporated all the warmth that Hikaru had gifted him, leaving him with that numbing cold once again.

When the silence was finally broken, it was Kazue who spoke, “Where are we going?”

“To Sano’s.”

Kazue frowned deeply, but had nothing to say on that. Izuku glanced at him in the rearview mirror, and took a deep, conscious breath. Breathing seemed so much more difficult nowadays. He didn’t know how he’d managed it so easily before.

When they arrived, Izuku parked and turned the car off. Then, he sat there. Kazue waited for something to happen, then eventually huffed and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Izuku watched in the mirrors as the pup trudged toward Sano’s door. But thinking about moving. About getting up and knocking on that door. It was so much.

Instead, he pulled out his phone, calling a number he knew by heart.

It only rang once. “Hello?”

Izuku didn’t really know what to say. So he didn’t say anything. He just breathed, his breath wavering as he shut his eyes and felt something hot drip along his face.

The voice on the other end of the phone sighed. “You all right, Zuku?”

No, he wanted to say. Even that seemed like too much. There were other things he wanted to say. Things like, I’m sorry I’m calling. I’m sorry I’m a burden. I’m sorry I can’t figure this out on my own. I’m sorry if you hate me. I’m sorry if you never want to pick up your phone. I’m sorry this is all I know how to do.

He opened his mouth and all that came out was a strangled noise, not even half a word.

“All right,” Hitoshi lowered his voice, “all right. Classes are done for the day. You need me to come?”

No, he wanted to say. But he didn’t. Because that one was a lie.

Someone knocking at the window startled Izuku so much he yelped and nearly jumped out of his seat. When he looked, it was Jin, the alpha leaned over to peer down at him. Izuku swallowed, couldn’t make himself meet his eye. He opened the door a little and dropped the phone into Jin’s hand, immediately closing the door as the alpha said hello to Hitoshi. Then, he curled up and rested his forehead against the steering wheel.

It was all so much.

So much.

He ran a hand over the bump in his abdomen, over his pup, hushed them, hoped they didn’t realize how much their mother was hurting.

- - -

It took some time before Izuku had the strength to open the door and step out. Jin, apparently finished with whatever conversation he’d had with Hitoshi, handed the phone back to him, which he took without a word, and went toward the house.

Kazue was sulking on the sofa, Sano watching him nearby. She turned as Izuku entered and opened her arms for him, welcoming him despite their dropping in without warning. As always, she hugged him tightly, then ran her hands over his stomach, pressing her scent into him. In the absence of Katsuki’s constant scenting, her scent was just about the only one that could calm him.

“There, babe, it’s all right. Sit down, sit down. Jin? You get us some water, please?” Jin went into the kitchen while Izuku sat next to Kazue, though the pup turned away from him. Sano raised her eyebrow at the display. “Something going on?”

Izuku glanced at the pup. “You want to tell her?”

Kazue scowled. He didn’t really pout anymore. Not in recent months, anyway. “No.”

Without missing a beat, Izuku said, “Kazue was asked not to return to school for the last few days.”

If Sano had been holding something, she would have dropped it. Jin, who had just come in through the archway to the kitchen, glared down at the pup. “Are you causing trouble where you shouldn’t be?” He asked.

Immediately, Kazue snapped toward him and growled quietly. It was an alpha challenge. Displayed in a different alpha’s territory. Not even Katsuki was so bold as to do that. Jin, for his part, did not rise to that challenge, choosing instead to hand a glass of water to Izuku. “What do you expect if you keep causing trouble? You’ll only get more in return.”

“Whatever,” Kazue sunk a little lower into his seat, leaning away from all of them.

Sano and Izuku shared a glance, a glance that spoke to Izuku’s exhaustion and Sano’s understanding. “All right, that’s enough. No slouching in my house. No angry face. Sit up now, there. Kazue, sit up.” She spoke with command and Kazue rolled his eyes but did as she told him. “You don’t have to smile, but at least look like you aren’t about to set my rug on fire.” That request fell on deaf ears, but it was a small enough thing that it wasn’t worth pushing.

Izuku ran a hand over his forehead. “Who did you get into a fight with this time?” He asked.

Kazue glared forward.

“Kazue.”

The pup’s eyes narrowed.

“Kazue.”

A twitch formed in his lip but he just kept staring.

“Kazue Midoriya, don’t ignore—”

Kazue spun on Izuku and snapped in his face, a clear show of dominance. Without really thinking about it, Izuku hissed back at him, pressing forward until Kazue was forced to sit back. “Don’t,” he snapped.

“Enough,” Jin’s voice rose over them, calm despite everything. He took a seat in a chair next to Sano and nodded to Kazue. “If you want to be top alpha here so badly, then prove your worth. Go out back and pull the weeds in the garden.”

“You don’t have a garden. It’s just a dirt patch,” Kazue shot back.

Jin shrugged. “Then sit down and be quiet.”

Kazue’s jaw snapped as he clenched his teeth together. He jumped up and stomped toward the back door. Izuku held his breath, hoping the pup wouldn’t slam the door, and shut his eyes when the entire house shook as he did.

Not giving them a moment of silence, Sano sighed. “Well, I can see why you’re a bit overwhelmed.”

Izuku laughed. It wasn’t really a laugh. He didn’t even know why he laughed. And in fact, the more he laughed, the more his laughter devolved into sobs.

“Oh, babe,” Sano reached for him tugging at his arm until he collapsed into her, the red-haired beta running a hand along his back. “It’s all right. We’ll get through this, too. You’ll get through this. You always manage to find a way.”

A way.

There wasn’t a way out of this.

Things were just getting worse and worse. Katsuki was gone. Kazue was spiraling out of control. Nothing he said or did could change that fact. Izuku could feel his stress pressing against his stomach like a weight. A weight, he knew, that would crush his baby soon enough.

He ran his hand over his stomach. Savoring the touch. Wondering when it would be gone. Wondering when he would have to say goodbye to the baby as well.

Somehow, he knew it was coming. It was as inevitable as the sun rising the next morning. He couldn’t force himself to think of what the pup would be like. Because they never would be anyone. Izuku would fail them just as he was failing Kazue and as he’d failed Katsuki.

It was inevitable.

He just wished that day would come already, so he could stop dreading it.

- - -

Jin took them back home after dinner. He told Izuku that someone from the pack would be there to spend the night with him, because he couldn’t sleep in an empty bed by himself anymore. He’d hurt himself on accident too many times rolling around from the nightmares. Izuku nodded silently, glancing in the rearview mirror. But it was empty.

Sano and Jin had agreed to keep Kazue with them. To try to talk to him. To give Izuku a much needed break. Izuku didn’t think it would help anything. Hope was hard to conjure those days.

When they reached the house, the lights were already on and as Jin pulled into the driveway, the door opened, Izuku surprised to see who was there.

“Hey man!” Kirishima grinned as if nothing bad had been happening at all.

Izuku stared at the pack’s head beta for a second, Jin stepped past him to survey Kirishima silently. The two had only met once, at Katsuki’s and Izuku’s wedding, so it was only natural for the alpha to be cautious of the beta.

Kirishima, however, didn’t even seem to notice the scrutiny. “Have you had dinner yet? I thought about trying to cook but then I thought I didn’t want to accidentally burn the house down, so I haven’t started anything yet.”

“I’ve eaten,” Izuku muttered, then shifted his feet. “You don’t have to be here.”

For the first time, Kirishima’s smile faded and he regarded Izuku closely. Somehow, neither of them needed to say anything more to convey their feelings. Izuku knew the beta had a new pup at the packhouse. Knew that Mina probably wanted him there. But Kirishima knew Izuku needed him. And Mina understood that as well. It was okay he was there, hell, he was happy to be there, happy to help.

His smile came back as a little lift at the corners of his mouth, as a little nod. “C’mon in. You going to be okay making your way home?” He asked Jin.

Jin nodded. “Fine,” he said, then stole a glance at Izuku. “Good night, Izuku.”

“Good night, Jin,” and that was all there was to say, apparently.

Kirishima ushered him in quickly, shutting the door behind him. “I’ve just been watching some television. Don’t know what your schedule is like so I figured I’d just go with what you wanted to do.”

“It’s fine,” Izuku grumbled, going to sit on the couch. He leaned back, resting his head against the cushions, closing his eyes. He wanted to just lie there. For a long time. Maybe forever.

But then, Kirishima collapsed beside him. “So what were you thinking? Drama? Game show?”

“Just the news.” Izuku muttered.

For a moment, just a moment, Kirishima paused. It was so brief, Izuku might have thought he’d imagined it. But he knew he hadn’t. Because he’d gotten that response from people before. It didn’t matter that he used to watch the news before. That having the news on in his house hadn’t been that big of a deal before. Because now, people knew he was hoping. Hoping for news to break. For Katsuki to appear on the television, just as he might on any other normal day.

Kirishima paused, ever so briefly, then nodded. “News is it!”

- - -

It was very late, but Izuku didn’t want to go to sleep. He told Kirishima he’d be up to bed after getting some water. The beta fell asleep pretty quickly, so he figure he could get away with sending him up and him falling asleep before he realized Izuku had been gone too long.

Kirishima had gone to bed over an hour earlier, and Izuku had quietly slipped into his lab. His gauntlet was nearing completion, Izuku was just working on the metal ring that would summon sparks and flames. He was having problems managing to keep it under control once the fuel was introduced. Truth be told, he didn’t really have the right tools to do what he wanted to in his home lab, but he could improvise enough to make progress, even at as slow a pace as he was working.

Not that his pace mattered any. He wasn’t working on any other projects. Everything else was on hold. Izuku didn’t have the time or energy usually to work in his lab.

The nights were the one exception. When it was dark and Kazue was in bed and he was all alone and his thoughts were more liable to slip toward dangerous musings, he had found working in his lab could center him. Distract him. Give his hands something to do. He’d bought a specialized apron only a few weeks earlier to help cover his bulging stomach and it was already starting to fray at the edges from overuse.

Still, he put his head down and examined the sparking mechanism. The mechanism was separate from the fabric part of the gauntlet for testing and building purposes. Once it was complete, he could reinstall it into the gauntlet. But he was a bit off from that part still.

He set the mechanism done, a sprawl of wires and tubing connecting small sparkplugs to the metal ring. In theory, introducing a fuel source could cause a small fire. But that was there he was having trouble. Sparks? He could handle that. Fire? Less so. He was considering taking out the fire mechanism altogether, but just showing sparks might not be enough for what he was truly intending. Fire could get attention. Fire was a real threat. Which was why he needed to make sure he could control it.

Sighing heavily, Izuku tightened the tubing to a small canister. He was trying out different gases now, liquids not having the desired effect. Gases were more volatile, but maybe if he could find the right mixture….

Taking a step back, Izuku flipped the remote switch to activate the mechanism. It sparked wildly, huge things that looked like fragments off of fireworks. But no fire. Frowning, Izuku turned the switch off, and the entire lab jolted as the gas caught. A fireball spewed outward, Izuku throwing his hands up and turning away to protect his stomach. The fire alarm immediately went off as smoke filled the room. Blinking and coughing through it, Izuku froze when he saw that some papers nearby had caught on fire.

Before he could take one step to put it out, the lab door was smashed to pieces. Kirishima appeared in the shrapnel, his Quirk hardening his skin. He spotted the fire and flung himself over it, smashing through the table they were laying on and causing more shrapnel to rain down on Izuku.

As the dust settled around him, Izuku peered out over his lab. Most of his tools had been blown off their neat racks on the wall. He would be shocked if the mechanism for his gauntlet worked at all. Kirishima had wrecked both his door and one of his worktables, scattering papers and more tools in every direction. The only part of the lab that had kept its pristine look just happened to be the corner where he stood, backed against his computer. Which, he supposed, was a relief in a couple of different regards. One, he didn’t really want to be hurt. Two, there were files on that computer he didn’t want to lose.

Photos mostly.

Of Katsuki.

Just as his thoughts started spiraling, Kirishima popped his head up from the remnants of the table. “You all right, Midoriya?”

“Fine,” he kicked at the table leg, which had come to rest at his toes. “Just fine.”

The beta stood up, surveying the destruction around him. “Fire’s out.”

“Yeah. I noticed.”

Kirishima studied the room beyond the ring of chaos he had created, clearly noting the damage from the fireball. Izuku fisted his hands together, knowing what was coming next: What were you doing? You could have hurt yourself! Why didn’t you just go to bed? Is this where you think you should be spending your time?

He braced for all of this, but the beta just brushed his palms against one another. “Welp! We’ll clean up in the morning. You coming to bed or you have something you wanted to finish first?”

Izuku was so shocked that he didn’t answer at first, Kirishima asking him again before he stumbled upon something say, “Uh, yes.”

This clearly not answering his question, Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him, but followed the omega without comment when he stepped out of the lab.

Upstairs, it was a bit unsettling, knowing Kazue wasn’t down the hallway. In fact, Izuku stood for a moment, realizing it was just him and Kirishima in the house. Through all the time Katsuki had been gone, he’d never been alone with one of the pack. Either Kazue had been there, or another pack member had been. In fact, he thought it as quite strange that Kirishima of all people had shown up at the house and he was shocked he was just now realizing it.

“Why did you come here?” Izuku asked the beta as they were halfway up the stairs.

Kirishima blinked at him, eyes scrunched in confusion. “I thought you felt better having someone with you while you sleep?”

“I do. But, why you? I talked to Hitoshi earlier and it sounded like he was going to come. So why you? Why not someone else?”

“Oh!” Kirishima tilted his head back, looking a little sheepish. “Big to-do happening. Police called in a lot of heroes associated with the pack. Actually, everyone except for two of us. Mina is staying at the packhouse with the pups and Fujita and I volunteered to come stay with you.”

The world seemed to fall away at Kirishima’s words. Because Izuku wanted so desperately to see something in them. Something that maybe wasn’t there. But something he thought he saw, and something he wanted so much.

“Is,” Izuku swallowed, “does this have something to do with Katsuki?”

Silence. Deep and telling. Kirishima studied Izuku carefully before responding. Katsuki used to say Kirishima was dumb as a load of bricks. But he was extremely observant. He could pick up on subtle clues when given the space to think. That was part of what made him such a good hero, and it was a skill most didn’t have, not to the extent Kirishima did. Interning with Fat Gum, intercepting drugs, and dealing with other underground criminal schemes had given him a strange sixth sense about certain things. It reminded Izuku a lot of how sometimes Katsuki would stare off into the distance, piecing things together, except Kirishima did it in the moment, on scene, in the space of only a few heartbeats.

He was doing it at that moment, searching Izuku for something, digging past his words and his desperation. Izuku wasn’t sure what he was looking for, until the beta tilted his head to the side, a sign of submission, and said, “It’s something to do with the League of Villains. So no, it’s not about Katsuki. But there might be something there about him.”

The League of Villains. Katsuki had been chasing them when he’d disappeared. Police and the heroes had continued to pursue the organization in the wake of his disappearance, but they remained an enigmatic organization. And no investigating had brought up clues as to where the alpha had gone to. His phone and his mask, which housed most of his communication tech, had been ditched at the spot where he’d gone missing. His gauntlets and other gear had shown up, wrecked, a day later. After that, there had been nothing. No sign of him. No way to track him. He’d simply vanished.

If the pack was going after the League of Villains, then they must suspect they could track them down, that they could locate Katsuki through this mission. Whether or not he lived in the packhouse anymore, he was still second in command. Beyond their need to find him as a friend and colleague, there was an instinctual need to have their second alpha reinstated in his position in the pack. Iida had been particularly hit hard. Izuku had never considered having the alpha away from the pack in this capacity would have affected them. But it did.

Because whether or not Katsuki had stayed at the packhouse, he was a major player at the agency. The pack was still always around him. His scent was always around, even if just in lingering bursts. But now that he was gone, now that his scent had faded from nearly everything he’d ever touched, a frenzy was overtaking the pack. Just as much as Izuku needed his alpha back, the pack needed their second alpha back. They would do anything to find him and bring him home. And they’d do it as a pack. So even if Kirishima denied this had anything to do with Katsuki, Izuku felt a thread of hope tighten in his chest.

He clenched a fist at his heart. He had so few of those threads left. If this one snapped, he didn’t know what he would do. So he tried to lessen the tension, tried to tell himself it was probably nothing. But he couldn’t stop hoping. He couldn’t stop wishing.

Even if it was painful.

Kirishima gently nudged him up the stairs, offering a soft smile as Izuku collected himself. “Best get to bed. If there’s news one way or the other, we’ll hear it in the morning. If there’s big news, the pack will make sure you know.”

If they found Katsuki, he knew the pack wouldn’t waste time. They’d let him know. Whether he stayed up waiting for news or not wouldn’t change that. It would only put strain on that thin thread shivering in his heart.

So he made his way up the last few steps, aware of Kirishima right behind him. He took a half step toward Kazue’s room, remembered the pup wasn’t there, lingered in the hallway until Kirishima opened the bedroom door and called his name.

“You all right?” He asked.

Izuku didn’t even look at him as he went into the room. Once inside, he fished out some comfortable clothes and went to change in the bathroom. The harsh lights scoured along his face, picking out all the flaws there were to see. The lines of stress. Swollen, red eyes. Messy, uncombed hair. He looked horrible.

He flipped off the light.

Kirishima was laying on Izuku’s side of the bed. Though, maybe Katsuki’s side had become Izuku’s over the past weeks. When Izuku laid down, he couldn’t catch a lingering whiff of the alpha, no matter how much he prodded and poked at the sheets and the pillows. He’d been avoiding washing things. They were rather gross at that point. But he couldn’t bear to lose the possibility of Katsuki’s scent, of those indents from the alpha that could be lingering in the bed.

The pack never complained. Izuku still felt bad for how gross it probably was for them.

“Good night,” Kirishima tried to sound upbeat, but Izuku didn’t miss the worried inflection in his voice, the moment of hesitation between good and night.

“Night,” he muttered, and turned so his back was to the beta.

He laid there. Staring at the wall. Listening as Kirishima’s breath slowly deepened, as he slipped into a sort of half sleep. Izuku didn’t pretend to be asleep. He just stared at the wall. Wishing he could stop himself from feeling so sad.

As he lay there, a scent trickled through the room. Fresh. Breezy. Like an open window letting a draft whisper through the room. It was Kirishima’s scent. Izuku was familiar with it. Very familiar after all these years. But there was something different, laying there, smelling fresh air. It was like taking a deep breath for the first time in years. Some forgotten corners of his lungs filled up, held in that wonderful air, and released it slowly. He breathed in again, remembering that Katsuki sometimes had hints of this scent on him. That Kirishima had been Katsuki’s right hand man. That he’d always supported the alpha. That, maybe in another world, Katsuki might have fallen for him instead of Izuku.

Instead of jealousy, a spark of kinship brightened in Izuku’s chest. Katsuki meant a lot to Kirishima. Just as Kirishima meant a lot to Katsuki. Maybe their meaning in the alpha was different, after all, Kirishima was happily mated with Mina, but there was still that spark between them. That spark that had crimson eyes and wild blond hair and a dangerous smirk. Kirishima had never really spoken about how much he missed Katsuki to Izuku. The omega knew he said nothing so not to worry him more. But somehow, as they lay beside one another, he could feel it. Could feel that something was missing. There was a void in their lives. A familiar void. One they both looked to, one they both felt pain with it now empty.

Izuku wavered momentarily, then rolled over and pressed into Kirishima’s side.

Startled out of his half sleep, the beta laid very still, letting Izuku breathe in his scent, let him be close. He fisted his hands in Kirishima’s shirt, curled in a little more. His arms weren’t as big as Katsuki’s. But they did feel similar in some sense. They were of similar body type and musculature. It might have been easy for Izuku to pretend for a moment he was Katsuki. And yet, it was also simply impossible.

“Eijiro,” he muttered, shocking himself with the beta’s given name.

Equally shocked, Kirishima hesitated before responding, “Yeah?”

“I miss him.”

Another silence.

Then a hand brushed over Izuku’s shoulder. Kirishima rolled a little toward him, allowing the omega to crowd into his scent gland. There was nothing sexual about their touch. Nothing romantic. It was desperate in some ways. Both of them clinging to something they knew was long lost. And there was comfort in their clinging together.

“Me too,” Kirishima muttered. “I miss him too.”

- - -

Izuku startled awake and found his bed empty.

For a moment, he sat there, panting, trying to regain his thoughts. They were spinning, but around nothing, as if circling a drain, leading into a void. He pressed a hand to his stomach, felt his pup, felt the warmth under his fingers, and found he could breathe out a little easier.

Slowly, he lifted his head, glanced around. “Kirishima?” He called. The beta didn’t respond. The light to the bathroom wasn’t on, but maybe he’d kept it off to keep it from waking Izuku?

With a sigh, he laid back down, curling up around himself. His hand trailed over his stomach, stroking a familiar line up and down. He may have muttered something to the pup, though the words mattered less than him just speaking at all.

As he lay there, he became aware that there was no movement in the house. Not in the bathroom. Not down the hallway. Now on the floor below. The house was eerily silent. As if nothing existed beyond that bedroom door. As if Izuku was the only living being in existence. Even the soft sounds of night, the bugs chittering, the frogs bellowing, the occasional dog barking, all of it was gone. There wasn’t even the creaking of wood, of the wind tapping against the house, nothing. It was silent and empty.

Until, that is, the front door slammed.

Izuku sat up so quickly he was nearly airborne.

For a second, he just sat there, panting. Had someone come in? No, the house was still silent. So, had the door just been open and someone had closed it? Where was Kirishima? Had he left? Gotten a call maybe? Had he gotten a call about Katsuki?

Breathing quickly, Izuku leaped from the bed. With how silent it was, every sound he made expanded in the world around him. The rush of air in and out of his lungs, the fluttering of the blankets settling after being thrown aside, the slapping of his bare feet against the wood floors, his hair rustling as he moved, even the slight flick of his eyelids closing as he blinked, all of it echoed around him, a cacophony of noise that buried any other signs of other people nearby.

He crashed the bedroom door open and slammed down the stairs, finding the first floor empty, the front door closed. Without once thinking, he flung it open, and his breath caught in his throat.

It was Katsuki.

It was Katsuki.

It was the blond hair. The tall, broad silhouette. The hero costume. All the pieces of Katsuki that Izuku knew so very well, all the little details he’d spent the last five years rememorizing.

The thing he couldn’t see were his crimson eyes. His eyes, which would see him and light up in a fire that roared so high the sight alone could warm Izuku on the coldest night. Eyes that somehow could touch him, even with just a glance. Eyes that followed him and looked out for him.

He needed to see Katsuki’s eyes.

But the alpha was walking away. Treading a steady pace away from the house and toward the road.

Izuku didn’t know what he was doing. Where he was going. But Katsuki would have heard the door open, so he would know Izuku was there. Why wasn’t he turning around?

“Kacchan!” He called, racing to stop the alpha, to grab him, to turn him around so he could see his eyes. At his voice, which spread out in the silence of the night, filling up the darkness around them, the alpha stopped moving, but didn’t turn around. Izuku reached him, grabbed his arm, already smiling, already crying, “Kacchan—”

The alpha turned, and he glared down at Izuku with so much disdain the world ceased to move. Silence pressed down upon them. Izuku couldn’t even hear himself breathing anymore. He didn’t know if he was breathing anymore.

He knew that look.

Katsuki had reserved that look of such revile for the lowliest of villains and criminals. It was usually accompanied by a snarl. In that moment, Katsuki just looked down at him, a pitiful tilt of his lips towards Izuku, as if he were both repulsed and fascinated by the sight in front of him.

“What?” It was the first word Katsuki had spoken to him in almost three months. His voice was nothing how Izuku remembered, somehow.

“You— I—” Izuku swallowed. He refused to let go of Katsuki’s arm. “Where are you going?”

Katsuki regarded him, his eyebrows pressing down along his brow. “I don’t have to tell you that.”

“You— what?” Izuku couldn’t believe it. He wanted to be happy. He was happy. But as Katsuki just stood there, looking down at him, he felt a bubble of rage expanding in his chest. “You’ve been gone… for three months… and this is what you say to me?”

“Ha!” Katsuki yanked his arm away, Izuku stepping forward, needing to be closer to him, needing the contact, only to stumble back when the alpha snapped at him. “Three months not long enough for you to get the hint?”

He couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe it.

“What are you talking about?” Izuku wanted to snap back at the alpha, but his voice was so small.

Katsuki tilted his head. Then, he bore his teeth in a grimace or a smirk or something that was so deeply mocking and cruel that Izuku shrunk away from it. “Look at you,” he gestured toward Izuku’s stomach, which he immediately covered with his arms, “why the hell would I want to be around for that?”

“You don’t mean that,” Izuku insisted. Right? He couldn’t mean that. “You were excited for the pup. You said so yourself!”

“Please!” Katsuki turned away. Izuku couldn’t see his eyes anymore. “Who would want another anchor pulling them down? Don’t you get it? You’re just a weight keeping me back. You were fun to play with, but now you’re just in my way.”

“You— how dare you!” Izuku marched forward, intending to shake some sense into Katsuki, halfway convinced this must not be the alpha, it simply couldn’t be.

When he was close enough, Katsuki spun, his hand snapping out to grab Izuku by the throat. The air rushed out of his lungs and his knees faltered underneath him, Izuku collapsing into the alpha’s grip as Katsuki dragged him closer, his eyes burning red through the night, his teeth dripping with a malice he’d never seen from the alpha.

“You’re such a disgrace,” Katsuki snarled. “What? You really thought that I could love you? Who could love someone like you?”

“Stop—” Izuku felt water dripping down his cheeks. He knew this couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be real.

“Aww,” Katsuki ran his hand along Izuku’s cheek, the touch gentle yet disgusting, Izuku shying away as the alpha drew back to lick at the tears he’d gathered on his fingers. “Why are you so shocked? You’re nothing but a plaything. You always have been. And now, you’re a broken plaything at best. Used up.”

The alpha gestured down, Izuku following his hand, seeing handprints color in red, like blood, pressed up and down his body. Pressed in places to keep him held down. Pressed in places he’d never wanted to be touch. Pressed into his skin for all to see.

Katsuki shook him, Izuku choking. “When are you going to get it, Deku?” He spat the name like it was a curse. Like it was disgusting. “I never loved you. I never will. You can never be loved by anyone. And you’re fooling yourself if you think I’d come back to someone like you.”

“Please,” he was so pathetic. Begging. Even as Katsuki choked the life out of him. He still begged for the alpha. “Alpha—!”

Katsuki’s smirk deepened. He raised his hand, sparks lighting up along his fingers, reaching for Izuku—

He sat up so quickly he knocked into something above him, smashing his nose and causing stars to race across his vision. When he opened his eyes, when he could feel his body again, he realized there was someone over him. Someone he knew.

“Midoriya!” Kirishima was shaking him. “Hey! You awake now? Are you okay? Talk to me, plea—”

Izuku screamed.

He didn’t even really know where it came from, why he was screaming. But as soon as he opened his mouth, the sound reverberated up his chest and between his teeth, startling Kirishima so badly he leaped back. Then, Izuku smacked his hand over his mouth, felt the scream burning along his throat as Kirishima stared at him.

For a moment, neither of them said anything, did anything. But there was sound here. The sounds of the house creaking. The wind rushing along the roof. A dog barked indignantly at some perceived wrong. Kirishima shifted slightly and the bed creaked.

Somehow, all these noises melted into Izuku’s body, let him lean back, let his hand drift from his mouth. “Sorry.” He gasped, breathed out again. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Kirishima eyed him warily, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do now. Which was funny. Some of the pack, when confronted with the aftermath of one of his nightmares, went immediately into victim comforting techniques they’d learned from their hero work. Others treated him more as a friend who was hurting. So far, nobody had done nothing. But the nothing was nice. The way Kirishima just stared at him, as if waiting for a cue on what to do, was nice, in its own way. Because sometimes the comforting hurt as much as the nightmare. And it was nice to have the space to breathe.

So Izuku sat there, regaining his breath, listening to the sounds around him, trying to drown out the voice in his head, the voice was that not Katsuki, but sounded so much like him when it said, You’re nothing but a plaything. You always have been.

As Izuku settled more and more, Kirishima sunk back into his place on the bed, never once looking away from the omega. He did blink though, so that was progress. A laugh rattled up Izuku’s throat. It didn’t burn as much as the scream had.

Kirishima’s brow furrowed worriedly at the sound. “You okay?” He asked.

Izuku nodded. “I will be.”

Kirishima frowned deeply, but slowly and carefully laid back down, tucking his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Then, “Sorry I slept through that. Didn’t realize something was wrong until you started coughing. That typical for your nightmares?”

Wincing, Izuku touched a hand to his throat, remembering the harsh curl of fingers in his windpipe. “No. That one was pretty abnormal. I usually just have the same nightmare. Or the same type of nightmare. Over and over again.” He considered his fingers. Each of them sporting nails bitten away as his anxiety had increased. “This one was very different.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind sharing,” Kirishima added quickly when Izuku glanced at him.

The omega thought about ignoring him, just rolling over and going back to sleep. But he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to go back to a place where someone that looked like Katsuki said such horrible things to him.

So he said, “It was… Katsuki. I saw Katsuki. He… told me he didn’t love me. That I shouldn’t be surprised why he’d leave me.”

“No!” Kirishima burst upward so quickly that Izuku scrambled away, startled as the beta clenched a fist in front of him. “Kats loves you so much, Midoriya! He’d never leave you alone! Never! That’s how we knew this was bad. We knew if he’d had a choice, he would have never left you without a word. Without any warning. Especially with the pup! Midoriya, that alpha loves you so much, it’s so manly! Don’t you let someone else tell you otherwise, you hear?”

Izuku didn’t think that Kirishima was really aware of him as he ranted. He was caught up in the moment, in the passion of denying the nightmare. And of course, Izuku knew he was right. Not for one second did he seriously think Katsuki didn’t love him. Hell, after everything they’d been through the last five years, he’d had plenty of opportunities to prove otherwise and had stuck by him time and time again. So no, he didn’t believe what the nightmare had told him.

But there were parts of it that stung. Parts that were harder to dismiss.

Izuku stroked his hands over his stomach, his shoulder slumping a little at the touch, imagining the little heartbeat fluttering within him. “I… know that. But. I still… I still feel like… like he abandoned me when I needed him most.”

All at once, Kirishima’s fire died away. He tucked his knees up to his chest and hugged them. As he did, he seemed so much smaller, so much more vulnerable, so much like someone who was hurting just as much as Izuku was.

“Yeah. I know,” he shook his head, “but that’s how we know something went really wrong. Because if he’d been given a choice, he would have never abandoned you. He’d fight through anything to get back to you. I know you know that, and I know that doesn’t make it any better.” He spoke quietly, sincerely, and with enough depth to his emotion for Izuku to know he was feeling the same. That he knew these things just as much as Izuku, and hadn’t yet found a way to accept them.

The omega considered this news carefully. But no matter how much he thought about it, nothing quelled the hurt in his stomach, in his heart, at the core of his being. He missed Katsuki. He missed him more than he could describe. And that didn’t seem to be getting any better, no matter how much time passed.

Lip quivering, Izuku rolled in toward Kirishima, welcoming when the beta stroked his back comfortingly. He smelled so nice. So fresh and relaxing. Even when he was hurting.

“Have you… heard from the others?” It was a desperate thing to ask. And in fact, he already knew the answer. But he needed to ask it anyway.

“Uh,” Kirishima leaned away from him momentarily to grab his phone. “No. Nothing. Doesn’t mean anything bad though. Could still be executing the mission.”

Izuku tilted his head up and down once. Then, he closed his eyes and bit at his lip. When he spoke, his throat kept threatening to close up, kept threatening to suppress the words he wasn’t sure he wanted to say, “Kirishima… do you… think—” he cleared his throat, but it didn’t help. “Do you think… that Iida… would Iida mind….” He stopped, breathed out, felt Kirishima’s hand run along his back again, a small encouragement. Izuku focused on his touch than anything else, and managed, “Would it be okay, you think, if I moved into one of the guest rooms in the packhouse?”

Kirishima froze. Very suddenly. Izuku squeezed his eyes a little tighter, unsure what he wanted the beta to even say, unsure of how he would react. He was certainly not prepared for when Kirishima laughed quietly. “That’s a silly question, Midoriya. We’d love to have you. You’re always welcome. We can have a room ready for you in no time flat.”

“You think Iida would be okay with that?” He whispered.

“Sure thing! No questions asked.”

“Even though… even though Katsuki’s not here?”

“Absolutely,” there was no hesitation. Not even a beat to think. Kirishima draped his other arm around Izuku, hugging him tightly. “We got you, man. If that’s what you think you need, or what you think you want, then yes. We’d love to have you.”

Izuku nodded. Kept his eyes shut. He didn’t want to look up at Kirishima. Didn’t want to face what this decision meant. But as he stroked his hand over his stomach, as Kirishima comforted him, he knew it was his only choice. His only hope. Or rather, his pup’s only hope. Maybe the pack could keep him together long enough. Maybe. He’d gotten that far, after all. Maybe they could get him past the next few weeks.

Maybe.

It was all he could think to do.

“Can… can we go… right now?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kirishima immediately got up. He took a moment to stretch, then to text something. “I’ve let Iida know. He might want to talk to you and make sure I haven’t twisted your arm any on this.” Izuku nodded again, but he didn’t get up. “Where’s your luggage? I’ll start packing some things for you. Just for a few days. We can figure everything else out later.”

Izuku didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say anymore.

Chapter Text

When Kirishima’s phone rang, Izuku tensed so much his body flinched with pain and Kirishima dashed across the room to pick it up.

“Hey!” He was a little breathless and extremely focused as a voice spoke from the other side of the phone. So close, Izuku could just barely make out it was Iida, and could decipher about what he was saying through the static of the call.

“Kirishima, is everything okay there? I got your message and was worried.”

“Oh,” Kirsihima smiled, more for Izuku’s benefit than anyone else’s. “We’ve had a bit of a rough night, but we’re okay. How’d things go over there?”

There was a lengthy pause. Long enough that Izuku felt his heart sinking. Then, Iida said, “We found some things, but no signs of Bakugo.”

“Ah,” unable to hide his disappointment, Kirishima sunk onto the bed. Without really thinking about it, Izuku took his hand, finding the warmth that passed between them comforting. “Well. Okay then. On to the next thing.”

“Right. As I said, we did find some things, but that can be discussed later. You said Midoriya wanted to come stay at the packhouse?”

“Yeah, but like, maybe on a more permanent basis?”

“For a couple of weeks? Yes, of course, that’s completely understandable—”

“Actually, maybe a little longer than that.” Izuku didn’t know why Kirishima was being so coy about it. He started to wonder if it actually was okay for him to be moving into the packhouse or not.

Iida, not having yet picked up on Kirishima’s tone, continued, “Until the end of his pregnancy, then? Absolutely! I think that’s a wonderful idea! I know the omegas are going to be very happy about—”

“Actually,” Kirishima pressed, “this is more of an, until further notice, sort of situation.”

There was silence from the other side of the line. So quiet that Izuku wondered if the call had been dropped.

Then, Iida said, “Is Midoriya there? Is he all right?”

“Yeah. Like I said, bit of rough night, but he’ll be okay.”

“I’d like to talk with him, please.”

Kirishima blinked at the phone, lips drawn into a worried line, then handed it to Izuku. Izuku took it, tucking it under his ear so he could press both his hands into his stomach. “Hello?”

“Hello, Midoriya,” Iida began.

Before he could say anything else, Izuku said, “You didn’t find anything about Katsuki, did you.” He already knew the answer, of course.

But to his surprise, there came an awkward pause from the other end of the line. A short shuffle, as if Iida was gathering his thoughts. “We didn’t find Bakugo. But we haven’t given up yet.”

Yes you have. It was in almost everything the pack said to him. Even Kirishima’s speech had rung with an undertone of dread. Katsuki hadn’t wanted to leave him. But he had. And he was gone. And he probably wasn’t coming back.

Izuku stopped rubbing his stomach, feeling his throat clenching shut as Iida kept speaking, “Anyway, Kirishima has informed me you’d like to move into the packhouse. Perhaps long term. I just wanted to confirm that this is really what you want.”

“Yeah,” his voice was ragged and small so he cleared his throat and said it again, “yeah. I do want to come live at the packhouse. At least. For now. I think… I think I need some help.” His voice grew small again as he spoke, broke at the last word.

Not leaving him any room to change his mind, Iida said, “We are more than willing to give you some help. As long as you need it. And you’re more than welcome in the packhouse.”

“Thank you,” Izuku glanced up at Kirishima, the beta bent over a suitcase, glaring at a pile of clothes that had manifested inside of it somehow. All his dresser drawers were open. Half the pile of clothes was Katsuki’s. Izuku winced at the sight of them, allowing himself to be distracted as Iida spoke again.

“We’ll clean up one of the guest rooms and get it ready for you first thing tomorrow morning. And of course, Kazue always has his room with the pups.”

“Ah, right. Um,” Izuku again glanced at Kirishima, who seemed to realize his mistake and was picking through the pile, carefully removing anything he thought might be Katsuki’s. “I know… it’s been a busy night for you… but, uh, any chance… I can come by tonight?” Again, Iida paused. Long enough that Izuku said, “O-of course, I understand it’s been a busy night for you guys and it’d be hard to—”

“No! Of course, we’ll help you out tonight! Uh,” he drew the phone away from his ear and start calling several pack members over to him. When he pressed the phone back to his lips, he said, “Some of us will be by to help you in a little while. Just try to relax until we get there, all right?”

“Right. Um, Iida?”

“Yes?”

“…Thank you.”

Another pause, though this time, Izuku could almost hear Iida smiling softly. “Of course, Midoriya. You know we’ll always be here to help where we can.”

“Right.” Izuku bit his lip. Curled in a little more. “Thanks.”

“I’ll see you very soon, then!”

“Right. See you.”

Iida hung up, halfway through giving more orders to the pack. Izuku knew that without Katsuki there to boss people around in the quick, sometimes rude, way he always had, Iida had had to step up into that role, and it was still one he was adjusting to. Hearing him calling out orders as he had driven a pit into his gut, one that had him running his fingers over his stomach again.

When he looked up for the third time, Kirishima was glaring smugly into the suitcase, which was now piled with mostly Izuku’s clothes, though he had missed a couple. “All right!” He pumped a fist in victory. “What else did you need to pack?”

- - -

All the alphas came to pick him up.

And Hitoshi.

Which was weird enough that Izuku didn’t question a bunch of alphas going through his house packing everything.

As the alphas immediately went to work, Hitoshi came to stand at his side and slung a jacket over his shoulders. “You all right there?”

“Yeah,” Izuku muttered, watching as Todoroki and Iida came down the stairs carrying suitcases full of Izuku’s and Kazue’s clothes. Kirishima had explained the mess in the lab to Yaoyorozu and they had immediately gone to clean it all up. Even as they worked, Izuku could see the exhaustion dragging at their limbs. The heroes had had a long night. This was probably the last place they wanted to be. Izuku could even see it in Hitoshi, in the way he snagged his hands into the scarf at his neck and let them hang, weightless, like twin pendulums on an unwound clock. “I’m sorry you had to come do this after your mission.”

Hitoshi shot him a measured look. “There’s no apology necessary. You needed help. We answered the call. That’s what it means to be a hero, isn’t it?”

Izuku would have argued, but he might have been wrong. Katsuki had always said he was extremely biased against himself. Whatever that meant.

“Don’t you have class in the morning?” Izuku asked.

Hitoshi checked the clock on the wall. It was late. Extremely late. But it didn’t seem to bother him. “It’ll be fine. Brats only have a couple of days left anyway. Mostly just wrapping up the school year, giving final evaluations.” He swung his arms a little, watched as Kirishima appeared from the lab hauling armloads of broken wood. “Once this semester is over, I’ve given notice that I’ll be unavailable for summer break.”

The news was surprising enough that Izuku didn’t even flinch when something clattered to the floor in his lab. “Are you taking a vacation?” It was the only thing he could think of. And even that seemed improbable. Hitoshi didn’t do vacations. Probably to his detriment.

But the omega hero just shook his head. “No. I’ll be in the packhouse helping to take care of you.”

Izuku shut his mouth, letting only a little, “Oh,” slip out.

Hitoshi shrugged. “I’d planned to do that before you made this decision. I would have just stayed here with you over summer break. Helped out where I could.”

“That would have been… nice,” Izuku felt a twist of regret in his gut as Todoroki passed with the last bag, Iida following quickly behind with the pillows from the bed. Since they smelled like Izuku and those who had been helping him, they would make the adjustment to sleeping in the packhouse easier. Katsuki had always brought their pillows whenever they’d spent a heat in the packhouse. It had helped to ease some of the initial discomfort of being in heat in what was essentially another person’s house.

Izuku hadn’t even thought about grabbing them. It made him wonder if Iida and the others had been preparing for this day, hoping for it, maybe.

As if reading his mind, Hitoshi said, “You made the right decision, you know.”

Izuku made a scoffing sort of noise. “I don’t know about that.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Hitoshi put a hand on his shoulder as Yaoyorozu and Kirishima emerged from the lab.

“That’s as good as it’s going to get for now. We’ll deal with the door later,” the female alpha said, hurrying over to Izuku. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, offering a smile when he looked up at her. “Was there anything else you needed before we go?”

Izuku thought about it, biting his lip. Then, he nodded toward the lab. “There’s a journal behind the computer. Can you grab it?”

- - -

The pack was waiting for them at the packhouse. By then, everyone had changed out of their costumes and had mostly cleaned up, all of them gathered in the living room, hovering around the television as Izuku stepped through the front door.

Uraraka came forward to take one of the bags from Hitoshi. “Here, we’ve got your room ready for you, Deku.”

At the name, Izuku flinched. Uraraka did as well. Since Katsuki had vanished, that name had become a painful reminder. Something else that had been lost with the alpha’s disappearance. She’d stopped using it weeks earlier, but sometimes, it still slipped out. She offered him an apologetic smile and nodded up the staircase.

The guest room Izuku and Katsuki had often used had been decorated in blue with hints of red sewn into the pillowcases. Izuku took note that there was nothing significantly green around the room, that even the little bits of red were a different shade than Katsuki’s crimson eyes. The furniture had been rearranged slightly, to a configuration that was closer to what Izuku had in his bedroom at his house. Even the closets, one for his nest and one for clothes, had been appropriately prepared. In such a short amount of time, he was surprised with how quickly the pack had moved to get everything ready.

Some members of the pack had always been fairly adept at interior decoration, specifically at trying to make everyone feel welcome, and he could tell they’d brought all their heads together to try to make it feel a little more like home. But that didn’t change the fact that it wasn’t home, that he was going to be living in the packhouse for the first time without Katsuki there. When they’d previously lived at the packhouse, Katsuki had never been away for more than a day or two. Now, that time frame was indefinite, and Izuku stood in that room and somehow felt even more alone than before.

With a sigh, Hitoshi dropped his bag into the corner of the rooms. The heroes had all taken a moment to change out of their costumes at Izuku’s home before coming to the packhouse, on Iida’s insistence. Hitoshi had changed directly into sweats, though he did keep glancing at the clock as the bags were arranged in the room.

Knowing what he was thinking, Izuku tapped him on the shoulder. “It’s okay,” he smiled as much as he could, “you should be getting back to U.A.”

Hitoshi considered him, reached up as if to grab his scarf, only for his hands to fall to his collarbone instead, wrapping into the collar of his shirt. “Soon as school’s out, I’ll be around more, all right, Zuku?”

“Careful now,” Izuku said as Kaminari stepped forward to join them, “your mate’s going to get jealous.”

“Who me?” Kaminari, just slightly shorter than Hitoshi, flung an arm over his shoulder and leaned against him, Hitoshi shifting to take his weight with an ease that spoke to practice. “Nah man. Toshi and I are used to being away from each other. ‘Sides, I’ll be hanging around as well. Long as you want me there.”

Kaminari had become a staple at Izuku’s home in recent weeks. For a while, he’d suspected that Hitoshi and the beta had constructed a schedule where at least one of them would always be with him at night, even if neither of them had been willing to confirm if that was the case. Either way, Izuku had gotten used to Kaminari’s beta scent, him smelling like ozone and bitter storm rain. It mixed quite well with Hitoshi’s calm earth scent, like fresh cherry wood or like laying in the center of an orchard. On a stormy night. With the curtains of rain washing down. With lightning arcing overhead, lighting up the sky. Yeah, they did smell nice.

“Ah! I have an idea!” Kaminari pressed forward, nearly shoving Hitoshi over. “We should have a pack pile tonight! We’ll get all the pups together with us! Kirishima has to go out but the rest of us can be together! It’s a good way to start your birthday right?”

Izuku frowned, glancing at the clock himself. It was well past eleven. Midnight, and he’d be thirty. Midnight, and he’d be spending his first birthday without Katsuki since reuniting with him.

A whine wore up his throat at the thought, and as if he’d screamed for help, the pack came forward. Hitoshi wrapped an arm around him and pressed him close to his scent gland while Kaminari took his hand and his arm, squeezing it reassuringly, the others crowding together.

“C’mon,” Kaminari whispered, “let’s just lie down. We’ll figure the rest out in the morning.”

As if the passing of time could solve everything.

Still, Izuku allowed himself to be led into the pack room at the heart of the packhouse. It had been renovated recently as well, featuring extra plush cushioned floors and scent-retaining materials plus better ventilation to keep everyone cool. Even so, it was still intimately familiar to Izuku, him having piled with the pack in this room more than once.

Before they could get settled, Hitoshi whispered something to Kaminari, who nodded wordlessly, and the omega slipped his arm from Izuku. “I’ve got to get back. I’ll be in touch, all right?”

“Mmm,” Izuku grumbled. He was just tired now. Maybe not physically tired. But he was bone-tired. Mind-tired. Everything tired. Stepping into that room had drained him of his will to step further. He just wanted to lie down and let the world pass over him.

He’d only ever piled in that room with the pack but without Katsuki once, when they’d had a fight soon after finding out that he might be infertile due to a procedure he’d had after Yokoyama’s attack. Even then, Katsuki had eventually come and taken him out of that room, taken him to care for him as only Katsuki could.

Maybe if he laid in that room long enough, Katsuki would come again, as he had on that day.

Hitoshi frowned at him as he just stood there. “Good night, Zuku. And happy birthday. We’ll celebrate properly once school is over.”

“Mmm,” Izuku leaned into Kaminari a little. “Tired.”

“All righty. Best spot’s over here. Believe me, I checked it out earlier.” The beta paused to say good bye to Hitoshi, then led Izuku toward a corner of the room, one that was overflowing with cushions large enough to accommodate half a dozen or more people.

As Izuku laid down, he was almost immediately assailed by someone, little fingers clinging into his shirt. At first, he thought it was Kazue, but when he looked, it was Fumiko, the beta pup digging herself into his side, her face scrunched up in annoyance or exhaustion or maybe even relief. Izuku hadn’t noticed her coming into the room, but he pulled her closer, purring quietly to ease her, pausing to reach up as Mina appeared to hand him little Harue. The pup giggled happily as Izuku cradled her to his chest. Takahiro and Sakura snuck up after and curled up next to him as well, and after that, the rest of the pack took their places around them. Some of them broke off to be together with their mate, but most crowded around Izuku, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu pressing as close as they could with the pups piled on top of him.

As the pack settled, as the murmuring quieted, as the darkness and the night spread out over the group, Yaoyorozu suddenly reached forward to trace a finger along his cheek to get his attention. She leaned a little closer and whispered, “It’s midnight. Happy birthday, Izuku.”

- - -

The pups had to get up for school but once they were up, Izuku just rolled over. Yaoyorozu had to get up for patrol, but Todoroki let Izuku press himself closer to the alpha, craving some semblance of safety that he sometimes missed with Katsuki being gone. He was so used to be around alphas that with Katsuki’s absence, he’d found his anxiety worsened whenever one wasn’t around. Kazue wasn’t enough to alleviate that feeling, but Todoroki’s mature alpha scent did let him relax and slip back asleep a little longer.

When he woke up, Todoroki was laying on his back with his limbs spread out, Izuku using his stomach as a pillow. One glance and he knew what the alpha was doing. So he sat up, yawned, shook his head.

“You going to meditate some more?” He grumbled.

“Yes. You can lay back down.” Todoroki didn’t even open his eyes as he spoke.

Sleep didn’t hold any appeal to him, so he stood. “I’m going to see what’s on the menu for breakfast.”

Downstairs, there was a muddled hush to everything. Voices whispered softly and people stepped carefully, a familiar unease. Nobody had noticed he was awake yet and still people were walking on eggshells. As soon as they realized the omega was up and about, that muted hush would be replaced with uneasy noise. As if noise alone could break him. He’d seen it before.

Izuku chewed at his lip, then went back upstairs and changed his clothes. He’d text Hitoshi and see if he wanted to meet him for coffee once his homeroom class was over. Maybe when he got back, the pack would have settled down some. Or at least it would give him time to prepare for the quiet and the unease.

Without saying anything to anyone, he changed, grabbed a bag and stuffed in his laptop and some paperwork for his gauntlet, having to think of something new for its defensive design. Fire wasn’t going to work. So maybe he could go a different route.

Thinking of the gauntlet, even after such a disastrous test, settled Izuku’s steps as he snuck out the front door. It was a short walk from the packhouse to the train station and he spent the entire walk sending out texts, first to Hitoshi, then to Sano to check in on Kazue. Sano replied almost immediately, letting him know that Kazue was sulking but doing well being away from him and the pack. Jin apparently was trying to reason with him and having some success. Jin was the only alpha that had been in Kazue’s life since the very beginning. If anyone could get through to him, it was probably Jin. Sano let him know they’d watch him for the day and drop him off at the packhouse after dinner.

While the separation was nice, Izuku did feel a bit of sorrow in his absence. Kazue was truly the one constant in his life and being without him, even for only a day, was painful to some part deep in his being.

He put it out of his mind as Hitoshi texted back, saying he had a couple of things to do then he could stop by for a little bit before the afternoon hero classes began. Izuku felt bad about dragging him all over town when he probably hadn’t slept much the night before, but consoled himself that he’d at least be able to get Hitoshi some coffee to hopefully help him make it through the day.

The train into the city was full so Izuku stood amongst the crowd, holding onto a handhold. Someone offered their seat to him but he declined, distracted as Iida suddenly texted his phone, asking him if he’d left the packhouse without telling anyone. He didn’t respond, flipping to some news.

A headline immediately caught his eye.

WAREHOUSE BURNS DOWN AFTER HERO INVESTIGATION

What was this?

Izuku opened the article, skimming it quickly. The more he read, the more things began to line up, the more he felt a shiver run down his spine.

The warehouse had gone up in flames only hours after a team of heroes had infiltrated it and investigated it. None of the heroes had revealed what they were looking for and if they’d found anything, but the article noted that everyone involved in the investigation had been associated with one Katsuki Bakugo’s hero agency. Izuku swallowed uneasily as he read about speculations that the heroes had been looking for clues as to where Japan’s number two hero had disappeared to in recent months. Although everything was unclear, what was perfectly understood was that this hadn’t been an accident. Someone had burned that warehouse down. But why? To hide evidence?

Izuku opened his messages to Hitoshi one more time, texting out, Did you find anything last night?

He waited, staring at his phone, through two train stops, until a reply came through, You know I can’t tell you that. Look. Bakugo wasn’t there. We didn’t find anything that directly ties to him. But did we find things that maybe could lead to more clues about where he might be? Yes. We did. And that’s all I can say.

A flare of anger raced through Izuku’s chest. He typed out, You lied to me, but he didn’t send it. Because Hitoshi had never promised him to tell him about this case. He’d only ever promised to keep him in the loop about the Father case, a case that had been sidelined in recent weeks with Katsuki gone.

He deleted the text and jammed his phone back into his pocket, glowering forward until the train reached his stop.

The warehouse burning down had to mean something. And if what Hitoshi had said was true and that whatever was there might have led to something about Katsuki, then it was a bad sign. Whoever had taken Katsuki didn’t want to be found. They didn’t want to leave anything to chance. They’d been willing to sacrifice everything in that building to help keep that secret. What else were they willing to do?

And what about Katsuki? What were they doing to him? What had they already done? In eighty-five days, what all could someone do to someone else? What would someone want to do with a hero for eighty-five days? Usually villains were content to simply kill a hero and move on. But this was different. It had to be different. Izuku just didn’t understand why.

Plus, he still wanted to believe Katsuki was alive. Somewhere. He was alive. He might not be well. But that was okay. As long as he was alive.

Shivering despite the summer heat, Izuku stepped off the train and onto the station, glancing around. Hitoshi’s coffee shop of choice wasn’t necessarily in the newest, cleanest, sleekest part of town, but it was a cozy little area anyway. Izuku had been through the nearby streets enough to know fairly well how the city ran and generally speaking, it ran at a lazy pace. At a little more than a shuffle on a good day. With the summer sun bearing down on them, that shuffle had reduced to a sluggish crawl. Nobody was wanting to get anywhere fast. As Izuku joined the trickle of people on the street, he found himself to be one of the fastest walkers out and about.

Which was really saying something considering he was twenty weeks pregnant.

A message came through on his phone, Izuku picking it up to see it was Hitoshi.

I’m on my way, it read, I’ll meet you there soon. Oh. And happy birthday, Zuku.

Izuku sighed, curled his fingers around the phone. Admitting it was his birthday wasn’t something he was keen to do. It didn’t feel like any special sort of day. It felt like any other day. Dragging on and on as they waited for news on Katsuki. With him alone, without even his pup at his side.

No, he didn’t want anything to do with it being his birthday, actually.

He was halfway through asking Hitoshi if he could do a raincheck on his birthday when a voice behind him caught his attention, “Ugh! I can’t believe we have to do this. I have so many better things to do with my time than clean this mess up!” It was a woman’s voice, piercing through the calm quiet of the summer morning.

Another voice answered her, though it was stifled somewhat and was quickly overpowered when the woman shrieked, “I don’t care about that! Why couldn’t they just keep their noses in their own business!”

Another whisper, Izuku thought he heard the voice say, “Kind of is—” before the woman snickered. “Not anymore!”

He was suddenly jolted to the side as someone brushed by him. “Watch it,” the woman snapped without looking over her shoulder. With her back to Izuku, all he could see of her was a mass of wild hair, bright pink and electric yellow pulled into a ponytail that soared into the air before falling over her back and shoulders, a swath of bangs falling over her eyes. She was dressed in a fashionable hoodie and wore tight, brightly colored leggings. All in all, she stuck out amongst the quaintness of the city.

Two others passed by Izuku, hurrying to catch up to the woman. The first one, a male beta, whispered an apology to Izuku as he passed. Unlike the woman, he wore rather average clothes for the area, a muted color polo and khaki pants, his hair dark and neatly styled. The second was a larger man, an alpha, with broad shoulders. He was swathed in baggy clothes, a huge jacket that hid his rather thin frame, hollow cheeks behind tinted sunglasses, the hood pulled up over a spiky mess of royal blue hair. He didn’t even acknowledge Izuku’s existence, stepping in line with his companions, seemingly uninterested in anything else around him.

Izuku paused, watching after them. If he had been walking at a fast pace compared to everyone else, they were practically running. They certainly seemed to have somewhere they were trying to get to, and rather quickly. The woman continued to push past people as they went down the street, the beta always apologizing for her. Izuku couldn’t remember if he’d caught her scent enough to tell what her secondary gender was and, curious, took in a huge gulp of air.

Immediately, every cell in his body snapped to attention.

He caught the woman’s smell, heavy and hot but still a bit breezy, like harsh winds on a blazing summer afternoon, definitely beta, and the male beta as well, something a bit sour, lemons and limes freshly squeezed. And then, there was the alpha smell. Consuming and powerful. He was amazed he’d missed it before. How could he have missed it?

The alpha smelled like roasting chilies, spiced caramel, all the wonderful things in the world. Summer nights under the moon.

The alpha smelled like Katsuki Bakugo.

For a moment, all Izuku could do was stand in the middle of the street and watch the three slowly disappear into the crowd, watching as the alpha that smelled like Katsuki walked away from him.

There was no way, right? That couldn’t be Katsuki. If it had been, he’d have recognized Izuku immediately. If not by sight, then by scent, right? And there was his appearance. His thin frame and his gaunt cheeks and his blue hair.

But… he also had the broad shoulders. The tall way of standing and walking. As if nothing was going to get in his way.

So what? Katsuki had dyed his hair. That was simple enough of an explanation. But… could he really have lost so much muscle mass in such a short amount of time?

Maybe.

It had been eighty-five days. Eighty-five days of these people doing whatever they wanted to him. Who knew what Katsuki had gone through during that time? So, maybe. Maybe he had withered away. Maybe they had done something so horrible to him that he wouldn’t have recognized Izuku. That he wouldn’t have even had the presence of mind to think about him as he walked past.

Or maybe it wasn’t Katsuki. Maybe he was so desperate that he was taking anything he could in his search for Katsuki.

The real question was, was he really willing to just let him go? To let him pass without knowing for certain?

It occurred to Izuku that he hadn’t seen the alpha’s eyes. Katsuki had very distinct eyes. Crimson, focused, more familiar than most of the rest of the alpha. If Izuku could just see his eyes, he’d know for certain one way or the other.

Even as he thought, he found his feet moving forward, first at a walk, then at a run, finally at a sprint. Shoving through the crowd, trying to catch up to the three, who were moving so quickly away from him. The woman was still complaining loudly about something, so loudly that none of them seemed to realize Izuku was nearly upon them.

When he was close enough, he reached out, reached so far he tripped, falling into the back of the alpha, who stumbled under his weight. Izuku caught himself as the woman began yelling indignantly but he held onto the alpha, looking up at him.

Yes. He could see Katsuki in those hollow cheeks. In the bone structure of his face, in the slight scowl that overcame him as Izuku clung to him. It also became immediately clear that he didn’t recognize Izuku at all.

But that was okay. Who cared. As long as he was alive. As long as it was really Katsuki.

“What is your problem?” The woman was shrieking, though Izuku couldn’t care less about her, even less than the male beta, whose hands hovered over Izuku, asking, “Are you okay? That was a nasty trip!”

He didn’t care about either of them. Only the alpha, who gazed down at him from behind those tinted sunglasses. Even this close, Izuku couldn’t see his eyes. No hint of the crimson he knew would be behind them. No hint of the Katsuki he knew he was holding onto. His scent washed over Izuku, the omega gasping in as much as he could.

It was Katsuki. It had to be.

Without thinking, he reached forward, intending to rip the sunglasses away.

Then, he stopped.

What if it wasn’t Katsuki? What if this was all a big mistake? Surely it wasn’t going to actually be Katsuki. It couldn’t be that simple. And for the alpha not to recognize him? No. It wasn’t going to be Katsuki. If Izuku grabbed those sunglasses away, it was going to reveal startled blue eyes to match the unfamiliar blue hair that just peeked out from under the alpha’s hood.

It wasn’t going to be Katsuki. He was fooling himself. He was desperate and scared of being alone.

He was lost.

And it wasn’t Katsuki.

For a moment, he withdrew his hand, went to apologize, to stand up. Then he remembered Kazue. His pup, so alone and angry. How much he was needing his father. How much the new pup would need their alpha, if they were born. How much Izuku needed him. And suddenly, it didn’t matter if this man wasn’t Katsuki. Because if there was even a hope, he had to seize it and deal with the consequences later.

So he snatched upward and ripped the sunglasses off the alpha’s face.

The alpha reeled back, surprised, snarled angrily, though Izuku kept hold of him, waited as the alpha blinked in shock, then rounded on him, eyes blazing open.

Two, beautiful, crimson eyes landed on Izuku. Eyes that were so familiar, Izuku could have traced every line of light within them. He could have read every single emotion running through the alpha. Surprise. Indignation. Confusion. Anger. Something that looked a bit like fear, though that wasn’t quite right.

But that didn’t matter.

Because one look, and Izuku knew.

One look at those crimson eyes, and Izuku knew, he was standing in front of Katsuki Bakugo.

Chapter Text

Kazue leaned back, cradling the tablet Ms. Sano had given him to use against his knees. He’d found the video he was looking for but hadn’t been able to play it yet. Instead, he’d left it open for most of the morning, having breakfast with Ms. Sano and Mr. Jin, going for a walk with Mr. Jin, pretending that everything was fine while nothing felt fine. All that time, this video had idled, waiting for him to finally press play. And even with nothing else to distract him, he didn’t really want to watch it.

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes, holding his breath as he counted back from ten. It was an old trick his Mom had taught him when he was really little. It almost always calmed him down. He hadn’t focused enough recently to try it, but as he sat there, in dark and quiet, numbers counting down in his head, he did feel himself letting go just a little bit. When he opened his eyes and let that breath out, he pressed play, and he watched.

It started with an empty podium, microphones lined up neatly. As he watched, Mr. Iida stepped forward, the pack alpha wearing his hero costume with his helmet tucked under his arm, looking grim. He carefully set the helmet down before clearing his throat.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” he said, facing out to the crowd that would be watching. He reached up to touch his glasses and as he did, Kazue mirrored the motion, just as his lips moved in time to Mr. Iida’s speech, “I’m afraid to report that as of 2:36 a.m. last night, my fellow hero and packmate, Katsuki Bakugo, Ground Zero, has been declared missing in action.”

A shocked murmur overtook everyone, a shuffling of feet as people moved forward to listen all the more carefully. As always, Kazue felt his lips tremble over his Dad’s name. Mr. Iida waited a breath for everyone to soak in the news before continuing, “Bakugo was last seen during a raid performed by myself and eight fellow heroes.” Here, he gestured to a screen to his right and slightly behind him, which showed the ten heroes who had gone on that fateful mission, his Dad included. “Last eyes on him was at 1:49 a.m. and last radio communication was at 1:57 a.m.—” he went on to describe the logistics of the raid, where they had been, exact time stamps of when people had done what; breach of the door at 1:45 a.m., dispersion of preplanned groups at 1:47 a.m., first contact with villains at 1:52 a.m. As Mr. Iida went on and on, Kazue mouthed the words as he had time and time again, searching for something, anything that the adults might have missed. Maybe he’d think of something that could help them find his Dad. It couldn’t hurt right?

He paused as Iida did, the hero’s gaze turned down at the podium, clearly wrestling with something. He cleared his throat again. “Our raid was on a suspected League of Villains headquarters. We did arrest four people during the raid, but at this time we are unable to confirm whether they had affiliations with the League. We do highly suspect that they have something to do with Bakugo’s disappearance.” This was always the part that made Kazue shiver.

The League of Villains. He knew of them, of course. They were like a parasite, his Dad used to say, sucking the life out of society and hard to stamp out. When they stopped them in one place, they’d pop up in another. The League of Villains’ leader, Hiku, had already hurt his Dad once. Had put him in the hospital, had nearly killed him. To think he might be involved with his disappearance as well was almost too difficult to accept. Why were the League so interested in his Dad? Why him and not someone else?

The four who had been arrested during that raid, Kazue knew, had all proven to by low-level affiliates of the League, hardly more than just recruits. They hadn’t known anything about where Kacchan had gone, nor had they given any other relevant information. His Dad had disappeared, and it had been a complete waste.

Iida continued on as Kazue dragged his attention back to the video, “We ask for everyone to keep a sharp lookout for signs of distress. If you see Bakugo or any member of the League, do not approach but immediately call the hero commission or the police.” He took a breath, his fingers dug into the podium. Kazue had not seen the gleam of determination and anger that touched Mr. Iida’s expression very often before this video. But now he had seen it enough times that he knew every wrinkle, every sharpened line, even the single canine that peered between his lips when he snarled ever so slightly. “We’ve started looking for Bakugo and make no mistake, we will not rest until he is found. We intend to bring our friend and packmate home. We will not be stopped. Not by villains. Not by the League. Not by anyone. Be assured of that.” He collected himself by tapping the rim of his glasses. “I’ll take some questions now.”

A flurry of noise as people clamored for Mr. Iida’s attention. He gestured to someone off screen. Kazue didn’t bother to mumble the question, even though he knew it by heart, “Was Ground Zero under duress during your last communication?”

“Bakugo had last told us that he had located the League of Villains’ leader, Hiku, and was about to engage him. He tried to give us a location but our communication was cut before he was able to relay that information.”

Another question blared from off screen, “When you say your communications were cut, what do you mean?”

Iida hesitated at this one, then eventually replied, “It appears the cell towers we were using to communicate were taken offline in some sort of cyber attack. There is a separate investigation ongoing into that attack.”

Another, “Was there anyone with Ground Zero at the time? If not, then why was he alone?”

Kazue didn’t bother to repeat this one, “Bakugo had gone ahead to try to corner any fleeing League members. We were not anticipating that Hiku would be at this location, nor can we confirm it was Hiku beyond what Bakugo reported to us.”

One last question, one that had Kazue gripping the tablet so tightly it shook between his fingers. “If Ground Zero is the number two hero, then how is it that he has gone missing? Do the League have him? How could he allow the League to capture him? If he’s the second best in the country, then how do you or any other hero stand a chance against the League?”

Everyone fell so silent Kazue could hear the slight hum from the speakers, the nervous cough from someone far in the back of the room, and the slight click as Mr. Iida pressed his glasses up his nose one more time. When his gaze fell to the crowd, they roared again with that spark of anger. “Do not be mistaken,” he spoke quietly, but with a fierce line, an unmistakable anger burning through his words, “Bakugo is one of the best of us. He is bold and powerful and extremely intelligent when it comes to combat and facing villains. There is no one better than him at adapting to a fight in the moment and finding a way to win no matter what lies before him. However,” the spark faded a little. Kazue could never actually mouth the words to come, even though he knew them the best, “Katsuki is human. We are all human. We make mistakes. We run into trouble. We need help. That is what the rest of us heroes are for. We are here to support one another as well as save lives. The fact that the League has, for all appearances, taken Katsuki does not diminish his capability. I half expect him to turn up in a huge fiery explosion any moment now. But until that happens, we will fight for him. We will fight to find him and bring him home. Home to us, but more importantly, home to his family, his pup and his omega, who is pregnant with their second pup.” He paused. Stared forward as if searching for something, grasping for something in the far distance. “The League has not defeated us. We will track them down and stop them. No matter what.” He stepped away. “No more questions. Thank you for your time.” He bowed shortly, snatched his helmet up, and left as another murmur came over the crowd, as louder rustlings began to echo.

The video ended and Kazue leaned back.

For a moment he sat there, Iida’s words replaying in his head over and over again. He thought about restarting the video, but no matter how many times he watched it, nothing changed. He still couldn’t think of anything that could help find his Dad.

But he had to try. Because it was his fault his Dad was gone. He’d told his Dad that he hated him. He’d sent him away.

Now he had to make it right.

But what else could he do?

Noise from the tablet surprised him, Kazue realizing that another video had automatically begun playing after the first had ended. It was another he’d seen before, a second press conference with Mr. Togata. It was always strange to see Mr. Togata out and about. Kazue was so used to seeing him at his joint training sessions with Hikaru that he sometimes forgot this side of him. The number one hero. Besides the pack, he was the one who often worked closest with Kacchan. Kazue gripped the tablet a little tighter as Mr. Togata cleared his throat, his trademark smile gone.

“Well, you all know why we’re here,” the hero started, “but to be clear, I’ll be giving a brief statement and I won’t be answering questions afterward. I have a lot of work to do and we are very aware of the time on the clock.” He was careful not to say, We might be running out of time, but Kazue still felt it in the goosebumps that rose along his skin.

Mr. Togata paused as if to collect himself, then began, “Bakugo is not a close friend of mine. Many of you are probably aware that he doesn’t get along with many people at all, actually, even included among his pack. He can be rude, he’s very loud, and he’s abrasive. Some of you may be saying that you think the heroes may not appear to be looking for him because we want him to stay gone. Well. Let me tell you something.”

Kazue knew what was coming, of course. He didn’t really like this video. He wasn’t sure why he was letting it play. But he did, as Mr. Togata pressed a hand to his heart.

“Of my three children, Hikaru is my youngest, as you may know. He’s a lot to handle sometimes. Really has a lot of energy and knows what he wants and does what he can to get it. As Tamaki likes to say, he keeps us all on our toes and then some!” A smile broke over his face, soft and deeply loving. One look at him and Kazue knew just how much Mr. Togata adored Hikaru. Then, slowly, his smile widened a little bit more. “Hikaru is also really good at hiding things from us. He has trouble with self-esteem and he worries about his parents, both of them heroes doing dangerous work. For as young as he is, he tries so hard to make sure we don’t notice. But, of course, Tamaki and I always notice. How could you not?” The hand at his heart tightened slightly, as if to capture a bit of the love he was feeling in that moment “I know you might be wondering why I’m talking about my son at a time like this, but let me tell you, it’s because Hikaru has a best friend. Someone who really cares for him and makes sure he’s okay when we aren’t around. Someone who is just as important to our family as Hikaru is. That person is Kazue Midoriya.”

It was always a little weird to hear his name from Mr. Togata’s mouth, especially in this context. He’d never thought about how much Mr. Togata noticed how he kept track of Hikaru, how he made sure the beta pup was okay. The first time he’d watched the video, he’d almost turned it off in shock. It was still awkward to hear it, but he kept listening as Mr. Togata grinned down at the microphone.

“Kazue, as you may know, is Bakugo’s pup. Kazue watches over my son. He makes Tamaki and I feel better whenever he’s around. Kazue is practically part of my family. And through extension, both his mom and his dad are part of my family too. So no, Bakugo isn’t a friend of mine. But he is family. And family always looks out for one another.” Mr. Togata raised his gaze, his expression hardening, as if to challenge everyone watching him. “Mark my word. I will be involved in this search. I will do everything in my power to bring Bakugo home. I won’t be stopped. My family needs me and I won’t let them down.” He paused again, considering the microphones in front of him. Then, he bowed. “Thank you,” he said, and walked off, the video ending shortly after.

Chewing at his lip, Kazue set the tablet aside. He hadn’t thought much about Hikaru since coming to Ms. Sano’s house. Seeing him in the school right after being suspended had been embarrassing, especially after Hikaru had healed him from his latest fight with Takagi. He felt a sudden worry that without him there, Takagi would bother Hikaru more and more. The alpha pup clenched his fists, wondering why he had gotten in trouble, knowing that if something happened to Hikaru while he was gone, it would be his fault too.

He realized he hadn’t actually talked to Hikaru in a long time. Even though the beta pup sat behind him, he hadn’t turned around to say hello, and Hikaru had given up on trying to say anything at all weeks earlier. Guilt brought a sudden wave of tears to his eyes, though Kazue blinked them away. Alphas didn’t cry. Not about something as stupid as not saying hello to friends.

I should say something to him. He wrinkled his nose at the thought. It wasn’t that simple. He wasn’t allowed at school and he didn’t have an easy way to contact him. Perhaps his Mom would let him use his phone to text Hikaru’s. He’d been allowed to do that in the past. Even if he had been suspended, maybe his Mom would be okay with it, as long as it was just to say hello.

Plus, Kazue was starting to miss his Mom. He hated being away from his omega for too long. He worried about what would happen if he wasn’t there. Would he disappear like Kacchan had? Or would something worse happen?

And anyway, he wasn’t getting any closer to finding his Dad while he stayed with Ms. Sano and Mr. Jin.

He got up, taking the tablet with him, as he searched for either adult. He’d been staying in the guest room next to Mr. Jin and Ms. Sano’s room, but neither of them were in that room. Ms. Sano was in the daycare room with the pups she was watching. Once upon a time, Kazue had been one of those pups, then he had helped Ms. Sano with the pups, but now, she had told him to only come get her if he needed something. As if she didn’t trust him with the pups anymore. It hurt to think that she thought he would hurt them, made him wonder if she thought he’d hurt Mom’s new pup as well, and he had no want to interrupt her while she was teaching them. He searched for Mr. Jin as well, but found only a note from him on the counter, saying he’d gone to the store and would be home soon.

With a huff, Kazue tossed the note aside. Fine. He’d just go himself. He knew the way to the train station and he knew the stop. He’d taken it plenty of times with his Mom. Ms. Sano had told him that his Mom had gone back to the packhouse and that they would be staying there for a while, which did make him pause for a moment, but the stop was the same, he’d just have to walk a little farther than usual. Fine. Not a problem. He went back to his room, grabbed his things, threw them in his backpack, and without saying anything to Ms. Sano, left out the front door.

By the time he was halfway to the station, he felt the first trill of unease climbing up his shoulders. He shouldn’t have left Ms. Sano’s house. Even if he’d felt lonely and useless there, he had been safe there. Nothing bad had ever happened at Ms. Sano’s. He couldn’t say that about the packhouse. And he certainly couldn’t say that about the city he walked through. Although nothing bad had happened that particular street, it didn’t mean nothing could. Kazue knew that. He just hadn’t thought about it until he was standing there, in the middle of everything.

But as he looked, the streets didn’t change at all. They didn’t get darker and they didn’t turn any more or less sinister. It was just the street, sidewalk concrete crunching under his shoes, cars zipping past on the road, buildings rising up around him, people walking and muttering and otherwise minding their own business around him. Nobody suddenly turned toward him, nobody tried to reach out to him, nobody did anything save for throw him an occasional worried glance, like they were trying to figure out what he was doing.

He tucked his head a little and hurried toward the station.

Navigating the station was a little trickier, though a nice elderly omega pointed the way for him when he asked for his train. Once on the train, he slipped into the crowd, becoming just another person waiting for their stop. Nobody gave him much attention there. Nobody probably realized he wasn’t with someone else on that train. One girl did stare at him and murmur to her friend, who flicked her gaze up at him briefly before muttering something back, much to her friend’s displeasure. Kazue turned away from them, feeling his ears burning. When his stop finally came, he pushed past everyone to be one of the first off.

Away from the heart of the city, the familiar neighborhood rose up around him, a home he’d explored and loved for the past six years. He knew all of the parks and most of the streets, some of the good places to hide and leap out to scare people, though he only ever did that with Hikaru. Here, he felt safe and centered, like he was in his own little world, where nothing could touch him. Despite his earlier unease, he walked with his head a little higher, his steps not quite as frantic. Instead of wondering if anyone around him was going to try to hurt him, he turned back to considering his Mom and Hikaru. He probably owed them both an apology. He wasn’t sure how he was going to apologize to Hikaru. It had been a long time. But he’d figure out a way. And Hikaru would understand. Probably. Hopefully….

Those were the easy parts. Finding Kacchan was the harder one. Kazue still had no idea where to even start with that. But, if he talked to Hikaru, maybe the beta pup would have heard something from his alpha, who was still part of the search team keeping a lookout for his Dad, something that could give Kazue a clue on where to look next. Yeah. Maybe Hikaru could help him.

With that thought buzzing in his head, Kazue ran the last few streets to the packhouse, feeling relief as it appeared when he turned the last corner.

The gate was closed, but Kazue knew the code to get in, typing it in easily before slipping inside. The unlocking of the gate would cause a chime to ring out in the packhouse, announcing someone’s arrival, so the pack would be looking for him. He wondered if his Mom would meet him at the door. Sometimes he would, as if simply knowing it was him, by some strange mystical mom power.

Expectation set, Kazue opened the front door, and instead of being met by the smiling face of his omega, he was met by shouts and screams and growls and howls, a jumble of noises and chaos. Sudden cold fear held him in the doorframe, sniffing at the air experimentally, though he could only smell the pack, their scents soured and upset. He didn’t see any of the pack at first, until a flash of movement caught his eye coming from the dining room. Above the noise, Mr. Iida’s voice screamed out, though Kazue couldn’t quite tell what was being said. Slowly, he closed the door behind him, stepping carefully forward, inching toward the dining room.

The pure chaos of everything made him unwilling to step directly into the dining room, so he crept instead into the kitchen, pressing himself against the wall, hidden from those in the room beyond. Only a wall away, he could hear the pack around the table. From the shuffling of feet, he could tell many of them were standing and at least one person was pacing. Hands beat against the table to accentuate words or growls, though Kazue couldn’t pick out any one conversation. Whatever had whipped the pack into this frenzy had spawned multiple conversations and arguments and it was honestly hard to tell whether anyone was trying to do anything or if people were just content to be screaming at each other.

Again, Mr. Iida’s voice rose over the noise, but instead of words, he let out a sharp bark, a half-snarl that in almost any other circumstance would have come from Kacchan. For as strange as it was for the pack alpha to call order in that particular way, most people fell silent, save for Auntie Momo and Uncle Shoto, both of whom seemed to having two completely different conversations.

“For you to imply this doesn’t change anything is insane! We have to act now! We can’t just do nothing!”

“Tell Shinso to bring him back! Send Kirishima to get him! He needs to be here, with us! We can’t guarantee anything now!”

“I’m not about to just stand idly by and let this happen. I don’t care if you don’t sanction this, I’ll go out myself if I have to!”

“Iida, this is almost as bad as we could imagine and we have no idea what the implications are! We have to act as if the threat is bigger than we initially planned for. You must feel that way!”

“Enough.” Mr. Iida, for as long as he had been pack alpha, had never really acted like any pack alphas Kazue had learned about in school. Pack alphas were supposed to be the strongest in the pack, the biggest, the toughest, they led the pack and protected the pack and kept their territory safe. Mr. Iida had never been that person. Kacchan had been that person more than Mr. Iida. Even Uncle Shoto was more like that than Mr. Iida.

But from one word alone, the alphas fell completely silent, and even Kazue felt the tug at his gut to do as his pack alpha told him. Stability and strength and control radiated from that one word. Amongst the chaos that he’d walked into, he suddenly felt calm. Mr. Iida would do what he needed to. He knew what to do. One word, and Kazue somehow knew he could trust him.

The silence settled over the packhouse, a palpable quiet that fumed with tension and fear and anticipation. A breath held, hoping for more air to sustain it.

Someone tapped the table twice, a sharp sound that pierced through the silence before Mr. Iida said, “Yaoyorozu, I know you’re worried, but we can’t keep Midoriya here like a prisoner. He obviously needed some time to himself. So I will not order him back, not even under these circumstances. However,” he added as Auntie Momo growled in frustration, “I do think we would all feel a little better if someone tagged along. Kirishima? Would you terribly mind?”

“Of course. I’ll watch over him. Where’s this coffee shop Shinso goes to, Kaminari?”

As Mr. Iida thanked Uncle Kiri and Uncle Denki muttered something in response to his question, Kazue clutched a fist into his shirt. Where was his Mom? He wasn’t there? Why wasn’t he there? Something bad was happening and his Mom wasn’t there! Kazue wanted to scream but he felt pinned in place by Mr. Iida’s command, Enough. Instead, he trembled a little, listened as Uncle Kiri hurried from the room, as the front door opened and closed. Uncle Kiri would make sure his Mom was okay. Right? Uncle Kiri was strong and kind and Kacchan trusted him, so Kazue knew he could trust him too, right?

He startled a little as Mr. Iida’s voice called out again, “As for this final report, it simply tells us what we’ve suspected from the beginning. Villains don’t just take heroes unless they have a reason to. Even if it is painful, it changes nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Uncle Shoto snarled. “There were chains in the floors. And scorch marks on the walls. And now we know for certain what happened.” The more he spoke, the more Kazue sunk a little more to the ground. “He’s been gone eighty-five days, but the reports stop at fifty-seven. That means we have twenty-eight days unaccounted for.”

“The reports are unreliable,” Mr. Iida countered.

“They were written up like medical records!” Auntie Momo snapped. “Like this was some sort of science experiment!”

“We haven’t been able to interpret them completely yet.”

“But we know the main facts,” Uncle Shoto lowered his voice to a dangerous pitch, anger burning quietly just under the surface. “It was Katsuki. It says it was Katsuki. They were trying to make him be someone else. They gave him another name.”

“We know Katsuki is strong, but for eighty-five days?” Auntie Momo shuddered. “Iida, you can’t just expect us to read this and do nothing. Katsuki needs us. We have to find him!”

Mr. Iida was quiet. For a long time. Then, he sighed. “If you read the report, then you know as well as I do, that at this point, we’re a bit late.”

Kazue hit the floor, jarring himself. He felt a noise try to crawl out of his mouth but no sound came out. He gaped for air, trembled, tried not to think about what Mr. Iida was saying, that it was too late to save Kacchan.

“Daddy?” The whisper was so quiet that even Kazue wasn’t sure he’d managed to speak. But he felt so desperate to call to his Dad. To call him back. To tell him to stay. That he wanted him to stay.

I’m sorry. I didn't mean it. I love you. Please come back. Please don’t be gone.

Mr. Iida was talking again, Kazue reluctant to listen, yet hanging on to each word he said, “Honestly, as horrible as this is, it may be good news. It seems like they aren’t hurting him. Not actively anymore, at least. And this doesn’t mean that I intend to stop our efforts on finding him. On the contrary. I say we refocus. The reports don’t mention the League of Villains. So we have to go in another direction. I’ll be meeting up with Tsukauchi later today to discuss some possible leads.” As he spoke, a phone suddenly rang. Uncle Denki swore quietly and a chair scraping announced his leave from the table.

“Babe, now’s not a good time,” Kazue heard him say, his footsteps coming closer, Mr. Iida saying something to try to reassure the pack, though even he fell silent as Uncle Denki stepped into the kitchen, not spotting Kazue hiding behind the wall, as he stopped and shouted, “Wait— what’s wrong with Midoriya?!”

Kazue’s breath caught. His chest hurt. Mommy—!

“Guys, we—!” Uncle Denki turned, spotted Kazue. The two looked at each other. Neither seemed to know what to do.

Kazue curled up a little, tucked his knees up to his chest, wishing the pain would go away. “I want my Mommy and Daddy. Please.”

- - -

Katsuki.

Katsuki—!

Katsuki!

It was really Katsuki!

Izuku could hardly breathe. Except he did breathe. He gasped in Katsuki’s scent, desperate as he was to bathe in that wonderful scent. It was simply intoxicating, as if he were drowning in caramel and being burned in a sticky, sweet fire. Each breath took away a bit of the pain that had been building in his chest, made it a little easier to sink forward, to lean against the alpha as he would have done so many weeks ago—

Pain flared along his jaw, Izuku finding himself being forcibly slapped away from Katsuki.

“The fuck is your problem?!” The woman was screaming. “Who the shit are you anyway? You stupid or something?!”

Izuku pressed a hand to his cheek, jolted back to the present, to reality by her slap.

Right.

He might have found Katsuki, but neither of them were out of danger yet. Because whoever these people that were with him were, Izuku had no doubt that they meant harm. Somehow, someway, they were connected to Katsuki’s disappearance. Which meant the alpha was still in their clutches. And now, Izuku was near their grasp as well.

One glance at Katsuki told Izuku just how dire the situation was. Katsuki didn’t seem to recognize him at all. If he’d recognized Izuku, he would have torn the woman’s head off for touching him whether or not she was a friend. The alpha was gaunt and hollowed out, clearly having gone through some sort of distress. His dyed hair meant they didn’t want anyone to recognize him, which also meant they wanted to keep Katsuki from any attention he might draw at the number two hero. Add in the two people Izuku had never met before and it all screamed that this was not good. Not good at all.

Izuku had found Katsuki. But they still had a fight ahead of them.

If the woman hadn’t slapped him, Izuku might not have been able to think of this all. He’d been so caught up in realizing Katsuki was standing in front of him to realize the danger. So he cursed himself for being so stupid, swallowed, and looked up at her.

She was standing between him and Katsuki, glaring, a snarl on her lips as well. The male beta looked startled by everything but didn’t try to stop her and Katsuki just passively watched it all. He still seemed so indifferent to everything. What the hell had they done to him?

With a little tremble to his lip, Izuku offered the woman the sunglasses. “I’m sorry. I thought he was someone I knew, but he isn’t. I apologize.” He bowed quickly, hoping she would buy it, though he rose without waiting for her to respond. He had to keep all three of them in his sight. Who knew what they were capable of doing.

The woman considered him briefly, then snatched the sunglasses away. “Who the fuck did you think he was?” She was onto him.

Thinking quickly, Izuku shook his head. “There was a beta I knew in college. We were close. He had the same blue hair.”

For a moment, none of them moved. The male beta glanced at the woman curiously as she glared down her nose at Izuku. She was trying to decide on whether she believed him or not. Izuku prayed she was enough convinced to let him go. Alone and pregnant, he probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance against her and the male beta. With Katsuki there, even if he’d lost a lot of muscle, he would still be a nearly unbeatable opponent. He was clearly outmatched and needed her to believe him so he could get away. Get away enough to let someone know. The pack. Hitoshi. The police. Anyone. He just needed the chance to get backup, and everything would be okay.

The woman glanced him up and down one more time, then spun on her heels. “Aren’t omegas supposed to have good senses of smell? He’s a fucking alpha. How the fuck did you think he was a beta?”

“Ah, yeah. Must have mixed up your two scents for his,” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, tried to look cowed. In reality, he tried to glance up at Katsuki from under his lashes, catching glimpses of the alpha. His expression never once changed, though he did shift impatiently as the woman took one last lingering look at Izuku.

“Whatever. Just watch yourself next time, omega. You never know who’s willing to fuck you up around here.”

In normal circumstances, Izuku might have pointed out that in this part of town, there were very few people who would want to get into a fight, that they were the odd ones out, but he bit his tongue and nodded, relieved as the three turned away and let him go. He watched them as the woman began talking loudly again, the male beta glancing back at him one more time before focusing forward. Katsuki didn’t once look back. Even so, he felt a breath of relief race from his lungs.

Okay. He’d gotten away from them. Now, he just needed to find a way to get Katsuki away from them.

As she walked away, the woman’s voice pierced through the crowd, her words jolting through Izuku’s being. “We have to hurry! Father is waiting for us and I don’t want to upset him!”

Father? Had she just said Father?

It was worse than he thought. He had to get help. And fast.

Once they were far enough away, Izuku dug out his phone and ducked into the nearby alley, cutting across it so he could get to the next intersection before them. His messages were still pulled up to Hitoshi, his last message, Happy birthday, the last thing he read before he called the omega hero.

As Izuku rushed through the alleys, praying he wouldn’t miss the three when he reached the other side, the phone rang once, twice, and at the third ring, was picked up. “Hey. You at the shop?”

“It’s Katsuki!” Izuku hissed, keeping his voice as low as he could. He couldn’t risk someone overhearing him. “I found him! I found Katsuki!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Hitoshi sighed, “what are you talking about?”

“I told you!” Izuku spun a corner and sprinted toward the street at the other end. The buildings were rising up on either side of him, the street lengthening before him as if to keep him trapped in that alleyway. As if to keep him away from Katsuki. He panted, kept running. “Right by the coffee shop! It’s Katsuki! He’s with two other people I’ve never met before. One of them mentioned Father! Hurry! You have to get here!”

For a painful second, Hitoshi didn’t say anything. Then, “Zuku, are you… really sure? I know you’re desperate to find him, but do you really—”

“Trust! Me!” Izuku snarled each word. “I know it’s Katsuki! I would know better than anyone else, wouldn’t I?”

“I—” Hitoshi broke off, cursed. “All right, Zuku. I’ll alert the pack. Where are you?”

Izuku didn’t know the exact street address, so he clenched his teeth and raced toward the light pouring from the street. He reached it, stumbled, catching the wall for support. He peered out between the alleyways, almost immediately hearing the woman screeching on about rude people. When he looked, he spotted the three coming toward him, none of them having spotted him yet. He ducked back into the alleyway before they did.

“Zuku, talk to me here. What’s going on?” Hitoshi sounded slightly concerned, but not quite in a way that made Izuku believe that he actually thought the omega had found Katsuki.

“I’m near the coffee shop. Hold on,” Izuku hissed, peering quickly out of the alleyway again to look for street signs. He found them, clocked the street names, and glanced again at the three.

Except… they weren’t there. In fact, there was no sign of the three having ever been there. Izuku looked up and down the street, mystified at how they could have disappeared from one moment to the next.

Just as a sour feeling sunk into Izuku’s stomach, a hand grabbed his arm, yanking him back and plucking the phone from his hand. “Hey!” He yelled, but then his call with Hitoshi was ended and he found himself staring at a rather plain man who was eyeing him curiously.

If he had been by himself, Izuku might have considered flipping him over his shoulder and running. But standing behind the man were three other people, all of them fixing Izuku with a stern glare. All of them, except for one small woman at the front of the group, who had a tablet she was furiously typing on, never once looking up at what was going on around her. But she was still there, standing in his way, part of a group of four who had somehow snuck up behind him and caught him.

The realization sunk into his feet like stones tied to his ankles. He’d been caught. And somehow, he knew deep in his gut who this plain looking man had to be. There was really only one explanation.

Father.

The plain man considered Izuku’s phone curiously before raising his gaze up to Izuku with a little lift of an eyebrow, a smile curling along his face. “Well hello there, sweet one. May I ask, who might you be?”

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, Izuku had wanted to be a hero.

When they had been very little, Izuku and Katsuki had played heroes and villains all the time, with both pups taking the role of hero on more than one occasion. Even after Izuku had been revealed to be Quirkless, that hope had continued to burn brightly within him. He’d wanted to be a hero. He’d wanted to save people.

A year into watching how Katsuki handled his hero training at U.A., he’d realized that the hero path was not going to be very viable for him. For more than just the reason that he was Quirkless. Once Katsuki saw the darker sides of society, once he was fully inundated with all the terrible things that could happen, both to civilians and to heroes, he’d become adamantly against Izuku even thinking of becoming a hero. And he’d never been a fan to begin with. Izuku hadn’t wanted to upset Katsuki even more at the time, and he’d been told for long enough that he realized the improbability of it all. So he’d refocused his efforts into helping heroes – which was as close as he could get to becoming a hero himself. Making support items for heroes, making sure they were well equipped for anything they may come across, it wasn’t quite the same. But it was enough.

Since then, he’d found himself facing villains on more than one occasion. First it had been Yokoyama. Then Tsuda. Then Sugawara, Scoundrel after that. A nameless villain from the League who tried to kill Katsuki. Time and time again, he’d found himself confronting evil, evil intent on harming him. Even though he’d gone down a different path from becoming a hero, it hadn’t shielded him from the harm villains could cause. He would never say he was used to it, for nobody could really ever get used to being faced with something so terrible, but he’d growled in the face of evil on more than one occasion, had fought for his life and won. He’d never backed down, not once, and he’d never had any intention of doing so.

This situation was immediately and pressingly different.

Father was still gazing down at Izuku curiously, as if he were highly amused by the entire situation. He was so nondescript that Izuku didn’t really know how he would describe him – dark hair, dark eyes, a white button up shirt tucked into khakis. His smile was what gave him away. Izuku would always know that smile; it was seared into his mind. All teeth, full of poisoned sweetness, a threat without words. Yokoyama, Tsuda, and Sugawara had had similar smiles. But Father’s was different, refined, perfected, so easy that it seemed natural.

Father, it seemed, was the origin of such expressions.

That smile pinned Izuku in place for the briefest of moments, long enough to notice the others in the alleyway. Two females and a male. The male, undeniably an alpha, was only just taller than Izuku by the barest of margins, but ringed with muscles that seemed to pulse whenever he moved. Both the females were betas, the one with the tablet with her hair done up in a studious bun, glasses perched at the tip of her nose. She reminded him of Suzuki, somehow. The last beta was pouting slightly, as if she were not at all pleased with the situation, chewing prominently on gum while spinning a lock of platinum blonde hair around her finger. All of them were glaring at Izuku, as if trying to figure out exactly what he was.

“Well?” Father’s voice startled Izuku, “Are you all right? You seem lost.”

“I’m not,” Izuku yanked his arm free of Father, surprised when he was released. “I should go.”

He had to get out of there. He had to leave. He had to warn someone.

He needed help.

Izuku pressed a hand over his stomach, heading for the alleyway’s mouth, when he heard his phone ringing.

Shit. He spun over his shoulder, having completely forgotten about his phone.

Father peered down at it curiously, a little twist to his lips. “Hitoshi Shinso, hmm? That wouldn’t be the hero Hitoshi Shinso, would it? I believe he goes by Psyche?”

“No. I need that back, please.” Izuku reached for his phone, but Father tossed it behind him. The large alpha caught it, and crushed it in his palm.

Izuku swallowed, his hand going back to his stomach. Father followed the motion, his eyes sparking as they landed on Izuku’s belly. “Oh! My, my! You’re quite a bit along, aren’t you? How delightful.”

Every nerve in Izuku’s body seized up, his lip flinching as if he were going to snarl, but he stopped. Now was not the time to lose control. To steady himself, he took a breath, and immediately coughed harshly. There was a pungent scent hanging in the air, so heavy it felt like a physical weight on Izuku’s shoulders. Honestly, it was less a smell and more of a command. As it raked over his tongue and down his nostrils, Izuku could almost hear a voice demanding, Obey me, obey me, obey me. There was no mistaking its source. Father smiled down at him, taking a step forward as the omega struggled to catch his breath.

“There now! Deep breaths! You’re all right here. No one is going to hurt you here.”

Liar. Izuku jerked away as Father came closer, as his companions shifted to try to crowd in around him, to trap him in the alleyway.

Father’s scent washed over him again, Obey me obey me obey me.

“Oh hush now, let me get a good look at you. You seem very familiar. Have we met before?” Father pressed forward, until he was close enough to reach out and touch Izuku.

“Don’t!” Izuku slapped his hand away, and felt a rising threat at his back as the alpha suddenly stomped toward him, snarling deeply.

Izuku flinched back but Father turned and sharply ordered, “Enough.”

As Father was distracted and the alpha slammed to a sudden halt, Izuku bolted for the mouth of the alleyway. He had only a moment to escape, to get back to the crowds. Would Father follow him? Would he send the others to trap him? No, he couldn’t think about that. He’d handle it if he had to. In that moment, all he had to do was get back onto the street.

Not for the first time, he promised himself he’d never go into another alleyway again. Nothing good ever happened in alleyways. Not to him. And once he was stuck between the walls of an alleyway, he’d found them very hard to get out of.

Even as the thought trickled through his mind, he crashed, headlong, into… nothing. There was nothing between him and the street only a few feet away. Except, it had to be something. He’d definitely smashed into something blocking the alleyway, enough that he’d stumbled back and nearly fell off his feet. As he tried to regain his footing, an arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back to his feet. Someone leaned in close and that horrible smell, Obey me obey me, washed over him.

“Careful now! It’s slippery here.” Father laughed, keeping a tight grip on Izuku’s waist. His fingers were less than a breath away from his stomach. So close that Izuku felt frozen, trapped in some horrendous instinctual loop, one that screamed at him to fight and tear this beta apart for touching him, and another that begged him for stillness, so his pup wouldn’t be harmed. Father, however, didn’t seem at all interested in the pup, turning his attention to the empty mouth of the alleyway. “Must be Tame, then. Finally caught up with you lot.”

The mouth remained empty, until the air seemed to shimmer like from a mirage and the woman, male beta, and Katsuki all materialized out of nothing. Seeing Katsuki again, especially with Father still touching him, Izuku expected something to happen. Something to change.

He expected Katsuki to leap across the alleyway. To fly into a rage. To do as his alpha had always done. To protect him.

And yet, when he looked up at Katsuki, the alpha stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and glowered down at the woman, who was rubbing her arm and glaring at Izuku. Both she and Katsuki jolted to attention when Father spoke again.

“You were taking quite a while. Did you get lost?”

“No, Father,” the woman muttered, then bowed her head. “I’m sorry to worry you.”

“It’s quite all right. We had the good fortune of running into this sweet one. Have you met before?” As Father spoke, Izuku felt a prickle in his hands and feet and he elbowed his way out of Father’s arms, though he was trapped between the beta and the woman, Tame.

She glared down at him. “Unfortunately.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Father glanced behind him and the woman with the tablet strode forward.

“I need to go,” Izuku muttered. “You should let me go. Someone’s expecting me.”

Father regarded him with a smile. “Psyche? Is that why he was calling you?”

While his first instincts were to deny, Izuku took a breath and said, “Yes. He’ll be looking for me. He knows I’m here.”

“Hmm,” Father was now smiling down at something on the woman’s tablet. “Well if that’s true, then we should get going. Tame, come along with us. Etsu, we’ll need a second car for everyone.”

“Yes, Father,” the beta woman drew her tablet closer and began typing furiously on it while Tame glanced again at Izuku.

“Should we finish off the stalker?” She drew a wicked smile along her face. “He’s seen too much, don’t you think?”

Izuku shuddered deeply, but that didn’t stop him from baring his teeth at Tame. He glanced again at Katsuki, hoping, praying, to see some spark of recognition. But there was nothing. Katsuki just kept glowering forward, as if Izuku wasn’t even there. He wanted to scream. How could Katsuki not know he was standing right there? How could he not know instinctually who he was? He wanted to grab Katsuki and shake him as hard as he could.

His answer, perhaps, came as Father’s scent rose on the air, whispering again and again, Obey me obey me. “You’ll do him no harm, Tame. He’s family.”

“Family?” Tame scoffed the same time Izuku growled.

“Of course.” For the first time, Father turned his attention to Katsuki, smiling widely at the alpha.

Of all the things to set Izuku off, he wouldn’t have guessed that someone looking at Katsuki would do it. But Father smiled at Katsuki, as Katsuki stood there, unmoving. Helpless. Katsuki was helpless against Father as he was.

So as Father turned to Katsuki, Izuku stepped between him and the alpha, and he hissed. It was a deep, open-mouthed sound, from the core of his being, a warning, a threat. There were no words that could equate to what Izuku could communicate with that one sound, and everyone in that alleyway drew away at what it conveyed.

Father, however, merely raised an eyebrow at him. “There now, sweet one. None of that is necessary.” He gestured behind Izuku. “I know why you’re here. I can give you what you want. Just settle down a moment and perhaps let me explain things.”

Explain things. There was nothing to explain. Izuku didn’t want to know what Father had planned. What he thought was going to happen. No. He just needed to find a distraction. Something so he could slip away. And maybe lure Katsuki with him. Maybe once he was away from Father and his scent, maybe he’d snap out of it. Maybe it would be that simple. Maybe he just—

—wait.

Father’s words rolled back in his head, played quietly, one at a time. “I can give you what you want."

When Izuku looked, he realized Father had gestured to Katsuki. He’d meant Katsuki. Father was saying he could give Katsuki back to him, in whatever twisted way his mind thought that situation would be. Which meant, without Izuku hardly saying anything at all, he knew that’s what the omega wanted. He knew that Izuku had been looking for Katsuki.

He knew who Izuku was.

Something trickled over Izuku’s nerves, cold like ice water, hot like hardening steel. He couldn’t quite remember how to move, as everything in his body was caught between two basic instincts. Flee and fight. Part of him wanted to throw himself at Father, to tear him apart, to remove the threat that he posed to both the omega and his alpha. The other part of him spiraled over and over again about the small life in his womb, the threat this man suddenly posed to them, the realization that if something happened to him, it would also happen to the pup. The realization that he was no longer an anonymous figure that could be passed by. The thought that even if he hadn’t been before this meeting, he had inadvertently made himself to be a target, and delivered himself straight into the hands of the villains.

He had made a horrible mistake. And he didn’t really know how to rectify it. He didn’t think he could. Not at this point. Not by himself. And he had so little resources to find a way out. But he’d have to think of something. He had to. He had no other choice.

As Izuku stood there, trapped by his own spinning thoughts, Father gestured to the group behind him. “Here now. Let’s make introductions, yes? Perhaps you’ll feel a bit better once you get to know us a bit more. Ah, here now,” he gestured again behind Izuku, this time to Tame and the male beta. “You’ve met Tame and Satoshi already,” the male beta behind Tame shuffled at his name, “and these are Etsu, Ryuichi, and Hayami.” He gestured to the woman holding the tablet, the large alpha, and the blonde woman in return, though none of them reacted to their names, still simply watching him as if he were a particularly boring television show. Father then pressed a hand to his chest. “My name is Hiro Sugawara, though I’d prefer if you call me Father. I have a rather large family, you see, so I’m used to being called that.”

Father paused, then tipped a hand toward Katsuki, “And, of course, you know Kaori, yes?”

Kaori? Izuku blinked for a moment, wondered, if even for a moment, whether maybe Father didn’t know who he was. Because he didn’t know a Kaori. He’d never heard that name before. But as he stood there, Father tipped his head forward, looking past Izuku, almost as if he was looking at—

Katsuki.

There was no one else there. Tame, Satoshi… and Katsuki. They’d given him another name. And Katsuki was watching Father, as if in response to that name. But it wasn’t his name! How could he not know it was his name?!

Izuku swallowed. He didn’t know how much worse the situation could get. Katsuki didn’t know who his omega was. And he didn’t even seem to know who he was. He had responded to a name that wasn’t his name.

Father’s voice jerked Izuku back to attention, “I’m not mistaken right? You do know Kaori, yes?” Izuku bared his teeth at the name, though Father brushed right past him. “You, on the other hand, are Izuku Midoriya. And yes, I know why you’re here.” He grinned, as if he were very much enjoying watching Izuku squirm, though he paused as Etsu stepped forward, still typing on her tablet.

“Father, we should be going. I’ve located a second car at a nearby café.”

“Ah, perfect. Midoriya, come with us. I’ll explain more when we get somewhere less dirty and grimy, yes?” He reached for Izuku, who jerked back and hissed again. Whether or not he was outnumbered, he sure as hell wasn’t going to just let Father do whatever the hell he wanted. And Father seemed to understand that.

He simply smiled patiently, and lifted his gaze. “Kaori,” he called, and a shiver shot down Izuku’s spine, “come comfort your omega. He seems rather distressed.”

Izuku whipped over his shoulder just in time to see Katsuki frown at Father. “My what?”

“Your omega! You remember don’t you?” Father spoke smoothly, quietly, encouragingly, releasing a bit more of his scent into the air, it flooding through the alley and making Izuku’s head spin with the soft whispering.

Things were moving too fast. Father was going to try to use Katsuki against him. To make him surrender. He had to do something! Even as his mind raced, reaching helplessly for something to do, Katsuki inhaled deeply, taking in more of Father’s scent, and his lips popped open.

“You’re—” he struggled for a moment, seemed to be between thoughts.

Izuku knew he couldn’t fight through everyone in that alleyway. His only chance was to reach Katsuki. Somehow.

So he stepped forward and said, “Katsuki, I—”

A hand grabbed Izuku’s arm, pulling him back sharply. Izuku snarled, spun, and froze with a gasp as Father’s hand landed on his stomach. Every inch of his body wanted to rise up, out of his skin, off his bones, right off the ground. Father’s cool hand pressed over his pup’s fluttering heart, Izuku could feel it. He could feel it. And yet, he found he could do nothing. Nothing but simply stare as Father gestured Katsuki closer. “Yes, your omega! Izuku, remember?”

“Yes, I—” Katsuki seemed to struggle with words. He moved languidly, as if still caught in the thrall of some trap. As much as Izuku wanted to do something to help him, he could hardly think the air was so full of Father’s scent and he could hardly breathe with how much he was drowning in the fear of Father’s hand on his pup.

“You remember, don’t you? We couldn’t save him from those madmen when we saved you, but we’re in luck! It seems he’s found his own way out.”

What the hell was Father talking about?

It didn’t matter. As he was distracted, Izuku shoved Father off, stumbling back a few feet, tripping, falling—

“Izuku!” Very suddenly, his alpha had rushed forward and grabbed him before he could hit the ground, holding him tightly to his chest. For a moment, the world seemed to still. For a moment, everything was back in its place. Katsuki was there. He’d called his name. He’d said it so suddenly, so familiarly, that Izuku could believe that he’d recognized him, finally. As the world paused, as Izuku felt himself relaxing, falling almost jelly-like into those familiar arms, he took in a breath, smelled roasting chilies. A campfire. Burning under a starry night. A hill of wildflowers.

Despite it all, Katsuki still smelled like home.

Then, Izuku raised his gaze, and saw the dull look in the alpha’s eyes. The world snapped back to reality as Izuku realized his alpha didn’t remember him. Not really. He only remembered the version that Father had told him.

His scent mocked him on the wind, Obey me obey me.

And Katsuki, gasped, took in that scent, and shook his head, “It’s really you, Izuku!”

Izuku wanted to tell him yes, it was, but that they needed to get away from these people, that they were in danger. But somehow, he knew that wouldn’t work. With Father’s scent curling around them, Katsuki was fully in his control.

As Katsuki cradled Izuku to him, the omega tentatively wound his arms around the alpha, pulled him equally closer. Between them, his stomach sat, protected in their shared warmth. How long had he been waiting for this? For Katsuki to hold him tightly? To say his name? To be with him? And yet, it was all so wrong. So dirty. Yes, it was Katsuki who was holding him. But Katsuki wasn’t himself. And instead of being surrounded by friends, they were surrounded by enemies. It was all so overwhelming. All so much. Izuku felt a sob claw up his throat as he buried his face into Katsuki’s shirt.

What was he going to do? What could he do? He had to do something. Anything.

“It’s all right,” Katsuki breathed into his ear. He rubbed his cheek along Izuku’s neck, not quite managing to scent him, but the motion was familiar and comforting all the same. “It’s all right now. You’re safe now.”

“But we aren’t,” Izuku managed to whisper.

Katsuki sighed. “We will be. I promise.”

I promise.

Katsuki couldn’t promise that. Because he was in just as much danger. He was helpless. Trapped. Defeated. Katsuki was defeated. All that was left was Izuku. He was the only one who could do something. Something… something to get them out of this. To get back to Kazue.

He had to get back to Kazue. He had to bring Katsuki back to Kazue! Kazue still needed to apologize!

But he couldn’t get away from six villains. Only Katsuki had ever had the power to take down six people at once. And that had only been at the height of his strength. As he was, weakened by whatever Father had done to him, Izuku didn’t know if even he would be able to take everyone on at once. But if anyone could figure out a way to win, it would be Katsuki.

But that wasn’t an option. He was trapped under Father’s command, under his scent. His scent…

“Aw, a touching reunion,” Izuku tensed as he felt Father at his back. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time for this at the moment. Come, Kaori. We need to get to the cars.”

“Yes, Father,” Katsuki droned.

“Tame, you and your group should move ahead and make sure the way is clear,” Father continued his instruction, “Etsu, prepare both cars for use. Ryuichi stay close, and Hayami keep an eye on your sister. Make sure she doesn’t walk into any walls while she works.”

“Yes, Father,” the others droned as well, with the same flat intone that Katsuki had used. Perhaps just as brainwashed as he was.

A thought crashed through Izuku suddenly, as he stood there, with Katsuki shifting, preparing to lead him away. The others might be brainwashed… Katsuki certainly was. And… it probably had something to do with Father’s scent. But… Izuku hadn’t been brainwashed. He could smell the commands in Father’s scent, but he felt no compulsion to obey the beta. No. And Father had not, indeed, tired to directly command him to do anything. Could he… maybe not actually be able to control Izuku? What was it about him that was different?

Izuku glanced between everyone there, very quickly realized he was the only omega. The only one. Was that just a coincidence or was it a clue? He was also the only one who was pregnant, but that seemed like a stretch. Maybe Father just hadn’t actually tried to use his Quirk on Izuku yet. Maybe he needed some more time. But… what if it was because Izuku was an omega? Because... omegas did have better senses of smell than the other secondary genders. Was that it? Was it really something that simple?

Katsuki reluctantly pulled himself away from Izuku, though the omega held tightly on. “All right, I know. But we have to go. Don’t worry, we’ll get somewhere safe and I’ll explain everything, okay?”

“No,” Izuku muttered, still thinking. What could he do? What did this information change? Nothing. It changed nothing. Katsuki was still under Father’s sway. They were still surrounded by Father’s so-called “family.” Even if he was right, it didn’t change any of that.

“I know you’re scared,” Katsuki whispered, but there was no fire in his voice. It was flat and cold, even if his words were familiar, “but I’ll protect you. I’ll always protect you, omega.”

A crazy idea was hatching in Izuku’s head. An idea about scents. About how people reacted to scents. About how mates reacted to scents.

It was crazy.

It was

It might be their only way out.

But…

Izuku dug his fingers into Katsuki’s shoulders, drawing him closer. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I… I need you, alpha. I need you so much right now.”

“I’m here,” Katsuki allowed himself to be pulled closer, curling in around the omega. Someone called to them. They were running out of time. Katsuki brushed his nose over Izuku’s scent gland. “Tell me what you need. I’ll give it to you. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Anything?” It was hardly a breath.

Stillness and silence for a moment. Then, a familiar grin pressed itself to the side of Izuku’s neck. Even if he couldn’t see it, he could feel that damn smirk. “Anything, omega,” he kissed Izuku’s neck, then startled as Izuku latched his arms around his head.

The alpha made a disgruntled noise as Izuku pressed Katsuki’s face into his scent gland, as he took a breath, and as he released as much distress pheromones as possible. In an instant, the alleyway was flooded with his distress, overflowing, overpowering Father’s commanding scent, if only for a brief moment.

Then, Father turned toward Izuku, eyes wide, his smile gone. He knew exactly what Izuku was doing. It was the only thing he could do, the only way to make Katsuki help him.

Once upon a time, Izuku had gone feral after waking up from a coma. Omegas did indeed go feral. But most feral cases belonged to another secondary gender. Most feral cases were, in fact, alphas. Because of all the secondary genders, alphas were the most prone to the distressed scents of their mates, were less able to control their instincts, were more likely to be overwhelmed in a stressful situation.

And when an alpha went feral, nobody nearby was safe.

Katsuki panted into Izuku’s neck, opening his mouth wide as Izuku pumped out as much of his distress pheromones as possible, overwhelming the alpha.

HELP ME! SAVE ME, ALPHA! SAVE ME!

His silent cry drew a howl from the alpha, had him struggling to pull away, though Izuku kept his arms wrapped around Katsuki’s neck, keeping him pressed to his scent gland.

“Stop him!” Father shouted, releasing his own wave of scent. As his command washed over them, screaming OBEY ME NOW enough to make Izuku choke. He curled around Katsuki as much as he could, made sure all the alpha was smelling was his distress.

“Help me!” He cried to the alpha. “I need help, alpha! Alpha, please!”

Katsuki’s hand shot out, crashing into the wall, the brick exploding under his palm. His other hand took a vice grip on Izuku’s back. He didn’t seem capable of words. Only short grunts and another painful howl. Someone tried to approach at Izuku’s back and Katsuki roared, his palms flared in sparks and fires and beyond the sounds of explosions, Izuku heard shouts as Father and his family retreated back, as they were held at bay by the growing fury of the alpha. It was working!

“Alpha,” Izuku whimpered, and Katsuki stilled very suddenly.

It was as if a strange calm had descended over the alpha, as if he had broken through everything, Izuku, Father, all the conflicting feelings in him. For a moment, Izuku held Katsuki to him, and he felt like Katsuki. His hand softened, supporting him, his lips brushed along his neck, and for a moment, Izuku thought that Katsuki had woken up, that he would blink and everything would fall back into place.

Then, teeth latched into Izuku’s scent gland, deep and painful, so much so that Izuku yelped and flinched away. Katsuki held him still, his teeth locked into Izuku’s flesh. The longer he bit into Izuku’s scent gland, the more the omega felt his strength draining away, felt an instinct that told him to stay still, to lay down, to submit to the alpha. Katsuki’s scent poured forth, hot and angry and possessive and aggressive and commanding. The scent alone made Izuku lightheaded, even more so as blood started running down his shoulder. When Katsuki finally released him, he stumbled into the wall, slid down several inches, swayed.

“Kaori,” Father called. Izuku peered up, saw as Father and the others had backed away several feet. Father took a careful step forward, but as he did, Katsuki’s hands smoked.

He lifted his face slightly, and Izuku saw a terrible snarl on his lips, his eyes reduced to pinpoints, his nostrils flared. There was anger and terrible glee in the alpha’s face. He looked up at Father, and Izuku could tell he couldn’t actually recognize the beta at all.

But Father raised a hand, tried again, combating Katsuki’s scent with his own. The result was a cloying mixture of warring smells, of fire burning through words, of words smothering flames.

Obey me, Father commanded.

Submit or die, Katsuki replied.

If anything, all Father’s scent achieved was to raise a growl from Katsuki’s lips.

“Kaori,” Father called again, “stand down.”

Katsuki tilted his head to the side, as if curious.

Then, he cocked his hands back, and shot forward with an explosion. The alleyway erupted into shouting and screaming. Ryuichi leaped forward to take the hit for Father, the alphas quickly getting into a fight that filled the alleyway with smoke.

In that smoke, Izuku shoved himself off the wall. He had to get away. Somehow, he had to get away and get help. People would have noticed the explosion and smelled all the overbearing scents that had filled the alleyway. Or at least, they should have. And yet, when Izuku saw people walking past the alley, he saw that none of them even turned to glance at the fight devolving right in front of them, nor did anyone come to investigate the noise.

Something wasn’t right.

Realization sparked in Izuku’s head and he skidded to a halt just before the mouth of the alleyway, still a bit unsteady on his feet and needing to lean into the wall for support.

“Hmmph,” he heard, and was less surprised as Tame and Satoshi materialized as if from thin air in front of him. Satoshi frowned slightly, as if he were somewhat concerned about the fighting happening behind them. Tame glared at Izuku with all the hatred she could muster. “You. This is your fault.”

Izuku wasn’t going to deny that. Even if he’d had no choice. “Get out of my way,” he growled.

Tame scoffed, and drew a gun from her jacket, cocking it back and leveling it at Izuku with a satisfied smirk. “Make me.”

Chapter Text

At the sight of such a deadly weapon, a flutter of fear rose up through Izuku’s stomach. Instead of giving in to that fear, he dug his feet in and growled, showing his teeth in a defiant display.

Tame rolled her eyes. “You really are stupid. You think I won’t shoot you? Father would be displeased. Very displeased. But after a few days, he’d get over it. He’d move on.” She smirked, aimed just a bit lower. “You do have a bit of cushion. You might survive. But I can’t promise anything else would.”

As lightheaded as he already was, Izuku felt a rush of fear and blood towards his center at Tame’s words. “You’re… evil, to even suggest that.”

Tame shrugged. “I can’t let you get away after what you’ve seen. Father wants you alive, but there has to be a contingency. So. You can cooperate with us, or I can shoot you. I don’t care whether you live or die. As long as you do it on my accord,” she grinned, then nodded to Satoshi. “Go ahead and secure him. I’ve got this part handled.”

Satoshi glanced from her to the gun and back. “I am not stepping into your line of fire.”

Tame snorted at him. “Fine! Give me something then and I’ll handle it myself!”

As they bickered, Izuku glanced to the alleyway behind him. From the snarling and explosions continuing to go off, he knew that Katsuki was still fighting with Father and his family, but he couldn’t see anyone through the smoke. Katsuki probably wouldn’t directly attack him if he ran toward the alpha, but there was also a chance he’d accidentally put himself in the line of fire, and there was a chance Katsuki would try to pin him down right in that alleyway to claim him. The bite he’d already given Izuku throbbed painfully, deep, very deep. Blood was seeping into his shirt, sticking the cloth to his skin. He was still lightheaded from the attack, from the command literally poured into his body from the bite. He was lucky Katsuki had gotten distracted by Father and his family. If the alpha had given him a direct command, he might not have had the willpower to fight him off. He may have been rendered helpless before both the alpha and Father. As it were, he was still unsteady on his feet, his head spinning, and he was still trying to catch his breath. It wasn’t a good situation.

But it remained that getting through Tame and Satoshi were going to be his best bet. He just had to think of a way to do it.

As he turned back to them, Satoshi reached into his jacket, as if reaching into a pocket, and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Cold sunk through Izuku’s bones at the sight and he growled in warning, though Tame snatched them away and approached him, hefting the gun.

“Don’t try anything funny, omega. Unlike some of the others, I’m not afraid to go against Father. So don’t test me!” She waved the gun around in what Izuku thought was supposed to be a threatening gesture. But it also spoke to her inexperience using such a weapon. Izuku honed in on that in a moment, and braced for what was to come.

Katsuki had been reluctant at first to teach him how to fight. But once he’d started, there had been no stopping him. He’d taught Izuku everything he’d known. Including how to handle fights while facing someone with a weapon. Though he had always discouraged him actually fighting against anyone with a weapon.

“If you can avoid the fight, then avoid it. If you can placate the villain, then placate them. You know I’ll come and handle the situation myself if it comes to that. But if you’re backed into a corner and they want to kill you, then you fight, omega,” Katsuki had told him. “You fight with everything you’ve got. And this is how you do it.”

There was no avoiding this. There was no placating Tame, not without allowing her to take him. And there was potentially no one coming to save him. He had to do this himself. He had to fight. And he was in luck. Tame was bringing the fight right to him.

As she approached, still holding the gun in front of her, Izuku stayed still, his hands slightly raised as if he were complying. She was grinning, enjoying the moment, and that was just enough of a distraction that as she got close enough, Izuku leaned quickly to the side, bringing up his arm to brace against the gun and Tame’s arm, keeping her from swinging it back toward her.

Shock registered just as Izuku took hold of her wrist and twisted. The gun went off, the bullet shooting into the air. The noise alone had Izuku’s heart racing, but luckily Tame had already dropped the gun. It clattered to the ground and Izuku kicked it back away from her, twisting her arm behind her back and taking her leg out from under her, sending her sprawling to the ground. Without once stopping, he spun on Satoshi, who was staring, slack-jawed.

As Izuku raced toward him, he startled and reached into his jacket again, yanking out another gun, which he pointed, and shot. Izuku froze, panic rushing over him. Had he been hit? He didn’t think so. A glance down showed no obvious signs of injury. He ran his hand over his stomach. No. Still safe.

Before he got a chance to look up, an arm wrapped around his neck, yanking him back. Tame hissed in his ear, then yelped as Izuku jerked his head back, knocking her in the nose. She released him on reflex, Izuku turning again to Satoshi. But the beta had lowered the gun, surprising Izuku enough that he paused, and as he did, another scent rolled out over the alleyway.

Obey me, Father’s scent commanded, as he also wrapped an arm around Izuku’s neck, jerking him immediately back to get him off balance. Izuku choked, reached for his throat, Father hooking his other arm through Izuku’s, trapping his hand at his back.

“Tame, here now,” Father said, still calm despite Izuku hissing and thrashing in his grip. “Satoshi, put that away. That won’t be necessary for now.”

Satoshi did as he was told and Tame leaped up, grabbing Izuku’s arm and yanking it back until Father could grab it and lock it behind Izuku’s back as well.

“Get off!” Izuku snarled, trying to get his feet under him, trying to gain some traction.

Father kept pulling him back, tripping him when he got his feet under him. “Enough of that, sweet one. Tame, get the door for us, won’t you dear? Satoshi, come.”

Both Tame and Satoshi jumped at Father’s command, Tame grabbing her gun and tucking it into her waistband before rushing to an old, bolted door hidden in a recess in the wall. She tried to peer in through the window, then muttered something foul under her breath and stepped back. She drew the gun and shot at the handle several times and shouldered her way in, Satoshi slipping in behind her as Father yanked Izuku toward the door.

Izuku glanced back toward where Katsuki was fighting, but the alpha was wholly engaged in what he was doing. It was hard to tell if he even remembered that Izuku was there, that he was in trouble. A feral alpha was a single-minded machine. If he was focused on defeating Father’s family, he would remain in the fight until they stopped resisting him, or until they were dead. Only then might he have a flicker of memory of the omega, but it would be far too late.

Izuku dug his heels in and sucked in a huge breath to call for Katsuki, but just as he went to speak, someone screamed, “Kacchan!”

It was so startling that Izuku paused, long enough for Father to squeeze his throat and cut off his air, choking off his words. That voice. It had been his voice. But… he hadn’t said anything! Then how—?

But of course, there was only one explanation. Hitoshi. Hitoshi had arrived on scene. Izuku searched frantically for signs of the hero, but through the smoke from Katsuki’s explosions, he couldn’t see anything. Judging by what he’d chosen to shout, he was focused on Katsuki. He’d seen the alpha in the fight and was trying to stop him. Chances were, through the smoke, he hadn’t spotted Izuku’s plight at all.

Father clicked his tongue, as if disappointed, and yanked Izuku sharply through the door. “In we go, yes, that’s it sweet one.”

Once Father and Izuku were through the door, Tame closed the door as much as she could. With the lock broken, anyone could get in, but the door remained closed as if locked. Someone searching the scene would realize someone had shot the lock open, but simply stepping by the door, it wouldn’t look at all out of place. Izuku couldn’t rely on anyone finding them here, especially with the chaos going on outside. Even so close to where Hitoshi and Katsuki were, he was practically on his own.

He hissed furiously as soon as Father let up on his throat, and between gasping for air, he kept hissing and snarling and trying to get away. Father, seemingly done this before, always managed to keep him off balance and not quite on his feet. “Satoshi, come help me,” he commanded, and the beta came running over.

Tame, meanwhile, spat out a curse at the door. “This is getting out of hand. We have to get out of here now, Father!”

“Quite,” Father grunted as Izuku managed an elbow to his stomach.

The icy cuff of a pair of shackles skimmed along Izuku’s wrist and he immediately yanked away, this time opening his mouth wide, trying to bite anything that he could. Seeing this, Father pulled on his windpipe again, choking him. Izuku pulled down, dropping to his knees, then sprang up, intending to catch Father off guard, but the villain pulled him in closer to better control his movements.

“Now, Satoshi, here, here! Now, really,” Father sighed as he missed again at trapping Izuku’s wrists with the handcuffs, the omega managing to knock them away, the metal skittering across the ground. A sense of momentary victory made him pause, enough to catch a little bit of breath, before he snarled and started fighting again. “Oh, settle down now, settle now. You’re not going anywhere, sweet one. You may as well make things a little easier for you.”

“Let me go!” Izuku snarled, then whipped around and managed to latch his teeth into something. A howl from Satoshi told him he’d bitten into the beta’s arm.

Satoshi yanked himself free just as Father pulled Izuku back, laughing. “Watch yourself now. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” He leaned in a little closer, and whispered right into Izuku’s ear, “Your spunk reminds me of your mate’s stubbornness, sweet one.”

Izuku hissed, tried to shake Father off of him, then froze very suddenly as something heavy and metallic pressed to his forehead. Tame didn’t have her finger on the trigger, but with the gun pressed to his skin, it didn’t matter.

“Father, tell me to get rid of him,” Tame said.

Father shook his head, readjusting his grip on Izuku’s arms. “Enough of that, Tame. Put the gun away. Satoshi, you’re fine. Here. Give me another pair of restraints, that’s a good boy.”

“Father, he’s seen too much! We have to get rid of him!” Tame insisted.

Father didn’t seem to be paying attention to her, fiddling with something behind Izuku’s back. Izuku wanted to turn, to see what Father was doing, but Tame still had the gun pressed to his forehead.

She waited, but when Father still ignored her, she scoffed, “Father, what the hell are you even thinking? You’ve never been able to control an omega before! What makes you think—” she bit off her words suddenly as Father finally turned toward her.

Since the villain stood behind Izuku, he couldn’t see the movement, but he felt it, Father’s grip tightening on his arms as his body shifting, focusing on Tame, turning all his attention onto her. Whatever expression he wore had Tame’s eyes widening and she quickly shut her mouth.

The silence between them was sharper than any knife Izuku had known before, though it was cut when the entire building was rocked with an explosion from the alleyway, dust cascading from the ceiling. Such a familiar sound pulled a whine from Izuku, though he knew Katsuki still wasn’t coming to save him. Tame, Satoshi, and Father all paused as the building settled and the dust fell around them, littering their clothes with dirt.

After a tense moment, Father ordered, “Put the gun down. I have use for you elsewhere.”

Tame paused for a moment longer, then shoved the gun into her waistband. “What would you have me do, Father?”

“That’s a good girl.” Father paused and Izuku heard the soft clicking, then suddenly someone forced his arms together and another pair of handcuffs were latched tightly around his wrists.

“Ow!” Izuku yanked back. “Please, get off! You’re hurting me!”

“If you would settle down, all this would not be necessary,” Father sighed, then suddenly kicked Izuku’s legs out from under him, tripping the omega into a stack of crates, which he landed awkwardly on. As he tried to right himself, the villain began patting dirt from his shoulders. “I don’t like treating you meanly, sweet one, but I can’t have you running off. It’s far too dangerous for someone like yourself. Now, Tame,” he turned to the beta as if what he’d said was everything that needed to be said, as if he made perfect sense, as if he expected Izuku to just accept his judgment. Izuku gnashed his teeth and glanced around, looking for something he might use against the three. His arms were stuck behind his back, but he still had his feet and his teeth. He could think of something.

Meanwhile, Father was instructing Tame, “I agree that we must get out of this area as soon as possible. We’ll need to extract Etsu from the current fray to do that. She’s the only one who can find us transportation. Go out there and wait for other heroes to arrive. As soon as one shows up, more are bound to come as well. Once Kaori has distracted the heroes enough, gather as many of the family as you can and bring them here. If you can only get Etsu, then bring her. Everyone else can fend for themselves otherwise.”

Tame nodded, but pursed her lips. “What about Kaori?”

“What about him?”

“Well, if he’s distracting the heroes, I can’t just make him disappear like the rest of our family!”

Father shrugged. “He’ll have served his purpose if he allows the others to escape.”

Tame’s upper lip flinched and she growled, “After everything we put into him? You’re just going to let him go? Already?”

“Don’t be mistaken,” Father chuckled, turning to Izuku, “I expect we will see Kaori again soon enough. After all, a king always come to find his queen.” A shiver went up Izuku’s spine as Father looked him over, as if his eyes were intrusive pieces of ice. Father’s gaze eventually landed on Izuku’s stomach and he nodded toward him, “And his seed for that matter. Do what you can for the rest of the family. We’ll deal with the aftermath once we’ve regrouped somewhere safe.”

“Yes, Father,” Tame grumbled. Although clearly still not pleased, she went back to the door, opening it carefully, before stepping out into the alleyway. Just before she stepped out the door, Izuku swore she disappeared from one blink to the next, though the door did swing back into place as if she’d closed it.

Father watched after her, but soon lost interest and turned instead to Izuku, who bore his teeth in a show of defiance. The beta gave him a wry look, as if he were highly amused by such antics. “You seem upset, sweet one.”

“You’re holding me against my will,” Izuku snapped, to which Father shrugged. With things having settled down, Izuku took a moment to examine him. He seemed so plain. So ordinary. How could he be the supposed mastermind behind Sugawara’s family? And for that matter, now that he had a moment to think about it, although Father’s scent was intrinsically commanding, it was most definitely a neutral beta smell – not something Izuku would have guessed when Hitoshi had talked about Father. Somehow, he’d pictured a huge alpha. Like Yokoyama.

Then again, Tsuda had had a relatively unremarkable beta form. And Sugawara had been an omega. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised to find Father as a beta.

As Father took a seat across from Izuku, Satoshi standing awkwardly at his side, the omega snapped, “What do you even want with me?”

The beta gave him a thin smile. “Oh, you’d like to chat while we wait for the others, hmm? Very well! Did you know my lovely mate, Hina?”

“Yes,” Izuku growled, “she tried to have me killed.”

Father tilted his head. He wouldn’t stop smiling. “Did she now? Well, that was her prerogative. She often had omegas killed, though she was often the one doing the killing. It was rather shocking to hear she’d let Ryo start doing that part for her. Then again, she always did have a soft spot for our children.”

Listening to him made no sense. He spoke as if Sugawara had been a rather naughty child herself, that all she had done had simply been some misguided game. That he’d known about it, and not cared. He was so blasé that Izuku didn’t even really know how to react. Were all villains like this? Or just him? He’d never dealt with villains before. Not really. Not like this, at least. He’d never held a conversation with one before, at least.

But if he wanted out of this, he was going to have to confront Father now, and figure something out.

“To make my position quite clear,” Father continued, obviously not recognizing Izuku’s distracted thinking, “I don’t wish to harm you. That would be quite tragic, I think, especially considering your… condition,” Izuku clenched his fists, wanting to wrap his arms around his stomach to protect his pup, “and while Hina had her own machinations, I was not one to partake in such dealings. So I don’t wish you dead. I don’t wish harm upon you of any sort. I think, rather, that you should have the chance to see what my family is really like. I think you’ve only been shown the harsher parts of it all and that’s unfair. So. You should come with us.”

“No,” Izuku hissed, though Father only raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Come now. I think it wouldn’t be nearly as frightful as you seem to believe it would be. Why don’t you just—”

“I said no! Now uncuff me and let me leave!”

“What would you do if I let you go?” Father tilted his head to the side, as if he were genuinely curious. Next to him, Satoshi shifted uncomfortably, stealing a glance toward the door, though that did not magically prompt it to open.

Unprepared for such a simple question, Izuku struggled for a moment, then blurted out, “I’d— I’d find my alpha! The heroes will stop you and I’d find a way to stop Katsuki and bring him home. Your plan would fail.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to say that isn’t going to work,” Father tutted disappointedly, “you see, my Quirk lets me control people with my scent. It’s a rather potent ability. Your alpha was not immune. None are. Heroes, villains, everyday people on the street. They all bow to me. Except for,” he tilted his head toward Izuku, “omegas. You have quite the nose, sweet one, so I can’t control your gender. Rest assured if I could, I would have already. Your family, after all, took away my darling Hina. You do owe me a family member in return for her loss. I had taken Kaori as replacement, but it was always an imperfect swap. But now?” He grinned. “Now it’s a little different, isn’t it? Because now, it’s an omega for an omega, a mate for a mate. You for Hina, my sweet one.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold.

Father wanted… to replace Sugawara? That’s what he was trying to do? What did that even mean?

He swallowed thickly, felt as if he might suffocate on whatever was building in his throat, fear, disgust, despair. “What… do you want from me?”

Father tilted his head to the other side. Then, he stood and stepped closer, close enough that Izuku had to press into the wall at his back, scrambling to push away from him as much as he could, had to show his teeth and hiss in warning to try to sway him away, though Father ignored him. “I haven’t quite decided yet, honestly. But what I will tell you. My Quirk doesn’t work on omegas, as I said. Or at least. I’ve never quite gotten it to work. But who knows? I’d like to see if I could figure out how to do that. And maybe you could help me with that. Maybe eventually, you’d learn to be a good mate for me instead.”

At first, the words refused to register. Izuku just kept hissing at Father, even as his body began to shake and it took him a moment to realize it was because of the fear, that Father was plotting to do horrible things to him. That for as bad as Sugawara had been, Father might be worse. He might be much worse.

“Aw, there now, sweet one,” Father tried to run a hand along Izuku’s cheek but he flinched away. “Just think of it this way. I showered Hina in everything she could have ever asked for, anything she could have ever wanted. And that will be yours one day as well! As my mate, the world would be at your disposal. You’d need only ask, and it would be done.”

“I will never,” Izuku was shaking badly, so badly his voice trembled, but he still hissed in fury, “mark my words – never! – be your mate.”

Father smiled. Cruel and excited, ravenous and patient. This was a man capable of such evils that Izuku didn’t think he could imagine it. No rational mind could imagine what he might be thinking, what he might be planning. And Izuku didn’t want to even consider it.

Brushing a hand through the air, as if to sweep away Izuku’s declaration, Father continued, “We will have to wait until your pup is delivered. I wouldn’t want to risk anything happening to them. And during that time, who knows? Maybe I won’t have to resort to using my Quirk. Maybe you’ll learn to love me as I would love you, my sweet one.”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” Izuku hissed out the words, so much so that he felt the veins throbbing in his forehead.

As if to emphasize his point, another explosion shook the building, just another reminder that Katsuki was so close, yet unable to reach him. Over the fighting, Izuku doubted even the heroes on scene would be able to hear him if he screamed for help. Still, he had to do something. Father was insane. He was clearly capable of thinking of some truly sickening things. If Izuku had to guess, Father was probably also capable of carrying out those ideas, and he had the resources to do so as well.

A powerful dread was starting to sink through him the longer he sat there, the longer he considered his situation. No matter how much he twisted or otherwise tugged at the handcuffs, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to slip out of them easily. If he hadn’t been pregnant, he might have been able to curl inward and move his hands around his legs so they were in front of his body, but that was squarely out of his ability at the moment. Although they were practically surrounded by heroes, including Katsuki, nobody was looking for him. They would all be focused on the feral alpha, particularly since that feral alpha was Katsuki, an extremely powerful and dangerous alpha. Izuku had thought he would be able to get away in the confusion, that he’d be able to call for help, to draw attention to both himself and Katsuki. How had it spiraled so quickly out of control?

It had something to do with Tame. Whatever her Quirk was, she seemed to be manipulating the space around her, making it so people didn’t notice when an alpha was going feral only a few feet away. Her concentration must have been broken when Izuku had knocked her down, giving Hitoshi the opportunity to swoop in to try to stop Katsuki. Whatever she could do, she was powerful. And with her gone, she was a big threat removed from his immediate equation. While she was gone, while the others were gone, he had to think of something to do. Father was a huge threat, but Satoshi didn’t seem to be that much of a fighter. If Izuku could figure out a way to incapacitate Father, then he’d be able to get away. But how would he do that?

As wrapped up in his desperate thinking as he was, Izuku didn’t notice Father had leaned in closer until his fingers brushed against the wound on his neck, Izuku jerking away, slamming into the wall behind him, as the beta peeled back his shirt to examine in the wound.

“Hmm,” he frowned, “that’s rather deep. Kaori was determined to keep you, wasn’t he? That even might need stitching. We don’t have time for that right now but—” Father drew back as Izuku snapped at him, growling.

“Don’t touch me.”

A wry smile crossed Father’s face and he laughed, as if highly amused. “I like that spunk, sweet one, but it’s only going to get in the way for now. I just want to clean you up a little. Is that too much to ask?” Izuku snarled in response and Father’s smile deepened in a way that was clearly threatening.

Again, Izuku bore his teeth, and Father squinted at him. “Ah! What’s happened here?” He reached for Izuku’s face, but the omega hissed and he drew away. “Your tooth is cracked. Oh dear, sweet one, that just won’t do.” He clicked his teeth, as if he were decidedly disappointed. “We’ll have to get that fixed up for you. Along with your neck. Can’t have my sweet in anything but pristine condition.”

“I already told,” Izuku growled. “Don’t touch me.”

Father smiled again, not hearing him, not taking him seriously, not recognizing his threat at all. Because words mattered so little in this context. Words could only get him so far, and they hadn’t been working to get him anywhere. “Yumi might be able to do something about that. If nothing else, she’ll be able to help with that bite. Satoshi, remind me to contact her…”

While Father was distracted, he had to think of something. C’mon! He kept snarling as Father finished commanding Satoshi with a request for him to get something, the beta reaching again into his jacket to pull out a rag, some gauze, and what appeared to be some sort of white tape. Think! You have to do something! Anything!

Reaching for anything he could at all, Izuku eventually said, “Hitoshi knows I’m here! He’ll be looking for me. Once other heroes come, he’ll know something’s wrong and he’ll look for me.” Father glanced at him as if this was mildly interesting, but ultimately not enough to sway him from his current goal. “I’m warning you! Hitoshi is an omega and you won’t be able to control him with your Quirk! There are other omega heroes in the pack well. You’ve lost already.”

“Hmm,” Father considered this, but only momentarily, “while that is good information to hear, it will not change anything. As soon as Tame retrieves Etsu, we can leave. Kaori will hold the heroes’ attention long enough for us to slip away.”

“Your plan won’t work,” Izuku tried.

At this, Father chuckled quietly. “What do you truly know of my plans, sweet one? That I intend to settle with your family on what you did to Hina? That is all you know.”

“Sugawara pulled us into her mess. We didn’t want any part of it!”

Father smiled. He leaned in a little closer. “Well. She chose you, sweet one. And instead of rolling over and dying for her, you had her thrown in prison. You effectively killed her.” He tilted his head to the side, Izuku not daring to breathe, not daring to show any emotion at all. “How does it feel to have blood on your hands?”

Izuku’s lip twitched. “You’d know more than me.”

Father agreed with a little nod. “Well then, it seems you and I do have something in common after all. We should get along splendidly, now shouldn’t we?” He turned over his shoulder as the door opened, and Izuku lurched forward, intending to use the only weapons still at his disposal: his teeth. He’d missed Yokoyama’s jugular vein the first time he’d tried this. But he wasn’t going to miss this time.

His teeth latched into flesh and he bit down hard, hard enough to break skin, to taste blood. He’d tasted blood before. It always made him want to vomit. The metallic liquid seeped between his teeth and over his tongue, and ran fresh when something struck him hard along the jaw.

He was thrown back, his head snapping against the wall. The world reduced to pinpoints as his body slumped to the side, dazed, and all he heard was a sharp command from Father, the beta’s scent washing over him.

“Enough, enough! You’ll do no harm to him, Ryuichi! I’ve decided to take him as my mate and if he wishes to fight me, then that is his right. I don’t mind having a fight for dominance, if that is truly what he wants.”

“All the same, Father,” a deep voice echoed around Izuku’s skull as he peered up, spying the looming form of the alpha above him, “I’d rather anger you than allow him to kill you.”

Father’s scent filled the room, heavy and imposing, “You may want to rethink that statement, Ryuichi. You obey your father, no exceptions. And I tell you, you will not touch this omega to do harm.”

Ryuichi’s form shifted above Izuku. The alpha seemed to curl inward, to bow to the oppressive power of Father’s scent. He nodded or bowed his head, it was hard for Izuku to tell. Hands pulled him back up into a sitting position, Izuku realizing it must be Satoshi. He growled quietly, but his head was spinning so much it was hard to tell which way was up and down anymore.

“At least while we are away from safety, we can take some additional precautions, Father?” Satoshi asked. He was holding Izuku up, but the omega didn’t miss that he was also holding him back. He kept growling as Father sighed.

“Oh very well. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later, I suppose. Be gentle with him, though. He’s rattled enough and I don’t want to upset him too much while he’s with the pup. Satoshi, see to that. Now, Ryuichi, why don’t you tell me what trouble your sisters are getting into out there. I suppose Tame was still looking for Etsu?”

Ryuichi growled and as he and Father spoke, Satoshi shifted beside Izuku, the omega getting the impression of the beta reaching again into his jacket. He tried to look to see what he was doing, but his vision was doubled, tripled, more? Lines and shapes crossed over each other and he was so dizzy. He shut his eyes and fought back the whine that wanted to seep out.

He wanted Katsuki.

He wanted Katsuki so much he was aching.

And it was such a deep, painful ache, only magnified by the dull, throbbing ache that had been his constant companion for the last eighty-five days.

As if in response to his pain, his pup kicked, flailed just a little. Izuku flinched, fully aware of the direness of his situation, not needing or wanting the reminder. It wasn’t just him that was in danger here. He was supposed to be protecting another life, a life that hadn’t even truly started yet.

What have I done? The thought crossed his mind as Ryuichi began giving his report.

“Several other heroes have arrived. So far, nobody from that hero pack, but the word is spreading. It’s only a matter of time before they show up as well. Psyche took out Hayami, but I didn’t see where Etsu had gone. Kaori is still fighting the heroes.”

“Has he injured himself badly?” Father asked, as if it wasn’t a question of “if” but rather “when.”

That thought let slip the whine that was building up in Izuku’s throat, a soft, quiet sound, a show of weakness he couldn’t help but to give.

As if to punish this small moment, Satoshi nudged at his chin, Izuku jerking away in response, then again as the beta pressed tape over his mouth. He thrashed, but was overcome with a wave of dizziness so profound that nausea roiled in his stomach.
Why was this such a familiar feeling? Why was he constantly finding himself in this sort of situation? Why hadn’t anything ever changed, not even after all the training he’d done?

If I had a working gauntlet, Izuku thought somewhat numbly as he tried to work his jaw against the gag, I’d have melted all of you by now.

Except, he hadn’t melted anyone, his gauntlet wasn’t finished, and he was a fool to think that even if he did have the gauntlet that any of this would have been different.

“Oh, my dear sweet one!” Izuku glanced up as Father approached, his form wavering, though the omega could still clearly make out the cruel smile on his face. He reached forward and this time, Izuku only shrunk back as the beta dragged a finger along his face. “I do hate to see you like this. Not to worry. Once we get somewhere a little more secure, we won’t have a need for any of this unpleasantness. You understand, yes? Very good. Now!” He took Izuku by the chin, tilting the omega to face him and making a thoughtful humming noise as he examined Izuku.

“Let’s see here. We’ll have to get you set up with a Quirk. Something complimentary would be nice. Ryuichi, get Hiku on the line for that. And yes, now. Might as well work while we wait for your siblings.” As Ryuichi pulled a phone out, Izuku found his head swimming. Set him up with a Quirk? What did that even mean? But Father was already going on, “Yes, and you’ll need a name as well. Oh dear, let me think.” He smiled down at Izuku, their faces close, too close. Izuku’s vision was clearing, but was still wavering along the edges, carving little curves of into face, all the hidden wrinkles where he seemed to have tucked away his cruelty and evil.

As a tear slipped from his eye, Father’s smile deepened. “I know,” he purred, ghosting a touch along the trail his tear had left, “you’ll be called Hiroshi. Hiroshi Sugawara.” He grinned as Izuku shuddered. “It’s a wonderful name, isn’t it, Hiroshi?”

“Father,” Ryuichi said, handing him the phone.

Father immediately pulled away from Izuku, finally leaving him alone, though he did set a hand on Izuku’s knee, as if still trying to get him used to his touch, trying to claim him in some primal, gross way.

“Hiku, my dear! How are you?” Father greeted cheerily, despite the rather unpleasant situation, and the fact that there were occasional muffled explosions beyond the building. As Father spoke on the phone, Satoshi began dabbing at Izuku’s neck with the rag, cleaning up the marking from Katsuki. He was gentle and methodical, but Izuku never once allowed himself to let his guard down as the beta worked. Father took no notice of what Satoshi, or seemingly Izuku, were doing, laughing into the phone, “Ah, well I have a bit of a project I could use your help with. I’m looking for a useful Quirk. A scent-based one. You see, I’ve taken a new omega. Hmm? Yes, yes, an omega. I know, quite a shock, isn’t it! But an opportunity arose and it was the right person, so anyway. I believe he’s Quirkless, so there shouldn’t be as many compatibility issues. Hmm? Yes, he! I told you, I stumbled upon quite a prize!” As he spoke, he kept a hand on Izuku, possessive fingers gliding over his skin as it to try to quell the omega’s shivering.

Satoshi pressed some gauze to the wound, then peeled a strip of tape off the roll, biting it to length and pressing it down on Izuku’s neck. It only took him a moment to realize the length of the tape was much too long just to cover the wound, and he squirmed as Satoshi peeled off another strip and pressed it over his scent gland, effective descenting him, cutting him off from the world around him. His shivering grew worse, his mind spinning with pain and plans and useless thoughts.

Father’s voice yanked at his attention, Izuku flinching when he said, “Yes, his name is Hiroshi. Yes, it’s quite wonderful! We’ll celebrate later, I’m afraid I have some things I’ll need to take care of to make him comfortable first. But yes, eventually the whole family should meet him. For now, just work on finding a good Quirk and let me know when you’ve tracked one down. Or send me a list of options. Nothing but the best for my sweet, yes? Yes, good boy. You’re doing us proud, Hiku. We’ll be in touch soon. Goodbye.” With that, he hung up and handed the phone back to Ryuichi, letting out a sigh and shaking his head a little, smiling as if something greatly amused him. He still wouldn’t stop touching Izuku, his hand tracing warm tracks over his body, as if still trying to comfort him.

At each little touch and each little stroke, each time Father’s hand touched him, a sinking, numb feeling was spreading over Izuku. It was an easy, almost peaceful feeling. Even if it was familiar in a cold, cruel sort of way. He could imagine this feeling coursing through his body as he lay on a dirty mattress in some decrepit building in a random part of the city. He hadn’t quite felt such a distant, unfeeling thing since that time, but it came back surprisingly easy.

He didn’t want to be there. He was tired of not being able to make any differences. He was tired of trying, and it not mattering anyway.

He shut his eyes, and he chose not to listen as the door opened again and someone gasped, rather ragged and worn out, “Father. We should go. Now. I’ve located a car for us to use.”

- - -

Eijiro stood in the middle of the coffee shop Kaminari had told him about, tapping his foot. There were only two other people in the shop with him, the owner and a man hunched over his laptop, typing so quickly on it Eijiro was convinced the man wasn’t actually typing anything meaningful at all, that he was simply trying to seem busy.

For the third time in a minute, he checked his watch. He was starting to get antsy, and by starting, he meant he’d been antsy since before he’d arrived at the shop and found no signs of Shinso or Midoriya. And by now, someone should have showed up.

He’d texted Shinso, called Shinso, texted Midoriya, called Midoriya, all to no avail. Shinso’s line was connected to his hero comms and Eijiro couldn’t get through, though he doubted his name would come up on Shinso’s line since he was calling from his personal cell. Midoriya’s hung up immediately, as if his phone was turned off. Him leaving the packhouse without informing anyone in the actual pack did suggest he wanted some privacy from them, but it was unusual for the omega to turn his phone completely off. After all, what if Kazue needed him? So that was worrying. Though Eijiro refused to be completely overrun with worry yet.

Or maybe he was worrying way, way too much.

He pulled out his phone, checked to confirm that yes, he had no new messages or texts from anyone. He thought about contacting Mina or someone else from the pack, but refrained for now. Everything was fine. They were all just a little jumpy with everything they’d recently found out. That was all. Midoriya was fine. Shinso had probably found him and stopped him on the street and maybe they were just talking or maybe they’d decided to go somewhere else.

Oh, hell.

If they decided to go somewhere else, how was he supposed to find them? How was he supposed to keep an eye on Midoriya?

Grumbling to himself, Eijiro went back outside the café and glanced around. No sign of Shinso or Midoriya. Had he really thought it was going to be that easy?

As he searched, something caught his eye, a woman with a tablet tucked under her arm hurrying across the street. Having been a hero for many years, Eijiro could pick out the subtle signs when someone was distressed. The hurried, stumbling steps the woman was taking, along with the glances she kept shooting over her shoulder, told him that something wasn’t quite right. When he looked down the street though, nobody was following her. Was there something else wrong?

He and the woman locked eyes briefly, but then she moved on, glancing at everyone else on the street. She crossed to a car parked out front of the café and typed something on her tablet, the car unlocking.

Oh, cool. She must have one of those cars that can be controlled from an app. Eijiro had heard of them but hadn’t had enough interest to look anymore in depth into them. When the woman gave him one last look as she opened the driver side door, he smiled at her, and she just frowned at him before ducking her head in.

As the woman sped off, Eijiro pulled his phone back out of his pocket. Still nothing from Shinso or Midoriya. What was he going to do?

Groaning with frustration, he turned to glance up and down the street one more time, and heard something in the distance. Rustling, shouting, an explosion? Was something going on? It was coming from the direction the woman had come from. Maybe she really had been trying to get away from someone.

Just as Eijiro stepped to investigate, the café’s door slammed open and the only other patron ran out, gesturing to the empty parking spot and yelling, “My car! What happened to my car?!”

Eijiro blinked at him. “Your car?”

“Yes! It was right here just a minute ago!” The man glared hard at Eijiro. “Did you see something? You were standing right there!”

Something wasn’t right. “There was a woman. She used her tablet to unlock the car and got in.”

“And you just let her?!” The man groaned in despair, but Eijiro had already turned away, staring after where the woman had raced off. She’d stolen the car? But why? Was that why she had been looking around so suspiciously? Did she have something to do with whatever was happening down the block?

Another muffled explosion had Eijiro’s blood racing, but after hesitating a moment longer, he ran after the car. What he was going to do about the car, he wasn’t sure. But maybe he could catch it at a light? Or maybe it hadn’t gone far?

Why was he chasing after a car? If he was Iida, he might be able to find it, but him?

“Oh man, what am I even doing?” Eijiro pressed a fist to his forehead, but kept running. He rounded the corner, and skidded to a surprised halt.

The car was just sitting there. Only a couple blocks down the street. The woman still clearly sitting in the driver’s seat. But she hadn’t gone very far at all before stopping. What the hell was going on?

“Hey!” Eijiro called, and watched as someone exited the nearby alleyway and opened the car’s back door, stepping aside as someone else hurried to jump into the front passenger’s seat. As Eijiro tried to close the distance between them, he saw one last person step out of the alleyway, dragging a second person along with them. Their hands were secured behind their back and there was a sack over their head. They were struggling, but it wasn’t enough to stop them being shoved into the car rather unceremoniously. Then, the two other people simply got into the car as if nothing had happened at all.

Eijiro was stunned. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. A car theft and a kidnapping in less than ten minutes? What the hell was going on in this city??

There was no time to think about it. Someone needed his help. He wasn’t going to abandon them just like that.

He put his head down and kicked it up a gear, hoping nobody would notice him and praying the car wouldn’t take off before he could reach it. The three in the backseat seemed to be struggling, the driver and passengers all distracted by their prisoner’s fight to get free. Eijiro could only hope they could keep it up.

“Hang on!” He shouted. “I’m almost there!”

The car gave an ominous whirring noise as the engine started up, the tires crackling along the pavement as they turned to move out onto the road, then Eijiro reached out, grasped the trunk, and hauled himself up just as the car started forward.

Almost immediately, it lurched to a stop, the driver having clearly noticed his presence. Not wanting to be thrown off, Eijiro activated his Quirk in his arm and jammed it through the thin steel of the car’s outer shell, finding the thick frame underneath and grasping it tightly. Then, he leaned over and punched out the window.

As the glass shattered as the passengers inside snarled and shouted in surprise, Eijiro leaned further over so he could peer into the car. “Hey!” He shouted. “What are you doing with that person? Also this car is stolen property! Step out of it immediately!” Then, he noticed during the struggle, the captive’s hood had been shimmied up, revealing one, large, tear-swollen emerald green eye.

Eijiro blinked at the prisoner, and the prisoner back at him, then something flashed in Eijiro’s vision and on reflex, he activated his Quirk, his skin hardening just before a bullet bounced off his forehead.

That looks like Midoriya. Whether or not it was didn’t really make a difference. But knowing one of his pack members might be in danger had Eijiro growling, digging his hand deeper into the car, resolute on not letting them go. There were four in the car, though the two up front seemed too shocked to move. An alpha was sitting across from Midoriya and the man sitting directly in front of Eijiro was the one with the gun. He had a plain face, marred by a disappointed frown.

“Oh. You,” the man’s frown deepened into a scowl. “You’re that hero pack’s head beta aren’t you?”

The hell was he talking about? The hell did that matter? “Turn the car off and step out, right now!” Eijiro stomped a foot into the ground, determined to hold the car in place. No way they were going to get away.

Next to the gun wielding man, Midoriya squirmed and was trying to shout something, though a strip of tape over his mouth muffled his words. Eijiro wanted to console him and tell him it was going to be okay, but with four enemies, he couldn’t let his guard down. The alpha growled and moved as if to engage Eijiro, but the man with the gun held up his hand, staying the alpha. Was he planning to surrender? Doubtful. He had another plan.

Eijiro dug his heels in a little more, and something poured out of the car. A scent so strong he reeled back, caught in a sudden wave that tingled along his skin. There was something about it. Something that simultaneously made him relax and also want to tear his nose off.

“There now,” the man grinned, but it wasn’t really a smile, “why don’t you relax? Just listen to my voice, and relax, yes, that’s it.” Against his better judgment, Eijiro did start feeling himself relax. He liked how this person smelled. He didn’t seem all that bad. Even if his smile was a bit creepy. Something about him made Eijiro want to listen, to lean in a little closer, to loosen his grip, let his Quirk fade, just a little.

The man smiled, and raised the gun, “That’s right, you disgusting excuse for a beta.”

A sound went off. Loud. Painful. All consuming.

It was the last thing Eijiro heard.

- - -

Izuku screamed as Kirishima’s head jerked back and he released the car, his body falling back onto the street. The gun had been so loud that his ears were ringing, but that thought only ghosted through his mind, Izuku otherwise consumed by the overpowering fear that he’d just witnessed Father shoot Kirishima in the head.

He’d just watched Father murder someone. And that someone. It had been Kirishima.

He screamed again, then thrashed violently as Ryuichi grabbed him and tried to hold him still. Father was pocketing the gun as if nothing had happened at all. “Etsu, now please. No time to waste, yes?”

“Yes, Father,” Etsu whimpered, clearly shivering from her place in the driver’s seat. The car pulled forward, leaving Kirishima behind. Leaving him alone.

What if he wasn’t dead? What if he was still alive? He needed help! Oh gods, Izuku had to get help for him! There might still be a chance! Maybe his Quirk had been active still, just a little! Even if it hadn’t looked like it! Even if he’d seen the blood, oh gods, it couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be.

A roar reached them, like the distance cry of an animal backed into a corner, and the road next to them exploded.

The impact was so violent that the car tipped dangerously, nearly toppling over, though at the last second Ryuichi shoved himself back and the car tilted with his motion, righting itself.

“Damn,” Father hissed, grabbing a stunned Izuku and jamming the hood back over his head. Izuku kicked out, but Ryuichi had already secured the cuffs on his legs by the time Kirishima had reached them and they were tight enough that he couldn’t move very well. Still, it was all he could do as Father opened his car door and dragged him toward the street.

Another roar echoed over the scene, Izuku knowing immediately whose voice it was.

Katsuki.

Oh gods.

Had Katsuki seen what had happened to Kirishima? Did he realize Izuku was right there? Was he still feral? The sound he was making was deep and painful and primal in a way that Izuku had never heard before, ravaged by notes of despair and fury, though he could pick out the tones of his alpha’s voice as easily he might pick out his favorite song.

But wait. If that was Katsuki. Then the heroes who were fighting him—!

As if on cue, a familiar engine revved nearby. “There he is!” Iida’s voice had never sounded sweeter.

Izuku’s joy was only minimally crushed as Father wrapped his arm around his neck, grasping his throat as if to choke him. “Damn,” he said again, and pulled Izuku back. With his ankles shackled, he couldn’t move very well and all Father was able to do was drag him over the ground. “DAMN!” He leaned in close and hissed into Izuku’s ear, “This isn’t over, my sweet one. I’ll see you very soon.”

With that, he threw Izuku to the ground, Izuku landing in a heap. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he heard Katsuki roaring and the heroes were calling out, Ryuichi’s voice somewhere in the mix, as well as a panicked yell from Satoshi and worried murmuring from Etsu.

“Tame!” Father shouted nearby, Izuku hearing his shoes scuffling along the pavement. He was leaving. He was retreating! Izuku could hardly believe it.

And perhaps, that is why, when he heard Father hesitate, heard the beta turn around, he wasn’t all too shocked.

That shock came a moment later, when agony ripped along his stomach, as his entire body shifted, as every nerve in his body screamed, as a kick landed squarely along his pup.

For a moment, he couldn’t believe it. And when the second kick landed, another blow straight to his womb, the attack so powerful it knocked the air from his lungs, it was as if his mind simply turned off. He didn’t think about what it could mean. He didn’t think about what was happening. He didn’t think about the unsettledness of his stomach, in the way he could feel his body moving in ways it probably shouldn’t, in the way his pup writhed within him.

His only thought was to curl up, to defend his pup, and so when the third kick caught his leg instead, footsteps finally retreated away.

For a moment, Izuku lay there, a dull ache in his body, a throbbing he could feel, but felt so very detached from. His body was rebelling. His pup was squirming. He didn’t really know what to think. He was at the edge of an abyss. An abyss he had no way of pulling back from. Slowly, slowly, he was slipping toward it, until he’d disappeared into its depths, and it consumed him all at once.

And all at once, everything rushed over him, an agony so piercing that he screamed, that he flailed, that he stared into the darkness of the bag over his head and thought it must be encroaching doom. That agony was so much deeper than just his skin, his bones, his flesh. Every instinct of his was howling and crying out.

Father had hurt his pup. He’d tried to— He’d tried to—!

A hand touched Izuku’s arm and he rolled away, curling up around his stomach, even though it hurt him beyond words, nearly beyond comprehension.

His pup was still squirming. They wouldn’t settle. They wouldn’t calm. They were—!

Perhaps it was a mercy when, as the blood rushed through every part of his body, he felt a slump, a release, and all was still and quiet and dark.

Chapter Text

For a time, a long time, there was complete, peaceful darkness. It echoed through every piece of his being, a forceful quiet that kept repressed something even darker, something with fangs and a roaring voice, something that fought to reach the light above. But in that moment, where the dark surrounding him was peaceful, quiet, closed in around him, Izuku could pretend all was well.

Then, all at once, there was light. A blinding, piercing light that Izuku stared up into even though he couldn’t see anything and it hurt to look into.

The smell of bleach washed over him, the chemicals burning his nostrils and throat. He wasn’t wearing his clothes anymore, them having been replaced by scratchy, starchy robes instead. Monitors beeped nearby. For a moment, he could fool himself into believing he was in a hospital.

Until he realized his wrists were tied with soft gauze-like restraints to either side of his bed.

Panic poured through him like steaming water. He sat up, blind from looking into the light, and screeched, not caring who he called to his side as long as someone came to him. He didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t want to know who would come to his aid. He tugged at the restraints but they held, springing back and forth as he tugged at them, unable to reach one hand to the other. Another screech tore up his throat as the beeping became wild and loud and an alarm went off somewhere.

A door slammed open but Izuku was still blind, his vision one, huge black hole. He felt people around him, heard people, perhaps even heard someone say his name. They seemed to be arguing. Their voices were loud. Were they yelling at him?

He screeched again, kicking out as hands pressed down on his arms and shoulders, as he was pushed back into the bed. There were no words he could say, nothing that came to mind. Just endless screaming, as the smell of bleach overwhelmed him, as he realized he was still, indeed, so very much helpless and hopeless.

Then, all at once, someone pressed over him, shoving the hands away, and a voice called out, sharp and urgent, “Izuku!”

The bleach was whisked away by old book pages and sweet silver, an alpha scent crouched over him. He knew it immediately.

Momo.

He didn’t need to think. He threw himself toward her, burrowing into her clothes, her skin, her scent, desperate for the comfort of her familiarity, of her safety. He strained against his restraints until he felt his wrists might break.

“Easy, Midoriya.” He felt someone take his wrist and he yanked back with a hiss, pausing when Momo hushed him and brushed a hand over his back. Someone picked at the restraint, it eventually falling away, Izuku grabbing onto Momo as soon as he could. He heard voices beyond Momo’s quiet, reassuring murmurs, and eventually the sounds of people leaving the room. Along with Momo, one other remained, coming to the other side of his bed to untie the last restraint.

He chanced a glance up, saw red and white hair, caught a whiff of Shoto’s scent, cold, coppery, just a hint of smoke, and grabbed for him, pulling him closer.

“It’s all right,” Momo said as Izuku panted in their scents, as he buried himself between them, unashamed to be seeking attention and protection from alphas he knew, alphas who would keep him safe.

He was safe with them. He knew that. He was safe. That was all he cared about.

A thought crashed through his instinctual urge to curl up with Momo and Shoto, his arms snapping around his stomach, coming to rest on the raised bump where his pup sat. His own touch hurt and when Izuku ran a hand over his womb, he could almost trace the bruises that littered his skin. He didn’t feel the pup moving.

“Momo?” His voice cracked when he spoke.

“Hush, yes, it’s me. It’s okay now.” Momo crouched down at his bedside, Shoto reaching over to tug the blanket up and over the omega. Izuku pushed the blanket off but drew himself closer to the two alphas.

“My pup,” he whined, “Father… he… he….” He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to admit what had happened. That someone had hurt his pup. That he’d felt the force of the blow landed on his womb through his pup. That his pup had taken the brunt of the attack for him.

Momo quickly spoke over him. “I know, I know, Izuku. It’s okay now. Just focus on breathing.”

“They’re not moving,” he whimpered.

“It’s okay,” Momo repeated, pressing a hand to his cheek. He looked up at her, and saw her for the first time through a veil of water. She was smiling, soft, sad. So different from the cruel smiles that had surrounded him the last time he’d opened his eyes. “The doctors checked everything out. They’re okay, Izuku. You’ve had some bleeding. But the pup’s heart is still beating. They want to do more tests, but for right now, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

They were alive. They were alive.

A strangled gasp pulled from his mouth but he took solace in her words. She wouldn’t lie to him. He knew that.

“Where am I?” He asked. “What happened?”

Momo frowned, wiped at the tear that slipped down his cheek. “Don’t worry about that right now. Just breathe. Everything’s going to be okay now.”

Izuku nodded, pressed himself into her hand, felt the bed shift as Shoto sat beside him. He curled up next to the alphas as Shoto place a hand on his shoulder, as the two huddled around him, as he pressed his hand to his stomach.

He was okay.

He was okay.

He was alive.

And so was his pup.

The tears he hadn’t realized he’d been holding back streamed out of his eyes, but they were silent, Izuku only rocked by the occasional shudder. Both Momo and Shoto sat at his side, through it all, never wavering once.

- - -

Katsuki’s eyes snapped up, and he leaped up.

Or he would have, except his hands had been tied to the bed he was laying on, each wrist wrapped in a gauze-like band and secured to the handles of a very familiar hospital bed. He opened his palms, intending to let sparks leap between his fingers, but found both hands bandaged and throbbing, as if burned, as if he’d been using his Quirk a lot. Then something moved at his side and he flinched.

He actually fucking flinched.

But he couldn’t help himself. He felt suddenly breathless and shaky as he stared up at the familiar face of Iida next to him, the pack alpha assessing him with a deep frown. When Katsuki met his gaze and the sparks faded from his palms, Iida lowered his chin. “Katsuki?”

Why did he say his name like that? As if he wasn’t sure?

An acerbic reply cradled on his tongue, but he couldn’t say the words. They died as quickly as they rose, like the crest of waves beating against his teeth, never quite breaking through.

When he was silent, Iida continued, “It’s all right now, Katsuki. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe. It’s over.”

Over.

He didn’t even really know what that meant. But he had a vague impression of it. Things he didn’t want to remember, and therefore couldn’t.

For a moment, the two stared at each other, silent.

Then, Katsuki said, “Get these fucking restraints off of me right now or I’ll blow them to smithereens.”

Iida studied him, but he seemed to relax, even just a little bit. “You went feral. Do you remember that? You kept waking up still half-feral.”

“Yeah, well I’m not anymore.” Katsuki was too busy parsing through his thoughts to put much more effort into his words than a simple growl. He was trying to remember. What did he remember?

He remembered Izuku telling him happy birthday. He remembered Kazue telling him he hated him. He remembered going out on a mission with some of the pack. And he remembered—

A plain faced man with a smile so cold and cruel that it cut straight through to his bones.

He remembered—

He remembered—

Hardly daring to breathe, Katsuki tilted his palms up, staring down into them. The bandages covered them. So he leaned forward, used his tear to tear apart the bandages on his left hand, ignoring Iida’s protestation. Before looking at his palm, he tore away the bandages on his right hand as well, and held them so light spilled over his skin.

There were scars in his palms. Circular, for the most part. When he turned his hands over, the scars mirrored on the opposite side.

He let his hands fall to his side.

“Katsuki?” Iida called, but his voice echoed from far away. Much farther away. As if yelled through a tunnel. Was Iida really even next to him anymore? Was he in a hospital? Were the restraints on his wrists psychiatric restraints or were they—

As suddenly as that door had been opened, it slammed shut and from one blink to the next, Katsuki wasn’t even sure there had been a door at all. When he looked down into his palms, he saw the circular scars and he thought he knew what might have caused them. But he didn’t really know.

And perhaps, he didn’t want to know.

When he glanced over, Iida was staring at him, watching him. He seemed reluctant to look down at Katsuki’s hands. “Katsuki?” He asked again.

Katsuki tugged at the restraints. “Get these fucking restraints off of me right now or I’ll blow them to smithereens.”

- - -

The release of tension that followed a long session of curling up with the alphas made it almost impossible for Izuku to move. What it did not do, was stop him from talking, specifically from asking many, many questions.

“Why was I restrained to the bed? What happened? Wait! Where’s Katsuki? Is he okay? Is he still feral? Did he hurt himself? And Kirishima, did you find Kirishima? Is he okay? He-he was a little hurt, I know, but he’ll be okay, right? A-and did you catch any of Father’s family? There was one in particular, Tame, did you get her? Or maybe Father? Tell me you got Father, please!”

“One at a time, Izuku,” Momo pleaded. She had spent the better part of the last thirty minutes finding all the knots in Izuku’s hair and carefully untangling them. That done, she had moved on to smoothing out every single wrinkle in his robe, which was probably impossible but she tackled the job with a determination that made it seem she’d find a way to accomplish it. “For your first question, you kept waking up and panicking and you’d either try to run away or attack the staff, so the nurses restrained you. We told them that wasn’t going to help and to just let us calm you down. They finally let us into the room this last time, mostly because someone pushed their way in,” she shot a meaningful glance at Shoto, who didn’t seem to notice or care about her judgment, “as for your other questions… umm, what were your other questions?”

“Katsuki,” Izuku said at once. He glanced between Momo and Shoto, both alphas simply staring down at him. “Tell me he’s okay. Please.”

“He’s safe,” Momo started, which was not the answer to Izuku’s question, though he was happy to hear that. “Last I heard, he was still undergoing treatment for going feral, but he was starting to come down from it. He had only minor injuries, okay? So don’t worry about that.” She paused in a way that told Izuku there was more to say.

When she refused to go on, he turned to Shoto, who frowned slightly, but said, “Once he wakes up, he’ll need to go through an immediate psychiatric evaluation. We don’t know if he will wake up as Katsuki or—”

“Or!” Momo interrupted, “Or if he’ll still be a little feral! Or at least, more so than Katsuki usually is.”

Izuku glanced between them, not understanding what they were trying to hide. The alphas had caught each other’s eye and seemed to be having a silent conversation, though he couldn’t tell what about. In the middle of that conversation, he said, “If Katsuki wakes up, he might call himself a different name.”

Both alphas whipped toward him. “What makes you say that?” There was almost an accusatory tone to Momo’s voice.

“It was Father,” Izuku muttered, “he called Katsuki by a different name. Kaori. He was controlling him. He said it was his Quirk.”

Again, Momo and Shoto looked at each other, but there were no silent words in their look, only wide eyes and deepened frowns. Shoto was the first to recover this time. “What else did he say?”

What else. That question was almost laughable. There were so many things Izuku wanted to tell them. About Tame, Satoshi, Etsu, Ryuichi. About Father’s Quirk. About him being able to pick up a phone and call the leader of the League of Villains.

What he said first was, “Father gave me a name too. He wanted me to join his family. He wanted me to be his… his mate. He wanted—” Izuku broke off in a sob, pressed a hand over his eyes and held his breath to stop himself from crying.

When he had collected himself enough, he lowered his hand and saw the fierce looks on the alphas’ faces. Momo took his hand, squeezing it tightly. “We won’t let that happen, Izuku. You know we wouldn’t.”

“You’re safe here. We’ll make sure he never comes near you again,” Shoto added, sounding so assured, so certain.

Nearly as assured and certain as Father had sounded when he’d said, “I’ll see you very soon.”

Izuku took in a deep breath, let it out between his teeth. “He said he couldn’t control me with his Quirk because I’m an omega. But he could get to Katsuki because he wasn’t. That he could control anyone who isn’t an omega.” Momo and Shoto seemed to take this piece of information gravely, though they were raptly watching Izuku now, listening to each and everything he had to say. Emboldened by their attention, he continued, “He used his Quirk on Kirishima. I saw it happen. So he can use it on alphas and betas at least.”

“Kirishima?” Momo was clearly surprised, but Shoto said over her, “What happened?”

As much as Izuku didn’t want to recount what had happened to the head beta, he swallowed through the emotion welling in his throat and said, “He… found us. Somehow. And he stopped the car. Father tried to shoot him but his Quirk was active and the bullet bounced off. So Father used his Quirk to make Kirishima relax, and he…,” he shook his head, not wanting to say it.

Momo looked grave, but Shoto was simply listening, as if taking note of everything he had to say. Which he very well might have been. Everything Izuku had seen was so important. Father had acted as if knowing Izuku wouldn’t get away. He’d revealed much. So much information that the heroes could use to stop him.

Yes. That’s what they would do. They would use the information Izuku had managed to collect to stop him. Because not for one minute did Izuku truly believe that they’d actually caught Father that day. Father had slipped away. He could only hope they’d gotten a couple of his children, those at the car, Tame, the last beta woman, Hayami he thought she’d been called. But they’d use what Izuku told them to find and catch Father, to stop him for good.

Letting out a breath, Izuku glanced between Momo and Shoto, who were waiting expectantly for whatever he had to say next. Instead, he asked, “Is… Kirishima…?”

This time, Momo looked away, and Izuku’s stomach dropped. Shoto held his gaze, but there was a graveness to his voice that shocked Izuku, that was wholly unfamiliar, “Last we heard, he was still in surgery.”

“So… he’s alive?” Izuku pressed, but Shoto frowned deeply.

“Yes, but the prognosis isn’t good, Izuku. He… he’s touch and go right now.”

Touch and go.

Kirishima had stopped that car, tried to save him, and Father had shot him in the head. And now, he was dying.

Izuku stared at the clock on the wall, remembering laying in a bed not so dissimilar to the one he was currently laying in when he’d first met the head beta. Kirishima had been smiley and happy, then cowed and regretful when Izuku had told him off for how he had handled Kazue. But despite that and Izuku’s nearly constant disapproval of him, he’d never once failed to try to bring a smile to his face. He’d never once held it against Izuku, never once complained. He’d been a better friend than maybe Izuku had deserved. And now, his life was on the line because he’d tried to rescue Izuku.

A momentous weight pressed down on his chest so he laid back, fighting the swelling of water in his eyes. “I… Can I see Katsuki?”

“Not right now,” Momo said softly, “we need to wait for his psychiatric evaluation. Once that’s complete and it’s deemed safe by doctors, then yes, of course, you can see him. Just please give us a little more time, okay?”

Time.

He’d waited eighty-five days. He’d been through hell. He’d given his time. He wanted Katsuki. He wanted Katsuki.

A shudder traveled up his spine, but he let it go as a breathy sigh. “And Kazue? Where’s Kazue? Is he here? Is someone taking care of him?”

Momo nodded, then again to Shoto, who stood, “He’s here. The pack are watching him. Here, Shoto can go get him for us.”

“Really?” Izuku could hardly believe it. He was going to get to his pup again. He was going to get to hold Kazue in his arms, to be with him and be there for him. “Does he know what’s happened?”

Momo frowned. “A little. He knows you’re hurt. He knows we found Katsuki but that he’s hurt too. But he’s okay. He’s been a strong little pup for you two.”

Oh. A strong little pup? It was so unfair to hear those words. To know Kazue, even as young as he was, had to be strong for them, the adults in his life.

At the same time, he was so grateful to hear Kazue was okay. That he was handling things well. That they were going to be reunited as a family soon. So very soon.

As a tear dripped down his face, Momo took his hand, squeezing it when Izuku clenched his fingers in hers. “Here. You don’t have to say anything else. The time for that will come. As soon as we hear anything on Kirishima or Katsuki, we’ll let you know. Also, the doctors are waiting to examine you. Do you want to get that out of the way?”

Izuku shook his head violently. “I want my pup.” If he couldn’t have Katsuki, then he wanted to hold Kazue. Just for a moment. To be reassured that everything was going to be okay. Somehow.

For her part, Momo smiled at him, and nodded. “Okay. We’ll wait until Kazue gets to see you.”

- - -

The doctors buzzed around Katsuki like a swarm of flies, except flies didn’t usually ask so many stupid questions, like what his name was and who his family members were and what his profession was.

He answered each of them shortly, but truthfully: Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya and Kazue Midoriya, hero, Ground Zero.

At one point, the lead doctor tilted her head to the side to peer at something the doctor assisting her had written and asked, “What profession does your mate hold and where does he work?”

The question seemed simple enough but on its asking, everyone in the room turned to him. He scoffed and said, “Deku’s the best engineer in this whole city. He’s working on getting his own support agency set up, so he doesn’t really work in any one particular place. You need the address for his place or something?”

“No,” the doctor finished writing something and set her pen down. “That’s enough for now.”

“What’s with all these questions anyway?” Katsuki glared hard at Iida, who had pleaded for him to just answer the questions for them.

The doctor’s glasses slid down her nose as she glared at her notes, so she tilted her head back and they slid back into place. “We had to evaluate your current personality. Whether you were really you.”

“You thought I was a fake or something?” Katsuki growled.

“No, we thought you might still be mind controlled by that villain.”

Oh. Right. Iida had mentioned something about that. But he didn’t remember being mind controlled. He didn’t remember being anything but himself!

And yet, apparently he didn’t remember a lot of other things that had happened. Nobody had been willing to tell him what yet, as if they were afraid telling him would bring about the mind control again.

“That last question seemed to tell you that I’m really me,” Katsuki challenged, and the doctor nodded.

“It was a question you wouldn’t have been able to know through internet searches or rumors. Only you, your mate, and your pack know about that particular part, so naturally, you would have to be you to remember it.”

That’s right, they hadn’t told anyone about Izuku’s new agency yet….

Who knew his omega digging his heels in about naming his support agency, therefore pushing back its opening date, would prove Katsuki’s identity. Weird world.

“Whatever,” Katsuki sighed, glaring impatiently at the doctor rewrapping his hands. They were still painful and swollen. Guess the mission had gone bad. At least they’d untied those damn restraints. “Someone ready to tell me what happened now? We get the villain or what? Don’t tell me I got mind controlled and you lazy fuckers didn’t get that asshole. Also, I don’t know what time it is, but I’m getting home in time to make my omega breakfast, so get my release papers ready!”

His demands were met with absolute silence and stillness. The doctors didn’t even take notes. Iida just frowned at him, as if he were incredibly sad.

Tried of everyone’s cryptic reactions, Katsuki snapped his jaws. “If I have to ask ‘what’ one more time, I’m walking out of here.”

Iida was the brave one who moved first, pressing his glasses up his nose. “I’ll tell him,” he said to the doctors.

The lead doctor bit her lip. “Are you sure?”

“It’s all right,” Iida smiled at them, though Katsuki could tell it was that hero smile he gave people to reassure them, that smile that didn’t mean much under the surface. “I can handle it.”

The doctor tapped on her clipboard, then rose. “We’ll be outside if you need us.”

Katsuki crossed his arms impatiently as the doctors and nurses gathered their things and left, one by one casting a glance at him. He felt like an animal on display. Just what the hell was wrong with these people?

When they were finally gone, Katsuki snapped toward Iida. “What time is it anyway?”

Iida pulled out his phone. “Eleven forty.”

“All ready?” Katsuki spat out a curse. So much for breakfast. “How long was I out? Few hours at least.”

“Eighty-five days.”

Katsuki snorted. “Don’t be dumb, it’s only been like ten hours. You trying to screw with me or something?”

Instead of saying anything, Iida handed him his phone, with the date in bright, huge numbers across the screen.

July 15, 11:41 pm.

For a moment, he could just stare at the numbers. They didn’t make sense. He turned the screen off, waited a moment, then turned it back on.

July 15, 11:41 pm.

He turned the phone off, then immediately turned it back on.

July 15, 11:42 pm.

He handed it back to Iida, unable to meet the pack alpha’s eyes. “Where’s Izuku?”

“He’s here,” Iida said cautiously, as if knowing what was coming next.

Perhaps he did. “I want to see him.”

The pack alpha paused. Long enough to push his glasses up his nose again. For some reason, the motion didn’t piss Katsuki off as much as it usually did. “You can’t right now.”

“Of course I can, and I will,” Katsuki went to shove himself out of bed, determined to march through every corridor of that hospital to find Izuku, when Iida held up his hand.

“Izuku may still be unconscious,” he said, and the words rammed into Katsuki hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

“Why,” it was hard to speak, and he did so between gasps, “would he be unconscious?”

Iida studied him again. “Katsuki, one thing at a time. You’ve been gone for a while—”

“Yes! Which is why I need to see my omega! And you’re telling me he’s unconscious?” He roared out of bed, grabbing Iida by the collar. His hands burned. He didn’t care. “What. Happened.”

Even lifted up by his shirt collar, Iida remained calm. He was infuriatingly calm. How could he be so calm? He took told of Katsuki’s hand, a soft but steady grip. He was releasing calm, reassuring pheromones, meant to placate Katsuki. And Katsuki hated that.

“Tell me.” He hated that he had to beg. Hated that he wasn’t just out there searching for Izuku already. Why was he still waiting to hear what Iida had to say?

Maybe because…

Did he know? Subconsciously? Did he know why Izuku was in that hospital?

Katsuki searched through his memories, but he couldn’t think of anything. He didn’t remember missing more than a couple hours, much less months. How could he know what had happened to Izuku?

And yet—

Something was twisting in his gut. Some awful pain he couldn’t put a name to. That nameless pain was infuriating, but if it had a name, if it had a source, he was afraid of what it would feel like. What it would be like. Because this throbbing, gut-clenching pain was burrowed deep within him and the more he thought about it, the more it was worming its way to the surface, the more he could feel it, the more it was stealing his breath.

Iida’s hand on his, his calm scent, his reassuring presence, was a strange center he could grasp. Something familiar in what felt like a very unfamiliar world.

“Katsuki,” Iida said quietly, “the people who took you… while you were being mind controlled… you and the villains ran into Izuku on the street,” Katsuki immediately released Iida’s shirt, his fingers too numb to keep their grip. Iida held on for him instead. “Izuku made you go feral to try to help the two of you escape. But… he was hurt during the attempt.”

“How?” It was all Katsuki could think. How had Izuku gotten hurt if he’d been right there? How could this have happened? Another fear jolted to the surface so quickly that Katsuki didn’t know the words before they spilled from his mouth, “The pup! Tell me they’re okay! Tell me Izuku and the pup are okay!”

Then another thought entered his mind, one so terrifying he couldn’t put it into words.

Did I hurt them?

His hands throbbed in time with his heart, accusations rolling between each ligament, each tendon, each little strip of flesh. Had those hands hurt his omega and pup?

“I haven’t gotten an update from the doctors recently,” Iida continued, still watching Katsuki closely. “Izuku is going to be okay.”

“And the pup?” Katsuki pressed.

Iida just looked at him.

There were no words in his look. No words to be said. And because of that, Katsuki didn’t know what to think of it. Because what it might mean was simply not an option. The pup had to be okay. They had to be….

“Tell me,” Katsuki said, his voice low and hoarse, desperate in a way he hated. That hatred was so consuming he was surprised he could speak at all. Hatred for those who had hurt his family. Hatred for what had happened to them. Hatred for himself, for letting it happen, for perhaps participating.

“I can’t, Katsuki,” Iida said, squeezing his hand a little tighter, “the doctors were still running tests last I heard—”

“Tests on what?”

“To make sure everything is okay—”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?!”

“Because. Izuku was… some things happened and it may have affected the pup—”

“How?”

“Because Izuku was hurt—”

“You said he was okay!”

“He is and he will be. But he did sustain some injuries—”

“Where?!”

Iida closed his mouth. It was so sudden that Katsuki yanked his hands away. Because somehow he knew. If the pup was at all in danger, but Izuku was okay, then there was only one explanation.

Someone had hurt his pup. Someone had hurt his omega as well, but they’d hurt him where they’d also hurt the pup as well. And now, it sounded as if doctors didn’t know what would happen. As if the pup might not make it. As if….

Katsuki panted heavily, feeling the air closing in. He needed to see Izuku. He needed the omega. He needed to see him. He needed Deku.

“Katsuki, I know this is difficult, but the doctors have promised they’ll update us as soon as they have any information,” Iida put a hand on his shoulder to try to steady him.

But Katsuki didn’t need anything from Iida. Nothing Iida said or did could calm him down. Not without him being able to see his omega. To see that he was okay.

So he stood, walked towards the door. He only got two steps before Iida’s grip tightened. “Katsuki,” he said, still trying to reassure him, “please, just be patient for a little longer. The doctors will—”

The bandages burned away as Katsuki spun, his palms igniting. Before he could blow Iida back, the alpha grabbed his hand, pressing his palm over Katsuki’s searing hand. Katsuki could feel the pack alpha’s skin burning under his Quirk, but Iida never once flinched.

He stared resolutely into Katsuki’s eyes. “I know it’s hard,” Iida said, “but for Izuku’s sake, you cannot just go burning your way through this hospital. It’s been eighty-five days since he last saw you as yourself. If he’s awake, he’s hurt and worried for what is coming next. If you cause a scene, if you scare him, even unintentionally, it’ll only cause more harm. Plus, you can so easily hurt yourself, Katsuki. You don’t have to hurt yourself. Just let us help.”

“Help?” Katsuki choked on the word. “If you were going to help me, you’d take me to my omega! I need to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay. I need him—!” He’d meant to say more, but the words choked off at that precise moment.

As those words seeped between them, Iida glared hard at Katsuki, studying him. Then, with a sigh, he released his hand. “Very well,” he said, much to Katsuki’s surprise. He rarely got the pack alpha to agree to his demands, both of them used to Katsuki simply doing as he wished. Iida went to the chair he’d been sitting in and pulled out a bag from behind it. From within, he produced a comb, some sweatpants, and a plan shirt. “But you should look a little more presentable. Izuku seeing you in a hospital robe won’t do his stress any favors.”

Katsuki glanced down at himself, noticing for the first time the bruises that littered his arms and legs, peeking out from under the robe. He snatched the clothes from Iida, willing to give on this one issue, and opened the bathroom door.

He hadn’t even had a chance to step inside before he caught a glance at himself in the mirror.

His hair was royal blue and wildly grown, much longer than he typically wore it. It was such a startling look that at first, he hardly recognizing himself. If not for his eyes, he wouldn’t have. Beyond that, he could see just how thin he was, how much muscle he’d lost. In eighty-five days, the villains who had brainwashed him had done terrible things to him. He could see it in the bags under his eyes and the sallow skin stretching over bones. But he couldn’t remember it. He looked into the mirror and found himself looking at a person he didn’t recognize. He didn’t know where this person had come from, and how it was him.

He stared at himself long enough that Iida started over to him and finally drove Katsuki into the bathroom, slamming the door shut so he wouldn’t have to face the pack alpha.

For several more seconds, he stared at himself in the mirror, at all the things he could pick out that were still him. His eyes, mostly. Still crimson, still sharp. The villains hadn’t taken that away from him. His dramatic weight loss hadn’t lost him his sharp chin, either, or the broad line of his shoulders, even if it had shaved a little off.

His hair bothered him. He hated it. He hated what it represented.

As he unfolded the clothes Iida had given him, Katsuki called, “Is Mina around to fix my hair?”

“I’m afraid that’s going to be a bit of a longer endeavor,” Iida said. “Don’t worry. Izuku has seen you with it.”

Izuku had seen him with the new hair. Izuku had seen him withered away. Izuku had seen him at his worst.

Katsuki yanked the clothes on so quickly he was surprised they didn’t rip. Then, he slammed open the door and rounded on Iida. “My omega. Now.”

- - -

It took some convincing from the doctors, though they reluctantly agreed that after such a long separation, it would be beneficial to both alpha and omega to be reunited. Since his psyche evaluation had come back relatively clear, then he was fine to see Izuku. But they did caution him that the omega was in and out of consciousness, and had only recently regained awareness of the world. Before, he’d been half feral with fear. The fact that his omega had been suffering so close by squeezed at Katsuki’s heart and he urged Iida to walk faster with more than one sharp growl.

They were led to a different part of the hospital, out of the psychiatric ward and to the general inpatient ward. Izuku’s room was in a quiet corner of the hospital, a low murmur from the nurse’s station the only noise to be heard. The stillness and the silence of the ward made Katsuki’s skin itch. He sniffed the air for signs of his omega, but couldn’t pick up anything but cleaning chemicals and scent blockers.

Iida stopped in front of one of the doors, numbered 349. Then, he stepped to the side. “Here. I’ll give you some time. I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

Hardly before Iida had finished talking, without even knocking, Katsuki grabbed for the handle. He nearly tore it off in his desperation to open the door and as soon as he did, his eyes fell to a pair of veridian eyes, wide in shock and already starting to water.

The world had a funny way of pausing in crucial moments of Katsuki’s life. As if to give him a moment to breathe, to take in what was happening. What lay before him was his omega, Izuku, Deku, his mate, the mother of his pup, bandages on his wrists and at his neck, a black and purple bruise along his jaw. He’d been hurt. As Iida had warned him.

What Iida hadn’t warned him about, was the omega’s swollen belly.

Katsuki balked at the sight of it, at the sight of missing eighty-five days in a pregnancy. When he’d last seen Izuku, he’d still been flat, no signs of his pregnancy save for his scent. Now, his shirt was rounded enough to notice, a little bump where a pup sat within his womb, a pup who had grown so exponentially since he’d last seen them that he wanted to be sick and to cry in joy.

“Katsuki?” Izuku’s voice broke through the world’s pause, brought Katsuki back to him, to the slightly uncertain look in his eyes, the barely-concealed joy and fear.

And of course he would be worried. Last he’d known, Katsuki had been mind controlled. He’d essentially been a villain. Again, Katsuki looked at the bruise along his jaw, and he wondered, Did I do that?

But there was also hope in Izuku’s gaze, a hope that pulled Katsuki forward, that had him swallowing down his emotions and nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s me, Deku.”

At his nickname, Izuku’s face opened in a flood of expressions, shifting so quickly between surprise and joy and heart wrenching pain that Katsuki couldn’t name them quickly enough before they passed over the omega’s face. Izuku sprang from his bed so suddenly and violently that he tore off several sensors, the machines he’d been hooked up to beeping wildly, his bed jolting to the side, and Katsuki rushing to catch him before he flung himself onto the floor.

His arms wound around Izuku, grasping into his clothes, seeking his skin, as Izuku threw himself into Katsuki, grabbing him and holding him fiercely, as if he were afraid to let go. “Kacchan!” The omega was crying, but Katsuki clearly heard his own nickname between the tears. “Kacchan, it’s you! You’re here! You’re here, oh gods!”

Izuku’s legs suddenly gave out from under him, all of his weight crashing into Katsuki. Only a couple months earlier, Katsuki would have taken his weight easily, would have supported him without fail. In that moment, he did stumble once, but he eventually got his feet under him and held the omega up, let him cry into his shoulder, digging into his scent gland so deeply that it was painful. And yet, he found himself doing the same, pressing into the bandages around his neck to wash himself in Izuku’s scent, drinking it in. Izuku’s scent was soured and there was a slightly metallic taste to it, but it was still Izuku, it was still the most wonderful scent in the world. Katsuki rubbed his face into Izuku’s neck, wiping away his own tears, folding them into the robes he wore.

“Please don’t cry,” he whispered, trying to sound steady and reassuring even as his own voice threatened to crack under the weight of his emotions, “it’s okay now. You don’t have to cry. I’m here. I’m here.”

Izuku didn’t stop crying. Katsuki wasn’t even sure if he heard what the alpha had said. He was sobbing so hard that his entire body shuddered with each wave that washed over him. As if he were unleashing everything that had been building up for eighty-five days.

Eighty-five days.

Katsuki hugged the omega tighter. “You’re so round now, Deku. I’m sorry. I missed it. I’m sorry. I promised I’d be there. And I wasn’t. I’m sorry.”

“Stop.” Of all the things that finally caught Izuku’s attention, it was this. His begging for forgiveness.

Only that drew the omega to step back, to look Katsuki in the eyes, even if tears kept running down his face. Izuku pressed his palms to Katsuki’s face, warming him, holding him steady, reaffirming that he was there, he was there and Izuku was there and it was okay now.

“I know you didn’t do this on purpose. This wasn’t your fault.”

Wasn’t it though? He’d put himself in danger. He’d put himself in a situation where something like this could have happened, or worse.

“I’m sorry,” Katsuki said again, not sure what else to say.

“Stop,” Izuku said, no, begged. “Not right now. Please not right now. I just want to be with you. I just want to be with you….” As strong as he had stood, the words trailed off and Izuku sobbed again, only quelled when Katsuki pulled him back to his chest, only when he held the omega tightly.

Katsuki closed his eyes, pulled in his omega’s scent, then jolted upright. He moved so unexpectedly that Izuku flinched back but Katsuki hardly realized, searching desperately for a clock, finding one on the wall.

11:59.

Wasting not a moment more, Katsuki pressed a kiss to Izuku, found the omega’s lips wet and slippery and salty with tears, but warm and familiar. He pulled away and whispered, “Happy birthday, Deku,” just before the time clicked over, and it was midnight on July 16.

Izuku stared at him for a moment, stunned. Then, a sort of scoffing noise came out of his mouth, and his lips turned up in the corners, and he smiled, then he laughed.

He was laughing. Izuku was laughing. He was smiling. He was in Katsuki’s arms. And he was happy. If only for that moment.

And somehow, Izuku laughing, Katsuki being able to hold him, to feel the bump in his stomach pressed between them, it made things a little easier. A little more bearable. A little less like the world was collapsing in on him.

Because he was home.

He was home again.

Something moved nearby and Katsuki snapped to attention, drawing Izuku closer and snarling in warning. He paused when he noticed it was only Yaoyorozu, the female alpha smiling at the two, wiping her own tears away. She must have been looking after the omega, just as Iida had been looking after Katsuki.

Katsuki was just relaxing when a knock came at the door and when it opened, a light poured through that door, as if coming from the figure that stood in that doorframe.

Kazue was taller than Katsuki remembered.

Kazue was taller.

Was he remembering wrong? Had eighty-five days changed so much? Had he really missed so much of life in so little time? These thoughts promised to haunt him, but they were easy to push away in the moment.

Because in that moment, Kazue was standing in the doorway, and it had been eighty-five days since he’d seen his pup.

It had also been eighty-five days since Kazue had told him he hated him.

For these words alone, Katsuki stayed where he was, even as his heart was torn in two, between overwhelming joy and drowning sorrow. Kazue was looking between him and Izuku, his expression perplexed, almost unreadable, perhaps because even the pup wasn’t sure he knew what he wanted to do.

So again, Katsuki took a breath, and he opened his mouth to speak first, but Kazue chirped urgently, throwing himself at Katsuki, wrapping his arms around him, fingers clinging to his pants, unwilling to let go.

“I’m sorry!” The pup practically screamed it. “I’m sorry, Daddy, I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry!”

It was a strange sort of hurt that radiated through Katsuki as his pup cried. Since he’d been young, it had been painful to see Kazue cry. But this was something so much worse than simply having to know he was upset. His pup was upset. And he had been, for eighty-five days. Katsuki hadn’t been there to take him into his arms and tell him it was okay, that he was forgiven, that he was loved.

Eight-five days was so many to make up for. So Katsuki picked the pup up, even if he was far too big to pick up, and he wrapped his arms around the pup, Kazue holding onto him just as tightly.

“Shh,” he whispered to his pup, “shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay now, shhh.”

Kazue kept murmuring his apologies, kept telling Katsuki he didn’t mean what he’d said, pausing once to look at Izuku, to see that he was there as well, that he was okay, before he wrapped his arms back around Katsuki’s neck.

Katsuki held his pup to his chest, then reached to draw Izuku in as well. The three of them fit so perfectly together, even in this bittersweet moment of reunion. They were together again. Katsuki could feel the pain of eighty-five days of absence in each of them, in the exhausted, nearly hopeless slump of Izuku’s shoulders, in the desperate, terrified clinging of Kazue’s fingers, in the spinning sense of everything being wrong within himself. Their entire world had been upended, just like that. So quickly, things had come undone. But now… they were together again.

At least, they were together again.

Chapter Text

That night, Katsuki was transferred to the general inpatient floor, to room 349 to be with Izuku. Izuku required near round the clock care to monitor the status of his unborn pup, but Katsuki didn’t seem to mind the constant intrusion. If anything, he relaxed just a little more after every check.

A nurse and a sonographer came to see them soon after Katsuki’s transfer, explaining that Dr. Wanatabe had sent them. The doctor had been in touch with the hospital and had agreed to come see him in the morning to evaluate his condition. In preparation for his visit, he’d ordered both an ultrasound and some blood tests. The nurse drew his blood first, then the sonographer stepped forward to perform the ultrasound. She rolled in a portable ultrasound machine as she explained how the procedure would go. Even as she spoke, Izuku flinched. Having been through such tests several before, he knew just how hard she would have to press into his skin to get the right picture, how he might be asked to move or how she might have to try to move the baby. Even the brief brushes along his stomach had sent a twinge of pain through his body. Every instinct in him told him not to let her come anywhere near him, but when she asked him to roll up his shirt, he sighed and obliged.

It was the first time they both saw the bruises left by Father’s attack, and neither Izuku nor Katsuki were quite prepared for what there was to see. When Izuku lifted his shirt, it revealed two prominent bruises along his stomach, one a huge blotch to the side, the other in the almost perfect shape of a shoe planted right in the center of his belly. The bruises were a spiderweb of deep purples, blotted blacks, and angry reds. It took everything in Izuku not to cry, even more so when he saw Katsuki’s thousand-yard stare.

The sonographer was taken aback as well, her eyes flitting from one angry splotch to the next. She seemed to contemplate something, then frowned deeply. “I’ll be as gentle as possible,” she promised, and asked him to lay back.

As experienced as he was, the sensation of the cool, gooey gel on his stomach felt quite different from all the other times he’d experienced it. It was soothing, somehow, even as his anxiety rose as the sonographer took up the transducer, the long, flat sensor of the ultrasound. To her credit, she did try to be gentle and mindful of Izuku’s injuries, but she did have to press deep to get a clearer picture. When Izuku flinched, Katsuki immediately came forward to grab his hand, to squeeze it reassuringly, to press close and protectively to him.

As strange as it was, Izuku wasn’t used to such behavior anymore. Only months earlier, he would have thought such things par for the course, but now he felt a little uneasy as Katsuki loomed nearby, trying to hide a snarl behind his lips. The alpha’s absence stung deep in that moment, even though Izuku was so entirely relieved to have him nearby. Somehow, his presence brought up the pain of his absence, but Izuku pushed it back down as the sonographer made a thoughtful noise.

That noise drew their attention to the monitor, and to the form of a little person on the screen. Katsuki sucked in a breath at the sight of it, the fluttering lines of black and gray, bits of white, that formed the curve of a head, the tiny outlines of arms and legs, the definition of a back, a spine. As the sonographer stilled to take a photo, the little person’s heart pulsed rapidly on the screen.

There they were. His pup. Pictured right in front of him. Izuku stared at the screen, and felt a strange detachment to it all. Because he still felt as if this person in front of him would never actually be a person. That they would pass along and be just a blip of pain in Izuku’s memory. When he looked at the screen of the ultrasound, he felt as if he were merely watching a television show.

Beside him, Katsuki brought the omega’s hand to his mouth, kissed him, shuddered. Izuku turned and saw the alpha’s face screwed up, deeply reddened and shaking as he held something back. He let it go with a breath and looked up at the monitor with water welling his eyes. In that moment, Izuku remembered that this was the first time Katsuki had ever gotten to see something like this. To see his pup, an image of the proof of their existence.

As detached as Izuku felt, he couldn’t take that moment away from Katsuki. Katsuki deserved to have this moment. So he squeezed Katsuki’s hand and said nothing, just watching as the examination continued.

After a while, the sonographer sighed. “I can’t give you a proper diagnosis, but I’ll tell you, you do have some swelling. That’s honestly to be expected, though, and it doesn’t seem serious. Otherwise,” she paused to take another still, then drew the scope away, smiling down at Izuku, “everything looks okay.”

It looked okay.

Katsuki let out a cough that might have been a strangled sob and clutched Izuku’s hand all the tighter. There was nothing the omega could think to say, so he tilted his head until his forehead met the alpha’s, closing his eyes to be present in that moment with Katsuki.

The sonographer smiled at them as she wiped away the gel, giving Izuku a towel to clean up anything she’d missed. “Dr. Wanatabe will come to check on you in the morning,” she said. “Those blood tests he ordered should be back by then, so he’ll be able to give you a better picture of how the pup’s doing. But it’s good news so far.”

Izuku nodded, carefully pressing a hand to his stomach. The skin was still warm and sensitive to his touch. “Thank you.”

The sonographer nodded. “Get some sleep. You both need it.” She drew the curtains and left the room, the door swinging shut behind her, leaving them completely alone for the first time that day.

Momo and Shoto had long since left, though they had informed the couple that heroes would be at the hospital all night to make sure they were okay. Kazue, however, had not been allowed to stay, so Uraraka and Sero had taken him back to the packhouse. Just as Momo had said, he’d been brave about having to leave his alpha and omega, but Izuku had seen the little tremble in his lip, and he hated the thought of spending another day away from his pup.

He laid back with a sigh, throwing his arm over his eyes. Before he could even think about relaxing, he sensed Katsuki over him, the alpha pushing down the arms of the bed. “Move over,” he said.

Izuku did as he said, giving him enough room to slip in behind Izuku. The alpha’s arms instinctually went to wrap around Izuku’s waist, but he paused, his hands hovering over the bruises. Izuku took his hands and placed them around his chest, hugging him tightly.

The alpha did not settle during the night. Izuku wasn’t even sure if he slept. Though, to be fair, he didn’t sleep much either. Instead, he laid there, fully cognizant of the alpha next to him, of Katsuki being back and being himself, of them being away from Father. It felt unreal. It felt completely strange.

Even the familiar parts were strange. It once had been so easy for Izuku to wrap himself in Katsuki’s scent, to let his jaw hang and his tongue loll just a little to drink it in as much as he could. Since they’d reunited though, there had been a sour note to his scent, an unintentional consequence of the turmoil in his heart. Even if it was still the best smell in the world, it wasn’t quite right, and it made it so very difficult to ease back into it.

As they lay there, wrapped up in one another’s arms, Izuku wondered what Katsuki was thinking about. Was he thinking about his time with Father? Was he thinking about the bruises on his omega’s body? Was he thinking about Kirishima?

They still hadn’t heard anything about the beta. He’d been in surgery for hours. When Katsuki had found out what had happened to him, he hadn’t seemed surprised. In fact, Izuku wondered if he remembered seeing it. The alpha had seen it, after all. Maybe he’d been feral at the time, but that hadn’t changed the fact that he’d witnessed his best friend be shot in the head. Although Izuku had passed out soon after Katsuki had blown up the road, Yaoyorozu had told him that he’d gone into a frenzy right after Kirishima had gone down. If only on an instinctual level, he’d known what had happened, and he faced the possibility of losing the beta with strangely stoic grace.

Perhaps he just hadn’t allowed himself to consider the fact that Kirishima might die. Perhaps that wasn’t even something on his mind. Perhaps instead he was taking this time to reorganize his thoughts, to prioritize things. Once upon a time, he would have done just that, taking a moment to stare out a window before turning to whatever task he deemed most worthy of attention. But it seemed a far hope for Katsuki to be making a to-do list in his head. It seemed much too hopeful.

Katsuki’s hands were bandaged, but Izuku still dragged the alpha’s hand up so he could kiss his palm, to rub against them, hoping it might help, reveling in the fact that he was able to do this, to touch his mate again. Katsuki caressed his cheek in response, then buried his nose in the omega’s scent gland and sighed deeply.

They dozed on and off during the night, with nurses regularly coming in to check up on them. One gave a disapproving frown at their sleeping arrangement, but that was all. Other than that, their night remained quiet and solitary, the two of them focused only on the other. There was a painful absence between them, the spot where they would have wanted Kazue to be there, but they both knew the pup was in good hands with the pack, and they knew they’d get back to him soon. For the moment, they took advantage of their being together again, even if it was just for one night.

In the morning after breakfast, they were visited by none other than Dr. Wanatabe himself. He greeted the couple cautiously but warmly, his typical enthusiasm gone.

“I wanted to go over the results from the blood tests and ultrasound with you,” Dr. Wanatabe gestured to Izuku. “First though, I’d like to examine you.”

Izuku dreaded the thought of seeing his stomach again and Katsuki grimaced deeply at the mention, but the omega did pull his shirt up, revealing that the bruises had started bleeding into all different colors from only the previous day. Dr. Wanatabe pursed his lips as he examined Izuku, cautiously running his hand over the bruises and apologizing when Izuku flinched.

“I want you to know that while this looks bad, it doesn’t mean that there is automatically serious damage,” the doctor reassured as Izuku pulled his shirt back over himself. “The human body is a strange, resilient organism. Even at its most vulnerable, it can do some amazing things, and your body is meant to nurture and protect that little life in you. So take a breath,” he demonstrated by pressing a hand to his own chest, “and let me walk you through everything, okay?”

“Okay,” Izuku said, though his voice was small. He’d already accepted that he’d never get to meet his pup. But he’d never imagined they would meet this sort of a traumatic end. The pain of it was making it difficult to face the results of the tests, but he also felt himself steeling for the inevitable.

“Okay,” Dr. Wanatabe repeated, glancing to Katsuki. The alpha was sitting crossed-legged on his bed, glaring forward, though not at anything in particular. He was listening. Closely. But he seemed detached from everything. Perhaps he, too, was preparing for the inevitable news. As the doctor cleared his throat, Izuku took a breath, held it, and was met with a small smile. “So, I gave that little preamble so you might believe me when I tell you that all the blood tests came back okay. Some of them were not great, but they were not egregiously outside of normal parameters. For the kind of trauma you’ve been through, we would have expected things to look a bit worse. But so far, everything is looking okay. We will have to monitor those trouble areas, but otherwise,” he shrugged, catching Katsuki’s eye as the alpha lifted his gaze, “your pup is doing well.”

Izuku forgot he was holding his breath and let it out in one great whoosh that may have been a laugh or a cry or just the air whistling between his teeth. When he glanced to Katsuki, the alpha was still staring forward, his face unreadable. For a brief moment, he did meet Izuku’s eyes, but he didn’t offer a smile or a frown or anything else.

The doctor went over the specifics of each of the tests they’d run, telling the couple the baby still had good blood flow, nothing seemed to have been jarred out of place, and things were progressing as they would expect by this time in the pregnancy. There were concerns about potential swelling and any injuries the pup may have sustained, which was why Dr. Wanatabe had ordered the ultrasound.

After going over the specifics of the blood tests, Dr. Wanatabe pulled out several stills from the ultrasound, the familiar form of the pup laid before them. As the doctor flipped through a couple other stills, glancing at them, he snapped his fingers. “Ah yes! Almost forgot. We will be able to confirm the pup’s gender today. Would you like to be informed?”

A gender? No. A gender made them real. A gender meant they could start picking out real names. A gender meant his pup was getting developed enough to more and more resemble a real person. A person he’d never be able to meet.

“Already?” Came Katsuki’s shocked gasp.

The doctor’s smile softened. There was an obvious rebuke to that. Yes, of course, they were over four months into the pregnancy. Of course they would be able to tell the gender. But to Katsuki, it felt like it had been less than a month. And it was already time to know the gender of his pup.

Dr. Wanatabe simply nodded. “Yup. You just let me know if you’re ready for that.”

Immediately, Katsuki’s gaze fell to Izuku, and Izuku felt his heart twisting up. There was a spark in Katsuki’s eyes. Somehow, Izuku hadn’t realized it had been missing, that Katsuki hadn’t been burning with that familiar flame since they’d reunited. But he saw the shadow of it in that moment, that little part of him flaring to life again. He’d always though Katsuki’s heart burned with the flame of victory. Now, he realized, maybe it was lit by the warmth of hope.

But knowing a gender would be painful. It would be difficult to know, to inevitably start thinking of names and what they might be like. Part of Izuku wanted to bury his head in his pillows and not even acknowledge that such a thing could ever be known. And yet, when Katsuki looked at him with that hopeful spark, it was hard not to feel something warming in his chest as well.

This would be the first and only time he would be able to have this moment with Katsuki. To learn something about their pup. To share the knowledge. To think of names. To be expecting parents, in all the things that came along with that.

So Izuku swallowed down his fear, and he smiled. “Yeah. I think we would like that.”

Dr. Wanatabe nodded, and flipped to his first still. “First off, you definitely have some swelling, but that’s expected,” he didn’t sound pleased by this fact. If anything, he seemed resigned. “You can see some of it here… it’s a little clearer here. This is mostly from your muscles pushing in on the womb. We’ll have to keep an eye on that. But it doesn’t seem too serious, all things considered. For how bad it could have been, this is rather good news.”

Good news. Izuku scoffed at the thought, felt a little rumble of laughter from Katsuki. The alpha pressed a kiss to his forehead, then paused as the doctor pulled out another still. He went on to point out the shapes of the pup, where their spine was, the divots in their skull where eyes would sit, their little arms and legs.

“Everything is right where it should be, and everything is progressing as it should,” the doctor handed a couple more pictures to Izuku and Katsuki for the couple to examine. Izuku glanced at his, finding more enjoyment in the awestruck stare the alpha was giving his photo. He traced the line of his pup’s body, mouthing something indecipherable.

In that moment, Izuku let himself be pulled into the alpha’s bliss, let everything else in the world around him fall away. Seeing Katsuki’s joy, his amazement, nothing else mattered but that. Katsuki had suffered. He had suffered so much. But here he was, able to smile down at a picture, to forget, if only for the moment, just how much he’d suffered. Izuku wished he could snuggle into Katsuki’s chest, to feel the warmth of his joy. He wondered if it might unfreeze the unfeeling core in his own heart.

“And as for the gender, well,” he paused, shifted through a couple more photos, and laughed, “you want the good news or the interesting news?”

“Interesting?” Izuku said at the same time Katsuki growled, “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” the doctor laughed, handing over one last photo of the pup, “I can’t tell you the exact gender of your pup.”

Both Izuku and Katsuki glanced at one another, Katsuki searching for recognition in Izuku’s face while Izuku was trying to see if Katsuki was worried about this response at all. The photo before them seemed just like any of the others, revealing the lower portion of the pup more than the others had, though Izuku couldn’t quite decipher just what he was looking at and why it would mean the doctor couldn’t tell the pup’s gender.

“Why?” The omega eventually said.

“Well,” the doctor sighed, then turned a little smile to the couple, “it seems your pup isn’t developing genitalia at the rate they should be, and they have both female and male sets at this time.”

Oh. Well.

Again, Izuku glanced to Katsuki, who seemed a little bewildered still. “Which means?” He pressed.

“It means,” the doctor chuckled, going back to checking on the monitor, “the good news is, you’re going to have a little female alpha or a little male omega. But we won’t know which until you’re further along. We can run some blood tests either in the third trimester or after they’ve been born.”

“Oh,” Katsuki said, while Izuku groaned.

“Katsuki Bakugo, if you give me another alpha to raise, I swear I’m going to strangle you.”

Katsuki tilted a smirk in his direction, then leaned in close to kiss him. “You might have to strangle me,” he said, and rubbed along Izuku’s cheek, his teeth trailing a line over his jaw. Izuku purred quietly, amazed he even remembered how to make such a sound. “Alpha or omega or anything else, I don’t care. They’re beautiful, Deku. Thank you.”

Just as quickly as the pain had slipped away, it came back as a force powerful enough to jolt Izuku upright, away from the alpha’s touch. Katsuki blinked at him, trying to meet his gaze, but Izuku looked away. “Don’t thank me yet,” he muttered, and felt rather than saw both Katsuki and Dr. Wanatabe draw back slightly.

Before the silence grew too heavy, the doctor cleared his throat, “It’s good news across the board, all things considered. Your pup is doing well. I think we’re going to monitor you for one more night, just to make sure everything is still going well, then you should be good to go home tomorrow.”

It was surprising news, so surprising in fact that Izuku didn’t really know how to take it. Last time he’d been seriously injured by a villain, he’d been in a coma for ten days and in the hospital for an additional four. It felt off to know the doctors were already talking about sending him home, just like that. Especially when he felt so wrong. The world was very wrong and he didn’t know how to feel in it.

After all, Father was outside that hospital. Waiting. Maybe searching for him.

“I’ll see you soon, my sweet one.”

A little whine caught in Izuku’s throat, and he startled when something moved nearby. Called to him, Katsuki wrapped an arm around his shoulders, drawing him close, lending his presence, his protection, just as he would have not so long ago. Had it really been long enough that he’d forgotten what it was like to have the alpha nearby? To have him there at the slightest hint of something being wrong? Not so long ago, that would have been natural, and it was natural. Had he adjusted so quickly to having Katsuki gone, just like that?

But no. Maybe the truth was he’d been preparing for Katsuki to leave for so long he was surprised that the alpha had come back. In his worst nightmares, the alpha had simply walked out of his life, as he had the first time, walked out to never return. Having him back was surreal in a way that disquieted Izuku’s heart. He wanted the alpha there. He loved having his mate back. But it felt so otherworldly. They didn’t feel like a natural fit. Not anymore. And he didn’t know why.

“What’s wrong?” Katsuki whispered. “You aren’t happy to go home?” Izuku didn’t know what to say. It was easier to roll into Katsuki’s arms, to burrow himself into the alpha’s chest, to take in a deep breath, to ease into the calming pheromones the alpha was releasing just for him. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I’d be able to come home soon after. We wouldn’t be apart long. I would make sure of that.”

Oh, he hadn’t even considered that Katsuki wouldn’t be released the same time he was. Izuku grabbed hold of Katsuki’s shirt, digging his fingers in, refusing to let go or be consoled as the alpha drew him closer.

Behind him, Dr. Wanatabe sighed. “You’ve both been through a trauma. Give it time. Things will settle out.” He paused. “Let me give you some privacy. If you have any questions, feel free to call me. I’ll leave my number with the nurses.”

Katsuki was too focused on comforting Izuku to say anything in return, and Izuku was still trying to forget about Father, trying to think of how he was going to tell Katsuki what Father had done, what he had promised. The alpha did lift his gaze to watch the doctor move to the door, and Izuku peered up when he lingered there. He frowned at the couple with a little twist to his lips, a twist that blossomed into his warm smile.

“Have you had a chance to check out the news?” He asked. Izuku blinked up at Katsuki, who was glaring suspiciously at the doctor. Dr. Wanatabe waved his hand, “Oh, if you have some time, you might want to turn it on and check it out. Have a relaxing day you two!” He left without giving them a chance to ask him more.

For a moment, neither of them moved, as if waiting for him to return to explain himself. Eventually, Katsuki, keeping one arm around Izuku, leaned over to grab the remote for the television in the corner of their room. It sputtered to life under his command and it took him only a few clicks to find the news channel.

The anchors were talking about rising crime statistics in the wake of increased internet traffic about the League of Villains. Izuku shuddered at the mention, remembering how Father had simply snapped his fingers and found himself on a phone call with Hiku. They were intrinsically linked, somehow, and knowing the increasing numbers and power of the League was connected to Father and his family sent renewed shivers down Izuku’s spine.

He opened his mouth, trying for the first time to form words to tell Katsuki what had happened, when the news story changed over and the anchor announced, “Hundreds of people today visited the City Central Memorial Hospital to place flowers in front of the emergency room, after reports of two top heroes and a mate to a top hero were admitted to the hospital with serious injuries following a conflict with a group of villains.”

Both Izuku and Katsuki watched, open mouthed, as an image of the hospital came forward, people lining up to place single flowers amongst a rising tide of flowers circling the sidewalk to the hospital. Their hospital. The one they had been admitted to. Katsuki got up to peer out the window, but his grimace told Izuku he couldn’t see anything.

As Katsuki searched, the reporter continued, “After a fiery confrontation with a group of villains, two top heroes were said to have been admitted with unknown injuries, though reports suggest at least one was in critical condition. Those heroes were Red Riot, Eijiro Kirishima, and Japan’s number two hero, Ground Zero, Katsuki Bakugo. Ground Zero has been missing in action since April 21, but amateur video shows the hero engaging with multiple villains midmorning yesterday. It’s unclear at this time the nature of Ground Zero’s reemergence, but some sources say he was also fighting with some of the heroes who responded to the indicate. These reports remain unconfirmed at this time.

“Red Riot was said to have been one of those who responded to the incident. Witnesses tell us that he confronted several villains and was shot in the head. They say he was trying to rescue someone, and that someone was none other than Ground Zero’s mate, Izuku Midoriya, who is about four months pregnant with the couple’s second pup. Heroes were able to intervene to save Midoriya, but reports suggest he was injured during the fight and was taken to the hospital alongside his mate and Red Riot.”

It was surreal to hear it all played back to him, surreal for Izuku to see grainy footage of Katsuki battling Ryuichi and Hayami, to see the barest hint of himself being shoved into the backseat of a car, of Kirishima running up to the car, and promptly getting shot off of it. Katsuki had returned to watch it all unfold, his lips pressed together, eyes drawn into a thoughtful line. His gaze seemed to linger a long time on the image of Kirishima’s body in the street, even after the video had moved on.

The reporter reappeared, standing in front of the hospital. “All three were taken to this hospital and once reports of the incident began to spread, people began arriving in droves to offer flowers to the health of Red Riot, Ground Zero, and Midoriya. One student who put a rose in with the hundreds of other flowers said it was in thanks to the sacrifices of the heroes, and of the mates of heroes, who are sometimes caught up in the more dangerous side of their partner’s work. He shared the sentiment that everyone who is coming here to lay flowers down is wishing the best for all three involved, and also that they are welcoming back their number two hero after an eighty-five day absence.”

The reporter went on, but Izuku’s head was spinning so much he couldn’t quite take it all in. Instead, he was struck by the sea of colors that overwhelmed the hospital sidewalk. Hundreds upon hundreds of flowers had been piled up, set before the hospital like offerings to a great deity, each representing the prayers of those wishing them well, those hoping for the best, those welcoming Katsuki home. And even as he watched, more people showed up, setting their flowers in the growing mound. It was simply unbelievable. Izuku didn’t think he’d even seen anything like it.

Beside him, Katsuki sank to the bed, reaching for Izuku without turning away from the television. The omega pressed against him, humming quietly as the alpha’s arm wound around him. It was rare that Katsuki seemed genuinely lost for words. Typically if he was quiet he simply didn’t want to say anything, his silence rarely indicating he didn’t know what to say. He wondered what Katsuki thought of the situation, but also thought asking him might ruin this moment, this realization that just as Izuku had missed Katsuki, so had all of Japan, and now the people were showing just how much they believed in him, in all heroes, and how much they understood and appreciated their sacrifices.

This wasn’t just for Katsuki and Kirishima. It wasn’t even for Izuku. It felt so much bigger than just the three of them. It was as if these people were laying out their flowers to every hero out there, every hero who was hurt trying to protect someone, every hero’s mate who had to watch their loved one suffer, every hero’s pup who wondered if their parent would come home that day.

Izuku took in a breath, let it out slowly, somehow finding himself relaxing into Katsuki’s side for the first time since reuniting.

He didn’t even flinch when someone knocked at the door. He half hoped it was Kazue, coming to see them for visiting hours, but instead a smiling nurse opened the door.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily, “a patient has asked to see you two.”

Izuku and Katsuki sat up immediately and Katsuki asked, “Kirishima?”

The nurse just smiled. “Here. I’ll take you to him.”

- - -

The hospital staff wouldn’t let Izuku walk, so they put him in a wheelchair and pushed him down the halls. Katsuki walked beside them, half snarling, wanting to tell the nurse to go faster while also not wanting to make her shove Izuku any more. Izuku felt a similar pressing need to get down that hallway, to see Kirishima. To see if he was truly alive.

He worried his lip with each step, with each time the alpha clenched and unclenched his fists.

They were led to the intensive care unit, where the nurses were murmuring to each other, sharp eyed and wary, alert to anything wrong. Each of them cast a glance over Izuku and Katsuki, but quickly lost interest once it was clear they weren’t new patients. The nurse paused in front of one of the rooms, and knocked before opening the door.

“They’re here. Do you want to see them?”

A murmured reply came after her question, Izuku straining to hear if it was Kirishima but unable to decipher exactly what was said. The grimace on Katsuki’s face told him the alpha hadn’t heard anything clearly either, both of them holding their breath as the nurse opened the door a little more.

“Please be gentle and keep your voices down. Call us if anything happens.”

Izuku swallowed thickly, startled slightly when his wheelchair jerked forward as Katsuki pushed him a little too enthusiastically. They entered the room, finding it a mazework of machines lined alongside the bed, a low droning noise emanating from one while another beat out the rhythmic pulsing of a heart. The room was dim, the lights down so low they were practically off, but otherwise the room was so spotlessly clean it almost felt unreal. Another dream, another ethereal moment. As if everything would be taken away in a moment.

But of course, the intricacies of the room vanished from Izuku’s mind as quickly as they entered, his gaze falling to the person laying in the hospital bed.

Kirishima opened one haggard, exhausted, slightly dull red eye and peered at them, then a creaky smile spread over his face, and he raised a hand, the movement slow and unsteady, as if it took so much effort just for that little movement. In an instant, Katsuki had taken that hand, holding it up as if he were holding all of the beta up. Izuku stood to approach the beta’s bedside, to try to smile despite the state of him.

Kirishima’s face was swollen and misshapen, bandages wrapping around his left eye. His usually bright expression was dim with pain and exhaustion, his skin sagging along his bones. He looked a sharp breeze away from collapsing completely. And yet, he was still smiling.

“Hey,” his voice croaked, “it’s you, Kats. You’re back.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki lowered his voice, frowned down at his best friend. “How are you feeling? You look like shit.”

“Ha!” Kirishima laughed once, but it was a painful noise accompanied by a sharp flinch, even if the beta kept smiling through it, “Don’t feel that great. But I’m hanging in there. Can’t keep me down. How about you?”

“I’m fine,” Katsuki ground his teeth a little, then snarled out, “can’t even fucking remember anything. I just opened my eyes and all this time had passed.”

“Mmm. Must be hard.” Kirishima traced a line with his thumb down the back of Katsuki’s hand, but even that tiny movement seemed to take so much out of him.

Katsuki frowned at his words, then said, “Tell me about what happened. Your eye somewhere under all that gauze?”

“Ah ha, no, actually. I’m going to be a pirate from now on, see? No need to cosplaying!” At Katsuki’s deepened grimace, Kirishima added, “It’s okay. They fixed up all the nerves so I’m not in pain. And I can manage with just one eye. Better than being dead, right?”

Katsuki only grimaced deeper. His eyes swept over the beta’s hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. “Surprised they didn’t shave you.”

“Whaaaa? No way they’d do something like that. Hair’s iconic, after all,” Kirishima grinned. “Doc had some crazy Quirk. Said he can only use it once a month. Meant they didn’t have to shave me or do anything beyond fishing out the bullet. Shattered into three pieces. You always were saying I have a thick skull.”

Izuku swallowed the more he spoke. For the hospital to employ such desperate measures, to use up a resource that wouldn’t be made available for another month now, spoke so much to the seriousness of it all. And Kirishima had gotten that injury saving him.

He didn’t know what to say. So he sat back as Kirishima surveyed Katsuki, his gaze lingering on his blue hair. “Oh man. Going for a new style? Can’t say I like it all that much.”

“I’m not a fan either,” Katsuki mumbled. He was still holding Kirishima’s hand, even though it was clear the beta had loosened his grip. “Izuku told me you saved him.”

“Course,” Kirishima went to nod, winced, and laid still as Katsuki pressed a hand to his chest. “Wouldn’t let anyone do anything to your omega.” Katsuki swallowed thickly just as Izuku dragged a hand over his face to hide his tears. “ ‘S he okay? Haven’t heard anything.”

“I’m okay,” Izuku leaned a little forward and Kirishima’s gaze fell to him, his smile widening, feeling a little more genuine. “I’m sorry. You got hurt because of me.”

“Nah man,” Kirishima chuckled, despite it all. “It’s what heroes do. And it’s what family does, for that matter. Never let anything happen to you. I’d always be there.”

There were no words to express Izuku’s gratitude. He doubted there were in any language in the known world, but certainly the words he knew weren’t enough. So Izuku smiled, and he breathed in deeply, until he could calm himself enough to release calming and relaxing pheromones, a small gift he could give the beta, a reassurance that all was well now. Kirishima’s gaze faded a little around the edges, as if he were slipping away, but he smiled at the two, struggling to clasp his fingers around Katsuki’s hand.

“Hey. Had my pup,” he told the alpha, who just barely caught himself from frowning, “name’s Ren. Mina’s bringing him later. Can’t wait for you to meet him.”

Katsuki nodded solemnly. “Can’t wait to meet him either.”

The beta’s grin softened, and he closed his eye with a sigh. “Can’t wait until things go back to normal, you know. We’re on the road now. That’s a good feeling.”

Again, there were no words to say what Izuku felt. He leaned against Katsuki, lent his scent to the exhausted beta, so very grateful to know that yes, they were on the road to normal. Even if it took them a while to reach it, they would get there.

Eventually, they would get there.

- - -

The couple was informed that the pack had arrived for visiting hours and that Kazue was waiting for them in their room. They promised to come see Kirishima soon, Katsuki telling him again he was looking forward to meeting Ren, before they left to reunite with their pup.

Kazue was sitting on Katsuki’s bed, kicking his legs out. He leaped up as the door opened and threw himself into Katsuki’s arms, hugging him tightly before going to greet his omega with another hug. “Are you okay?” He asked neither of them in particular, both of them at the same time perhaps.

“We’re okay,” Izuku said as he pushed himself out of the wheelchair. As he went to lay back in his bed, Katsuki helping to support him, Kazue pulled the blanket and pillows out of his way, setting them back into place as the omega settled. “The doctors said the pup’s okay too.”

Kazue froze, clearly having never considered this as a possibility. He reached forward as if to touch Izuku’s stomach, but Katsuki intercepted his hand, pulling the pup toward his bed instead. “We think the doctors are going to release your mom tomorrow morning, but we don’t know about me yet. So you’ll take care of your mom for a little while longer if you have to, right?”

Kazue studied the alpha closely, searching him, perhaps looking for whatever injuries that may keep him in the hospital. “You’re not coming home?”

“Yes, firecracker, of course I’ll come home. As soon as I can.”

The pup nodded slowly, then shuffled his feet. “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” He’d already asked this question, yet it still made a little flutter of pain bloom in Izuku’s chest.

That pain seemed to mirror in the alpha’s thin-lipped expression. “No, Kazue, I’m not mad. I was never mad at you.”

“Okay,” Kazue said, and even if he didn’t believe the alpha, he still leaned against him for support, Katsuki happily wrapping his pup up in his arms.

Izuku smiled between the two, happy to see them reunited, happy to see that although they had parted on bad terms, those terms had been wiped clean, just like that. Perhaps now Kazue would start behaving well again. Maybe he wouldn’t be as angry. Maybe things really could go back to normal.

Yes, maybe.

That hope fizzled out as a knock sounded on their door, it giving way to reveal Inspector Tsukauchi. Izuku’s stomach twisted at the sight of him, despite the smile that he greeted the family with. Katsuki, likewise, scowled at the inspector.

“Not right now. I’m with my pup and omega. We need some time,” he growled.

The inspector shook his head. “I am sorry for the intrusion. But this couldn’t wait. We must speak with both you and Midoriya for our investigation. Plus I have some guests who would like to talk to you.”

Halfway to a snarl, Katsuki paused as Tsukauchi stepped aside, revealing Togata standing in the doorway. Izuku frowned uneasily at the sight of him. The number one hero wasn’t his usual chipper self, even if he was still smiling. He was subdued in a way the omega had never seen him before, and that instantly put him on edge.

Katsuki snapped his jaws at the other alpha. “What do you want?”

“Glad to see you’re doing well,” Togata said, nodding to Izuku before returning his gaze to Katsuki. “And right to the point as usual, I see. Well. We had some news we wanted to share with you. News about something that happened several months ago. Something we think is related to what happened to you two.”

Even as on edge as he was, Izuku immediately felt suspicion sinking into his bones. What was going on around here? What was Togata talking about? How could something that had happened several months ago be so relevant and so important it had to be told in that moment?

But then, Togata also stepped to the side, revealing one other person standing in the doorway. It was Hikaru, the little beta pup flinching back as all eyes landed on him, sniffling past already tear-stained cheeks.

Kazue gave an alarmed yelp and leaped up to go to the beta pup, but Hikaru grabbed onto Togata’s leg as Kazue approached.

Togata stroked Hikaru’s head comfortingly, smiling down at him. “It’s all right. You want me to tell them?”

“No,” despite his tears and obvious fear, Hikaru snapped the word at his alpha, and turned toward those in the room.

Izuku glanced at Katsuki, but he didn’t seem to have the foggiest idea what was going on. A sad expression on Tsukauchi’s face didn’t comfort him any, but he couldn’t tell just from that what was happening. All he could do was hold his breath as Hikaru collected himself, as he sobbed one more time, and looked up at Kazue.

“I’m sorry!” He shouted. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Everyone got hurt because of me. Because I was too scared. You got hurt because I never told anyone what happened. Everything that happened, it’s my fault.”

Chapter Text

“We were playing in the park. Or, at least, we were supposed to be playing in the park.”

Hikaru sat next to the bed where Kazue’s Mom was sitting, everyone gathered around him and the omega. Kazue kept close to Kacchan, that feeling that he needed to be there to help protect his alpha still writhing under his skin. Being close to his Dad both soothed him and made him a little jumpy. He kept waiting for villains to swoop in to try to take him away again, even if he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Auntie Momo had already told him that heroes were guarding the hospital and that they would protect his Mom and Dad with their lives. Still though. He’d lost his Dad once already. He was afraid it may happen again.

Listening to Hikaru would usually calm him down, but the beta pup kept wiggling uncomfortably in his seat, glancing up at his alpha for support. Mr. Togata smiled down at his pup, but whenever Hikaru looked away, his smile would fade.

“We slipped away from Mirai and Keiji and went down to play by the river,” Hikaru continued. “I wasn’t paying attention and when I looked back, I saw that Kazue wasn’t there anymore. I went to look for him and saw that he’d fallen and someone started talking to him. A man.” The beta pup wrinkled his nose. “He smelled awful.”

Beside them, Kazue’s Mom made a little gasping noise under his breath. When Kazue looked, he found his Mom staring at him, eyes wide in unmistakable terror. It made his skin itch even more, even after Kacchan put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

As Hikaru talked, he tried to remember this incident, but he couldn’t. Not at all. But why would Hikaru lie about something like this?

“I tried to tell Kazue I wanted to play somewhere else because the man was creepy, but Kazue wouldn’t listen to me. He only listened to the man. The man asked Kazue what my name was, and what my Quirk was, and he told him.”

“No!” Kazue leaped up, wanting to grab Hikaru’s hand, to reassure him, but the beta pup flinched back so he stayed where he was, not wanting to scare him any more. “I wouldn’t tell anyone what your Quirk is, Hikaru! I made a promise! I said I would protect you by not telling anyone your Quirk.”

“I know,” Hikaru said, nodding a little to show his sincerity, “but you weren’t acting like yourself, Kazue. You were being weird. And the man. He said it was his Quirk. That he could control you because you were an alpha.”

Kacchan snarled so suddenly and so deeply that even Kazue flinched back. His Dad was bearing his teeth as if at some enemy, but his gaze was unfocused and he held his hands out in front of him, trying to strangle someone who wasn’t there. His Mom looked like he was going to be sick.

Mr. Togata gently squeezed Hikaru’s shoulder. “Keep going.”

Hikaru warily eyed Kacchan as he continued to strangle the air, eventually saying, “He told me that he couldn’t control me because I’m… because I’m an omega.” Kazue snarled at this, though instead of flinching back, Hikaru gave him the barest of little smiles. Hikaru was a beta. What right did this man have in trying to tell him otherwise? It felt unclean and insulting in a way that made Kazue’s head spin, though he listened very closely as Hikaru continued, “He said my sense of smell was too good for him to fool with his Quirk. So he told Kazue to take my hand so he could bring us somewhere else.”

Again, Kacchan flailed furiously. His Mom looked like he was on the verge of crying. Kazue wrapped an arm around his omega and found himself in a tight bear hug, his Mom keeping him pressed close to him, a trembling hand on his cheek.

“But! It didn’t really work,” Hikaru said, trying to talk over Kacchan’s low snarling. “Something happened and Kazue snapped out of it and he tried to protect me from the man. And then Mirai and Keiji showed up and he told Kazue to forget everything that had happened and he left.”

“Why?” Hardly before Hikaru had stopped talking, Kazue’s Mom was speaking. “Why? Why did any of this….” He trailed off with a sigh, letting his head tip forward until Kazue bumped his nose with his forehead and growled quietly for him. His omega brightened a little, but only for a moment, falling quickly back into despair.

“I’m sorry. I told you it was my fault,” Hikaru began sniffling again. “But the man… he told me if I said anything to anyone, he’d come back and make Kazue hurt me then, then… then kill himself.” His Mom’s arms tightened protectively around Kazue and Kacchan went strangely silent and still. The shift was so sudden that Hikaru’s words didn’t register with Kazue at first. Because he would never hurt Hikaru or himself. Never. No matter what.

He waited for someone to say this, to say anything at all, but nobody did. They just kept looking at Hikaru, waiting for him to say something else, to explain himself. As if there was anything more to say.

As the silence grew uneasy, Mr. Togata said, “When Hikaru found out that you had been hurt, Midoriya, he broke down and told us about it. He was worried that the man would come after Kazue again.”

“Is it the same person?” his Mom asked, a little bit of hope in his voice.

Mr. Togata nodded gravely. “Hikaru said the man told the pups to call him Father.”

If it was at all possible, Kazue’s Mom just held Kazue all the tighter, so much so that Kazue had to wiggle and growl to try to get some air. He rubbed against his Mom’s cheek to try to calm him, but the omega didn’t seem to notice.

“So this confirms that Father has come after all three of you,” the man holding the notebook said. He’d been taking notes as Hikaru had talked, but Kazue didn’t even really know what he was doing there. He vaguely remembered that his Dad worked with him, but he didn’t know anything beyond that. He wasn’t a hero, of that Kazue was sure. After all, he would have known if he was a hero. So he was someone else. Someone important enough to take notes. Weird. “It’s a clue, but to what we aren’t really sure. Could be he is trying to get revenge for Sugawara.”

A shaky laugh rose up from Kazue’s Mom, a sound that wasn’t very much like a laugh, really. It echoed like a laugh, but felt hollow and sad and made Kazue’s hair stand on end. His omega wouldn’t look at anyone.

“I… have something… I should tell you. Momo and Shoto already know. Have they said anything to you, Inspector?”

The man with the notebook shook his head. “No, they haven’t. What’s wrong?”

Again, his Mom laughed, but finally raised his eyes to glance between Kazue and Hikaru. Although Hikaru was still staring down at his feet, he tensed as the omega’s eyes fell to him. “Thank you for telling us this, Hikaru. It was very brave of you. And don’t worry. This isn’t your fault.”

Hikaru shook his head fiercely. “It is! If I’d said something before, maybe Mr. Bakugo wouldn’t have gotten hurt, and you wouldn’t have either, Mr. Midoriya.”

“No, Hikaru. It’s all right,” his Mom lowered his voice to a quiet hum, a soothing tone to each word. As he spoke, Hikaru even chanced glancing up at him, seeing the kind if not tired smile on his face. “You were doing what you thought you had to to protect yourself and Kazue. I understand that. But next time, you should trust that the heroes will take care of you two. You don’t ever have to do anything alone, okay? I’m sure your alpha would have helped you, and I know Katsuki would have.” He indicated both heroes as he spoke, Mr. Togata putting a supportive hand to his pup’s back while Kacchan lowered his chin and growled. “We aren’t angry at you, okay? Was there anything else that happened like this that we need to know about? Did you ever see him again?”

Hikaru shook his head. “No. Never.”

“All right,” his Mom finally let Kazue go. “Firecracker, why don’t you and Hikaru go sit with the pack? The adults have some things they need to talk about.”

As reluctant as he was to part from his alpha and omega, Kazue noticed the quick, uncertain glance Hikaru gave him, and he remembered that he had wanted to talk to the beta pup, to apologize to him. And he wanted to say more. To ask him about Father. To tell him he’d never, ever hurt him, no matter what. To reassure him he’d always be safe with Kazue around.

So he glanced between his Mom and Dad, asked, “You’ll be here?”

“Yes, firecracker. Kacchan and I aren’t going anywhere without you,” his Mom smiled, but it felt forced. Kazue had started to know the difference between a real smile and a fake one. All his Mom had given him recently were fake smiles. He hated that fake smile. The first real smile he’d seen on his Mom’s face had been last night, when he’d reunited with his alpha and omega. Ever since, they had all been fakes again.

Wrinkling his nose, Kazue stood and held out his hand to Hikaru, who shied away. Dropping his hand into his pocket, he waited patiently as the beta pup stood, glancing once up at him before shuffling away. They left the room with Kazue paused briefly to glance over his parents one more time before the door shut between them. Kacchan gave him the barest of nods, usually a sign to tell him everything was under control. But how could he trust that, when his Dad had been gone for so long?

Realizing Hikaru was already halfway down the hall, Kazue hurried to catch up, then hurried some more when he noticed the beta pup was speeding up, trying to get away from him.

“Hey! Hikaru, stop, please!”

Hikaru curled up, ducking his head so much his neck disappeared between his shoulders. He only stopped when Kazue grabbed his hand. “Please tell me. Was everything you said true? Did that really happen?”

The beta pup growled quietly. “You don’t believe me?”

“I don’t remember,” Kazue countered, to which Hikaru shook his head.

“You wouldn’t. That man told you to forget and you did. You didn’t know why I was crying after he left.”

A sudden jolt passed through Kazue’s bones. He did remember that. He remembered Hikaru crying on the side of the river, he remembered his knee being scraped up, perhaps from a fall, though he couldn’t remember anything that had happened before that.

He hadn’t seen Hikaru cry before that day. It was the only time the beta pup had curled up into Kazue’s arms without a fuss or without teasing Kazue. It was the only time he’d ever wanted to be held, to be protected. It was also the last time Kazue remembered playing with Hikaru in a park, the beta pup since having a fearful reluctance to return to such places.

It all made sense. And yet, it didn’t. How could he not remember?

Hikaru pulled away and Kazue let him go, but he followed the beta pup closely. “I’m sorry, Hikaru. I… I wish I could remember. I wish I could have helped you.”

Again, Hikaru shook his head. “No, Kazue. I should have helped you. I just… crumbled like a coward. I’m a coward! I didn’t do anything to help you or your family!”

“That’s not your job, though.”

“But how can I be a hero if I can’t even save someone I care about?”

The words shocked Kazue to silence, even Hikaru shocked to stillness at his own words. He’d never heard any doubt from the beta pup before, even if he had on occasion sensed it writhing under his skin. Hikaru was always so self-assured, so confident. It hurt a very deep part of Kazue to see him so upset, to see him blaming himself for something like this.

It was a lot to take in. And Kazue didn’t really know what to do with it all.

So instead, he retreated to territory he’d mulled over quite a bit, things he was much more comfortable with. He took Hikaru’s hand again, holding it tightly. “I’m sorry I haven’t wanted to play with you recently. I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you either. I was… I don’t know. I just didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just wanted my Dad, and I wanted to find him and help him. And I was angry too. Really angry.”

“Angry at me?” Hikaru asked, his voice low and quiet.

Kazue shook his head. “No, never. I was just angry at everything else.”

“Everything else?”

“Well. I don’t know.”

Hikaru considered his words, tilting his head to the side. After a moment, he glanced up and down the hospital hallway, seeing it empty. Then, he crossed the space between him and the alpha pup and pulled him into a tight hug, rubbing his cheek along Kazue’s neck. As he did, he released a wonderful scent, something that soaked into Kazue’s skin and bones and heart, something that made him feel a bit like jelly.

“I’m sorry you were angry. But I’m happy your alpha is back.”

Kazue smiled into Hikaru’s shoulder. “Me too.”

“Are you sure you’re not angry at me? For not telling anyone?”

“No. Like my Mom said, you were trying to protect me. I understand that,” Kazue frowned, thinking over what the beta pup had said, what had happened. “I guess I owe you an apology. I should have protected you, but I didn’t. It sounded like I hurt you even. But I want you to know I’d never hurt you again. Never. I’m an alpha, so it’s my job to protect other people. Never to hurt them. I… I know better.”

“It’s okay,” Hikaru sighed, not holding Kazue as tightly, yet neither of them were eager to part quite yet. “But you’re wrong, Kazue. You don’t have to protect me just because you’re an alpha. I can protect you too. I told you I would! Remember?”

Kazue did remember that. He remembered when Hikaru had figured out that the alpha pup didn’t know if he wanted to be a hero. Hikaru had told him he would protect him, no matter what he did, that he didn’t have to worry. In turn, when Kazue had been told of Hikaru’s amazing Quirk, his ability to heal and help people, he’d promised to protect him, to make sure he was able to help others. It felt strange for them both to have agreed to protect the other. He didn’t know if such an arrangement could be kept. All he knew was he hadn’t held up his end of their deal. He hadn’t protected Hikaru when he’d needed Kazue most. And for that, he felt regret bubbling in his stomach.

After a time, they let go of each other and stepped apart, looking at each other carefully. Kazue shuffled his feet nervously and eventually said, “We’re still friends, right, Hikaru?”

The beta pup blinked at him. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I don’t know,” Kazue shrugged, then took his hand. “Let’s go play.”

“Your Mom said to find your pack,” Hikaru said, but Kazue shrugged.

“I don’t really want to see the pack right now. They keep asking me if I’m all right and I don’t want to tell them that I am all right.”

Kazue half expected Hikaru to ask him the very same question, and he could see it right at the beta pup’s tongue, but eventually, he nodded. “Okay. Let’s go play then.”

- - -

Izuku waited until Kazue and Hikaru had left before he turned to look at Katsuki. He knew the news was going to crush the alpha. He just knew it. It was why he’d been avoiding telling him since they’d reunited. At first, he’d simply told himself that they needed this time to breathe, to reunite. They needed to be together again. But the time for that had quickly slipped away and now, they needed to turn to the truth of the matter. Hikaru’s story made it very clear that Father was a present and determined threat. He’d come after each of them in turn, but at least Izuku knew where his ultimate intent had landed.

So he took a breath, and said, “Father told me that he wanted revenge for Sugawara’s death. An eye for an eye sort of thing. So in return for her, he wanted to take me as his mate.”

All at once, the energy in the room stilled, even as it boiled. Katsuki became the center of the room in that moment, the center of everyone’s attention, the center of the energy. At first, it manifested as simply a rising feeling of tension, the alpha not reacting outwardly at first. Then, he flinched.

Every muscle in Katsuki’s body seemed to tighten, to raise up, to lash out in fury at the suggestion of what Father had said. His lips raised over gnashed teeth, a wide, animalistic snarl that distorted Katsuki’s face. His eyes reduced to pinpoints and his hands took on a tremble, then began to spark and smoke.

“That fucking bastard. No way. No fucking way. I won’t let that happen. I would never let that happen!” He snapped his jaws so hard Izuku was impressed he didn’t shatter any of his teeth. “Did he touch you at all, Izuku? Tell me, did he lay a finger on you?”

“He… I think he’s the one who…,” Izuku brushed a hand over his stomach, carefully watched as Katsuki’s entire body took on that tremble of rage. “But he didn’t touch me otherwise. I don’t know what his intentions were in… in that regard. But… he also told me that he’d given Sugawara everything and he would do the same for me. If I learned to love him, he’d give me the world, he said, and he sounded fairly confident.”

“Confident as in, he was trying to show off or he meant it truly?” Tsukauchi pressed on, trying to ignore Katsuki.

It was hard for Izuku to focus with how upset his alpha was, but he also knew there was almost nothing he could do to calm him. Katsuki’s rage would peter out simply as he wore himself down with it. He could already see the lines of exhaustion starting to form. Still, he braved to reach forward and take Katsuki’s hand, to try to hold him steady and in that moment, where they were both safe and Father was nowhere to be found, nowhere close enough to hurt either of them again.

For now.

That would change. Father would come for them again. After hearing what Hikaru had said, Izuku was certain that the villain had been planning this, some part of this, for a while now. Now that he’d been dragged out into the open, now that he’d been exposed by Izuku and Katsuki escaping, his attacks would be more relentless. Izuku was afraid he wouldn’t feel the need to stick to the shadows anymore, not when his quarry knew he was coming for them. He’d be bold, and he seemed to have the ability to cause enough havoc and damage to get at them. They weren’t safe. And they wouldn’t be until Father was caught. Father, and everyone else involved with him.

Which included—

“Father seemed to have access to a lot of resources. When he said he could give me the world, I think he meant it fairly literally. His family seems to be vast, with those five who were with him when I ran into him, and at least one other he mentioned, someone called Yumi. And also… there was something else.”

Tsukauchi, who had been making notes, paused when Izuku didn’t continue. “Something else?” He prompted.

Again, Izuku glanced to Katsuki. While the alpha was still fuming, he had settled enough to be taking in what was being said, mulling over the conversation as if he were grinding the words between his teeth. At least he wasn’t raging anymore. It was a little easier to focus with Katsuki breathing a bit normally.

Steeling himself for another outburst, Izuku said, “He was able to pick up a phone and reach the League’s leader, Hiku. He talked to him while they had me. They talked like they knew each other very well, like maybe Hiku was part of his family.”

As Izuku spoke, he expected some sort of reaction to happen, but not even Katsuki seemed surprised by the news. In fact, the only indication of anyone being interested in this piece of news was Togata glancing to Tsukauchi, the inspector frowning just a bit more. “You knew about this?” Izuku turned to Katsuki as he said it, and saw the alpha grimace deeply.

“It wasn’t your concern,” he said.

“Like hell it was!” A pit of anger wanted to burn in Izuku at being lied to again, even if by omission. Not knowing about Father, who had a direct tie to Sugawara, was one thing. Katsuki knowing that Father was connected so deeply to the League of Villains, to their leader himself, and still not saying anything, was on an entirely different level. Sugawara had been a small, focused villain, all things considered. It was still uncertain how much influence and power Father himself wielded. But Hiku? Hiku was the number one enemy of hero society. How could Katsuki think that there being a potential threat from the upper echelons of the League not be of importance to tell him?

Then again, he’d just gotten the alpha back from Father. That pit of anger burned out quickly, leaving a searing impression in his memory. He would talk to Katsuki about this later. But now was not the time.

With a sigh of disappointment, Izuku turned away. “Anyway, Father treated Hiku different from the others. He seemed to genuinely care for and enjoy talking to Hiku. It may be just because he’s got more influence than some of the others, but I don’t know. It felt different, anyway.”

Tsukauchi made a thoughtful noise, scribbling in his notebook some more. “This is all very important information, Midoriya. I’m glad you are willing to share it.”

“Anything to find him and stop him,” Izuku muttered, glancing up toward the door. “He took my alpha. He tried to take my pups.” The thought of Father being anywhere near Kazue made every nerve in his being fire all at once, a painful spike of adrenaline in his veins. He clenched his fists to hold through it. “What else do you want to know?”

- - -

Izuku talked for so long that both Tsukauchi and Togata took seats at his bedside and Katsuki eventually settled enough to sit next to the omega, to lend a gentle touch at his back, a supportive stroke on his arm.

He told them about Father, about what he said about his Quirk, what he claimed it could do.

“He said he could control anyone who smelled his scent, besides omegas because we have a better sense of smell,” he said as Tsukauchi made notes, “but I’m inclined to think that’s not exactly true.”

The inspector paused to glance up at him and Togata tilted his head to the side. “What makes you say that?” The hero asked.

Izuku frowned, resisting the urge to look at Katsuki. He’d been thinking about the alpha a lot. A lot about how he’d reacted to Father, how others had reacted. And something just wasn’t right. “I don’t have any evidence for this, but I don’t think Father’s controlling anyone. I think it’s more suggestive.”

“Okay,” Tsukauchi slowly wrote out his next note. “I assume you have a reason for thinking that.”

“Yes. Most of the time, Father didn’t use commands. It was only at very specific intervals, and when he did use commands, he’d had to use a lot of his scent to force it. It felt more like when an alpha uses a command. The command itself is in the overpowering alpha pheromones, not in the actual words themselves, and alpha commands aren’t always that effective. The suggestions worked a lot better. For example, he never actually commanded Kirishima to stop using his Quirk. Instead, he told him to relax, as if persuading him that everything was okay.” As he spoke, he wrung his hands, trying to think everything over again, but he kept coming to the same conclusion. Father hadn’t been one hundred percent truthful. And why would he be, anyway? It was to his benefit for the heroes to think him a greater threat, a more powerful foe, than he actually was.

“I don’t think that’s the complete picture of what he can do. I don’t quite know how it all works. From what Hikaru said, he was able to make Kazue forget about their encounter, which would suggest that his Quirk is exceedingly potent. But if that’s true, then how come it didn’t work on Kirishima like that? Or Katsuki, for that matter? He went feral and Father lost all control over him. What’s more, I saw Father giving Katsuki suggestions that twisted the way he interpreted his memory of me. But he still had to lean on that memory, and it wasn’t as if he could simply snap his fingers and make Katsuki believe whatever he wanted. If his Quirk is really that strong, he shouldn’t have lost control for a second. Even some of his other family members went against his wishes, so it’s not complete. There are flaws.” For the first time, Izuku chanced a glance up at Katsuki. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find, but he what he saw was that his alpha was thinking deeply, taking in his words carefully, taking them apart, trying to find something in them. Just as he may have done months earlier.

Tsukauchi was frowning at his notes, as if puzzling something out, while Togata glanced between all of them, searching for something. When nobody said anything, he spoke first, “So, this is good news, isn’t it? That means he can’t just release a bunch of his scent and take control of us.”

Izuku nodded. “Yes, that seems to be true, but he still caught Kirishima off guard pretty quickly. He didn’t seem able to make Kirishima do anything drastic. But he did stop him, even if just by confusing him. He’s still a threat, but I don’t think he’s as powerful as he wants us to believe.”

“Good. We’ll take whatever advantage we can,” Tsukauchi triumphantly made one last note before turning to Izuku. “What about the others in his group? You said there were five.”

“Yes, Tame, Etsu, Ryuichi, Satoshi, and Hayami,” Izuku nodded to the inspector. “You said you arrested Hayami, right? I honestly don’t really know anything about her. I don’t even think she ever said anything around me.”

Tsukauchi tapped his notebook. “Yes, she’s been arrested, but she hasn’t been willing to talk. If she’s anything like Tsuda, she won’t be willing to talk for a long, long time either.”

Izuku shivered at the mention of Tsuda, another one of Sugawara’s, and Father’s, children. He’d been in jail for five years and had never said anything about his family. Tsukauchi was right, they couldn’t count on learning anything from Hayami. But at least she was in jail where she couldn’t hurt anyone.

“The others didn’t say anything about their Quirks directly, but I think I saw them all using them,” Izuku continued. “I think Satoshi can store things. He kept pulling things out of his jacket even though there weren’t any bulges to suggest he was carrying a lot of things. I don’t know if it’s connected directly to his jacket or he can do that with anything else. Etsu had some sort of technology Quirk, I think. Father kept saying she was the only one who could get them a car and we ended up in a stolen car. Sorry, I don’t know anymore specifics for her. I thought Ryuichi had a strength Quirk at first, but actually the more I think about it, I think it’s a speed-based Quirk. I don’t know the mechanics behind it, though. And Tame…,” he trialed off, thinking about her. Of all of Father’s companions, she seemed to be the most dangerous.

“Her,” Katsuki growled suddenly. He leaned a little over Izuku’s shoulder, pressing closer to the omega. “She was the bitch with the ponytail, right? Couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

Izuku blinked. “You remember her?”

“Kind of. Remember someone yelling at me, calling me a bunch of names when I was feral.” He grinned, but it wasn’t a happy grin. “Wanted to rip her to pieces.”

Izuku would not have wished that fate upon anyone, but he did wish Katsuki had stopped her. “Anyway,” he pressed on, “she has some sort of… I don’t know how to describe it. She could disappear and reappear. She could make other people disappear and reappear. She hid the entire confrontation when Katsuki started going feral. Nobody noticed him exploding things at first, even though they were practically right there. I distracted her and that’s when Hitoshi arrived….” Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t heard if Hitoshi was okay. Or if anyone else in the pack had gotten hurt. He swallowed, feeling guilty he hadn’t thought to check on any of them.

“I assume you don’t know the mechanics of how it worked either?” Tsukauchi didn’t look up from furiously writing in his notebook.

“No. Sorry. I don’t really even know what she was doing, much less how.”

Tsukauchi nodded and kept scribbling. As the inspector worked, Togata tilted his head the other way. “You figured all of that out just from watching everyone?”

Izuku ducked his head a little and Katsuki growled possessively. “I, uh, yeah. I’m used to noticing those things. I’ve studied a lot of Quirks.”

“Huh,” Togata smiled, sudden and bright, “we’re lucky to have someone like you around, Midoriya. This is all going to be super helpful when we track them down.”

“You are going to find them, right?”

It was a wonder how such a little question could change the very air in the room. Gone was the forced relaxed tone of everything, gone was the attempts to try to make the conversation seem like they were talking about just about anything else. Gone was the pretending. In its place, there was the raw emotion of what they were discussing. The fear and pain on Izuku’s part, the uncertainty and sense of displacement that radiated from Katsuki, and the forlorn pity from Tsukauchi and Togata. It had all been festering just underneath their words, a rotted core none of them wished to acknowledge. Even Izuku didn’t want to think about how everything he was talking about scared him to death. It was easier for him to break it down as simply a Quirk analysis, an observation he’d made as a curious spectator. Even if that wasn’t the truth.

Now that it was laid bare, everyone turned to Izuku, an accusation of him bringing it to the surface. Even he felt uncomfortable by its presence. They had each in turn been avoiding this direct question. Because Sugawara had been arrested five years ago, and Father had been left to simmer and plot all that time. In five years, they hadn’t successfully stamped out the threat. Would they need another five to do so? More? Did they even know just how big of a threat this was?

These questions and more weighed on Izuku like a stack of rocks on his shoulders. He could see rocks of equal weight settling on both Tsukauchi and Togata.

The hero was the first to speak, allowing himself a grin before he said, “Because of this information, we’re in the best position to find and stop Father and his family. And who knows, maybe even the League as well. I know you had to pay a high price for this, but it won’t be for nothing.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I’m not going to let this one rest, Midoriya. I’m with you two, every step of the way. After all, Father went after my pup, too.” Izuku felt his cheeks redden, realizing he hadn’t even considered that Hikaru had been threatened by Father as well, that Togata would have felt the same pang of fear that he had with Kazue. “We’re not going to stop, and we haven’t lost to the villains yet. So don’t worry. You’re not alone in this.”

Izuku thought it was stupid for Togata to tell him not to worry. He had plenty to worry about, no matter whether the number one hero was part of the case or not. But he understood the sentiment. So he nodded, trying to match Togata’s grin with one of his own, only managing a little twitch.

“The police are also making this case a top priority,” Tsukauchi added. “This is going to be different from the Sugawara case, and even Yokoyama’s case. Father’s potential to be a greater threat cannot go ignored by higher ups. No doubt we’ll be bringing in the best of the best to find and stop him. I’ll make sure of it.”

Another empty promise. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure of it.

Exhaustion slumped over Izuku as he listened to them. He didn’t want to hear them talk. He wanted to see them take action.

Thankfully, Togata nodded toward him. “We’ll let you rest for now. We have some things we need to go over with the others anyway. I thought you should know about what happened with Hikaru and Kazue, and Hikaru insisted on telling you himself. We’re taking this all very seriously. We know what’s at stake here. Trust me.” That, Izuku could believe. Togata didn’t promise him anything or give him false appeasements. If only in that Father had directly tried to do harm to his pup, the number one hero understood the gravity of the situation.

Togata nodded to Tsukauchi, who was still writing notes, though he stood to follow the hero out of the room. “I’ll come see you before I leave. I do have a couple more questions for you, but they can wait for you two to rest.”

The thought of having to answer questions made Izuku grimace, but he said, “All right. Thank you.”

“No, Midoriya, thank you,” Togata waved at them. “Good to have you back, Bakugo! I’ll see you around the office!”

Katsuki growled quietly and didn’t let up until the door had shut and they were all alone. Then, the alpha pressed into Izuku’s neck, inhaling his scent deeply and deliberately. “Those assholes.”

“You think Kazue’s okay?” Izuku muttered, and Katsuki shifted.

“The pack will look after him. Let him have some time with Hikaru. He needs to have a bit of normalcy.”

It was a difficult thought to have to explain to Katsuki that Kazue and Hikaru hadn’t been hanging out recently, that them playing together was no longer to the norm. Honestly, it wasn’t worth it anyway. There were so many things they both needed to catch up on, so many things to talk about, but it had literally been less than twenty-four hours since they’d really reunited. They’d have time to get to all of that. For the moment, Izuku just wanted to be with Katsuki.

Allowing that thought to consume him, Izuku purposefully turned toward the alpha, letting Katsuki press a little deeper into his neck, to run his hand up his shirt. The alpha’s hand hesitated at his stomach, though Izuku carefully guided them along the bump in his body.

“It’s okay. Just don’t press down too hard,” Izuku whispered, watching as Katsuki’s eyes lit up, mesmerized by what was under his fingers.

It was painfully obvious that Katsuki was both awestruck and dumbfounded by the pup’s size. But of course, he was coming in halfway through. It was a small blessing that Katsuki had missed the first half of his pregnancy instead of the second. During the latter parts, the physical changes in Izuku’s body would become more dramatic. Even the small bump amazed Katsuki, so Izuku couldn’t even imagine what it would have done to the alpha to come back one day to see a completely rounded omega.

But he didn’t have to think about that. Katsuki was going to be there for the rest of it. Every step.

It was easy to tell himself that. Harder to believe it.

Again, he let the thought slip away in that moment. In that moment, he was only concerned with watching the glow in his alpha’s eyes, to feel his hands, wrapped in bandages, glide along his skin.

“Do… do they move at all?” Katsuki whispered, as if not to wake the pup.

“Sometimes. They haven’t moved a lot since I woke up,” Izuku bit his lip at the thought, wondering if it meant anything. Dr. Wanatabe had said everything was okay. But what if it wasn’t? “Eventually they’ll start kicking so hard you’ll be able to feel it.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki murmured, clearly only half paying attention, too absorbed in stroking Izuku.

After indulging in this for a little while longer, his hands traveled up beyond Izuku’s stomach to his chest, then his shoulders, to wrap around him, to draw him closer. Izuku purred happily as the alpha kissed his neck, then his jaw, finally his lips. Their kiss was a strange one. Almost hesitant, both testing each other, reestablishing familiar patterns. Izuku was the one to open his mouth, to demand more with a needy growl, and Katsuki pressed forward enthusiastically, only to almost immediately draw away.

There was that hesitance again. Izuku couldn’t quite tell if Katsuki was afraid of hurting him, or if it was something else. Before he could ask, the alpha nosed into his scent gland, rubbing against the bandages wrapped around his neck.

“Did he do this to you?” Katsuki growled.

Izuku couldn’t help but to laugh, if only ironically. “No. That was you. When you were feral. Only your mark on me.”

“Good,” Katsuki growled, nosing in a little more.

A stab of pain rippled along the sensitive skin and Izuku shrunk away. “Sorry. It still hurts. You bit me really hard.”

“Oh,” the alpha leaned back a little more, frowning at the bandages. “Sorry, omega. Is it bad?”

“Stitches,” Izuku shrugged, then bit his lip. “Nurses said it might scar over.”

Immediately, Katsuki sat back, meeting Izuku’s gaze. He was carefully trying to hide either pain or shame or some combination of the two, though Izuku knew him too well, could see the strain of emotion in the length of his lips and the slight furrow in his brow. Just as he could see these subtle lines, he could almost hear what the alpha was thinking: I scarred my omega? I did this to him?

Once upon a time, it would have been common practice to scar an omega or beta, to permanently mark a mate. Alphas were known to mark their mates, but the scarring soon became a symbol of ownership. Omegas with scars, even if they were no longer with the alpha who had given them, often had a harder time finding another partner or even friends. Scarring to mark became a derogatory thing, something only the cruelest and crudest of alphas did. Less permanent marks, like the bites that had decorated Izuku’s scent gland for the last five years, were the preferred method of showing a relationship status. But every now and then, either accidentally or deliberately, scarring did happen.

Knowing this, Izuku passed a hand along Katsuki’s jaw, trying to relax the line of tension setting his teeth. “You didn’t mean to do it. I know that. It’s okay, I’m not angry with you.”

Again, he could almost hear Katsuki growl, I am! but the alpha didn’t voice this thought. Instead, he tilted into Izuku’s palm, kissed it, caught the omega’s hand with his own, and pressed closer to him.

Izuku allowed himself to be laid down on the bed, laying beneath Katsuki’s body, humming contently as the alpha claimed the space around him. Such a move may have once preceded some of their more raucous nights. Under the glaring lights of the hospital, Katsuki’s presence over him was less enticing and more protective, the alpha putting himself between Izuku and the world.

He leaned in to kiss Izuku again, he whisper into his mouth, “You’re mine to protect. Mine to love. Mine to serve. I won’t forget that, Deku.”

“Yours,” Izuku agreed quietly, wanting more, knowing now wasn’t quite the time. Still, he did bite teasingly at Katsuki’s ear, did kiss his throat and suck at his scent gland, the alpha shivering at the intimate touches. “And you’re mine, Kacchan.”

The alpha smirked. “Damn right,” he said, and kissed him a little deeper.

It was easy to sink into that moment. It was easy being with Katsuki. As easy as it had once been. And that felt so incredibly wonderful.

Chapter Text

After spending what felt like no time at all with Katsuki, a nurse came to inform them that Kirishima had asked for the alpha, explaining that Mina had brought both Harue and Ren to the hospital. Although reluctant to leave Izuku’s side, Katsuki agreed to follow the nurse after Izuku said he’d be okay, that he needed a nap anyway. He was drained emotionally, physically, and mentally after everything that had happened, and he’d yet to be alone, if even briefly. Having some time away from everyone would probably be good for him.

While a nap had been his original idea, as soon as the door closed and Izuku was completely alone, he felt a prickle of unease sweep through him. The thought of closing his eyes, if even for a second, made him want to crawl out of his skin. The glaring lights above him took on the characteristics of roving eyes, watching his every move. He thought he could feel the shadows creeping just a little closer when he wasn’t paying attention. The room shrunk around him, pressing closer and closer.

So a nap was quickly out of the question.

Instead, Izuku turned to the small pack that Iida had supplied him and Katsuki earlier. He’d yet had a chance to look through it, so he took the time to shuffle through everything. There were snacks and books and a couple puzzle cubes that Izuku was particularly fond of. Typical hospital fare. There was also a stack of cards from the pack, wishing him well and welcoming Katsuki home.

One from Suzuki caught his attention, her having written in tight, neat, somewhat exceedingly legible script, “Welcoming you to a home that has been eagerly waiting for your return. You have three days before the media will expect a presser. I’ll stall them for a week and then some, just promise not to do this to us again.”

There was something strangely sweet in the sentiment of the card, though Izuku frowned at the implication of it. The media would want to hear from Katsuki. They’d want to know what had happened to him, why he had been gone for so long. They might want to know what had happened to his mate and his best friend as well. Katsuki seemed fine. He’d recovered fairly quickly from the initial shock of having lost nearly three months of his life. But Izuku knew that couldn’t be the end of it. Something was festering in the alpha, even if Katsuki himself didn’t know it. They didn’t know exactly what Father had done to the alpha, but Izuku knew some terrible things had happened. Katsuki had tried to hide his palms the one time the nurses came to rebandage him, but Izuku had clearly seen the horrible scars on them. Circular and driven straight through his hand. As if something had been impaled through his palm. Yes, something terrible had happened to Katsuki. Whether he remembered it or not didn’t really matter. Eventually, that would come to the surface, and Izuku was afraid the alpha might push himself too quickly since he was feeling fine.

He worried his lip as he stared at the card, then tucked it away and dug through the last of the bag’s contents. At the very bottom, he found two new cell phones, one with a note on it that read “Katsuki” and another that read “Izuku.” Katsuki’s had been on his person when he’d been capture and it hadn’t made an appearance since his rescue, and Izuku’s had been crushed by Ryuichi. Izuku was getting tired of having his phone smashed by villains.

He unlocked the one with his name on it and found it already loaded with many of his typical contacts, and with nearly fifty unread messages. Most of them were from the pack, telling him to get well. Several were from Sano, whose messages became increasingly worried and desperate. A few from Hitoshi, who first wished him well then apologized for not being there to help him, and another telling him that he’d taken the last few days of school off and had joined the team looking into his case.

His case.

He had another fucking case with his name in it.

With a groan, Izuku rubbed his temples, and glanced up when his door creaked open.

There were several things about this that made the hair on Izuku’s arms stand on end. Firstly, everyone knocked before entering. It was a small but strict courtesy given while he was in the hospital. The nurses were relentless in enforcing it. Nobody, well, save for Katsuki, had ever just opened his door without knocking. Secondly, there was nobody standing in the doorframe. It was as if the door had simply opened on its own. Thirdly, there wasn’t even anyone out in the hallway. Izuku could see the corner of the nurse’s desk from the open door, but there was no one there. It looked abandoned.

And yet, Izuku knew it wasn’t.

His heart gave a frightened leap, as if to escape his ribcage, as he stared out the open door, knowing someone was there. Someone he couldn’t see. And yet, he knew someone was standing in the doorframe. When he opened his mouth, the smells of the hospital raked over his tongue, bleach and other cleaners, the stale smell of saline, an undercurrent of sickness, and just a hint of something else. It was so faint Izuku wasn’t even sure he could smell it at all, if it was just his imagination implanting that smell because he expected it to be there. When he sniffed the air though, he caught it again, just barely hidden by the overpowering rank of scent blockers.

It smelled like Tame.

“H-hey!” Izuku called, searching for someone, anyone, even passing in the hallway. “Someone! I need help! I—” he sat up a little taller, feeling something moving around him. He couldn’t see where she was. But he felt her, right at his side.

Something began pounding through his veins. It would have been simple to assume it was blood. But no. It was something carried with his blood. Some primal instinct that shot out to every limb, every cell of his body. He wanted to run. To crash through the open door and keep running until nobody could ever find him again. He wanted to lose control. To rip apart everything in that room until he found the intruder and tore her to pieces as well. Caught between these two basic instincts, Izuku sat in his bed, gasping in for breath, Tame’s scent like nails dragging over his tongue.

“Stay away!” He snarled, throwing his pillow in a random direction. It fell to the floor without hitting anything, without doing anything out of the ordinary. “Someone! Hey! Help me!”

His finger brushed against something and he flinched away, realizing it was the small remote that controlled his bed. At the bottom of the remote was a button to call the nurses. He grasped it, hit it, over and over again, hoping beyond hope that someone would see, someone would notice. The bed creaked and Izuku snarled to stop himself from screaming.

“KATSUKI!” He called out, knowing his alpha was across the hospital, in the intensive care unit, with Kirishima and his family. But he still called for him. “KATSUKI! I NEED YOU! I—” his breath caught in his throat as if someone was squeezing his windpipe. He flailed, kept pressing the nurse call button. Faintly, he thought he heard someone. “HERE! In here, please! Someone! Help me! KATSUKI!”

The doorway literally exploded, smoke filling the room and immediately setting off the fire alarm. A sense of panic shot through the hospital, other people starting to scream and yell, as Katsuki charged through the smoke, snarling around the room, searching for what had upset Izuku. Izuku, meanwhile, finally found himself able to move, clawing his way to the alpha, throwing himself into his arms. Momentarily caught off guard, Katsuki stumbled against Izuku’s weight, but righted them and held out his palm in a clearly threatening manner. One arm snaked around Izuku’s shoulders, holding him close and tight.

But as the smoke cleared, it revealed nothing out of the ordinary. The room was empty. Pressed against Katsuki and with smoke still lingering around them, Izuku couldn’t smell Tame anymore, didn’t even know if he’d ever actually smelled her. But his racing heart didn’t seem to care. Izuku buried himself into Katsuki’s scent gland, felt the slight dampness of sweat beading on his skin.

“What is going on here?!” Izuku didn’t think he’d ever been so happy to hear Iida’s voice calling out, already starting to reprimand. “Bakugo, you cannot go using your Quirk inside a hospital! It’s highly dangerous and extremely illegal!”

“Shut it,” the alpha snarled, lowering his palm to press it against Izuku’s neck. “Deku was screaming for help. Thought someone had gotten in.”

Iida paused, and although Izuku hadn’t looked up from Katsuki’s shirt, he could tell the pack alpha had taken a moment to readjust his glasses. “Was there anyone here?”

“No.”

“Right. This hospital is very secure. You and Midoriya are safe as could be. So please exercise some restraint next time!”

Katsuki snapped his jaws, then tried to nose into Izuku’s neck, but the omega was so tense he couldn’t quite find a way in. “It’s all right, omega. I’m here. Nothing’s wrong. You’re okay.”

It was difficult to find words to tell Katsuki, to explain that Izuku had thought he felt Tame in the room, that the door had opened and he’d immediately assumed it was someone coming to get him. Had it just been him being paranoid? It didn’t seem like it. But maybe it would be hard to tell. Everything seemed fine. There was nobody there, nothing had touched Izuku, nothing had seemingly touched anything in the room.

Except, how had the door opened?

“Everything okay here?” That voice came from Togata, Izuku finally peering up to see him and Tsukauchi hurrying down the hallway, followed by a couple of others from the pack and several doctors and nurses. The hospital staff scattered to check on panicking patients, with one pausing before Katsuki and Izuku.

“Are you hurt?” He asked, though Izuku shied away from him. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Katsuki nudged Izuku toward the bed. “Sit down, omega. Everything’s okay.” For as long as Katsuki had been missing, Izuku didn’t feel all that bad to whine miserably at the alpha, and he especially didn’t feel all that worse when Katsuki smirked into his skin. “C’mon now, don’t be difficult. Just sit down and let me make sure you’re okay.”

With so many people around, Izuku did allow himself to be led back to the bed, to be pulled away from Katsuki’s chest so the doctor could examine him. While Izuku ran a hand over his belly, the doctor gave him a quick sweep for obvious injuries, then looked into his eyes and touched several parts of his body, asking if Izuku felt pain. But he wasn’t in pain. He’d just felt that someone was there.

When it became clear that Izuku was fine, the doctor left to check on other patients and the others carefully stepped into the room.

Togata offered a cautious grin. “All right there, Midoriya?”

“Fine,” Izuku muttered, “just… thought someone had come into the room.”

“There was no one here,” Katsuki deadpanned.

“I know. I said I just thought someone had come in. The door opened. By itself. Thought someone had come in. That’s all.” Katsuki gave him a critical look as Togata and Iida exchanged glances.

Let them think what they would. Izuku knew what he’d smelled.

Or, at least, he thought he knew what he’d smelled.

“Interesting choice of flowers. From your pack? Or maybe a friend?”

Tsukauchi’s comments drew everyone’s attention to a small vase of roses. Half were red, almost half were yellow, and there was one, huge black rose, much more prominent than any of the others. While the other roses were just starting to bloom, small buds not quite opening to their full glory, the black rose was already starting to wilt, a single petal laying on the table next to the vase. There was a card wrapped with a string around the throat of the vase. Elegant writing stood out on the white of the card, words that sent a chill through the core of Izuku’s being.

“Get well soon, my sweet one.”

Without thinking, Izuku grabbed his phone and threw it at the bouquet, shattering the vase, glass shards spreading over the ground. Katsuki immediately thrust an arm in front of Izuku while everyone else took a step back, and another as the omega yelled.

There were no words Izuku could think to say in that moment, just impotent rage at what he knew, he knew, had happened. Tame had been in that room. She had planted those flowers. When everyone had been paying attention to him, because he’d overreacted so wildly, she’d set those flowers there and had left. He panted, trying to catch her scent in the air, but it was long gone. She was long gone.

Izuku yelled again, then shoved Katsuki’s arm out of his way, moving to get rid of the flowers himself. The alpha grabbed onto him, holding him back, so he screamed, “Get them out of here! I don’t want them here! Burn them for all I care!”

“What has gotten into you?” There was a wild, confused look in Katsuki’s eyes. Because of course he would be confused. How would he know what the hell just happened to Izuku? In fact, everyone was looking at him as if he’d gone a little insane.

“It was Tame! She was here! I smelled her and she was here! She left those flowers for me! They came from Father.”

Again, everyone looked at him, but where there had once been confusion, now there was concern. “What makes you say that?” Tsukauchi asked.

Izuku gestured toward the card, thrown aside, the letters starting to bleed as water soaked into the paper. “Father called me that. His sweet one. Like he owned me.”

Katsuki snapped around, glaring down at the offending card. His eyes seemed to skip over those words, again and again. To Izuku’s surprise though, he didn’t immediately set it on fire. He didn’t even growl.

Instead, he nodded to Iida. “We should get this cleaned up.”

Iida, however, didn’t move, his expression much graver than the others. “You know what this means, don’t you, Katsuki?”

Katsuki rounded on the alpha, and they stared at each other for several silent moments. Izuku tried to glean what was happening between the two, but he couldn’t quite understand. Nor did he want to think about it too much. There were too many other things to think about. Like where Tame was, how she had gotten in, what else she could be doing—

With a gasp, Izuku shot up and nearly to his feet, stopped only by Katsuki abandoning his staring contest with Iida to grab him and pull him back down. “Kazue! Where’s Kazue? Where’s my pup?”

“With the pack, remember? We sent him and Hikaru out to be with them,” Katsuki tried to run a soothing hand over Izuku’s back, but as he did, Iida made an incredulous noise.

“With the pack? We haven’t seen Kazue all day.”

Izuku supposed that would have been a good time for a shocked pause, a moment where everyone took in what that meant, but Katsuk snapped his jaws the second Iida closed his mouth. “Well then, you should probably go fucking find him now shouldn’t you? And while you’re at it, sniff out that bitch too. Bring her here so I can tear her apart.”

- - -

Kazue watched, a bit awestruck, as Hikaru stepped carefully through the piles and piles of flowers. There was something ethereal about how the beta pup moved through them, as if he were floating rather than walking. Each step was carefully calculated and precisely placed, a little smile spreading up his lips as Hikaru flitted through a veritable field of flowers. As he stood there, more and more people were arriving to place even more flowers, to fill up the places where the wind had jostled up some space, where people had shifted and arranged the flowers to form swaths of similar colored petals or mounds of similar sized flora. It was all quite a sight to witness. And in the middle of it all, Hikaru danced like a strange centerpiece, as if these flowers were for him and him alone.

Not for the first time, Kazue realized he really did enjoy being with Hikaru, if only to watch how the beta pup interacted with the world. He had a strange way of skipping through it, of taking up so much more space than seemed polite. Kazue, meanwhile, had often found himself ducking his head and shrinking to take up a little less space, to skirt around the edges, to try not to attract any more attention than was necessary. Hikaru made living loudly look like so much fun. Kazue just wished he knew how the beta pup did it so effortlessly.

As if hearing his thoughts, Hikaru turned over his shoulder and beckoned Kazue closer. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of some flowers! Promise they won’t bite.”

Shaken from his thoughts, Kazue frowned. “I don’t want to step on any. That would be rude.”

“Well then don’t step on any, silly!” Hikaru spun on one foot, leaned as if losing his balance, yet managed to right himself and place his foot on a tiny sliver of pavement. “Yeesh, alphas can be so uptight, you know. Did you forget how to have fun or something?”

“No,” Kazue growled, but eyed the flower-filled sidewalk in front of him cautiously. These flowers had been put out for his parents and Uncle Kiri. It felt disrespectful to just trample all over them, and Kazue wasn’t really all that confident in his ability to not immediately trample all over them.

Not for the first time, he wondered why Hikaru had chosen this spot as their place to play. They could have gone anywhere in the hospital, just about, but the beta pup had wanted to come outside to play in the flowers. As if this was the best playground around. And, admittedly, there weren’t many fun places in the hospital, but this seemed a bit strange to Kazue. He hesitated, and hesitated a little more, as Hikaru started humming while leaping over a rather wide pile of flowers. Someone called out to the beta pup, reprimanding him, but he only spared them a little smile before continuing on. He really was something of a wonder to Kazue.

An alarm sounded in the hospital behind him. Kazue spun, trying to decipher its meaning, feeling the entire energy of the crowd around him shift as everyone held their breath. The alarm sounded like a fire alarm, and it rang for several seconds before abruptly turning off. The hospital fell into silence and stillness, uneasily settling back into itself, like a beast halfway woken from hibernation. Likewise, the crowds around the hospital paused to see if something else would happen, then a hush fell over them, which quickly escalated to a dull roar as dozens upon dozens of people began talking amongst themselves, asking what had just happened. Kazue eyed the hospital warily, checking each of the windows even though he knew his parents’ room was on the other side.

With a click of his tongue, Kazue turned back, finding Hikaru easily amongst the flowers, the beta pup straddling between two patches of roses, still gazing curiously up at the hospital. It wasn’t Hikaru that caught and held Kazue’s attention though. It was the woman behind him, quickly approaching. Her feet scuffed through the flowers, grinding them into the ground and kicking them aside with each careless swing of her leg. Hikaru didn’t notice her approach, not until she reached out to grab his shoulder, to swing him around suddenly.

There were few things that made Kazue angrier than when someone touched Hikaru. Especially when it seemed Hikaru didn’t want to be touched and didn’t seem to recognize whoever had touched him. In this particular case, Hikaru looked up at the woman, stunned and confused and clearly uncomfortable. Kazue didn’t like to see Hikaru upset. It made the monster in his head begin to growl and snap and howl a little louder. So when Hikaru blinked up at the woman and the woman grinned down at him, Kazue felt a snarl start to peel back his lips.

The woman wasn’t anyone Kazue had ever seen before. In fact, he thought she looked rather strange. She had a huge ponytail, her hair a wild thing that might have had a mind of its own. Amongst the crowd, she stood out, even more so as Hikaru started to squirm in her grip.

“I know who you’re supposed to be, little brat,” the woman said cheerfully. “Someone’s been asking for you.”

Hikaru blinked up at her. “Who are—” and then, he and the woman were gone.

For a moment, Kazue just stood there, staring at the place where Hikaru and the woman had been only heartbeats before. He blinked several times, rubbed at his eyes once, twice, and they did not reappear. From one blink to the next, they had vanished. Just like that.

Surprise made Kazue cry out, calling for the beta pup urgently, hoping to hear something in response, hoping Hikaru would grab his shoulder and laugh at startling him. But he didn’t. Hikaru remained gone, as did that woman. When Kazue called again, several people around him paused to see what was wrong, but none of them seemed to have noticed that Hikaru was gone.

The third cry for Hikaru died in Kazue’s throat. He realized, very suddenly, that something terrible had happened. Hikaru wouldn’t scare him for this long. If this was just another game of his, he would have jumped onto the alpha pup by now. That woman had taken him. Somehow, he’d taken him.

A seed of despair was starting to bloom into full out panic when Kazue noticed the flowers shifting. The flowers did move occasionally, tugged at by the breeze or passersby. But there was nobody passing by these flowers, nor a breeze to pull them along. No. As Kazue watched, these flowers seemed to be smushed into the ground, or kicked aside, falling in a pattern moving steadily away from the hospital and toward the parking lot.

It was crazy for Kazue to listen to the monster in his head, the one that was screaming at him to find Hikaru, that the flowers were a clue to getting him back. It was crazy for him to start running, full speed, through the crowd, toward where he had last seen Hikaru. It was crazy that as he reached the spot where the flowers were moving, as he threw himself toward nothing at all, he collided with a mass, something that nearly toppled to the ground before righting both of them to their feet.

Kazue realized he was gripping something. It felt like a wrist in one hand, the edge of a shirt of jacket in the other. His surprise kept him standing there for another moment, and in the next, he was stumbling back as the breath whistled out of his lungs, something slamming into his stomach. It felt like he’d been punched. He’d been punched quite a bit at school in recent months. He was somewhat used to the feeling. So while he initially let go, stunned by the attack, he dove forward quickly again, snarling madly, grasping again at something. Something grasped him back, clinging to his shirt, pressing near him, and he swore he could smell Hikaru right next to him, even if he couldn’t see the beta pup. He realized he was gripping something a lot like an arm, that the arm he was gripping was far too wide to be Hikaru’s, and without thinking again, he snapped forward.

His teeth sunk into flesh and a howl of rage reached his ears just as Hikaru’s scream of fear hit him. Hearing Hikaru upset, hearing him calling out for help, only had Kazue biting deeper, eliciting a string of curses. Something smashed into his head, knocking Kazue to the ground. By that time, Hikaru had started calling the crowd to them.

“Help me, help! She tried to take me! She hurt my friend!”

Still dazed, Kazue blinked upward, saw the woman with the wild hair looking around, as people told her to stop, asked her what she was doing, as someone called for the heroes who were patrolling the hospital.

“Damn,” the woman hissed, casting one more glare at Kazue, before she shoved Hikaru away and was gone, just like that again.

Kazue snarled and scrambled back to his feet but by the time he had, she had reached the edge of the flowers, and there was no way to tell which direction she’d gone. Just like that, she’d gotten away.

That seed of despair had blossomed not into panic, but into fury, and Kazue stood beneath its radiance for several seconds, seething at having lost the woman. It was only when Hikaru crashed into him, when the beta pup grabbed at him and pressed his way into his arms, that Kazue snapped out of the anger.

Hikaru was whimpering hoarsely and shivering wretchedly, as if he were unbelievably cold. Kazue wrapped his arms around Hikaru, if only in hoping to warm him up. It was so strange to see the beta pup so upset, to see him terrified and crying, to see him so shaken by what had just happened.

Which brought up another question, what had just happened? Kazue was still reeling from the entire experience. He hadn’t really given much thought to what was going on beyond his need to find Hikaru and bring him back. But who had that woman been? What had she wanted? How had she disappeared like that? The last question seemed the most obvious one: she was using her Quirk. But why? Why had she singled out Hikaru? Kazue had always known he and Hikaru could be potential targets of villains simply because of who their alphas were; they’d gone to schools specifically for children of heroes for that reason. Was this what it was like to be the pup of a top hero? To be in danger of suddenly being snatched up off the sidewalk?

Then again, a cold shiver went over Kazue as he remembered Hikaru’s story about the man they’d met at the river. He, too, had tried to take Hikaru, as well as Kazue. Did that woman have anything to do with him?

For as many questions that were swirling around in his head, Kazue snapped back to attention as Hikaru whimpered again, burying himself further into Kazue’s arms. Kazue had seen his Mom do something similar with his Dad when he was feeling particularly awful. He figured Hikaru had a right to feel pretty terrible after almost being kidnapped. So he tightened his arms around Hikaru, let him be clingy, even if that was so very unlike him.

“It’s okay now, Hikaru,” Kazue muttered to the beta pup. He was aware of the crowds stirring around them, of people pressing closer to them, but the woman was nowhere to be seen and it seemed unlikely anyone would try anything again, so he paid them no mind. “Please don’t be scared. She’s gone. She won’t hurt you.”

Hikaru peered up at him, water welling in his crystal blue eyes. “Kazue,” he whined. “You saved me.”

Had he? He supposed he had. It didn’t feel like he’d save anyone. Instead, he felt a bit like he had won a glorious battle, a bit like he should be howling in victory. Even if he really didn’t want to do that at all. All he really wanted to do was make it so Hikaru wasn’t whimpering anymore. He nuzzled into Hikaru’s neck like he’d seen his Dad do to his Mom when he was upset. He couldn’t tell if it helped any, but it did make him feel just a bit better, being close to the beta pup.

“Did she hurt you?” Kazue asked.

Hikaru shook his head. “N-no. She just… she grabbed me. You were just standing there.”

“I couldn’t see or hear you when she grabbed you,” Kazue muttered, “but I saw the flowers moving and I knew it had to be you two. So I tried to fight her.”

Hikaru didn’t say anything to that. He was uncharacteristically quiet, shaken more than Kazue ever remembered him being. He hated seeing Hikaru like this. It made his skin itch. He cast a wary eye to the growing crowds, wishing he knew what to do next.

“What’s going on here?” Someone called, Kazue jerking up in response. He let out a short barking noise and the crowds parted almost immediately to reveal his Uncle Shoji.

It was a greater relief than Kazue thought possible to see someone from his pack, to know he had someone there who could and would help him. In the frenzy of the past few minutes, not to mention the past few days, he hadn’t really taken a moment to appreciate his pack’s presence, the knowledge that they were there and would help and protect him as much as they would anyone else in the pack. So when he saw Uncle Shoji, he let out a breath and leaned against Hikaru, knowing he didn’t have to be on alert anymore, knowing they would be okay.

His Uncle glanced at him and Hikaru, then at the crowds around them, before hurrying forward and crouching next to the pups. “What are you doing out here? What happened?”

There were so many things and yet not enough things to say to that. All Kazue managed was, “Can we go back to my Mom and Dad’s room now?”

Chapter Text

A commotion outside the hospital drew Tsukauchi away, though Togata lingered in Izuku’s room, reassuring the couple that he’d protect them. Katsuki objected to this with a growl, but said nothing directly. He was rather consumed with stroking a hand along every inch of Izuku’s back, a slow, painstaking movement, thorough in a way that spoke to the care and love the alpha had for his mate. Izuku knew he was just trying to console him, to make him relax, but whatever this commotion was had made him want to leap out of bed and go running down the halls.

Mostly though, he wanted Kazue. He wanted to make sure his pup was okay.

Togata was seated when the door opened again, though in an instant he was standing right at the door, from one blink to the next. “Hikaru! What’s wrong, what happened?”

“Dad,” the beta pup let out a pitiful moan, then sobbed as Togata picked him up and held him to his chest.

Izuku’s heartrate was increasing exponentially, listening to Hikaru cry, seeing the fear and confusion in Togata’s eyes, until Shoji stepped out from behind the number one hero, leading Kazue by the hand. The omega chirped loudly and demandingly for his pup, so much so that Kazue actually flinched, Izuku realizing it was similar to the sound he made when the pup was in trouble. He tried to calm himself enough to get out a trill, but it came out strained and desperate, though it still called the pup to him.

Even though he had grown taller and broader, Kazue still somehow fit perfectly into Izuku’s arm, Izuku finding that place where he could pull the pup to his chest, where he could rest his cheek on Kazue’s head, where he could feel the little tremors of a reassuring growl from the alpha pup. Then, Katsuki leaned in closer, wrapping an arm around Kazue and keeping a hand pressed to Izuku’s back.

“What happened?” The alpha asked.

Kazue blinked up at him. “Someone tried to take Hikaru.”

A breath passed between everyone, as if they were waiting for Kazue to take back what he’d said, to say something, anything, else.

Togata carefully shifted his grip on his pup. “Is that true, Hikaru?”

The beta pup whined quietly, burrowing himself into his alpha’s neck.

“Kazue, what happened?” Katsuki growled sharply, a bit sharper than maybe he’d intended.

Kazue shrunk back a little at the alpha’s aggressiveness, but he told them everything, of playing with Hikaru outside in the flowers, of the strange woman grabbing Hikaru and them disappearing, of him tackling the woman and biting her, of her releasing Hikaru before disappearing again. Everyone listened raptly, but with a shared sinking pit of apprehension.

When Kazue finished, Togata turned next to Izuku. “Tame?” He asked.

Izuku nodded slowly. “It sounds like her. She had a big ponytail? Lots of hair?” When Kazue nodded, Izuku drew the pup closer to his chest.

“This is not good,” Tsukauchi muttered, putting a hand to his chin. “Things are moving quickly. We have to act. Now.”

Togata grimaced deeply, the absence of his smile more alarming than anything else. He tucked Hikaru’s head closer to his neck. “I need to take Hikaru home. I’ll be in touch, though.”

While he and Tsukauchi muttered back and forth for a moment, Izuku turned his attention to Kazue. His pup wasn’t shivering, nor did he seem very rattled. If anything, he looked rather passive, as if he were simply absorbing everything going on around him. Truth be told, Izuku didn’t know what to make of this. He kissed the crown of Kazue’s head and the pup growled softly, contently, as if nothing bad had happened at all.

“Are you hurt, firecracker?” Izuku asked.

“No.”

“Were you scared?”

The pup mulled over this thought. “I was scared Hikaru wasn’t going to come back. I had to make sure he came back. So I did.”

Put so simply, Izuku didn’t really know what to do with the pup’s sentiment. He’d put himself in danger to save Hikaru, and Izuku hated that. But he also felt a swell of pride in his throat, and there was no surprise that bubbled up from his stomach at Kazue’s response. Of course he would have put himself in danger to save his friend. He was their son, after all.

Still, the thought of Kazue within a hundred miles of Tame made every nerve in Izuku shudder. He pressed the pup a bit closer, preened when Kazue nuzzled into his neck, rubbing against his scent gland to calm him.

Katsuki, who had been scrutinizing both Togata and Tsukauchi intently, lost interest when Iida said something to them and leaned in closer to his family. He glanced over Kazue, but didn’t seem to pick up on anything being terribly wrong, so he leaned forward to scent the pup rather possessively. Even if they all knew that wouldn’t have made a difference, it did help calm Izuku, if only a little, knowing his alpha was watching over their pup.

They hadn’t had a chance to settle into being a family yet, and the disjointedness of their incomplete reunion made everything about the situation so much worse. Izuku didn’t honestly know what they were going to do. But Tsukauchi had been right. They obviously weren’t safe in the hospital. Tame had been sent to deliver a message, yes, but when she’d seen an opportunity, she’d taken it. It made Izuku wonder if, since he was alone, if she would have tried to grab him if he hadn’t called attention to himself. What was clear was Father and his family were circling. They were waiting for an opening, and they would strike the moment they saw one. In the meantime, he had no doubt they would continue to antagonize them, trying to force that opening they needed. Izuku wondered if Father sending the flowers was to intimidate him, or to rile Katsuki up so he would do something reckless. Chances were good on both. And, having nearly gotten away with Hikaru, they would be emboldened to try again.

They had no choice. Even though they hadn’t had time to actually settle, time to actually recover from what had happened, they had to do something. And that something might have to be drastic.

Izuku looked up just as Iida shook his head and muttered, “I’ll discuss with them. You make those phone calls. Maybe we can get lucky.”

“In this case, I don’t think you need luck,” Togata muttered, managing a small smile of reassurance.

Tsukauchi frowned as if he didn’t believe the hero. “We’ll make the call. We’ll see. In the meantime, you should discuss the other options.”

“Right,” Iida lowered his voice slightly, let it trail off. Something was wrong.

Izuku watched carefully as they each parted, Togata taking Hikaru away while Tsukauchi lingered for a moment to take up a trash bag of flowers and glass shards before following him. Iida remained, turning back to the family grimly.

His expression did not ease Izuku’s fear. “What’s… going on?”

Iida glanced to Kazue, who sat up a little more to consider the pack alpha, to purse his lips at him as if he were thinking about something rather intriguing. Iida, meanwhile, didn’t try to hide his worry.

“We should talk about your options. What’s clear is that you can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous, both for yourself and for others here at the hospital. Come morning, we’ll have to move you.”

“Fine,” Katsuki grumbled. “Take us back home or to the packhouse. Security is enough and we’ll be able to keep those morons away.”

At this, Iida took off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. It was a lethargic motion, long and heavy, as is the pack alpha were struggling to carry it through. He rubbed at his eyes with an exhaustion that Iida usually kept so closely under wraps. When he set his glasses back on his nose, there was no triumph, no second wind. If anything, he seemed all the more tired for it.

“If I could bring you three back home, I would. In an instant. But that’s not a smart idea.”

Izuku felt his heart sinking as Iida spoke, but Katsuki just snapped his jaws. “You’re going to have to explain that one to me, Four Eyes. The hell are you talking about we can’t just go home?”

“Father has connections with the League,” Iida said, naming off each point with a finger, “he’s already proven he can sneak past heroes and police, Midoriya has told us he has a vast network of resources, most of which we cannot confirm, and there is an active threat on each of you, now that we can confirm all of you have been in contact with Father. We can’t bring you to the packhouse.”

As if he hadn’t heard a thing the pack alpha had said, Katsuki snarled. “I’m not afraid of this asshole! We know his Quirk is related to scent. We have plenty of masks we can use to block that shit out. Now we’re prepared. I’ll be fucking ready. We’ll all be fucking ready.”

“Well I am afraid,” Iida said, meeting Katsuki’s snarl with a deep frown, “I’m very afraid that even all of us wouldn’t be enough to keep you safe.”

As Katsuki stilled under the weight of his pack alpha’s words, Izuku tucked Kazue under his chin, wishing the pup hadn’t heard that. But he understood why Iida was saying this. It had been luck that had kept all three of them from ending up in Father’s grasp. Dumb luck. Luck that Shinso had shown up when he had to save Izuku and Katsuki, luck that Kirishima had arrived in time to stop the car from taking Izuku away, luck that Katsuki had followed after Izuku while being feral, luck that he’d disrupted Father and his family enough for them to leave without taking anyone with them. Luck simply in Izuku finding Katsuki that day. That one day had been predicated on so much luck. They wouldn’t be so lucky again. And the pack couldn’t make up for that.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Katsuki eventually said. “We know what he’s after. We’re prepared. We can get prepared, at least. Though maybe we should send the pups away. They shouldn’t be around if something were to happen.”

Even as Katsuki spoke, Iida shook his head. “I already told you, Katsuki. You know what this means.”

Katsuki fell silent, which was just unusual enough for Izuku to feel his heartbeat start to race. “What’s he talking about, Katsuki?”

The alpha didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t even look at Izuku. Instead, his gaze was dull and far away, clearly lost in some thought, trying to find a solution to their problem.

It was Iida who had to answer his question. “There is a program available to heroes who become threatened by villains more powerful than can be overcome by simple means. It’s a protection program. Only a few heroes in the history of hero society have had to make use of the program, but each of them have gone on to live full, happy lives. However,” he paused here, swallowed as if trying to rid himself of emotions, “it does require that the hero and their family give up everything about their previous identities, and that the hero immediately retire, never to come into service again. This… would be a permanent change. There would be no coming back… ever.”

Weight had burdened Izuku many times during his life. The weight of parenthood, the weight of partnership, the weight of both life and death. The weight that crashed onto his shoulders was unlike anything he could have ever imagined. It was so heavy he physically lurched forward as it hit him, struggling to remain upright.

What Iida was suggesting… it was so extreme. To cut themselves out of their own lives. Forever. For Katsuki to give up being a hero. Forever. To go on and live a life that was anything but what they could have expected. Unbearable. It was simply unbearable to think about.

Izuku looked down at Kazue, who still didn’t seem to understand the full weight of Iida’s words, though he was wrinkling his nose as if the suggestion had not been to his liking. When he found out just what this would entail, it would devastate him. No more familiar schools, no more friends, no more future as a hero. He’d have to be taken away from Hikaru, too. That thought alone made the weight on Izuku so much heavier that he did fold forward, wrapping himself around his pup to shield him from all the harm this one change would inflict.

“Kazue,” he said urgently, knowing he couldn’t have the pup there to hear what was happening. Not anymore. “Will you go ask the nurses what’s going to be available for meals today?”

Kazue gave him a skeptical look. Of course he knew what was happening. He was far too smart not to pick up on what Izuku was trying to do. But he also graced Izuku with only a sigh as he stood, shooting Iida a rather curious look before he went out the door. Having Kazue out of his arms and out of his sight was uncomfortable to say the least, but it was better than having him hear what was coming next. Because as soon as the door closed, Izuku turned to Iida, no longer willing to hide his desperation.

“There… there has to be another solution. Something else we can do. Something that’s not… that.”

“If you have ideas, I’d love to hear them,” Iida actually picked his head up as if he were hoping for Izuku to have the answer.

But Izuku didn’t. He didn’t know what to do about all this. Because Iida was right. This was a huge problem. They were under enormous threat.

But not for one moment did Izuku think them moving and changing their identities would keep Father away. If anything, Izuku thought Father might find sick pleasure in hunting them down. He seemed the kind to find it all a great game. So there was no point in doing something like this. Right. That was it.

“Father would still come after us,” Izuku insisted. “There’s nowhere we could go to get away from him.”

Iida shook his head. “Father and the League are almost exclusively based here in Japan. While I can’t tell you much, simply because I’m not certain myself how it would happen, I will say that you would probably never see this nation ever again.”

The weight dropped straight through Izuku’s shoulders and landed in his womb. His pup seemed to thrash within him, and for the first time in a long time, Izuku imagined holding the tiny pup, seeing them for the first time. He imagined their chubby cheeks and soft, slightly wrinkled skin, their flailing little limbs, their little nose and ears, their giant eyes finally opening to reveal crimson eyes the same as Katsuki’s and Kazue’s. He imagined seeing them, being with them, for the first time. Then he imagined looking out the window to see a country he didn’t know.

Izuku snaked his hands over his swollen belly. He met Iida’s eyes, watched as the pack alpha sat up a little straighter, as he paid attention, as Izuku said, “I will have this pup in Japan. This is my home. I’ve never even been anywhere else. This was where I’ve always lived, where I met Katsuki, where I had Kazue, where my Mom is buried, where everything I know is. My pup will not be born in a country that is not my own.”

Iida lowered his chin slightly, and Katsuki set a hand on his shoulder. But Izuku was not swayed by anything. He held and kept Iida’s gaze until the alpha finally tilted his head to the side in a subtle sign of submission.

“If at all possible,” he said quietly, “that is what I want for you as well.”

Unsatisfied but knowing there was nothing more for him to get from the pack alpha, Izuku leaned toward Katsuki, wanting and demanding his attention, breathing a little easier when his alpha met him halfway and kissed his temple.

“Say something,” Izuku growled.

“Mmm,” Katsuki grumbled. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say that you don’t agree! That we shouldn’t do this! That there has to be something else we could do.”

“I don’t know what else there is, Deku. I can’t see you and Kazue hurt again. I can’t. But you’re in danger.” He tightened his grip on Izuku, lowered his voice only for the omega to hear, “You’re both in danger, and I can’t stop it.”

It was heartbreaking to hear the admission. That even Katsuki wasn’t sure he could keep them safe. Everything about this was just too much to handle.

“I refuse,” Izuku growled, turning to Iida. “If I have to, then I will fight. I’m not going to run. Not after everything I’ve been through.” Next to him, Katsuki sagged toward him, and for a moment he thought it was in relief, until the alpha shook his head, as if to tell him “No.”

“There is one other option we’re exploring,” Iida said, and both Izuku and Katsuki picked their heads up. “Togata had an idea. It’s… a little nontraditional. And it’s never been done before. But it might be able to buy us some time at least. He’s going to make a call. All we can do is pray that it goes well.”

Pray.

All they could do was pray. Hope and pray.

Izuku was fucking tired of hoping. He clenched his hands, nearly raised his fist at the feeling of helplessness that was rising from his stomach. He was so tired of being helpless. So tired of simply watching and reacting to things around him.

He glanced to Katsuki, and saw that silent rage in him as well. Katsuki wasn’t used to being incapable of doing something, of fixing the situation. This was a relatively new situation for him. The lines in his face deepened around his mouth and jaw, small indicators of his growing frustrations. Even if Izuku could do little himself, he knew if he teamed up with Katsuki, they could figure something out. And they would. They simply had to.

“We’ll wait for what Togata says tomorrow,” Izuku said, leaving no room for argument, “but if this doesn’t work out, then we stay. And we fight. No matter what that looks like, no matter what we have to do. This isn’t going to be the end.”

“Midoriya, I—”

“No,” Izuku growled, “you’ve said your piece. Now it’s my turn.” He pressed a hand to his stomach again, felt pain radiating between his fingers from the bruises that still littered his skin. The pain only fueled his anger. “If we run, then Father wins. And not only does he win, it won’t do anything to stop him. He’ll still come after us. He won’t stop. We’ll have given him a victory and destroyed our own lives in the process and nothing will change. I refuse to play his game. I refuse to let him just win. I’m going to fight. I’m going to fight for my own life, as well as for my mate and my pups. The villains can’t be allowed to win. They simply can’t. And I won’t let them win. I don’t care what I have to do. But I’ll do it. I’m not giving up so easily. And I’m not going to just let you give up either. Aren’t you heroes? Fighting villains is what you do! You can’t let them win just because you’re afraid. Hell, you don’t think that I’m afraid, too? But that doesn’t matter. I still know I have to fight, and that I will. Even if I have to do it alone.”

For nearly the first time in the conversation, Iida met his gaze, his lips thinning, his expression hardening. The pack alpha must have felt just as impotent as they did. Perhaps the entire pack felt that way. Izuku wondered if this protection program had been Tsukauchi’s idea to begin with. Because Iida sure as hell looked ready to fight with them.

The pack alpha sat up a little straighter, and he nodded. “We’ll wait for what Togata says. If he can make this happen, I think it’ll be a good idea. In the meantime, I’ll ready the pack. Either way, we’re going to have to be ready.”

Behind Izuku, Katsuki snarled and his hands sparked, but his teeth were set in a smirk fit for battle, his eyes pinpoints on a singular goal. He looked ready for the fight. “We going to war?”

“If we must,” Iida pushed his glasses up his nose, and matched Katsuki’s smirk with one of his own, “then we will.”

They basked for a moment in their shared determination, their resolve to make this right, to not give in. But only for a moment before the door opened and Kazue strolled back in, shooting both Iida and Katsuki strange looks before crossing to Izuku and climbing onto his bed.

“They showed me what’s for dinner tonight, Mom,” the pup gave him a wide-eyed expression. “You don’t even want to know.”

Despite everything, Izuku allowed himself to laugh. He pulled Kazue closer, felt that resolve hardening the weight in his womb. It was still there, lingering, and he knew it would remain there. But instead of fearing the weight of their situation, Izuku grasped hold of it. This wasn’t the end, after all. For his own life, he had to do this. For Kazue, for his unborn pup? He’d conquer the world for them.

- - -

Sleep did not come easily to either Katsuki or Izuku.

Due to the reality of their situation, even more heroes were set to patrol the hospital grounds itself, with someone right outside their door. Kazue had been allowed to stay with them, though the alpha pup had refused to sleep on the same hospital cot with them, claiming Katsuki’s for his own. Katsuki had been all too happy to crawl up next to Izuku, to nip at his cheek and growl quietly for him.

“You know,” he whispered, as quietly as he could, “you were real sexy earlier. Loved seeing that fire in your eyes, omega.”

“Shh,” Izuku swatted Katsuki’s hand away, “don’t even think about it.”

Katsuki smirk. “Right. We’ll save this conversation for later.”

Later. Izuku almost laughed. He couldn’t imagine a later where they would have time for such a conversation. But he was looking forward to it, if it ever came.

After that, they laid, wrapped around each other, for many silent hours. Kazue, thankfully, slipped into sleep almost immediately, still largely unaffected by all that had happened. Izuku wondered if he truly didn’t understand the situation, or if he was simply unworried, if he was so confident that everything was going to be okay that he didn’t feel the need to be worried at all. Or perhaps he was just so used to such things happening. Perhaps he had simply accepted this as part of his life. Izuku hoped that wasn’t the truth. But it was so hard to tell.

Eventually, Katsuki also fell asleep, though Izuku could tell that the alpha would wake at the lightest provocation. He kept twitching, as if rising up from sleep, only to sink back uneasily. Izuku tucked himself closer to Katsuki’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, slow, steady, present. Although he highly doubted it, he swore Katsuki had a different heart rhythm than anyone else. It was a music that Izuku knew so intimately he could have picked it out from anywhere. He listened to it that night, hoping it would lull him into sleep.

As easy as it was to sink into that familiar, soothing sound, it was just as easy for him to ripped out of it by a deliberate, measured series of tapping on the window.

Izuku knew that’s what it was the moment he heard it. It was a very distinct sound, the hollow ringing of the reinforced glass. The preciseness of the sound, the rhythm it held, told Izuku that someone or something was purposefully making it, trying to draw attention. Did they know he was awake? Or were they hoping to wake Katsuki? Kazue?

That’s right. Kazue was in the room.

While Izuku had almost wanted to ignore the sound, to pretend he didn’t hear, to just curl up in the safe embrace of his alpha and block out the rest of the world, he couldn’t. Not with Kazue there. Not with him in danger.

He didn’t even really want to turn around. He knew he would see one of Father’s family members. He knew someone would be grinning at him from the window, that same grin they all had, cold and malicious and so entirely haunting. Somehow, he just knew.

Katsuki stirred at the noise, and Izuku reached a hand to shake him, to wake him up so he wouldn’t have to face whatever this was alone.

He was jarred nearly upright by a single, sudden, sharp smack on the window. When he turned, he was met by a face. Well, it wasn’t a face exactly. It was a mask. A classic drama mask, though instead of showing any emotion at all, it was like a blank slate, no raising of the eyes, no lift in the lips, no wrinkles at all. It was a smooth plane of white so bright that it stood out like a ghost on the glass. A gloved fist was pressed against the window as the face peered in at Izuku, watching him.

Izuku stared at the mask for a single heartbeat. Then he screamed, grabbing the first thing he could reach off the bedside table and throwing it at the glass. It hit the window at the same time Katsuki rose up like a demented demon, roaring so loudly that Izuku’s ears popped. As the alpha charged at the window, the face already dropping out of sight, Izuku scrambled to the other bed, grabbing Kazue as the pup pushed himself up, blinking deliriously as the room erupted around him.

Just as Izuku threw himself protectively over Kazue, the window exploded as Katsuki crashed through the glass, snarling as he shot off into the night. For as much as Izuku had wanted Katsuki awake to fight off their voyeur, he was suddenly hit with the feeling of isolation, of being utterly alone. He half expected the masked figure to reappear in the window and slink through the broken glass now that the alpha was gone.

His feeling of isolation was promptly shattered by the door being kicked in. In that moment, Izuku felt Kazue leap up, tearing himself away from his omega to stand in front of him, snarling just like Katsuki, holding his hands out as if he were about to use his Quirk. As if he were trying to protect Izuku.

Izuku would have scrambled to pull him back into his arms, but Sero was the one who charged into the room, skirting the wreckage left from Katsuki’s explosive exit. “You guys okay?” He glanced quickly around. “Where’s Bakugo?”

Izuku pointed to the window and Sero sighed exasperatedly, leaning out into the night air to see if he could spot the hero. “Guys, anyone have eyes on Bakugo? He soared off somewhere.” It took Izuku a moment to realize Sero was talking to the other heroes through his comms.

Another person rushed through the smoke, stopping next to the bed. It was Uraraka, the omega hero looking over them with a furrowed brow. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Izuku tugged at Kazue’s arm, the pup plopping back down onto the bed since the danger had seemingly passed. “There was someone in the window. They were wearing a white mask. Katsuki went after them.”

Uraraka also sighed in exasperation. “He just can’t help himself, can he?” She paused, her gaze distancing, then she pressed a hand to her ear and said, “They’re fine. Just get Bakugo back here. Suspect is someone wearing a white mask.” She paused, then turned to them. “It’s okay. We’re handling things. And we’ll make sure Bakugo gets back here.”

Izuku bit his lip, wanting to do more, though in this case, there wasn’t much to be done. Just about the only thing he could do was start screaming for Katsuki and hope that drew the alpha back to them. Which wasn’t too terrible an idea, but he did have other matters to attend.

He touched Kazue’s arm, the pup blinking up at him. For the first time that day, he finally looked a little startled, a little like he was unsure about what was happening, and yet, he’d still put himself in front of the omega. Everything about that had felt so incredibly wrong for Izuku. Alpha or not, Kazue was still his pup. And he was young. He couldn’t have Kazue simply throwing himself in danger again and again.

“Kazue, listen to me,” he said, trying to keep his voice controlled, “if something like that happens again, don’t try to protect me. You either stay right where I can keep you safe or you run, okay? You don’t ever put yourself in harm’s way for me.”

Kazue listened to him carefully, taking in each and every word. Then, he pouted. He didn’t pout nearly as much as he had when he’d been little. And nowadays when he did, it more resembled the smirk that Katsuki often wore. Its presence didn’t really make Izuku feel any better.

“Mommy,” he said seriously, “I’m the alpha. It’s my job to keep the people I love safe.”

“No,” Izuku pressed. “It’s my job to keep you safe. You’re not the alpha. Kacchan is.”

“Kacchan was gone,” Kazue said, and he said it so simply that Izuku didn’t flinch. But every word he’d thought could rebuke the pup died on his tongue. “I’m the only one who stayed, Mommy. I’m the only alpha who can protect you.”

There was so much to unpack in that. So much that Izuku didn’t even really know where to start. He knew exactly where this was coming from. Katsuki often instilled in Kazue that it was an alpha’s role to protect others. But not when that alpha was ten. Then there was the fact that Katsuki had been gone and Kazue had specifically pointed it out. As if he still didn’t trust that Katsuki would stay. As if he believed he would end up being the main alpha of their family again. There hadn’t even been much pain in this admission. Just an acceptance of the situation.

There was so much to say. And not enough time. Nor was it quite the time to be speaking of such things. Instead, Izuku ran a hand along Kazue’s cheek, wiping at some dirt he’d somehow accumulated during the night. Kazue softened at the touch, as he always did, but he kept that serious pout, still stuck in his beliefs about his role in their family.

Uraraka stayed with them until Katsuki was practically dragged back to the room. He was snarling and cursing under his breath, pausing just long enough to check on Izuku and Kazue, before he started pacing furiously. Sero and Uraraka watched him, clearly unimpressed.

Eventually, they got a report that whoever had been at the window had long gone. They didn’t know who it had been, whether they were associated with Father or not, or what their intent had been. They also, curiously, found out that all the surveillance systems in the hospital blacked out for the portion of time that the figure would have been on camera. It was strange and unexplainable, at least without a thorough investigation, which the heroes promised would occur. Izuku was certain Tsukauchi would be very interested in figuring out exactly what had happened that night. He was also certain that it might lead them back to Father, to Etsu to be specific. While he didn’t know the exact details of her Quirk, he wouldn’t have been all too surprised if she somehow was able to control the cameras.

As it stood though, they didn’t have anything about the mysterious figure and now their room window had been smashed out.

The family was transferred to another room in the hospital, an interior room they were told was not often used for overnight patients, though the fact that it had no windows and only one door did assuage some of Katsuki’s concerns. Though he still spent the rest of the night fuming. He didn’t even pretend to sleep, sitting up to glare at the door expectantly, waiting for the figure to return. Izuku rolled into his blankets as if he were going to sleep, but simply laid awake until a nurse came to check in on them several hours later. Kazue, again, was the only one who managed to get some sleep. A small blessing, but one Izuku took. He’d take any amount of small blessings at that point.

Not too long after breakfast was served, Togata and Tsukauchi arrived at the hospital. Togata was back to his smiley self while Tsukauchi, who had clearly been informed of their little incident the previous night, kept glaring down at his notes as if they were going to magically spell out the answers for him at any moment.

Togata was the only one to properly greet them. “Goooooooood morning, Midoriya, Bakugo, Kazue!” He smiled at each of them in turn. Katsuki rolled his eyes while Kazue just blinked at the number one hero, searching around as if he were looking for Hikaru. Izuku found himself much more interested in paying attention to what his alphas were doing than what Togata had to say. That is, until the hero said, “I heard what happened last night, but not to worry! We will track down the villain just like we’ll track down Father and the League! And good news! I had a great call with my contact last night. Took some arranging, but I think we’ve figured out a solution, at least in the short term.”

Katsuki clicked his tongue expectantly. “Well? Spit it out. What have you been scheming?”

“Scheming! Such a good word, I like that word.” Togata put a hand to his chin and nodded empathetically, so much so that even Tsukauchi paused in his mulling to give him a flat look. “Well! I! Will tell you! How would you like! To spend the next three weeks! On an island!” Katsuki groaned so loudly that Izuku didn’t think he needed to add his thought to the suggestion. Undeterred, Togata continued, “This is a rather special island. Had to get super, duper permission to do this! After all, they don’t like adding anymore attention to themselves than they already do. But! Lucky for me, and lucky for you, you have Midoriya!”

Both Katsuki and Kazue turned to Izuku, both of them looking expectantly at him. Waiting for him to explain. Izuku just blinked and pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Yes, you!” Togata laughed. “This island has top of the line security. Its safety record is basically impeccable. And it’s a good place to hide out. Even if Father and the League find out where you are, they’d have a hard time gathering enough resources to reach you there. Though the arrangement is temporary unless you want to be there for the next, oh, I think they said eight months?”

“Would you just get to the point?” Katsuki snapped. “The hell are you even talking about?”

Togata grinned at them, something mischievous in his look. It lasted only a second before he sat next to their bed, taking in the more serious air of the family as he did so. Theatrics and having fun were part of his brand. But Izuku did appreciate these moments when he demonstrated he understood the gravity of the situation.

Even so, that smile still stayed in place. “Midoriya, you’ve been invited into a very exclusive club. You can still say no, but I think this really is a wonderful opportunity.” He paused, as if for dramatic effect, and his smile widened just a little. “How would you like to spend the next three weeks working in your own personal lab on the world-famous I-Island?”

Chapter Text

The first thing Katsuki thought to do was to watch Izuku’s reaction.

There were a couple of reasons for this. First, he wanted to gage how Izuku felt about this arrangement. He’d made his position on their first option quite clear, so clear Katsuki hadn’t even bothered to bring up the option he’d thought of. Not that that option didn’t bring him an immeasurable amount of pain to even consider anyway. In this case, he was okay with letting Izuku take the lead on this decision. It would be easy for him as the hero and the alpha to step in and tell him what they were going to do. But Izuku had drawn his line in the sand and he was smart enough to help them figure out a way to keep that line. And it was a nice line, if Katsuki was being honest. He wanted to continue being a hero. He didn’t want to run and go into hiding. And he wanted to stay with Izuku and Kazue. Even if it meant fighting tooth and nail to get the chance.

Second, it was I-fucking-Island. Of course Izuku knew what I-Island was. Every engineer on the planet knew. And of course nearly every single one of them dreamed of getting an invitation to stay and work on the island. While Izuku had never explicitly said anything about wanting to work on the island, he had made mentions of it in the past, either talking about some innovation made by a scientist there or drooling over all the wonderful technology there was to find there.

Third, his reactions, on both the first and second points, would tell Katsuki a lot about his headspace. Izuku had been vocal about his thoughts on certain things. And very closed off on others. His omega was hiding his pain from him. As if he saw the alpha as fragile. Never mind that Katsuki was perfectly fine, just entirely annoyed that he was missing about three months of his life and had strange scars on his body – where the hell had those come from anyway? How could he not remember being so injured he’d received these scars? In particular, how had he forgotten whatever had made the ones in his palms? And when was he going to admit that ever since he’d woken up, something had felt off about his Quirk – no, it was fine, he was perfectly fine. Izuku didn’t need to worry about him. But he’d still been hiding things.

This news was a good way to see if the omega was in a state where he was capable of feeling excitement or surprise or joy. Katsuki was eager to see if the mention of I-Island lit up his omega. He waited, rather impatiently, as Izuku blinked up at Togata.

At first, the omega seemed taken aback by the news, then his lips mouthed the name of the island, as if he were trying to confirm that that was what he’d actually heard Togata say. Then, his eyes widened, little by little, so minutely at first that Katsuki thought he was fooling himself.

Then, all at once, Izuku exploded forward. “REALLY?!”

Togata didn’t startle when Izuku leaped forward, but he did laugh as the omega practically sparkled with disbelief and joy. “It’s true! The island is going to be within helicopter range of Japan for the next three weeks. After that, it’ll be moving to another, undisclosed location, and won’t be back for eight months. We’re working on getting you two discharged right now and if you say yes, you’re going straight to the airport. While you’re away, it’ll give us three weeks to track down leads and find out where Father and the League have gone, and ultimately stop them if we can. And you’ll be safe, hanging out in your own personal lab, doing whatever the hell you want! The Science and Engineering Board on the island said since you’re only going to be there for a few weeks they wouldn’t put you to work on a team. You wouldn’t really have enough time to get caught up on any one project. That being said, you also won’t have access to any of the other scientists and engineers to help you in whatever you’re doing, but you would have the lab space, so there’s that! And yeah!” Togata flicked his wrist to uncover his watch. “You do need to make a decision in the next forty-five minutes though. Helicopter leaves in two hours and we need time to coordinate getting you to the airport safely.”

For a moment, Izuku kept sparkling in joy, but all at once, he seemed to crash back into his body. He sat back, looking at Kazue closely. The pup was pursing his lips as if he still weren’t very happy with this arrangement, but he didn’t put up a fuss of any kind at least. Even so, something danced in Izuku’s eyes as he stared at Kazue, something deep and painful.

Sensing his omega’s thoughts were starting to spiral, Katsuki stepped forward, taking hold of his shoulders. “What are you thinking?”

Izuku sighed heavily. “I think it might be our best options. To just… get away for a little while.”

“Right,” Katsuki said. “It’ll be good to go somewhere where we won’t have to worry about this.”

“Are you going to be okay, being away from it?”

It was, admittedly, a difficult question to answer. Katsuki wanted to be in the fight. He wanted to be out there looking for Father and his goons. But, being practical, that wasn’t a smart move for him at the moment. He could fall under Father’s sway again, and this time it might not be as easy as Izuku forcing him to go feral to break free. So no, he wasn’t okay with being away from it. But he knew that wasn’t really an option anyway.

To Deku, he said, “I want you and Kazue to be safe. And I want to be there with you. If that means going to another island for a little while, than fine. I’m okay with that.”

Izuku still grimaced, turning finally to Kazue. “What do you think, firecracker? You’d miss some school, but it could be fun to go to I-Island.”

The pup tilted his head to the side. “Would it be like a family vacation?”

“Ah, ha, not quite,” Izuku tried to say, but Togata quite enthusiastically spoke over him, “Yes! Exactly like a family vacation! You three would just spend your time relaxing. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything.” He quieted when Izuku shot him a warning look, but Kazue had already turned to listen to him.

“A vacation would be nice, Mom,” the pup said. “You need a vacation.”

You can say that again, Katsuki thought with a wry smile. “It’s your choice, Deku,” he said.

Izuku nodded once, thinking quickly. “Our stuff? Would we be able to bring anything?”

Togata consulted his watch. “If you make the decision in the next ten minutes, yes. Otherwise, you’ll be provided with everything when you get to the island.”

“Okay,” Izuku tugged Kazue closer, hugging him tightly. “I say we do it. Kacchan?”

“Yes. Whatever you say.” He didn’t want to leave. But fuck if he wasn’t going to take the opportunity to see his omega’s eyes light up when they reached the island.

“Good,” Togata nodded, then leaned forward. Once again, his smile wiped away, that seriousness returning to his body. “You should know that, for your safety, we’re sending an omega hero with you. If it’s true that Father can’t control omegas, then we figured it would be safest to have one tag along to keep an eye on things. And also. I have a favor to ask of you.”

At this, Katsuki and Izuku shared a glance. Katsuki couldn’t really think of anything the number one hero would want from them, especially seeing as how they were practically at his mercy. Still, when Izuku nodded, he didn’t say anything to the contrary. Even Kazue leaned forward curiously.

Togata gave a weak smile, though it faded with a sigh. “Thing is, after what happened yesterday, I’m worried about Hikaru. If you three leave the country, Father might redirect his attacks on Hikaru. We don’t know the extent of his interest in my pup. But he might be in danger, and both Tamaki and I are going to be hard at work tracking him down. So I have to ask, would you be willing to take him with you? If only for a little while?”

There were a number of things Katsuki may have expected to be asked of him and his family, but watching over the youngest Amajiki pup would have never crossed his mind. Judging from the look of shock on Izuku’s face, he was just as taken aback. Kazue took in the news with a measured look, as if weighing his options carefully.

He calmly sat back and said, “Hikaru shouldn’t be put in danger because of something we do. That’s not fair. Dad, we should bring him.” As he said this, he leaned against Katsuki’s side, his chubby cheek pressing adorably along the alpha’s arm. It was his weakness. A more dramatic man might have crumbled with it. It only made Katsuki grumble under his breath.

“Kacchan?” Izuku muttered. Deferring to him. Of course.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “long as you’re okay with it.”

“I don’t mind. Hikaru is wonderful and it’ll give Kazue someone to play with while we’re there.”

Wonderful was really stretching it, Katsuki thought. But he was tolerable. And Izuku was right in that he would keep Kazue occupied on an island that probably didn’t have a lot of children inhabiting it, and certainly not many children who had lived in the world outside the island.

The relief was immediately clear on Togata’s face. “Thank you. It means a lot to me, knowing that Hikaru will be safe, and knowing you’ll be taking care of him.”

Izuku nodded. “We’ll keep in touch with you.”

Togata nodded as well, then stood. “All right! Let me check on those discharge papers and go get Hikaru. He’s in the waiting room. Soon as we have your papers, we’ll be out of here. Tsukauchi will send police and heroes to your place to get your things. Start thinking about what they should pick up. We won’t have a lot of time. But don’t stress about it any! This will be good for all of you, I know it.”

- - -

The next two hours were such a blur that Izuku wasn’t even really sure all that happened. He’d quickly become overwhelmed with everything, until Katsuki had stepped in to take some of the burden for him. Not for the first time, he realized that he just wasn’t used to the alpha being around, that he’d readjusted so quickly to having him gone. He tried not to think about what that meant.

Hikaru had obviously been told about the situation well before he was brought to be with their family. He was also clearly upset, clinging to his alpha as if it were the last time they were ever going to be together, though he did obediently take Izuku’s hand when Togata set him down. Kazue stuck close to the beta pup, subconsciously releasing calming pheromones in an attempt to help him relax. It seemed to work a little, which had all the adults glancing to each other. But they didn’t really have time to think about it, much less address it.

Everyone was packed quickly into a car and put on video call with Uraraka, who had volunteered with a few others to help pack the family’s things up for their trip. Once they’d figured out which essentials were needed, she promised she’d meet them at the airport with their things and got off the call to help pack. As soon as she hung up, Izuku remembered several things he might need – including a specialized back brace for Katsuki. Katsuki only wore it on really bad days, but seeing his physical condition, Izuku was worried over how his back was doing, and having it with them would set his mind at ease. He ended up calling Uraraka a couple more times, adding more and more things to pack.

Eventually, she just smiled at him. “Deku, don’t worry. We’ll handle things here. And you’re only going to be gone for a few weeks. You’ll come back and everything will be right where it’s supposed to be. Okay?”

Izuku bit his lip, unsure if that was what was really bothering him, but he did reluctantly agree with her and hung up for the last time.

Katsuki sat in the front seat next to Togata, Tsukauchi having gone to see to other business elsewhere, meaning Izuku sat with the pups in the back. Everyone else had been exceedingly quiet since they’d gotten in the car, with Hikaru slumped against Kazue as if he were simply exhausted and Kazue calmly playing on the handheld gaming console he’s brought to the hospital. From the rearview mirror, Izuku noticed Katsuki checking on them frequently, the alpha’s unease seething through the car. Though Izuku, too, felt a string of uncertainty pulling tight in his gut, he leaned forward to grasp the alpha’s shoulders and massage them, trying to get him to relax a little. Katsuki placed his hand over Izuku’s and held tightly, and then allowed himself to sink into his touch, if only a little, if only enough for Izuku to know it was helping.

As the airport came into view, Togata went along a service road that was clearly only supposed to be used by airport personnel. He flashed some paperwork at a security checkpoint and they were ushered through the gate, additional guards called to escort them through the airport grounds.

While navigating the narrow corridors between warehouses and the wide open roads of some unused taxiways, Togata drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He, too, had been getting more and more anxious the closer they’d gotten to the airport. No doubt he wasn’t keen to let his youngest pup leave his side if he truly thought Hikaru was in danger. And knowing he was about to be sent out of the country had to be painful. Izuku couldn’t imagine packing Kazue onto a plane and just letting him go like that. It wasn’t a thought that was comprehensible in any possible way.

Despite his obvious apprehension, the number one hero shot Izuku a smile over his shoulder. “Your extra help should already be here, making sure everything’s set up. Helicopter had to be found kind of last minute. We’d wanted to use a plane, but the Board on I-Island aren’t too keen on sending over a plane with persons of interest to the League of Villains.”

“Helicopters with pups? I don’t like that,” Katsuki grumbled. “Any particular reason they’re okay with a helicopter rather than a plane?”

“Believe it or not, helicopters are harder to intercept. They can fly lower without causing as much of a disruption, staying out of most sky-focused radars, and are more maneuverable if something does happen. But they have a shorter range. Hence why we’re aiming for such a short window while the island’s within that range.” Togata snapped his fingers as they turned the corner on a warehouse and a large black helicopter greeted them, sitting on the tarmac of one of the taxiways.

It wasn’t like most of the helicopters Izuku was used to seeing flying over Japan, which were mostly news and medical helicopters. It was significantly larger than them, its wingspan so impressively wide that Izuku wondered if there were planes with shorter wingspans. The body was longer than Izuku had ever seen on a helicopter as well, extended as if someone had pulled on the tail and stretched the metal back. Someone was already sitting in the cockpit, their figure visible through the windows, and the doors were open on both sides, allowing him to see all the way through the helicopter’s belly. There was already a small stack of crates tied in the center of the helicopter, being checked by a couple of groundcrew wearing security uniforms.

Instead of going directly to the helicopter, Togata steered the car through the open hangar doors of the warehouse next to it. Within, people were milling around stacks of cargo, pointing and shouting to one other, a small beehive that parted quickly as Togata drove them further into the warehouse. He stopped only when the crowds parted to reveal a group of people near the center of the warehouse, including one distinct person that had Izuku sitting up a little more and had Katsuki groaning loudly.

“Oh yeah,” Togata laughed, “forgot to mention who would be joining you guys. You not a fan, Bakugo?”

Katsuki worked his jaw silently. He sat up, and looked into the rearview mirror again, catching Izuku’s eyes in the reflection. “It’s fine,” he growled. “Long as he keeps my family safe.”

It was a sacrifice to say that, Izuku knew. Because standing in front of the helicopter was none other than Hitoshi Shinso. Katsuki hadn’t spoken to Hitoshi in about a year or so, outside of necessary communication for work. They’d had a bit of a falling out when Hitoshi had asked Izuku to participate in a combat demonstration at UA with Katsuki as the unsuspecting hero. Izuku had played the victim during the demonstration and seeing him in “danger” had blindsided Katsuki, who still had his own troubles dealing with what he had witnessed his family go through. Since then, he hadn’t been willing to even acknowledge Hitoshi’s existence, even though he was one of Izuku’s closest friends.

Of all situations where such grudges could be put aside, this was certainly one of them. They couldn’t afford to pick and choose their allies. Hitoshi had already successfully fought Father and his family once. He was a good choice for looking after the family, even Katsuki could realize that. And honestly, Izuku was so grateful to see the other omega that he wouldn’t have cared even if his alpha had still been sour about the idea.

When Togata brought the car to a stop, Izuku helped the pups out before handing them off to the alphas and hurrying over to where Hitoshi stood, waiting. Most of the others in the group were other airport staff and security, with one man who looked like he was specifically part of the helicopter crew, most of them dispersing to go about their business. The helicopter crewmember stayed next to Hitoshi, who had turned to watch them approach. When he spotted Izuku, he went to meet him, almost immediately stumbling back when Izuku threw his arms around him.

It was hard to find a good grip on Hitoshi’s hero costume, but he managed to dig his nails in, to hold him close, to maybe suppress the little shivers that wanted to overtake him. Hitoshi was only surprised for a moment, before he reciprocated the hug, patting the omega’s back. “Everything okay, Zuku?”

Izuku breathed out, shook his head. “Thank you. You saved us. You saved us.”

“I don’t know about that,” Hitoshi sighed. “Anyway, told you I’d taken off the last couple days of school. My brats understood. I’ll see them after the break and we’ll get back to it. Opened me up to keep an eye on things while you’re on I-Island, and to help you while you’re still recovering.”

“What? Are you going to watch the pups for me?” Izuku stepped back to throw a teasing grin at Hitoshi, who shrugged.

“Whatever you need help with. Think I’m mostly going to be laying around trying to look important. I’m expecting this to be a rather relaxing trip,” he allowed a short smirk at this.

He caught something over Izuku’s shoulders, the omega turning to see Katsuki was watching him from the van. Togata had crouched down to talk to Hikaru, who was sniffling and trying not to cry. Kazue was preoccupied watching the airport buzzing around them, growing nervous when a plane zoomed overhead, rattling the warehouse. After that, he went over to Katsuki and slipped his hand into the alpha’s, who comforted him by ruffling his hair affectionately.

Seeing everything was okay, Izuku turned back to Hitoshi as he continued, “Mostly they wanted me to go to make themselves and you feel better. As you probably know, I-Island’s security is topped only by Tartarus, and honestly who knows which is better at this point. You’ll be completely safe there.”

“So everyone keeps saying,” Izuku examined the helicopter again, realizing just how big it was now that he was standing closer to it. He wondered over the crates, knowing they couldn’t be the family’s suitcases.

Hitoshi chuckled. “Yeah, I get why you’d be skeptical. That’s why I’m here. If Father really can’t control omegas, then I’m the backup if something goes wrong. And you know I’d put him in the dirt if I got the chance again.” He hooked a hand into his binding cloth, fingers tight around the material. “Didn’t know what I’d stumbled into the first time. Now that I know what’s going on, I know what to do. Our fight wouldn’t end with him getting away a second time.”

As much as Izuku thought that might be true, he also felt a bit unconvinced. Having been face to face with Father, having seen just how easily he’d gone around the world, even in the middle of a veritable warzone, the confidence and calm he’d exuded, Izuku couldn’t quite let himself believe it entirely. And, if he was being honest, he didn’t really have a wish to test it.

Without thinking, he trailed a hand over his belly and winced slightly. Hitoshi frowned, and stepped a little closer. “Denki told me what happened. Can I see?”

Izuku glanced at the crew still standing behind Hitoshi, but lifted his shirt a little to reveal some of the blackened bruises that littered his skin. Hitoshi’s expression darkened. He didn’t say anything. From across the pavement, Izuku felt rather than heard Katsuki approaching, wasn’t surprised when the alpha was very suddenly right behind him, passing an arm protectively around him. Katsuki glared hard at Hitoshi, some accusation spoken between them. Though clearly unsettled by what he’d seen, Hitoshi didn’t pay Katsuki any mind, gesturing instead behind him.

“This is Captain Haruto. He’ll be the pilot today. Co-pilot Lieutenant Oda is doing final prep in the helicopter. We have a strict timeline we have to stick to, so if we can start getting everyone packed into the helicopter, that will be for the best.”

“Our suitcases?” Izuku asked.

Hitoshi pulled out his phone. “Nearly here. We can wait for them, then we really have to get moving.”

“What’s the rush? Island’s not moving that fast is it?” Katsuki grumbled.

Hitoshi nodded out toward the taxiway. “We’ve got to take off with a plane. It’s set to go to I-Island to drop off supplies. We’re taking the cargo instead. The plane’s a distraction. Just a normal supply run. If the League’s caught wind of us taking you with the cargo to the island, they’ll go after that plane instead. It’s got a contingency of heroes on board capable of taking down any threats. But we can’t have any delays or anyone paying attention may get suspicious.”

Katsuki opened his mouth as if he were going to scoff, but caught a glare from Izuku and stopped.

Not long after, Togata and the pups approached. Hikaru was still holding onto his alpha’s hand and although Togata was smiling, it was one of the most obviously painful smiles Izuku had ever seen on the alpha’s face.

He very clearly tightened his grip on his pup’s hand. “I should go. I’ve got to coordinate the immediate ground defense for the takeoff with a couple others.”

The sight before them was incredibly pitiful. A miserable pup and an alpha hardly keeping it together. It wasn’t quite the image of the number one hero Izuku was used to seeing. All he could do was offer a smile. “We’ll take good care of Hikaru.”

Togata nodded, seemingly unable to move his smile from his face. “I know you will.”

With that, he crouched down so he could look Hikaru in the eye. “Be brave, little glowworm.”

Hikaru sniffled loudly. “Dad, I hate it when you call me that.”

“I know! That’s what makes it fun.” Togata managed a bit of a more genuine smile, but it melted away quickly as Hikaru hugged the alpha tightly. “You’ll be okay, firebug.” Hikaru whimpered, again when Togata let him go and kissed him on the forehead before standing. “Call me when you get to the island, all right? All right. Midoriya, Bakugo, Psyche.” He waved at the couple and nodded to Hitoshi. “I’m off! Stay safe and have fun!” And with that, he slipped through the ground and was gone.

Hikaru sniffled, held his breath, and immediately began crying again. Kazue looked alarmed by this progression but Izuku went over to comfort the pup, Hikaru glad to bury himself in the omega’s side. Izuku stroked the hair from Hikaru’s face and whispered encouraging words to him, though the pup was nearly inconsolable for several minutes. Then, as quickly as the storm had come, it vanished, leaving Hikaru sniffling and with a face coated in tears and snot, but at least he was calmer. He was given a napkin to clean himself up with as another car crawled into the warehouse, the crowds again carefully parting around it. Kaminari was sitting in the driver’s seat.

There were many people that didn’t understand Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship. They looked at Katsuki and thought he simply wasn’t mate material. Then they looked at Izuku and thought he was insane for putting up with him, that he could do so much better. Not so long ago, Izuku had looked at Hitoshi and Kaminari and wondered similarly over them. Hitoshi didn’t seem one to settle down with anyone, much less someone like the beta. But in the years he’d known them, he’d seen sparks of feeling between them that were so deep and true, he didn’t know how he could have ever questioned the relationship.

This was one of those times. As Kaminari and Hitoshi spotted each other through the warehouse, the connection was instant and clear, each pulled to the other as if a string had wrapped itself around them. Without saying anything, Hitoshi went to the car as Kaminari parked it and got out. Uraraka and Sero also got out of the car, each of them carrying a bag, and Katsuki went to go help them, but Kaminari went only to Hitoshi. After all, it wasn’t just the family and Hikaru who would be away from everyone for three weeks.

Izuku looked away before the two met, feeling their goodbye should be private. Instead, he gestured Kazue closer to him and turned to the captain. “How are we going to be handling the pups? I assume there are seatbelts or something….”

Captain Haruto smiled patiently at him. “There are straps, don’t worry. Lemillion informed us that there would be two pups. It’s not much different from riding in a plane or a car. Just a bit louder, okay? You’ll have to wear headphones while you’re in the helicopter, but you’ll be able to hear us talking, so that’ll be fun.” Kazue pursed his lips at the news and Hikaru was distracted by leaning into Izuku, seeking some comfort from the omega. “We’ll load up your suitcases, then we’re going to have you wear some hoods to disguise yourselves in case anyone is watching, then we’ll get you into the helicopter and take off.” He checked his watch. “In fact, let me get those coats for you.”

He turned and called to one of the groundcrew, and while he did that, Izuku crouched to be more eye level with the pups. “Are you two ready?”

They both nodded, but Hikaru was decidedly less enthusiastic. Izuku wasn’t sure there was anything he could do to make him feel more comfortable. But he did offer his hand and Hikaru did take it, so at least he was accepting of the omega. That would make things a little easier in getting him settled. It helped that he’d known Hikaru for so long, even if he hadn’t spent a lot of time one on one with him. And Kazue being there helped as well, he knew. They’d make it through.

And anyway, their most pressing issue was getting to the island.

Their suitcases were unloaded from the car one by one, and one by one they were put into a crate. Apparently Hikaru’s things were already in that crate, as Sero asked over whose suitcase was already packed away, though nobody bothered to answer him, too caught up in the frenzy of getting ready to leave. After having their private moment, even Hitoshi and Kaminari helped, until the crate was packed and sealed and groundcrew came in to load it into the helicopter.

As that was happening, Captain Haruto returned with the coats, which he handed out to those who were coming onto the helicopter. “Okay, let’s go! Wheels up in less than fifteen, we have to move!”

“Boys, get your hood up,” Izuku instructed as he wrestled with his own coat. The zipper was getting stuck at his abdomen. Not even because of his bump, but just to be annoying. He fiddled with it, until another pair of hands clasped over his and smoothed it up until it rested at his throat. Katsuki gave him a measured look, long and wanting, tired and wary. There was nothing in the world Izuku would have wanted more than to curl up with the alpha in their bed, to help him relax and rest and be at peace. But they didn’t have time for that. When were they ever going to have time for just them? When were things going to stop moving so quickly? When was Izuku going to be able to take a breath?

“Hey,” Katsuki grunted, and Izuku raised an eyebrow. The alpha’s lips split into a smirk. “What’s on your mind, handsome?”

“Mmm,” Izuku sighed, “how much I want this to be over.”

“Same. I’ve got plans for you, omega. Plans that aren’t safe for the public eye.” Izuku playfully shoved him but Katsuki held his ground, even stepped closer, drawing him in.

Then, a whistle blew, startling everyone so much that even Katsuki jumped, immediately followed by a snarl. The blades on the helicopter began to turn, slowly as the engines began to rev, but soon they were spinning faster and faster.

“Let’s move!” Captain Haruto shouted, urging them forward.

Izuku and Katsuki shared one more glance before they crouched to help the pups with their coats, drawing their hoods over their faces. There wasn’t much time for a goodbye with the pack. Uraraka rushed forward to hug Izuku, to tell him everything would be okay, before she backed away. Hitoshi hurried over from where he’d been standing with Kaminari, the beta clearly holding himself together, his smile strained yet still in place.

Izuku took Kazue’s hand and Katsuki took Hikaru’s, his other going to Izuku’s back to guide him forward. “Make sure to duck!” He called as the roar of the helicopter consumed them. The wind washing off the spinning blades ripped at their coats and had the pups stumbling, Izuku and Katsuki pulling them forward with Hitoshi helping with a gentle shove from behind. Captain Haruto was standing in the helicopter, holding out his arms. Katsuki scooped Hikaru up and handed him over before grabbing Kazue himself and stepping into the helicopter. Izuku hesitated as the wind crashed down on him and all noise was drowned out, until Hitoshi pressed a hand to his back and urged him into the helicopter. The doors slid shut, cutting off some of the noise, but more importantly keeping the wind at bay.

Behind the pallet of crates were two rows of seats pressed against the either side of the helicopter. Captain Haruto directed him and the two pups against one side of the helicopter and Katsuki and Hitoshi on the other, pausing to help strap the pups in before pointing to the headphones hanging above them. Izuku slipped his set on, the roar of the rotor blades dying back to a steady hum, a beat of static in his ears to tell him the headphones were hooked up to some sort of communication line. He helped the pups with their headphones as Katsuki and Hitoshi got theirs on.

“You hear us, Zuku?” Hitoshi called. It was strange to hear him through the headphones even though he was sitting just barely out of arm’s reach.

“Yeah, I can,” Izuku nodded, the other omega nodding back.

A tone sounded over the headphones and Captain Haruto’s voice said, “We’re waiting for clearance to leave. Any of you folks been on a helicopter before?”

“Yes.” Both Katsuki and Hitoshi droned tiredly. No doubt both of them had been on many a trip just like this one.

“No,” came the response from Izuku and Kazue.

“Once!” Hikaru proclaimed proudly. “We flew over the mountains.”

“Well! Get ready; you’re about to fly over the ocean,” the captain laughed. “For any of those who haven’t flown before, just be aware we do tilt a little. That’s perfectly normal. Just remember to breathe deeply. Once we take off, should be at I-Island in two hours and twenty-eight minutes.”

It was strange to be getting such a normal flying rundown while sitting in the back of a helicopter. Or least, it felt normal, what he assumed would have been a normal pre-flight explanation. Until, that is, the captain proceeded to go over some safety instructions, including the places where life vests could be found, and a general idea of what to do if the helicopter hit the water. The basic idea was this: they would flip upside down almost immediately upon entering the water and it was very important for them to be able to figure out which way was up and which way was down so they didn’t accidentally swim into deeper water rather than for the surface. The captain made it seem a lot easier to do than it probably was.

Clearly seeing the face Izuku was making, Katsuki said, “We’re not going to crash. Breathe, Deku. I wouldn’t let you drown anyway.” Izuku wanted to point out that it was highly likely that he would drown just as much as the omega would, and if he was being honest he was more terrified about getting the pups out of the helicopter in such a situation than anything else. But he didn’t dare say it out loud. He didn’t even really want to think about it.

They hadn’t even left the ground and he was already a wreck.

A little hand pressed against his arm. As soon as it did, a warm feeling spread over him, followed by an ache as several of his muscles let go of the tension he’d been carrying for who knew how long. When he looked, he saw that Hikaru was smiling up at him.

“It’ll be okay, Mr. Midoriya,” he patted Izuku’s arm.

Izuku didn’t know why he felt better hearing Hikaru say that. But he did.

Then, the helicopter jolted forward. Abandoning all pretense of calm, he grabbed both Kazue and Hikaru’s arms, holding them tightly, as the helicopter slowly began lifting up. Just inches from the ground, Izuku had the profound realization that he hated flying. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Except, he certainly could point out that he hated the thought that his feet were no longer connected to the earth, or that he had no control over what was about to happen, or that they were quite literally going into a space that human beings had never been meant to traverse, or that his stomach felt weightless and he was thankful he hadn’t been able to eat right in days.

“Deku,” Katsuki said, but Izuku couldn’t meet his gaze. He was too busy having a panic attack thinking about how much he just wanted to be on the ground.

A cool hand wrapped around several of his fingers, lending again that strange warmth. Once again, Hikaru was smiling up at Izuku. The pup didn’t need to say anything this time. But he did nuzzle into Izuku’s side, and the omega dropped heavily back into his body, not having realized he’d tensed up so much he’d gained about three inches of height.

“Deku?” Katsuki called again, this time Izuku managing to find him across the helicopter. He looked about two seconds away from leaping out of his seat. Which was insane, seeing as the helicopter was rising faster and faster and suddenly they were shooting forward and all that tension threatened to come crashing back, but Hikaru nosed a little deeper into his side and it all melted away again.

How are you doing that? Izuku wanted to ask. But at the same time, he didn’t want to say anything. He just wanted to close his eyes and tip his head back until he could breathe a little better.

“And we are on our way,” the captain announced proudly.

“How much longer until we get there?” Izuku heard his voice crack but didn’t really care.

The captain chuckled. “Two hours, twenty-six minutes.” Izuku slowly breathed in, held it until he started feeling a little lightheaded, then let it out slowly, and repeated the process.

Once the helicopter settled into the journey, it wasn’t quite as bad as the takeoff had been. In fact, after a few minutes, Izuku found he could open his eyes and lean forward a little, even stroking Hikaru’s back appreciatively. He thought that maybe the pup was just nuzzling into him to help the omega, but when he looked a little closer, he could see a little fear in the pup’s eyes as well. He hugged the pup close and purred, knowing he would be able to feel the vibrations, even if he couldn’t hear it.

Beside him, Kazue was straining to try to see out the cockpit window. His mouth was slacked open in awe and his eyes were sparkling. He was meant for the sky, apparently. Hitoshi had kicked his legs up and put his hands in his pockets, eyes closed as if he were sleeping. Katsuki sat straight in his seat, raptly watching the three sitting across from him. Izuku could almost taste the frustration building in the alpha. He knew Katsuki wanted to be next to him, comforting him. Izuku would have liked that as well. But they would both have to endure. They had a couple of hours left of the trip, and the captain had told them not to get up unless it was an emergency.

Once Izuku had relaxed somewhat, he started chatting with Katsuki, picking meaningless subjects that he knew the alpha probably had no interest in, but hearing his voice and focusing on anything but the rocking, swaying thin shell of metal between him and the open air was helping him relax. The entire time, he kept one hand on Hikaru and one on Kazue, yanking him back whenever the pup leaned too far forward.

“Mom, this is amazing!” His pup had stars in his eyes.

Izuku loved that for him. But he still hated the flying. “It’s something, firecracker.”

Kazue looked him up and down, clearly noticing for the first time that something was wrong. “Mommy, you’re pale.”

“I’m fine, firecracker.”

“Are you sure? Are you going to be sick?”

“Sick bags behind your head!” The captain called out.

Izuku groaned, mortified, but couldn’t let go of either pup to bury his face in his hands. Hitoshi cracked a smile from across them and Katsuki finally leaned back, seemingly settling in for the trip.

That’s when the helicopter jerked to a complete and sudden stop.

Chapter Text

It was jarring to say the least. Although the helicopter itself stopped, everything within the helicopter that was not tied down went flying forward, and anything that was tied down slammed against their restraints. A shout from the cockpit had Izuku’s heart racing, as it meant two things at once: one, the pilots were shocked. Two, it was quiet enough for him to hear the shout without the headphones. The rotor blades had stopped moving. Somehow, they weren’t falling.

Yet.

But it was coming. The rotor blades weren’t spinning, which meant they weren’t generating lift, which meant they were just hanging there, waiting for gravity to take back over and plummet them down to the ocean below.

“What the hell is going on?” Captain Haruto yelled, at the same time Lieutenant Oda pointed and said, “Look!”

Izuku didn’t see what he was pointing at. What he saw instead was when the sliding door was violently ripped open and someone leaned inside, hissing in delight. He didn’t even really have time to register what this someone looked like, because they immediately got a foot to the face, Hitoshi kicking them so hard they immediately flew right back out.

“Villains!” The omega snarled as Katsuki ripped his seatbelt off, only for Hitoshi to shove him back. “We stay here!”

Up front, Captain Haruto was calling a mayday over the radio. The frantic words made every hair on Izuku’s neck rise up so much they felt like they were trying to tear away from his skin. Across from him, Katsuki was snarling.

“I’ll kill them!” He was saying.

“You can’t!” Hitoshi snapped back. “They’re after you, Bakugo! You stay here and we wait for backup! Defend the helicopter!”

“I take the fight to them and blow them out of the air!”

Hitoshi shot him a withering glare. “You stay here and protect Zuku and the pups, got it?”

Katsuki’s eyes reduced to pinpoints, snapping toward Izuku. Izuku was clutching the pups tightly, Hikaru having practically crawled into his lap and Kazue clinging desperately to him, all the awe gone from his face, leaving only terror and confusion. All Izuku could think about was how the rotors weren’t turning, how they were going to fall out of the sky at any moment.

The door next to Izuku and the pups crashed open, wind ripping through the exposed inner belly. Hikaru shrieked but as soon as the villain reached in, he’d been blasted back by Katsuki. The alpha leaned partway out the helicopter, as if considering chasing after the villain, but he pulled himself back in, locked eyes with Izuku.

“Stay where you are! We’ll keep you safe.”

“Katsuki! We’re going to fall!” Izuku felt his arms trembling. Katsuki could maneuver through the sky, but not particularly well while carrying people. There was no way he could support the two pups, Izuku, the pilots, and Hitoshi and still fight off villains. What were they going to do??

Katsuki growled and spun toward the cockpit. “Get the engine going! Do whatever you have to!”

Captain Haruto set his teeth, growled, and turned back to the controls. “Startup sequence! We do it until it works!”

He and Lieutenant Oda began calling out a list of things to check, preparing to restart the helicopter. Katsuki stayed where he was at the door and Hitoshi took a similar position on the other side.

“How many do you see?” The omega hero called.

“At least three,” Katsuki said.

“Two over here. We can handle a five-on-two, yeah?”

“Shut up and focus!” Katsuki held out his palms and began shooting explosions out toward the villains. Izuku wished he could see what was going on, but he had only the cockpit window and what was immediately in front of the doors in his sight.

“Mommy!” Kazue whimpered. “I’m scared!”

Izuku wanted to say he was scared too. But it wouldn’t help anything. He just drew the pups in closer, pressing them both to his body. Whatever he had to do, he’d make sure they got through it okay. Even if it meant Katsuki took them and abandoned him. He’d make whatever sacrifice necessary.

A jolt of panic raced right down to his stomach, where the third pup in that helicopter sat.

That’s right. If I die, so do they. Izuku felt his mouth go dry. How was he going to save them?

Another villain roared nearby, Hitoshi flinging his capture scarf at something on the left. At the same time, something came in on the right, a hand reaching for the omega hero. An explosion rippled across the sky, knocking the second attacker away. Hitoshi glanced over his shoulder to Katsuki, whose palm was still smoking. They didn’t say anything. They just went turned back to what they were doing. Above them, the engine gave a weak whine and the blades strained, as if trying to turn, but they refused to be moved.

Katsuki swore. “Something’s jamming them!”

“Bets on it being one of these uglies,” Hitoshi ducked as something flew into the helicopter and embedded on the floor. It looked a bit like a shuriken, the points wickedly curved like barbs. “Gotta start taking them out.”

“The hell do you think I’m doing?” Katsuki snapped.

Hitoshi grunted and opened his mouth to respond. He never got the chance. It felt like from one blink to the next, something crashed onto the top of the helicopter, grabbed Hitoshi around the waist, and flew off with him. The omega hero didn’t even make a sound. He was just gone.

“Fuck!” Katsuki snarled, and shot off after them. Izuku reached for the empty spot where he’d been standing, feeling impotent and completely vulnerable.

Then, the engine sputtered above them, revved, whirred, and the blades began turning. Captain Haruto and Lieutenant Oda didn’t even cheer. They just scrambled to get the helicopter stabilized in case they began to fall, but whatever was holding them in the sky continued to hold them, even as the blades began spinning faster and faster.

Kazue turned as if to see what was happening, but Izuku immediately pressed his face back into his side. He couldn’t let the pup see that Katsuki was gone. He couldn’t know that the alpha had flown off into battle. And Izuku couldn’t give into the sinking despair that he’d just watched Katsuki fly out of his life forever. None of the villains were attacking them anymore. So they had to be after Katsuki. It was the only explanation as to why the helicopter was suddenly working.

Then again, if that were true, they’d be moving forward. But something was still keeping them there. Something was still focused on them.

That sinking feeling dropped right out the bottom of the helicopter as another figure appeared in the far doorway, stepping in as if they were still on the ground, as if he had simply been invited in.

Izuku had never met this man in his life. In a perfect world, he never would have. Even so, he knew who it was immediately, knew that through everything that had happened to him, this was the moment where he was in the most danger of his life.

The man gave Izuku a cursory smile, pleased to see him, and turned to the pilots.

Captain Haruto turned over his shoulder to shout, “Who are you—?” but the question died in his throat as the man placed a hand on his and Lieutenant Oda’s back. The two groaned and slumped forward, struggling as if someone were pushing their heads down.

“Please be patient,” the man requested, “we’ll have to be moving very soon, but we’re waiting for someone to join us first. Until they’ve arrived, please stand by for further instructions. I will tell you where we are going at the appropriate time.”

“Y-you—!” Lieutenant Oda gasped. “I won’t—! Obey—! Your orders—!”

The man hummed quietly. “Don’t be a fool. I don’t want to have to kill you in front of the pups. Just do as I say and you’ll be home to your own family by the end of the night.”

Lieutenant Oda ground his teeth together, but clearly wasn’t able to pick his head up, much less rise from his seat. He muttered something foul as the man turned away, his full attention on Izuku and the pups.

The pups had both gone completely still in Izuku’s arms. They hadn’t looked up, though they had to realize someone was in the helicopter with them, someone who was not friendly. It was better for them not to know. It was better if Izuku could keep them right where they were, oblivious to everything. To keep them safe. So as the man approached, he hugged them tighter to his chest and snarled as viciously as he could, even if he knew it was useless, even if he knew it was stupid to do so.

The man paused, as if swayed by his fury. He laughed quietly, and bowed low. “I’m quite sorry to have upset you. That wasn’t my intention, though I do understand why you would be so upset. It is your duty to protect the pups, after all. I see Father has chosen a worthy successor,” the man looked up. He had eyes that shone like jade crystals. His grin was haunting. Izuku couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before. He was tall and lean in a dangerous sort of way, athletic, agile, strong. He wore a red overcoat that hung with full pockets, though nobody knew what was in them. They were zipped up tight, and always were. His arms were long, his reach such that Izuku felt he might be able to wrap the entire world in his grip. He seemed far too young in person. He seemed far too normal.

And yet, Izuku could have picked that face out from anywhere. Most people in Japan could. His face had been plastered all over the news, all over the internet, for years. Nobody could ignore him. After all, he’d made a name for himself in the absence of All for One.

Hiku, the leader of the League of Villains, smiled that cruel, cold smile at Izuku, and spoke warmly, as if so very delighted, “It’s excellent to finally meet you, Mother.”

Kazue’s arms tightened around Izuku. It was so subtle yet so sudden that it choked the snarl that wanted to rise up Izuku’s throat again. He crouched over him and Hikaru, trying to hide them as much as he could. Let Hiku focus on him. Let him forget about the pups. It would be fine. He could figure it all out. As long as he ignored the pups.

“What do you want?” Izuku was almost afraid to ask. But if he wanted to get them out of this, he needed to know why Hiku was there. Even if he had a sinking feeling he knew exactly why he was there.

Hiku leaned against the crates, even hooking his thumbs through his beltloops, such a casual movement that Izuku felt immediately on edge. “Father will be happy to know you are well. He’s been worried, you know. Specifically about the baby. He’ll want to know everything is okay.”

It was hard to listen to him talk and not want to snarl something back, about how Father was a hypocrite, how he was a madman, how he’d been the one to hurt Izuku. But none of that mattered and Izuku knew it. Better just to let Hiku remain relaxed. After all, Izuku knew exactly what he was capable of doing. He’d seen enough of it on the news, had heard tales of what he’d done before, and he wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t do it all to them just to make his point. Whatever that point may be.

So he stayed quiet, let Hiku go on, “It hadn’t been our intention to meet with you again so soon. You needed the rest. But circumstances have obviously changed. Father doesn’t want you leaving Japan. That’s why we’re turning around. Going back home. That’s what you want, right?” He paused, perhaps expecting Izuku to say something, though the omega had no intention of speaking to him. Hiku smiled in the silence and laughed, “I get it, I get it! You’re still tired, right, Mother? Very well. We won’t speak on this anymore. Just know that Father is patiently waiting for you. I think he’s quite eager to see you again, so we won’t keep him waiting longer than necessary. Just have to wait for my wayward brother to show up.”

Brother? Who? There wasn’t much known about the League’s leader. Did he have a brother? Did the authorities know that? Did Katsuki know that?

Izuku waited still, only shifting when Hikaru moved as if to peek up, pushing the pup back into the folds of his coat. Hiku’s eyes jumped to the movement, to the little bundles wrapped under Izuku’s arms, and he smiled all the wider.

“Ah, yes! And who might these pups be? One of them has to be your biological son, yes? His name is Kazue, right?”

The sound of Kazue’s names in Hiku’s mouth was so disgusting. It tumbled along his tongue, defiled, unclean, and despite his want to keep silent, a hiss snapped through Izuku’s clenched teeth. Hiku tilted his head to the side, as if in submission, but it was a false gesture, dripping with mockery. His smile said it all.

“And who’s the other pup? Someone from that hero pack?”

The hiss died on Izuku’s tongue. They didn’t know about Hikaru. Somehow, the heroes had kept Hikaru’s presence from the League. Even if they had seemingly known about their expedition out of Japan, they didn’t know everything. That was to his advantage. He didn’t know what Hiku would do if he found out he had the number one hero’s pup at his mercy, but nothing good could come of it. So he pressed Hikaru tighter to his chest and let out another hiss, another warning, that Hiku acknowledged with another dip of his head.

“Come now, Mother, I would never harm a pup in your care. I respect your station far too much! Plus, Father would be displeased if he heard I’d upset you. So please don’t be like this. Ah! I know what will cheer you up!” He held out his hands, palms up toward Izuku, as if offering him something. “I brought you a gift! Actually, a brought you a couple gifts. I’ll let you choose which one you want. Let’s see…,” he examined Izuku up and down, hmming and haaing to himself.

As he did, Izuku heard static in his headphones. He strained to hear something in the static, but no words came through. Captain Haruto had called in a mayday. Had someone responded? Or were the pilots trying to communicate? At a glance, they still seemed to be stuck under whatever Hiku was doing to them. Izuku knew the theory was that he had some sort of gravity manipulation Quirk. That would explain the pilots’ inability to get up from their seats or even to raise their head. It also might explain why their helicopter had stopped moving, or at least why they hadn’t fallen yet. Maybe Hiku had been the one manipulating the entire thing. The other villains may have just been a distraction to get Katsuki and Hitoshi away from Izuku. And now, they were waiting on Hiku’s brother. And who knew what he could possibly do.

“Ah!” Hiku snapped his fingers, jolting Izuku out of his thoughts. He cursed himself for losing focus. With the pups in danger, he had to pay attention, to do whatever it took to keep them safe. Even if that meant pacifying Hiku. “How would you like to be able to know every little thing about a person just from catching their scent? Hmm? It’s an interesting one, and you would be very useful to Father with that ability!” When Izuku just stared at him, he shook his head, “No, you’re right, that’s far too simple. How about… being able to use your scent to alter someone’s mental state? That one would be tricky to learn how to use, but Father tells me you’re very smart. You would be able to figure it out. Or what if you could make someone do what you commanded with your scent? Only works to make them do simple physical tasks like bowing down to you, and they retain full mental capacity, and it wouldn’t be as powerful as Father’s, but might be fun to mess with people. It is admittedly more of an alpha thing than an omega, so I get you might feel weird about that one. So, what are you thinking? Any that immediately call to you?”

He waited again, the silence going on long enough that Izuku knew he’d have to say something. But he wasn’t even sure what was going on anymore. So he took a breath, and said, “What do you want from me?”

Hiku considered him, chuckling quietly. “Father did tell you that he wanted you to have a scent-based Quirk, didn’t he? What do you think he meant when he’d said that?”

Oh. Right. He did say that. Out of all the insanity that Father had spouted, Izuku didn’t know how he’d forgotten that little piece of information. Father had called Hiku specifically to get him “set up with a Quirk.” Was that what was going on? How was that even possible? All for One had been able to do that. But All for One was dead. So what was happening?

“Well?” Hiku prompted again. “Any that stand out to you?”

He was running out of time. He needed to figure out something. Even if there wasn’t much he could do on his own.

Taking a breath, Izuku steadied himself, and said, “I think you should leave now.”

There was immediate silence and stillness. As if even the world couldn’t believe Izuku had just said that to the leader of the League of Villains. The man who had been terrorizing all of Japan in All for One’s name. The man who was apparently intrinsically linked to Father. The man who had so much power, he’d once defeated Katsuki in a fight.

Nobody knew what anyone was going to do in that situation. Izuku didn’t know what Hiku was going to do. And Hiku didn’t really seem to know what Izuku was going to do next. It created a strange stalemate between them, where each was waiting for the other to make another move.

In the end, Hiku was the one with all the power in the situation. He was the one who was ultimately going to have the final say, the final move. And so, when he pushed himself off the crates, Izuku had anticipated the moment, moving to grab for the seatbelt at his waist. While he was still stuck in his seat, he couldn’t protect the pups as well. He needed to be able to move.

As he struggled with the belt though, Hiku lunged forward, Izuku curling in around the pups almost instinctively. It was a shock, then, when the villain’s hand clutched at the omega’s face, as he gripped Izuku tightly and purposefully.

“Very well, Mother,” Hiku said with a laugh, as if this was all just a joke to him, “but you really mustn’t reject my gift. That’s not very nice. Here. Let me give it to you, then we can talk more. Perhaps you’ll change your mind, then? Or maybe you’re changing your mind right now?”

Izuku heard what Hiku said, but the words were utterly meaningless. What mattered in that moment was the strange force that poured into Izuku from the villain’s fingertips, something that made his body twitch and his senses go haywire. He swore he heard someone screaming, even though he didn’t recognize the voice, and he smelled the overpowering rank of an omega trying to dominate him. It was a putrid smell, moldy sugar, rotten fruit, but even with it filling up his nose and his mouth, Izuku couldn’t even seem to cough it up.

“You’re quite forceful, Mother. You want to be heard. You want to be obeyed. Well I will grant you that wish. And you will be very useful to Father with this gift. So make sure you use it wisely. Do you hear me? Use my gift for whatever Father—”

Hiku suddenly reeled back with a horrible sound, a powerful shriek that tore at Izuku’s already frayed nerves. He opened his mouth to scream as well, but his breath simply whooshed from his lungs without any sound to accompany it. His body lay twitching with the absence of Hiku’s touch. Whatever had been filling him up was draining out of him just as quickly, expelled as if through a great drain. And yet, he could not move as this happened. He could just lay there, twitching like a madman, watching as Hiku stumbled back, clutching his face, and as a little figure came to stand before the villain.

Kazue’s hands were smoking. He was snarling despite the tears in his eyes. He looked terrified. But he also looked like he wasn’t going to back down.

After hissing in pain and thrashing uselessly about, Hiku rounded on Kazue, smiling beneath his hand. “Shouldn’t be surprised that Mother’s pup would be fiery! You’re going to do well in our family, pup.”

Kazue, who could not know what was going on, snarled again, raising his hands in a vague threat.

Hiku simply laughed at him. “You did well, protecting your omega! But I’m going to have to punish you for that one!” He lifted his hand, revealing his skin bubbled and blistered underneath, his right eye shut tight as the skin on his face quickly began to turn red and swell in the perfect shape of a little hand. “A scar for a scar, we’ll say?”

Izuku wanted to scream. He wanted to lunge for Kazue. He wanted to beg Hiku to just take him and leave the pups alone. But he was still caught in the thrall of whatever Hiku had done to him. He could only watch as Kazue shivered, terrified, but unmoved, and Hiku leaned forward, readying to pounce.

An explosive force hit Hiku so hard the entire helicopter swayed. An alarm sounded and Hikaru screamed. Izuku found strength enough to grab the beta pup, to hold him in place. Through the smoke, he couldn’t see what had happened. All he knew was that the helicopter started falling suddenly, before swinging to right itself and began to rise again. Shouting from the cockpit was at first exceedingly terrifying, until Izuku realized they were cheers. The helicopter zipped forward, freed from whatever had been holding it in place.

They weren’t falling. The relief from that thought lasted only a moment, as the smoke cleared enough to reveal Katsuki, his palms opened wide, his smirk edged more toward a snarl, Hiku having grabbed his hands and holding him in a stalemate.

“I’m going to kill you,” Katsuki snarled. “You don’t get to touch my family and live you son of a bitch.”

Kacchan—! Izuku wanted to cry or shout and a little noise managed past his lips, but nothing that could be heard over the increasing sounds of the helicopter and the wind. As they moved forward, the wind ripped through the space, throwing around anything that had been jostled loose in the initial attack. Somewhere, Kazue shrieked and panic flooded Izuku’s limbs. He clawed for his seatbelt, couldn’t quite get it off of him. Somehow, he’d kept hold of Hikaru, the beta pup curled up in his chest, hiding away from everything.

How am I going to explain this to Togata? The thought somehow meandered its way through Izuku’s mind, through the madness happening around him. If he was lucky, Togata already knew whathad happened thanks to the mayday and he wouldn’t have to explain anything. That would be nice.

Between his own half-delusional thoughts, Hiku and Katsuki were still having their standoff. Katsuki kept trying to break free from Hiku or otherwise burn him to a crisp, but Hiku endured, holding his hands even as the alpha’s palms sizzled with heat.

His grin had become crazed and wild. “There you are! We’ve been waiting for you! You’ve kept Mother waiting, you know, and that will make Father very unhappy.”

Katsuki let out a low growl but before he could open his mouth, Hiku smashed his head into the alpha’s forehead, pressing together so they could only look each other in the eye. “It’s good to see you again, brother.”

A cold sensation dripped through Izuku’s veins as the last of whatever Hiku had done to him finally left him a heaving, shaking mess, but at least he was in full control of his body again. His head lolled, exhausted, and when he tried to speak, all that came out was a little whimper. Across from him, Katsuki had gone rigid, his eyes blown wide, his palms no longer sparking.

Hiku laughed, and he said, “Kaori. Father requests you come home now.”

The fight seemed to bleed out of Katsuki. He might have collapsed to the floor if Hiku hadn’t been holding onto him. As it were, he swayed unsteadily, unseeing even with his eyes so wide. Izuku could almost see the alpha losing control of himself, could see him slipping away, with just a simple command. A sudden realization swept over Izuku, so simple he was surprised with how he hadn’t thought of it earlier.

Father hadn’t sent Hiku to collect Izuku. He’d sent him to get Katsuki.

“Kacc—” Izuku choked on the name. He had to call Katsuki. Had to bring him back. Before Hiku took him over completely. He had to save his mate! But his tongue was dry and he was still shivery. He couldn’t move with the seatbelt and Hikaru pressed against him. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t save Katsuki. He couldn’t—

“Daddy, no!”

Kazue’s voice cut through the overwhelming whir of the spinning blades, of Hiku’s command, and from one blink to the next, Katsuki’s eyes returned to pinpoints and he snarled again.

Instead of pressing directly against Hiku, Katsuki ducked under him, catching his shoulder against the villain’s chest and heaving him up and back, knocking Hiku off his feet. His hands freed, Katsuki sent a blast ringing through the space, the helicopter swinging like a pendulum, alarms blaring again. But as the explosion tore through the helicopter, Hiku was tossed out the side and he disappeared into the sky. Somehow, in the chaos, Izuku saw Kazue flying through the air, soaring right toward the open door, watched in horror as Katsuki snatched the pup just in the nick of time.

“Get us out of here!” Katsuki shouted.

Captain Haruto growled sharply but he and Lieutenant Oda immediately began working to right the helicopter and press forward. Katsuki dragged himself and Kazue over to where Izuku and Hikaru were, the alpha looking at him for the first time.

Shock raced over his expression and he grabbed for Izuku. “Deku! Deku, can you hear me?” Izuku let his jaw slack open but all he could manage was a painful whine. Katsuki flinched at the noise, as if it had physically pained him. “It’s all right, Deku. We’re okay now.”

“Uncle Hitoshi!” Kazue yelled, fighting to get out of Katsuki’s arms.

Katsuki struggled to keep him under control and safely in his arms. “He’s fine. He commandeered a ride on one of the flying villains. He’s holding them off while we get away. He’ll catch up.” Kazue didn’t seem convinced, but Katsuki wasn’t paying enough attention to him to notice.

Instead, he crouched close to Izuku, leaned in until their noses were practically touching. It was only than that Izuku realized his body was so heavy that it was hard to keep his eyes open, and when he did manage it, his vision was starting to blur. He whined again and Katsuki hushed him.

“It’s over now, Deku, it’s okay. I’m here.”

Izuku wished he could say more. But he was so tired. He felt so incredibly drained. Hiku’s words kept rolling around in his head. What he had said, what he had done, the implications of it all.

Gods, Izuku didn’t want to think about all of that. He was so tired of it all. He wanted to lean against Katsuki and go to sleep and if he never woke up, that would be okay. Even Kazue nuzzling into his neck didn’t rouse the omega any. If anything, having his pup close, knowing he was safe, let Izuku drop a little more into sleep.

Eventually, he did croak, “Kacchan,” and the alpha growled in response.

Staving off sleep was so difficult. But Izuku didn’t want to fall asleep. He wanted to know what was happening. He wanted to make sure Katsuki didn’t fly off again, that Hiku didn’t come back. He wanted to make sure the pups were okay. Kazue seemed fine but Hikaru refused to be moved from his chest. Was the beta pup all right? Just in shock? Or was he hurt? It was too difficult to move, to check, and he couldn’t find the words to tell Katsuki to check for him.

Eventually, Hitoshi showed back up, riding on the back of a rather large villain with huge bat wings. He stepped into the helicopter from the villain’s back and instructed him to go back to the mainland and turn himself in. The villain flew off without any further prompting needed.

“Is that going to work?” Katsuki asked.

Hitoshi shrugged. “Long as he doesn’t get jostled along the way. Doesn’t matter as long as he doesn’t know where we’re going.”

“We almost there?” Katsuki asked.

Hitoshi glanced out the window, to the endless ocean around them. “You think I know? I’m just along for the ride at this point.” Without saying anything else, he went over to check on Izuku.

Somehow, Izuku found it easier to whimper and whine to Hitoshi, and for the other omega to understand him without further explanation. Hitoshi carefully pried Hikaru from Izuku’s chest and checked the pup over for wounds, finding nothing. Hikaru stared wide-eyed around the helicopter, as if he’d just woken up from a dream and as trying to reorient himself in the real world. Kazue got a similar treatment, the alpha pup also in shock, though he responded a bit more normally.

When Hitoshi turned to Izuku, he frowned deeply.

“What’s wrong with him?” There was a note of anxiety in Katsuki’s voice.

Hitoshi shook his head. “Don’t know. Doctors on the island will check him out.” Katsuki snorted unhappily.

Knowing the pups were okay, knowing Hitoshi was okay, knowing everything had somehow turned out okay, Izuku wanted so badly to slip into sleep, to shut his eyes for good and just forget the world. A small part of him was afraid he’d never wake up, and another part of him welcomed the embrace of that sort of complete rest.

How was it he was so tired? He was tired in a way he didn’t think the human body could possibly be. He was tired in a way that parts of him ached he didn’t even know could ache. He was tired in a way that made everything else seem so unimportant.

Keeping him awake was the scene replaying over and over in his head. Of Hiku leaning in close to Katsuki. Of calling him Kaori, of calling him back to Father’s side. Of nearly losing him again. He’d nearly lost the alpha again.

“Kacchan,” he called, and again Katsuki was immediately next to him.

“I’m here,” the alpha brushed hair from the omega’s face. “I’m here, Deku.”

“Tired,” he muttered.

“I need you to stay awake a little longer, Deku. Once we get to the island, you can sleep. You can sleep as much as you want, but we have to get to the island first.”

“Kacchan.”

“I know, Deku, I know.”

It was all they could say to each other. All they could do. There was nothing else either of them could do to make it all go away.

- - -

It was a minor miracle when the helicopter finally touched down. Izuku was so relieved to feel solid ground under the helicopter that he shut his eyes and would have crashed into sleep, except the helicopter was also immediately swarmed by an army of people. Half of them seemed to be some sort of security forces and the other were medical personnel. They took one look at Izuku and practically threw him on a gurney and shoved an IV into his arm, much to both Kazue and Hikaru’s distress.

As much as he wanted to sleep, Izuku found himself fixated on the pups, catching the moment when Hitoshi took both their hands and said to Katsuki, “Go with Zuku. I’ll handle the pups.”

Katsuki didn’t need to be told twice, lingering behind only long enough to reassure Kazue that he would make sure Izuku was okay, and to tell Hikaru that Hitoshi would make sure he got to talk to his family. Then, Katsuki was rushing alongside Izuku’s gurney, taking his hand and holding it tightly.

“Deku,” he said. Izuku could tell he wasn’t actually calling to the omega. Just saying his name. Reaffirming their bond, their togetherness.

Izuku wanted to respond back. But now that the pups were safe, the villains were gone, and he could feel the earth rattling beneath him, he really had nothing to stop him from sleep, and he no longer had the willpower to fight it off.

- - -

The doctors were perplexed by Izuku’s condition. Until, that is, the omega was strong enough to tell them what had happened. They had to call a specialist, a doctor who specifically worked with troublesome Quirks and someone who had had dealings with victims of All for One.

His explanation of what had happened made Izuku’s head spin. “He tried to give you a Quirk,” the doctor had said. “Your symptoms match with what many people who had Quirks forced onto them. It sounds like the transfer was interrupted midway, but you should be on the lookout for any strange happenings. We don’t know if the Quirk took hold at all and what side effects it could cause. But other than that, all you need is rest. It takes a toll on the body. That’s all.”

It was baffling news. Neither Izuku nor Katsuki really knew what to make of it. Although Katsuki did grumble about having to tell Tsukauchi. The fact that Hiku seemingly had the ability to give people Quirks was alarming. The natural question after that was, did he also have the ability to steal them? Was he another All for One? It seemed unlikely. But this development meant they couldn’t rule it out.

The good news was, however, that Izuku could be released immediately to Katsuki’s and Hitoshi’s custody. The heroes were instructed to keep a close eye on Izuku, but since the security and in-house systems were so advanced on the island, the doctors weren’t too worried about what would happen if something went wrong. There was a contingency plan for just about everything, apparently. For that, Izuku was so very glad. He didn’t want to spend his first night on I-Island in the hospital. That would just be sad and tragic.

Just before being released, he was reunited with both Kazue and Hikaru. The pups had been checked out by physicians as well and were both healthy and well. They threw themselves at the stricken omega, hugging him tightly. Once again, Izuku felt a bit of warmth seeping into him from Hikaru. The beta pup couldn’t seem to form words, but he did nestle into Izuku’s arm comfortably, and it was good to know the pup was safe. He didn’t know what Togata would have done if they’d gotten his pup hurt less than three hours after taking him away.

Even if he was feeling a little better, Izuku remembered literally nothing from the trip from the hospital to where they were to be staying for the duration of their visit. In fact, Izuku didn’t really see much of anything, getting only the impression of taller buildings and fantastical sights before he was standing before a door that slid open when Katsuki raised his hand to it, someone explaining their dwelling was biometrically connected to them. After that, he noticed a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a large open space that felt luxurious and homey at the same time, then another door opened and suddenly he was laying in a huge bed that was so soft and comfortable he nearly passed out right away again.

He didn’t, but only because he heard Katsuki moving around the room and he found himself paying close attention to every movement he made. The alpha seemed to rummage around through drawers and the closet, putting things up, moving through the space as if taking it up, making it his own. He very deliberately moved around the bed where Izuku lay, marking out his territory. For a few minutes, he left the room, only to return and crawl onto the bed.

“Deku,” he called. Izuku only had the energy to respond with a little whine, which made the alpha growl. “Everything’s okay now. The pups are with Eyebags. Doors are locked. Security is patrolling around. No sign of the League. It’s all over now.”

We’ll fucking see about that, Izuku wanted to say. All he could manage was a short growl.

“I know,” Katsuki leaned over him. He loomed like a shroud, like a familiar blanket about to collapse over him. Izuku welcomed the warmth he brought. “Just sleep. We’ll figure things out tomorrow. Just get some rest and you’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.”

Yeah, Izuku sighed, we’ll see about that, too.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke with Katsuki laid over him, a dead weight that pressed him into the mattress below and made movement difficult to say the least. The alpha’s scent was sticky with sleep and the aftermath of the stress from the previous days, spicy hot and caramel sweet. He was a little sweaty and very warm. It had been nearly three months since Izuku had woken up like that. In the dawn of sleep, he had a moment of bliss, of belonging, of everything being right.

Then he remembered what had happened, where he was, why he was there, and he was very awake all at once.

The easiest emotion to feel, the one that tried to leap through Izuku’s skin, was fear, desperation. Everything washed over him like suffocating wax trying to seal him in the moment sitting on the helicopter, the moment standing before Father, the moment struggling in the trunk of a car, the moment laying on a dirty mattress. Memories that wanted to take him over, to drown him, and it would be so easy to fall into such a deep, dark pit.

And so, it was with effort that Izuku carefully raised his hand and pressed it to Katsuki’s shoulder. His touch was light enough not to disturb the alpha, but through his skin, he could feel the pulse of his heart, the flow of blood, the cycles of life going on and on. That steady heartbeat had carried Izuku through many hard times, and he let it carry him through that moment, a beat he could breathe to, a beat he could set his own heart to, a beat to count away the seconds that took him farther and farther from those terrible moments.

After laying there, feeling Katsuki laying on him, letting it all wash over him, Izuku let his hand wander. Katsuki had lost a lot of muscle during his time with Father. But there were still rivets to his body that Izuku was intimately familiar with. He sought those out, the notch in his shoulder, the smooth, carving line of his spine, the inward curve at the base of his back. They were all the same, a road he had traveled before, one that was soothing, clearing away the lingering fear with only a single stroke. His alpha’s body had changed. But it was still Katsuki.

A smirk rounded Izuku’s mouth, and pressed toward Katsuki, one hand rising up to massage at his scent gland while the other tucked under his ass. The touch was immediately arousing to the alpha, who stirred with a half-hearted growl, his member lengthening lazily.

“Alpha,” Izuku called, and Katsuki sighed into his neck.

“What?” He muttered, which was admittedly quite unsexy.

“Want you.”

Katsuki sighed, laid unmoving even as Izuku prompted him by cocking his knees open a little, squeezing a little more at his ass and neck. Then, the alpha planted his hands into the mattress on either side of Izuku’s head and rose up, shaking off the remnants of sleep. “You just have no fucking idea how long I’ve waited for you to say that.”

“Well then get to it. Or do you really need me to start you off?”

Katsuki smirked, reaching to grab the omega’s hands off his body, placing them instead on his chest, on the tight, round pecs that, although diminished, were still heavenly to stroke. “Do as I say first, omega. Keep your hands where I want them.”

Izuku whined impatiently but Katsuki seemed determined to make him wait. He was looking over Izuku as if he were deciding where he wanted to start. Truth be told, he was still probably caught up in sleep and needed a moment to prepare himself, but Izuku wasn’t really in the mood to wait. He went to move a hand to Katsuki’s face but the alpha caught his wrist and pressed it into the bed.

“First warning, omega. Didn’t I tell you to do as I said?”

Izuku whined again, squirming, “Alpha!”

Katsuki snapped his jaw close to Izuku’s ear, letting him hear the grinding of his teeth against one another. “That’s right, omega. I’m the alpha. You listen to me now.”

There was nothing Izuku wanted to do more in that moment.

The sudden rapping of knuckles on the bedroom door caused a jolt to leap between both Izuku and Katsuki. While Katsuki sat up, snarling in the direction of the sound, Izuku threw himself at the alpha, grabbing onto him with blind desperation. The build up of his fear struck him cold and still, holding his breath to see what was going to happen next.

What happened was a voice called through the door, “Hey lovebirds, the doc’s on his way to check up on everyone. Make sure you’re properly clothed, yeah?”

Hitoshi.

It was Hitoshi.

Even knowing that, Izuku couldn’t quite unwind the tension in his fingers, couldn’t stop clutching Katsuki. Katsuki, however, eased back toward the bed, growling unhappily. Whether he noticed Izuku’s heightened state or not was a stupid question. Of course he noticed. But he never directly addressed it. Instead, he leaned forward until the omega was laying on his back, then the alpha bit playfully at his cheek, startling Izuku out of his daze.

“You just wait,” Katsuki smirked, “I’m going to find time for us if it kills me and when I do, oh you’re in fucking trouble.”

Izuku wanted to tease Katsuki back. He wanted to play along with the moment. He didn’t want their intimacy to end, didn’t want to acknowledge the world beyond the bedroom door. But his wants hardly made a difference to things nowadays.

It was difficult to release Katsuki on many different levels, though the physical strain of it surprised Izuku. When he uncoiled his arms, they shook and shivered and creaked as if they’d fallen asleep. The emotional strain of pulling away from the alpha was equally distressing, Izuku having to swallow thickly to keep control of his scent. Luckily, there was enough arousal in the air to hide the souring scent of his unhappiness.

Katsuki waited until Izuku had fully released him before he sat up with a growl. “Things just can’t ever give us a fucking moment, can they?”

“Where’s Kazue? And Hikaru?” Izuku surprised himself, only half remembering that they were technically watching the youngest Amajiki pup.

“Eyebags has that handled. Just lay there for a second and breathe. When you’re ready, we’ll go out and see the doctor.”

Right. The doctor was going to follow up with them. First on how Izuku was doing, and hopefully after having talked to a specialist on what had happened to Katsuki in the helicopter. Something was obviously wrong with the alpha, otherwise how could only a few words make him nearly lose himself? In all the commotion of everything, Izuku had nearly forgotten that little tidbit.

Sighing, he sat up, watched as Katsuki pawed through their clothes, dismissing each and every piece with a snort or a grunt. Watching him do something so mundane, a task he did nearly every single day, was jarring in a strange way. Even if they were in a bedroom Izuku didn’t recognize, and hell if he recognized it even from last night, Katsuki was going about such normal, daily, menial tasks that it was still hard for Izuku to wrap his head around the fact that he’d been missing for so long. How could things be so normal, yet so very unusual all at once?

Biting at his lip, he eventually kicked his legs over the side of the bed and joined Katsuki in picking out some clothes. He settled on some very homey and casual sweatpants and a T-shirt, while Katsuki drew out a tank top and cargo pants. It seemed neither of them were particularly eager to be all that presentable after all.

Just as Izuku was yanking on his shirt, he noticed Katsuki draw out his All Might jacket. Something about it had him pausing, had him examining it carefully, as if he didn’t recognize it.

“Kacchan?” Izuku murmured.

The alpha frowned deeply. “This… doesn’t smell like me.”

It was a weird thought. Of course the jacket didn’t smell like Katsuki. It hadn’t in weeks. But why would Katsuki be aware of that? He’d scented that hoodie nearly every single time he came across it, so habitually and so ritualistically that neither of them ever really thought about it. Izuku’s All Might jacket always smelled like Katsuki, because Katsuki was constantly scenting it. That was just a fact of their daily lives. And yet, there he held it, and it smelled only of faint lavender and Izuku’s sweet grass and dew-drenched night scent.

Katsuki held the jacket for a long time, just looking at it, until Izuku had finished getting dressed and came over to press a light touch to his arm. Then, he drew the jacket to his neck and scented it deeply and thoroughly. “Here,” he passed it back to Izuku, who felt such a thrill of joy his purring skipped up and down as if he were singing.

Putting on the jacket, being so surrounded by Katsuki’s scent, his I’m-here-for-you caramel, his I’ll-always-protect-you chilies, his I’m-yours burning pine logs. Izuku nearly forgotten what it was like to be so intrinsically tied to the alpha, no matter how where he went.

Drifting through the newfound peace washing over him, Izuku went to the little box that Uraraka had been very careful to pack for him and opened it to reveal the obsidian black band that he slipped onto his wrist, pressing it inward to feel the inlaid X whisper against his pulse. Across the room, Katsuki was watching him. His eyes were wide and his attention raptly focused on Izuku twisting the band so it settled nicely on his wrist.

The alpha’s hand drifted to his pocket, then to his waist, his lips thinning more and more. When Izuku tilted his head toward him, a question in the movement, Katsuki muttered, “I don’t have your chain anymore.”

In all honesty, Izuku hadn’t even really thought about that. Katsuki always wore the black chain gifted to him by the omega, even when on patrol. His clothes had never turned up after he’d been abducted, and although some of his gear had, the chain hadn’t. More than likely it was long gone. Tossed away like trash.

The realization hit them both at the same time, the sorrow for that lost part of their relationship, though the sorrow passed quickly through Katsuki and was replaced with fierce fear. The alpha scrambled through their things, shoving aside everything in their bags as he dug and dug and finally withdrew a small box of his own. It was nearly a third the size of Izuku’s and held only one item.

Katsuki snapped the box open with a desperation Izuku knew so very well. He knew it so well that he stayed back, let the relief sweep through Katsuki with a dropping of his shoulders, his head bowing, his breath sputtering from his lungs. Carefully, he withdrew from the box his wedding band, tucked neatly into place since he’d left it there the night he’d gone out to face the League. Izuku had known it was there. Sometimes, he’d taken it out to caress it, to try to catch a bit of Katsuki within it. But in the end, it had been a too-painful reminder of the alpha’s loss, so he’d left it well enough alone.

His wedding band was the only piece of jewelry Katsuki had never worn out on patrol. While it had been specialty reinforced to withstand more heat and force than usual, it was still at risk of breaking if Katsuki wore it during particularly hard battles, where he was using his Quirk often. So he’d never worn it. And it had waited for him to return, sitting in that little box.

Katsuki all but tossed the box aside to slip the ring onto his finger, to clutch his hands together and breathe in and out deeply. He remained hunched over himself for so long that Izuku carefully went over to him, humming quietly. He found the alpha shaking, his jaw tight, his knuckles white.

Izuku didn’t say anything. He simply drew the alpha to him, humming and purring quietly, letting all that had happened to them wash over them, a storm that had yet to break. But dawn was on the horizon. The light of the sun would be breaking through the clouds soon enough. He had to hold onto hope for that, if not for himself, then at least for his family.

Izuku nuzzled into Katsuki’s scent gland, and let the rains fall.

- - -

Kazue glared at his parents’ door. It was nearly eleven. How were they not up yet? Uncle Hitoshi had said to be patient, that they needed some time after all that had happened. But it was almost eleven. He’d never seen his Mom sleep past nine. Not even when he was sick. His Dad, sure, but only when he worked weird patrol shifts or had otherwise been out late working. This was unusual and on top of everything else that had been happening recently, he didn’t like the sudden change.

As irritated as he was, he couldn’t quite force himself to go knock on the door, as he was stuck right where he was. Hikaru was laying over his back with his arms flopped up over his head. The beta pup had been groaning and complaining about not being able to sleep, but had gone quiet enough that Kazue had started to wonder if he had fallen asleep, and he wasn’t about to ruin Hikaru’s nap.

So he sat where he was at the kitchen counter, glaring at his parents’ door, while Uncle Hitoshi spoke quietly on the phone to someone at his work.

The apartment they were staying in was smaller than their house and significantly smaller than the packhouse, but still much bigger than the tiny apartment Kazue and his Mom had once lived in, before Kacchan had come into his life. It was sleek and modern in a way that the packhouse certainly wasn’t and had way more technological gadgets than their home did. The kitchen was huge and open and incredibly bright, so bright it almost hurt Kazue’s eyes. It was connected to a decent sized living room, a couch and a loveseat faced in toward one of the windows overlooking the city below. That specific window darkened and turned into a television, apparently, though Kazue hadn’t experimented with it. Uncle Hitoshi had a separate bedroom but Kazue and Hikaru had to share a room. Their room had two beds, one for each pup. The room itself had been cozy and warm and when Kazue had looked up at the ceiling, it had sparkled as if studded by stars. He’d laid in his bed last night, staring up at that ceiling, for only a few minutes before Hikaru had clambered over to his bed to cuddle up with him. He and Hikaru had had naps together before, but it was strange to spend the night next to someone who wasn’t one of his packmates. Still, he hadn’t had much trouble after the first few uncomfortable minutes, especially once he’d started tracing constellations above him.

The city beyond the windows was sprawling and weird in a delightful way. Kazue had heard of I-Island before, but nothing he’d ever been told about it had led him to believe it looked anything like how it actually did. Instead of huge patches of small, squat laboratory buildings, each of them vaguely square and some boring color between dark gray and too-bright white, the entire island was overflowing with different shapes and sizes and colors, and it was a wonder just to stare out at it. Kazue had spotted a hot pink building that was so thin he wondered how it was still standing, and a geometric building so precisely shaped that Kazue was amazed it was made of steel and concrete rather than marble carved by an expert sculptor’s hand. The streets were wide and full of life, more and more people filtering out along the avenues as the day went on. So few of them wore any sort of lab coat that Kazue wondered if they actually were on I-Island at all. From the tiny portion he could see from the window, Kazue knew he wanted to see more.

But first, he wanted to make sure his alpha and omega were okay.

The part of him that he ruefully thought of as his monster was stirring beneath his skin, agitated and unsatisfied. It wanted him to kick down the door and be sure his parents were okay. It wanted to wrap Hikaru up so it knew he was safe. It wanted Kazue to weld the front door shut so nobody could come in and hurt them. That last point had gotten Kazue wondering whether or not he could weld with his Quirk, though he eventually decided that he didn’t know enough about welding to know for certain, and that from what he’d seen his omega do, there was a lot of sparks and tiny explosions associated with welding, so if he was more practiced with his Quirk, then maybe.

This answer did not satisfy either the monster within him or his own curious mind, so he glared unhappily through that morning, waiting for signs that either his parents were going to emerge from their bedroom or that Hikaru was actually awake.

He continued to glare until his Uncle Hitoshi got off the phone and turned to him. “You look mildly consternated, pup.”

Kazue did not know what the word “consternated” meant, but he understood enough to wrinkle his nose. “Are you sure my Mom and Dad are okay?”

“Yes, they’re fine. They’re just really tired after everything that’s happened. I think you all need some more sleep.” Kazue did not want to point out that Uncle Hitoshi often said this because he secretly wasn’t getting enough sleep himself, and instead just nodded to the omega. “Good. The doctor’s on his way and he’s going to want to take a look at you pups as well, so just be prepared.”

“Ugh,” Hikaru groaned from Kazue’s back, surprising him a little. “But I hate seeing doctors. They always tell me how much they want my Quirk and it’s creepy and gross.”

Kazue took in this bit of information, chewing thoughtfully on it, before he spat it back out with a slight growl, just enough to rumble along his spine. “This doctor won’t say that to you.”

“Oh? How do you know?”

The alpha pup said nothing. He simply leaned a little back, until the back of his head knocked lightly against Hikaru’s forehead. Just that brief touch was enough to convey his meaning, he thought, so after letting it linger, he shrugged Hikaru off his back. The beta pup rolled away, taking the seat next to Kazue instead.

“Can I call my alpha after the doctor visits?” He asked Uncle Hitoshi.

The omega glanced up from typing on his phone. “No can do. He’s busy looking into the League. He’ll call you when he has a moment, but calling his phone now would probably just send you straight to voice mail.”

Hikaru looked as if he was going to protest, but eventually gave it up and slumped into his seat.

“You’re sure your alpha’s not angry, right?” Kazue asked quietly, and the beta pup gave him a confused look in return.

“Why would he be?”

“Well… the League did attack our helicopter.”

“Yeah, so? I told him that the villain didn’t know I was there. So it was fine,” he shrugged, as if this and this alone had assuaged all his worries. “I was just really scared for you and your mom. That villain was being super weird with your mom, anyway. Why did he keep calling him ‘Mother?’ ”

It was a question Kazue didn’t like asking. One, because he didn’t know the answer, and two because he was not at all happy with this little fact. It felt gross and sickening in a way Kazue didn’t have words to describe. And it made his monster howl and rage inside of him. Leaping in to protect his omega had made him feel better, but it had also been one of the most terrifying moments of his life. They were lucky Kacchan had shown up when he did.

Once again, he glanced to his parents’ bedroom door, wishing they would just come out already.

Hikaru leaned against him suddenly, knocking into his shoulder. “You look sad.”

“I’m not sad.”

“Then why are you making that face?”

“I’m not making a face.”

“You so are.”

“Am not.”

“You look like you’re about to cry!”

Kazue growled sharply at the beta pup, a warning for him to stop, and that is when his parents’ door opened.

Kacchan was the first to step out, evaluating both pups in a single, sweeping glance, so quickly and efficiently taking in all the information there was laid before him. “Kazue, don’t growl at Hikaru like that.”

“He’s being mean,” Kazue protested, but Kacchan just raised an eyebrow at him before stepping aside.

His Mom stepped out next, still looking a little pale and a little unwell. The sight of him made Kazue’s stomach tighten up. He jumped off his seat and dashed over to his omega, grabbing him in a hug. His Mom purred quietly, a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time, and felt his Mom’s fingers untangle through his hair.

“How are you doing today, firecracker?”

“Fine,” Kazue sighed, glanced up at Kacchan. The alpha was lingering nearby, near enough that Kazue could, and did, reach out to draw him into the hug. “I missed you.”

“Missed us?” His Mom repeated. “We were only asleep in the next room. We never left the apartment.”

There weren’t words for the knot of emotion in Kazue’s chest. He didn’t know how to explain it. But he knew he’d missed his parents dearly since parting ways the previous night. So he said nothing else and continued to hold them tight.

They stood together, as if stuck in that moment, until Kazue felt hands under his arms, then he was being lifted off his feet. Even though he was much too big, Kacchan held him to his chest, Kazue hugging the alpha tightly with his knees, arms around his shoulders. In return, his Dad pressed a hand to his hair and quietly padded away from the others. Most of the apartment was very open, but there was a small nook right next to the front door, Kacchan finding a place to stand next to the coat rack where they felt a little alone, just the two of them. Not even his Mom followed them.

With just the two of them, Kacchan hugged Kazue a little tighter and whispered, “Yeah, I missed you too, firecracker.”

Kazue curled up a little more, wanting to be smaller so he fit better in his alpha’s arms. Like he used to. When things weren’t so complicated. When things had made more sense.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t hate you. I don’t. And I’m sorry. I love you, Daddy.”

“I know,” his Dad sighed deeply, as if he were exhausted. And yet, his scent seemed to deepen, to waft richly around the pup. As if he were very happy. “It’s okay. I love you too, Kazue.”

Kazue lifted his head a little, but only so he could catch more of his alpha’s neck, to settle into his inviting scent. He didn’t want his Dad to put him down ever. He wanted to stay there with him. So he knew his alpha was safe. His Dad rocked him a little side to side, as if he were much smaller, but Kazue didn’t mind. It was kind of nice, actually.

“I want you to know,” his Dad said, “that if given the chance, I’d go back in a heartbeat just so I could be there with you, every step of the way. From when you were very, very little, even before you were born, up until now. I’d do that without a second thought. And I don’t love you any less because I’m here now and I wasn’t then.” He paused as Kazue tilted his head a little, pressing into his alpha’s cheek. “Do you… understand?”

“Yes, I do,” Kazue shifted, nuzzled into his alpha’s scent gland.

He didn’t have anything more to say to that. Neither did Kacchan, apparently, as the two fell into comfortable silence, simply being together. It had been a long, long time since they’d done something like this. Even before Kacchan disappeared, he couldn’t really remember his alpha holding him, not like this. Usually it was his Mom who held him. Sometimes Kacchan had been there too, but it was his Mom who had cuddled with him and comforted him. His Dad’s way of holding him was different to his Mom’s. But it was still nice. Very nice. Kazue couldn’t have asked for anything nicer, actually.

He didn’t know how long they stood there, Kacchan rocking him slowly back and forth, but eventually Kazue started getting a little uncomfortable in his arms and wiggled around until his alpha put his down. Before letting him go, he drew Kazue in to kiss him on the forehead, rubbing the mark in playfully as Kazue struggled to push him away. Even when he did, he made sure to step with his alpha, so they were never very far apart.

Kacchan grinned. “Doctor’s going to be here soon. You should go play with Hikaru until then.”

Kazue pursed his lips, not wanting to leave his alpha’s side, and found he didn’t have to after all, as someone knocked at the door. Kacchan growled quietly as a screen popped up on the door, showing a man with a white mustache and glasses that looked larger than his face standing on the other side.

He grunted and nodded to Kazue. “Go tell the others the doctor’s here.”

- - -

“Hmm, oh I see,” the doctor was about half an inch from Izuku’s stomach, so close the omega couldn’t really believe he was seeing anything at all.

It was admittedly exceedingly uncomfortable to be laying on the couch with his shirt rolled up and the doctor pressing his hands to either side of Izuku’s belly, peering so closely at it. Supposedly his Quirk allowed him to see details about whatever was between his hands, but it didn’t look like he was doing much of anything, besides pissing Katsuki off.

The alpha was pacing restlessly behind the couch, never once letting his eyes drop from the doctor. He was being so aggressive that Hitoshi was instinctually releasing calming pheromones to try to even out the tension in the air, and to help keep the pups calm. Kazue and Hikaru had already been examined and were watching the doctor from the kitchen counter, Kazue clearly becoming just as agitated as Katsuki while Hikaru just seemed confused. Both were in perfect health, according to the doctor, though he had nearly gotten into a spat with Kazue when he’d tried to say something about Hikaru’s Quirk and Kazue had snarled sharply at him. Hitoshi only had a few minor injuries, nothing that wouldn’t heal over naturally in a couple weeks.

Izuku and Katsuki were, of course, different. Katsuki had yet to be seen and with how long the doctor was taking examining Izuku, he wondered if they had the time for the alpha to be properly examined.

As nerve-wracking as it was, Izuku laid back and waited, wiggling his toes when the doctor’s cold hands became increasingly uncomfortable pressed against his skin. Eventually, the doctor eventually sat up and proclaimed, “I see! So I see!”

“See what?!” Katsuki rounded on the doctor with a roar and a snap of his teeth.

If the doctor noticed, he didn’t say. “I see your pup is quite healthy and strong! That’s good, very good! Some swelling still, but most of it seems to have cleared up. All in all, your pup is very well.”

It was good news. Better than maybe he should have expected. Izuku sat up with a sigh, rolling his shirt back over his belly, pausing to trail a hand over his skin first. Knowing the pup was okay did make him feel a little better. After all the excitement of the past few months, it was a relief to know the pup had made it through it everything.

“And what about my mate?” Katsuki said through gritted teeth.

“Hmm? Ah, yes!” The doctor offered his hand and Izuku laid his palm on his, the doctor pressing his hand over Izuku’s. “I spoke again with the specialist in Tokyo. Have you noticed anything strange since we last spoke? Any… unusual happenings or abilities?”

“Um, no,” Izuku muttered, “but… I’ve mostly been sleeping since then.”

“That’s good! You need sleep! Well!” He nodded, satisfied. “We’ll keep an eye on things for now. If something happens or changes, you’ll let me know immediately, yes? Yes! Now!” He turned to Katsuki. “Your turn!”

Katsuki glowered unhappily but consented to the doctor’s examination, only growling a little when he pressed his hands all over his body, checking for any injuries. At the end of it, he discovered only minor scrapes and bruises, his palms being extra sore from overuse, recommending some rest and perhaps burn cream, which Katsuki had in spades.

“Well then! Everything seems to be in order! You’re doing well physically. But,” as he spoke, the doctor became more and more serious. He eyed Katsuki carefully over the rim of his glasses, having to dip his nose nearly to the ground to accomplish this, “there is the matter of your being controlled by commands.”

Katsuki stiffened uneasily, showing his teeth in a defiant display. Alphas didn’t obey commands. Sometimes more dominant alphas could command younger or lesser alphas, but only on exceedingly rare occasions. And Katsuki was as prime an alpha as you got nowadays. Nobody could command him.

And yet, Hiku nearly had.

“I’m no expert on this, so I called in another specialist,” the doctor reached into his jacket and pulled out a card, which he handed to Katsuki, “she does scent therapy. You and your omega should speak with her. Unfortunately, breaking scent-based commands is exceedingly difficult if there’s a Quirk that’s been used. Your instincts have been trained to work against you. Those are hard to ignore, and hard to reprogram. I suggest you give her a call sooner rather than later.”

Katsuki was too busy glaring at the card to say anything, so Izuku nodded, “Okay. We will. But, um, is Katsuki going to be all right going out?”

“Here on the island, yes,” the doctor waved vaguely toward the city. “There’s no one here that has the right scent profile to affect him, or who knows the right commands to give.”

“The guy who gave me the command,” Katsuki said suddenly, breaking through the conversation. He was still glaring at the card. “He didn’t have the scent-based Quirk.”

“No,” the doctor said, “but he did know the right things to say. We can’t know for certain, but it’s likely you were… well for lack of a better word, trained to respond to certain commands while under the influence of the Quirk. It’s a bit like brainwashing, honestly. But it can be reversed. Your omega will be a huge help in that, especially since he’s pregnant.”

Katsuki’s gaze finally drifted away from the card and to Izuku’s stomach, rounded and peaking at the middle of his shirt. With only another grunt of acknowledgement, Katsuki flipped the card into his pocket.

Once his evaluations were complete, the doctor waltzed happily out the door, waving to the family as he left. As soon as he was gone, Hikaru laughed. “That guy was weird. I like him!” Kazue shot him a confused look, though the beta pup didn’t notice.

With the doctor, the invader, gone, Katuski relaxed almost instantly. Hitoshi, who had been hovering nearby, glanced him up and down, and for the first time turned away, seemingly convinced everything was okay now. It was weird to think that Hitoshi was really acting like Katsuki was the alpha of their little pack. He hadn’t gone against the alpha yet, he’d been subservient to the alpha, and he hadn’t really shown much attitude since they’d gotten there. Granted, it had been less than twenty-four hours. Perhaps Izuku was just seeing things where there was nothing to see, but he swore Hitoshi was purposefully acting like an omega packmember around a dominant alpha.

Considering this thought carefully, Izuku opened his mouth to say he was thinking about laying down for a nap, maybe halfway hoping Katsuki would join him, when there was another knock at the door.

“What the fuck now!” Katsuki stomped over to the door, already snarling.

Hitoshi glared after him. “How do you put up with that guy?” he muttered to Izuku, who bit his lip to hide a smile. So much for Hitoshi being a good, subservient omega.

The door slammed open and Katsuki snarled something, only to pause as another voice rang out. Izuku bit a little deeper, thinking he knew that voice, waiting as Katsuki reemerged into the main room.

“Deku, this lady says she knows you,” the alpha growled, and someone stepped out from behind him with a gasp.

“Midoriya! Hey, it’s been a while! So happy you’re here!”

After all the madness that had been happening recently, it had been easy to forget exactly where they were, and what that actually meant. He hadn’t had a single moment to think about what was going to happen once they’d stepped off that helicopter, because nothing had happened the way it was supposed to.

But this? As strange as it was, it was a little piece of normal. Something Izuku would have fully expected once they reached the island. I-Island. How could he forget?

Izuku smiled warmly, and said, “It’s good to see you too, Melissa.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki set a cup of coffee in front of Izuku first, leaning over to kiss him before dividing the remain cups between himself, Melissa, and Hitoshi. They sat around the dining table adjacent to the kitchen and living room. They’d turned the television on, volume low, for the pups’ entertainment while they talked. Kazue, however, was clearly not paying attention to whatever show was on. His head was tilted in the direction of the table, specifically toward Melissa.

He knew of Melissa, of course. Just as Katsuki knew vaguely of her. Izuku had been so excited to work with her several years earlier on a couple components of Katsuki’s gear that he’d mentioned her about fifty times over. She was an experienced designer and engineer and the daughter of the famed hero costume designer, David Shield, who had made most of All Might’s costumes. Working with her had practically been a dream come true for Izuku, and their combined efforts had led to the wildly successful second iteration of Katsuki’s chemical core gauntlet system.

Katsuki clearly knew Melissa enough to have let her into the apartment, but he still stuck as close to Izuku as he could get without being literally on top of him. His arm slung over the back of the omega’s chair and he leaned possessively inward, just a breath away. All Izuku could think was they were lucky Melissa was an omega. Had she been either a beta or an alpha, he thought Katsuki might start losing his mind.

As it were, there was clearly some tension in the room, Melissa unfamiliar with Katsuki’s normal behavior on top of his overly protective behaviors, Hitoshi already done with Katsuki’s shit, and Izuku sat right in the middle of it. It naturally fell to him to help break the tension with idle chatter, which quickly devolved into him and Melissa getting into the minutia of a project she was working on. While not the traditional way of breaking tension, it did lead to both Katsuki and Hitoshi glazing over as the conversation wore on, neither hero able to keep up with them.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Izuku jolted halfway through their conversation, “what are you doing here, Melissa?”

Melissa smiled warmly. “I came to say hello! And to offer to show you around, though I know it might be a little too soon for that.” Although her tone remained friendly, her smile dipped off the more she spoke.

Izuku gripped his mug tightly. “You, uh… how much do you know?”

“I heard enough about it. Your mayday call got picked up by the island’s security. Few of us who work on the system heard about it.” She dared to press a hand over Izuku’s to squeeze him comfortingly. Izuku half expected Katsuki to snap or growl at her, but he didn’t react at all, letting her touch him and smile at him. “I’m sorry this is happening. I wish you were here for a happier reason.”

“Yeah,” Izuku swallowed thickly, “would have been nice under other circumstances.”

They fell into a new bout of tension, one marked not by disgruntled heroes, but rather by the sorrows of the past few days, weeks, months. It was such a deep sorrow that Melissa, so far removed from it all, drooped under the weight of it. No one could escape, it seemed.

Until, that is, Hitoshi scoffed, “Who cares why we’re here? We’re here. May as well enjoy it.”

Izuku gave the other omega a grateful smile as Melissa perked up as well, clapping her hands together. “Psyche is right! Like I said, I can give you a tour around the island, if you’d like. Or maybe you’d just like to see the extra lab space we have available for you?”

“Oh yeah,” Izuku sat up a little more, “I forgot Togata mentioned I’d have some lab space to work with.”

Melissa nodded enthusiastically. “We don’t have many visiting engineers, but we do have a lot of lab space that goes in and out of use around the island. When projects start or end, we tend to have labs move around, so not all of them are operational at any given time, except for the months leading up to the expo. So we had a bit of space you could use while you’re here!” She grinned widely. “I’d love to see what you’re working on! Or to see what you make while you’re here.”

“Oh, well, um,” Izuku cut a glance to Katsuki, but looked just as quickly away when he saw the alpha was watching him, “I, uh, haven’t really been working on anything recently. Too much… else going on.”

“I see,” Melissa considered this carefully, then shook her head, “well, you’re still welcome to the space. Maybe it’ll inspire you! And it’s not far either, so you can go there whenever you want. You just have to use your badge!”

Izuku blinked. “My what?”

“Right,” Hitoshi sighed as he pushed away from the table. “Guy came by earlier this morning to drop them off. One for each of us, including the pups. Though they’ve already got theirs.” It might have been a subtle jab at their late morning, but Izuku didn’t give it much thought as Hitoshi returned holding out two badges.

Except, when Izuku turned it over, it looked completely blank, save for a small spot about the size of a coin, a little indent in the otherwise smooth white plastic. Melissa pointed to it. “Here, put your thumb there.”

Frowning, Izuku did as she said, and a screen came to life on the badge. It showed a photo of him that was on record with the Hero Commission. As a registered mate and husband of a pro hero, he’d had to provide a lot of information to the Commission, and it seemed they’d passed along at least his photo, basic identification information, and fingerprints to the I-Island security. Izuku frowned at the thought that they had apparently done this without informing him, filing that away for further investigation later as he leaned over to watch Katsuki press his thumb against his badge and for his information to come up as well.

“Kazue has one of these?” Izuku said, trying to sound offhanded.

Melissa nodded. “Hikaru too.”

“Huh,” Izuku felt his jaw locking in place, and almost instantly Katsuki’s hand glided over his thigh. From a glance, he couldn’t tell if the alpha understood why he was upset, nor did they really have time to talk about it as Melissa went on.

“You can use your badge to buy things around the island and access places that guests normally wouldn’t get to go, including your lab and your apartment. Try to keep it on you at all times. The security system should recognize you through your biometrics, but it’s easier if you just have your badge on you.”

“This security system,” Izuku looked up from his badge, catching the slight frown that touched Melissa’s lips. “Can you tell me more about it?”

The frown lingered a moment longer before she graciously nodded and told him what she could about it; how it functioned, its basic and advanced directives, how it kept the island safe, and how it kept track of who was and wasn’t on the island. The more she spoke, the more Izuku felt his jaw unclenching, little by little. It really did seem like I-Island was the safest place to be, at least for the time being.

“From what I understand,” she continued, “since you were attacked on your way to the island, we’ve changed our route slightly and we’ve stopped accepting incoming airplanes and helicopters for the time being, at least until we get word from Japan that things seem to have settled down.”

There was relief in the news, but it wasn’t necessarily good news. A glance at Katsuki revealed nothing about what the alpha might be thinking about, whether he was concerned or not. His impassivity frustrated Izuku, as did Hitoshi’s, though the omega was usually ambivalent and it was less irritating on him.

Knowing that nobody could get to the island via any regularly scheduled air traffic was nice. But it also meant they’d disrupted a huge part of the island’s daily operations. For them to change routes just because they’d accepted a group of high-risk people formed a lump in Izuku’s stomach that refused to shrink, no matter how much he tried not to think about it.

In his silence, Melissa’s expression softened. “Don’t worry about anything, Midoriya. We have security concerns pop up every now and then. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to take measures to keep everyone safe. We’re kind of used to it, honestly. Just part of the normal life here.”

Izuku was not wholly convinced, but he did allow himself to smile at Melissa, to accept her smile in return. Katsuki, however, grunted unhappily. “If we’ve changed routes does that change our expected time on the island?”

Melissa considered him carefully. “Honestly, I don’t know. That would be something the Board would communicate with the police in Japan. Have you heard from them yet?”

“No,” Katsuki snarled, “fuckers have been too damn quiet.”

While Melissa blinked at his rather foul language, Hitoshi added, “Tsukauchi checked in to make sure everyone was okay after we landed, but haven’t heard from him yet today. Chances are they had a long night and are still trying to figure everything out. They’ll get back to us when they can.”

“Right,” Izuku muttered, pausing as Melissa suddenly stood.

“Enough of this gloomy talk! Let me show you around the island! Or at least around this area, so you know where everything is.”

For as much as the island was safe, for as much as Melissa had done to try to convince him, Izuku still hesitated, casting a glance to the pups. Hikaru had laid himself across Kazue’s back in some sort of protest, muttering grumpily as Kazue continued to watch the adults. There was a pinch to his nose that told Izuku he was thinking, but what about he couldn’t tell.

Again, Katsuki pressed a hand to his thigh, squeezing to get his attention. “We should take the tour. Need to know what’s around us. Plus the pups have been stuck in here since yesterday. They’ll start getting restless soon.”

It was hard to argue with that, though Izuku still felt a flutter of trepidation as he glanced out the window, to a place he didn’t know, to a place that was only safe in theory. He had just gotten his family back. Could he really risk going out and losing them so soon?

He was given his answer as something hit him in the face, Katsuki growling in warning as Izuku peeked out from under what turned out to be Kazue’s jacket. Hitoshi had another jacket, which he tossed at Katsuki, this one probably for Hikaru by the size of it. “C’mon, Zuku. It’ll do you good to go outside.”

“Plus!” Melissa was bouncing a little in her seat, “I really want to show you your lab space. I think you’re going to love it!”

There were less and less things for Izuku to argue about. So he sighed and nodded. “All right, fine. Let’s get going on this tour of yours.”

- - -

For as anxious as Izuku might have been, the more they stepped out of the apartment and closer to the actual streets of I-Island, the more the twists of anxiety softened into butterflies of excitement. It was hard to ignore the fact that he was on I-Island, that he was going to have his own lab space on I-Island, that he was getting a tour of freaking I-Island. He did wish it was under better circumstances. But he really couldn’t be picky now that he was there.

Their first stop was, funny enough, the very building their apartment resided in. Since Izuku had been so out of it when they’d brought him there late the previous night, he was literally seeing everything with clear eyes for the first time. The building should have felt like any other apartment complex anywhere else, but the hallways were interior and the rooms were spread far apart, speaking to the space of each living quarters. Many of the plates next to the doors were empty, with the one outside their apartment only reading “Esteemed Guests.”

“The Japanese police requested the secrecy,” Melissa said as if she had to apologize for this. Izuku actually didn’t mind the privacy, and it seemed neither Katsuki nor Hitoshi cared one way or the other.

The top four floors, Melissa explained, were all guest apartments. Since they were out of season, many of the rooms were empty and those that were occupied were long-time engineers and scientists that were frequently on the island to help with different projects. The expo was far enough away that it wasn’t quite a thought on anyone’s mind yet, so there was no nervous buzzing about preparations and no guests that were only there to help start planning things. It was strictly scientists, engineers, and the occasional hero there to help test out new equipment.

“Heroes are on the top floor,” Melissa said as they waited for the elevator. “But since you’re incognito, the Board decided to put you with all the other engineers. Plus, that is Midoriya’s profession anyway, so it works out.”

“Yup,” Hitoshi sighed, “we’re really just his entourage.” Izuku elbowed him, the omega smirking at him. Surprise had Izuku smiling as well, and it was such an easy, free little movement. How could smiling be so simple after everything that had happened? And how could it feel so nice?

Kazue and Hikaru were listening off and on, but they were clearly more interested with physically inspecting everything they could get their hands on. Before getting in the elevator, they had been particularly distracted by what appeared to be a water fountain, taking turns trying it out before Izuku called them to him with a little chirp. In the elevator, they stood wide-eyed in front of a screen built into the leftmost wall, on which a helpful AI guide was telling them a couple of secrets about the island, like how it could move more than 300 miles in a day and that it had an internal weather network that helped ships out on the ocean keep track of any approaching storms.

The AI guide bid them farewell as they reached the bottom floor and Melissa picked up with her tour, taking them around the various amenities.

All throughout the walk, Katsuki had clearly been a little on edge, constantly looking around for anyone else to appear. Whether he thought anyone who might show up could be a villain or not, he was clearly not at all interested in what Melissa was talking about, until she mentioned the gym.

“What kind of gym?” Katsuki growled.

Melissa blinked as if she had never considered this question. “A training gym? Since we have heroes who stay here there is some specialized equipment and there are also private workout rooms you can check out.”

This seemed to satisfy Katsuki, who grunted noncommittally but turned his gaze to examining the gym as they stepped inside.

Izuku, who had admittedly not done a good job keeping up with his fitness since Katsuki had disappeared, pursed his lips as he looked around. There were a lot of weight training equipment, several high-tech looking treadmills and ellipticals, and an open mat that could be used for warming up or stretching or whatever else. Everything was pristine and neatly in place and looked nothing like either the packhouse gym, which had equipment so constantly in use that it had a way of wandering slightly around the gym and was in frequent need of repair, or their own home gym, which was so finely tailored to Katsuki’s wants and needs that it held only what the alpha considered necessary and literally nothing else. Izuku hadn’t used a public gym since he’d been at the university. It was strange to think how odd it felt to be standing in such a space.

After going through the gym, Melissa took them around the rest of the building, revealing there was a tiny convenience store attached via a small hallway. It held many of the necessary things someone might need on a day-to-day basis, but had very little in terms of real food options.

After that, Melissa headed for the exit. “The island’s broken up into different sectors. You’re in our guest sector, meaning you have all the amenities we have to offer, but it does also mean you’re away from a lot of the major research labs. If you want, I can schedule you a tour to go see them!”

It took Izuku a moment to realize this last comment was directed at him. “Oh. Yes. That might be nice.” He saw Hitoshi frowning out of the corner of his eye and shuffled his feet, not knowing why his stomach was suddenly turning in knots.

A little hand pressed into his, squeezing tightly. Izuku thought it must be Kazue, but when he checked, Hikaru was huddled close to him, casting a wary look at the city just beyond the exit doors. Being so little, being away from his family, being in a place that he’d never been before, it was only natural that he would be nervous. To have him reach out to Izuku for a little comfort, it unwound some of his own stress, gave him something to focus on beside his own worries.

He squeezed the pup’s hand in return and welcomed him when he stepped just a bit closer.

It was only after taking his first step outside that Izuku realized he’d literally been so busy he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to what was out the window at any point. The city around him was completely new and somehow completely unexpected. While he knew the island was its own unique entity, he was amazed at just how normal everything looked. There were towering office buildings, all manner of restaurants, cafes, and stores, little tunnels that led to an underground railway, cars humming down the street, crowds of people milling about, and every other thing Izuku had always taken for granted in the city.

It wasn’t until he grew used to the mundaneness around him that he noticed the other things. The abnormally shaped buildings, the people carrying strange lumps of metal or wires, the security robots that slipped quietly by, the signs posted everywhere recruiting for this new project or flyers advertising the island’s school fair, reminders to order items of “unusual materials” well in advanced of when they would be needed, as well as several freestanding maps that showed the island’s current position, its heading, several weather factors, and several other interesting facts one may or may not need to know on any given day. It was a fascinating place, a mix of the typical and the atypical. And they’d only taken a few steps out onto the street.

“This way!” Melissa called, Izuku realizing he’d stopped to stare around. He hurried to join the others, Katsuki glanced him over once, twice, before following Melissa down the street. As soon as Izuku got close, Kazue immediately slipped his hand into the omega’s free one. Izuku dragged his pup closer and planted a messy kiss on his head, Kazue growling playfully as he drew away.

“What do you two think?” Izuku glanced between Kazue and Hikaru.

The beta pup was looking around curiously. “Mmm. Not what I expected. But it seems cool so far.”

“It’s neat,” Kazue said simply, and he left it at that.

“Excited to see what this lab is like, firecracker?”

Despite his seeming lack of interest in engineer and support items in recent months, Kazue did tilt his head toward his omega, a little spark lighting up his grin. “Yeah! I bet it’s going to be really cool.”

“I bet so, too.” Izuku turned to Hikaru. “You don’t mind going to see that lab, do you, Hikaru?”

“No,” Hikaru was peering around Izuku to Kazue. “Kazue, do you like that sort of stuff?”

“Yes,” the alpha pup was still grinning.

“Really? How come you never told me?”

Kazue lifted an eyebrow at Hikaru. “You never asked.”

“Yeah, but—!” Hikaru bit his lip, seemingly lost for what to say next.

Seeing a situation that needed some rescuing, Izuku offered, “I bet Kazue will be able to tell you all about the different lab equipment, Hikaru. He should know most of it from my own lab and the lab I work at.”

If his words registered at all with the beta pup, he gave no reaction, still watching Kazue as if trying to slot together a few misshapen puzzle pieces.

Ahead of them, Melissa was talking to Hitoshi, who for the first time was actually paying attention to their tour. She pointed out a small building that seemed to be made completely of glass, all sharp edges and shimmering surfaces, some of the glass tinted into a swooping mosaic of colors.

“The library’s there. You’ll have access to most of the collection with your badge. If there’s something in the archives you’d be interested in, you can petition the Board to see it,” she was saying.

Hitoshi nodded as they passed it by. “It’ll be good to get some quiet. I do still have to lesson plan for when we get back.”

“Ah! That’s right! You teach at U.A., right?” Melissa snuck a bit closer to Hitoshi, who reeled away.

“Yes. I teach the second year hero course students.”

“Oooh! Would you tell me about that sometime? Have you noticed an interesting increase in demand for certain kinds of support equipment? Or maybe a decrease in certain things that had once been standard for every hero? And what about Quirks? Quirk are getting more and more complicated every generation, so are you feeling that in your classroom?” As Melissa spoke, Katsuki dropped back to walk beside Izuku and the pups.

He leaned in toward Izuku and muttered, “Sheesh. She sounds just like you.” Izuku grinned, though he had to admit he was curious to know the answer to every single one of her questions.

Hitoshi, who did not seem at all enthused to answer her, was saved from having to say anything at all, as something caught Melissa’s eye and she stopped to point out something on their right. “Ah, right! And there’s the playground for the pups.”

It wasn’t as much a playground as it was a play palace. It was only natural for engineers and scientists to build the most magnificent things for their pups to play with, Izuku supposed, marveling at the expansive equipment and toys laid out in very precise manners. There was a huge set of intricate bars for pups to swing from, several slides of varying sizes, a massive complex of swing sets, an open area for more free play, a set of sprinklers that shot water out from the ground at various times, some of them to music, some of them seemingly by touch or movement. Built up between all of these was a giant castle-shaped structure, carved to look as if it were made out of real, weathered stone. Pups swung from strategically placed ladders and out windows and zipped down hidden slides and tumbled over rope bridges.

There were several pups playing, each of them watched over by a smaller version of the security robot. As Izuku watched, one pup slipped off one of the hanging bars and was almost instantly caught by a padded scoop that shot out of the robot’s side at the moment of danger. The pup laughed at their landing and scrambled off of the pad, running off to continue playing while the robot followed behind them. Another pup was sitting next to their robot drawing pictures in the dirt. A screen on the robot’s side would show an image of whatever the pup drew, delighting them into a fit of giggles.

It really was a sight to behold. Izuku didn’t know why this was the first thing to strike him as wholly wonderful about the island. But it was. Watching the pups play, completely at ease, completely safe, free of and unbound by the fear of anything going wrong, it was simply amazing. He could have sat there and watched them play forever. To just lose himself in the sheer fun of it all.

Melissa was talking to him, Izuku realized, and he blinked when she tilted her head like she’d asked him a question. “Sorry, what?”

Katsuki shifted next to him, either an indication he was bored or concerned and either was a possibility at that moment. Melissa, thankfully, didn’t notice anything unusual, “The pups! We can get them registered so whenever they come to the park, they’ll have a companion drone to watch over them. That way you don’t have to worry if you have other things to do.”

All the distraction snapped out of Izuku’s mind and he said shortly, “I am not letting the pups go anywhere by themselves.”

A sudden and tense quiet settled over everyone. Something had clearly happened in that moment, that handful of seconds where Izuku had spoken. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was different, and the others had recognized it.

Melissa was frowning contemplatively, as if Izuku were an interesting error she was working over in one of her projects. For the moment, she was still mostly unconcerned. So she tentatively said, “Don’t worry, Midoriya. The companion drones have almost a one hundred percent safety record. As long as they’re within certain confines of the city, they’ll even follow the pups around town until you show up and dismiss them. They’d be okay—”

“No,” Izuku pressed, fighting not to drag the pups in closer, to not grab them and press them tight to his chest, to not hunch over them like a wild animal. “Someone stays with them. Either me, Hitoshi, or Katsuki. Someone who can keep them safe.”

Realization struck Melissa so suddenly she actually took a step back. Katsuki tried to press a hand to Izuku’s back but he flinched away from the sudden touch, and the alpha recoiled. The city had reduced to the pinpoint of where they were standing. Nothing else mattered. Just their small group, with the two small, vulnerable pups. Kazue had been taken once already. Hikaru had even been threatened by villains. Izuku knew what happened when villains got ahold of their prey. Terrible things. Horrible things. Unspeakable things.

He would not let that happen again. Not to them. Not for anything in the world.

A little hand tugged at his, Izuku dropping his gaze to Hikaru. He knew Hikaru well. Or at least, he’d always thought he’d known Hikaru well. The beta pup was Kazue’s best friend. Had been since they’d been very, very small. He’d come over to play with Kazue, Izuku had taken the pups out to run errands or have fun with him, and they’d met up with Hikaru and his family at special hero events. During all that time, Izuku had always seen Hikaru as boisterous, loud, confident in ways that surprised and amused anyone who met him. He had always been a good foil to Kazue, who could be more reserved and thoughtful. There had been times though that Izuku had worried about Hikaru overtaking Kazue. That his sheer force of personality could overwhelm his little pup. He’d always wondered why Kazue seemed to be so at ease around him.

For the first time since meeting him years ago, Izuku looked down at Hikaru, and he saw something strange. A look on his face, a little tilt of his lips, a wrinkle in his nose. The beta pup seemed to search him, search into him, to reach forward and caress the cold center of pain and fear that had been growing and growing for months now. Hikaru leaned into Izuku, patting the omega’s hand comfortingly. Izuku hadn’t realized he’d been shaking, but he saw it then, how his fingers were practically white he was holding onto Hikaru so tightly. He rushed to let go, but Hikaru kept their fingers gripped together.

“Mr. Midoriya?” Hikaru asked, rising up on his toes to get a little closer to him. Izuku leaned forward to close the distance, and the beta pup smiled at him. “Can I… try something? Something I’ve been working on with my Mom. It helps him, sometimes.”

“Helps him with what?” Izuku also knew Amajiki, though admittedly less than he knew Hikaru. The hero was nervous and lacked confidence, but he was competent and clever in ways that sometimes startled Izuku. He couldn’t really think about what Hikaru could do that would help him.

Hikaru considered this, but just shrugged. “It just helps.”

Izuku shared a look with Katsuki. The alpha was glaring at him, and whether he had heard or understood Hikaru was unclear. Instead, he was doing his own sort of examination. Trying to peel back through all the walls Izuku suddenly threw up, making sure his face was blank, making sure that if nothing else, he didn’t let the pain and fear start leaking out. He purposefully concentrated on making his hands stop shaking. Nothing seemed to be helping though.

“Um, I’m okay, Hikaru. But thank you,” he said to the pup. Hikaru frowned slightly, but nodded and thankfully didn’t push him anymore.

“Mommy?” Kazue leaned against Izuku, pressing his cheek into his side. “Mommy, are you okay?”

“Fine,” Izuku cleared his throat, drowning out the frantic notes that were edging into his voice. He spun toward Melissa, who was startled by the sudden movement. “The lab? Is it close? If not, maybe we should go back to the apartment.”

Melissa paused, shot a look at Katsuki that was partly confusion, partly worry, and tried a smile instead. “It’s close by. We’re almost there. Here, let me show you.”

- - -

Thankfully, the building was just around the corner. It was an unsuspecting thing, red brick façade, black painted doors, simple and functionable. A sign out front read: Laboratory D-1-9.

“One represents the kind of lab, which is just general engineering, and the nine represents the sector of the city,” Melissa explained as she led them up to the front door. “The Board has already calibrated your specific lab to your biometrics, Midoriya. You’ll have to let us all inside once we get there.”

“The key is on my badge?” Izuku muttered, slipping the badge out of his pocket. Inside, the hallways were sterile white and so empty they were eerie. An emergency exit sign was the only spot of color, the red light bleeding along the ceiling tiles.

“Kind of. The scanner is set up to recognize you as the only person permitted inside at the moment, though you can invite us in. There should be a computer in the lab that will let us enter in other people you want allowed into your lab without you having to invite them in.”

“Like Katsuki?” Izuku muttered, glancing for the alpha. He was still close, not having stepped from the omega’s side since his little moment near the playground. Izuku was trying to forget how much his hands had been shaking. He was still holding the pups close.

“Yes, and Psyche and the pups, if you want. You can enter anyone into the admit permissions.” Melissa paused at a normal wooden door. It was just like several others they had passed on their way down the hall. It was labeled “Room 8.” “This is it! Here, Midoriya, come stand in front of the sensor.”

Izuku did as he was told, for the first time noticing the little scanner built into the doorhandle. As soon as Izuku stood in front of it, a little green light subtly flashed above the handle. He glanced to Melissa, who nodded encouragingly, so he tried the handle and opened the door.

Light poured forth immediately, breaking through a momentary dark to reveal the room before him. It was small for a professional lab, but still larger than the one at home. The white of the hallway gave way to a subtle blue-gray paint that was soft and nonintrusive, not as intimidating as the pristine white of the hallways while not being distractingly obnoxious. That little bit of color let Izuku relax into the rest of the room, to notice everything else before him. The floors were an equally inconspicuous tile, a slightly darker gray with simple patterns in several off-white tiles, marking little lines along the floor. The space was vaguely rectangular, a lot deeper than Izuku had imagined it would be. Beyond the softness and almost homey feeling of the four walls around them, everything else set up in the space made Izuku’s jaw drop.

Hatsume had given Izuku a lot of her old equipment in the old building to help him start up his own support agency. This equipment, while old, was still highly functionable and since Izuku knew all their idiosyncrasies, they had been fairly easy to use. The equipment in his home lab was newer, sporting settings and functions that made working on certain projects much easier. And the equipment at Hatsume’s new lab were some of the best Izuku had worked with, barring perhaps some of the tools he’d used while at the university.

None of it compared to what he was standing in front of at that moment.

It was as if someone had taken the magazines revealing the latest equipment that Izuku occasionally drooled over and assembled every single piece of tech within it in one room. There was the latest model of 3D bio scanner, with infrared precision sensors, the top of the line machining tools lined up along one entire wall, dual computers boasting about four screen each, 3D model printers and cutters for everything from metal to soft rubber and plastics to cloth, an entire wall that was built to project life-size or near-life-size blueprints, and anything else Izuku could have imagined. It was missing some of the specialized equipment he used at Hatsume’s, but most of the functions could be covered by one or two of the machines laid out before him. Each piece was shining new, but with just enough scuffs on them to tell him they had all been used before, which meant they had been broken in by someone else. Everything was off and idle at the moment, until Melissa flipped a switch near the door, and lights flicked to life like stars blinking in the night sky throughout the room, several of the machines whirring up.

“I assume you know what everything is, but if you have any questions…,” Melissa trailed off as Izuku stepped into the lab.

He didn’t know if anyone said anything else. He simply went from machine to machine, pulling up status screens on any that had that function, checking over capabilities and pre-programed settings, fiddling with some of the machining tools, experimenting with the dual computers. They were linked but functioned separately, meaning he could be running different calculations on either and easily transfer the results back and forth. He walked carefully and checked everything thoroughly, aware only of each new machine or tool that he brushed his fingers over.

When he’d inspected every single item in that lab, he turned. Everyone was standing at the door still, watching him. Kazue had stars in his eyes, looking around at everything with awe, while everyone else was only focused on him, waiting for what he had to say.

What was there to say? What could he say?

All that he managed was to ask, “I can use all of this?”

Melissa nodded. “Yes. And if you needed help with anything, I’d be more than willing to work with you between my own projects. My schedule’s a little busy, but I don’t mind….” She trailed off again as Izuku turned in a slow circle, taking it all in.

When he faced the group again, he caught Katsuki’s eyes. As always, a fire was burning in them, a smoldering ember that was a constant in Izuku’s life. That ember sparked up, flaring as the alpha smiled at him, just barely not a smirk, something perhaps akin to joy and satisfaction in his smile.

Izuku met his alpha’s smile with one of his own, though it slipped quickly away as something wet rushed down his face. Immediately, Katsuki was there, taking his arm, a question in his look. There were no words for what Izuku was feeling as he stood there, so he smiled again, despite the tears, and hoped they all understood.

- - -

After getting over the initial shock and amazement of his lab space, Izuku immediately dove into talking engineering stuff with Melissa that quickly went over Katsuki’s head. It happened so forcefully and so quickly that Shinso glanced at the two once, then said, “I’m taking the pups back to the apartment. I’ll get them registered at the park.”

Izuku was barely paying attention enough to wave his hand and say, “Uh huh, okay,” before going right back to talking about closed circuit something or other, for some reason.

Shinso paused, probably just about as convinced as Katsuki was that the omega had actually heard a word he’d said, before he gave Katsuki a questioning look. Katsuki suppressed the snarl that twitched across his face, searching for Kazue, finding the pup peering into some sort of printer near the center of the room. Hikaru was still by Shinso’s side, clearly overwhelmed by everything, so Katsuki only had to call, “Firecracker,” to get Kazue’s attention.

The alpha pup hurried over and allowed himself to be led out of the room by Shinso, even if he did complain with a low growl. Once they were gone, Katsuki just stood where he was and watched Izuku.

There was something different about his omega. Something beautiful. Something full of life. He hadn’t seen this spark in his omega since reuniting with him. Was this the first time Izuku was back to his normal, excitable self since Katsuki had gone missing? Something told him it was. There was something very sad in that thought, but also something quite wonderful. Izuku was finally getting a little piece of himself back. All it had taken was a room full of literally tens of millions of yen of engineering equipment.

Even though he literally had no part of any conversation had for the next hour or so, Katsuki stood right where he’d been and watched with joy as his omega continued to blossom back into his element. Yaoyorozu had told him that Izuku hadn’t been doing any engineer work, as far as she could tell, for the last couple months. He’d worked with Hatsume a little, but mostly on menial tasks, nothing to do with any sort of creativity or real work. As he stood there, he watched as Izuku turned Melissa to the computer and brought up a program as easily as if it were his own personal computer, drawing out a rough sketch of something that looked a bit like his work brace and projecting it onto the far wall. They stood and talked through several design elements, mostly about how to house and insulate wires and switches. From what Katsuki could tell, the glove was meant to handle dangerous materials, or something like that. Izuku never quite told Melissa exactly what it was for, but they puzzled through several iterations.

Only after some time had passed did Melissa clap her hands. “Oh, almost forgot! We need to register everyone you want to have access to the room.”

Izuku paused for the briefest moment, still clearly caught up in his engineer brain, as if he were manually having to switch to his normal function brain. “Yes. Uh, yes. Let’s see. Katsuki should obviously have access. Hitoshi and the pups as well. Yes, I know, but if I’m in here I want the pups to be able to reach me. I’ll just have to tell them not to come in here if I’m not here. Oh, and you should have access as well! If you’re okay with that—”

Katsuki’s phone beeped, the alpha letting Izuku and Melissa figure things out as he turned his attention to whoever was contacting him. His new phone was larger and a newer model than his pervious one, another tiny reminder of what he had lost, so he opened his messages already annoyed.

It was from Tsukauchi. The inspector wanted to talk. Hopefully he had news on how the League had found them, on what had happened to Katsuki, on any side effects that Izuku might experience thanks to whatever Hiku had done to him.

At the thought, Katsuki again glanced up and over Izuku. There was nothing outwardly different about him, save for his slowly expanding belly. Although he’d been more subdued in general lately, he wasn’t intrinsically changed. And in fact, this was as normal as Katsuki had seen him in a long time. Whatever Hiku had done, it was hard to believe it would have lasting effects.

It was hard to believe that Hiku had done anything at all to Izuku. The thought that he could give away Quirks, that he’d potentially forced one onto Izuku, was an idea that Katsuki had nearly outright dismissed. There had been, admittedly, a couple smatterings of people being able to wield a Quirk like All for One’s, but these were always lesser Quirks, always with some sort of terrible drawback, always exceedingly limited in function. All for One had been dead for a long time now. How could Hiku have some sort of Quirk like the supervillain’s? It didn’t seem possible. There had to be another explanation. Something that gave the illusion that Hiku could do things like what All for One had achieved, but in fact was simply not the case.

Plus, the thought of Izuku having a Quirk made something revolt in Katsuki’s stomach. The omega had always been Quirkless. From the moment he’d been born. Katsuki had always known him to be without a power. And that had never mattered. The only significant influence it had had on Izuku’s life was he had been forced to give up on being a hero, pushing him down the path to become an engineer instead, but literally nothing else had been changed because of it. Katsuki couldn’t explain it but the thought that Izuku could potentially have been given a Quirk, that he might develop one, made Katsuki physically ill. It wouldn’t be Izuku’s Quirk. It would be someone else’s, something else’s, that had invaded the omega. It would cause harm, in some capacity, and though Katsuki didn’t know how, he was sure of it. And he didn’t know how Izuku would take it either.

However, he still didn’t believe Hiku had actually given Izuku a Quirk. And he hoped that he was right.

“That should do it!” Melissa said proudly, stepping back from the computer. “Now any of us can access your lab.”

“Awesome! This is so awesome!” Izuku turned to Katsuki. He still had that smile, his cheeks flushed with excitement, his joy radiant. “Sorry, Kacchan. We can go back now.”

“No. Take your time,” Katsuki said at once, but Melissa shook her head.

“Sorry to say, I have to get back now actually. But it was so much fun getting to hang out with you! Once you’ve solidified more details on your gauntlet, we’ll have to discuss it more.”

“Y-yeah,” Izuku shifted, as if self-conscious, and hurried to turn everything off.

The projector on the back wall flickered, Katsuki catching one last glimpse of the gauntlet before it flashed away. Katsuki thought over what Melissa had called it, what it had looked like. Clearly, it hadn’t been another iteration of his own gauntlets. So it was for someone else. But who, and why? It was also clearly something Izuku had been thinking about a lot, as he had been able to summon up a sketch of it quickly from memory. So what was it?

He shot a quick text to Tsukauchi, saying he’d call in a moment, as Melissa and Izuku finished things with the machines. Then, as Izuku came to stand next to him, Katsuki placed a hand on the omega’s hip, feeling a flush of heat racing along his fingers. Izuku pressed easily against him, and Katsuki reveled in the moment, this little bit of what had once been.

Their walk back to the apartment was just as joyful, until Izuku spotted the playground. Then, his smile dipped away into something thoughtful. He didn’t comment on anything, but Katsuki could tell he was thinking about something.

Melissa parted with them soon after, promising she would be back to see them soon. Once she was out of sight, Katsuki said, “You two are a pair.”

Izuku’s smile returned, naturally, easily, seemingly without much thought. “Yeah, we’ve always worked well together. She and I have similar thoughts on certain things and very different thoughts on others. Makes for a good working dynamic.”

“Mm,” Katsuki grunted, moving quickly onto more pressing matters. “So I have to do something when we get back, but once that’s over, I was thinking we might be able to pick up on what we were doing this morning.”

“Now?” Izuku checked his watch. “The pups are still up. And Hitoshi’s going to be in the apartment!”

“Tell him to take the pups out to the store. Or the playground. The pups would love to play on that thing.” Again, Izuku paused, so Katsuki nuzzled a bit closer to him. “C’mon, Deku. You still have to answer to me for not listening to my commands earlier.”

He would have bit at Izuku’s cheek, a demand that they both knew well, but Izuku bumped his shoulder as his way of telling him to be polite in public. The omega’s face was really red. “I’ll think of something. But whatever you have to do better be quick.”

Katsuki grinned. “Perfect.”

They hurried a little faster back to the apartment, where they found Shinso going through the pantry. “If you want something specific for dinner, we’re going to have to figure it out, because there’s just about nothing here.”

“Oh, well,” Izuku hurriedly said, “why don’t we figure out a list and you can take the pups to go shopping? Then when they get back maybe they’ll want to rest in their room for a little bit.”

Shinso gave Izuku a flat look that he also shot to Katsuki. No doubt both of them were starting to smell vaguely of arousal, but at least it was a sign to the omega of what was really up, so he agreed with a sigh.

While Izuku helped Shinso figure out what to pick up, Katsuki went into the bedroom. He called Tsukauchi, who picked up on the first ring.

- - -

By the time Izuku had coordinated everything with Hitoshi, bundled the pups back up and pushed them all out the door, he was starting to get a little sweaty. Anticipating was building in his lower regions and he was ready to finally have some time with his alpha. It had been far too long, after all.

Knowing Katsuki was on the phone, he opened the door quietly, catching just a smidge of the conversation before Katsuki abruptly cut himself off. “—need to do something before—!” He looked Izuku up and down once, a furtive look, before he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just… figure it out and call me back. If you need something from me, text it to me and I’ll get back to you. Even if you don’t find anything, call me tomorrow.” He hung up before whoever was on the other line could respond.

Even if Izuku didn’t know exactly who it had been, he could guess what it had been about. The League. Father. Everything else.

Slowly, he sank onto the bed, swinging his legs up. “Everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine,” Katsuki pressed quickly, too quickly. He stood and kicked his shoes off. “Let’s not talk about that. We have more important matters.”

“I don’t think we do,” Izuku had to admit, his desire had been drastically dampened by whatever he had just seen. “Talk to me. Have they found anything?”

Katsuki turned his back to Izuku. “Don’t worry about it.”

Anger raced through Izuku’s limbs so quickly it burned out the desire that had been building. “Don’t,” he hissed, “do that to me. Not after everything that’s happened.”

“Now isn’t the time,” Katsuki tried to insist, shucking his shirt off. “Now you should be getting to a lot more undressing than you are, omega.”

“Stop it,” Izuku snapped. “We’re not doing this. Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

Finally, Katsuki stopped, making a useless gesture around him. “Izuku, I told you, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“How many times have you told me that when very clearly it was something for me to worry about? How many times are you going to try to pull that one on me?”

Katsuki ran a hand over his face. “All right, fine. You need a moment to calm down. I get it.” He snatched his shirt off the floor, turned to leave. “Guess we’ll try again fucking later.”

“Hey, hey!” Izuku crawled toward the edge of the bed, and something happened.

He felt it, he did. He felt it happen. But it felt natural, obvious. There was nothing about it that alarmed Izuku. This feeling that washed over him. The fact that he felt himself releasing a lot of scent, filling the room with it, the fact that he set his eyes on Katsuki with sudden and intense intention. The fact that when he opened his mouth, the words poured forth, and felt incredibly powerful, “Katsuki, come back here!”

As if jerked on strings, the alpha slammed back around, stumbled the few feet back toward Izuku, and collapsed to his knees before him, so violently that he grabbed for the bed as some instinct to stop himself from falling.

The moment broke and both of them let out a gasp, as if released from a spell. In the next moment, neither of them reacted at all.

Then, Katsuki looked up at Izuku in shock and horror, and Izuku pressed both his hands over his mouth.

They knew, without having to speak a single word, what had just happened.

Chapter Text

Izuku knew the desperation of Katsuki’s call to Hitoshi had been heeded when the omega hero slammed into the apartment only minutes later, probably with capture scarf at the ready, certainly prepared for something terrible to have happened.

Through the bedroom door, he heard Hitoshi snap, “What happened?”

“Izuku has a Quirk.”

The bluntness of Katsuki’s reply, the sudden silence afterward, did nothing to help the shivering that had overtaken Izuku’s body. He pressed himself a little more to the door, pressed his hands over his mouth until his teeth began rubbing painfully at his lips.

After a long, painful silence, Hitoshi said, “Okay. Well. We knew that might be something that could happen.” Another pause. “Is he hurt?”

“No,” Katsuki growled. “But he has a fucking Quirk, Eyebags.”

“Yeah, and so do you and I and everyone else in your life,” despite Katsuki’s escalating tone, Izuku could almost imagine Hitoshi putting his hands in his pockets, leaning back in a casual sort of way. He wanted to scream. How could his friend be putting this off like this? “We can figure this out. As long as he’s not hurt, then it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with before. So. What happened? What kind of Quirk is it?”

“It’s— I don’t—” Izuku couldn’t hear anything, but he imagined Katsuki snapped his jaw in frustration. “He was sitting on the bed and I was trying to walk away. He told me to come here and it… something happened.”

There was a long, tense pause. Then, Hitoshi sighed deeply. “Okay well, wasn’t that the whole point of kicking us out of the apartment?”

“Not that!” Katsuki snarled. “How could you joke like that?”

“Because someone has to keep their head on straight around here.” Hitoshi sighed again. “All right, never mind. Where is he?”

“Bedroom. I went to get a phone to call you and he locked me out. Won’t answer me at all.”

“And you haven’t kicked in the door yet?”

“He’s leaning against it. I didn’t want to hurt him, and you better not even think about it.”

Something slid down the other side of the door, and gooseflesh rose up along Izuku’s spine as if the sound had been a physical touch along his back. “Zuku? I need you to open the door for me. Let me in so we can figure this out. Everything’s okay. Katsuki’s okay. I just need to make sure you’re okay, too.”

Izuku didn’t move. He kept pressed against the door, not wanting to let anyone in. To keep them safe. From what he might do to them. He tasted blood in his mouth, but didn’t lift his hands away.

“He won’t talk to me,” Katsuki was saying. “When it… happened. It was a command, Eyebags. He commanded me.”

“Like… a real command?”

Katsuki snarled. “Fuck, I don’t know, shitbag! I’m a fucking alpha! I’m not effected by commands! But I imagine that’s what it felt like!”

“Like an itch you had to scratch, no matter what, and it only got worse and worse the longer you didn’t do it?”

A pause. Longer. Heavier.

Then, “No. No, it wasn’t like that.”

“Then it wasn’t a command. Not a normal one, anyway. But it may mimic it.”

“He told me to do something and my body just did it, before I could even think about either doing it or not doing it.”

“Hmm.” Another hand brushed up and down the door. “You worried about making us do things against our will, Zuku? It’s okay to be scared. I get it. It can be scary. You don’t want to make someone hurt themselves accidentally. Trust me. Out of anyone else on this entire island, you know that I get that.”

He was right. When Izuku’s thoughts slowed enough for him to concentrate on it, Hitoshi was right. His Quirk let him control people as well.

But—!

It was different. It just— Hitoshi had trained to control his Quirk! Izuku didn’t know what he was capable of! What if something happened? What if he said something and it triggered this Quirk and something happened and he—

“Zuku,” Hitoshi’s voice lowered, “neither Bakugo nor I would let anything bad happen. You have to trust us on that. You don’t have to say anything. Just open the door, all right? Otherwise, I’m going to have to remove it and that’s going to be a pain in my ass.”

“I told you, you’re not—!” Katsuki cut himself off abruptly, and after another short silence, he called, “Deku, I just want to know you’re okay. Open the door.”

Izuku jammed himself hard against the door, felt a little whimper rattle up his throat and clamped down on the sound. No. He’d already made Katsuki act in a way he hadn’t wanted to. He couldn’t risk that happening again.

“All right, all right,” Hitoshi called as the door rattled under Izuku’s weight. “Here. Bakugo will stay out in this main room. Only I will come into the bedroom, okay? The pups aren’t here. They’re being looked after by the owner of the convenience store. We saw her this morning, remember? She said she’d call for security to help. So the pups are okay, but they’re not here. And right now, it’s just the three of us, but soon there’s going to be more people here and it’s going to get a little crazy. So you have to let me see you now before things start getting start escalating on our end.

There were few reassuring things in what Hitoshi said. The pups weren’t there to see this happening. Good. But they were by themselves. Alone. With someone they didn’t know. Security was coming to make sure things hadn’t gotten out of hand. People he didn’t know were going to be everywhere very soon, demanding to see him, demanding to know what had happened.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t hide in that bedroom forever. But it was still so hard to even think about letting anyone else near him.

Slowly, Izuku scooted over slightly, just enough to let the door open a little, reluctantly peeling one hand off his mouth to turn the doorknob. The door slid open only about an inch, but Hitoshi made sure to press his boot in the gap, to keep Izuku from slamming it shut again. Izuku still only allowed the door to open a fraction, just enough for Hitoshi to peer inside, to slip through, to come crouch at his side.

“Zuku,” the other omega said quietly, “let me look at you.” He tried to tug Izuku’s hands away from his mouth, but Izuku held tightly. “Listen, everything’s okay. I just want to make sure you’re not hurt. Like I said, you don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to make a sound. Just let me see.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled Izuku’s hands back, revealing a line of blood dripping from his mouth. Hitoshi prodded with gentle fingers, Izuku flinching as he brushed over skin worn away by his teeth. “You can nod or shake your head. Did this happen when you used that Quirk?” Izuku shook his head. “Okay, this isn’t a result of what happened with commanding Katsuki either?” Again, Izuku shook his head and Hitoshi nodded, standing. “All right.”

“What’s going on in there?” There was a nervous, desperate edge to Katsuki’s voice, something that might have sounded like fury to anyone else, though Izuku could pluck those subtle differences out.

At the sound of that voice though, Izuku immediately pressed his hands back over his mouth, not wanting anything to slip out, nothing that could hurt Katsuki. Hitoshi flashed a frustrated glance at the closed door. “Fine! Just an accidental split lip. It’s being taken care of.”

“Izuku is hurt?”

“He’s fine. Stay out there.” Hitoshi paused to make sure Katsuki wasn’t going to barge in and, grumbling, went back to the private bathroom attached to the bedroom. He returned a moment later with a damp cloth. “All right, here. Clean yourself up. Unless you really want me to do it.”

Izuku didn’t take the rag at first, letting several drops of water pool together on his leg before he reluctantly pulled his hands back. As he dabbed at the cut, Hitoshi sat on the floor across from him.

“I’m going to ask you a couple of questions, but first, I want to tell you that it’s very unusual for this kind of Quirk to be active all the time. Nine point nine out of ten times, a mental Quirk is always one that has to be activated by the user. It’s not something that just happens. I’m telling you this so you understand, talking day to day won’t mean you’ll just start making people do things. There has to be intention behind it. Now,” he raised a hand to the protesting glare Izuku gave him, “you may not know what that intention is yet. That’s what we’re going to figure out. What the trigger is, so you can avoid it. Okay? Okay. So,” he tapped his fingers together, thinking, before he continued.

“Did you say something that you normally wouldn’t? A word or a phrase that you used that effected Katsuki?” Izuku shook his head, and Hitoshi asked, “All right. What about a feeling? Did you get an unusual feeling when it happened?” Izuku paused, remembering there had been something. Had it been a feeling? He wobbled his hand in uncertainty and Hitoshi frowned. “How about a thought? Did you have a thought about wanting to make Katsuki do as you said?” Again, Izuku shook his head. “Was there a physical trigger? A movement you made, maybe snapping your fingers? No? What about a look you might have given him? Were you looking him in the eye? No, okay. What about scent? Did you feel like you—” he paused as Izuku shot up, remember very clearly that he had released a lot of scent before commanding Katsuki. He nodded vigorously and Hitoshi sat forward.

“Okay, let’s talk that through. Did you intentionally release your scent or was it more of a result of you commanding Katsuki?” Izuku indicated the first with a point, Hitoshi clarifying, “It was intentional? Okay, that’s a good start. Did you think about it beforehand? No. Okay. So it’s part of it, but maybe not the only component. You did have to speak something to make him react, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought. And did anything about the way you said it feel different?”

Izuku nodded again, slower, setting the pieces together as Hitoshi talked him through everything. He had felt something. He’d had very clear wants, if not obvious intentions. He’d wanted Katsuki to not walk away from him. He’d wanted to do anything he could to make the alpha come back and talk to him. He’d wanted to make it happen, and he simply had.

Hitoshi was right. Even if he hadn’t meant to activate the Quirk, he still had. It wasn’t something that could happen accidentally. It had happened because he’d wanted it to happen.

“There, you feeling better?” Hitoshi asked, Izuku blinking up at the other omega, realizing he’d opened his mouth and was staring forward. He shut his lips tight, but only for a moment before letting his jaw relax. If he was very careful, it probably wouldn’t happen again. Right?

Hitoshi let him have a moment to think about it, before he nodded toward the rag, “Here, you got some blood on your cheek.” He motioned and Izuku wiped at the offending stain. “All right. So, you’re feeling a little more relaxed right? Good. Can I let Katsuki into the room? I know he’s worried.”

Izuku’s lip trembled. But as long as he said nothing, he couldn’t hurt Katsuki. And maybe he needed the alpha. Maybe he needed him very badly.

So he nodded, moving a little more away from the door to let Hitoshi open it and beckon the alpha inside. Katsuki rounded the door immediately, as if knowing exactly where to find Izuku. He crouched down, eyes sweeping in a quick but methodical motion, taking in all the important information. It was something he did as a hero a lot, and sometimes did with his family in times of high stress. Katsuki was incredibly good at picking up on relevant information with only a glance. Izuku had always been in awe of him for that.

It was with this precision of perception that the alpha took the rag from Izuku’s hand and dabbed at his lip. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to want to push the omega any. His work was gentle in a way that most didn’t think Katsuki capable of. But Katsuki had always been gentle with him in the moments where it counted, and he was gentle but firm now, set on his task, focused on caring for Izuku in any small way allowed to him.

Behind him, Hitoshi was typing something out on his phone. He frowned slightly when he got a response. “Bakugo, security wants into the apartment. They’ve got the pups.”

“The pups don’t need to see this,” Katsuki growled.

“No,” even Izuku flinched at his own voice. He felt no rush of intention, no intense feeling of want in that moment, and when he looked, neither Katsuki nor Hitoshi seemed effected by his speech beyond being a little shocked that he’d spoken at all. “They… need to see… that I’m okay.”

Again, there was a long pause, both heroes waiting for him to say more, but when he didn’t, Katsuki slowly nodded. “All right. Here. You should sit on the bed. It’ll freak Kazue out if you’re just sitting on the floor like this.” He offered his arms and Izuku took them, allowing the alpha to take most of his weight as he pulled himself up. He left for a brief moment – just to toss the bloodied rag into the laundry hamper – before coming to be by his side again. He trailed a soft touch down Izuku’s jawline, rubbed at the sore split in the omega’s lip with a focused glare. “How do you want to explain this?”

Izuku shook his head. He didn’t have a good answer to that.

“Just tell Kazue he fell. Pup’ll believe that,” Hitoshi grumbled without looking up from his phone.

While Katsuki did not seem amused by this, Izuku did snort. “Right,” he said, feeling a little more comfortable in his tongue the more he talked. He would still have to be careful. The fact that he could influence people with his words frightened him more than he could say. The fact that he didn’t quite know how to activate it made him even more frightened. But he at least knew the feeling. The rush, the outpouring of his scent, the want. As long as he kept himself under control, it would be okay.

It would be okay.

Not even ten minutes passed before Hitoshi went to open the front door and Kazue suddenly came shooting into the room. The alpha pup skidded to a halt in front of his parents, eying them over several times, glaring for a long time at Izuku’s lip.

“ ‘S all right, firecracker,” Katsuki beckoned him closer with a wave, Kazue falling into Izuku’s outstretched arms. “We’re okay. Nothing happened.”

“Sorry to worry you,” Izuku muttered, pausing after almost every word to make sure it was just a word.

Kazue said nothing. He just buried himself in Izuku’s chest, eyes shut tight to the world.

The security team came in afterward. They had clearly spoken with Hitoshi and were watching Izuku carefully, but after assessing the situation, they calmed down significantly.

“We’ll call the doctor,” the security captain said, “and we’ve already informed the team in Japan.”

Katsuki snapped his jaws as the captain turned and gestured for the rest of their team to follow them out of the room, leaving it to just the couple. “Perfect. Can’t wait for that phone call.” He paused as Hikaru peered around the corner, just as the last security member walked out. He seemed to consider something, something for a long time.

At their very base instinct, it wasn’t uncommon for alphas to reject pups not of their own kin. Their blood, or the blood of their pack. Society taught alphas to at least be nice about it. Running off other pups wasn’t something that was accepted in any measure, but if an alpha ignored a pup that wasn’t one of their own, it wasn’t necessarily unexpected.

Katsuki was territorial and pack-minded by nature and by long years of being with his pack. His role as a hero had put him in contact with pups before, but never in any truly caring capacity. His eyes passed over pups while Izuku’s might linger, to check that everything was well. There were few times Izuku could remember Katsuki watching a pup not of his blood or pack with the same intensity that he now watched Hikaru.

Fearing the alpha was getting territorial, he reached to pull Katsuki back, but the hero leaned toward Hikaru, gesturing him closer. Hikaru paused briefly before carefully slinking over to the bed. He was holding a soda in his hands.

“Whatcha got there?” Katsuki growled, then sniffed when Hikaru showed him. “Why?”

The beta pup shrugged. “It’s a good way to make a reaction.” He shook the soda violently, fizzing it up quickly, but just as quickly, the bubbles dissipated away, as calm as it had ever been. He set the soda aside. “Mr. Midoriya? Can I…?” It was only then that Izuku noticed the faint glow to the pup’s hands.

“Oh,” Izuku shook his head, “no, Hikaru. You don’t have to.”

“I know,” Hikaru said quickly, “but I want to. Dad says I should have a right feeling when I use my Quirk on someone. And it feels right, Mr. Midoriya.”

Izuku glanced at Katsuki, who didn’t react negatively to the suggestion. He supposed the alpha had seen Hikaru’s Quirk in action enough not to be worried about it. But still. Something about it felt wrong. “Hikaru… you shouldn’t really be using your Quirk at all.”

“Pffth. Nobody will mind! Everybody loves a healing Quirk!”

“Healing Quirk?”

Hikaru leaped back so suddenly and violently that he collapsed off his feet, scrambling away from where Hitoshi stood. Hitoshi, who had been talking to the security team in the other room, glanced between everyone with exhaustion dripping from every part of his expression. Clearly stunned by the appearance of the other hero, Hikaru didn’t move, not until Kazue finally detached himself from Izuku to help him back up.

When nobody said anything else, Hitoshi sighed, “Well that makes a lot more sense. Togata really wouldn’t want his pup anywhere near where the League could get him if he has a healing Quirk of all things.” He shook his head. “I’m going to check on where the doctor is.”

Once he had left the room, Hikaru reached for Izuku without taking his eyes off the doorway, huddling close to the omega. “It’s all right. Hitoshi won’t tell anyone,” Izuku said quietly, soothing the startled pup with a soft stroke down his back.

Hikaru kept staring out the door for a moment longer, before he suddenly shut his eyes and gripped Izuku tightly, and that now-familiar warmth seeped into the omega. It trailed through Hikaru’s fingers and lit like a line of torches along Izuku’s skin, and it was such a welcome light that he didn’t even reprimand the pup, instead accepting his gift with a soft purr. His jaw relaxed a little, and thoughts of what had happened, what could happen, lifted for just a moment.

Then, there was a knock at the door and the doctor leaned into the room. He gave a glance up and down Izuku, and grinned. “Ah! How interesting! Let’s see what’s going on, shall we?”

- - -

When the doctor asked him to summon up the Quirk again, Izuku felt a violent reaction through every pore of his being, so much so that he clamped his hands back over his mouth and refused to say another word in the doctor’s presence, despite both Katsuki and Hitoshi doing everything they could to reassure and calm him.

Eventually, the doctor took his glasses off, cleaned them on his coat, and slid them back onto his nose. “It’s not important for now. As long as neither of you have lingering side effects, then we can test things more when you are more comfortable.” At this, Hitoshi gave the doctor a scathing glare at his back, but the doctor went on, blissfully unaware, “Well, at least now you have your answer! No more sitting and waiting for what may come! I assume this is one of the Quirks that was mentioned by the villain?”

Izuku nodded, remembering the three Hiku had suggested, including one that would allow him to physically control others. The only relief this brought him was also remembering Hiku had mentioned this Quirk didn’t allow him to control someone’s mental state. And that it was scent-based. That had been one of Father’s requirements.

“We shall continue to monitor it. If you feel any strange effects, then you should contact me again. But do not be afraid, Midoriya! This is a part of you now, after all. Best get used to it.”

This time, both Katsuki and Hitoshi turned on the doctor, neither to offer a friendly thanks. In fact, Katsuki snarled so deeply that the doctor, a beta, actually flinched back.

After letting the alpha’s snarl fill the silence, Hitoshi cleared his throat. “Perhaps you should go now, doctor. If anything comes up, we will let you know.”

The doctor startled out of his daze and gave a quick bow to both Izuku and Katsuki before hurrying away. Katsuki snorted in satisfaction before drawing Izuku in, equal parts possessive and protective.

He smelled good. He smelled like home still.

Hitoshi shook his head once they were alone. “He did have a point. You should train with this Quirk at least enough to have some level of control. If it’s going to be a part of you, you’ll have to learn how to live with it.” He paused as Katsuki turned a silent snarl at him and Izuku shrunk back at the thought. “Don’t worry. You and I can work on that together. I know a thing or two about villainous Quirks, after all.”

Even if he was right, Izuku couldn’t imagine himself ever growing used to having this Quirk. It felt so wrong, so not him. And yet, he couldn’t get rid of it. Not without going to Hiku. Maybe that was what he wanted. Maybe it all had been a trap to lure him in. Maybe Hiku and Father were just waiting for him, knowing he might seek them out to be rid of this curse.

No. He couldn’t go to them. Which meant his only option was to learn how to cope with the Quirk. As much as he didn’t want to. As painful as that sounded.

Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. With a Quirk like that, he could at least keep himself and Kazue safe. He’d be able to keep villains at bay, maybe even defeat them himself. Maybe this could actually be a good thing after all.

… or maybe it was just a curse.

Izuku shook his head. He couldn’t let himself think about it like that. He couldn’t let himself despair. So, he breathed in, held it for a moment, collecting all his bad feelings, his dark thoughts, and letting them all out with a slow, steady breath. “Okay,” he said to Hitoshi, who nodded. “But, um… I need a little time. To get used to the idea.”

Hitoshi shrugged. “Just think about it like this: every pup goes through therapy to learn how to control their Quirk when they’re young. This is all it’s going to be, Zuku. Nothing to worry about.”

“Right.” But it wasn’t that simple. And they both knew it.

He leaned a little more into Katsuki, who nuzzled into his hair. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, and somehow, that made it so. Katsuki would do whatever he had to to set this right. No matter what.

There was comfort in knowing the alpha would be there supporting him. After all, Katsuki also had a very dangerous Quirk. One he wielded like a finely sharpened blade. His precision was honestly terrifying sometimes, even for Izuku. He knew a thing or two about controlling Quirks, as did Hitoshi. If anything, he probably had two of the best to help him through this situation.

He really was lucky to have them.

Things having settled down somewhat, the three stepped out of the bedroom, finding the security captain still with the pups in the kitchen. Somehow one of them, Izuku had bets on Hikaru, had convinced the captain to indulge them in some snacks and they were munching happily away.

Kazue noticed them first, clearly watching for them to emerge, and paused in his snacking to look them up and down. His hesitation lasted a moment longer, before he turned to listen to whatever Hikaru was talking about, the beta pup having drawn the captain into a lengthy conversation about… the etiquette of slides. Izuku couldn’t help but laugh a little when he realized their conversation, drawing attention to their group.

“Ah!” Hikaru leaped down from his perch at the counter and hurried over to them. “Are you okay now, Mr. Midoriya?”

“Fine. I’m okay now.”

Hikaru beamed in delight and gestured them to the captain, who he introduced as his new friend Rai. “Rai going to come back to check on us! Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right!” The captain grinned at the pup. “It’s my job, after all.”

Hikaru set his feet wide and put his hands on his hips, as if he were posing. “Rai is like the best, Mr. Midoriya! She said she’s been working on I-Island for twelve years!”

“They,” Rai prompted gently and with a conspiratorial grin.

Hikaru ducked his head. “Sorry. But they’re so cool, Mr. Midoriya! Way cooler than even some of the heroes back home!”

“Oh? Did you get all that just from a fifteen-minute conversation with them?” Izuku couldn’t help but to also grin, couldn’t help but to be amused as Hikaru shook his head.

“Ten-minute conversation.”

Izuku shook his head, unsure of what to say. He really was a character.

Meanwhile, Rai had turned to talk with both Katsuki and Hitoshi, lowering their voice to a hushed tone. Kazue was leaning over slightly, trying to catch the conversation, so Izuku cleared his throat loudly, startling the pup. After giving him a reproachful look, Izuku gestured for the pup to join them, Kazue sliding off his seat and coming to stand next to Hikaru. The alpha pup scrutinized Izuku a little more closely, but obviously finding nothing too out of place, went back to finishing his snack.

“I’m sorry to have frightened you two,” Izuku said, trying not to let too much emotion into his voice. “But the doctors and Kacchan and Psyche are taking good care of me, okay?”

“Mr. Midoriya, do you have a Quirk now?” Hikaru asked, much to Kazue’s bewilderment.

“Uh,” Izuku tried at the same time Kazue snapped, “What? A Quirk? Mommy, you have a Quirk?”

“Who, uh, told you that?” Izuku asked.

Hikaru shrugged. “One of the guards said it. I heard them talking about it before they left.”

Unable to help himself, Izuku shot an annoyed look at Rai, who had paused to listen in on their conversation. They dipped their head in acknowledgement of what had happened, offering the little bow as a silent apology. It was something they would have to talk about later, but for the moment, Izuku returned his attention to the pups.

“It’s… not quite that simple. I, um,” he saw Kazue watching him with growing anxiety, a twist forming in his fingers as if he were wanting to blow something up. Izuku ruffled his hair to settle him. “It’s going to be okay. The doctors and I… have to do a bit more experimenting. But I’ll be okay either way, all right?”

Hikaru nodded sagely, as if completely understanding, while Kazue glared up at Izuku as he drew his hand away. “Mommy, you didn’t answer my question.”

The accusation stung and Izuku struggled to find a reasoning, but was saved as Rai and the heroes strolled over.

“I should be going,” Rai said, inclining their head to Izuku once more. “I’ll be in touch though. If something happens, here’s my personal number.” They pulled out their badge, tracing something on its surface. Izuku felt his own badge vibrate in his pocket, pulling it out to find that Rai’s information had been transferred to his own badge. “Have a good evening, Midoriya, Bakugo, Psyche. Kazue, Hikaru. You two be good, or I’ll have to have a stern word with you.”

Kazue waved halfheartedly while Hikaru grinned widely. “See you soon!” He said it like a promise, and Izuku wasn’t really sure how to take that.

- - -

They went about the rest of the day in a painstakingly normal manner. As if everyone were doing their very best to completely ignore what had happened earlier. Hikaru was the only one brave enough to make any sort of reference at all, quietly asking Hitoshi not to tell anyone about him having a healing Quirk, that his dad would be mad if he found out he’d told someone. Hitoshi reassured him he wouldn’t say a word, and that was the end of it. No mention of new Quirks. No mention of Izuku commanding Katsuki.

Katsuki was still his confident, assured self, even around Izuku, reminding him with a few touches throughout the day that he was still rather wanting to spend some more intimate time with him. In that, Izuku was truly shocked. How could Katsuki just brush it all aside? How could he still want Izuku after what had happened?

But, at the literal end of the day, what had happened did not stop Katsuki from crawling over Izuku as soon as the bedroom door was shut. Izuku tensed at his touch, and not in a very intimate way, so the alpha paused.

“Everything okay, omega?” He muttered.

“I… don’t know.” Izuku shifted and Katsuki sat up, giving the omega some room to breathe. “Are we really just going to ignore what happened earlier?”

“What? The part where I didn’t get to ravage you? Or the part where I didn’t get to ravage you again?”

“Katsuki.”

The alpha growled unhappily. “Fine. What is there to say? What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t want you to say anything,” Izuku grumbled. “I just… want to know what you’re thinking about it.”

“What I’m thinking about it,” Katsuki lifted his gaze to the ceiling briefly, as if in consideration, then rocked forward, pressing his hands on either side of Izuku. It was almost a mirror position to how they’d been earlier in the day, to how they’d been in many times past. “I’m thinking if you have a Quirk, then fine. You’re still Izuku Midoriya. You’re still my partner. You’re still the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been thinking all day about nothing but you, love.”

“Are you really okay with it though?” Izuku pressed Katsuki back a little when he tried to lean forward. “I… I commanded you. I made you do something against your will.”

“Yeah, and you didn’t mean to. It’s all right.”

“It’s not all right.”

“Why? Not okay for you to make a mistake you could have never foreseen?”

“No! It’s just…,” Izuku dug his fingers into the shirt the alpha still wore, thankful that he had something to cling to, to really hold tightly. “What… what if I did it again? What if next time, I hurt you?”

“You planning on it or something?” Katsuki was distracted. Izuku could tell.

He pushed the alpha back a bit more. “No. But I hadn’t been planning on it the first time!”

“You didn’t hurt me.”

“You tripped! You could have hit your head!”

“I was fine.”

“Katsuki!”

The alpha scoffed sharply and pressed forward, a bit aggressive, a bite of anger in his movements. The sudden rush of emotion stilled Izuku long enough for Katsuki to snap his jaws. “You tell me something, Deku. You think I would ever hurt you with my Quirk?”

Izuku blinked, startled by the nature of the question, caught up in the sudden turn. “What, no! I know you would never hurt me.”

“My Quirk’s real dangerous,” Katsuki leaned in a little closer, Izuku scrambling to press his hands against his chest, to try to push him back, but the alpha refused to be moved. “Could hurt you real bad if I wanted to.”

“But you never would. I know that.”

“Right,” Katsuki grinned at him, “and I know you would never hurt me either. Hell, there have been plenty of times where you probably could have gotten away with it. I sure as hell deserved it. But you never did, and I know you never will. This doesn’t change that.”

There was logic in his words, but reason meant nothing in the roaring stream of emotion twisting in Izuku’s chest. “But… I’m dangerous now.”

Katsuki regarded him with an eyebrow raised. “You going to tell me to jump out a window or something?”

“No!” Izuku pressed forward, and Katsuki met him halfway, capturing his lips in a kiss that was more like a bite, holding his mouth captive, licking at his teeth.

The omega was too startled to react before Katsuki drew back. “This thing works by command, right? You’d have to tell me to hurt myself, and you’ve never said words like that to me. And I know you never would. So, no, this doesn’t change anything, love. It doesn’t change how much I love you. Sure as shit doesn’t change how much I want you.” He nudged with his hip, trying to prompt Izuku to tilt his legs open. “Now, question is, you want me, omega?”

“I—” Izuku swallowed as Katsuki let more of his weight press into him, another demanding nudge at his knees. He tipped them to the side slightly, but only slightly.

Katsuki smirked, teeth dripping with hunger. “Think your little command trick could be fun to play around with. Could tell me exactly what you wanted, omega. Could get me to do anything you wanted, if you had the nerve—”

“Stop that,” Izuku hissed, went to push away, only to be shoved back into the mattress.

Katsuki’s smirk brushed lightly over his cheek, his tongue flicking out between his teeth. “Make me.”

It was a challenge. A command. A wish. Maybe it was a little counterintuitive, but it did ignite something in Izuku, something that had been twisting around in discomfort for the past several days, something that had him baring his own teeth, hissing out to mark his own demands, to nip at Katsuki’s ear.

“Mmm,” Katsuki groped for the hem of Izuku’s shirt and slid his hand along his body, a soft brush at his swollen belly, before stroking teasingly at his chest. “Fuck, Deku. It really has been a long time since we’ve done this, hasn’t it?”

That something twisting in Izuku’s stomach tightened at the alpha’s words. He didn’t want to acknowledge them, instead lifting his hands to trace his own way up and down his body. Finding those new parts of him and memorizing them by touch alone, reminding himself of the parts he knew. Yes, this was his alpha. Everything about him was still Katsuki.

“Pup going to be okay if I go a little rough?” Katsuki asked, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Izuku snorted. “Yes, it’s fine. Just don’t put pressure on my stomach.”

Katsuki growled lowly, a little more forcefully nudging Izuku’s legs apart. “Best fucking thing I’ve heard all day. Nuh-uh,” he suddenly grabbed Izuku’s hands and placed them on his chest. “You fucking remember what I told you, omega. I’m the alpha. You listen to me tonight.”

Izuku grinned up at him. They were going to have to see about that.

- - -

After they cleaned up, Katsuki cuddled with him for a little while, but he drifted into sleep quickly thereafter. He’d been exhausted since coming back into Izuku’s life, the omega had noticed. He couldn’t quite tell if that was due to the stress of the days since his return, or because of whatever had happened to him while he’d been with Father. He suspected a combination of the two, and did his best to let the alpha rest as he drew himself out of Katsuki’s arms.

Sleep wasn’t on his mind. Not in the slightest. Instead, he sat at the edge of the bed, glaring at the door. He was tempted to go crawl into bed with the pups, but he was reluctant to leave the alpha’s side. Katsuki still made him feel so incredibly warm and safe, and after more than ninety days of not having sex, he was still basking in the afterglow of his time with the alpha. He wanted to linger in that moment for as long as he could, despite how quickly it was fading from his gut.

Truth be told, he was still unnerved by everything. Everything. From Katsuki’s kidnapping to Father to the helicopter to this Quirk. Nothing in his life felt stable anymore. How was he supposed to find himself in his world when everything was changing in such huge, unpredictable ways all the time? What was he supposed to do?

As he sat up, thinking, spiraling, staring in that corner, his phone lit up with a new message. Izuku almost ignored it, until he caught a look at the time. Who was messaging him that late? What could they possibly want? Unless… it was an emergency. Something was wrong. Yes, that had to be it.

Izuku grabbed for his phone, holding his breath in anticipation.

It was one of the strangest things Izuku had ever seen before. The number that came up on his phone wasn’t a real number. It was just a bunch of 5s, all strung together. He’d never seen anything like it. It certainly wasn’t a number he knew, and he had no reason to believe it was from someone he knew. Which could only really mean one thing.

Father. Or the League.

The words on the screen stood out, like a threat: Can’t sleep? Have a few minutes to talk, then?

Izuku swallowed, glanced around the room. How could they know? What was going on?

Another message came through, startling Izuku. Don’t worry, I didn’t stick around to watch all the fun parts. Not my style.

Embarrassment and indignation crashed through Izuku, giving enough heat to his fingers to type out, Who are you?

The message came through quickly, and was utterly baffling, You can call me Anon.

Anon? He didn’t know an Anon. Another one of Father’s children, then? Izuku glanced to Katsuki, knowing he should wake the alpha, pausing only when another message came through.

Actually I owe you an apology first and foremost. Didn’t mean to scare you at the hospital. Just wanted to talk is all. Wasn’t expecting your alpha to lose it and go through the freaking window like that.

Izuku stared at the screen for a moment, then jolted as he remembered the masked face in the window of the hospital. That was this person? This Anon?

Another message, Anyway. If you can’t sleep, I can’t either. Wanted to know if you had some time to talk now.

Just what was going on here? Izuku swallowed, and typed another message, What do you want?

Ah.

There was a pause.

Then, From my understanding, you and I have very similar goals. So to answer your question, let me ask one of my own: Do you want to help me bring down Father?

A sudden chill lifted from the floor, as if all the heat had been sucked up and away, with just a few words. Do you want to help me bring down Father?

There wasn’t anything more Izuku wanted in the world. To stop Father. To make sure he never hurt anyone again. To be sure his family was finally safe.

Again, Izuku glanced at Katsuki. Remembered that the alpha had looked him in the eye not so long ago and told him not to worry about it, to just pretend everything was fine, that he was clearly still not willing to work with Izuku on this case, still hiding important things from him. Katsuki was still stuck in his ways. If Izuku woke him up now, he’d lose it. He’d take the phone away, and that would be the end of it. Izuku would never know what would and could have come about from Anon. He would never have even a modicum of control in the entire situation.

But this. This?

Father took something from me. Anon messaged again. I want to make him hurt as he’s hurt me and the ones I love. My understanding is you’re the same. I’m going after Father, and I think you can help me. So, are you in?

Was he in? Could he trust Anon? Maybe not. Probably not. But….

But what if this was the only chance he was going to get?

Well?

Izuku clenched the phone. Typed. And sent his final message.

I’m in.

Chapter Text

Meet me in your lab. I’ll find my way there.

Izuku stared at the message for a moment, then glanced up at the door to his lab. He’d been standing there for a while, waiting for someone to appear. It was late, but there were still lights on in the city. When Izuku had gone out onto the streets, a security robot had appeared, seemingly scanned him, and, realizing he wasn’t anyone dangerous, had asked him via a projected screen if he required assistance. While Izuku had turned it down, it was a small reminder that the island’s security system was still watching over him. Before leaving the apartment, Izuku had also peered into Hitoshi’s room and told the omega hero that he was going to go for a walk, that he needed some time to himself to clear his head, and not to wake Katsuki. Hitoshi had grumbled something about being safe then, almost as an afterthought, that if he didn’t come back in half an hour that he’d come to find Izuku.

Knowing Hitoshi would be looking for him, waiting for him, expecting him, knowing that the island’s security was still in place, knowing all this did very little to still his racing heart as he stood in front of that door. This had been a terrible idea. What was he even doing?

Once again, Izuku glanced left, then right, waiting for someone to appear. But still, Anon was nowhere to be found. Perhaps they’d gotten stopped by security. Perhaps this had all been a ruse to get him alone and a trap was nearly ready to spring. Maybe it had been a simple prank. That was possible, wasn’t it?

Maybe, maybe not, but he couldn’t just wait out in the hallway anymore. Izuku moved as if to turn back toward the apartment, but he was already in front of his lab and there was no way in hell he was going to go to sleep anytime soon. Might as well do some work on his gauntlet if nothing else. Melissa had given him some good ideas and he was eager to get back to it. In fact, he hadn’t felt so invigorated about his engineering in a long while. Best cling to it for as long as he could, and get done what he could in the time given.

He set his hand on the doorknob, it swung inward, Izuku stepping inside and reaching for the light switch, when he saw it. Just as the door shut, closing out all the light from the hallway, he saw the silhouette of a figure leaned against the nearby printer, watching him.

Izuku let out a breath that rattled, blinking rapidly through the dark as the figure shifted slightly. Its shape wasn’t quite distinguishable amongst the machines, nor could Izuku tell where they were moving, but he could hear the rustle of cloth as they did, coming closer and closer and—

A spark flooded through him, his scent pouring out of him as he reached, almost instinctually for that which he knew wasn’t his own. His mouth opened, a word snapping forward. He nearly swallowed it down, but at the very last moment, found his control, and decided himself to shout, “Stop!”

The figure groaned suddenly as it snapped to a halt, then again as it collapsed to the ground. Izuku fumbled desperately for the light switch, flicking them on and flooding the lab with light.

On their knees in front of him was a figure dressed in red and black, a red bodysuit worn to cover every inch of skin, dark leather armor plated over very specific weak points on the body, modeled somewhat after samurai armor. The figure’s black leather gloves clearly had slots where metal claws could be retracted from and a belt held an assortment of weapons and tools, everything from a tightly coiled grappling hook to a tantō short sword. Their face was covered by a completely blank mask and their dark hair was tied up in an efficient knot.

The figure groaned deeply, body shivering as if fighting off something. “Oooh. That sucked.”

“Are you Anon?” Izuku asked quickly, trying to regain his breath, his bearings, trying to decide if he needed to run. He kept staring at the tantō at the figure’s waist.

“Yes. I told you I’d be here,” Anon shook their head and rose up carefully, slowly, lifting their hands to show they meant no harm. “You know. You really shouldn’t use that Quirk. The more you use it, the more you get used to it, the more it feels like it should be yours. That’s how he drags you in.”

“What are you talking about?” Izuku snapped, still undecided on what he should do.

“Hiku, of course. Why do you think all his followers are so loyal? But that’s a story for another time. We’re here about Father today. About stopping him, and how we can work together to do so.”

Izuku paused to glance Anon up and down once more. They seemed to know a lot about Father and Hiku. A suspicious amount of knowledge, actually. Sure, Izuku was clearly out of the loop when it came to these things, but they made it seem like they knew information that couldn’t just be found on the internet. They had some sort of insider information, whether that came from their own searching or through knowing Father and Hiku and being part of their group.

The thought had Izuku stepping back toward the door. “Who are you supposed to be? Why should I trust you?”

Anon gave a dry laugh. “You shouldn’t. And yet, here you are. Do you know why that is?” They paused an appropriate amount of time for Izuku to respond, which he didn’t, and continued, “It’s because Father is a megalomanic lunatic as well as being a grade-A bastard. He deserves every bad thing coming for him, and you want to be a part of that. Both of us do. Both of us have something to gain from Father’s downfall.”

“You’re making a lot of assumptions,” Izuku countered, which Anon waved away.

“No, I’m not,” they nodded toward Izuku. “Father’s set his sights on you, Midoriya. He’s been coming after your family for a while now, ever since you got his mate locked up. He’s petty and wants revenge, and he’ll take it by taking you. In his mind, twisting you into his perfect little omega is the best way to defeat and humiliate you as he feels you’ve humiliated him and his family. He’d take so very good care of you. He might even treat you better than he ever did his true mate. But you’d be nothing but a soulless puppet. He’d break you apart and put you back together to his liking, and you’d never be the same. He’s done it before. No doubt, he’ll do it again to some other poor soul, or to you if he gets his hands on you.”

There was nothing he could argue with there. There were questions over how Anon knew all of this, but Izuku was starting to suspect he knew how Anon gathered all their information. He had very few clues, but just enough for him to make one connection that seemed plausible enough.

“And what about you?” Izuku asked instead. “What did Father take from you?”

“My sister,” there was no hesitation in Anon’s answer, save for a little shrug, “well, my half-sister to be exact. Mother stole my sister and killed her mom, and Father twisted her into his little puppet. I want her back. I’m ready to do anything to get her back. I’ve got the skeleton of a plan. I just need someone who can help me flesh out the details.” They nodded toward Izuku. “And that, would be you, Midoriya.”

“Why me?”

Anon shifted slightly. It was impossible to read their expression with the mask, but it wasn’t impossible to know what they were thinking, what they were feeling. The swaying of their body, the way their voice tightened a little every time they said Father’s name. The way they answered all of Izuku’s questions, no matter what it was. Whoever this person was, they were completely serious. They were dedicated and determined. And they knew Izuku could help them.

“Because you have the ability to help me as well as the reason,” Anon said evenly. “If I get rid of Father, then your family will be safe again. That’s a hell of an incentive. Plus, you’re good with data. You’re good with putting things together, lining up the puzzle pieces. That’s what I need to finish this. Someone to sort through the data and get me the answers I’m looking for.”

Izuku bit his lip, still working through his theory. Instead of addressing anything Anon had said, he asked, “How did you get away from Katsuki at the hospital? Answer me that, and maybe I’ll help you.”

Anon paused. For a long while.

After, they lifted a hand, stroked it down the blank, empty, missing features of their mask. “There was only one way to escape. I had to jump into the nearest security camera. Do you know how hard it is to escape from a closed-circuit network? There was one exit. In the main control room. I had to wait for the guard to go take a leak before sneaking out.”

Suspicions confirmed, Izuku nodded, “You can turn yourself into an electrical current.”

Of course, Anon’s mask did not change shape, but Izuku swore he saw the smile that spread over their face. “Close. But close enough to be very impressive, Midoriya. Of course, I’m not surprised. This is exactly why I need your help.” They pressed a hand to their chest. “I can enter into a space I called the information world. Or the IW for short. Essentially, it is just the circuits of computers, the networks between them. The cyber space, so to say.”

“It’s how you knew all that information about me,” Izuku pressed, “how you were able to manipulate messages to appear on my phone.”

Anon nodded. “You got it. So you see, I’m a useful guy to have around. I can jump through most networks in an instant. I can collect data and information and read it all, no matter its encryption. I can—”

“You’re a vigilante.”

It wasn’t quite an accusation, though Izuku guessed it sounded like one. Anon paused briefly, then said, “Well, yes, I thought that was obvious. I’m doing all of this illegally. I’ve hacked into countless spaces I shouldn’t have been. I’ve gathered data I had no right to. I’ve used computers to get to places I shouldn’t have been able to access. Hell, I’m trespassing as we speak!” Anon patted the printer almost affectionately. “I’ve managed to convince the security system around here that I’m just an uninteresting glitch in the network. Otherwise, I’d’ve been swarmed by robots and security personnel by now.”

Izuku bit at his lip, then dug out his phone. He did a quick search on “Anon” and brought up a couple of articles, but nothing big. Which meant they weren’t a well-known vigilante. But still. Katsuki was always wary of vigilantes, and Izuku as well. Some of them truly meant well. Others leaned a little too close to the villain side for comfort. From what he’d seen so far, Izuku couldn’t quite tell where Anon landed, no matter their ultimate goal.

Anon, having watched him do his quick research, sighed deeply. “Is my status as a vigilante really going to stop you from this? Look, all I need is someone who can break down the information I gather. I can get it all but I’m not that great at making sense of it. I just need some help organizing everything. That’s all you’d have to do. I’m not asking you to do any sort of fighting, any sort of illegal activity—”

“Except conspire with a vigilante and look at stolen data.”

Anon paused, then nodded. “Okay, yeah. But still.”

“Who is your sister?” Again, Anon was quiet. So quiet that Izuku pressed, “What’s her name?”

“Don’t know,” the vigilante muttered, “Mother changed it. She’s been gone for twenty years now. I don’t even really know what she looks like. But I know she exists. And I know Father has her. Her DNA popped up at the scene of a crime recently. In that alley where you were attacked, actually,” Anon nodded toward Izuku.

Izuku was tempted to growl, “Which one?” but he knew which one. There had only been one alley where there had been a female in the area. His recent encounter with Father and his family.

He thought quickly, but there were only three possibilities. Hayami, Tame, and Etsu. Hayami was unlikely, since she’d been arrested and her identity would have been found out. So Tame and Etsu. Izuku glanced up at Anon, considering all he knew, which was literally just their Quirk. A technology-based Quirk.

“I think,” he ventured, “her name now is Etsu. She’s one of Father’s closest members. He was very keen on making sure she was safe during the attack. She has a technology-based Quirk like you do.”

Anon considered this carefully, then muttered, “She hadn’t manifested a Quirk when she was taken. But if you say you think that’s her, then I’ll just have to trust you on that.”

Izuku nodded. “If you find Father, I bet you’ll find her, too. I assume that’s your goal? To take out Father directly?”

Again, despite not being able to see Anon’s face directly, Izuku knew there was something akin to a smile spreading across their face. “Yes. I’m going to kill him. If you have qualms about that, then you should know that now.”

The words twisted in Izuku’s gut uncomfortably. Somehow, he’d known Anon intended to kill Father. That was not the surprise. The surprise, perhaps, was the fact that Izuku didn’t think he cared. That maybe he thought Father being dead was best anyway. And knowing that made his insides squirm.

“Like I said,” Anon continued, “I don’t intend to have you do any part of the killing. I just need the information sorted and I need help planning things out. I’ll do the deed myself, and I’ve got the ability to make sure nobody ever knows you were involved.”

“Cameras?” Izuku asked.

“Footage either goes missing, is rewritten, or the cameras simply lose power for some reason.”

“Data logs?”

“Encrypted and stored in a way that will mimic normal computer files. Unless someone comes specifically looking for them, they won’t find them.”

“How are you going to hide your transferring all this data to me, and how am I supposed to give it back?”

“I can directly put it onto your computer and take it off. No actual transferring. It’s just there one moment, gone the next. No trail to lead back to you or me.”

It was tempting. To have a part in Father’s potential downfall. To do something for once. And yes, he was foolish for trusting Anon like this. He’d been tricked before. This could be another trap. And yet, it didn’t feel like it. Somehow, this was different. Anon was different. They were a factor so outside of how Father and the League normally operated that it was hard to see them as being affiliated with either of organization. And their story felt so real. So true. Even them not knowing their sister’s name made sense. All the children of Father and Mother had been renamed, after all.

But something was still nagging at Izuku, something that was getting under his skin the more time passed.

He picked apart everything that had happened, and remembered what Anon had first said to him. You really shouldn’t use that Quirk. The more you use it, the more you get used to it, the more it feels like it should be yours. That’s how he drags you in.

“So, we have a deal?” Anon was saying. They’d lifted their arm and a holographic screen had appeared to hover just over his forearm, data streaming along it. “I’ll give you the data, and you tell me what you come up with. Mainly what I’m hoping for is where Father’s main hideout is. He seems to bounce around a little, so getting a good idea of his schedule maybe, some of his plans and goals, anything to help me nail down where to find him. Oh. And if you find any information on the pups he’s stolen. Their real names or anything like that. Anything on Etsu, too, if you really think she might be my sister.” They paused, waiting, prompted, “So? What do you say?”

Izuku bit at his lip, and twisted his hands around themselves. “What do you know about Hiku?” Anon went very still, so he added, “What you said about this Quirk he gave me. What do you know about it?”

“Ah,” Anon nodded, therir arm dropping down and the screen disappearing. “I’m surprised the police haven’t figured this out yet, actually. Hiku can give Quirks to other people. But only for a limited number of uses. The stronger the Quirk, the less someone can use it. Something like what you have? Mmm, I’d say you probably can only get five or six actual uses out of it. After that, Hiku will have to give it to you again for you to be able to use it.”

“Oh,” the pieces lined up so neatly Izuku was shocked he hadn’t considered it earlier. Which was honestly ridiculous, how could he have predicted this? And yet, it all made so much sense. “That’s why you said that thing about dragging me in.”

“Right. That’s why so many people practically worship the ground Hiku walks on. They need him to be able to use what they perceive as their Quirks. Use a Quirk enough, it starts to feel like it’s your own. It starts to feel like it’s a part of you. Then suddenly, you can’t use it, and you’ll do anything to fix that.” Anon nodded toward Izuku. “That’s why you should be careful. You’re Quirkless, so I don’t know how susceptible you are to this phenomenon, but lots of people who think they have the wrong Quirk are getting trapped in an endless loop by Hiku through this process. Lots of League members out there just desperate to feel whole.”

The news was disturbing in a way Izuku couldn’t quite quantify. The thought of someone twisting people like that, manipulating them with borrowed power, borrowed Quirks, a borrowed sense of completeness, it felt vile, dirty. Izuku very much wanted to be rid of the Quirk Hiku had given him, briefly wondering if in time it would naturally fade away or if he would have to use it up. But no. Using it felt like a trap. Anon was right, if he got used to relying on it, he’d be more vulnerable to what Hiku said, what he’d promised. This Quirk wasn’t just because of what Father had told him. It was also the fishing line designed to reel him in. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get caught up in it and be dragged right back to Hiku and Father.

Realizing he’d been thinking for a while, Izuku looked back up at Anon. The vigilante was watching him, waiting still, but when nothing was said between them, they shrugged. “Listen, I get it. It’s a lot to think about, a lot to consider. Take the night, take tomorrow, whatever. But you should know, as soon as you leave this island, our deal’s off. I’ll move on. Leave you alone. Don’t worry. I don’t have any interest in you or your family, beyond thinking you might also want to see Father get what’s coming for him.”

Izuku listened, but he still felt uneasy about everything. “You said the police don’t have this information?”

“Not all of it. Some of it comes straight from them,” Anon seemed proud of this fact, puffing out their chest.

“If I help you, I want to be able to share this with the police.”

Anon deflated immediately. “Kind of kills my plans to destroy Father if the police know about it.”

“If nothing else, it’ll help them stop the League. They need this information. And… and I don’t feel comfortable not telling them what I know. If I help you, I’ll decode everything and put some real thought into what the data says, but after I give it to you, either you give a copy over to the police or I will.”

Anon tapped their finger along their leg, four succinct movements, then another one to nod sharply at Izuku. “Fine. Not used to working with the authorities and all. But if you want to, I guess I won’t stop you.” Izuku noticed that they hadn’t said they couldn’t stop him. Being able to manipulate computers from within was a dangerous ability. They were practically a virus, sentient and purposeful. Anon was dangerous to have around. But at least they seemed to be on the same side of the moment.

“One condition though,” Anon lifted a finger between them, “you wait until everything’s done, until you’ve deciphered everything, before you give it to the police. You can give it to them all in one go. But nothing before. They get wind that you’re scheming on the side and they’ll stop you. You do get that, right?”

Right. He did know that. It would be the same if Katsuki found out. He’d have to be careful.

Izuku nodded. “Fine. Send me the data you have.”

Anon intertwined their fingers and flexed them outward, cracking several knuckles. “Give a guy some space to work. I’ll gather everything up and sneak it onto your computer here. You’ll be able to access everything and nobody on the island will have access to it. Oh, and let me be clear. I want to take Father down, but my first priority is my sister. If you see anything that might be useful to finding her, then you tell me that first. I may be a vigilante out for blood, but I’m a brother trying to keep his family safe first and foremost.”

Family first. It was weird hearing Anon say that, knowing Izuku would essentially have to go behind his own family’s backs to do this. But how could he not? How could he continue to sit back and do nothing? Anon was offering them the first real breakthrough in who knew how long. He simply couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

“Deal,” Izuku held out his hand, and Anon shook it. “I’ll look for it next time I’m here.”

Behind his mask, Izuku knew Anon was grinning. “Looking forward to your results, Midoriya.”

- - -

When Izuku stepped through the door to the apartment, he first saw Hitoshi, dressed in his hero gear, hand out to reach for Katsuki’s and his bedroom door. The omega hero gave him a once-over, then gestured to the clock. He didn’t need to say anything. Izuku knew it had been about forty-five minutes.

“Sorry,” he whispered, checking to make sure everyone else was asleep. There was nobody else in the room with them, the pups’ room still closed and dark and Hitoshi clearly just about to wake Katsuki. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Fine,” Hitoshi murmured, coming a bit closer to check on him. He glanced Izuku up and down again, paused, then did it again, slower, lingering at times as if he’d picked up on something.

That was something Izuku really admired about Hitoshi. He was perceptive in ways Katsuki was not. Katsuki could step into a room, look around once, and tell you exactly who was doing what and how he could do any number of things to stop or help them. It was an invaluable trait to have as a hero, to be able to pick up on the most important details and figure out how he could influence them in the blink of an eye. Hitoshi wasn’t quite like that. He could look around a room once and tell you exactly who was doing what, and what their end goal was. Where Katsuki looked at a room for the situation that was happening within, Hitoshi looked around and saw the actual people that were within. He saw them each for what they were, what they wanted, what they were doing, and what they were trying to achieve by doing it. It was part of what made him a good teacher. He could pick up on the subtlest of nuances in a person’s expression and body language. Perhaps it came from years and years of mind controlling people, of learning how to get under peoples’ skin in order to use his Quirk on them.

Whatever the case, Izuku knew that Hitoshi was examining him far too closely for his liking. The hero was bound to pick up on certain things. That he was hiding something. That that something was probably something bad. That he’d had a secret conversation with a vigilante and had agreed to engage in what was basically espionage against one of the most powerful villain organizations in the world. But no, stop, it wasn’t that drastic. Neither Hitoshi’s skill level nor his agreement with Anon had risen to quite that level.

Still, no doubt Hitoshi had figured out that something was wrong, and Izuku had to do something to cover that.

So, in the middle of the omega’s thinking, Izuku said, “C-can I, maybe, sleep next to you tonight?”

That startled Hitoshi enough to knock him out of his examination. Or perhaps not, as Hitoshi took in these words and seemed to take them apart much as he had Izuku’s tiniest expression. “You want to sleep without Bakugo?” There was, of course, no way the alpha would be okay sleeping next to Hitoshi, not when it would only be the three of them. The implication was that they’d leave Katsuki to sleep alone.

“Uh, not really,” Izuku hurried to say. “It’s just… I don’t know. I need… or maybe… I’m just used to being without him, I guess.”

That turned the gears in Hitoshi’s head even more. Enough that he seemed to abandon whatever he had been considering, tilting his head in Izuku’s direction. “All right, fine. But if Bakugo kicks down my door at any point, you’re fixing it.”

“I will,” Izuku nodded, following Hitoshi back to his room.

Where Izuku and Katsuki’s room was massive and elegant, Hitoshi’s was small, functionable, sleek. There wasn’t hardly any extraneous items or furniture, no wasted space. It was all very neat and put together and exactly as Izuku had always seen Hitoshi organize his life.

While the omega hero changed out of his hero costume, Izuku shucked off his All Might jacket, pausing to breathe in a bit more of Katsuki’s scent, before laying it lovingly aside. Then, he went back out into the apartment and to the pups’ room. He opened the door as slowly as he could, and immediately saw two large red eyes peering at him from the dark.

“Mommy?” Kazue called, sitting up, reaching for him. There was a small whine in his voice, as if he were confused and worried, and Izuku hurried to calm him.

“Shh,” he whispered, noticing another little bundle stirring on Kazue’s bed. Hikaru blinked blearily up at Izuku from where he’d been laying next to Kazue. It ruffled Izuku a little to see the two sleeping in the same bed, though he figured it must be instinct that was driving them to do this. They were still young pups after all and where Kazue was used to piling with his packmates, Hikaru might be used to piling with his siblings. Yes, that’s all it was.

Doing his best to put that aside, Izuku ran his fingers through Kazue’s unkempt hair. “Go back to sleep, firecracker. Sorry for waking you. I’m going to sleep in Hitoshi’s room for the night. If you need me, I’ll be just a room away.”

He went to step away, but Kazue held onto him. “Wait. I want to come with you.”

“It’s okay, firecracker, just stay here.”

Kazue made a demanding sort of noise as Hikaru pushed himself up. “Mr. Midoriya, can I sleep with you and Kazue, too?”

Izuku sighed deeply. He wasn’t one to tell his pup no very often. And this really wasn’t the night where he was feeling particularly convicted either.

“All right, fine. As long as it’s okay with Hitoshi.” He held out his hand, which Kazue took with an almost jealous lurch forward, claiming it before anyone else could think to. Izuku offered his other hand to Hikaru, who more cautiously grasped it. “And this is just for tonight, all right? Tomorrow you sleep in your own beds.” He hoped the emphasis made it clear on both his and Hitoshi’s part, but also on the part of the pups sleeping in separate beds.

“Mmkay,” Kazue yawned, clearly not having paid attention, while Hikaru simply blinked innocently up at him. Yes, these two were troublemakers, that was certain.

Still, he couldn’t deny the warmth he felt as he led the two into Hitoshi’s room. The omega hero had changed back into a comfortable shirt and loose shorts and was busy tucking the case with his costume away, though he did pause as the three shuffled into the room. He shook his head at Izuku. “You really just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“Is it okay if the pups sleep with us tonight?” Izuku knew it wouldn’t make a difference, but he did put on his best puppy dog face, all big, gleaming eyes and little pout. He used to make such a face at Katsuki to fluster and frustrate the alpha. Not only could he say no to such a face, he also had a hell of a time saying yes, simply caught between his instinct to please his omega and his impulse to reject such blatant, if not lighthearted, manipulation.

As he suspected, Hitoshi stared blankly at him, unmoved by his little display, before turning his attention back to putting his costume away. “Bed should be big enough. If it’s too crowded though, I’m kicking you and the pups out.”

“Fine, fine.”

While Hitoshi finished up, Izuku gestured for the pups to get on the bed. It was already ruffled slightly, the omega having spent part of the night sleeping in it, which meant there were already wrinkles for the pups to slip easily into. Izuku crawled between the pups and found a place to lay down where Kazue could bury into his scent gland and Hikaru pressed into his side. Hitoshi joined them a few minutes later, finding a comfortable spot with Hikaru between them. The beta pup stiffened uncomfortably, clearly not as used to Hitoshi as Kazue was. Izuku and Hitoshi shared a look over the pup’s head and Hitoshi got up and went around to the other side of the bed. Izuku moved himself and the pups over slightly so Hitoshi could get in next to Kazue, who welcomed him with a happy little growl. Hikaru lifted his head as everyone got settled, only laying back down when Izuku placed a hand on his back.

It was the first time he’d piled in a bed with his own pup in weeks. Kazue had been so angry, so caught up in Katsuki’s disappearance, that he hadn’t been willing to pile with just about anyone for a long, long time. Izuku had piled with the pack, quite often in fact, but Kazue had never been willing to participate. Now, Izuku could tilt his head a little, and feel Kazue slip a little closer into the nook of his neck, that place where he had once been able to curl up. He was much too big to do that now, had been for a while, but he had adjusted and was resting quite happily with his face pressed into the omega’s neck. Hikaru, likewise, was tucked into Izuku’s other side, having burrowed himself into the blankets until only a little tuft of blue hair was visible. Even so, Izuku could feel the beta pup pressed into him, the grounding reality of the pup at his side, seeking and receiving warmth and care from him. And in return, he lent a bit of his own warmth, a soothing presence unlike any Izuku had ever felt before, not even from Kazue.

It was a different kind of feeling that he got from Kazue. Kazue was his pup. His feelings for him were so deep and complex as to be indescribable. Kazue lent him a cozy sort of warmth, like a hearth that always burned right at his side, forever and always staying the chill from his home. Hikaru was more like a blanket. Something to comfort, something to ease. His warmth picked at some of the dark holes that had been widening within Izuku recently, those places he dared not venture within himself, afraid he might never come out again. Somehow, Hikaru helped to shrink those holes. Izuku wondered if it was something to do with his Quirk.

And Hitoshi. Hitoshi wasn’t warm, really. But having him there did soothe Izuku. Truth be told, he was a bit shaken up from his encounter with Anon, with everything that had been said and shared, the deal he had made. To say he was having second thoughts would be an understatement. Away from the allure of revenge, back in a place where he was safe and loved, he realized just how foolish he had been. Anon could have been lying. He could have been working with Father. He could have hurt Izuku, or done something worse. And even if he wasn’t with Father, he was still a potential threat. Vigilantes were a tricky sort. Some of them were noble. Most of them had a very dark streak about them, a streak that sometimes got others hurt. The truth of the matter was, he couldn’t trust Anon. No matter what he had said or what had happened.

But he also didn’t know if he could just ignore him. If Anon had the information, want, and ability to take down Father, then how could Izuku say no? How could he stand in the way of someone who could ultimately save his family from further harm?

Izuku trailed a few fingers over his belly, feeling for the pup under his skin. They hadn’t been very active since he’d woken up in the hospital, but he knew they were still alive. He knew they were still there. And he knew he had to protect them, as much as he had to protect Kazue. And Hikaru as well. Togata was counting on him to keep the beta pup safe.

Yes, he had to do this. Whatever it took. Even if it was dangerous. After all, Anon couldn’t be worse than Father.

Resolve burning in his blood, Izuku closed his eyes, allowed sleep to come, allowed himself to sink into dreams, and to refuse the nightmares that wanted to swarm ever closer.

- - -

“—ri.”

“K—i.”

“Ka—ri!”

“…”

“Kaori.”

Katsuki did not dream. If he did, he dreamed of a void. An empty nothingness that was warm and supportive, like floating in a dark ocean, or being cradled in a mother’s womb. He had never dreamed. Not really. In rare flashes he would see pictures, colors. Once, he had walked through the nightmare of Izuku being attacked by Yokoyama before his eyes. In that dream, he had realized what was happening, and broken through the dreamscape to fight Yokoyama off, to stop that terrible day from happening, to save Izuku.

That was the only dream he really remembered.

But there was something about the dark void that he did remember. Something that never quite reached the level of dreams, but did tap at that part of his mind nonetheless.

Within that emptiness, he heard things. He’d heard the voices of his packmates, Old Jean Face, All Might, Aizawa, his parents, Izuku, Kazue. He had been haunted by screams and cries and begging. He’d been comforted by laughs and trills and someone calling his name.

Except that night, the name he heard through the dream was not his name at all.

“Kaori.”

He heard it again, and as it floated through the dark space, that space shook, crumpled, ever so slightly.

“Kaori, do as I say.”

Katsuki flinched. He did know that name. It was as familiar to him as a pet’s name, and as vile as an enemy’s.

“That’s it, Kaori. I require you do this for me. Yes. That’s it.”

Again, the space seemed to contract. Katsuki knew he was waking up. He struggled to open his eyes, but found he couldn’t quite. Where was that voice coming from?

“Don’t let him resist. Yes, that’s it. Do what you must. I will forgive you.”

What was happening? A red light was piercing through the dark. Katsuki blinked, blinked again, and realized he was awake.

The scene didn’t truly manifest before him immediately. Mostly, he didn’t think his mind was able to accept what was in front of him. He was sitting up in bed. A bed. His bed? Someone else’s bed? Did it matter? The room around him was foggy. He thought he didn’t care what room it was. Another part of him wanted to know very badly where he was.

“Remember to keep him calm and quiet. He can do you harm now. But not to worry. I’ll handle things soon enough.”

There was someone with him in the room. There was someone in the bed with him. Katsuki knew it was Izuku. But his eyes wouldn’t see him clearly.

They had had a struggle. A fight. But he never fought with Izuku. Never physically. He knew how strong he was compared to the omega. He knew how vulnerable he was now that he was pregnant. So no. No, he couldn’t have been fighting with the omega.

His aching, red, swollen, and blood splattered hands told a different story.

“You’re so very good, Kaori. A good son indeed. Now….”

Katsuki lowered his hands, and he saw that Izuku was under him. Bruises lined up and down his body, his arms, his shoulder, his face, his legs. If Katsuki lifted his shirt, he knew he’d find more. The omega was panting heavily, finding it difficult to breathe. A pillowcase had been tied in his mouth. Father had said he could use a Quirk to do bad things now. His hands were tied above his head to the headboard with a belt. There was no fight left in him. Katsuki couldn’t see his eyes. They were shadowed by a rag of limp, damp, green hair. There was blood—

No wait. No, that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be—! He would never—!

Katsuki wanted to be sick. He wanted to scream. But he didn’t move. He couldn’t.

Father’s voice echoed to him, strong and persistent, with a command he had heard again and again: “Now bring him to me.”

The words seeped into Katsuki’s ears, into his skull, again and again and again, bring him to me, bring him to me, bring him to me, until they both lost all meaning and were the only words that made sense. Father needed the omega. The omega was going to be his new mate, their new Mother.

Mother had been punished for what he had done.

Now that was over, Kaori had to bring Mother back to Father.

That was simple. That made sense. And Kaori was eager to please Father.

He reached for the omega, knowing exactly what he had to do and—

A phone alarm blared, a voice breaking through, “Ground Zero! Don’t listen to him! Wake up!”

—Katsuki shot up in bed, just in time to hear his phone give a distinctive beep, the indication that a call had just been ended. He let out a breath that was more like his lungs squeezing so hard he thought they wanted to kill him.

His dream roared back into focus and oh gods. He didn’t have dreams. He didn’t dream. Had that been real? Had that happened? What was the phone hanging up supposed to be? What the fuck had happened??

Where was Izuku?

Katsuki grasped for the omega, only to find his side of the bed empty. A roar of panic began to build, starting as a groan of absolute despair. Had he really done it? Had he hurt Izuku, tied him up, and taken him somewhere? Had he done as Father had told him?

There was no time to consider it. He had to act. He had to find Izuku.

He flung himself forward, crashing through the bedroom door and flinging himself out into the main room of the apartment, skidding to a halt as a pair of green eyes flicked up to him.

“Katsuki,” the omega was breathless and holding a hand to his chest. He let out a huff of air and bent over slightly. “Don’t scare me like that! You shouldn’t just go breaking down every door that gets in your way! We’re guests here, be a little more respectful, please! Especially in front of the pups,” he added this last part in a harsh whisper, nodding toward the nearby table. Kazue and Hikaru were sitting there, munching on breakfast, while Hitoshi was standing nearby, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Katsuki couldn’t give one damn about the omega hero. He saw Kazue. Saw that he was okay. Acknowledged that Hikaru was okay as well. Turned to Izuku to take him in. There were no bruises on his body. No sign of any struggle having happened at all. In fact, the omega was carrying on as if it was just another day, another time, another anything normal and average.

The realization struck Katsuki with another squeeze of his lungs and before he could stop himself, he crushed his omega in a tight hug, wrapping his arms around him, burying himself in Izuku’s scent gland. Izuku went a little rigid at the ferocity of his embrace, but he did his best to reciprocate, patting the alpha on the back.

“Kacchan, what’s wrong? What happened? You’re shaking. Are you okay?”

Okay? No. No, he wasn’t okay. But Izuku was okay. It had been a dream after all. A terrible nightmare.

Getting ahold of himself, Katsuki stepped back but kept hold of the omega’s arms, kept him close, unwilling to leave his side. There was no way Izuku could have known what was going on, what had happened. But he still reached up to sweep the back of his hand over Katsuki’s cheek, to cup his fingers into the alpha’s hair. It was still fucking blue. He needed to get around to fixing that. But as much as he hated his hair at that moment, Izuku’s fingers tangled in it was one of the best feelings in the whole world.

They didn’t say anything. Perhaps Izuku had been the recipient of enough nightmares to know what was wrong. Or perhaps, he simply wanted to show he was there for the alpha. Either way, when Katsuki tipped his head forward, Izuku met him halfway, their foreheads meeting and pressing together.

“Kacchan?” Izuku muttered.

“Deku,” Katsuki responded, and all was well after all.

After calming down, Katsuki went back into the bedroom, grabbing his phone. There were no messages, no missed calls, no received calls, no answered calls, no nothing to explain what had happened. It had all been a dream after all.

He supposed that was the best outcome, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still so very wrong.

- - -

After giving him a moment to calm himself down, Izuku followed Katsuki into the bedroom to check on him. The alpha was on the phone with someone. He was holding a business card in his hand, which he gave to Izuku when the omega tried to peer over his shoulder. It was the card for the scent-specialist doctor. Katsuki was setting up an appointment.

Halfway through the conversation, the alpha paused, staring straight at Izuku. “Tomorrow at nine?” He said it as a confirmation to the doctor on the line, but Izuku picked up the subtle question to the omega and he nodded his assent. “Fine. We’ll be there.” And he hung up, releasing a sigh that seeped the life out of him, like drain water rushing out of a pipe.

Izuku lent him a gentle stroke on the back, then leaned in a little closer, to nuzzle into him and purr quietly. Katsuki lifted his arm to bring Izuku in closer, to tilt his head until their foreheads touched again.

“Mind telling me what that was this morning?” Izuku asked.

Katsuki growled. “A nightmare.”

He had suspected as much. After all, he had on more than one occasion raced out of his bedroom like a madman, still caught between what was dream and what was reality. He knew all too well.

They lingered together for a while longer, but eventually had to part. It was a new day and there were things to do. Izuku had to go to his lab and see if Anon had planted that data yet. Katsuki had mentioned wanting to use the gym and that would mean several hours of the alpha being distracted that he could use to start sifting through it. He just had to figure out what to do with the pups and what Hitoshi’s plan was.

They stepped out of the room to the pups having finished breakfast, talking to Hitoshi across the table. Hikaru had warmed up to him surprisingly quickly and was regaling him with stories about his alpha and omega. Hitoshi, who no doubt had heard all about the exploits of the number one and six heroes, did not stop him, an amused sort of smirk hidden behind the rim of his coffee mug. As the beta pup talked, he flipped absently through a folder of lesson plans for his students.

He lifted his gaze as the couple stepped out and his smirk faded to something a little more thoughtful. Hikaru did not seem to notice at all, simply melding the two into the conversation as if they had always been there. Kazue glanced his alpha up and down, clearly looking for signs of distress, before he rested his head in his hands and watched Hikaru tell his stories.

Izuku took a seat at the table while Katsuki went to fix himself breakfast. A mug of coffee appeared in front of him, slid across the table by the alpha like a bartender serving a regular customer. Izuku shot the alpha a little more than just a grin over his mug, Katsuki dropping into that familiar smirk of his. The ease of their interaction, the way things could go back to normal so quickly, was relieving and unnerving in a way Izuku couldn’t quite put his finger on. He chose to cling to the relief of having Katsuki nearby, of how natural it was to be around him, rather than whatever was nagging at him.

Even if he chose to be happy, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that something was wrong as Katsuki turned away, couldn’t stop the smile from dropping off his face. He sipped at his coffee, pausing when his phone vibrated. He fished it from his pocket, saw that he had a message. A message from… nothing. There were no numbers associated with the message. Simply a text that had apparently just appeared.

He knew immediately who it was, of course, and opened it with his breath held.

Be very careful. Father is on the move.

What did that mean? How could Anon know that? Weren’t they supposed to be safe on I-Island? Where was Father moving, and how?

Another message came through, this one sinking straight through Izuku’s toes, Keep an eye on your mate. A very close eye.

Izuku shoved his phone away and took another drink of his coffee to hide the fear that was no doubt clear in his eyes. Something was going on. Something to do with Katsuki. Maybe… maybe it hadn’t just been a nightmare after all. He watched the alpha, but his movements were normal, nothing to signal something was off about him. The nightmare was strange. Katsuki didn’t usually have nightmares. But after everything they had been through, how could anyone blame him for starting? Nightmares were normal.

But… something still wasn’t right.

For as focused as he was, Izuku did not miss the sudden jerk at his naval, the breathless sort of movement that originated from within himself. “Ah!” He pressed a hand over the spot, and felt his pup shifting.

It was the first time in a long time he had felt them moving with such vigor. But there, under his fingers, he could feel them, wiggling about, kicking out, as if calling to his attention, to mark themselves as present in the room.

Izuku looked up and saw that everyone was watching him, especially Katsuki, the alpha with an eyebrow raised. The alpha… who had never before felt their pup moving.

“Kacchan, here! Hurry!” Izuku reached for the alpha, Katsuki immediately coming around to him, allowing the omega to take his hand and press it to his stomach. “Just wait.”

Katsuki glared down at the rounded bump of Izuku’s womb, his hands a little hot against him. The pup had stilled as if sensing something had changed, so Izuku rubbed at the side of his belly, hoping that would prompt them.

Several moments passed before Katsuki suddenly jerked upright as the pup landed a kick right against his palm. Izuku laughed at the startled expression that followed such an experience, at the way Katsuki leaned forward as if hungry for more, hoping for another little sign. Again, the pup shifted, kicked, missed Katsuki’s hand, though he could no doubt feeling it.

“That’s—” the alpha didn’t seem to be able to put his words together.

Izuku laughed, pressed his hands over the alpha’s. “That’s our pup, Kacchan. They’re saying hi.”

“Oh,” Katsuki leaned even a little closer, until he was mere inches away.

“Mommy, is Kacchan okay?” Kazue asked from his spot at the table.

“Duh, he’s just feeling the pup kick,” Hikaru said with a satisfied little smirk.

“What?! Mommy, is the pup kicking you?”

“Don’t worry, firecracker. They’re not hurting me. You kicked too when you were in my belly.”

“Oh,” Kazue sat back as if this revelation was quite startling for him. Hikaru leaned against his back and righted him in his chair, giggling playfully.

Hitoshi was grinning at them from across the table. He set his mug down and perhaps went to say something, though he never got the chance as Katsuki suddenly surged upward and nearly crashed into Izuku’s teeth in a desperate and wild kiss. The alpha practically climbed into Izuku’s chair, his member pressing, growing, along Izuku’s stomach.

Sensing things were getting a little out of hand to be in front of the pups, Izuku flailed a little, catching a glimpse of the three across the table. Hitoshi had grabbed his folder and was holding it between them and the pups, hiding them from the view. He did not look at all amused anymore.

Katsuki let go of his mouth and Izuku turned away. “Not now, Katsuki.”

“You’re so wonderful,” the alpha insisted, “so great. You make me so happy.”

In the months they had been apart, Izuku had not heard anyone tell him this. Even if they were things Katsuki had told him before, it was startling to hear them again after so long. That he was so cherished. So loved. And he made Katsuki happy, with whatever it was he was doing.

So, maybe, with Hitoshi shielding the pups, he could indulge in a bit of fun in the moment. He trilled happily, allowing his hand to drop down Katsuki’s stomach, to stroke at his growing bulge and revel in the hiss of breath that followed.

“You make me happy, Kacchan,” he said, and leaned up to kiss his mate. Katsuki reciprocated eagerly, hungrily, and perhaps they would have started shucking off their clothes if Hitoshi hadn’t loudly and demandingly cleared his throat.

Katsuki reluctantly got off the omega’s chair, lingering just long enough to stroke his stomach one more time, before returning to making his breakfast. Hitoshi then dropped his folder, grabbed his mug off the table, and excused himself to go get ready for the day, grumbling out the words. Kazue glanced between everyone looking a little startled while Hikaru was beaming as if in on the joke.

Izuku just sipped from his cup, clinging to the moment he had shared with his alpha.

After all, the messages that were surely gone from his phone were also ringing in his head. And he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do about all of that.

Chapter Text

“Babe! It’s been so long! How are you? Tell me what’s been happening? Are you eating? You better be eating!”

Izuku shook his head. “I’m pregnant, Sano. Of course I’ve been eating.”

“Eating well?”

“Uh, well….”

“Babe. Seriously.”

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing up again to make sure he could see the pups. Kazue and Hikaru were clambering over a climbing geo dome, racing each other to climb to the top. Hikaru fought his way up first and sat at its peak, shouting out his victory, before Kazue joined him and let out a howl that Hikaru followed. It was such a jubilant sound, a moment of joy and triumph shared between them. They were just playing. Just being normal pups.

Their resilience was truly inspiring.

The playground was full of other pups that day, many of them glancing at the newcomers curiously, most afraid to interact with them. Not that that was a problem for the pups. They were more than content with themselves, adventuring through the giant playground while their companion drones hovered nearby, clearly sensing the troublemaker aura about them. Another security robot was perched right at Izuku’s elbow, seemingly inert, though its presence so nearby was another quiet relief.

It was strange to be taking stock of such things. Once upon a time, Izuku wouldn’t have obsessed over such safety mechanisms, going about his day with merely cursory glances to confirm such things were in place before moving on. Now, whole parts of his mind were set only on identifying and monitoring nearby threats and things he could use to dispatch threats. He couldn’t relax. Not anymore. Even knowing he was safe and well and nothing bad was going to happen to him.

Because what if something did happen?

He’d called Sano on a whim. He’d taken the pups to the park because Katsuki had surprised him by saying he needed to borrow Hitoshi for a little while, leaving Izuku with two little pups staring expectantly up at him. So, to the park they had gone, with Izuku hoping he’d have a moment to relax. In that moment, he’d realized he hadn’t gotten to talk to Sano at all, having only been able to text her briefly about all that had transpired. She knew the basics of the situation, but only just. She knew Katsuki was home. She knew he didn’t have any memory of what had transpired. She knew they had left Japan as a precaution against further attacks on their family. Izuku hadn’t had the heart or strength to tell her much more.

And so, their conversation went on as if nothing was out of place. As if sensing he needed that little piece of normalcy, Sano had gone on and on about her daycare and missing him and Kazue and wanting to invite them over for dinner when they got back to the mainland.

Izuku listened to all she had to say, and at the end of it, he let out a sigh. “Sano, this island really is incredible.”

Sano paused. “You say that as if that makes you sad.”

“Well. It’s hard to really appreciate it under the circumstances.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting her to say, if there was anything he wanted her to say. Sano was silent for a moment, perhaps wondering over these same thoughts, before she said, “Tell me about your lab. You’ve been able to see it right? They didn’t give you some shitty basement storage locker full of old and broken stuff, right?”

“No, no. It’s… really wonderful actually. They’re spoiling me here. Haven’t missed home since I got here.” Which was a lie, of course. Izuku ached for his home. He hadn’t been home yet with Katsuki. His home hadn’t felt like home since the alpha had gone missing. He hadn’t been home in three months.

He missed home so desperately that it was painful to even think about it, so he pressed on before Sano could pick up on anything being wrong, “I’ve been working on an old project of mine a little. I’ve worked with one of the engineers here before on Katsuki’s gauntlets, so she took a look at a similar project and gave some suggestions. Haven’t had a chance to really do anything but brainstorm over it though.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have time. You’re going to be gone for a couple more weeks, right?”

“Right,” Izuku scratched at his chin. He was surprised to feel tiny hairs starting to grow along his jaw. As an omega, he could grow a beard but it took a lot longer than it might have if he’d been an alpha or beta instead. He’d never had a want to grow a beard and had always kept a close shave, especially in recent months where the added pregnancy hormones meant he was growing hair in all sorts of weird places. The presence of even a hint of stubble did signal to him that he hadn’t even thought about shaving in several days. How had so much time passed, and yet so little time?

“Katsuki’s hair is blue,” he didn’t know why he said it. Maybe because he was thinking about hair and how much time had passed and how much had changed and the fact that nobody, nobody, had addressed this particular remnant of Katsuki’s abduction since they’d left the hospital. “They dyed his hair blue. To try to hide him, I guess. It’s royal blue.” He scratched at the hair on his chin. “I fucking hate that color, Sano.”

Sano was very quiet. Izuku couldn’t really blame her. Just as he didn’t know why he’d said those things, he wasn’t sure what he expected her to say in return. What was there to be said?

“And Kirishima lost an eye because of me,” he went on, his voice starting to catch, to waver. “He got shot trying to save me. He would have died. He should have. It’s a minor miracle he’s still alive. He almost died trying to save me. And Kazue keeps telling me he has to protect me because he’s the only alpha in the house that actually stays. He attacked Hiku. He attacked the leader of the League of Villains, and I didn’t do anything to stop him.” Izuku blinked, shedding a tear he hadn’t realized was building. He ducked his head into his hands and bent over his knees so no one would notice. “I don’t know what to do, Sano. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Okay, okay,” Sano spoke over him, hushed him, lowered her voice to a gentle timbre. “I know, babe. I know. It’s not fair what’s happened to you. But none of this is your fault.” Izuku made a harsh noise, something that tore at his throat and got caught somewhere behind his teeth. “Just listen to me, babe. You didn’t do anything to deserve this and you didn’t do anything to cause this. None of it. None of it, do you hear me? Babe?”

Some of it, yes.

But Kirishima getting hurt was very clearly his fault. If he hadn’t been so reckless, so careless, if he hadn’t let himself get caught by Father, then the head beta would have never been in that situation to begin with. He wouldn’t have chased after Father and his gang, would have never gotten shot. That was directly his fault. And Kazue? Clearly he hadn’t taught the pup right if he was running at villains and trying to protect his omega at age ten. Clearly he’d missed something when it came to raising Kazue right for him to have been so angry when Katsuki had gone missing. Clearly he’d dropped the ball and fallen apart once Katsuki was gone, and he hadn’t been strong enough to pull himself back together, even for his pup.

“Babe, I can hear you thinking,” Sano growled, “and besides, you’re muttering. And you’re a damn liar, you know. You’re the worst liar on this planet if you believe any of that for a second.”

“It’s not a lie, it’s all true,” Izuku didn’t know what part she’d heard, but he did know all of what he’d been thinking was correct. “I used to be strong. I don’t know what happened.”

“Seriously, this again? If I were there, I’d slap you.”

Izuku nearly choked on his tongue. “Sano—!”

“No, I’m being serious, Izuku! Here, just—” she broke off with a sigh, a loud creak from her wheelchair telling Izuku she had shifted suddenly and violently. She often did when she was upset. For a moment, she was quiet, no doubt reigning in her frustration, or so Izuku assumed, only to be surprised when she said, “Look, babe, to be perfectly blunt, we have had this conversation so many times I don’t know how to talk about it in any other way. You’re not weak. You’ve been through hell. You’ve been through hell and you’ve survived. You’re still standing. And yeah, maybe you wobble around a little, but you’re only human, babe. You can have moments of weakness. That doesn’t make you weak. You think Kazue gets his “I’m going to fight literally the biggest villain in the whole of Japan” from just anyone? I’d put money on you over any villain any day.”

“That’d be a bad bet,” Izuku muttered.

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well, I’ve lost to villains,” he sniffled, shut his eyes tight against the memories that wanted to surface. “I’ve lost to them a lot. Yokoyama and Tsuda and Father and Hiku. All of them.”

“They didn’t win, babe. None of them.” She said it so assuredly.

He couldn’t help but to shake his head. “How could you say that? Every single one of them hurt me!”

“Yeah, and you survived every single one, didn’t you?” At Sano’s words, he was quiet. When the silence went on, she continued, “None of them actually beat you. You fought them all and you won in the end. Hell, one of them is dead and another is in jail. The other two you have the whole of Japan looking for, babe. How could you not call that a win? And last I heard, you beat the hell out of both Yokoyama and Tsuda!”

Izuku shook his head, sniffled. “I, uh, may have told Hiku off as well.”

“Yeah, and who is surprised by that?” Sano sighed. “I wish you’d look for the forest instead of the trees. Especially since the trees you like to pick out are the only ugly ones in your entire forest. Your faults don’t define you, babe. You should know that better than anyone. You did marry Bakugo after all, and last I checked he’s full of faults.”

Despite himself, Izuku snorted, felt a smile pulling at the corner of his lip. “Katsuki’s just impatient.”

“Just impatient. Yeah, sure. That’s just what he is. Anyway,” Sano moved swiftly on, not giving him the chance to change subjects, “You’re doing so well. You’re still standing. But you have to start taking care of yourself rather than beating yourself up over the things you’re struggling with. Instead of being mad at yourself for those things, maybe put that time and effort into improving them? Wild thought, I know, but I think you’d be amazed at what you can do if you just take a moment to work on yourself rather than tear yourself down.”

She made so much sense. It was embarrassing how much sense she was making. And still, Izuku bit at his lip. “It’s not that easy.”

“Of course it’s not. That’s why you have me and Bakugo and everyone else.” She paused. “Have you been in contact with the rest of your pack?”

“They’re not my pack,” Izuku grumbled quietly, to which Sano groaned.

“Okay, conversation for another day. Have you talked to anyone?”

“No. Too much has… been going on. And with Kirishima still in the hospital….”

“Who, Red Riot? He got released earlier today.”

Izuku nearly dropped the phone. “What?”

“Yeah, I saw it on the news. He got released to go home but they’ve said he isn’t expected to get back to his hero duties for at least a couple months. He’ll miss the hero ranks sounds like. Hey, do you think you’ll be back in Japan for that? We could go together! That would be fun, wouldn’t it?”

Izuku heard Sano talking about the hero ranks, but couldn’t quite listen to what she was saying past the news about Kirishima. He’d been released? He was okay? Well… as okay as anyone could expect. Izuku supposed the next question would be whether he’d ever be able to do hero work again, or if he’d be forced to retire. Beyond losing an eye, did he have any additional long-term injuries? In their rush to get to I-Island, they hadn’t had time to truly assess how extensive his injuries had been. And the pack? How were they handling everything? Izuku realized this was the longest he’d been away from someone in the pack since they’d been introduced into his life. And Katsuki…

This wasn’t the longest he’d been away from the pack. Not by a longshot. But he was sure this was different. After all, Katsuki may not remember being away from the pack for almost three months, but his body would remember. How he wasn’t an anxious, furious mess was a small miracle. Or maybe he was and Izuku just hadn’t noticed. Maybe he wasn’t noticing anything he should be. Maybe he was too wrapped up in his own misery to pay attention to those who needed him.

“BABE!” Sano’s sudden shout startled Izuku upright. “I am going to crawl through this phone and punch you! Seriously, stop it! Is this what you do all day long when you’re by yourself?”

“I, uh—” Izuku bit his lip, rubbed at his eyes, told himself again he needed to get ahold of his muttering. “No.”

“Real convincing there.” Sano sighed deeply. “Listen, do me a favor: go take a long, hot bath. Or take a long walk in a beautiful park. Or tinker on a random project in your shiny lab and just, I don’t know, be kind to yourself. For once. Just take some time for yourself. You can’t give what you don’t have and if you give everything to everyone else, you’ll have nothing for yourself, and that’ll be it. You won’t be able to help anyone. So just. Please? Do something for yourself. Today.”

Even if she wasn’t there, Izuku knew he couldn’t lie to her. She’d know. Somehow, she’d figure it out. But he didn’t know what taking care of himself looked like anymore. He hadn’t for a long, long time. When was the last time he’d done anything for himself? What would he even do?

“Babe,” Sano growled.

“Okay, okay,” Izuku sighed. “I’ll… figure something out.”

“Good. At least cuddle with your alpha a little. That always helps me.”

“I can do that.” Although cuddling with Katsuki had been tinged lately with the knowledge of what had transpired to each of them, Katsuki’s abduction and Izuku’s near kidnapping. It was never quite as relaxed as it once had been. They both clung to the other as if when they let go they would lose one another. But it was better than nothing, better than being apart.

On the other end of the phone, was Sano smiling? Was she satisfied and happy with what she had done? Or was she unconvinced that she’d actually helped him? It was hard to tell outright, as she responded with her usual vigor, “Okay good. And keep me updated, yeah? I’m always here for you, babe. You know that.”

“I do. I know that, and I can’t ever thank you enough.” It was true. How had he gotten so lucky to have a friend like Sano?

“Thank me by bringing over your adorable little alpha when you get back. I miss you both and while I love Jin, he’s so low energy all the time. I just want to take his calm and put it in a bottle and shake it up a little. Or I don’t know, mess up his hair. Something. Anyway, need a partner in crime whenever you get back.”

Izuku shook his head. “I will not touch Jin’s hair.”

“No, but you can distract him. And if you won’t, Kazue definitely will.” Sano paused, clearly waiting for Izuku to laugh, but all he managed was a little snort. He could almost imagine her scrunching her nose unhappily but eventually, she said, “Okay, I’ll let you go for now. Just, like I said, be nice to yourself. You’re the only you you get, and you’re the only you we get too. I want you to be around for a long time, and so does Bakugo and Kazue. So take care of yourself, all right? If not for you, then for us. Be selfish on our behalf, please. Also, I just can’t tell you how weird it is I have to try to get you to be nice to yourself for other people. That should tell you how much work you have to do on this.”

“I know, I know. I’ll… do a bit of work. Like you said I should. I’ll work on it when I have time.” Anon was expecting him to start getting results, after all. And the sooner he figured out what Father’s plan and movements were, they sooner either Anon or the police could stop him. The sooner they’d all be safe and it would all be over. “I’ll be home soon.”

“Okay. Love you, babe! Enjoy your time there! And tell Kazue I said hello and I miss him!”

“I will. Bye, Sano.” He hung up first, pausing to run his hand through his hair. It was long and wild, more like what it’d been like when he’d been in school. He needed to get it cut still. Maybe he could convince Katsuki to go to a stylist with him and they’d take care of his blue hair. Maybe.

A little hand on his shoulder snapped Izuku out of his gloom, the omega sitting up with a smile that was forced but practiced and therefore somewhat natural. He’d expected Kazue, but was surprised to find that Hikaru was standing next to him, the beta pup tilting his head in a curious sort of manner. Across the playground, Kazue had found a maze of puzzles, each wall of the maze sporting a different kind of test. The alpha pup was methodically going through each and every one, so focused on his task he hadn’t noticed that Hikaru had left him. But he was safe and happy and that was all Izuku was truly concerned over in the moment, so he turned his full attention to the beta pup.

“Something wrong, Hikaru?”

Hikaru tilted his head the other way. “Mr. Midoriya, why were you crying?”

Izuku blinked, knowing he’d wiped his tears away, thought he’d hidden it well enough. “Oh, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“Mmm, but it’s okay to not be fine. At least, that’s what my Dad says.” He put a little fist to his chest and intoned, “Everyone needs some help sometimes and it’s the bravest thing to ask for that help when you need it! That’s what he says. Does Mr. Bakugo say that?”

“Uh, not quite,” Izuku rubbed the back of his head, realizing he was headed into an awkward conversation and doing his best to hide the dread. “But I think he would agree with the sentiment.”

“Hmm,” Hikaru seemed to think this over for a moment, then hopped up onto the bench next to Izuku. “Mr. Midoriya, why won’t you let me use my Quirk to help you? I promise it won’t hurt the pup!”

“I’m not worried about that,” Izuku pressed a hand to his belly, trying to feel where his pup was resting. Since interacting with Katsuki, they had settled again and was quietly sleeping the day away. “You just shouldn’t be using your Quirk whenever you think you need to.”

“But I told you, I don’t! Like when Kazue kept getting into those fights at school, I knew he was hurt but I wouldn’t help him, no sir! It was wrong when he got into those fights, so I didn’t offer to help him. So see? I know the difference.”

“Right.” Izuku wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. It was strange to think that Hikaru had kept watch of Kazue, had known about him getting into fights. He’d always had the impression that Hikaru had stopped playing with Kazue as the alpha pup grew angrier and angrier, but perhaps it had been the other way around. Perhaps Kazue had drifted away from Hikaru. It did make sense, in a way. After all, when they had been much younger, Katsuki had pushed Izuku away whenever he was upset.

Hikaru kicked his feet out, watching as Kazue ducked under one of the puzzle squares to get a different view of it. Izuku followed his gaze, enjoying the quiet of the moment. There wasn’t a physical warmth emanating from Hikaru like he sometimes felt, but it was comfortable being near the beta pup. And besides, it did settle the omega part of Izuku to be surrounded by pups. He’d been away from the packhouse long enough to be missing all the pack pups, Fumiko, Takahiro, Sakura, Harue, even little Ren. Not to mention Ojiro’s and Hakagure’s little ones. He had never quite noticed how their presence had seeped into his daily life until that moment.

Sano’s words about his pack rattled unwelcomingly into his mind and Izuku grimaced.

“Mr. Midoriya,” Hikaru’s voice whimpered a little, wavered just at the edge, enough to snatch and hold Izuku’s full attention, searching the beta pup for something being wrong. “Why… don’t you like me?”

Izuku blinked. Then again. “I’m sorry, what?”

Hikaru turned away from him, mumbling something under his breath, his hands fisted into his pants.

“I didn’t hear you, Hikaru. What makes you think I don’t like you?”

“You won’t let me help you!” The beta pup scrunched his nose up, lifted his lip in a bit of a growl, though it wasn’t quite that. He was upset, yes. But it was more like he was trying not to cry. “I want to help you. I know I can! It’s like when my Mom hurts really bad. He hurts on the inside sometimes, where medicine doesn’t help, but I can help him with my Quirk! I like helping him when he’s hurting, and you’re hurting too and I want to help, Mr. Midoriya! But you won’t let me. But I don’t know why. I don’t know why you don’t like me. All I want to do is help you—” he broke off into a bit of a sob and curled up.

There was no thought in what happened next. In the comforting hum that vibrated in Izuku’s chest, in the gentle arm he put around Hikaru, in the careful pulling of the beta pup into his lab. Hikaru was a bit smaller than Kazue, but not by much and with his swollen belly, there wasn’t a lot of room for the beta pup. Still, Hikaru expertly curled himself into Izuku’s arms, resting against Izuku’s stomach without putting any pressure on the pup. Izuku hummed again and stroked a hand over the beta pup’s back.

It was hard to remember, amongst everything else, that Hikaru was alone. That his family had sent him away. They’d sent him away in fear of what could happen to him, had sent him away hoping he would be safe and happy and get to experience something he might not have been able to another way, but they had still sent him away. Izuku, Hitoshi, and Katsuki were all Hikaru had, and Hitoshi wasn’t much of a traditionally nurturing omega and Katsuki was all too wrapped up in everything else to put a lot of time into a pup that was not his own, nor was he nurturing by nature anyway. So really, it was just Izuku. And he knew he’d been neglecting the beta pup. Just as he’d been neglecting Kazue. This was all just proof of his failure to keep up with things.

His hum broke off into a short sigh, nearly a hiccup, as Izuku pulled Hikaru a little closer. “Oh, Hikaru. I do like you. I’m sorry if I made it seem like I didn’t. There’s just… been a lot going on.”

“I know,” Hikaru pressed his cheek into Izuku’s chest, tilting his chin back to look up at him. “That’s why I wanted to help. I know I can help, even a little! So please let me use my Quirk?”

Izuku glanced around, but there was nobody nearby. There were several pups playing on the playground and a few parents scattered about, but they were either talking amongst themselves or reading or were otherwise occupied and uninterested in Izuku and Hikaru. It was a peaceful place. Nobody seemed to feel the need to look in on who was sitting next to them.

Still, Izuku put a finger to his lips. “Let’s not discuss your Quirk here, all right? But just know, I feel a little bad asking you to use it for me. You’re much more than just your Quirk, after all.”

Hikaru shifted away from Izuku, the omega worried he’d insulted the beta pup. Instead, Hikaru leaned further into Izuku’s arms, burrowing into his shirt while still being careful of his pup. “I know that. But I… it’s all I can do to help. You and Kazue were so awesome the other day… and I was just… scared.”

“What are you talking about?” Izuku caught motion out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see that Kazue had climbed onto the top of the maze. Having apparently just realized that Hikaru was gone, he was glaring over at them, assessing the situation carefully. Izuku waved at him, pacifying Kazue enough for him to jump back down and return to his puzzles, though he did glance over from time to time.

As he did, Hikaru muttered, “In the helicopter. I was… just so scared. I didn’t do anything. Not even when you got hurt. I… I should have helped but I didn’t.”

This again. Why did the pups feel such a need to interfere in these things? Perhaps it was the blood of top heroes in their veins. Perhaps it was the incessant pressure of villains on them, the need to protect and fight and defend all they cared about. Perhaps it was something that could never be explained. But it was tragic in a way Izuku didn’t have words for, so he pressed a hand to Hikaru’s head, hoping it conveyed the safety and stability he no doubt needed.

“Hikaru, you did just fine. You held onto me and you didn’t try to fight. You could have gotten hurt if you had.”

“But Kazue fought him! He was so great, it was amazing!”

“Kazue could have been seriously hurt, and would have if Katsuki hadn’t shown up.” He let an edge creep into his voice, wanting to instill this idea into Hikaru’s head. He had to protect this little pup. Even if it meant scaring him a little. Because Hiku was scary. He was terrifying. And the pup needed to understand that. “It’s not your job to fight villains. It’s not Kazue’s job. It was my job to protect you both. And I… I didn’t do all that good of a job of it.”

“What!” Hikaru’s head snapped up off Izuku’s chest. “Mr. Midoriya! You were amazing! You told Hiku to just leave! You were so cool! And when he grabbed for us, you held him back, and even when you were hurt, you held onto me and kept me safe and-and-and—!” Hikaru dug his fingers into Izuku’s shirt. Izuku swore he felt a little tremble in them. “Mr. Midoriya, you were a hero!”

Something stuttered within Izuku. A long-dead, long-abandoned, long-forgotten ideal. Once upon a time, Izuku had wanted to be a hero. He’d put those dreams aside long ago. Buried them to stop them from being so painful. Had turned all of his effort into helping heroes be the best they could be, because that was as close as he was ever going to get.

Or, so he’d thought.

Because Hikaru had just called him a hero. And maybe he wasn’t, not really. But who was he to tell the pup otherwise? To tell him he hadn’t done much of anything when he’d done a lot more than others would have been able to. That in the end, he had protected Hikaru. He’d kept the beta pup safe from the leader of the League of Villains. Maybe he hadn’t fought the villain off. But he’d done something.

“You were so brave, I wanted to be brave like you,” Hikaru went on, “but… but I couldn’t. I was just too scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

Izuku passed a hand through the beta pup’s hair and drew him a little closer, leaning forward. “You want to know a secret?” He asked, and Hikaru sat up a little more. “I was really scared too. I was terrified. But that’s okay. It’s normal to be terrified. It’s okay to be scared. You did a good job, too, staying right next to me. You did such a good job keeping yourself safe. Promise me that if something like that happens again, you’ll do everything you can to be safe, all right?”

Hikaru frowned a little, then puffed up his cheeks and grumbled, “But I want to be a hero too, Mr. Midoriya.”

“You can be a hero later. When you’re older. Besides, heroes have to take care of themselves too. After all, you can’t help anyone if you can’t help yourself.” He paused, realizing he was sounding a lot like Sano. “Anyway. Here, do you want to talk to your parents later?”

A shine touched Hiakru’s eyes, just enough to tell Izuku how much the pup was missing home. “Yes, please.”

Izuku pulled out his phone, texting Togata to let him know Hikaru wanted to talk to him and Amajiki when they had a moment. He went to put his phone away, expecting it to be a while, but a call came through immediately. Izuku handed it over to Hikaru, who grabbed it eagerly, yelling, “Dad?!” The pup chirped in excitement as Togata’s voice muffled through the phone and he jumped up, going over to a more private spot to talk to his alpha.

Izuku watched him, taking note of the drone that followed behind Hikaru, always nearby if the pup needed something. Again, Kazue peered up at them both, making sure they were okay before returning to his play. He’d nearly reached the end of the maze and was busy parsing through the last few panels. Both pups were still content and happy and that did make Izuku happy to see. They both needed some joy after what they’d been through.

He hadn’t been watching them long when he heard footsteps behind him, close enough that he startled and spun, only for a calloused hand to ghost over his jaw. He knew the touch before he registered what he was looking at, and he had to look again to confirm it.

Katsuki leaned over a little to kiss him on the mouth, a little of his usual possessiveness in the way he bit at Izuku’s lips. Unlike his usual caramel-chilies scent, he smelled of burning chemicals, so powerful it stung Izuku’s eyes and was admittedly more than a little repulsive. But Izuku could forgive the smell, seeing that the alpha had finally gotten rid of that awful blue color in his hair. He couldn’t quite tell if Katsuki had just bleached his hair or fully dyed it blond, as it wasn’t quite his old color. However, it was close enough to ignore, close enough to pass off as being right. At least it wasn’t fucking blue anymore.

“Hey handsome,” Izuku purred as Katsuki came to sit next to him.

“Hey yourself,” the alpha cast a glance over the playground, picking out both pups quickly before turning back to Izuku. “Here. Got you something.”

He held up a large bag, Izuku surprised he hadn’t noticed it earlier. While the omega took the bag, he kept glancing up at the alpha’s hair. “See you finally got a haircut.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki ran his hand through it, then again a little more aggressively.

“Did Hitoshi help you?” Izuku teased, to which the alpha growled.

“Whatever. Open your present,” he nodded to the bag then without waiting, went on, “Saw you haven’t built a nest yet. Think you should do it. It’ll help with the anxiety, won’t it?”

Izuku cleared his throat. “I, uh, guess.”

“Were you maintaining your nest at home?” Katsuki asked it offhandedly, but Izuku knew exactly where this was going.

“Um, maybe not as much as I should have been.”

“Didn’t you say you’d maintained a nest during your pregnancy with Kazue?”

“Yes, but every pregnancy is different!”

Katsuki put his hands in his pockets and leaned back. He scowled forward, and it was just deep enough at the corners for Izuku to know it wasn’t his normal scowl. He was upset. At a lot of things, probably. They all had a right to be upset, but Izuku did wonder what string of tension was pulling tightest in Katsuki’s chest.

“Open it,” the alpha said eventually.

Izuku shifted through several large sheets of paper to reveal an extraordinarily luxurious and soft nesting blanket. By the size of the bag, he could tell it was a huge thing, enough to line the entirety of the nesting closet in their apartment. It was bright orange in color, a bit obnoxiously so, though the color was soothing for Izuku to see. Katsuki’s scent burst forward, washing over him as he leaned over the bag.

“I made sure to scent it before we did this,” Katsuki nodded upward, but his eyes never left the playground. He seemed to be watching Kazue, but only in a vague sort of way. His mind was elsewhere, after all. “Look. Things have been really fucking shit recently. I can’t do anything more than I already am about that. But. I still think we should go about this pregnancy as if it were completely normal. We’re here and we’ll be here for another couple weeks. We can go about our lives like Togata said, like we were on vacation.” He shifted, sucked at his teeth, then clicked his tongue. “It’s for the best. Or, it’ll be better if we take advantage of this situation as it were.”

Listening to Katsuki was difficult. Izuku’s mind kept wandering to everything that had happened, both recently and in years passed. To all the bad things. All the terrible moments. All the times he’d thought the end was coming for him and his family. It was all so overwhelming. How could he ignore it all?

“That’s a lot easier said than done,” he muttered.

Katsuki shifted again, then nodded out to Kazue. “I think it’s more perspective. Just think. Kazue will be starting middle school soon enough. Sometimes I feel like I’ve missed him growing up. He’s so much bigger now. But it’s not really that I missed it. It’s just that. I don’t know. I didn’t stop to appreciate time moving on as much as I should have.” He paused, his gaze shifting to where Hikaru was having an animated conversation with the phone. “Do you remember his first day of school?”

Izuku snorted. “Yeah, where you almost broke down the door?”

A smirk lifted along his cheeks. “Sure did. What a day that was.”

“Yeah,” Izuku closed the bag, not wanting anymore of Katsuki’s scent to seep out, and smoothly closed his hand over the alpha’s. “I guess that was a good day.”

“We’ve had good days,” Katsuki said it as if to reaffirm it.

“Yeah, we have. Graduation was nice. You getting second in the hero ranks.” Katsuki grimaced deeply, but Izuku just laughed and suggested, “Well what about moving into our house? And that weekend we spent together after you proposed?”

“And our wedding,” Katsuki lifted Izuku’s hand, kissed his knuckles. The alpha rested his chin on their intertwined fingers, a thoughtful growl vibrating through their grip. “What do you want to do for our fifth anniversary? Ways off still but we can start planning.”

“Do we have to do anything?”

“We should do something.” That smirk deepened at the corner, dropping into something just a little more suggestive. “How about a trip abroad? Any place you want to see up close and personal? I’d take you anywhere.”

Izuku considered this, wrinkling his nose. “America?”

For a brief second, a judging look lifted Katsuki’s eyebrow, but he settled when Izuku raised a challenge of his own with a little tilt of his chin. “Where you thinking? Hawaii is where everyone I’ve known has gone.”

“Mmm,” Izuku shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just islands like Japan, right?”

“Smaller, but yes.”

He wrinkled his nose. “No. I want to go somewhere completely different.”

Katsuki nodded. “I’m surprised you haven’t suggested anything that has an All Might smash named after it.”

“Detroit would be cool.”

The alpha coughed out a laugh. “Damn nerd.”

“Or New York?”

“All Might doesn’t have a smash named after that.”

“No, but it might be cool to go there.”

“If you’re thinking it’s anything like Tokyo, you’re wrong.”

“Oh, and how would you know?”

Katsuki nodded vaguely away, far away. “Mom went to New York City once. Long time ago. Fucking hated the place.”

Izuku’s lips twitched and he couldn’t stop the snort that caught in his nose. “All right well maybe not New York then.”

Katsuki kissed his knuckles again. It was a softer touch this time, contemplative. “We have time.” He also spoke in a way that was far away, distanced and distracted.

“Do we?” Izuku muttered, and Katsuki caught his gaze.

His grip tightened on Izuku’s hand, apprehension squeezing through each finger. “I think we do.”

“Okay,” the omega said. “I… want to think we do too.”

“We do. We will. I’ll make sure of it.”

There wasn’t quite a context to their conversation. What time were they talking about? To do what? Did it even matter? No, no it didn’t. Time was as precious a commodity as there ever was. Time had been stolen from them – eighty-five days of it. They had lost five years of time due to their own foolishness. They had lost minutes and hours and days and weeks going about their daily lives, moving in opposite directions. They had so very little time left. Or at least, it felt so much like they did. Like they were grasping for water and air, destined to watch it all slip away no matter what they did.

Izuku leaned heavily against Katsuki, relished how solid he was. He smelled like chemicals, but that would go away soon enough. Soon enough, he’d build himself back up to his peak and Izuku would be able to look at him and pretend like nothing had happened.

But he didn’t know how he would ever move past what had happened in those eighty-five days. He didn’t know how either of them would move past it.

“I missed you,” he said in way of what he really meant.

Katsuki kissed his temple. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, omega.”

“I really hope not.”

Katsuki kissed him again.

They were quiet for a long time after that, both watching the pups. Hikaru talked and talked and talked, absorbed in whatever time he had with his family, even separated by so many miles. Kazue, after finishing the puzzle maze, explored around the playground a little more and found another set of puzzle boxes, which he sat at for a while before determining them not worth his time and going to play on the other jungle gyms.

Izuku wondered what Katsuki saw in the two, what he was thinking about. He wanted to believe the alpha was simply enjoying their time together, that he was watching the pups play and reminiscing on more pleasant things, but the reality was that was unlikely. Just as Izuku watched the pups and thought about what had happened and what could happen and what he had to do with Anon, Katsuki was probably delving into his own demons. Those he could remember, perhaps even those he couldn’t.

As the sun shone high in the air and lunchtime arrived with the grumbling of hungry stomachs, Izuku moved to sit up, went to call the pups, but paused when Katsuki tugged him back. There was a line of thought, of careful consideration, drawn along his brow. His eyes flickered over Izuku’s face. Izuku paused under his scrutiny, but only for a moment.

“What?” He asked.

Katsuki swiped his tongue over his canine tooth, another thoughtful little motion, and said, “Tsukauchi called. There’s been no further updates on the case.”

“Oh,” Izuku sunk into his seat a little more. “Why’re you telling me?”

“You deserve to know.”

Heat returned to his face, but it was still not a pleasant heat. It was the kind of heat that furrowed along Izuku’s brow and set his jaw. “Don’t do that, Katsuki. Don’t tell me what you think is going to placate me. Don’t just give me crumbs to make me feel like I’m actually in the loop. I’d rather you not say anything at all.”

“Just listen,” the alpha grumbled, “the pack’s been working overtime to find Father and the League. Iida sent a report this morning detailing several locations that Father’s been spotted at or near via CCTV or eyewitness accounts. It seems he’s rather centralized, which is good and bad news.” He paused, chewed at his cheek. “I can go over things in more detail as you want them.”

“No, just keep talking.” Izuku needed him to keep talking. To keep going with whatever was happening. Because he didn’t believe that Katsuki was actually going to tell him everything. The alpha never had before. But… but he could hope, couldn’t he? He could hope that something had changed Katsuki’s mind, that things could change. That they weren’t stuck in the same loops, over and over again.

Katsuki nodded, and he talked. He talked and as he did, Izuku began making mental notes, his fingers twitching as if he were writing in one of his notebooks, categorizing everything into neat little folders, lining up the obvious pieces and organizing things that seemed relevant to one another.

Katsuki talked about how the police had raided a couple of locations associated with Father and arrested several of his suspected “children,” though they had yet to catch any of those that had been with Father the day Izuku had met him. They were just as likely to be League recruits at that point. But they were taking dangerous people off the street and that was an improvement at least.

Along with the raids, the police had also been gathering information on how Father moved, on where he went, on what he seemed to be doing. After all, harassing their family was not his only goal. It seemed that he was moving in his own way, though to what end was still unclear. He was working closely with Hiku, but for what purpose was unknown. Likewise, the police were uncertain what Hiku was getting out of their arrangement. The League and Father were intrinsically tied, but nobody had yet to crack the code on how and why.

The data Anon had given Izuku roared to mind more than once as Katsuki kept speaking. Something hot was rising up his cheeks the more he sat next to Katsuki, something different to the anger he’d felt earlier. In fact, it felt a bit like shame, a bit like guilt. If his phone had been in his pocket, he knew it would have been just as hot, just as shameful, a burning reminder of what he had agreed to do with Anon. As Katsuki was telling him seemingly everything, as he revealed more than he ever had before, Izuku realized he was quickly becoming the one to be holding information secret from his partner. Some of the information the police and the heroes needed no doubt rested within Anon’s data, right at Izuku’s fingertips. And Katsuki had no idea.

Well, he would just have to go through the data and piece it all together as quickly as possible, so he could share it with Katsuki and the police. Anon had said he’d let Izuku share what he’d found once he had everything put together. So he’d have to get to work. He’d have to do his part. And he’d have to start doing it quickly.

“Oh,” Katsuki said, as if in afterthought, “and there’s been some movement on Tsuda.”

At this, Izuku forced his shame into a little box and tossed it aside. Nobody had mentioned Tsuda in any real capacity for months and months. It had been years since he’d been jailed and as far as Izuku knew, he’d never said or done anything. So what could have changed? The only thing he could think of that had changed was Father was now on the move. And that made every nerve in Izuku seize up, wondering if it meant something had happened and Tsuda had escaped or was thought to be otherwise in touch with Father.

Except, when Katsuki turned to him, he made no mention of Father at all, and instead simply said, “He’s started muttering. We’re not sure what he’s saying. Seems to be gibberish. But he’s losing it. We just don’t know what it is.”

“The police don’t have any clues?” Izuku pressed.

Katsuki shrugged. “Old Jean Face thinks the brainwashing’s wearing off. That he’s coming around.”

“After five years?”

Again, he shrugged. “If he was brought into that sick cult as a pup, then who knows how long he’s been under the influence of one Quirk or another. Maybe it’s worn off and he’s just now starting to realize it.”

It was an interesting theory to be sure. Tsuda held a lot of valuable information they’d never been able to extract before. If he started talking, there was so much they could learn. Anon’s data might be utterly worthless in the face of what Tsuda could tell them. Who knew.

“Mostly it’s interesting cause of the other bitch in custody,” Katsuki continued, “that Hayami woman. If the police figure out how Tsuda’s brainwashing has worn off, they could speed it along for her and get her to start talking too. She’s been with Father a lot more recently than Tsuda, after all, and it sounds like he was more a mama’s boy than anything else. Who knows if he was even in contact with Father at all when he was on the street.”

“It’s a good point,” Izuku muttered. “I always found it strange that Father wasn’t around with Sugawara more. At least, not enough for there to be a lot of clues to his existence in the first place.”

Katsuki tapped his foot a little, more a sign of irritation than anything else. “The patterns we’ve been seeing in where he goes are in completely different areas than where we knew Sugawara went. Far as we can tell, they hardly interacted at all.”

“Hmm,” Izuku put a hand to his chin, tried to think about what that could mean, but without concrete data in front of him, it was hard to say. “It’s all a tangled mess sounds like.”

“Yes. Which is why it’s taking them so fucking long to get something together,” Katsuki sighed, leaned forward. He ran his hands over one another. They were still bandaged, but Izuku knew what was under them. Scars that would mar his mate for the rest of his life. Scars he didn’t even know how he’d gotten, though one could guess. Scars that would haunt them both for the remainder of their time.

“Anyway,” Katsuki went on, “that’s about all I know right now. Everything that’s been told to me by the pack and by the police. Haven’t hidden anything. So. Take that for what you will.”

“Hmm,” Izuku hummed, pressing into the alpha’s side. “It’s a nice change of pace. I appreciate the honesty.”

“Wasn’t getting anywhere hiding it,” Katsuki grumbled, and Izuku nodded. “Sorry it took me so long to figure it out. But. I want to try being better. Maybe doing something different will… I don’t know. Change things. Make things a little easier. Help us move on, something. Help us brave whatever the fuck is happening to us now.”

It had never really occurred to Izuku that Katsuki might, too, be feeling the inescapable cycle of what they had been going through. That he was also caught in the never ending cyclone. That he might very well be aware that things were feeling quite bleak. And here he was, trying to change that. Trying to make it better. Perhaps it had taken him a while. But he was trying. And Izuku could never fault him for that. He could never fault him for being brave enough to be a little more open.

“Brave,” Izuku mused on the word, then shook his head. “You know. Hikaru called me that earlier.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow as if he couldn’t quite decide what Izuku was talking about. “Well he’s right you know. You’ve always been brave. You think I’d put up with a fucking coward?”

“I never said that. I just… don’t feel brave very often.”

“Yeah. I understand that. You know I do.” Katsuki wrapped an arm around his waist to draw him a bit closer. They never did feel close enough, no matter how much they leaned in toward one another, no matter how much skin they pressed against one another. From where he was leaning, Izuku could hear Katsuki’s heartbeat, steady as always. “But you’re one of the bravest people I know, Deku. Always loved that about you, you know.”

“Mmm. Well. Maybe one day I’ll believe you.” Sano’s words rung in his head, and he sighed. “Or. I don’t know. I guess I’m a bit brave. Did tell Hiku to just go away after all.”

“Did you?” There was an incredulous note to Katsuki’s voice that had Izuku scoffing.

“Yes, I did! Didn’t really know what else to say to him so I told him he should just leave.”

A laugh rumbled through Katsuki, a full-bodied laugh, the kind that didn’t catch very often in the alpha, the kind that was rare enough to make Izuku close his eyes and listen, to capture the sound of his laugh in the moment, in the way his body moved, in the way he tucked his hand along Izuku’s hip. “Fucking knew I loved you, Deku. Sorry I missed that.”

“Mm,” Izuku chewed at his lip. “Wasn’t that impressive.”

“Shut it and let me enjoy the thought.”

A smirk, an echo of the one that graced Katsuki’s face so often, played along Izuku’s. He heard Sano’s words again, and let himself feel that smirk, let a bit of satisfaction in what he’d said seep in. Because no, he hadn’t meant it to be a brave moment, but it had been, and he was proud to have stuck up to Hiku in even such a small way.

Be nice to yourself.

Easier said than done. It was easier to let himself be wrapped up in what had happened, in what was still happening, in what they didn’t know. But, maybe if he let it, he could get wrapped up in Katsuki’s laugh a little more, or he could let himself watch the pups and imagine what their play would feel like, what it would be like to slide down one of the slides or climb one of the geo domes or to simply run a little wild. Or he could accept that, yes, he was a bit of a badass. Every now and then at least.

“Kacchan?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m so glad you got rid of that blue hair.”

Katuski pressed a smirk into his forehead. “You have no fucking idea how much I agree with you.”

Chapter Text

Izuku thought it was going to be impossible to sneak out to his lab with Katsuki and Hitoshi around, as well as the pups to contend with, so he didn’t even mention it at first. Instead, he followed Katsuki with the pups in tow to a little bistro the alpha had found while out shopping for lunch. They ate sandwiches that Izuku had never even heard of before and very nearly convinced him Katsuki needed to take him to France for their fifth anniversary instead of America.

At the suggestion, the alpha had smirked deeply. “Pick a country every year. We’ll go around the world as many times as you want, love.”

When they got back to the apartment, Hitoshi was on the phone. In one glance, Izuku could tell he was talking to Kaminari, and it didn’t seem to be a very pleasant conversation. He had only a moment to glimpse the omega before he muttered an excuse and went into his bedroom. In that glimpse, Izuku thought he saw regret, or maybe loneliness. Hitoshi often spent days away from his mate, but those days did not always include so many miles between them. He supposed the omega hero had always been comforted by the fact that he could see Kaminari, even if he didn’t. So far away and with so much between them, that wasn’t possible.

Or maybe it was something entirely different. Maybe Izuku was thinking too much about how he was feeling in recent days.

After settling the pups in front of the television, Izuku took Katsuki’s gift and stared at the empty nesting closet in their bedroom. It was true that he hadn’t been keeping a nest recently, not finding the time or energy to upkeep it, nor had he thought a nest could be a true nest without Katsuki’s scent. Standing there at that moment, knowing he could literally take anything of Katsuki’s to use for his nest and it would smell just like the alpha, he still felt a little strange.

Katsuki joined him in the bedroom and glared at the empty closet as if it had offended him. “Having trouble?”

“No,” Izuku grumbled. “I mean, maybe. I mean… It’s just… I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, what would make it feel right?”

“It’s not that simple, Katsuki.”

Katsuki very clearly fought not to roll his eyes. “Of course it’s not.”

Izuku shot him a warning glare. “Anyone can pile some blankets together and call it a nest. That doesn’t mean it’ll feel like a nest. It needs to be… precise.”

This did not seem to clear up anything for Katsuki, but he did at least ask, “What’s in your nest at home?”

“Uh, well,” Izuku cleared his throat. “It, uh, used to have some of your clothes. A few pieces of Kazue’s baby clothes. I think I had an old jacket of his as well. And I had some old nesting stuff that I like. That blanket you got me when we were courting. Umm… a shirt from Sano, I think one from Uraraka too—”

“Wait,” Katsuki rounded on Izuku so suddenly the omega had to take a step back. “You had things from Sano and Uraraka in your nest?”

“Yes. Their scent made me feel safe and happy.”

“Is that… normal?”

“What? For omegas to have other peoples’ clothes in their nest?”

“Other people outside of their family?”

“Yeah, sure. At least, it is for this omega,” Izuku bit his lip when he remembered that at one point he’d also had something of Yaoyorozu’s and Todoroki’s in his nest. Katsuki could never know about that. “Anyway, it was only a couple things. Mostly it was your stuff.”

Katsuki was, self admittedly, somewhat jealous. And what that meant was, he was ragingly jealous and always at inconvenient times. But it was at least easy to spot when he was getting that way. So when Katsuki’s eye twitched, Izuku waved a hand at him. “Don’t even start. My nest is my nest and I build it to make myself feel safe and warm. You’re just going to have to get over this one.”

“Like hell I do,” Katsuki snapped his teeth. “You’re my omega, Deku. Does anyone else have your stuff in their nest?”

Yup. They sure did. “That’s none of your business what’s in other people’s nests.”

“Deku.”

“Nope! You don’t get to use my name like that. If you’re going to fume, then go away, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I want to talk to you!”

“No you don’t, you want to be angry and possessive and honestly I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with that right now. Katsuki, I’m still happy to have you around. Don’t do something to mess that up, okay?”

“But I—” Katsuki snapped his teeth sharply, stood very still for a moment. He didn’t even seem to breathe, before all at once, he growled and sunk into his feet, leaning heavily away from Izuku. “Whatever. You want any of my shit for this?”

“Yeah. That shirt you were wearing last night,” Izuku muttered, then blinked when it was immediately thrown at his head. “Uh, thanks….” He felt the shirt between his fingers, then tossed it on top of the nesting blanket. It looked limp and sad on the rolling folds of orange fluff. “I… need to do some thinking about it all. Think I’ll go do some work in my lab instead.”

“Fine,” the alpha growled. Izuku had been expecting some sort of resistance, but Katsuki turned away with a dismissive wave. “I need to do some work too. Call the pack. Check up on things. I’ll let you know if anything’s happened.”

“Okay.” Another pang of guilt seared up Izuku’s stomach. He swallowed it back down, with effort. “Um, Kacchan?”

“Yeah?”

“Are… you okay?”

Katsuki spun over his shoulder. There came a moment where Katsuki very clearly schooled his expression, reigned himself in, when his eyes went blank and he looked so unnervingly passive that Izuku was reminded of how he’d been under the influence of Father. That, alone, was enough for him to know that Katsuki was not okay. Whether he was feeling it in his day to day life or just when it was only him and his thoughts, him and his subconscious memories, he was not okay.

Izuku didn’t wait for him to speak, didn’t really want to know what he’d say. He stepped close to the alpha, wrapping his arms around his mate and drawing him close. They were almost the same height, Katsuki just a bit taller than Izuku, so he fit neatly into the alpha’s shoulder, into his neck, resting at his scent gland. The chemical smell from his newly dyed hair couldn’t compete with the wash of protective pheromones that the alpha released as he held his omega.

It was so like Katsuki to put Izuku first. To take him embracing his mate as a gesture of needing comfort. But for as much as Izuku needed Katsuki, he knew the alpha felt the same. He could feel as he ran a hand up Katsuki’s back the spirals of tension loosening, the knots of fear and frustration unwinding. Katsuki dipped his nose into Izuku’s scent gland and slumped into the omega. Just as Katsuki always held him up, Izuku made sure to do the same, to keep the alpha on his feet.

“I’m here,” he said, and Katsuki growled.

“I know.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know.”

“We’re okay.”

This time, Katsuki was slow to respond. He rocked Izuku side to side, then rubbed his face up along the omega’s neck and throat, until he could kiss his jaw. “Yes. We are,” he said, and Izuku hoped he believed that.

- - -

The couple held each other for a while, until Katsuki growled something about needing to call Kirishima. Then, they unwound unhappily, knowing they each had to go on with their day.

“Tell Kirishima I said hello.” Izuku bit back on the urge to also tell Katsuki to apologize to Kirishima for him. The beta didn’t need that. Nor did he think Kirishima would accept it. If he was going to apologize, he should do it in person.

Katsuki grunted. “You’re going to your lab.”

“Yeah.” He needed to get started on Anon’s data. Who knew how much there was to sift through, how much time it would take.

“Fine. I’ll be here. If you need something, call me.”

“Okay. Same to you.” Izuku didn’t want to leave Katsuki. It felt a bit like abandonment. The alpha felt so much like he needed him, needed him to be at his side, needed him to help keep him together. But Izuku had to work on Anon’s data. It was the only true way to keep his alpha safe.

The alpha rolled his head toward Izuku, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He was clearly starting to pick up on the fact that Izuku was nervous, so the omega excused himself quickly. The last thing he needed was for the alpha to change his mind and decide to come along to the lab. No one could know what he was doing. They would stop him. And maybe arrest him as well.

That thought nearly stilled Izuku on his way out the door.

Right, he was basically participating in criminal acts. Even if he could decipher everything and give it over to the police, would they just arrest him anyway? Could he be arrested for that? Probably.

The more he thought about it though, the more he realized he didn’t care. If his sacrifice was what brought Father down, then he’d deal with those consequences. Katsuki and Kazue would have to understand. Although, the thought of having his pup in jail did pain in him a way he simply couldn’t describe.

Maybe he could get Anon to give the data over instead. To keep him out of it completely. He’d have to think of something.

Either way, he couldn’t stop. He had to do this.

He stepped out of the apartment and took his first step toward his lab.

On his way there, he thought about what sort of data Anon could have waiting for him. The problem was going to be if the vigilante had somehow gotten ahold of exceedingly technical data, there was a chance Izuku wasn’t going to be able to read it anyway. He wasn’t a detective nor an investigator. He was highly analytical, but that would only get him so far. His specialties were heroes, Quirks, and support engineering. Beyond that, he had a university degree that meant he was able to puzzle his way through many different situations, but ultimately he wasn’t necessarily the best when it came to sifting through a bunch of computer data. If Anon couldn’t read it, Izuku wondered if he was going to be able to either.

At the least, he could look at it and maybe steer Anon in the right direction. He’d do anything he could to help, even just a little.

This was the resolve he took with him as he stormed into his lab, glancing conspiratorially around, almost expecting there to be police waiting for him. He decided then and there he would probably make a very poor criminal – the sensation of wrongness kept creeping up his back no matter how many times he checked over his shoulder. And he hadn’t even done anything yet.

The door shut behind him, he turned on the lights, and saw that everything was in its place. Nobody had been there since he’d had that meeting with Anon. Nothing had been touched. And yet, Izuku knew once he turned on his computer, there would be new files for him to go through.

There was no time to think about what he was doing. He’d been thinking far too much about hypotheticals and theoretics. Time to actually get some eyes on the data.

The computer booted up quickly and by the time Izuku had sat down, shifted, shifted again, gave up and just sat forward as far as he could, the main screen was open and ready. In the very center was a single folder labeled “Needs Work.”

Not a very clever naming scheme, but it did get to the point.

Izuku hovered the mouse over the folder, hesitated for just a moment, then clicked it open.

The folder opened in a flurry of files, each one labeled in a seemingly random series of numbers and letters. For as strange as the naming convention seemed, Izuku did start noticing patterns, clear indications of which files belonged with others. What he assumed were the police files were all marked very similarly, with a clear date and what had to be a case number, as they each had the same number after the date, plus another number that must have correlated to the specific file or evidence paperwork. There was another set that also seemed to be very specifically marked out, though the naming scheme for it was not quite as rigid and easily defined as the police files. From Father and the League maybe. A third set was almost completely random, with names like, “Look at this!” and “Misc File 36.” Izuku wondered what the nature of these files could be, but first turned his attention to the police files.

Truth be told, he wanted to know if Katsuki was being completely honest with him, because he suspected the alpha wasn’t. Perhaps Katsuki didn’t know everything. Perhaps that was even likely. But Izuku still needed to know, one way or the other.

The first file he opened was a report on a recent raid on a suspected League hideout, with possible connections to Father. In fact, part of the report included mention of a video of Father going in and out of the building more than once. It was a long report, with many connecting files mentioned within. It was going to be quite a slog to get through it all.

Izuku took a breath, and started reading.

- - -

Katsuki wasn’t lying to him. He wasn’t hiding anything. In fact, Izuku could tell which files from the police had been told to the heroes and which hadn’t, depending on their confidentiality.

What else became clear was that the police had already figured out how the League and Father tied together. Father was essentially providing his “children” as either lab rats or cannon fodder for the League. If Izuku had to guess, this ongoing cycle had probably been going on since All for One had been alive. Father had given All for One access to all those who fell under his sway, and in return, All for One had given him power and freedom. Father moved across the city, across all of Japan really, so easily because the League had built channels specifically for him. Ways for him to slip between the cracks, to not have any official paperwork and yet still exist and thrive within the bounds of society. He merely had to offer up his children as sacrifice.

The involvement of All for One changed things. Father was highly experienced and capable to have survived under the supervillain’s thumb. The police were having such a hard time tracking him down because he’d already figured out long ago how to get ahead of them, and once ahead it had been easy to keep that berth, to stay one step forward while sending the police and heroes two steps back.

His plan had fallen apart when it came to Sugawara. Sugawara, it seemed, had also had a hand in helping All for One. If anything, Izuku thought she had been more useful. She could lure pups and even adults to be trapped by Father’ scent. Theirs had been a team effort, until several years earlier. Something had happened. Izuku couldn’t find what in the police files, but something had clearly driven the two apart. What Katsuki had said was true. Father had walked in certain circles and Sugawara had kept to her home, only ever going out to run errands or trap omegas and their pups. There were a couple scattered photos of them together throughout the recent years, but their relationship had seemed strained.

The timeline for that particular piece was interesting too. When Izuku brought up a timeline of major events pertaining to the League of Villains, there were some overlaps with what these reports said about Father and Sugawara. Years before All for One died, the couple separated, but soon after the death of the supervillain, there were photos of them together again. Several photos, all around the same time. Then, after Shigaraki had been captured and sealed in Tartarus, their relationship strained again. They parted for good.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but it was hard to see how. Two major events lining up with significant change in their lives had to mean something. Izuku just didn’t know what.

While glaring at the timeline, trying to riddle out the piece he was missing, a chat box popped into existence on one of his screens. The cursor blinked placidly for a moment, then typed out several words: How goes the exploration?

Anon.

Izuku didn’t know if the vigilante would be able to hear him if he spoke, so he typed back, Something happened a few years before All for One died. I just don’t know what. Do you have any reports or files that might explain it?

If I do, then I can’t think of any.

Well, he supposed it was never going to be that easy. After all, if Anon had all the answers then he wouldn’t have asked for Izuku’s help.

Any news on my sister? Although it was just typed words, Izuku could almost hear the hope and desperation in them.

Not yet. Still just going through the police files. If you’re sister’s anywhere to be found, it’ll probably be in stuff coming from the League or Father.

Right. There was a pause, then Anon wrote, If you need anything, type it out here. Otherwise, I’ve got some things I have to take care of.

Looking for more information? Izuku wrote it offhandedly, but also dreading just how much data he was going to have to go through. The sheer volume of what he currently had was a bit overwhelming. He didn’t know how he was going to sort through it all.

Not quite, came Anon’s response. But don’t worry. I’m handling it. Just hang out here for a little while, yeah?

There was no reason for Izuku to distrust Anon, but there was also reason for him to be wary. So he didn’t respond, going back to the police files. He was nearly done with everything there and once that was over, he might be able to sneak a peek into whatever the other files looked like, but he had to get back to the apartment before anyone came looking for him. Everyone had access to his lab and he couldn’t risk them walking in while he had reports up on screen he very clearly shouldn’t have access to.

Luckily, all he had left was a single folder, labeled “Not For Sharing.” He assumed this was more confidential stuff, things that the heroes, Katsuki included, didn’t know about. Izuku opened the folder to over two dozen reports, each of them labeled with the same date and case file, just with different numbers attached.

It was quickly apparent that these were not just reports. Izuku wasn’t really sure what to expect as he opened the first one, but he was more than a little taken aback to realize it was a photo copy of a piece of paper. At first, it looked a lot like a medical report, the same formulaic outline that Izuku had seen plenty of times before, a form so generic and boxed in that he felt he’d filled out one of these himself.

Except, when he looked closer, the names at the top of the page made his blood run cold: “Yumi Sakai, attending Katsuki Bakugo.”

Yumi. That was the other name Father had mentioned during their confrontation. And Katsuki. That was Katsuki’s name at the top of the page.

A breath rattled through Izuku’s chest. He felt frozen, trapped, and yet his eyes kept reading. It was a medical report. A very basic one. One that might have been filled out after a normal doctor visit. It outlined Katsuki’s back injuries, several scars he had on his body, the details of his Quirk. It even had information on vitamin levels, cholesterol, sugars, almost everything that could be tested for in the blood. It was a complete picture of Katsuki’s overall health and wellness.

Where the hell had Yumi, and more to the point Father, gotten ahold of Katsuki’s medical records? This clearly had come from a professional, someone who had tested all of this and knew Katsuki’s history. Etsu must have hacked into Katsuki’s healthcare records. That was the only explanation. Which begged the question, did Father had similar reports on Izuku, even Kazue?

Without letting that question simmer any longer, Izuku opened the next document, found it was still labeled at the top “Yumi Sakai, attending Katsuki Bakugo.”

This time, it wasn’t a medical record.

It was a record of what they had done to Katsuki.

The details were stated so factually, so to the point, with no regard to what the words actually meant, that Izuku could almost imagine it wasn’t real. That what he was reading hadn’t ever happened.

It wrote about measures having to be taken to limit Katsuki’s ability to use his Quirk, that he had been sedated and metal rods drilled through his palms before being sealed in restraints. There was an offhanded note from Yumi that said, “I’ll fix the resulting injuries later,” as if it was so simple, as if what she’d done wasn’t torturous and cruel.

The report went on, detailing how upon waking Katsuki had still been resistant and hard to control, how Yumi suggested they keep him at a certain level of sedation for “indoctrination.”

At the bottom, it was signed, as if giving permission and praise for what had been done, by one Hiro Sugawara.

Izuku pulled up the next file, and saw it was another report on what they’d done to Katsuki. This time, it said the sedation was successful, but that Katsuki was still resistant to Father’s influence. That they would have to start thinking about trying new tactics.

They went on. For several days they kept Katsuki sedated while Father tried to influence him, tried to brainwash him using his Quirk. But Katsuki never quite fell deep enough under his sway. He’d always jolt back to himself, much to Yumi’s increasing frustration. It was nearly a week and a half into Katsuki’s captivity that she suggested they move on to another tactic.

The next report was horrifying in a way Izuku didn’t know how to describe. Yumi very pointedly wrote about how they taped electrodes to Katsuki’s skin that would randomly shock him to varying levels, meaning he never knew when he was going to be hurt, only that it would happen eventually. She suggested leaving the probes on for a day or two before bringing Father back in. And so, it was done. The next report detailed how the electrocution was stopped when Father was brought in, to help signify that his presence stopped the pain, that he was good.

It also stated that Katsuki rejected this outright and instead upon seeing Father, he went feral, that he tore through several of his restraints, nearly reaching Father before he was sedated again. Yumi curtly wrote that they would have to try harder.

After that, the reports got a little more desperate, a little more frustrated. Yumi wrote about having to use more sedation and more restraints to keep Katsuki from fighting, that they increased the level of electricity, that at one point they were fairly certain Katsuki’s vision faded away from the interference of the shocks to his brain. And yet, nothing they did could keep him under Father’s sway.

Izuku read and he read and he read and he couldn’t stop, not once, not even as his own body revolted at the thought of seeing the grisly details, of knowing what had been done to his alpha, his mate, his partner, the father of his pups. How Katsuki had no memory of what had been done to him was simply astonishing. How someone could just forget all of this, how they could just live their life as if nothing was wrong at all. The implication was disturbing on so many levels, mostly because Izuku wasn’t convinced Katsuki couldn’t remember due to some mental or emotional block he’d subconsciously placed on the memories. If anything, he knew Father and Yumi had something to do with it.

The last report was different. At the top, it was labeled “Yumi Sakai attending Kaori Ono.”

Kaori.

That was the name they’d given him.

Unlike the others, which had felt more medial in nature, the last one felt like what Izuku might write up after a successful test of some new gear. Yumi didn’t speak about what they had done to Katsuki. She simply detailed the results.

They hadn’t had any success with trying to get Katsuki to accept that Father had always been his family, that Father was at all related to him, so instead, they’d changed the parameters of success. Instead, they’d gotten Katsuki to think he’d been betrayed. That the heroes he’d known had given him up and had hurt him and Father was the one to rescue him. They twisted the views of the world Katsuki had held enough for him to believe it was true. Yumi delightedly wrote that this paved a new way for them to bring adults into their family, that they simply had to find a way to insert themselves into the lies of their lives, to twist reality just enough.

In the end, Katsuki accepted the name Kaori, and joined Father’s family.

The report was dated July 1. Only two weeks later, Katsuki, Tame, and Satoshi would run into Izuku on the street.

Father and Yumi had tortured Katsuki for seventy days, until he finally broke.

Izuku stared at the words on the screen, and collapsed to his knees.

- - -

Hikaru raced ahead, laughing loudly. “I’m winning!” He shouted over his shoulder, to where Kazue was trailing behind him. Hikaru had always been the faster one, being leaner, lither, a bit more agile.

Kazue panted in his wake, glancing back once. Uncle Hitoshi had been following behind them, but had not raced after them once Hikaru had tagged Kazue and screamed “You’re it!” before running ahead. The hero would no doubt meet them at the apartment. But something had been wrong with him recently. He'd been very sad. Kazue didn’t know why.

The omega hero had taken them out on a walk after Hikaru had complained of being bored, but he’d been distracted the entire time. Hikaru had suggested running off and hiding, but Kazue thought that might make his Uncle Hitoshi even sadder, so he’d convinced the beta pup to stay. And still, he couldn’t quite tell what was wrong.

“Ha ha!” Hikaru grabbed the apartment doorknob and spun toward Kazue with a victorious little grin. “C’mon, Kazue! You’re too slow!” He yanked the door open and bolted inside, still laughing. Kazue huffed and hurried up, catching the door right before it shut and slipping inside, crashing almost immediately into Hikaru’s back.

“Hey!” He growled, then paused as a smell seeped over him.

The main room of the apartment was big, to accommodate the number of people and the fact that it was the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room all rolled into one. It was a spacious room. Because of that, it never quite took on any one scent or the other. If anything, the room had started to smell a bit like a pack room, a quiet mixture of all their scents lingering alongside the smell of filtered air and whatever Kacchan had cooked the night before.

Except, as the door shut behind the pups, the room smelled intensely and only of an upset alpha. It smelled only of Kacchan. Except, his scent was heavy and rancid, so sour that it made Kazue’s stomach turn up into knots, had him frozen where he stood, but also had him grabbing for Hikaru, wanting to draw the beta pup closer to him. Hikaru shivered next to him, overwhelmed the stench.

Kacchan had his back to them. He was sitting on the couch. He hadn’t moved, not when they had entered the room, not now that they stood there, watching him.

“Ahh,” a voice echoed through the space, startling Kazue. He glanced around, but there was no one else there. Hikaru, too, grabbed onto him, whimpering quietly. “Who’s that? Is that my sweet one?”

Only then, Kacchan shifted. He lifted his chin to glance over his shoulder. His eyes were shadowed and drooping, as if incredibly tired. It also revealed he was holding a phone in his hand.

“No,” Kacchan muttered, his voice strange, quiet. Not anything like his usual assertive tone.

“Who’s there then?” The voice asked.

“Kazue Midoriya. And Hikaru Amajiki.”

Kazue blinked. Why was his Dad talking like that? “Kacchan?” He muttered, wanting to step forward, to help his alpha, and yet was simply petrified at the thought of going anywhere near him. “What’s… what’s going on?”

“Hmm,” the voice sighed. “That’s quite unfortunate. I would have rather had my sweet one returned home. Ah well. I suppose this is the second best outcome we could hope for. Now, Kaori—” A static overtook the phone, cutting off whatever the voice had been about to say. During the static, Kacchan flinched, his teeth locking in his jaw as if he were in pain. His eyes flickered over to the pups, caught, lingered.

“Kazue,” Hikaru took a step back. “Let’s go. Please. I want to leave.”

But Kazue didn’t want to leave. Something was wrong with his alpha. He wanted to help. However he could.

The static broke on the phone and the voice snarled, “Damn. Kaori!”

Just like that, Kacchan’s face smoothed over, his pain gone, all emotion gone. Kazue shrunk back a little, pulled Hikaru a little closer. Maybe he was right. Maybe they should just leave. Uncle Hitoshi would be there soon. Maybe he’d know how to help Kacchan.

But then, the voice was talking, and Kazue was too scared to move at all. “Bring the pups, then. My sweet one won’t stand idly by while his child is gone. He will come to us soon enough. Just get them far enough away from the island. We’ll pick you up when you’re out of range of any interference.”

“Yes, Father,” Kacchan said, and stood.

Hikaru stumbled back, tugged at Kazue’s arm as Kacchan slipped the phone into his pocket. “Kazue! Let’s run! Let’s go!”

Hikaru was right. Something was very wrong with Kacchan. But Kazue didn’t think he could help. He needed to run. He needed to get away, to find his Mom or Uncle Hitoshi. They’d be able to do something!

He turned, pulling Hikaru with him, and felt the air change around them. Kazue knew what it was like when the air around him expanded, when it grew and grew, just before it exploded. He knew the sudden cold, the smell of heat, the moment before energy was rapidly released. He knew it enough to know Kacchan was about to explode.

Without thinking, he went to throw himself over Hikaru, to protect the beta pup, but between him turning to grab Hikaru and actually reaching him, the air whipped past him, a hand snagged at his shirt, but grazed away, and Hikaru was gone. Kazue blinked, then startled as Hikaru suddenly screamed. Blocking his way to the door, Kacchan was crouched slightly, his palms smoking, his eyes still drooping downward, vague and distant and not his alpha. Hikaru was struggling under Kacchan’s arm, his hands trapped at his side, only able to kick out in frustration.

“Kazue help me!” The beta pup yelped as Kacchan shifted, leaning forward slightly as if getting ready to leap.

“Kazue,” Kacchan’s voice was different, too. It was still his voice, still his alpha, but it felt so very wrong. “Come here, now.”

His scent scored over Kazue’s tongue, seeped into his nose, raked over his scent glands. His alpha had given him a command. Every fiber of his being wanted to obey, to submit to the alpha who had loved and cared for and raised him.

And yet, every instinct in him was screaming at him, to fight, to run, to snarl and rage against the alpha who had snatched Hikaru away. In the end, that part of him won out and he set his teeth and growled at Kacchan – was it really even Kacchan anymore?

“Give him back!” He yelled. “I want Hikaru back!”

Kacchan tilted his head, and bore his teeth in a terrible not-smile. He lifted his hand toward Hikaru, and sparks lit up along his fingers. “Kazue,” he growled, “don’t be difficult. Come here.”

Kazue felt frozen. Was Kacchan… threatening Hikaru? What was… what could be… why…?

“Kazue,” Kacchan growled.

“No!” The sound tore from Kazue’s mouth before he could stop it.

“Kazue,” the alpha snarled and stepped forward, his palm sparking a little more. Hikaru wriggled and whimpered and Kazue felt his hands start to prickle.

“NO!” He snarled back. “Let him GO!”

He yanked as hard as he could on the air around him, demanding it part, calling forth the largest explosion he could muster. Kacchan’s eyes widened momentarily, until he was bathed in the explosion, the light blinding through the corridor, sound crashing through the drywall. The entire building shook, swayed, and alarms blared out.

Smoke poured between Kazue and where Kacchan and Hikaru had been standing, a furious snarl choking through the cloud. Although Kazue couldn’t see either of them, he raced forward, waving through the smoke to try to find them.

The door to their apartment had been blasted open, Kacchan having been forced out into the hallway. Hikaru was glowing blindingly bright, obviously having absorbed the majority of the impact. Kacchan’s clothes were a little scorched, but he was fine. Hikaru, however, was drooping, clearly overexerted. He would have to dump all the energy he had stored up in the explosion or it would start to negatively affect him. And there was no way he’d be able to take any more energy from Kazue’s explosions, or Kacchan’s for that matter. Kazue didn’t know if another explosion would simply hurt the beta pup, but he knew he couldn’t try it.

Which left him facing a snarling mad alpha, an alpha who looked and sounded like his alpha, but somehow wasn’t quite.

“You little—!” His words were choked off as bands of cloth whistled through the air and wrapped tightly around his limbs.

“Uncle Hitoshi!” Kazue could have cried. Everything was going to be okay. His Uncle Hitoshi would make everything okay, he’d stop whatever was happening with Kacchan and make everything fine again!

Except, there was unmistakable shock in the omega hero’s face, hesitation in his step. He glanced between Kazue, Kacchan, and Hikaru, and yanked his capture scarf a little tighter, trapping Kacchan’s arm at his side.

“Bakugo, stand down! What do you think you’re doing?”

Kacchan opened his mouth and Kazue held his breath. The moment he answered Uncle Hitoshi, he’d be able to mind control the alpha and stop him. Make him normal again.

“Kaori!” That voice. It was that voice again. The phone was still on. “Don’t answer him! He’ll take control of you!”

Kacchan’s mouth snapped shut and he grabbed the scarf, yanking Uncle Hitoshi toward him.

“Damn,” Uncle Hitoshi dug his heels in. “Don’t make me do this, Bakugo! I said, stand down!”

“Help me,” Hikaru lifted his head a little, and Kazue saw tears running down his cheeks. “Please, Mr. Bakugo, put me down!”

Kacchan snarled sharply and his palm lit up in fire. Uncle Hitoshi spat out a curse as an explosion launched toward him, covering the corridor in smoke. Kazue shrieked out as the cloth around Kacchan loosened enough for him to shake it aside.

“Kaori,” the voice called again, “take what you can get and leave. Meet us over the ocean.”

“Yes, Father,” Kacchan growled, lifting his hand. He shot an explosion into the ceiling, opening a hole in the roof and the floor above it. Hikaru shrieked in panic, flailing about. Kacchan was about to get away with Hikaru. He was going to leave. He was going to—

Kazue realized he was moving, realized he was running toward Kacchan and Hikaru, realized he was reaching forward, and at the last moment found himself grasping Hikaru as tightly as he could.

Immediately, there was a rush of power into him. All the energy he had expended in his attack on Kacchan, plus all the energy that had been summoned in the explosion, poured right back into Kazue, until he was practically vibrating with it all, overflowing with its potential. He could do something. He had to do something. He had to—

Kazue was yanked back suddenly and viciously, Kacchan getting a hold of his collar and grappling to get an arm around him like he had with Hikaru. Without thinking, Kazue snapped forward, found skin, heard a snarl of pain as he bit down. Hearing his alpha in pain, Kazue let go, but managed to grab a knot of Kacchan’s hair and pulled himself up, so he was nearly nose-to-nose with his Dad.

So close, he couldn’t quite see the madness or the snarl. He just saw the steady crimson of his eyes, the ridge of his nose, the slight quirk in his eyebrows. All the familiar little marks of the alpha who had cared for him for the past five year. The alpha who loved him as much as he loved the alpha. He just saw his Dad.

“Daddy,” Kazue didn’t know when he had started crying, but he found himself sobbing as he tried to speak, “please, no, Daddy. Please stop.”

The alpha’s irises blew wide and dark, nearly encompassing that bright crimson.

Something wrapped around Kazue’s chest and yanked him back, away from Kacchan, who howled out and scrambled forward, trying to grab for his pup. Kazue shrieked in surprise, stilling when he was caught and a different scent washed over him, his Uncle Hitoshi whispering in his ear, “It’s all right, Kazue. I’ve got you.”

Uncle Hitoshi smelled like freshly turned earth, like spring growth, like midnight in a field of crops. It wasn’t a smell Kazue was overly familiar with and it wasn’t one that calmed him in that moment. He wanted his Mom, he wanted Hikaru. He wanted his Dad. His real Dad. Not whoever this person was that looked like his Dad.

“Daddy!” Kazue called again and Kacchan grabbed his head, fisting his hand in his hair.

He stumbled around, snarled, growled, hissed whenever Uncle Hitoshi moved. “Bakugo, you have to stop! You’re going to hurt Hikaru!” He was still trying to get Kacchan to talk to him.

Kacchan howled, an agonized sound caught between rage and fear. Another voice was calling out over the noise, that same voice that had called out to him before. But the static was back, breaking off the voice between words. The phone was still interfering with everything, the voice and the static battling for control of Kacchan.

Uncle Hitoshi jolted suddenly and put Kazue down. “Stay here!” He commanded, and raced forward.

Kacchan’s attention focused as the omega hero ran at him. He snarled and blocked the punch Uncle Hitoshi made for his face, but failed to stop the kick that grazed up his leg. Somehow, it perfectly jostled the pone right out of his pocket, tossing it high into the air. Uncle Hitoshi grabbed for it, missed, and Kazue raised his hands.

He was still burning with the energy from Hikaru, and it was with all that energy that he pulled at the air, that he summoned fire and light and sound to crash through the air and wrap around the phone, blowing it into pieces far too small to ever make a sound again, to crash against the heroes as they grappled with each other, dazing them momentarily. In that moment, as the explosion rippled around him, a sort of horrified calm settled over Kacchan’s face.

Kacchan’s eyes snagged on the falling debris that was left of the phone, until Uncle Hitoshi grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him forward. “Bakugo!” He screamed out, pouring everything into this one last attempt, this one last plea. “Is this really what you want to be doing?!”

Kacchan’s eyes flared open, his teeth parted, and he hissed out a tiny, feeble, “No,” and just like that, it was over.

Hikaru yelped as he was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, scrambling away from the two heroes as Kacchan fell to his knees, as Uncle Hitoshi stood in front of him, panting, waiting to see if he would react.

“Kazue!” Hikaru reached for Kazue and Kazue grabbed onto him, letting the beta pup bury himself in his neck. “I want my Dad! I want my Mom!” He was crying so hard it was difficult to understand him, but Kazue didn’t need to hear his words to understand the feeling.

He wanted his Mom and Dad too.

Uncle Hitoshi uneasily stood up a little straighter as Kacchan remained on his knees in front of him, safely under his command. When the omega hero looked up, there was shock and fear in his wide eyes. He glanced around once, twice, then turned to the pups.

“Kazue,” he was breathless, but urgent, “where’s your mom?”

- - -

Izuku was curled up on the ground, his head between his knees, his hands pressed behind his ears, doing his best to remember how to push and pull air from his lungs. The simple fact was he couldn’t breathe, even though he knew he could breathe just perfectly fine. He was just having a panic attack. A panic attack because he’d just learned the love of his life had been tortured mercilessly for seventy days. Katsuki had suffered so much. He’d suffered alone. He’d suffered in ways Izuku didn’t want to think about, couldn’t wrap his mind around.

Father had hurt Katsuki enough to break him. Knowing Katsuki as he did, knowing his strong will, his determination, his pure stubbornness, Izuku knew how much Katsuki must have suffered.

The thought alone made Izuku hurt. Hurt so much that he couldn’t hardly breathe, couldn’t hardly think. As if he were trying to take in all the hurt that had been dealt to Katsuki, as if he could lessen it, take it away from the alpha, if only a little.

But he knew he couldn’t. And having a panic attack wasn’t going to do his alpha any good. If anything, it would only distress him.

Now wasn’t the time to lose control. Even if Izuku wanted so badly just to curl up and cry and scream and let the world pass him by.

He gasped out once, twice, tried to catch his breath by closing his teeth, choked on the air that rushed through his lungs. He tried again, just as all the screens in his lab turned a startling, cleansing white. There was no static. No programs. Nothing. Just unblinking, unfiltered white.

The suddenness of it, the starkness of it, the fact that Izuku knew this wasn’t Anon’s doing, had him sitting up, had him holding in the breath that had been thrashing between his teeth only seconds before.

A sound clicked through the lab, like a chair creaking, and a voice sighed deeply. “Oh my sweet one. It seems you’re having a rather hard time. Has something happened to you?”

Father.

Of course it was Father.

But at the same time, how?

Ice seared through Izuku’s core, cold, cold, cold, so very cold. He didn’t think he could move he was so cold, listening as Father tutted.

“Tsk, tsk, oh dear, what am I going to do with you, my sweet one?” He sighed again, but the sigh lifted into a quiet laugh, a mocking little chuckle. “You know, this would all be so much easier for you and everyone else around you if you’d just give in? Why keep struggling? You know I’m not going to go away. You know you aren’t going to be able to escape. You’ll never be safe. Not until you’re here, with me.”

That icy core was so cold now, it was starting to burn. There was an ember flickering in Izuku’s chest, just enough for him to lower his hands, to take a deep breath.

“I don’t have any want to cause you any more harm than is absolutely necessary. So don’t make it necessary. Come to me. Give yourself over to me, Hiroshi.”

The ember burst forth in a scathing hiss, one that ripped through Izuku’s throat. He clawed to his knees, though he stumbled a little while trying to get to his feet.

All the while, Father kept talking. “Oh hush, enough of that. You’ve fought enough. You know it’s not enough to stop me. I’m going to have you, one way or the other. If you give yourself to me, then I will leave your mate and your pup alone. That will be the end of it for them. Just give yourself over. Return to Japan. And seek me out. You’ll find me easily enough, if you let yourself start looking.”

“Shut up,” Izuku snarled. “I won’t. I won’t.”

“Why?” There was a gleeful note to Father’s voice. As if the prospect of Izuku not giving up was entirely delightful for him. “Haven’t you suffered enough? Come to me. I will keep you safe. You will be so well cared for. Your every need met. Your every whim obeyed. I bet your dear little mate never offered you such wonders, hmm?”

No. Katsuki had never promised him those things. But he had promised to spoil Izuku completely rotten. Maybe he had. Maybe it was because of that that Izuku was able to lift his head and hiss at the offer, to snap, “I will never give myself over to you. You will never have me.”

There was a pause. Then another click. “Hmm,” Father sighed, “I see you want to keep playing our little game, dear Hiroshi. Very well. Go find your mate. See just how powerless you are to escape from me. And when you realize there is no running, there is no escaping, then come find me, sweet one. See what I’ve done, and know that I will never—"

Izuku grabbed the water cup he’d been drinking from and splashed it directly into the fan of the computer. It sparked, whirred, smoked, then sparked again and the entire lab went dark. A second later, red emergency lights flicked on, but Izuku was already running.

He had to find Katsuki. Father had done something to him. And he needed to find his mate.

He jammed his way out of the lab, raced down the hallway and out onto the street. An alarm was blaring nearby. When Izuku looked up, he saw smoke pouring out of a nearby building. The closer he got, he realized with growing horror that building was their apartment building. A scream tore its way through Izuku and he raced forward, keeping an eye on the building, searching for any sign of Katsuki or his pup or Hikaru and Hitoshi, anyone, anyone at all.

Focused as he was on the sky, he collided with something, something that grabbed onto him, holding his arms tightly. Izuku shrieked, flailed, let his scent pour forth and screamed, “Let me go!”

The force of his command had his assailant shuddering, but with a groan, they managed to keep hold. “Oof, Midoriya. It’s me, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

A small bit of recollection tapped at Izuku’s forehead, a memory trying to get his attention, and he paused long enough to realize the person holding him was dressed in the I-Island Security Forces uniform. When he took a moment to actually look at their face, he realized it was Rai, the captain who had responded when he’d manifested his Quirk.

“Katsuki,” Izuku gasped. “Please, please, where’s my mate?”

“It’s all right now, just take a breath,” Rai loosened their grip a little and shook their head, as if shaking water from their ears. “Also if you could refrain from using your Quirk, that would be appreciated. My Quirk lets me resist certain Quirks but it’s… never a pleasant experience.”

“Sorry,” Izuku hiccupped, felt his knees growing weak. When he stumbled, Rai easily held him up, pulling his arm over their shoulder. “Sorry. Please. I just… where’s Katsuki? Where’s my pup? I have to find them. I have to get back to the apartment!”

Rai nodded. “It’s not safe in the building right now. I can’t let you go inside while the fire’s still burning. Here. Come with me. We’ll get your family back together, not to worry.”

There was everything to worry about. Everything. Father had struck again. Even on I-Island, they weren’t safe. He was right. Nowhere was safe.

It would have been easy to bow his head, to give into the despair that so readily was crawling up and over his spine.

Instead, Izuku lifted a defiant glare to the burning building above him. This wasn’t over. Not yet.

Not. Yet.

Chapter Text

Rai took Izuku to a security station to wait for more news. The moment he was left alone, he tried to call Katsuki, but his phone didn’t even ring. Hitoshi’s did, but the omega hero didn’t pick up.

Muttering a curse, Izuku stared at his contacts, wondering who to try next. None of the pack were on the island. None of them would know what was going on. None of them would know what to do. Even so, Izuku’s finger hovered over Iida’s name, his mouth suddenly dry. His tongue grew heavy with a confession, with the location of Anon’s data, the truth that he was digging through that data trying to find a way to get to Father, some blind hope bubbling up in his chest that maybe if he told someone about all that had been happening, they could save Katsuki. In the end, he put his phone away. Telling Iida about the data would do little. Anon would probably just remove the data before he could ever show anyone. Plus, what would Iida do? Besides maybe inform him he’d been conspiring with vigilantes, which was very illegal.

There was no one he could call. No one who could help him. He had to figure it all out on his own.

Fine.

He could do that.

What did he need to do?

First priority was to find Katsuki. To make sure he was okay, that whatever Father had said either hadn’t happened or hadn’t impacted the alpha too badly. Second, he had to find the pups. Had to make sure both Kazue and Hikaru were okay, and Hitoshi as well.

After that, there was no mistaking it. He had to go through the data. Line up all the missing pieces. Get to Father as quickly as possible. Nowhere was safe. Fine. He’d just have to make sure the same went for Father.

He also needed to get serious about protecting himself and his family. Father could reach them on the island, clearly, and he wasn’t afraid to make moves, despite I-Island being as secure as Tartarus. That meant finishing his damn gauntlet. And maybe some upgrades for both Katsuki and Hitoshi.

He didn’t have time to just be sitting there. There was so much to do and he had so little time to do it.

He cursed again, then jolted upright.

For several points on his list of things to do, he could call in backup. And he knew exactly who would be perfect to help him out.

He grabbed for his phone again, scrolled for the right contact, and paced anxiously as his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Melissa,” Izuku breathed out, “please. I need your help.”

- - -

Hitoshi paused as his phone clicked, and he connected to the one person he’d been aching for.

“Babe?” Denki sounded worried. He hadn’t been upbeat since Hitoshi had arrived on that damn island. “You all right?”

“Something’s happened,” he said in way of explaining his own feelings. He didn’t have the space to parse through all that nonsense at the moment. “Our timeline’s moved up. Significantly. We need to start moving, otherwise things are going to start getting ugly. And it’s already not looking great.”

“What happened?” He heard Denki rummaging around on the other side of the phone. Where was he? At the agency? The packhouse? Somewhere else? What had he done the previous night? Laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling? Had he dropped by U.A. like Hitoshi had asked? What had that been like?

He needed to be home. But Zuku and Bakugo needed him there, too. He was the only one who could get Bakugo under control if he went wild again. Unfortunately, that took higher priority than what was going on at U.A. That being said, it didn’t make him feel any better.

Hitoshi paused as someone rounded the corner. It was Rai, looking concerned. “Details later. I can’t promise this line is secure anymore. Tell Iida to organize everything. We need to move as soon as possible. Keep me updated.”

“Right. Hey, babe?”

“What?” He didn’t have time to talk to Denki. But if it wasn’t the only thing giving him a bit of sanity in the moment.

“You’re doing great. Just… keep doing you, all right?”

Damn this freaking beta. Hitoshi adjusted his scarf in lieu of letting any of his thoughts show. “Right.”

“Love you. I’ll see you soon enough.”

“Soon enough,” Hitoshi repeated. He didn’t want to hang up. He felt like a teen pup, waiting for Denki to hang up first, but he still paused to hear that final little click, then he was gone and it was time to focus up.

“Psyche,” Rai muttered, then shook their head. “Problems on problems, hmm?”

Instead of answering, Hitoshi glanced at the damage again. The fires were finally out, but the apartment they’d been staying in plus several other apartments were compromised, and that wasn’t even including the hole in the floor and the roof above it. Small miracle was not much in the actual apartment had been destroyed. They didn’t need to be dealing with the loss of anything important at that moment. They had so many other things to worry about.

“Oh, we found Midoriya,” Rai continued, Hitoshi turning to them expectantly. “He’s all right. Upset, certainly. But he’s okay. He’s at the nearest station. Once the pups have been okayed by the doctor, we’ll reunite them.”

“You should probably just take him to the clinic. No doubt he’s losing his mind just waiting.” Hitoshi had noticed the missed calls from Zuku. If he was just sitting in some police station somewhere, that explained it. Even if he was upset, it was something Hitoshi could check off his list. Zuku? Safe. Check. A small chip on the lengthening list of things to see to. First and foremost being… “Any news on Bakugo?”

Rai grimaced. Great. Off to an excellent start. “He’s… himself. There’s that at least. But if you think Midoriya’s upset you should see him. Docs wanted to sedate him.”

“Probably should have,” Hitoshi grumbled. “Would make everyone’s life easier.”

“Anyway,” Rai politely skipped over that little thought, “the docs want to keep him overnight. So he’ll be there. This place is obviously not suitable for the pups or Midoriya, so we’ve arranged for those special accommodations to be prepared tonight. Couple hours, it should be ready for everyone.”

“Good, because our timeline’s moving up anyway. Inform the Board, would you? Think at this point they’ll be happy to hear it.”

“Probably,” Rai laughed. “Here. You should come down. See Midoriya. I think he could use a friendly face.”

Hitoshi knew that wasn’t what Zuku needed. He needed peace. That was why they’d brought him to this island. And it had been nothing but terror after terror, between the helicopter ride, his discovering of his new Quirk, and now this. Hitoshi ran a hand through his hair. He still had to deal with Zuku’s Quirk as well. He simply hadn’t had the space or time to consider what to do about it. Even if he was the best choice in helping the omega learn how to cope with it, being a teacher as well as someone with a very similar Quirk, he had never met anyone who had developed a Quirk so late in life, nor had he met anyone who had had one unwillingly forced on them. It wasn’t unheard of, what with All for One having existed, but since his death the number of people coming forward with such claims had diminished to nearly zero. There always was the odd person who would claim some outlandish idea about temporary Quirks, but nothing had ever been proven one way or the other.

Simply put, there wasn’t really anyone dealing in the arena of people having a Quirk that was not their own. There were people who specialized in helping people with unwanted Quirks, but it was always the person’s own Quirk, something they’d dealt with since they were very young. There were also a few people who specialized in “late bloomers,” the rare person whose Quirk didn’t manifest until later in life, but that was only usually because said Quirk had very particular parameters for activation, or had lengthy cool down or wind up periods. None of those applied to Zuku.

So, Hitoshi was all he had. He’d figure something out. But later. They had other things to deal with.

Almost unwilling, Hitoshi’s mind wandered to his class, to his students, to his student. Denki’s words echoed around him, “I’m sorry, Toshi. I’m so sorry.”

“Here we are!” Rai paused at the station front door, entering a code to gain access. Hitoshi blinked, not having noticed they’d already arrived. The station was close to Zuku’s lab. Bakugo had mentioned something about the omega going to do some work there, but he hadn’t been paying much attention. He'd been thinking about his student. About a chair that was either going to be empty or filled with a different face when they got back. It was so difficult to focus with that image searing through his mind.

Rai led him into the building, saying something about security measures in place to make sure Zuku was okay while he was there, though they paused when the officer at the front desk waved them down. “Something wrong?” The captain asked.

The officer shook her head. “Not really. It’s just that, well… Midoriya called someone here. She’s been back with him for a while now and while they’re not doing anything bad it seems… frantic in there.”

Rai blinked at Hitoshi, who shrugged. Who the hell would Zuku call on I-Island? And what the hell did “frantic” even mean?

They stepped a little faster down the hall to reach the room where Zuku had been put, opening the door to find the entire back wall covered in paper that had been haphazardly taped into place. There was an order to how the papers were stuck to the wall, there seeming to be three separate circles of things going on. Each circle collected several hastily scrawled images, with notes and arrows printed alongside the image. Several sheets were overlapping, as if to show progression of certain ideas. Although Hitoshi had never quite seen it this bad, he knew this was Zuku on a tear about a new project. Or, three it seemed. Two gauntlets, one of them resembling Bakugo’s gauntlets and another that he wasn’t familiar with, along with something that looked a lot like his own voice modulator.

Zuku was standing in the middle of it all, talking rapidly, his hand twitching a pen over a new piece of paper. Standing next to him was that woman who had shown them around the island. Hitoshi thought her name was Melissa, but he wasn’t sure. He did remember that she had a very nice voice, even though she wasn’t talking besides the occasional, “Ah,” and “Oh,” and “I see.” All her attention was on Zuku and his drawing, until she suddenly bolted upright.

“Idea! What if we modified the output valve here? Make a more controlled stream, like in a blowtorch!”

“Oh, that’s brilliant!” More scrawling as Zuku leaned even closer to the paper, nearly to the point that he was poking himself in the eye with his pen.

As the two continued on, oblivious to anyone else in the room, Rai leaned in toward Hitoshi, “Should I be worried at all?”

“Probably,” Hitoshi sighed. “But let him work. It’ll keep his mind off things. And don’t trash any of the drawings. Who knows what Zuku would do if he found out.”

Rai let out a quiet laugh, catching Melissa’s attention. She lifted her head and only then did Zuku notice they were in the room. The wonder and creativity that had been cascading in the omega’s eyes died away, leaving something sadly hollow. Zuku paused, as if waiting for either Hitoshi or Rai to say something and when they didn’t, he sat up.

“I need you to tell me three things in a very specific order.” Ah. This was Zuku at his most focused. His most determined. This was Zuku when he had a mission, and he was set on completing it. He raised three fingers and counted off his requests, “First, I need to know if the pups are okay and where they are. Both Kazue and Hikaru. Then, I need to know what happened to Katsuki. Last, I need to know if I can see any of them right now.”

Well it wasn’t all that surprising that was what he was focused on. Hitoshi glanced to Rai, who strode forward with a confident smile, “Both Kazue and Hikaru are okay. They’re being looked over by some doctors at the moment in a nearby clinic. Once they’ve been given the okay, I’ll have them brought to you immediately. Bakugo is in stable condition. At this point, that’s all I can really tell you, but—” they stopped as Izuku raised a hand.

“No,” he said, final, unflinching, “no more of that. Tell me what happened to my mate.”

This time, Rai glanced to Hitoshi, as if looking for permission. Of course, if they knew that Hitoshi had previously given Zuku confident information, they might not have looked to him for advice. Hiding things from Zuku was stupid. The fact Hitoshi was currently trying to hide anything at all from the omega was almost dangerous. Zuku wasn’t a fool. He knew when he was being lied to. And he could be relentless in pursuing the truth of something, to his detriment. This information wasn’t worth concealing, so Hitoshi stepped forward.

“Father got through Bakugo’s phone,” he said, anticipating horror or terror to overcome Zuku’s face. Instead, the omega remained resolute, strong, listening. As if he wasn’t surprised at all. Which was… concerning. Something to remember. “I don’t know the specifics, but he got control of Bakugo and was directing him through his phone.” He paused here, not sure how to divulge the specifics of their encounter with Bakugo. The truth was, he was either going to hear about it from Hitoshi or Kazue, and it was going to be a hell of a lot easier for him to hear it now than later. “Remember what Rai said about the pups being okay, but Bakugo did go after them.”

Melissa gasped and for the first time, Zuku faltered, stepping back. “No. Katsuki would never hurt the pups.”

“He didn’t hurt them. Father’s instructions were to take them and get out over the ocean so the League could pick all three of them up,” Hitoshi glanced at Melissa, whose horror was deepening. Her father was the head of the Board, so chances were she would have learned about all this at some point anyway. But still, watching her horror at the situation was interesting. If only in that he could compare it to Zuku’s reaction, and see that although the omega was horrified, he still wasn’t completely surprised. He knew something. Something. “I was able to stop Bakugo and Kazue destroyed his phone, cutting his link to Father. After that, it was easy to use my Quirk to break the control over Bakugo. He’s all right now, but as you can imagine, he’s not very happy about it all. He’s upset with himself.” Was it worth mentioning that Zuku had been Father’s primary target? Well, he had just said keeping secrets wasn’t the smartest plan…

Hitoshi studied Zuku carefully as the omega tightened his expression, kept himself under control. “As for seeing him, the docs are still checking him out. You’ll have to wait a while for that. We have to make sure it’s safe for you. After all.” Zuku took in a breath and somehow, Hitoshi knew he was expecting what was coming next, “Kazue said Father was more interested in you. He’d wanted you to be the one to walk through the door. For you to be the one that Bakugo caught. If he’s still under Father’s influence at all, then he is directly a threat to you, and we can’t risk that.”’

A glint sharpened Zuku’s eyes. For a moment, he allowed Hitoshi’s words to linger, probably deciding what to say, before he raised a hand to his unborn pup. His expression softened almost immediately. “Fine. But as soon as he’s ready, I want to see him.”

“Sure thing. We’ll keep you in the loop,” Hitoshi turned to speak with Rai, but Zuku suddenly ran up to him and grabbed his voice modulator.

“First! If you could have a single upgrade to your gear, what would it be?” The omega was leaned so close to Hitoshi’s face all he could see was the dangerous sparkle of emerald eyes. “More pitch range? Or better amplifiers? What about adjustments to how you can carry your capture scarf?”

“Zuku,” Hitoshi put a hand to Zuku’s forehead and pushed him away. “You’re going a little overboard. I don’t need an upgrade. Doing just fine as is, thanks. Besides, you should be relaxing. You’re putting too much on yourself.”

Zuku brushed Hitoshi away but kept hold on his voice modulator, his grip tightened, pulled Hitoshi just a bit closer. “Listen. I need this. I need something to do. I need to be able to help somehow, and this is all I know how to do. This is all you will let me do. So please. Just. Anything.”

In all the years Hitoshi had known him, he’d never known Zuku to beg. For anything. He’d ask and if it wasn’t given to him, he’d figure out a way to get it himself or if it wasn’t possible, he’d ask someone else or he’d sulk while still trying to find a way to get what he wanted. He didn’t beg. At least, not that Hitoshi had ever seen, and he couldn’t imagine him begging Bakugo for anything. Bakugo was so head over heels he practically crumbled to pieces whenever the omega turned a little pout toward him. It was honestly astonishing and sickeningly sweet. Because of this though, Zuku had never quite been in a position to need to beg, nor was he someone that would anyway.

And yet, here he was. Begging Hitoshi to let him do this. To give him something to work on, to feel like he was contributing. Who could blame him? He’d been dragged around by both villains and heroes in this skirmish. He’d been hardly anything more than a token at the center of the match, something to be coveted and possessed. And he was much more than just a prize. He knew that, and this was his way of trying to regain some control over his life; going back to what he knew he could do, what he knew he was good at.

In the months since Bakugo had been captured, Zuku had spiraled into a depression he had yet to rise from, but finally he was showing signs of wanting to try. Being with his alpha again hadn’t magically made everything better. That wasn’t how life worked. But now, in the heat of everything still spiraling out of control around him, he was trying to get back to something akin to normal. To him, that was helping the heroes by improving their gear.

No, he couldn’t blame the omega at all for wanting this.

So he sighed, considered it, and said, “There’s a weak point between the highest register I can go and just before that peak. It’s hard to reach those pitches right before that absolute maximum, so if you can smooth that out, it would help.”

“Can do!” Zuku yanked hard on his modulator at the same time he twisted the release lock, pulling it free from Hitoshi’s neck. The omega hero blinked at him. He hadn’t known that Zuku knew how to do that. “Just give me a couple days, okay? I know you’re working and you need it back.”

I know you’re working. Well. At least he was acknowledging the situation.

“Don’t tire yourself out. You are still having a pup, aren’t you?”

“Planning on it!” But he’d already turned to Melissa and was talking to her about the basic structure of Hitoshi’s modulator.

The omega hero watched him, feeling a bit of apprehension at what he had just unleashed, which was not helped when Rai leaned over and said, “So. I get now why Melissa likes working with him so much. Reminds me of her a lot.”

“Is she also headstrong and difficult?”

Rai simply grinned.

- - -

Melissa knew Katsuki’s gauntlets best, so it was easy to have her pick up most of the engineering for the new design. He also left her with some brainstorming notes on Hitoshi’s modulator. Since neither of them were completely familiar with it, they were practically in the same space when it came to that piece of technology and they would need more time to figure things out. That left Izuku with the gauntlet for himself, and of course going through Anon’s data.

He wasn’t comfortable trying to reach out to Anon while in the security station, but he already had a list of things he intended to ask of the vigilante. No more trying to do this all himself. He had people around him who could help and he intended to put them to work. If Anon really wanted to bring Father down, then he wouldn’t complain. If he did, Izuku would have to reevaluate his partnership with the vigilante.

It was easier to think about design and engineering than how much he was hurting to see his pups and his mate. From what Hitoshi had said, Kazue and Hikaru had gone through a harrowing experience. They would need him when they were finally released from the clinic. He’d have to put all his attention on them. And when Katsuki was released as well, that would be a whole other problem. Knowing Father had gotten to Katsuki, knowing more importantly that he didn’t even have to be in the area, that he didn’t need his scent to take control of Katsuki again, made this all a bit more dangerous. If it was simply a switch that needed to be flipped, then they couldn’t guarantee that Katsuki was ever going to be safe. Not for now at least. If Father was gone, that would be different.

It would all be so much simpler once Father was gone.

Izuku squeezed the pen he was holding until it snapped. The plastic cut into his skin so he tossed it away and sighed. The design for his gauntlet wasn’t getting any better. He kept coming back to the same problem: how to store and use whatever material he decided on. Liquids were dangerous, but so were gases. Carrying around explosive materials was inherently dangerous. But if he wanted the explosion, he'd need the explosive material. That was how that worked. How many classes had he gone through that explained how to handle dangerous materials, including those with explosive risks? And yet, he still couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted.

Melissa, though kind and eager enough to help him with his projects, did have her own work to attend to, so she left shortly after Hitoshi and Rai arrived. Soon after that, the pups were brought to the tiny room that Izuku had effectively turned into another lab space.

As soon as the door opened, the room flooded with the scent of his slightly-still-distressed pup, and even though Izuku had his back to the door, he turned and opened his arms, knowing that Kazue was right there. The pup flung himself into Izuku’s arms and crushed him in a tight hug, his little lip quivering. Izuku glanced him over, even though he knew the clinic would have checked him for any injuries, even though he knew that since he was there, he was fine.

“It’s all right,” he whispered, mostly to himself, “it’s all right now.” Seeing Kazue was okay, he searched for Hikaru next, seeing the beta pup still lingering in the doorway. He opened his arm and gestured for Hikaru to join them, which he did, though his steps were halting. Over Kazue’s distress, which he was more sensitive to, he had missed just how upset Hikaru was as well. He made sure to wrap the beta pup up in his arms beside Kazue, to purr quietly and tell him, “You’re okay now. Everything’s okay.”

He held the pups for a long time, until both of them had settled, until their distress began melting away, until things started to feel a little normal again. Then and only then did Izuku let them go, just a little, just enough for him to glance over both of them, to check to make sure they were okay one more time.

“You okay, firecracker?” Izuku swiped a hand over Kazue’s chin, cleaning a bit of leftover dirt.

“Yes, Mommy,” the alpha pup said almost dutifully. As if this was just another part of this whole ordeal.

Izuku swallowed, trying to chase away the lump in his throat, only for his mouth to dry up, his tongue like sandpaper along his teeth. “And what about you, Hikaru? Any bumps? Bruises? Broken bones?” He tried to say it lightly. It was something he liked to ask Katsuki when he got home from patrol. It was their own little joke.

Hikaru’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, Mr. Midoriya! Nothing like that.”

“Okay,” Izuku squeezed Hikaru’s shoulder reassuringly, hoping it gave some comfort to the beta pup. “Have you talked to your parents yet?”

“N-no.”

“Okay.” That was a conversation he was not looking forward to having. But they’d have to cross that bridge sooner rather than later. Hikaru needed to hear from his parents after all that had happened. And Amajiki and Togata deserved to know what had happened. “Here. Why don’t you go ask Psyche to get in touch with your mom and dad. He has a direct line to them. Kazue, go and ask Rai to help me move some of this stuff in here back to my lab.”

Kazue, bright as ever, pouted at Izuku, but when Hikaru nodded and stepped away, he was quick to follow. He hurried after the beta pup as if he was the only one keeping him safe. Just as he’d taken on the role of keeping Izuku safe, now it seemed he felt as if he must keep Hikaru safe as well.

This was all spiraling out of control.

Once they had left the room, Izuku pulled out his phone. He didn’t trust it. Honestly, he didn’t really trust any of the technology around him. After hearing what had happened with Katsuki and his own encounter with Father in his lab, he couldn’t. But this was his only way to communicate with the outside world. And with Anon. So even if he didn’t trust it, he still had to use it.

He typed out a message to Hitoshi, warning him to the pups were coming to look for him and that Izuku was going to call Amajiki and Togata first and tell them what happened before they got the call from Hikaru. Then, taking a deep breath for a little ounce of courage, he called Amajiki.

Izuku had never had much interactions with Amajiki. Togata was such a big personality that he stole much of the attention from his mate, but that was absolutely intentional. Amajiki didn’t like the spotlight. He never had. Having Togata around, that shining light never lingered on him very long and he spent his day happily doing his job in the shadow of the number one hero. Likewise, whenever Izuku had had interactions with the couple, Togata had dominated the conversation. Amajiki had, of course, interjected when necessary, and Izuku knew him enough to feel comfortable around him, but whenever he’d had to call about Hikaru before, he’d always called Togata.

This was different. Izuku’s mate had effectively attacked their pup. Izuku needed to talk to Amajiki. Omega to omega, mother to mother. Plus, he was afraid of what Togata would say. If the alpha flew into a rage, then he wasn’t sure he’d be able to explain the situation enough to calm him down. Although he had never actually seen Togata in a full rage, he knew Amajiki was the more levelheaded of the two, easily. And that really had nothing to do with one being an alpha and the other an omega.

Still, listening to the dial tone, waiting for someone to pick up, made all the hairs on his arm stand on end. When the line clicked over, he actually flinched.

“Hello?” Izuku could tell Amajiki was out on patrol; the line was staticky in a familiar way. He must have been connected through the hero’s communications.

“Uh, hi. It’s Izuku Midoriya,” he swallowed. “Is… is this a bad time?”

“Fatgum is at the agency asking for help tracking down drug smugglers coming in from Okinawa.”

“Oh. Well, I can always call back—”

“No, please, save me,” Amajiki said it with distressed desperation and Izuku swore he heard someone laughing in the background.

“Ah, right. Well, uh. It’s about… well it’s about Hikaru.”

The line was quiet for a long moment. Long enough that Izuku wondered if the omega hero was just standing there or if he was doing something. Had he walked into another room for privacy? Was he staring at his former mentor in terror? Was he starting to quietly seethe, already knowing what had happened?

Izuku held his breath, until Amajiki went, “What about Hikaru?” He said it so casually, without a care in the world. He had no idea. And of course he had no idea. Why would he suspect anything had gone wrong at all?

“Well, it’s….” Izuku paused, took another breath. “Let me… it’s a bit of a long story. Hikaru is okay. But something happened, and you should know about it.”

And so, he told Amajiki everything. From Katsuki’s previous encounter with Hiku, where he had been on the verge of losing control, to what had happened to the pups. He kept talking, leaving no room for Amajiki to say anything, afraid of what might come out of his mouth, afraid maybe that the omega hero would figure out a way to eat some electrical equipment and transform into some form of transponder and come through the phone connection just like Anon. Which was ridiculous, he was being ridiculous, why would he even think that Amajiki would do something like that, or that he could, and oh gods, what if he did, what if he was so mad that through sheer force of will he appeared on the island and went after Katsuki and what would Katsuki do and then what if Togata showed up, it’d be even worse and—and—!

“Eh, Midoriya?”

“Yes!” Izuku squeaked.

“I am… not going to eat any electrical wires and turn into a transponder. That’s not how my Quirk works. Also, who’s Anon?”

“No one!” Had he really said all of that out loud?? “Ha ha! Of course that’s not how it works! I don’t know why I would think that, it’s just silly of me, isn’t it?!”

“You don’t have to yell….” Amajiki muttered a bit like a lost puppy. “And anyway. I’m not mad at you. I’m not even mad at Bakugo. It wasn’t his fault and I don’t blame either of you. You’ve done all you can to protect my pup. Hikaru told me about what you did for him on the helicopter. I know you wouldn’t have put him in harm’s way if you had known, and it sounds like Kazue was in danger as well, and I know you wouldn’t have let him get hurt. Plus Mirio says I lack the confidence for proper management of interpersonal conflicts. Even if I was mad, I wouldn’t tell you about it.” He paused and both he and Izuku seemed to think the same thing at the same time, as he immediately followed up with, “Not that I am mad! I’m not saying that because I’m secretly mad! I’m not not mad, I’m just plain not mad! Eh, uh, anyway,” he sighed. “Do I like to hear what happened? Of course not. But the blame falls squarely on Father. We’re doing everything we can to find him and stop him. And besides. It just confirms what I’ve been afraid of for a long time now.”

Something had changed Amajiki. He wasn’t flustered or embarrassed. He was focused. Intent. It was a flash of what Amajiki could do, could be. He wasn’t the number six hero for nothing. Amajiki wasn’t just some scared kid with a flashy Quirk. When it came down to it, he was a hero and he knew exactly what he was doing.

“I know I’ve already asked a lot of you, Midoriya, but if I could, I want to make another request,” Amajiki continued.

“Y-yeah, of course. Anything!” Anything to move the conversation on. To get away from what Izuku had admitted in his mutterings.

Amajiki paused, seemed to take a breath, then said, “Please continue to look out for Hikaru. Please try to keep him safe, as much as you can. Mirio and I aren’t there to protect him, and I can’t explain how much that hurts me. But I’ll feel better knowing you’re there.”

Silence seeped between them. It was the kind of silence that held nothing. No expectations. No wants. No worries. No nothing. Izuku, who did not believe that Amajiki was actually asking him to keep looking after his pup, not after all that had happened, waited for the other omega to say anything else. Amajiki remained quiet for a long time. Whether to collect himself or if waiting for an answer, it was hard to tell.

It was, however, Amajiki who broke the silence, his voice crackling through the phone in a way that chipped away at the quiet, made it so that Izuku didn’t flinch at the sound, “You know… Hikaru trusts you, Midoriya. He trusts Kazue. After what happened today… I don’t know if I can say the same for Bakugo anymore, but he did trust him as well. And that’s really unusual. Mirio and I tried so hard to keep him safe. We knew what having a Quirk like his could mean. So we hid him away, kept people away from him, and that’s made it hard for him to trust others. But he trusts you. He trusts you to keep him safe. So do I. So please, continue to do so. For just a little while longer. Please?”

Izuku waited, and realized Amajiki had actually meant that little question, that last little plea. He was truly asking for help, help from Izuku, to keep his pup safe. He was practically begging for it, knowing that Hikaru was in danger and he wasn’t there to protect him himself. Without being able to be there for the pup himself, he had reached out, and he had chosen Izuku instead to look after Hikaru.

He trusts you. So do I.

Izuku swallowed, took a breath, and said, “Yes. Yes, I mean. Of course. I’ll… do my best.” Even if my best isn’t nearly good enough.

Izuku bit down on those words, heard a rush from Amajiki, a laugh or maybe a sigh, “Thank you. That’s all I can ask. Just until I can see him again.”

There. There it finally was. A little spark of hurt in Amajiki’s voice. A little sign of something not being right. But it was not the hurt Izuku had been expecting to hear, what he had been prepared to hear. No. Instead, what he heard was longing, loneliness, hurt in such a specific, soul-crushing way. Amajiki missed his pup. He missed Hikaru so much Izuku knew he felt it as a physical pain. He’d felt that pain before. Sharply, intimately, so much that he hadn’t thought he’d ever be able to breathe in deeply again, and he hadn’t. Not until Kazue had been returned to his arms. There was no cure for such a pain.

Amajiki was in pain, but he was waiting, as patiently as he could, for the day that Hikaru was put back in his arms. He was asking for Izuku to keep his pup safe, to make sure that one day, he could alleviate that pain. That Hikaru would appear back at his side, where he was meant to be. Until then, he was trusting Izuku to keep him safe.

There was no greater worry a mother could have than for their child. Izuku knew that. He knew it with Kazue and he knew it with the pup that had yet to leave his body. He knew that Amajiki was asking something exceedingly personal of him, even if on its face it was not. He understood just all that was at stake for the omega hero, all that was wrapped up in that question, especially now that a threat had presented itself to Hikaru. Izuku also knew that pain. Knowing and watching his pup in danger. He had no cognition of that pain. It was so intense his brain simply refused to acknowledge it when Kazue was safe. But he knew of it. He knew what it had done to him, in those few hours Kazue had been missing years earlier.

Nobody deserved to feel that kind of pain. So Izuku set his jaw, and told Amajiki, “Whatever I have to, I’ll make sure Hikaru is safe. Hitoshi and the security team here will help as well. We’ll make sure he’s okay until you can see him again.”

Another sigh, this one clearly of relief. “Thank you. That’s all I can ask.” Amajiki paused. “If you don’t mind, I want to talk to Hikaru myself. Just for a little while.”

Izuku nodded, even though Amajiki couldn’t see him. “He’s expecting to hear from you. And please tell Togata that I’m sorry about what’s happened.”

“It’ll be okay. He’ll understand.” How Amajiki could sound so certain confounded Izuku. If their roles had been reversed, he would not have been able to say the same about Katsuki. Then again, Katsuki and Togata were two very different alphas…. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Okay. Be safe.”

“You too, Midoriya.” And with that, it was over.

Izuku cradled the phone in his hand, bit at his lip. He felt another weight shifting around him, pressing in on him. Even if the room he stood in was rather spacious, all things considered, he swore he could feel the walls sliding together, threatening to crush him right on the spot.

But he didn’t have time for that. He had gear to make. Data to search through. Pups to protect.

Right. No time for feeling sorry for himself.

Izuku stood and went out into the hallway, seeing Rai on the phone. The security captain raised an eyebrow at him and tilted the phone away from their mouth, “Doc’s on the line. He said Bakugo is asking for you. It’s safe to see him if you want.”

There was no hesitation to what Izuku said next, “Take me to him.”

- - -

The clinic Katsuki was being housed in was not labeled as such, but it was very clearly some sort of psyche ward. Nurses led Izuku, Rai, and Hitoshi along a very specific path that circumnavigated much of the complex, despite the easiest and quickest way to getting to Katsuki’s room taking them straight through. The nurses chatted cheerfully to distract them, but Izuku only listened for what they weren’t talking about, where their eyes landed.

Although they talked for nearly the entire time, they didn’t talk about Katsuki, nor about what had brought him to that ward, nor about what was happening on the island, nor about what Katsuki, Izuku, and Hitoshi were even doing on that island. Instead, their conversation leaned more toward how they’d had wonderful weather recently, stories about previous expos hosted on the island, what the top scientists and engineers were rumored to be working on. Stories that everyone would have heard and known. Safe stories. They were very carefully talking about things so far removed from anything that was happening, and yet things that they knew were topics of interest in a place like I-Island. Likewise, their gazes never quite landed on Izuku. They would brave Hitoshi a few curious looks, but only when they thought the hero wasn’t looking. Mostly, they stared forward, never at the rooms they passed or the walls around them, or talked with Rai, who was another safety net. They were known around the island, even if the nurses had never actually met them, they would have heard of them. Rai represented stability, something the nurses diverted all attention to even as they led the group further into the ward.

The only thing they did mention in regards to Katsuki was that one, he was doing well and two, he had requested that Hitoshi be present in the room with him when he spoke with Izuku.

What “doing well” in such a circumstance meant was questionable and the fact that he wanted Hitoshi in the room was worrying. Katsuki didn’t usually care about what the other hero was doing. In fact, he seemed only to tolerate having him around because it had been a necessary part of their arrangement, that he was there to help keep Izuku and the pups safe. If Katsuki wanted Hitoshi around, it didn’t bode well for how he was actually doing.

As they walked through the maze of hallways, Izuku swallowed uneasily, and started preparing himself for what he might see.

Damned as it was, he also began hearing Father’s words whispering in his head: See just how powerless you are. See what I’ve done.

Just what had Father done to Katsuki?

Well. He did know that answer. In fact, he was the only one in that building who did. And he couldn’t tell anyone, not without giving away that he’d found out via secret files that a cyber-surfing vigilante had given him. The knowledge of exactly what had happened, how he had hurt, how he had been damaged, made Izuku want to scream. But if he screamed, people would know something was wrong. They’d ask questions. He couldn’t afford questions. Not yet. He needed to get through the data first. He needed to finish his deal with Anon, then he could tell them everything.

If nothing else though, he knew that Father had conditioned Katsuki with smell as well as sound. That had been in the files from Yumi. She’d mentioned making sure, even during the times that Katsuki’s vision had failed, he had heard the villain’s voice. The exact words he’d said hadn’t been recorded, but Izuku had to go in assuming that it had all attached to Katsuki in some way or another.

It was good for him to know. He could go in. Maybe help Katsuki forget the smell and the sounds. Maybe he could replace them with his own kind and comforting scent and words. Even if he couldn’t tell anyone what had happened, maybe he could start to heal the alpha. He had to try. If nothing else, he had to try.

Besides. It was Katsuki. He loved Katsuki. He loved Katsuki more than he could accurately articulate. After everything they’d been through, including being apart for five years, he knew he loved Katsuki, he knew he wanted to be with the alpha forever. Through all of what was happening now, any other repercussions to come. Izuku wanted to be there with him, for him.

They moved down the hallway, Izuku growing ever anxious to actually get back to his mate, but never letting anything show. He would have to be calm for Katsuki. Getting excited or upset wouldn’t do him any good. But he could tell that Hitoshi was increasingly aware of his anxiety. The omega hero snuck a little closer, then a little closer, then brushed a hand over his arm, pulled him back. Izuku hadn’t realized he’d nearly run into one of the nurses.

She flashed him a smile, forgiving him without anything being said. “We’re nearly there.”

It still took them some time to finally wind through the maze and end up in front of a steel door. A steel door. Izuku checked and noticed the heavy lock on it. He took a breath to keep himself from screaming.

“Here,” the nurse stepped aside. “Bakugo has requested Psyche come into the room with you, but we’ll wait out here.”

Izuku reached for the door, paused. Raised a hand to knock. “Kacchan?”

There wasn’t a response from the other side of the door, so he knocked again. And again, nothing. He glanced, saw the worried look the nurses shared. He didn’t have time for this.

Without knocking a third time, he opened the door, and went inside.

The room was suffocatingly white and sterile. Oxygen was clearly being pumped into the room, diluting the scents lingering in the air, making Izuku feel a bit lightheaded as he stepped further inside. Every light felt magnified until he practically had to squint to be able to see, blinded by the overwhelming sense of presence. The room had a presence, the building, the staff. He felt as if he were being watched and he couldn’t tell if the eyes were friendly or not. His suspicions were confirmed when he spied a camera peering down from a corner of the room. There was nothing else on the wall, the only furniture in the room the bed on which Katsuki lay and a small table at his side. It was a small space, so much so that Izuku had to shuffle to the side to let Hitoshi into the room. He slipped in and closed the door behind him, standing in a corner as far away as he could be. And still, his presence filled the room just as everything else did.

Izuku didn’t know why he chose to take all of this in before turning his attention fully to Katsuki. Perhaps he felt he needed to understand the full situation before he laid eyes on his mate. Or perhaps he was afraid of what he would see. After Father’s proclamation, after what Rai had said, after everything, he didn’t know if Katsuki would still look like Katsuki. And that scared him. He didn’t want things to have changed. He didn’t want to have to face the fact that things had already changed.

Yet, it was odd to see that Katsuki did look the same. He still had those fiery red eyes, eyes that were firmly latched onto Izuku, watching him as intently as they always had. He was paler than before and he still had that slightly off-blond hair, that not-quite-right color. His hands were bandaged. Izuku knew exactly what was under those bandages. What had caused the scars they hid. Metal poles had been lodged in his flesh for seventy days. Yumi had mentioned repairing him. What kind of Quirk did she have to be able to reduce seventy days of impalement to simple scars?

He realized he was distracting himself when Katsuki shifted. He supposed the alpha had been expecting him to speak or move first. Was he waiting for Izuku to yell at him, just as Izuku had expected Amajiki to be angry? Or was he scared and trying to hide it? Or upset that he’d allowed himself to be taken over?

Izuku smiled at Katsuki. No matter what, he was going to be supportive of him. “Hey,” he whispered, then leaned in, but when he got close, Katsuki tilted away, and Izuku drew back.

It was the first time Izuku could remember Katsuki actively avoiding a kiss from him. Even when he’d been upset, or in public, or in front of the pack, or any other time, he’d never leaned away from Izuku. If anyone had ever rejected such affections, it had been Izuku. The omega had on occasion pushed Katsuki away when he’d gotten a little too enthusiastic, or at inappropriate times or venues, or when he was particularly upset at something, or when the alpha was just doing it to annoy him. The sudden change was stark and alarming, but Izuku still smiled, still pretended like nothing had happened.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Shitty,” Katsuki muttered. “Are the pups okay?”

“They’re fine. I called Amajiki,” Izuku paused when Katsuki narrowed his eyes, “and everything’s okay. He wasn’t mad. He understands. It wasn’t you.” Izuku spoke these last words softly, reaching to stroke Katsuki’s face.

He half expected the alpha to lean away again, but this time, Katsuki closed his eyes and allowed the touch, even moving into it, letting Izuku caress the hair from his face, to wipe at some sweat built along his neck. He thought about trying to kiss the alpha again, but didn’t.

“It’ll be okay,” he said.

Katsuki’s eyes opened, slowly, languidly, almost reluctantly. They flicked to Hitoshi, still standing in the corner, lingered, before returning to Izuku. “I don’t think it will.”

Pain cut through the nerves in Izuku’s hand, causing him to flinch. He set his teeth, did not allow that pain to ruin the smile on his face. “But it will be okay. Even if it doesn’t feel like it. We’ll get through.”

“I don’t know if I believe that anymore,” Katsuki reached up, and pulled Izuku’s hand away from his face. The pain crashed through Izuku again, cut deep enough that he couldn’t hold the smile anymore. He sat back, waiting for the alpha to say more, wanting him to say something else. But Katsuki just looked at him. “Izuku, I could have hurt the pups.”

“That wasn’t you,” the omega said.

“Don’t you get that that’s even worse? I would never hurt the pups. You know that. But if it wasn’t me, then who knows what I could have done to them?”

“You wouldn’t have hurt them.”

Katsuki’s expression hardened. The lines along his face etched like steel, his chin setting in a way that betrayed uncertainty. He was trying to hold it back, but Izuku knew him too well.

The omega took his hand, kissed his knuckles, just as the alpha had done to him when they’d been courted, the way he still sometimes did when it was just the two of them and Katsuki was thinking about how much he cherished Izuku. Izuku kissed his knuckles with all the tenderness that he had felt from the alpha’s kisses. But there were still bandages between his lips and the alpha’s skin. “We’ll get through this. Together.”

The lines of steels softened. Katsuki looked up at Izuku, and took his hand away. “If you’d been there, I could have hurt you.”

“No, you wouldn’t—”

“Yes, I would have. It’s what Father had wanted.”

“But you wouldn’t.”

Katsuki scoffed, rolled his eyes. “You’re not listening to me. I wasn’t myself. I had been told to hurt you. I would have, if you had been there. I’ve seen it.”

Hitoshi shifted so suddenly that Izuku flinched. He’d forgotten the omega hero was still there. Izuku glanced at him, saw that he was burying his face in his scarf, trying to hide his expression. But it was clear to anyone who saw that he was worried. He, like Katsuki, was worried about what had happened.

Izuku was worried too. But not about this. “Kacchan,” he declared, “I know you could never hurt me. Whether or not you were being controlled by someone, you would never hurt me.”

“I had a dream about it,” Katsuki said, nearly speaking over Izuku. Izuku paused as the alpha’s lip set in a thin line, trying to hide his worry, his pain. “I dreamed that Father had told me to hurt you and I did. I hurt you so much you were bleeding. That was me, Izuku. I did that.”

“It was just a dream,” Izuku whispered.

“But it’s what Father wants.”

“Even so, you wouldn’t just do that to me. I know you wouldn’t.”

“How could you fucking know what would happen if I lost control?”

“Because it’s you, Katsuki.”

“I already told you, that isn’t me!”

“It doesn’t matter! Kacchan, I trust you.”

Katsuki sat up a little. Looked Izuku straight in the eye. “You shouldn’t.”

Izuku sat back. Bit his lip. “We’ll stop Father.”

Katsuki turned away. He stared at the far wall, his expression closing, glazing over as if he were trying to feel nothing at all. Izuku wanted so badly to reach out, to touch him, to comfort him. And yet, how could he be certain the alpha wouldn’t reject him again?

“Kacchan,” he said, “it’ll be okay.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything.

He didn’t say anything for a long time. And Izuku wasn’t really sure what he could say or do to help the alpha. So he sat with him, unmoved by his anger, by his frustration, by his pain. He hoped his stillness and his silence, his willingness to just be with Katsuki, told the alpha that everything was going to be okay. That he believed that. That somehow, they would get through it all.

And yet, as the silence grew, as the minutes ticked by and Katsuki laid there and said nothing, even Izuku felt a prickle of unease. As if he knew what was coming. As if he’d felt this moment coming before, had seen the distant, vacant look in Katsuki’s eyes. Because he had seen that look before. Ten years ago. When they had been much younger, much more naïve, much less ready for the future ahead.

He knew the look so well that when Katsuki turned it toward him, he cut a glance away almost instinctively, as if he could avoid what was coming by ignoring that look.

“Izuku,” Katsuki said, his voice soft, honeyed, warm like sweet summer nights, “I’m sorry. I can’t trust myself around you anymore. I’m dangerous. I’m dangerous to you. And I can’t let myself hurt you. I can’t.”

“You won’t,” Izuku said again, and again, “you would never hurt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Katsuki said again, as if he had already hurt the omega, as if he were planning to hurt him again. Izuku looked back, and met that vacant look in Katsuki’s eyes. Saw the goodbye, even as the alpha opened his mouth. “I think. We should separate.”

Chapter Text

For a moment, Izuku stared down at Katsuki.

He stared.

Waited.

Waited…

….

“No,” Izuku said.

Katsuki took a breath. “It’s too dangerous.”

“No.”

“It’s for the best.”

“It is absolutely not!”

“I’d still provide for you. Anything you could want, I’d provide it. But you can’t be with me. Not like this.”

“Stop.”

“Izuku, listen to me—” Katsuki startled when Izuku let out a scathing hiss.

“I will not,” he spat out the word, “have this conversation again. You will not,” he snarled like Katsuki snarled, “do this to me again!”

“Again?” Katsuki pushed himself up. That was good. Seeing him move was good.

“We’ve had this conversation before,” Izuku growled, “ten years ago. When you walked away. Don’t you fucking dare walk away from me again.”

Understanding flickered in Katsuki’s expression. “This is different.”

“Oh is it?!” Izuku scoffed. “This is exactly the same. Only difference this time is you know I’m pregnant!” Katsuki opened his mouth to argue but Izuku shoved his palm into his face. “Shut. It. And listen to me.”

Katsuki pushed him away. “You’re the one not listening. I’m telling you. I could seriously hurt you, Izuku. I could hurt Kazue or Hikaru or anyone else who got in my way. What would I do with myself if that happened?”

“And I’m telling you, Katsuki. I know you. You would never hurt us. Never.”

Katsuki snapped his teeth. “But I did.”

“No,” Izuku shook his head. “Father hurt us. It’s not you.”

“What does it matter?! If it’s him or me in my head, it’s still my hands doing it! It’s still my body hurting—”

“Why are you giving up?!”

Katsuki startled back, only to lean forward with a snarl just as quickly. He met Izuku, nearly nose to nose, his teeth bared, his scent hot and rageful, filling the room. Izuku did not flinch. Not once. He met the alpha’s show of rage with only a slight lifting of his own lip, a challenge in his own right.

“I am not giving up,” Katsuki snarled. “I’m trying to save you. I’m trying to protect you!”

“How is this going to do me any good?”

“Because—” Katsuki seemed to snap back to himself, his snarl fading away as if he’d been struck. He laid back in his bed, blatantly ignoring the fact that Izuku was still growling at him. “Because. If I’m out of the way, you and Kazue can go into hiding for a time. Just until Father is found. You’ll be safe, away from me, away from villains, away from all of it.”

“And what about you?” Izuku demanded.

Katsuki turned to glare at the wall. Perhaps that was his answer. That he would remain in places like this, stuck as a dangerous alpha who could lose control at any moment. Maybe he’d go through some therapies and learn how to overcome what would happen to him. But he would never be the same. If he stayed there, he’d never be a hero again. And there was something devastatingly tragic about that. The thought of Katsuki losing it all, just like that, his family, his dream, his home, and for what?

No way. No way.

“I refuse this,” Izuku pressed, even as Katsuki continued to glare at the wall. “You’re staying with me. And more importantly, I’m staying with you!”

Izuku was prepared for Katsuki to fight back. He was expecting the clash of their wills that sometimes happened when they found themselves on opposite ends of something important. The last time they had fought, really fought, had been about Kazue’s schooling. The media had tracked down where one of the top heroes in the country sent their child to learn. They had stalked Kazue, trying to ask the pup about his father, had waited outside the school grounds, hoping to ambush him on his way home.

Katsuki had been livid. Izuku had been as well, but Katsuki had raged like Izuku had only seen one other time, when he had crashed into an alleyway and found his omega at the hands of a villain. The media had been a direct threat to his child. He’d been as close as he’d ever gotten to outright unleashing on a pack of civilians, stayed only through sheer force of moral will. He was a hero, after all. It wasn’t in his nature to just callously attack innocent people. But he had certainly thought about it, had gotten as close as he might have ever gotten.

This anger and frustration had stayed with him at home, especially when he and Izuku had sat down to talk about where Kazue would be sent to school. The old school was out of the question. Villains knew about it, and that not only put Kazue in danger but everyone else who attended classes and worked there. Katsuki had suggested they keep Kazue at the house. Izuku could work out of his home lab, if he wished to work at all, or take Kazue in with him to Hatsume’s lab whenever he wasn’t with his tutor. Izuku had firmly told him it was important for a pup, especially an alpha pup, to have the chance to socialize with other pups. It would only do Kazue a disserve to keep him at home, away from others. He had never wavered on this view, trying to explain it over and over again as logically as he could.

Katsuki understood all the logic associated with what Izuku was saying, had listened to it all, and had rejected it outright. Part of this, Izuku knew, was because the alpha was traumatized just as much as he was. Katsuki had seen his family hurt again and again, and he simply hadn’t been able to accept putting Kazue in a situation where he might be hurt another time. Keeping him home, where he could control the environment so much more readily, that had been his only option. While Izuku understood where he was coming from, he also knew that Kazue could not be allowed to just cower at home, thinking the world was coming to get him, learning to hate and distrust others, stewing in his developing alpha pheromones.

They had discussed it, then they had debated it, then that had fought about it, then they screamed about it. It was just about the worse fight Izuku could remember. So bad, he’d been halfway out the door when they both shaken back to their senses and realized how completely foolish they were being. Once Katsuki had calmed, he’d listened more to reason, and with reassurances upon reassurances and a hell of a lot of research on schools in the area, they had agreed to send Kazue back into the school system, to the same campus that Hikaru went to. The presence of two of the top heroes’ pups had been of concern, but it also meant the school was already well aware and prepared for any potential danger.

That had been the end of it. They had both come to a realization of how poorly they had handled the situation, and they had moved on.

Izuku was expecting that this fight was going to be bigger than that had been. He was expecting to summon each and every doctor, nurse, administrator, hell maybe every janitor, to that room, with just the force of their arguing. He steeled himself for the battle ahead, for whatever he had to do to make his point, to get Katsuki to understand why they couldn’t just give up.

He was not expecting for Katsuki to take in a deep breath, and to sigh heavily. It was a sad sound. Agonized in many ways. Tired in others. It was a sound that dripped through several levels of grief, that slipped precariously off the ledge of sorrow into some dark pit of dread. Izuku knew all the sounds Katsuki had ever made, the little clicks of his teeth, the short grunts of annoyance, even the soft hums he reserved only for the most intimate and sweet moments with his family. But he’d never heard such a noise from the alpha. Nothing like it at all.

Not for the first time, Izuku thought about how Katsuki was hurt. But maybe that wasn’t the right word to use. Katsuki had been hurt. He’d been damaged. Now, he was in mourning. For what he had lost. For what he didn’t know he had lost. For the very startling fact that he had been defeated and he had yet to find a way to win back what he had lost. For the fact that he may never get back what he had lost. He was mourning the unending strength he had once possessed, the sure and absoluteness of his being. He was Katsuki Bakugo. Ground Zero. The number two hero in all of Japan, second only to the protégé of All Might, the world’s greatest hero. And even he had not been enough.

He was mourning that image of himself, as well as all the physical and mental tolls that had been enacted on him. Part of that image he had held had included Izuku and Kazue. His family. The loves of his life. Father had taken those as well. He’d taken the security of Katsuki’s family. He’d taken the assurance that his family would always be there. That even if things around him changed, they would not. That no matter what, he would always be enough to protect them.

It was in mourning that Katsuki turned his head, that he sighed so deeply, that he sat and said nothing to what Izuku said. In the wake of such a revelation, Izuku felt a little lost. He’d been so certain he knew exactly what was bothering Katsuki. That all this was was the alpha feeling the lingering pain from the abuse and torture he’d suffered. That he had been traumatized and had not been able to get a handle on the pain. But that was not it. This wasn’t Katsuki in pain. This was Katsuki lost, feeling very alone.

Izuku had been trying to help him all wrong. He’d been trying to comfort the alpha in all the wrong ways. Knowing what he did, knowing how much Katsuki had been alone, how he’d been degraded and how his identity had been stripped so carefully away, it all made sense. Pushing his mate away was exactly what Izuku would have expected if he’d considered this. It made perfect sense.

And very suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.

Katsuki was still turned away from him, but Izuku leaned forward, reached, until his hands brushed along the sharp cut of his chin, along the ridged edges of his collarbone. Even as Katsuki kept his face turned away, Izuku nuzzled into the nook at his shoulder, tracing a line down the length of the alpha’s jaw with his nose, nestling into the crook of his scent gland. Katsuki was trying to keep his scent under control, but so close, Izuku could pick up the faint aroma of despair.

“Kacchan,” he whispered, “I’m here.”

Again, Katsuki sighed. “Don’t do this to me, Izuku.”

“I’m here,” Izuku repeated, letting the words slip into his ear, “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You need to. It’s not safe.”

“I’m not talking about that.”

A frown, a little twist in his lip, and Katsuki finally turned toward Izuku. He stopped when his chin met Izuku’s forehead, when they were close as they could be without Izuku pulling himself into the alpha’s lap. Izuku nuzzled into the soft skin of his scent gland, kissed the alpha’s neck.

“I’m here. You aren’t losing me. You haven’t lost me. I’m here,” he said it like a mantra. A promise, a vow, a chant. Over and over again. “I’m here, I’m here.” Then, when he thought Katsuki was listening, he leaned in a little closer and whispered, “You’re not alone. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

“Deku,” Katsuki muttered, his voice controlled, edged, sharp, emotion just beyond the sealed vacuum that was his mouth. “Stop. Don’t make this harder for me.”

“Then stop trying to convince yourself you’re alone.” He paused, then leaned back a little, just enough that Katsuki could meet his gaze. It was hard to pick out exactly what the alpha was thinking. Usually, he was easy to read, easy to understand. He very rarely tried to conceal exactly what he was thinking. But every now and then, he would close himself off, keep everything in check. Izuku had trouble when he really tried to bottle it all up. What he could see was the little tremble in his lips, the slightest give of not being able to quite keep it all under control. Izuku sized it with a careful sweep of his hand up the alpha’s neck, along the road of his spine, up into that off-color hair, pressing through it until he felt the cool, prickly surface of Katsuki’s scalp. Izuku ran his fingers into little circles, and watched as Katsuki’s eyes slipped shut, as his expression tilted more into the mourning he was hiding. “I’m here. You can count on me. Because I’ll always be here. For you. I’m here for you, Kacchan. So it’s okay. You can lean on me. No matter what, I can help take the weight. Whatever it is. I’m here, Kacchan, I’m here.”

Katsuki had leaned on Izuku in the past. The most he had ever let the omega shoulder was on the remodeling of his parents’ house. The home they lived in had once belonged to Katsuki’s parents, who had been killed in the years the alpha and omega had been separated. The house had passed to Katsuki, but he had never been able to face it without thinking of them, of their loss. When the couple had started remodeling it so they could move in, Katsuki had found it exceedingly difficult to manage everything, to even walk through that decrepit space, without thinking of his loss. Izuku had taken on the majority of responsibility for the project, had been the post on which Katsuki had leaned when the loss had been particularly overwhelming. They had made it through, and now had a wonderful home together built on the foundation of what Katsuki’s parents had left them.

This was so much different from that.

When Katsuki flinched, when he raised his hands and grasped Izuku’s back, he did so in such a way that pressed something through his fingers, latching it onto the omega’s shoulders. Katsuki wrapped his arms around Izuku, tilted forward until their foreheads touched, and the weight of what he had lost collapsed onto Izuku. It fell into place as Katsuki shuddered, trying to hold onto the weight as much as he was trying to shed it.

“I can’t lose you.”

The words were whispered forth as if they belonged to nobody. They were so true, so real, so absolute that even as Katsuki spoke them, they weren’t really his own. They had bubbled up from the pool of dread that hung over the family. An unspoken abyss that had been ripped open years earlier, when Katsuki had kicked in the door of an abandoned house and found Izuku half dead, laying on a dirty mattress. The shared darkness that each of them had experienced, Izuku’s existential fear, Katsuki’s fear of being helpless, even Kazue’s fear, the fear of a scared child facing things he couldn’t possibly comprehend. They all had swirled and writhed and seeped together like a fetid stew, boiling over to produce those words: I can’t lose you.

They had all shared that fear, in one form of another. They had each clung to the other so desperately because they had felt the unspoken curse laid between them; that Sugawara and Father had so easily shown them that they could be torn apart. That being and staying together was not a sure thing. That they would lose one another. In the end, they would each be alone.

Izuku knew that fear, knew those words, as they tumbled from Katsuki’s trembling lips. They had held each other more than once, trying to alleviate the pain of those words, to try to convince one another that they would be together, always, that they would never allow the other to be lost. And yet, it had happened, again and again, no matter how hard they had held on.

Hearing the plea from Katsuki, strong, steady, stubborn Katsuki, tore at all the same fears Izuku harbored within himself. His chest ached, a ghost pain of when he had been alone, when he had lost Kazue to Sugawara, when he had lost Katsuki to Father. Their shared pain did not make it any easier to bare, he realized. Just as he felt this pain in his chest, he knew Katsuki felt something akin to it. He had lost Kazue that night as well, and he had lost Izuku to villains, had had to fight to keep his family together. His had been a grueling, physical battle. A clash of strength. Izuku had fought as well, but his battles had more tipped toward mental clashes, matching his will against another. He was so used to these battles that he'd been prepared to have such a one with Katsuki only moment earlier. Similarly, Katsuki was always primed and ready for a fight. He’d spent the last years of their family always on edge, always anticipating when he would have to fight. They had spent so much time ready and waiting to fight, they had never addressed those simple fears directly: I can’t lose you.

But now, there was no fight to have. Nobody to beat up. Nobody to spar wills against. It was just Izuku and Katsuki, and the fear that had been looming over them for so long.

Izuku did not know how to face it. He didn’t think he could. No matter what he did, Katsuki would always fear for his safety as well as Kazue’s. He would always be ready to fight. Facing a foe he couldn’t so easily beat up, his only option was to send his family away, to protect them by losing them. By turning them over to the very fear he had been struggling against for so long.

Enough.

It was all enough.

Izuku drew back a little, just so he could look into Katsuki’s eyes, so Katsuki could look into his. The alpha’s eyes shimmered. His fire was burning low, dampened by the fear threatening to suffocate them.

He thought about trying to kiss Katsuki, but thought better of it. Instead, he pulled Katsuki’s hand from his back, brought it around to lay on the curve of his body, the place where one body became two. This pup of theirs, this unborn child, was just another source of those fears. There was nothing to fight, physically or mentally, when it came to their growing pup. But the fear was still the same: I can’t lose this pup. I can’t lose my child. I can’t lose my family.

But here they were. Despite everything, they were still there. Katsuki had not had to fight anyone for them. Izuku had not had to clash wills with anything. The pup had grown and developed tangentially to everything else going on around them. Perhaps their development had been impacted by this or that, but no matter what anyone or anything did or said, they would either be born in five months, or not.

I can’t lose you, Izuku had thought on so many occasions. Not once had he ever thought, I can’t wait to meet you.

“What,” Izuku whispered, feeling something catch in his throat, “do you want to call them?”

Katsuki looked up at Izuku. Met his gaze truly, held it. There was something more than just fire in his eyes. There was something that shone, a little light different from the amber glow of the embers raging inside of him. It was the soft light of hope.

“Since we won’t know the gender until birth, we’ll either need two names, or we’ll need a gender-neutral name,” Izuku continued, as if Katsuki had agreed with him, as if his mate was as engaged with talks of names as he was. “I got to name Kazue. You didn’t have a say in that. So I don’t know if you want to be able to name this one. Or if you need help. Not that I’m much help.” As he spoke, he ran his fingers along the last few vertebrae of Katsuki’s neck, then traced his spine back down, between his shoulder blades, behind his heart, until his hand reached where Katsuki’s back met the pillows he sat against. Then, he followed that familiar road back up. “What do you think?”

Katsuki’s lips were pressed into a deep line. Almost as if he were unwilling to answer. That was fine.

Izuku just kept talking. “I got to name Kazue, so maybe you want to think of a boy’s name and I’ll think of a girl’s name—”

“No.” The sound popped out of Katsuki’s mouth, seemed to startle even him. He blinked, then narrowed his expression. “I want to choose the girl name.”

Izuku paused, then felt a smile tip along his face. “All right. You can figure out some names and we can talk them over. I’ll think of another boy name. We can narrow it down, choose some to think about. We have time.”

“Time,” Katsuki repeated, and his expression faded away again. He tried to look away, but Izuku caught his chin, held him still. Never let his gaze wander from the alpha.

“You know, I never asked. But did you want a girl?”

Katsuki was trying to disengage. Izuku could see it. He wanted so badly to get away from this conversation. To sink back into I can’t lose you. Izuku held him in that moment, a whispered, “I… guess I was just so desperate to get pregnant at all that I never really considered you might want a daughter or another son—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Katsuki spoke over Izuku, laid his hand on his stomach. Brushed several fingers along his skin, along where the spine of their pup might lay, to rest at where they could imagine the pup’s head might be. Katsuki cradled Izuku’s belly as if he were holding the pup, swaddled in a womb instead of in blankets. “It never mattered to me. Any child of yours. That’s all I wanted.”

“But if you could choose….” Izuku prompted with a little tilt of his head.

Katsuki eyed the omega flatly, stared down at the pup in his hands. “A girl. That would be nice.”

“Hmm,” Izuku pressed his hands over Katsuki’s, held their pup, held the alpha, held them both. “A girl would be nice.”

They sat for a moment together, their gazes locked on the pup between them. The unborn potential of their family.

“Are you… excited to meet them?” The words stuck in Izuku’s mouth. He was still struggling to think of such a thing himself.

“Yes,” Katsuki said it with no hesitation. It surprised the omega, just how enthusiastic he was. There was no doubt in Katsuki’s eyes. He would meet his child. They would be born into the world and he would get to see them and hold them and name them and watch them grow. There had never been another option. For a moment, Izuku was a bit jealous of the certainty with which Katsuki held their unborn pup. He wished it was as simple for him.

“Well you can’t meet them if you send us away.” Izuku knew the words would hurt when he said them, but there was also no other way to say it, and he saw the pain in how Katsuki flinched back, in how he snapped his hands away, as if he’d been hurting Izuku just by touching him. But Izuku kept his hands over Katsuki’s, guided them back to their pup. Held him in the moment. Held him. “I know this is hard. I know you’re scared. I know that you know I’m scared too. But,” he let his voice rise a little as Katsuki opened his mouth to speak, “that doesn’t mean we should just give up.”

“I can’t hurt you,” Katsuki said.

“You won’t,” Izuku replied. “You never would.”

“You keep saying that. But I could hurt you.”

“You could,” Izuku nodded. “You could hurt us right now. But you won’t. You never would. I trust you. Katsuki, I trust you.” He leaned in a little when Katsuki tried to look away again. “So please trust me.”

Katsuki closed his mouth, eyebrows drawing together in a question. He didn’t want to say it out loud. It would be insulting if he did. He was at least cognizant enough to know that.

But Izuku answered it without being asked, “You told Hitoshi to be here because he knocked you out of Father’s control. Well guess what. You forgot someone else broke you out of his control first. Me. I broke Father’s hold on you. You would never hurt me, because I wouldn’t let you. You would never hurt the pups, because I would never let you hurt the pups. Even if you don’t trust yourself, trust me, okay?”

Understanding broke through the shroud of dread, but Katsuki stubbornly set his jaw against it. He still didn’t trust himself. Not when he knew how easy it was for him to lose control. He had always been the alpha. The hero. The pillar of strength. He’d stood in front of Izuku and Kazue, protecting them from anyone or anything that could have harmed them. When something had snuck around him, then he’d still been there, always keeping his family safe. Nobody had ever needed to watch his back for him. He’d never expected anyone to keep him safe in return. It was a difficult concept for him to grasp. But Izuku held onto him, kept him close, kept him safe. Just as Katsuki would do anything for him, he would do anything for his mate. And now was the time when Katsuki needed him most.

“I’m here,” Izuku repeated, lifting his hands, caressing Katsuki’s face, leaning in a little closer, “I’m here.”

“I don’t—” Katsuki tilted his head away again, so Izuku paused, “I can’t be the one who hurts you.”

“You won’t,” Izuku repeated, again and again, as many times as the alpha needed to hear it, “I won’t let you. I won’t let you hurt anyone. I won’t let you be hurt. You’re safe. I’m here. You’re safe now.”

He knew Katsuki would not let him kiss him. Not yet. He couldn’t let himself do that. But when Katsuki did tilt his head forward, Izuku followed, and their foreheads met. They were together in that moment. They were together.

“Tell me you want me to stay,” Izuku said.

Katsuki shuddered. The weight he’d been struggling to hold onto slipped away from him, and Izuku took it without even flinching. “I want to stay. With you. I want to stay with Kazue. And the pup.” His fingers brushed along Izuku’s belly, a warm tingling spreading from that touch.

“Okay,” Izuku breathed in, breathed out, and felt Katsuki do the same.

They sat together for a long while, there, here, with each other.

There was nothing else to be said. But there were things passed between them. A promise, a vow, a question, an answer. It didn’t really matter what it was. Just as the breath whispered between them, they sat together and were one in the same, for just a moment. Then, they were separate. They were Izuku and Katsuki. Izuku, the omega, Katsuki, the alpha, Izuku, the engineer, Katsuki, the hero, Izuku, the mother, Katsuki, the father. Their roles so well defined after years of being together, of living with and loving each other. They were Izuku, the nurturer, Katsuki, the protector. And yet, Izuku slipped so easily into that role of Katsuki’s as well. He, too, became the protector. It was a role they shared. A realization that they did not need to have opposing roles to be complete. That it was okay for them to occupy the same one in times of need. Katsuki needed someone to help him. Izuku was the natural choice, and he took that mantle without hesitation. And still, if someone were to come after Izuku, if something were to threaten him, Katsuki would keep him safe. They’d keep each other safe. And it was okay for them to be that for the other. It was okay.

They were okay.

And they would be okay.

Once all of this was over, they would still be okay.

“Okay.” Both Izuku and Katsuki lifted their heads, turning toward the corner to find one purple-haired omega glowering into his scarf. “That was all really quite sweet or something. But if you’re done with being dramatic, I’m going to just leave you two to it.”

“It’s fine,” Izuku said, hoping Katsuki now understood that it truly was, “we’ll be okay. Thanks for staying with us.”

“Yup,” Hitoshi muttered as if he wished he had not had to watch all of whatever had just unfolded in front of him. He marched toward the door, paused, then said, “By the way. Once the doctors check over everything, you’ll be released Bakugo. Today. Soon, probably. You’re lively enough.” Katsuki scowled at the assessment, but Hitoshi didn’t seem to notice. “Since the apartment was blown to pieces, we’ve had temporary accommodations put together. Once you two are ready, we’ll meet the pups and go get everything set up. In the meantime, some of Rai’s security team are working on packing things up and moving them over.”

Izuku frowned a little. He wished Kazue was there with them, but the pups hadn’t been allowed in the psyche ward. Getting Katsuki back to his pup, making sure that Kazue and Hikaru both understood that the alpha was safe, that the one who had attacked them had been someone else and that they would not allow that person to hurt them again, the better. Not to mention, Izuku wasn’t too fond of the idea of people going through his and Katsuki’s stuff and shipping it over to another apartment without him being there to help.

Still, he nodded his assent, “Okay. Will you go make sure the pups are okay? Tell them we’ll see them very soon.”

“Yup,” Hitoshi grumbled again, and slipped out the door.

Once he was gone, Izuku slumped against Katsuki’s chest, purring quietly. He felt tired, as if he’d been holding up the sky, keeping it from crushing his mate, but happy for the aching feeling. Especially when Katsuki wrapped his arms around him, when he sighed into his hair.

“I love you,” the alpha whispered.

Izuku hummed happily. “I love you, too.”

Katsuki was quiet. For only a few moments. “Don’t ever leave me.”

“I won’t,” Izuku promised, “I’ll always be here.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki had always seen Izuku as strong. So strong, that he sometimes felt inadequate around the omega. Sure, Katsuki was used to being one of the strongest people in the room at any given time. His Quirk, his training, his experiences, they all added up to him being a formidable, nearly undefeated hero. But somehow, Izuku trumped him at every turn. He did so in ways that surprised Katsuki. I want to separate, he’d told Izuku, and the omega had simply smiled at him and told him no and that had somehow been the end of it. The omega was constantly surprising him, keeping him on his toes, never quite knowing what to expect.

Beyond that, he didn’t have the strength to fight Izuku, nor did he have the want. He felt secure with the omega there. He felt safe. And it was a strange feeling, to be sure. He was used to being the one keeping Izuku safe, being there to keep villains and others at a distance. But here they were, Izuku laid over him, keeping him apart from the world that had done so much harm to him in recent weeks. And it was okay for them to be like that. For Izuku to stand in that gap. Katsuki knew the omega was strong enough to handle it, that he wanted to be there for his alpha.

Not for the first time, he felt so incredibly lucky to have Izuku as his. His partner, his mate, his husband, the mother of his pups. His.

They laid together for a long time after Eyebags left, dozing off and on, resting as they hadn’t for quite some time. At one point, Izuku nipped at Katsuki’s cheek, trying to get his attention. Katsuki growled in response and the omega whispered, “You’re mine to protect. Mine to love. Mine to serve. That’s what you’ve always told me, right? Well it’s the same. For you, and for me.”

There weren’t words enough to describe just how lucky he was to have Izuku, how lucky he was to have him back in his life, and how much it would have been a mistake to let him go. He still felt a bit of apprehension at being there, alone, with him. What if something happened, after all? But he had to trust in Izuku. Izuku had never let him down. Where he had failed the omega, the omega had never failed him. He could trust Izuku. Even in this.

There were no words. But Katsuki hoped his mate understood all there was to know in how he touched him. Katsuki had always communicated better with touch; where his words lacked, his hands usually made up. He could convey reverence and worship with a few strokes along the omega’s throat, want and pleasure with a palm cupped at his inner thigh, awe and admiration at the careful brush of fingers over his swelling womb. It was easier to explore what he wished to say with these touches, and much more fun to watch as the omega melted under them. They talked with touches and a few words passed between them, saying the same phrase to each other, over and over again, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you….

Although they lay together in a psyche ward, it was the most relaxed he could remember them being since their reunion. As if there was nothing at all for them to worry about in the world.

Then, the doctors knocked on the door and reality settled back over them. Katsuki was still considered a risk to the public and he had still attacked his own pup and another child. They had to deal with all of that before they could deal with anything else.

Izuku had to leave the room for the final evaluation. It seemed the doctors had been in communication with Tsukauchi as well as Iida and the rest of the pack in regards to Katsuki. They asked after how other perceived him, how he was treated by those who were close to him, how he thought they saw him as. All things that only seemed tangentially relevant, but Katsuki endured the stupid questions as much as he could tolerate them. He’d always been seen as a bit of a loose cannon, but never an outright threat, and he knew that. Hell, Iida had told him so on many different occasions and Kirishima had made jokes about it in the past. The doctors seemed to try to be parsing the line between the Katsuki of now, the Katsuki of the past, and the ideal Katsuki, who would never exist simply because the alpha refused to be held to such limited societal standards. He answered every question, truthfully, and kept his glaring to a minimum whenever one of the doctors shot a reproachful look to their colleague.

While the doctors did not seem convinced, even after a lengthy evaluation process, they did agree to release Katsuki to Rai’s custody. The security captain would be in charge of him, and subsequently be on the hook for anything he did in the coming days, leaving the doctors with no liability if something went wrong.

That was fine. Katsuki wasn’t planning on losing control again. Not with Izuku there to help him.

Rai returned with a change of clothes for Katsuki. They led the way out of the ward and back to where Izuku was waiting just outside without once acknowledging what had happened. Katsuki kept waiting for the repercussions of his actions to finally start, but so far only the doctors had made mention of him being a risk or at risk or anything of the sort. It was unnerving, walking free, knowing the harm he’d done.

As if feeling his tension, Izuku slipped his hand into Katsuki. Izuku’s hands were calloused and worn, the grooves of the many tools he wielded on a daily basis etched into his skin. They were different from the callouses that thickened Katsuki’s palm. They were strange lines and dots outlining exactly what Izuku had been holding to produce such a mark on his skin, a wrench here, a screwdriver there, an acetylene torch, a sander, so many others, all mapped out.

Katsuki took his time to remind himself of every part of these callouses, all the tools that Izuku could use, all the hours he’d spent honing his craft. Halfway through, he drew Izuku’s hand up, kissed his knuckles, thinking back on the first time he had done such a thing. Izuku had been feral. He’d been trying to strangle the alpha. It was funny to think about it.

Rai brought them to a security station where the pups and Shinso were waiting for them. The purple-haired omega still grimaced at the sight of them as if he’d tasted something far too sweet for his liking. Katsuki flicked a glance over him just enough to pick up on this before turning wholly and completely to his pup.

Kazue, upon realizing who was walking through the door, had leaped up and raced over to his alpha. He grabbed ferociously onto Katsuki’s waist, squeezing him as hard as he possibly could. It was hard to lean over to hug him with how the pup held him, but Katsuki did, wrapped him up in his arms, whispering quietly to him.

“It’s all right. It’s over now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Kazue stared past Katsuki, glared as if at some invisible foe. “The bad person is gone now, right? They won’t come back, right?”

It took Katsuki a moment to realize who Kazue was talking about, that like Izuku, he’d equated the Katsuki who had attacked him as some other bad person, a separate entity from the person who was his alpha and father.

“They’re gone,” Katsuki said, and it was the most he could say. He didn’t know what would happen in the future. No matter what Izuku said, they couldn’t guarantee that Father wouldn’t get to him again, that Katsuki wouldn’t lose control under his sway. But he could do everything he could to avoid it.

Kazue took in these words carefully, wrinkled his nose as he twisted them in his little mind, then huffed out in exacerbation. “I’m tired of you going away.”

It was odd how pups sometimes put things. Using so little words and yet being so right. Katsuki was tired of “going away” as well. He wished he had words that simple to say that. Instead, he planted a kiss on Kazue’s head and glanced up to check on Hikaru.

He expected to find the beta pup standing at a distance, cautious and untrusting, perhaps even hiding behind someone or something, waiting for the alpha to launch at him. He was, then, quite surprised to find Hikaru only a few feet away, glaring up at him with hands planted on his hips.

“You!” He pointed into the alpha’s face, a snarl rising up Katsuki’s lip unconsciously at the rude gesture, “Mr. Bakugo, that was so mean of you! You dropped me!” He turned his nose up into the air with an indignant hrmph.

Whiplash from the pup’s tone and words made Katsuki’s head spin a little, him glancing to Izuku for guidance. The omega pointed at his lip and Katsuki reluctantly let his snarl fade away.

“Technically,” he said, refusing to abandon the growl in his voice, “that was Eyebags. He was the one who brainwashed me into dropping you.”

Hikaru gasped and spun on Shinso, who did not look any more amused by what Katsuki had just said than anything else he had witnessed in the last few hours. “Mr. Psyche!”

“Anyway,” Shinso, not even pretending he was paying attention to the pup, gestured up the road. “Should get to the new place. All our stuff should already be there. Tsukauchi wants to debrief everyone on what’s happened, much as we can.”

“Much as we—” Izuku stopped when Katsuki took his arm, nodding toward the pups, who gazed up at the adults with a bit of curiosity and awe. The omega blinked once, then cleared his throat sheepishly. “So where is this new place?”

“We’ll take you,” Shinso said, then glanced to Rai, who nodded.

This new arrangement with the I-Island security captain was going to get annoying quickly. Katsuki allowed Shinso’s presence mostly for Izuku’s and the pups’ sakes. Rai was, for all intents and purposes, an outsider, no matter their role. And an alpha to boot. Katsuki didn’t like the idea of sharing spaces with an alpha outside of his pack and agency. Especially since he hadn’t been around alphas much since coming to the island.

As if reading his thoughts, Izuku slipped his arm around Katsuki’s, pulling him to his side. Reassuring, even in such a little motion. Katsuki did not really care about showing open deference to his omega in public spaces. He had for years and nobody questioned him about it because they all knew he could kick their ass, and that Izuku probably could as well. But after being so vulnerable, with Izuku having been put in such terrible positions on top the fact that he was pregnant, and everything else that was going on, made him hesitate. He didn’t want to show any of the weakness he was feeling. He couldn’t allow anyone to think he was anything but the strong, capable alpha and hero he had always been, even if recent events spoke to the contrary.

So even though Izuku pulled him close and leaned against him and offered all the support and comfort Katsuki craved, he did not reciprocate. Not yet. Not in front of Rai and the rest of the security team. He had to be strong, look strong, act strong. He had to prove he was strong enough to stand with his mate.

After hugging Katsuki tightly, Kazue turned to his mom, holding onto Izuku just as tightly. Izuku purred as he always did, comforting Kazue in a way only he could, as Rai finished speaking with their team before they could leave. As they waited, Katsuki watched Hikaru carefully, noting that although the beta pup seemed to have forgiven him, he did stay away from the alpha, never quite coming into reach. That was fine. Katsuki couldn’t really blame Hikaru for not trusting him. He didn’t trust himself, after all.

Izuku brushed a hand up Katsuki’s arm, pulling his attention. The omega leaned in as if to nip at his ear, whispered, “You go really still and quiet when you’re thinking. Anyone ever tell you that?” Then he did nip at Katsuki’s ear, just to make his point.

Katsuki snapped his teeth back, no heat in the annoyance he felt. Well, he’d known Izuku was observant. And he’d been around Katsuki enough to pick up on those things.

It felt nice to know the omega was paying attention to him. That Izuku was looking long enough to pick up on such things. He felt the annoyance of Izuku calling him out biting at the back of his mind, but he chose to enjoy the thought of his mate’s eyes on him.

He growled again, grumbled, “You’re lucky you’re sexy.” Izuku choked on whatever he had been about to say and Katsuki grinned deeply.

Rai led them through the streets with an air of calm, of complete normalcy. But it was fake. Katsuki noticed how the captain kept a close eye on him, even if it was just out of the corner of their eye. Just as Hikaru didn’t trust Katsuki, Rai didn’t either. Walking with them, Katsuki did feel a bit like what he thought it might be like, walking free yet not quite being actually free. Rai and Shinso were there to make sure he wasn’t going to attack anyone. They were there not for him, but to protect those around him. In their eyes, he may as well be just another villain.

As painful as that might be, he understood. On that island, he wasn’t the number two hero in Japan. He might never be the number two hero in Japan after all this. And he was a danger. If roles had been reversed, Katsuki would have been just as suspicious and cautious, if not more so, and almost definitely more aggressive. He couldn’t fault them. He just wished he’d been strong enough for this not to have happened.

Without thinking, he reached for Izuku, but found instead a smaller hand in his. Kazue tucked himself into his side, finding a place where they fit together, pup and alpha, just as they had before. So close, Katsuki again found himself marveling at how much Kazue had grown. He was taller, thinner, the baby fat slowly disappearing from the around his face, did he have more freckles?

Looking down at Kazue, Katsuki felt a pang of fear run through him. Fear for what Father would do if he got Kazue, fear of what he, himself, could potentially do to him under Father’s sway. Where Izuku was his strength, his support, the very bones with which he carried himself forward, Kazue was the heart that flooded his body with life. They both gave him purpose, meaning, the world. They were his world. Kazue was the life of his world. And somehow, even if he didn’t remember the long weeks away from him, the months he’d lost that had seen his pup grow without him, every time he looked at Kazue he felt something splintering within him. As if that piece of time he’d lost was a loose shard, broken away from his beating heart, sharp enough to cut, to damage, to hurt. Looking down at his pup hurt him as much as it made him feel so wonderfully full and complete.

They walked, and Kazue tilted a look up at him, a look that told Katsuki he had a question, a question tightly locked behind his lips, a question that he didn’t think he could ask. The familiarity of Kazue’s uncertain question, the hesitation with which he observed things around him, the way he paused and took in everything and thought carefully about it, it all was something Katsuki had seen many times before, something he had come to expect.

What he did not expect was for Kazue’s lips to pop open, for his question to spill out, “Daddy, are you okay?”

Katsuki controlled his expression, made sure he gave nothing away, and nodded, “I’m fine.” Kazue pouted, as if he knew that his alpha was simply placating him, so Katsuki ruffled his hair, paused, smoothed it all back out, cupped his hand along the back of his neck, to where he could feel his little heartbeat. Or, maybe not so little anymore. “You don’t have to worry about me, firecracker. Your mom will look after me, and I’ll be okay.”

To this, Kazue glanced to Izuku, pouting when the omega smiled. He snuffled, halfway between a huff and a snarl, and jammed himself into Katsuki’s side, so much so the alpha practically tripped over him. “Daddy. I want to help.”

Of course he did. Well, if nothing else, his heritage could never be questioned. That want to help came straight from Izuku and the stubborn, determined snarl with which he demanded to help came from Katsuki. He was a monster, this little person they had created.

What a wonderful little monster.

“You do help, firecracker,” Katsuki said, hoping his pup heard and believed every word, “you’ll never know how much you’ve helped me. Just keep being yourself and you’ll be helping me, all right?”

“I want to do more!” Kazue insisted, shaking Katsuki’s hand.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to think of something else to say, as Izuku stepped in with a playful tap of the pup’s nose to get his attention. “You know how you can help? Stop getting into fights at school.”

“Fights?” Katsuki stood up a little taller just as Kazue slumped a little lower.

“Oh yes,” Izuku raised an eyebrow at the pup. “What was the last count? Four? Five?” Kazue snuffled again. “Anyway. If you stopped getting into fights, that would help both your dad and me a lot.”

“Yes,” Katsuki hated that he sounded angry when he growled it. Because he was angry. But also because he understood it. How many fights had he gotten into when he had been growing up? Way more than four or five. Izuku had helped to keep him out of a fair share, but even he hadn’t been enough.

With everything else going on, between Izuku being pregnant and Katsuki disappearing for three months, the alpha completely understood why Kazue had been getting into fights. But the thought of his pup getting hurt and hurting others, of the anger and frustration and pain he knew must accompany those fights, made him angry at himself, at the world, at the fact that it just made so much sense.

He growled, and said, “Fighting isn’t going to get you anywhere. You’re going to stop all of that right now.”

Kazue didn’t let go of Katsuki, but the alpha did notice that his pup refused to look up at either of them. Katsuki tried to catch a look from Izuku, but the omega was watching their pup carefully, a frown unguarded on his lips, a thoughtful little tilt that made Katsuki wonder exactly what was going through his mind.

They were stopped when Hikaru literally stomped into their path. “You know, it’s not all Kazue’s fault!”

In that moment, Katsuki didn’t need to wonder what Izuku was thinking. Because they were both thinking the same thing, shared the same look over Kazue’s head as Hikaru crossed his arms indignantly.

“Some of the other pups were picking on him and being mean to him and sometimes they were the ones who started the fights! It wasn’t just his fault!”

Ah. Yes, Katsuki remembered that as well from when he was in school. Once he got a reputation, other pups, especially alpha pups though sometimes betas would try their luck as well, would challenge him for the pure sake of increasing their own reputation. One of the more vile things they would do to get his attention is they would be mean to Izuku, would pick on him for being an omega, for being Quirkless. Katsuki couldn’t remember how many times he’d smashed some pup’s head into the ground for talking bad about Izuku. At least the more honorable ones would keep the name calling to just Katsuki.

Thinking on it now, Katsuki judged a glare between Kazue and Hikaru. Hikaru was not Quirkless and truth be told, Katsuki couldn’t quite decide if the pups’ relationship was anything like how his and Izuku’s was, but Hikaru was an intergender pup. That was easy fodder for those of more cruel intents to leverage against both the beta pup and Kazue. Kazue would rise to every insult levied against Hikaru. There was no doubt in Katsuki’s mind about that.

“That’s not an excuse,” Izuku was saying. “You shouldn’t be getting into fights either way. You have to learn to just walk away.”

Of course Izuku would say that. He didn’t know. Being an alpha was different. Omegas had their own power struggles, ones which Izuku had decidedly not participated in and had been ostracized for when they’d been growing up. For alphas, the risk wasn’t just being ostracized.

Still, Katsuki was not happy with the news. He shrugged his shoulders, hoping to relieve some of the tension, and said, “No more fights, firecracker. I’ll speak with the school about pups bothering you. You do your part though.”

Kazue continued to sulk and Hikaru did not look convinced, but neither pup said anything more on the issue. Again, Katsuki looked after Hikaru, thinking over his coming to Kazue’s defense, what their relationship really was. They were still young enough that he wasn’t overly concerned. But he saw shadows on the wall that could start spelling something that he wasn’t too happy about.

If his pup fell for the pup of the Number One Loser….

Izuku crouched to move a piece of hair from Kazue’s face. “I love you, firecracker.”

Even through his pouting, Kazue managed to grumble out, “Love you too,” though he did not sound very convincing.

“Hey,” Shinso called, Katsuki startled to realize he hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going. Sloppy. He glanced around, noticed they’d left the more industrial part of the island for some sort of neighborhood and now stood in front of a massive house ringed by a wrought iron fence, very Western, very gothic, not at all to his taste. “We’re here,” the purple-haired omega announced and Katsuki growled.

“Of course.”

- - -

The house was as massive inside as it was outside. It opened to a huge space, two separate sitting areas, one with couches around a television, one with couches around a fireplace, an area off to the side with a long table and a door that probably led to the kitchen, all built around a narrow staircase heading to the upper floor. Instead of wooden floors, carpet flowed through the house, the walls painted a soft blue-gray. Very little adornments decorated the house, leaving it feeling a bit like the lobby to a hotel.

Katsuki took two steps into it, and immediately hated it. It had too many access points, too much open space. If something happened and he had to defend this place, there was no way he’d be able to do it by himself, even if he had Shinso and Rai as backup.

Why the hell were they being put up in such a huge house?

While the pups were overjoyed at the space, immediately running about it as if they could claim it by being the first to press their feet into each strip of carpet and drywall, Izuku paused beside Katsuki.

“This looks like the packhouse,” he muttered. Katsuki grunted. He’d had the same thought. “Why here and not another apartment?”

Katsuki didn’t say anything, but he had a guess. In a place so big, if something happened, there wouldn’t other people around to be hurt. They were lucky nobody had been hurt in the apartment complex. Being in a house, fenced in and away from other houses and other people, would keep the public safe. It was as much a gilded cage as anything else. He just hated that Izuku, the pups, and Shinso had to be trapped in there with him.

He pulled Izuku to him and kissed his forehead, pausing long enough to feel the heat of his body, the surety of his presence. Gods, he had missed the omega.

Standing there with Izuku, Katsuki remembered when Kazue had rushed up to them, hugged them, told them he’d missed them, even though Katsuki had been back for several days and Izuku had never left. He felt that now, in that moment, how much he missed his mate, even though Izuku was standing right next to him.

All he could do was murmur, “I love you,” and try to glean some relief when Izuku purred happily. It wasn’t enough. But it was something.

“Rooms are upstairs,” Shinso sighed as if it were a bother to explain it, “I’m claiming the one right at the top of the staircase. You and the pups can figure out which ones you want from there.”

If nothing else, Katsuki could appreciate Shinso’s strategic mind. Taking the door at the top of the stairs put him in the best position to handle many dangerous situations, ranging from invaders to containing someone, that someone being Katsuki, inside the house. It was the main access point for the upstairs and would be the easiest to defend if something went wrong. Every hero had to be sharp and strategic to a certain degree, but someone like Shinso had to be extra cautious and deliberate in what they did, and his careful thinking came through in moments such as these. Even if he got on Katsuki’s nerves, he did have to admit he respected the hero for that.

Kazue and Hikaru finally skidded to a halt in front of Izuku, their eyes sparkling. “New roooooooms?!” Hikaru sung and purred and bounced up and down excitedly.

“Yup. You want to pick them out?” Izuku gestured for the pups to follow him upstairs, the pups scampering ahead as the omega picked his way up each step, seemingly enjoying every movement. He looked so relaxed, so at home, that Katsuki felt a pinch of homesickness. This place looked quite a bit like the packhouse, but it wasn’t, and he felt that most in that moment, watching the pups running up the staircase and Izuku following after them, laughing.

Made sense. He hadn’t been home in more than three months.

“Bakugo,” Shinso called, much to Katsuki’s annoyance. He didn’t want to be away from Izuku or Kazue. But he recognized the tone of the other hero’s voice. It was a call to action. They still had to have that talk with Tsukauchi. So he turned expectantly toward Shinso, who nodded toward a door set down the hallway. Rai was standing in the doorway, waiting.

He followed them, slipping into a room that was set up like the conference room at the agency, a long table with places for tablets or laptops in front of each of the chairs, a large screen on the wall for projecting. A computer was set up next to it and an idle screen showed an image of Rai and their family, a partner and a beautiful little girl, baring two front teeth proudly.

“You going to explain what this place is?” Katsuki growled as Shinso shut the door behind them and Rai went to check the computer.

“A retreat for visiting scientists and engineers. The Board owns the house and was kind enough to allow you guys to stay for the time being,” Rai explained without looking up from their computer. They seemed to be trying to load a video conference program.

As Katsuki took a seat, Shinso sat next to him, sighing deeply. “You know. This was supposed to be a vacation. An easy assignment.”

“Shut up, Eyebags.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Shinso grumbled. “Really feel the appreciation for everything I’ve done for you.”

The words stabbed deep, Katsuki catching a flinch by raising his hand to scratch at his chin. Shinso had done a lot for them. He’d saved the pups. From Katsuki no less. Maybe he did deserve to grumble a bit. Even still, Katsuki didn’t really want to hear it. Did Shinso not think he was suffering as well? That they were all reeling at the fact of how unprepared they’d been?

He snarled silently, turned as a new face appeared on the large screen. Tsukauchi was sitting at his desk all the way in Japan. Katsuki knew that office, could pick out all the details the camera didn’t show, the dark tint of his walls, the single, uncomfortable chair that sat in front of his desk, the way the room felt oppressive and heavy in an uncomfortable way.

“Evening, Inspector!” Rai leaned in front of their computer and waved. “Thanks for being available to speak with us.”

“Of course, Captain,” Tsukauchi clearly scanned his screen. “Everyone doing okay? Psyche? Bakugo?” Katuski grimaced deeply and Shinso sighed heavily, the inspector looking a bit sheepish at the reaction. “Suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. So. Should we get started? We have a couple of things to go over.”

“What things?” Katsuki demanded with a snap of his teeth.

“Progression on the Father case,” Rai said as they slid into a seat across from him. “Specifically to do with what’s been going on the past couple of days. With you, and Father coming through your phone. How that could have happened.”

Katsuki turned this information over carefully, then sat back. “Izuku should be here.”

Nobody moved. Except… was Shinso smiling ever so slightly?

Tsukauchi shifted in his chair, which squealed loudly. “Bakugo, this is sensitive information.”

“Yeah, so? You think Izuku’s going to turn around and tell Father? Sell the info to a broker?” He crossed his arms over his chest, dipped his chin. “We’re not going further until Izuku gets here. He deserves to know what’s going on. It concerns him as much as it concerns me.”

Again, there was silence, brisk and uncertain, until Shinso pushed his chair out. “I’ll go get him,” he said simply. Once he was gone, Katsuki refused to speak or move, despite Tsukauchi asking him some stupid question about what the doctors had said, what his prognosis was. He could wait until the omegas arrived.

And indeed, they did wait until the door opened again and Izuku’s scent trickled into the room. Katsuki lifted his head, watched as his omega pulled the chair out next to him to sit. He was watching the screen, Tsukauchi returning his gaze and nodding to him.

“Midoriya. How are you doing?”

“Not very well,” Izuku muttered, his hand searching for Katsuki under the table. His fingers landed on the alpha’s knee and he squeezed, whether in gratefulness or fear, Katsuki couldn’t tell.

Tsukauchi nodded, a sort of sympathetic bob of his head. “I can understand. We wanted to give everyone an update on what we have found,” he moved quickly on, without letting Izuku talk. Probably smart on his part. Katsuki saw the flinch in Izuku’s lip, the word everyone sliding along his tongue, along with a few other choice words. Tsukauchi kept his attention off of Izuku, gesturing vaguely at the screen, to where Rai sat. “Captain Rai and their team did a fantastic and timely investigation into what happened and how and we wanted to reassure you that everything is under control now. Captain?”

Rai nodded, reached into their pocket, and drew out a wickedly curved blade, a bit like a shuriken. They placed it on the table between everyone, as if its presence explained everything. It had three barbed ends but there was no blood Katsuki could see on it, which hopefully meant it hadn’t been used to kill anyone.

Still, Katsuki unwound his arms and placed one across Izuku’s lap. Izuku took his hand, intertwining their fingers. They communicated through this, an “I’ve got you,” from Katsuki, an “I’m okay,” from Izuku.

“This,” Rai nodded toward the blade, “was found stuck into the floor of the helicopter that brought all of you here. Probably from the villain attack. We recovered it, but didn’t think anything of it. That was our mistake.” They pushed away from the table and stood, glancing once between Katsuki and Izuku before continuing. “There was a computer in the weapon capable of connecting to the I-Island intranet. Father used this connection to gain access to nearly every device connected to our intranet, which is how he was able to contact Bakugo. Your phone was connected to our intranet, allowing him access to it. We missed this crucial piece of evidence. This was our fault, and I am truly sorry for what our mistake has caused you.” Rai bowed to them as they said their apology, deep and remorseful and true.

And still, Katsuki couldn’t help but to tense up, to fell his teeth grinding against one another. “I… could have hurt my pup. I could have hurt another child. Father had wanted me to hurt my mate.”

“I know,” Rai bowed a little deeper. “I truly am sorry. We should have caught this. But we didn’t.”

“How?” Was what Izuku asked, which was a valid question but Katsuki was almost too angry to listen.

“We weren’t expecting an attack. We were overwhelmed. We were more focused on your immediate safety and health, especially with how badly Midoriya was doing. We should have put more attention into making sure there were no further threats.”

“For a second you made it seem like it was my mate’s fault,” Katsuki snarled, refusing to back down even when Izuku muttered his name.

Rai shook their head, “No. It was completely our fault. We were not prepared. That’s on us and us alone. But I hope you’ll listen to the rest of what we have done and are doing since finding the intrusion.”

Katsuki ground his teeth together, lifting his lips only enough to growl, “Speak.”

Rai paused, then cautiously rose but did not take their seat. “We’re in the process of purging all of our systems. Any access point that we have found we have closed off. Once everything has been reset, we’ll be able to pinpoint any additional access points to be able to shut them immediately. For your safety, as well as the safety of every person on this island, we will work tirelessly to restore the integrity of the system. Once we have, there’s no way for Father to gain access to any device that could project his voice and endanger you, Bakugo, or any other member of your family.”

“What’s the ETA on that being done?” Katsuki demanded.

“Overnight for most systems. There are ancillary systems that will take some time due to intricacies of programs they are tied to, but all systems you interact with on a day-to-day basis will be safe in the next couple hours,” Rai spoke confidently, which was a bold thing to do.

Katsuki peeled his lips back, making sure to show every single one of his teeth. “You better be right.”

Rai nodded gravely. “If I’m not, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Better be,” Katsuki snarled, though he couldn’t ignore when Izuku made an irritated huffing noise at him. He let his snarl fade away, but not the anger in his chest. They could have stopped this. They should have stopped this.

And yet, as easy as it was for him to be able to blame someone else, anyone else, for what had happened, he couldn’t forget that he was the person to raise his hands against the pups. That Father had gained access through Rai and the security team’s negligence, but Katsuki had been the actual perpetrator. As soon as Father found a way, this situation would have happened. And it could have been worse. Much worse.

He took in a breath, held it, squeezed Izuku’s hand.

“This has all been communicated to us,” Tsukauchi stepped into the conversation as if he were trying to sneak around a pit of snakes. “We’ve been keeping track of Father from this side of things. Luckily, he has a very distinct signature online. It’s been hard to trace back, but we’ve seen this signature enough to recognize it.”

“Must be Etsu,” Izuku muttered, putting a hand to his chin. He narrowed his eyes, thinking quickly, not looking up even when Tsukauchi spoke.

“Yes, we believe so. Based on your accounts of her, we believe she must be using the same tablet she possessed the day you met her. It might be that her Quirk is connected only to it.”

“Lame,” Katsuki grumbled. “Couple of years pass and my entire computer is outdated. She can’t be using state of the art tech if she can only use that one tablet.”

“It’s been a benefit to us so far. We’ll take whatever we can,” Tsukauchi said. “Since Rai and their team found the breach, there’s been increased traffic from what we believe is Father. He’s panicking. It’s a good sign.”

Right. A good sign. Or something. Katsuki wasn’t sure if he trusted anything Tsukauchi said was good, short of him finding and arresting Father. After all that had happened, how could he?

“So what else are you doing?” Katsuki pressed.

At this, Tsukauchi paused, his eyes clearly flicking to Izuku. The omega was still mulling over something, but he tilted his head toward the screen, clearly paying attention. Seeing this, the inspector chewed at the inside of his cheek, and opened his mouth, “There’s a compound we’ve found that was associated with some experiments carried out by All for One several years ago. Tsuda,” he paused when Izuku lifted his head, “mentioned that a sister of his continued some of those experiments. Yumi, we assume, though we don’t have concrete proof. Although Tsuda has been in jail for several years, even if they aren’t working out of the compound anymore, we might be able to find something they left behind, at the least.”

“Tsuda is… talking to you?” There was more than just hesitation in Izuku’s voice. Katsuki wondered if he was thinking about laying in a car trunk, alone, scared, hurt. He drew a hand up Izuku’s thigh, saying again, “I’ve got you.”

“Talking is a loose term,” Tsukauchi intertwined his fingers, not quite looking at the screen. “There is a lot of hesitancy, but he’s starting to open up a little. We’re getting things from him little by little. We’re hoping to make more progress soon. He could be the key to finding and stopping Father. We’re in desperate need for new leads and at this point, Tsuda is our best bet. It’s either him, or someone else drops the answers to all our questions on my desk.”

Izuku nearly shot out of his seat.

Katuski hadn’t been expecting Izuku to react at all. And yet, he drew back so suddenly that he just about threw Katsuki’s hand in the air. Even Shinso startled at the sudden movement, everyone turning toward Izuku, not knowing what had just happened. Izuku stared back, his jaw locked in an almost-snarl, his eyes wide, wide, almost unseeing.

Katsuki wrapped an arm around Izuku’s waist, hushing him. “It’s all right. He can’t hurt you.”

Izuku jolted again, cut a glance at Katsuki, then quickly away. “R-right… right.”

Tsukauchi paused. He seemed to think very carefully, then said, “That’s enough for tonight. We’ll update you once things have been secured on I-Island. And it’s late anyway. We’ll be in touch very soon with everyone, okay?” This time, Tsukauchi nodded toward Izuku, deliberately including the omega in the discussion.

Everyone waited for Izuku to react, to say something, but he just kept staring at the table, as if he hadn’t heard a word said to him. When the silence grew a little too long, Rai broke it with a careful, “Thank you, Inspector. Was there anything you wanted to ask? Midoriya?”

Izuku stilled at the call of his name, then quickly shook his head. Katsuki could almost hear his mate’s heart starting to pound. What was wrong?

“It’s all right,” he whispered again, pulling Izuku’s hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles. Izuku met his gaze, but only briefly.

Something was definitely wrong.

“I’ll leave the rest to you for now, Captain,” Tsukauchi was saying, though Katsuki paid him very little mind. He had no interest in niceties and goodbyes. He needed things to start resolving. He needed to know what was bothering Izuku mostly. Was it just the mention of Tsuda? No. It couldn’t be just that. Then what? What had Tsukauchi said that had made the omega so nervous?

When Katsuki glanced back up, the inspector was gone and Rai was shutting their computer. “Oh,” they said, turning back to the couple, “before I go, I’ll need your phone, Midoriya.”

Again, Izuku stilled, shrinking back when Rai held out their hand. “Why?”

“It could be compromised,” Rai took their hand back slightly, smiled. “We’ll check it over, make sure it’s okay, then return it to you, okay? Unfortunately, it’s probably the biggest threat to Bakugo’s safety at the moment, since Father’s proven he can use phones to make contact with you.”

“Right. Okay. Yeah.” Still, Izuku hesitated. Long enough that Katsuki kissed his knuckles again, and only then did Izuku dig his phone out and place it into Rai’s open palm.

“Thank you. We’ll make sure it’s safe and return it to you as soon as we can,” Rai dipped their head again. “I’ve kept you three long enough tonight. Plus, who knows what the pups have been up to while we’ve kept you here. Please. Enjoy your night as much as you can. Anything in the house is yours to use. The tub is quite luxurious, and large enough to accommodate, uh, any—”

“Stop,” Shinso spoke loudly, loud enough to drown out Rai. “Don’t encourage them. They can go look at the tub themselves and figure out what they can and can’t do in it. Have a good night.”

Rai smirked. “Very well. Good night.” They nodded again to Izuku, who had been shaken out of his daze by the implication of Rai’s statements on the tub. He watched as the security captain took their leave, with Shinso following after them, muttering something along the lines of a good night to the couple.

Izuku got up, stumbled over his own chair, already fading back into whatever thoughts had taken him over. Katsuki held out his hand, but the omega didn’t even notice, slipping out of the room.

Something was very, very wrong.

Out in the main room, Shinso was seeing Rai out the front door and Katsuki would have expected Izuku to do the same, but the omega instead was standing a few feet away, a hand pressed again to his chin. Whatever he was thinking about was consuming him. Something important enough to not see Rai out. Izuku was a manners stickler. Even when he was particularly upset with his guests. He’d never not seen a guest out the front door before. This was a first. And it wasn’t a very encouraging first.

Katsuki sucked at his canine, stepped forward. He slid an arm around the omega’s waist, growling quietly. Even then, Izuku didn’t move, still thinking.

“Deku,” Katsuki growled.

“No,” Izuku muttered.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” The response was quick, a reflex.

What was wrong? He had to figure it out. Fix it. Something was so wrong.

Katsuki leaned into Izuku, pressed his lips to his forehead, whispered, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his answer. But there was a hitch in his voice. A slight give. Izuku looked up, smiled, but it never reached his eyes. “I’m okay. Don’t worry too much.”

Before Katsuki could respond, Izuku pecked him on the cheek and glanced toward the staircase, muttering something about how they should check on the pups. Katsuki did not move, keeping his omega close, close enough to feel the rapid beating of his heart. He stood there, unmoving, holding Izuku, in stark realization of something that had his inner alpha writhing, not knowing what to do.

Izuku had a secret.

Chapter Text

Izuku was more than just a little worried.

Did Tsukauchi know? Did Rai? Katsuki? Were they all just waiting for him to make a mistake? Waiting for the chance to arrest him? Had Katsuki pleaded his case and they were waiting now for him to act on the data? To either give it up or continue his criminal activity?

And Anon! If they were purging the system, resetting it as Rai had put it, would he be okay? Would he be found? What if he was? Would he give up Izuku? Would he get away? Could he get away? The systems on the island were all closed circuit. That was the point of Father’s intrusion being so dramatic. There was nowhere for Anon to run.

Not for the first time that night, Katsuki practically yanked the omega to his side and whispered, “Deku.” He’d given up on asking what was wrong. But he could tell. Izuku wasn’t being subtle. And even if he was, Katsuki would know. He always knew. At least he wasn’t pushing anymore.

“I’m sorry. I’m just tired.” It was a pathetic line to fall back onto, but one that was at least convincing. He was pregnant after all. And Katsuki had attacked their pup. And it was late. The alpha could at least pretend to believe that, couldn’t he?

But no, Katsuki simply grimaced and let Izuku slip from his arm. Izuku did feel bad, knowing the alpha was worried about him, that every time Katsuki was around him he was picking up on the tension in his mate and responding in kind. Katsuki needed to be resting and Izuku was practically driving him mad with anxiety.

He channeled that anxiety into cooking dinner, which he scrounged together after raiding the kitchen. The promise of food did calm Izuku somewhat, at least. Despite everything going on, he was ravenously hungry. Probably the pup’s fault.

When Katsuki started rummaging through the kitchen, Izuku tried to sneak off, but his mate called him back, “Deku, come sit here.” Magically, he produced a chair and set it in the corner of the kitchen.

“Why?” Izuku flinched when he said it, the word more of a dismissal than a question.

Katsuki turned to consider Izuku, then glanced to make sure they were alone. “Because I miss you.” Another pang of pain shot through him, welding him to the spot, even when Katsuki turned back to cooking. “Just want to be with you for a while.”

“Okay.” Another useless word. Izuku shuffled his feet, freeing them from the ground, and went to sit. Katsuki had rolled in one of the office chairs from the conference room, Izuku letting out a sigh and leaning until the mesh curved along his back, supporting his weight. He didn’t miss the way Katsuki glanced over his shoulder, checking to make sure his omega was comfortable, before turning back to his work.

Izuku wished he had something better to say than just “why” and “okay,” but he was worried if he opened his mouth, confessions about Anon and the data would spew forth. As it was, he’d already given Anon’s name to Amajiki, who luckily was unlikely to mention anything to anyone else. Still, he clearly needed to be a bit more careful.

He just needed a bit more time. He just needed a little more space. He just needed—

“Deku?”

Izuku lifted his head, saw Katsuki was watching him again. “Huh?”

“Tofu sound good?”

“Uh, yes, yeah, anything. Whatever you make will be great.” Izuku realized he was wringing his hands and quickly shoved them into lap. Not that it mattered. Wasn’t a secret that he was hiding something, that something was wrong. Katsuki already knew. Maybe him trying to hide it just made things worse. Izuku reached for something, anything, to say, but his mouth was dry and his mind was consumed.

What about the data? What about Anon? What about Father?

And what did that leave for his family?

He was going to lose it all. If he told Tsukauchi about the data, admitted his part in Anon’s plan, they would lock him up. So he had to wait. At least get through the data and glean whatever useful information there was to find there, hand that over at the same time he handed himself in. He just had to hope at this point that the police weren’t onto him, that they weren’t waiting for him to go to his lab and open that data, weren’t waiting for him to give them an excuse to arrest him.

Kazue would have to grow up without him for a while. He’d have the pup in jail and Katsuki would figure out a way to take care of them. Probably with the pack. After that, well…

The number two hero in Japan couldn’t have a criminal as a mate and partner.

“You know I’ve been thinking,” Katsuki’s voice struck through everything, a spark of light that Izuku grasped onto without thinking. He needed that light. He needed the warmth that Katsuki gave him.

Gods, he was pathetic, wasn’t he?

“Could use an upgrade or two here soon,” Katsuki was saying, the words picking at another part of Izuku’s brain, one that had also been working, though on more mundane tasks like wind paths and vocal ranges, on handling of explosive materials. It kicked on enough for Izuku to raise his gaze, to watch as Katsuki worked a chef’s knife on a cutting board, chopping ingredients and piling them neatly. The alpha’s eyes remined on his task, but not for one second did Izuku think he was only focused on that task. Katsuki might be watching his knife. But his attention was solely on Izuku. “Been starting to feel problems during drawn out combat. Getting a little dizzier than usual keeping up to speed on my movements. Gets much worse, could start really affecting my balance and that would be a huge problem.”

Hmm. He was right. Katsuki was highly mobile, much more than many other heroes. It was part of what made him so dangerous. He was powerful and fast and nimble enough to be handy in a variety of situations against a myriad of foes. Him starting to feel dizzy during battles would be a problem.

“Might be your inner ear. Usually that’s where balancing problems come from, especially if you’re starting to feel dizzy or nauseous. You use so many spinning moves to increase and keep your momentum that it was only a matter of time before it started wearing down on you. You are getting older, after all.” He said this last line with a bit of a smirk and watched as Katsuki’s knife cut a little harder and his teeth set his jaw. “Anyway, it is a problem we should get ahead of.”

“Something you can do about it, then?” There was still a bit of annoyance in the way Katsuki’s teeth didn’t quite open as he spoke.

Izuku considered the quandary, then shrugged. “Biology like that isn’t my strongest suite. I’d want to consult with an expert. But you do have an interesting opportunity with your headpiece. Since it already wraps around your ears, I think it would be possible to install a stabilizing type device to try to keep you from getting too dizzy. In the meantime, we do have a quick fix for if you find yourself in a fight.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“Seasickness patches.” Katsuki turned and gave Izuku a look, the omega simply shrugging and adding, “It’s mostly the same problem. Being on a ship offsets your inner ear and makes you dizzy and sick.”

Katsuki clucked his tongue like he didn’t believe a word Izuku said, but made no further comments. Instead, he tossed most of the vegetables into the pan he had been heating up, the fragrant aroma of ginger and garlic filling the air as the oil sizzled against the raw vegetables. Izuku sat back a little more, watching Katsuki, letting his brain work over the problems in front of him. There was so much to think about, but the rising smell of food was distracting him.

He was pretty hungry, after all.

The distraction was welcome; it helped Izuku set aside what was worrying him, let him notice the way Katsuki leaned with his hips to grab some salt, the way he shifted backward and his calves bulged to catch his weight, the way his shoulders rippled as he worked the pans in front of him. It had only been a couple of days, but Izuku could tell the alpha had been starting to get back to the gym, the way his muscles flickered and flinched in exhaustion, the way his body moved confidentially around a kitchen he had never seen before, the way he was starting to fill back up, little by little. It would take Katsuki a long time to get back to what he had been at before. But he would get there. He was already starting on the path.

Izuku could almost forgive the off-blond of his hair as he watched his alpha moving, felt a pull below his stomach, a hunger for something more than just the food Katsuki was cooking.

That feeling cooled as Kazue and Hikaru skidded into the kitchen, no doubt summoned by the smell of dinner.

True to his nature, Kazue asked, “Food?” and Izuku couldn’t help but to laugh.

- - -

Dinner was nice. It was nicer than he deserved. He made sure to enjoy every second, from the way Katsuki couldn’t seem to keep his hand off of him under the table, to the way Kazue and Hikaru talked back and forth as if this were a completely normal meal. The only thing that was slightly off, just a step out of tune, was the distracted way Hitoshi kept missing his bowl, his chopsticks dipping just slightly to the side, his eyes never quite dropping to watch what he was doing. Izuku wondered what he was thinking about, but was afraid of what the answer might be. Did he also know about Anon and the data? Hitoshi had always been more up front with him when it came to the secrets the heroes kept. Was that why he couldn’t look Izuku in the eye? Was he hiding something now? Was he in trouble for encouraging Izuku?

Just as Hitoshi seemed to avoid him throughout the meal, Izuku did the same.

Katsuki’s cooking, as ever, was wonderful and comfortable. He had a style that Izuku could pick out after years of eating his food, bold and flavorful. Even just racking together random things he’d found in the pantry, he’d made something that was entirely his style, very much something he would have made at home. With the house around them feeling so much like the packhouse, Izuku could almost close his eyes and imagine the chairs around them filled, that the pups’ conversation was magnified to encompass several other pups, that Katsuki was drawing him closer to keep him from sitting too close to another alpha in his pack – probably Todoroki. He had a thing about not liking Todoroki sitting too close to Izuku, despite the alpha being happily mated and married to Yaoyorozu.

He could almost imagine it.

But when he opened his eyes, he was back in an unfamiliar house sitting with just Kazue and Hikaru talking, Hitoshi looking sullen across the table, and Katsuki not drawing him close in a possessive sort of way, but because he could tell Izuku was hurting and he was doing his damnedest to try to help. It was all wrong. All of it.

“How’s the food?” Katsuki asked. He never asked such questions.

Izuku chewed at a piece of tofu, which was crispy and burst with salty, savory flavors when he bit into it. “Good,” he said. He couldn’t think of the words to describe it.

Katsuki took in his rather lackluster review and glared down at his bowl.

After dinner, they sent the pups to bed. It was late and it had been an eventful day, even if the pups refused to acknowledge it as such, going on as if Katsuki had not attacked them only hours earlier. At first the pups had chosen a bedroom that had two beds in it to share, though both Izuku and Katsuki had adamantly told them to pick separate rooms. In the end, Izuku and Katsuki had chosen a rather spacious room with a huge bed that sat between two smaller bedrooms with smaller beds. Kazue took the bedroom on the left and Hikaru on the right. With Izuku and Katsuki between them, they could hope to stop any shenanigans from happening.

Hitoshi, as he’d said earlier, took the bedroom at the top of the stairs and was therefore a couple of rooms away from them, another bedroom and a bathroom. He slipped into his room the same time the pups did, leaving Izuku and Katsuki alone.

Izuku curled up in a huge, poofy chair sat around the fireplace, which Katsuki had turned on earlier. It was gas powered with no need for wood replacements but still burned beautifully and with a subtle warmth that Izuku soaked in. Although Kazue had felt a lot like a space heater sitting under his skin when he’d been pregnant with the pup, this pup felt like it was draining the heat from Izuku, raising gooseflesh along his skin and making him want to shiver. With the fire going and the huge, plush cushions of the chair, which fit up and around his body as if he were swimming in down blankets, he was cozy and warm and should have felt incredibly wonderful.

But his mind had started spinning again. He couldn’t let himself just relax and enjoy it.

He sat there, biting his lip over everything that had to be done, everything that could happen before dawn the next morning, until a wine glass was suddenly shoved under his nose. He picked up on soft notes of citrus from the glass, the liquid within golden in color, bubbly like champagne.

Katsuki stood above Izuku, holding another glass in his other hand. He urged Izuku to take the drink with a raised eyebrow but Izuku frowned.

“Uh, Kacchan. I’m pregnant, remember? No alcohol.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Katsuki shook the glass. “It’s non-alcoholic. You know I don’t drink alcohol either.”

Right.

Izuku took the glass. “Sorry.”

Katsuki glanced him over, searching, scouring, trying to peel away all the walls that Izuku had been painstakingly putting up. If anyone could see through it all, it was Katsuki. So Izuku focused on his drink, on the notes of orange, bright and poppy, like the bubbles clinging to the sides of the glass. He tried not to pay attention as Katsuki said in a nearby chair, as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“You’re scared.”

The declaration nearly made Izuku choke. He cut a glance to Katsuki, then away. “What makes you say that?”

“You think it’s not obvious?” Katsuki threw back his drink in one go. “You’re scared. I get why. Just wish you’d come out and say it.”

Izuku felt as if his heart were going to collapse inward. He breathed, again, didn’t quite find enough air to fill his lungs.

Of all the people around him, telling Katsuki about Anon was his safest bet. Katsuki was his mate, his partner, and moreover had always protected him. Out of everyone, even with such a confession laid before him, Katsuki would do anything he could to make this as painless as possible for Izuku. He wouldn’t want the omega to suffer.

Izuku swallowed, took in a breath, gathering the right words for what to say, stopped when Katsuki laughed under his breath. “I mean, I get it. Number two hero in the country being used as a weapon by some psychopath to hunt me down? Would be intimidating.”

Oh. Right. Right. Right….

“Right,” Izuku whispered, drowning the confession in another drink. He couldn’t taste anything this time around, no pops of orange, no subtle lemon, nothing.

Whether Katsuki noticed or not was hard to say, as he simply continued on, “I’m sorry this is happening. I’m sorry you have to think of me as the enemy.”

“You’re not the enemy.” They had had this conversation before, of course, but Izuku found it a much easier conversation than the one he’d been preparing for. “And I’m not afraid of you, Katsuki. I already told you.”

“Might not be afraid for yourself,” Katsuki grumbled, “which is foolish, by the way, but I know you’re scared. I can see it.”

Yeah. He was scared. There was no hiding that.

Again, the confession bubbled up, Izuku having a hard time swallowing it back down. He didn’t say anything. Just let the conversation trail off. Offered no comfort. Why was he having such a hard time saying something now, when Katsuki needed it? How had it been so easy only a few hours earlier?

After a while, Katsuki sighed. “Well. We still have that appointment with the scent specialist in the morning. Maybe she’ll have an idea on how to fix all this.”

Oh yeah. He’d forgotten about that. Thinking on it, Izuku remembered how Yumi had used scent as the primary tool to brainwash Katsuki. If anyone could help break him out of this, it would be this specialist.

Of course, she didn’t have the knowledge Izuku did. She had no idea that’s what had happened to the alpha, why he was so easily triggered by scent and sound. If she knew, she might have an easier time of it. If someone told her, she might be able to save Katsuki.

Izuku realized he was laughing before he actually heard the sound. He stopped, glanced to Katsuki. The alpha was watching him, his eyes narrowed. Alarm was not something that came easily to Katsuki. It disguised itself as disgust or annoyance. But Izuku could tell. He’d startled the alpha.

“I, uh—” he cleared his throat, nearly jumped up. “I need sleep.”

Katsuki tilted the glass in his hand. Izuku wanted to get up and leave, but Katsuki was watching him with those fiery eyes of his, his gaze intent, pinning him in place. As an alpha, Katsuki did not exercise his more alpha tendencies very often. Yes, he was loud and aggressive and possessive, but any secondary gender could be. No, Katsuki did not use alpha commands often, nor did he try to overpower people with his scent – unless he was trying to do some very specific things in the bedroom with Izuku – nor did he use his very alpha presence to control others. But in that moment, Izuku swore Katsuki was holding him in place with a command in his glare.

Stay. Tell me what’s wrong.

Izuku wanted to. He wanted to tell him so badly. Why couldn’t he just tell him?

“Katsuki,” the word managed to slip out and Katsuki cocked an eyebrow up. He dipped his chin in a way that made the firelight flash over his skin, that made him glow a little, made the shadow deepen the arches of his eyebrows, the set of his jaw.

Again, Izuku swallowed, but for an entirely different reason. Why did Katsuki have to look so damn good when he was busy having a mental breakdown?

He cleared his throat again, but the words melted away when Katsuki’s lips turned up in a smirk, a smirk that firelight took hold of and simmered under the heat of the flames. Katsuki set his glass down and stood, sliding closer to Izuku, leaning over him.

“You need something, omega?” The alpha let a bit of a snarl into his question.

Izuku swallowed for a third time, somehow already choking with saliva. “I, uh… this isn’t a good idea. There are pups right upstairs.”

“So?”

“So. What if they came down?”

Katsuki tipped his head forward, clicked his tongue along his teeth. Izuku saw it flash in his mouth, a bit of pink along one shining, pointed canine. “Well then we should take this conversation to our room.”

“Our room is between the pups. They’ll hear us.”

“Then you’ll just have to be quiet now won’t you?” Katsuki had such a way of touching Izuku, a way of passing his hand along just the right spot in just the right way. His hand smoothed down Izuku’s arm, to his thigh, a little inward. “Tell me what you want, omega. Tonight, I’ll hang the moon for you if that’s what you say. Give your command. I’m yours.”

Izuku sucked in a bit of breath. Well. Opportunity like this didn’t come around very often. And having a mental breakdown was about as productive as spending a night with Katsuki. So may as well enjoy it, right?

“Room. Now.”

Quick as a flash, Katsuki scooped Izuku up and carried him up the stairs. On the way, Izuku wrapped his arms around the alpha’s neck and kissed at his throat demandingly, growling until he felt Katsuki’s palms heating up, until the alpha was growling back at him. Their bedroom door opened, closed, and Izuku was suddenly laying on the bed. An unfamiliar bed. Not that he gave one care at that moment.

Because in that moment, Katsuki was crouched over him. “What’ll it be, omega? You want me?”

“Mmm,” Izuku purred with his teeth bared, “you don’t get it that easy, alpha. You’ll have to please me first.”

“Aren’t you sassy,” Katsuki slid a hand up Izuku’s shirt, his palm still warm. “All right then, omega. Take your clothes off.”

Izuku lifted his hands over his head. “You do it.”

He pulled his leg along Katsuki’s body, until the alpha snapped out, snagged the cuff of his pant in his teeth.

Oh yes. This wasn’t what he was expecting to end the night on. But hell if he wasn’t going to enjoy it.

Katsuki drew back slowly, dragging Izuku’s pants down his waist, to his hips, where they got snagged. Katsuki snarled a little, more so when Izuku twirled his ankle teasingly. “C’mon, alpha.”

With a bit of a growl, Katsuki hooked a finger in the belt loop of Izuku’s jeans, tugging them down a bit more forcefully. Izuku did help kick them off a little as Katsuki struggled to get them off his ankles, calling him back with a purr, the alpha growling to meet him, leaned over him again. He took a moment to nuzzle his nose along the stretching skin of Izuku’s belly before slipping a little lower, biting the hem of the omega’s boxers and yanking them sharply down. He didn’t even wait to pull them completely off. As soon as he could, Katsuki pressed his mouth right into Izuku’s crotch, the omega startling and yelping at the sudden rush that surged through him.

Katsuki laughed, the vibrations making Izuku see stars. “Watch your volume, omega.”

Oh. That was how this was going to be. He’d do anything Izuku said. But he would also be working to make Izuku loud. If they woke the pups up, too bad.

Izuku bit hard at his lip, drew a hand up so he could bite his fist if he needed to. “You’re the worst,” he hissed, then his back arched as Katsuki’s tongue flicked over his skin. “Do it again.”

- - -

Katsuki spent himself and passed out soon after they had finished and cleaned up. Izuku lay with him for a long time, feeling the glow and the warmth of their time together. Katsuki had served him every way he could have wished for. But even that couldn’t keep away the thoughts, the fears.

So eventually, Izuku got up. He slipped from Katsuki, from the room, out into the hallway, where he remembered the pups were right there, just a few steps away, and hurried into the bathroom. The bathroom was spacious, but smaller than the one at the packhouse. This one inconsistency was just another reminder of where he was, that he wasn’t home, that things weren’t what they were meant to be.

Izuku flipped on the lights and went to the sink, running the tap. Water gushed forward, the noise filling up the room. Even it couldn’t drown out the whirling thoughts in his head. He bent over the sink, focusing on breathing, in and out, slow and steady, in and out. But the running water could not drown out what was drowning him from inside. Even a night with Katsuki wasn’t enough to keep it away.

I have to tell him. There was no other choice. He was going to go mad if he just sat there, doing nothing. They’d throw him in a mental institution rather than jail at least. Or… maybe that was worse?

Izuku bit hard at his lip, almost wishing for the salty taste of his own blood, when a noise poked through the rushing water and the rushing thoughts. A soft ping. Like an alert on a phone. He reached for his pocket, remembered he didn’t have a phone, and looked up.

In the corner of the mirror, there was a text box. A no-kidding, social media-approved text chat. There were only a few words written, but Izuku read them over and over.

Hey. You doing okay?

He’d already gone crazy. It was too late for him. He was imagining text boxes in the mirror. He glanced over his shoulder, but there was no floating message box behind him. Which, of course there wouldn’t be. The words would have been reversed in the mirror if they’d been reflections. Somehow, that did not make him feel better.

There was only one explanation, other than him simply losing it, to what he was looking at. So Izuku blinked, said out loud, “Anon?”

Which was stupid. Because how could a mirror hear him? How could a mirror communicate with him at all? He glanced for a keyboard somewhere and felt all the more ridiculous for it.

Until, that is, a response popped up, You got it. What gave it away?

That was a stupid question. Only Anon would know how to make text appear on a mirror. But no, Anon didn’t control mirrored surfaces. Just electronics. Which meant—

“Are you serious?” Izuku tapped at the mirror, recoiling when it sounded much more solid than it should have been. “There’s a computer in the mirror?”

Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are! He could hear Anon laughing through the message.

“Why the hell does anyone need a mirror with a chat function?” Or a computer. Of any kind.

A slight pause, then Anon replied, Poor scientists need someone to tell them they’re pretty?

It was ridiculous in the best way and despite it all, Izuku did bark out a laugh, once, powerful, nearly knocking him to his knees.

When he looked up, Anon had written again, The mirror contains a microphone and is programed to respond to basic inquiries. Ask it how it thinks you’re looking.

Izuku did not want to know what a mirror thought about how he looked, sex-dazed and half-mad. “How do I look?”

A series of lights echoed around the edge of the mirror and a new message popped up: Could use a good brush of your hair!

“Hey!” Izuku crossed his arms. “Anon.”

Wasn’t me. Swear. But totally agree with Mr. Mirror there.

He was having a conversation with a vigilante inside a mirror, a mirror that had just insulted his hair styling. Well, that day was just full of surprises. The fact that he was still being taken aback by it all was the more surprising part of this situation.

“Anyway,” he pressed, “are you okay? Rai said they were purging the system.”

Oh yeah, fine here. Just hopped out and wandered around town while they were resetting things.

That was right. Anon had a physical form. He wasn’t confined to computers.

Izuku gripped the edge of the sink. There were other things he wanted to ask. But he was afraid. Afraid of the questions, afraid of the answers. Afraid of what it all meant. But maybe if he asked, it would silence some of the voices, some of the things swirling around his head.

Maybe this was better than confessing to Katsuki. Maybe it was worse. But if it could help, even a little, Izuku found himself grasping desperately for it, his tongue forming the words before he’d quite decided if he wanted to ask, “Anon. Do you know what’s been going on? With Katsuki? With Father getting into the system? With how the security team is working to shut him out? Did you get those questions I sent you earlier?”

One at a time, Midoriya! Give me a sec to answer, ya? Izuku wrinkled his nose, but he bit his tongue, waiting for the answers. Okay, yes, I did get your questions. Got everything organized in the lab for when you get back there. Also fixed up that spill you had (and yes, I do know what’s been going on with Father and all that, but I’ll get to that). Everything’s ready for when you get a chance to see it all. And nobody saw those little messages we had earlier, so don’t worry about security getting a whiff of something going on.

Reading through the message, Izuku shifted uneasily, especially at the ending bit. Anon seemed to think there was nothing wrong. And maybe he’d been worrying over nothing. It wasn’t easy to believe that. How could everything just be fine? There was, however, a spark of hope in those words. Was he just seeing too much in how Rai, Tsukauchi, and Katsuki were acting? Maybe, maybe, maybe….

When he looked back up, Anon had another message waiting, As for getting Father out of here. Yeah, I knew about that. Been working overtime trying to kick them out of the system since we got here. Their person is good, I’ll give them that. Etsu, you said? She’s good. She’s got quite a signature. Does make me think about what you said about her being my sister. Might be.

Anyway. This system reset was tough for her, especially since her little trojan horse was found in that knife. Security got most of her access points, and I cleaned up the others. No need to worry, for now at least. Father’s lost his foothold here. It’ll be hard for him to get it back. Expect he’ll try. But I’m keeping an eye on things.

Izuku read over the messages, reluctantly letting himself think that perhaps they were in a better place than he thought they could possibly be. If what Anon said was true, then Katsuki was safe. Father couldn’t get to him. For now. How long that would last? They couldn’t guarantee anything. All they could do was keep struggling against him. He couldn’t quite get himself to let go yet, and he waited for Anon’s last messages to come through.

I know things have been tough today. Sorry about that. Been trying to protect your alpha’s phone since Father got through the first time but like I said. Etsu’s good. I looked away and she got in, got to him. Tried to interrupt her signal. Worked a little. But was tough while she had infiltrated everything so much. Shouldn’t be a problem anymore though. And if it starts to be again, I’ll do what I can to help him.

“Why?” It was the question that was dominating his thoughts most. The one that kept roaring forward the more Izuku read. The more Anon told him things were being handled, that the vigilante was working behind the scenes to keep them safe, the more Izuku found himself questioning it all. what purpose did he have in doing all this?

It was nerve wracking to wait for Anon’s response. Izuku wasn’t sure what to expect. Wasn’t sure what the vigilante’s excuse would be. When it came through, he held his breath as he read, and felt his body finally giving way, It’s fun to mess with Father. Fun to make things hard for him. Plus, more I work against him, more data I can gather. Stuck a few new things in your folder about where the intrusions were pinging from. Might be useful.

At the end of the day, Anon wasn’t doing this for them. He was doing it to piss Father off. Somehow, it did make Izuku feel a little better. Although it was a bit counterintuitive, knowing someone was working to help them but for their own purposes. Izuku did wonder just how far Anon’s protection would extend. When things got really bad, if they got bad, what would he do?

Not for the first time, Izuku told himself that at the end of the day, he could not trust Anon. Anon was using him. He had to think of the vigilante the same way. He was using Anon to find Father, to stop him.

“Okay,” Izuku breathed out, glanced to the door. “I… should get going. Go to bed. Before Katsuki comes looking for me.”

Probably smart. I’ll be in touch.

“Be safe.” Did Anon wish Izuku to be safe? Well, yes, he did, but only so Izuku could finish looking through the data for him. Once he was no longer beneficial to have around, he wasn’t sure what to expect. For now, he said the words and he meant them. He wished Anon to be safe. They were both in dangerous waters. And he knew that, just as much as Anon did.

Anon replied with an emoji, of all things, a face winking. It flashed along the mirror for a few seconds, then was gone. If someone went into the memory of the mirror, Izuku knew they would find no trace of their conversation. Would even his question to the mirror still be there? Probably not.

Izuku snapped the tap closed, breathed in and out. The conversation with Anon had made him feel a little better. But there was still a lot of uncertainty about it all. Anon didn’t seem to think everyone was none the wiser, but what did he really know? Izuku knew so little about him, about what he did or where he went throughout the day. And obviously the vigilante didn’t know everything, otherwise he would have found and killed Father already. How could he so confidentially say everything was fine when it wasn’t?

Yes, most of it had been good news, good things to hear. But Izuku still felt on a knife’s edge, still balanced precariously between Anon, Father, his family, the security team. Everything. He didn’t know which way he was going to fall yet, but he would undoubtably lose his footing somewhere. The thought of that was more unnerving than anything he’d been thinking about recently.

With his jaw set and his skin crawling with his anxieties, Izuku turned the lights off and went back to his and Katsuki’s room. He wanted to snuggle into the alpha’s chest, to close his eyes and fall into familiar patterns. To pretend things were as they had been before. Though it was harder to remember what that before felt like.

Except, when he opened the door, their bed was empty. Katsuki was gone. Nowhere to be seen. The empty sheets ruffled toward the end of the bed. Izuku glanced around the corners, as if thinking he’d find the alpha crouched in the dark. But no. The room was empty.

Panic started to curl icy fingers around his heart, but Izuku took another breath, turned to Kazue’s room to his right. The pup was curled up in his bed, sleeping soundly. No alpha there either. Katsuki’s scent wasn’t even in the air. So where else could he be? Izuku checked the kitchen, the conference room from earlier in the night, even the bathroom again. He nearly knocked at Hitoshi’s door, though he didn’t know why Katsuki would have gone to the omega so late at night. But he paused, glanced up, to the door to the left of their bedroom. Hikaru’s room.

Holding his breath, Izuku carefully peeled the door back, a faint shaft of light catching the glint of a pair of crimson eyes. Katsuki sat up in Hikaru’s bed, one arm slung behind his head, the other on the beta pup’s back. Hikaru was snuggled up to Katsuki’s side, his little fists clenched, his brow furrowed as if in concentration.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the same time Katsuki gave him a questioning tilt of his head.

“Bathroom,” Izuku whispered.

Katsuki nodded. “Nightmare. You were gone. Heard him crying.”

He nodded, stepped a little closer. To say he was surprised to see Hikaru nestled up with Katsuki would be an understatement. It had only been a few hours since the alpha had outright attacked him and Kazue, and here he was. He’d forgiven Katsuki without so much of a blink of an eye. When Izuku thought about it though, he could make a little sense out of it. His parents were Togata and Amajiki. Neither seemed like ones to hold a grudge. Still, the line of wrinkles in Hikaru’s brow, the way he seemed to be not quite relaxed, did urge Izuku to take another step forward.

“You want to switch? Might be more comfortable with an omega, especially since Amajiki and I both male.” He steered easily away from the easy fruit of saying that Hikaru might feel better with just about anyone else.

Katsuki blinked once, like a lazy cat. The closer Izuku came, the more he realized the alpha’s shoulders were sloped downward, that his face was smooth, that he was reclined and relaxed. More relaxed than Izuku could remember for a long, long time. Certainly since before Father took him. Maybe even several months before that. He looked so comfortable that Izuku wondered if he’d be able to peel himself away.

The alpha did so, but slowly, carefully, shifting around to lessen how much Hikaru was jostled. Izuku slid in right where Katsuki had been, the beta pup pressed into his side, his ear resting in his lap. Izuku stroked his back, paused when he felt Katsuki leaning toward him and tilted his head up to kiss him.

“You going to be okay?” The alpha asked.

“Yeah. I’ll stay with him for a little while then come back to bed.”

“Okay.” Katsuki leaned forward again, to rub along his scent gland, to leave a little peck just under his ear, then turned and quietly left them to rest.

Izuku sighed, leaned back. Hikaru was smaller than Kazue, though not by much, and yet he still felt very different. He was lankier, more compact, still soft where Kazue had started losing his baby fat. It had been a while since Izuku had snuggled with a pup that was not his own. He was a favorite of the pack pups, Fumiko in particular, so much so that especially in those months when Katsuki had been gone, they had piled with him nearly every night he’d spent in the packhouse. Hikaru was not one of the pack pups, but sitting in his bed reminded Izuku of those nights with them, of the very specific warmth and comfort pups afforded, the reassuring, grounded nature of having them nearby, even if they were not his own. Maybe it was just the omega in him, but laying next to Hikaru was intensely comforting.

He let out a sigh, leaned back into the bed, felt as Hikaru shifted a little to be closer to him. As he did, the rushing thoughts finally started to thin, to waver, then to silence. One by one, all his fears began to bleed away, as if seeping into the very mattress he sat on. Izuku shut his eyes and leaned his head back until he met the wall, breathed in and out again, finding more space in his lungs than he ever remembered having.

Which… was weird.

He wasn’t even this comforted with Kazue. Not the pack pups, not any of the other pups he’d been around. So… why Hikaru?

A flicker of understanding shot through Izuku and he glanced down to see Hikaru’s lip had curled upward a little, a smile the pup didn’t realize he was showing. When Izuku looked closely enough, his palms shed a faint glow, as if he were holding fireflies in his fists.

All the times Hikaru had asked Izuku to let him use his Quirk came back in one great rush, but instead of feeling overwhelmed, the omega chuckled quietly. Clever, sly little pup. He’d tricked them. Him and Katsuki. He’d asked plenty of times and now he’d decided to take matters into his own hands, literally.

Izuku stroked a hand up Hikaru’s head, opening his mouth to softly tell the pup off, but paused.

His understanding of Hikaru’s Quirk was admittedly limited to what Kazue and Katsuki had told him about it. But the basics were that Hikaru absorbed several forms of energy, mostly heat and chemical reactions, and redistributed the energy in another form. The pup had trained to control his Quirk with Kazue because he could absorb all forms of Kazue’s explosions, save for the initial wave of smoke, the very first spark. Most of what Izuku had seen Hikaru using his Quirk for had been in relation to Kazue’s explosions and with soda bottles, shaking them up and absorbing the friction and reaction from the carbonation. But that wasn’t the extent of his power. Izuku knew that. Those were just the things he’d seen himself.

Which made him wonder.

How deep, how nuanced, could Hikaru take his Quirk?

Could he… maybe… perhaps… was it possible he could take energy from the chemical reactions happening every day within the human body? Anxiety was just a form of stress and a lot of stress could be boiled down to specific reactions in the body, increased heartrate, increased breathing, the firing again and again and again of certain synapsis in the brain, the reaction of nerves throughout a body.

Hikaru had said he’d done this before, with Amajiki. That he’d made his mom feel better by using his Quirk. Amajiki was highly anxious. What if what Hikaru meant was he was decreasing the very reactions of the stress that effected his mom? Could he really have that much control?

It didn’t seem possible. Something that nuanced and sophisticated felt like it would take years and years and years to accomplish. But… if it was for the sake of his mom? If Hikaru had been thinking about it and working at it since he’d gotten his Quirk, that would be five years of working the problem. Maybe… it wasn’t so farfetched.

And if it was true, this was a special little pup laying next to him.

He remembered Togata asking him to take Hikaru away. He remembered Amajiki asking him to keep him safe. He remembered watching these parents sacrifice. He remembered questioning them, in his most private thoughts, how they could give their child away, send him away, when it seemed Hikaru needed them most? But here was his answer. They’d sent Hikaru away because this pup could mean so much more than just being their child. A Quirk like what he had? It could… do so much. For so many people. They had to protect this little pup, had to make sure he grew up strong and healthy. Because if it was true that he wanted to be a hero, he could be such an amazing hero. He could help so many, enough to live up to his father’s hero name and goal, to rescue a million people, and more.

Kazue, Izuku knew, was special like Hikaru was. There was untapped potential in his own pup that terrified him on his darkest nights. Years earlier, Kazue had said he didn’t want to be a hero. And yet, why did he continue to train as hard as he did? He’d gotten better at using his Quirk, had gotten over much of the fear of using it, had even convinced Katsuki to teach him the basics of how to fight. So what was his plan now? Did he want to be a hero too? The thought swamped Izuku with a warring feeling of pride and terror. He almost didn’t want to know.

At the same time, Izuku knew just how much Kazue could help people. With a Quirk like his, with the leadership and legacy of his father, he could be an amazing hero. He could defend he innocent and defeat the villainous. Like Hikaru, he could be so great. They were a light of hope. A beacon to what could be a bright, wonderful future.

And yet, Father was threatening to tear that apart. Father was coming after them, because of his grudge against Izuku and Katsuki. Their mistakes, their demons, their inability to finish this fight was darkening that wonderful future by the second. And what if something happened to either Kazue or Hikaru? The thought was far too much to bare, not only for himself but for the loss to the rest of the world. The demons of the present were threatening to take away their future. Izuku could not allow that.

They weren’t just fighting for themselves. They were fighting for them. These pups. These precious lights of the future. The ones who would lead on into what they could only work toward and dream would be a better world than theirs. A world without Fathers or Sugawaras or Yokoyamas or All for Ones. A world that was safer, better, greater. A world that could match just how special they were.

Izuku ran a hand along his belly. He wanted that better world for his unborn pup as well, no matter if they were special in the same way Kazue and Hikaru were. He wanted to do what he could to leave them a world worthy of their wonder.

That was a goal worth fighting for, no matter the consequences. He had a chance to finish this fight, to protect these pups, to do his part in for the greater of the world. And he could do it. Let Tsukauchi throw him in jail. If it meant keeping these lights aflame, he could accept that.

Izuku pressed Hikaru a little more into his side, decided not to say anything to him. Let him run himself into exhaustion, let him fade into sleep, and allowed himself to do the same.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke with a start, only to realize there was a pup staring down at him. Hikaru was hunched over a handheld video game, his lips puckered as if in concentration, his look frozen into place as he watched Izuku stir from sleep.

“Morning, Mr. Midoriya,” he cautiously said, as if he were preparing himself to get into trouble.

Izuku groaned, pushed himself up a little, then laid back down. “G’morning… what time is it?”

“Seven-thirty.”

When was their appointment with that specialist? Nine-thirty? Well, he had to get up then. Get up, get dressed, make breakfast if Katsuki wasn’t already doing so. He sat up again with a groan, nodding to Hikaru. “Go take a shower and get dressed. We’ll have breakfast sorted for you, then you and Kazue will have to stay with Hitoshi for the morning. Katsuki and I have an appointment.”

“Okay,” Hikaru jumped out of bed, seemingly relieved at not having been told off, and raced out of the room, then raced back in and rifled through the drawers of his dresser, yanking out some clothes before rushing off again.

Izuku rose languidly, not wanting to greet the morning. With everything that had happened yesterday, a full week’s worth of madness, he was worried about what he could expect that morning, that midday, that afternoon, that evening, that night. Each piece was a new opportunity for disaster to strike and he just wasn’t sure he was prepared to face that again.

The shower was on when Izuku passed the nearest bathroom, Hikaru at least pretending to do what Izuku had told him, while Kazue’s door still shut. Izuku carefully went over and knocked at the door. “Kazue. It’s time to get up.” He creaked the door open, saw as his pup popped his head off his pillow, and how a second, larger body rolled over. Katsuki looked just as dazed as Izuku had felt waking up. The omega and alpha blinked at each other, Izuku eventually telling him, “It’s seven-thirty. Have to get up and get going for our appointment.”

Katsuki growled quietly as Kazue rolled out of bed, going to collect some clothes to also shower for the day. Izuku ruffled his hair as he approached. “Use the bathroom on the other side of the house. Hikaru’s in this one.” Kazue wrinkled his nose but obediently stepped past the occupied bathroom. Seeing both pups to the morning, Izuku turned to Katsuki, who was rubbing his forehead as if to both create and smooth out every single crease his skin was capable of producing. “Everything okay?”

“Yup,” Katsuki growled, “you never came back to bed. Went to check on Kazue. Fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I fell asleep, too.” Izuku tapped the doorknob thoughtfully. “I’ll get breakfast started. You just relax for a moment.”

Even as he spoke, Katsuki pushed himself up. “I’ve got it. Just need to breathe for a second.”

“All right. Don’t push yourself.”

Katsuki growled but when he passed Izuku, he made sure to pause to scent him, to kiss him on the mouth, to linger in that moment, before moving on.

Izuku followed Katsuki down the stairs, finding the kitchen empty but a pot of coffee ready. Hitoshi was up and about somewhere. The house was big enough for him to have squirreled away somewhere, probably as he heard the others waking up. As Katsuki turned to making breakfast, Izuku went in search of the other omega.

The house was so vast and empty that searching through it felt a lot like searching for a needle in a haystack. Hitoshi wasn’t in the kitchen, the dining room, wasn’t lounging in either sitting area, wasn’t working in the offices, wasn’t in his room or any of the other unoccupied rooms, wasn’t using the bathroom, wasn’t anywhere Izuku looked. Izuku stood in the center of the house, wondering if maybe Hitoshi had gone out to the store, realized there was one place he hadn’t looked yet, and went to check it out.

He found Hitoshi sitting on the back porch, staring out over the gardens as if in a daze. The patio furniture included cushioned seats shaded by umbrellas, tiny glass tables, a coal pit for lighting on particularly cold evenings. The gardens were simple but invigorating in only a way a garden could be, all neatly trimmed hedges and perfectly cut grass with parallel lines to mark their recent grooming, small batches of flowers that had bloomed already and were wilting in the summer heat, a pathway of gray gravel that led to a grilling area, wooden picnic table and a coal grill.

It wasn’t anything like Tsu’s gardens at the packhouse or the practically non-existent yard at Izuku’s home; they had built into the already sparse yard when expanding the house, leaving practically nothing but a single strip of grass. In its own way though, the garden was nice, a quiet place, a place to sit back and forget.

And yet, Hitoshi didn’t look like he was forgetting anything. Even as Izuku approached, he stared into the garden, beyond it, staring through the peace and the quiet to somewhere else, something else. When Izuku sat down, Hitoshi tilted his ear toward him, but otherwise gave no reaction he’d noticed the omega join him.

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked.

Hitoshi blinked, once, slowly, as if it were laborious to move even that tiny slip of skin. He sat a little back, let out a sigh, and said, “Three days ago, Denki called me. Dead of the night. Thought something had happened with the pack.” He reached up as if to tangle his hand in his scarf, but he wasn’t wearing it. In fact, it was one of the few times since coming to the island that he wasn’t wearing his hero costume. The morning, he was favoring lounge shorts and a faded T-shirt that was clearly too small for him, probably an old Kaminari shirt. There was a hole worn in the collar where Hitoshi must have reached again and again for the comfort of his mentor’s scarf.

Hitoshi lowered his arm, but his fingers ticked up and down, the smallest of tells that something was wrong. Izuku waited, let him process the words, before he sighed again and said, “One of my students walked off the edge of a building. Dead on impact. Funeral was yesterday.” His hand raised again, this time to scratched at his neck, at his scent gland. Izuku couldn’t pick up Kaminari’s scent on him anymore, just muddled earth and rotten fruit, soured as the words spilled out. “Haven’t been able to say goodbye properly.”

There were no words Izuku knew to say, nothing that could comfort Hitoshi. It was horrific news, the worst anyone could imagine. And for it to come when the teacher was away from Japan, away from U.A., away from his other students, away from all of those who needed him and those whom he needed.

He needed to be off that island, back home.

As much as Izuku wanted to tell Hitoshi to just leave, to catch the next plane off the island, his throat closed up at the thought of it. If something happened, what if he wasn’t enough to stop Katsuki? What if he failed the alpha? Hitoshi was the only other person so far who had broken through Father’s manipulation. He was a safety net that Izuku didn’t want to admit he was clinging to. But he was, holding as tightly as he could, until his heart started bleeding for the very fact he was hurting the omega hero by keeping him away from his students and his mate.

“Sorry,” Izuku said, not for the reason Hitoshi might suspect.

The hero looked out over the gardens, lifted a shoulder. “It’s weird, isn’t it? Thinking about how life is still going on back home. That bad things can still happen when you’re in the middle of dealing with another bad thing.”

Izuku’s throat closed completely, rendering him unable to speak, so he nodded, a tiny little movement.

“If nothing else, I’m hoping for some good news today,” Hitoshi nodded toward the house. “This specialist Bakugo is going to see. Think she really might be able to help him. And once Rai confirms the island’s systems are all back online and Father’s been purged of all his access points, we’ll actually be safe for a little while. Have some much needed rest.”

“Right.” There was no rest for Izuku. He had gear to build and data to sort through and a vigilante to send after Father. His work was just starting.

But Hitoshi was right in one regard. This specialist doctor was their best bet at getting help for Katsuki. Or at least the start of some real help. That was a good thing. In a small, nearly insignificant way.

He thought back, remembered arriving on the island just four days ago and barked out a laugh. Had it really been so little time? Had so much changed, so much happened, in just around one hundred hours?

“It really is a weird world,” Izuku conceded. He paused to watch as Hitoshi nodded, hoping to find a bit of grim joy or a sarcastic laugh at the joke, but there was nothing there to find, the omega hero’s face expressionless. “I know it’s stupid of me to say, but if you need something, anything, you can let me know. I’ll help out in any way I can.”

Hitoshi’s lips thinned. “Get Bakugo better. That’s the best thing you could do for me right now, Zuku.”

“I will,” Izuku nodded, glanced over at movement in the garden. A butterfly fluttered past. It was late in the season to see such things, nor had Izuku thought that I-Island would have bugs or animals other than pets at all, but there it was. It was yellow, tiny, nearly like a ray of sunlight rather than an insect. It perched on the wilted remains of a nearby flower, a sad little reminder that it was far too late to find nutrition, far too late to hope to survive. And yet, as Izuku watched it, the butterfly dug into the petals, through them, shifting the dead, wilted leaves aside, and there found a tiny, radiant spot of health. The flower was still alive. The butterfly fed from it, and would live to see at least to the end of the day, perhaps even to lay its eggs, to see its purpose to its end.

Izuku watched the little butterfly and pressed a hand to his belly, to the pup growing inside of him.

- - -

Katsuki wasn’t a fan of doctors to begin with but something about the scent specialist’s waiting room was really setting the alpha off. No matter how much Izuku leaned on him or murmured to him or otherwise tried to comfort him, Katsuki couldn’t seem to stop silently snarling at every person who walked past. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was irritating him most, but if he had to guess, he would have said it was probably the lavender aromatherapy ball that was sitting at the edge of the receptionist’s desk. Which was really a shame because Izuku was loving the soothing tones that ball was giving off, the smooth, rich floral vapors, the subtle hints of lemongrass. It was beautiful.

For some reason, it made him hungry.

Even though omegas had better scent receptors, alphas were known to be more sensitive overall to the scents and smells of people. They didn’t pick up nearly as much on smells that didn’t originate as a pheromone of some sort. With the aromatherapy ball filling up the space, covering up the scent of every single person in that office, it probably made Katsuki even more uneasy than usual.

Which did beg the question: surely a scent specialist would know something like that would irritate an alpha. So why did she have one in the office?

For as upset as Katsuki was, Izuku found himself growing equally skeptical. On an island of only a few thousand people, this doctor was probably one of only a couple specialists in her field, right? It didn’t take a lot to be the best in a small group of people, even elites such as these doctors should be. Maybe she wasn’t quite prepared to deal with the severity of what was happening.

A nurse came by soon after they arrived and handed Katsuki a clipboard. “Fill that out and once Dr. Han is ready, we’ll take you back. Do either of you speak English? She will need a translator if you don’t.”

They both said they did. Similar to the business world, English was almost necessary in the hero circuit. For heroes, it helped to facilitate communication between the heroes and a wide variety of victims, while those in tangential fields to heroes ended up having to collaborate with people all over the world to keep up with trends and new technology, especially from the central hub of heroes, America. Izuku had learned English as an elective at university while Katsuki had been taught it as part of his hero training. Izuku was a bit more polished than Katsuki, but they both could get their meaning across without much trouble and if necessary, Izuku didn’t mind translating some.

It had never occurred to Izuku that people of many different origins and languages would be on the island; so far they’d only interacted with people who knew Japanese. He wondered if that was on purpose or not.

As the nurse walked away, Izuku peered over Katsuki’s shoulder, saw that the first page was typical paperwork, asking about medicines and prior illnesses, chronic illnesses, and previous severe injuries. Katsuki filled it out with the mundanity of someone who could answer each question without having to read them first.

For as normal as it was, it did remind Izuku of the paperwork Yumi had written up on the alpha, of her “intake” paperwork. He hugged himself closer to the alpha, snuggling into his scent gland even as it jolted Katsuki’s otherwise perfect handwriting.

The next page was more what Izuku would suspect for a scent specialist, asking about his nose and scent capabilities and preferences. Weirdly enough, it also asked about Katsuki’s taste preference and any injuries he’d sustained to his tongue.

Instead of listing out the innumerable times the hero had bitten his tongue during the course of battle, Katsuki simply wrote, “HERO WORK DAMAGE.”

“That’s not an answer,” Izuku chided but Katsuki just growled and moved on.

Once the paperwork was filled out, the nurse came back to retrieve the clipboard and gestured them into the back, where they were corralled not into an examination room but an open space that reminded Izuku of a zendo than anything else. The floor was entire made of tatami mats, there was a water fixture in the corner, and in the center of the room was a raised ring with carefully groomed gravel within, a small, caged firepit burning at its center, a metal shaft taking the smoke up and out through the roof. The room was filled with the smell of the burning smoke, and clearly some added leaves, sage and something else that tickled Izuku’s nose. Katsuki’s grimace deepened as his nose twitched.

The nurse took them to the side where there was a small area like what Izuku would have expected in an examination room, a computer on a desk with several medical instruments for measuring temperature, weight, reflexes, basic eye and ear scopes, and other such devices. Katsuki and Izuku took seats in the corner while the nurse peered down at the paperwork and typed several things in the computer.

As she worked, Izuku cleared his throat. “This is… a little unorthodox?” It was the best way he could say it was the weirdest examination room he’d been in.

“Oh!” The nurse smiled pleasantly. “Dr. Han is here on I-Island studying the effects of scents on certain people with several of the engineers. This is all part of their study!”

Izuku kept his smile in place, but not for one second did he like the fact that Katsuki had been enrolled in whatever experiment the doctor and scientists were conducting. Katsuki seemed to have the same idea, as his snarl became less silent than before, though he stifled it when Izuku elbowed him.

Once the nurse was done, she left, telling them they were welcome to relax wherever they wished. Both Izuku and Katsuki stayed firmly in their seat, in the strange comfort of what they knew of doctor offices, despite there being far more comfortable seating right in front of them. While they waited, Katsuki curled his hand over Izuku’s fingers, drawing his hand up to kiss his knuckles. Izuku squeezed his hand back and leaned against him, purring so quietly the alpha could only feel the slight vibrations in his chest.

They didn’t have to wait long until the door opened again and a widely smiling woman who looked about sixteen years old brushed through the door. Although she was wearing a lab coat, underneath it she was also wearing an American band T-shirt and stretchy black yoga pants. Katsuki looked her up and down and went to growl but Izuku elbowed him again before he could start.

“Hello, hello!” The doctor held out her hand, taking Izuku’s when he offered. “It’s wonderful to meet you two! Dr. Elizabeth Han!”

“Izuku Midoriya. And this is my mate, Katsuki Bakugo.” Katsuki did not offer his hand, even after Izuku had introduced him. “Thank you so much for being willing to help us.”

“Of course! It’s what I do!” Dr. Han popped down into the seat in front of the computer and started clicking the mouse and typing rapidly. “So! I’ve been in touch with Inspector Tsukauchi over in Japan, plus your team of doctors on the mainland, the doctors here on I-Island, all that jazz. All been working real hard to get you back to feeling your best.”

“I feel fine,” Katsuki growled.

Dr. Han smiled over the top of her computer at him then went back to her work without commenting. Izuku couldn’t quite tell if he liked her or not, but he did admire her courage, especially when Katsuki snorted and clicked his teeth and she completely ignored him.

“Today’s going to be about setting baselines and evaluating triggers. I want to get a good picture of you. Once we have that, it’ll be easier to start the actual work.”

“You talk like this isn’t going to be an easy fix,” Katsuki growled.

“It’s not. This is going to be a long process. I haven’t been filled in on all the details, obviously, but I’ve been told enough to get the big picture. You’ve been through something traumatic. It’s not going to be like flipping a switch.” Dr. Han pushed away from the desk and faced them, flipping through the clipboard Katsuki had filled out. “Have you heard of the term cognitive behavioral therapy?”

Katsuki’s brow twitched. “I don’t need therapy.”

“With your broken back, I’m sure you’re also familiar with cognitive rehabilitation,” Dr. Han went on as if he hadn’t said a word. “Did you have to go through any?”

Katsuki cut a glance to Izuku, then shifted. “Yeah. Didn’t have to completely relearn how to walk but went through some rehabilitation to regain some movement.”

“Right!” Dr. Han said, a bit too brightly for the subject matter. “So the work we do is a bit of a combination between the two. It’s not exactly therapy and it’s not exactly rehabilitation, but it’s a nice in between.”

Katsuki snapped his jaw. “I don’t really care what the plan is. I need to keep control of myself. Whatever you have to do to make that happen, just do it.”

“Oh, it’s not a me thing, Mr. Bakugo,” Dr. Han shook her head, “it’s a you thing. We’re going to desensitize you to what’s been triggering you and we’re going to reprogram your response to certain stimuli. At the same time, we’re going to reteach you how to react to scents and sensations. Since you’re an alpha, it’ll be a little easier for you. Especially with your mate being around to help. And being pregnant! All very good things for you.”

Again, Katsuki cut a glance to Izuku, this one veiled with confusion and unease.

Knowing Katsuki was unlikely to ask pertinent questions, Izuku said, “Um, how are we going to desensitize Katsuki to his triggers? We know what they are. It’s a villain. Father. It’s his voice and his scent that makes him lose control, as well as some key words we aren’t exactly sure of. How do you desensitize someone to a scent you don’t have access to?”

Dr. Han’s lips split in a smile that bordered a bit on crazy. Was every health professional on that island a little out of whack?

“I’m glad you asked!” Dr. Han stood and gestured for them to follow her. “Let’s get more comfortable and I’ll be happy to explain everything. Like I said, today’s more about getting a baseline and setting expectations than starting any treatments. I’ll need a couple of days to build up a schedule for that. So if any questions at all come up, feel free to ask them! That’s all of what today’s going to be about!”

“Joy,” Katsuki grumbled without much joy.

The doctor led them to the middle of the room, to the firepit. She dragged three cushions out from a literal trapdoor in the floor and passed two to Izuku and Katsuki. They waited to see where Dr. Han put hers, right in front of the fire, and placed theirs in front of hers. As they did so, she pulled a bag out of the cubby under the floor and went over to the fire. At the base of the firepit, she opened a small hatch and pinched what looked like leaves from within the bag and tossed them into the hatch. The smell of sage and herbs seeped out of the fire, Izuku leaning back into the smell and Katsuki lifting his lip at it.

Sitting on a cushion for extended periods of time did not appeal to Izuku much, what with being almost five months pregnant. So before Dr. Han closed the trapdoor, he asked for a second cushion which he stacked on the first, trying to see if that made things feel any better. It did, but only minimally. He’d just have to deal with it for the appointment.

As he struggled to get comfortable, Dr. Han nodded to him. “How far along are you?”

“Nineteen weeks.”

The doctor grinned and clapped. “Excellent. Just about now is when you’ll really start smelling nice and tasty. Should work out well for treatment.”

Again, Izuku glanced to Katsuki, whose grimace had deepened dangerously toward a snarl. “You’ll speak to my mate with respect,” each word was a hiss bordering on a growl, showing none of the respect he demanded of Dr. Han.

Dr. Han blinked at Katsuki as if she hadn’t noticed he was upset nor that she had insulted Izuku. “Oh, I wasn’t being rude! It’s just that this is all working out so perfectly for the treatment! We’ve been working at this sort of program for a while now, as you might know, and having everything line up in just the right way? Out in the real world, in a real case? It’s honestly a bit overwhelming!”

“Overwhelming?” Izuku was impressed Katsuki hadn’t set something on fire yet. He practically spat out sparks as he seethed, “I’m not some fucking experiment! Do you know what hell I’ve been through these past few days? What hell my mate has been through? My pup? Either you’re here to help us or we’re leaving. I won’t be a part of your stupid science fair project!”

“Kacchan!” Izuku hissed, hoping the nickname would calm him down. If anything, at the sound of his voice Katsuki sunk a bit deeper into his fury. Of course he would get even more upset for the omega’s sake.

Dr. Han listened as Katsuki spoke, and she didn’t grin and she didn’t nod like she understood. She simply listened. And when he was done, she seemed to listen to his words again, picking through each of them, and sat back on her heels. “I’m sorry. It has admittedly been a while since I’ve treated someone who didn’t volunteer for helping our project. I know you’re not here because you want to be. At least, not to see me and work on the project with me. I understand. That being said,” she pressed a hand to her chest, “I do want to help. I’ve been working on this project so I could help people like you. Scent-based manipulation and sensitivity is a rampant problem that nobody wants to solve. Generally speaking, it’s considered an omega problem. Since they have the strongest senses of smell. Abusive alpha partners use scents to control their omegas because they’ll bow easier to the overpowering smell, or omegas are sometimes born with extremely sensitive noses, so much so that it can be overwhelming just to be in the same room as someone not wearing scent blockers.

“Omegas are often taught to just deal with any sensitivities, or to take drugs that suppress that part of their biology. Truth be told, we could probably put you on some sedatives and you’d be perfectly fine, even if you were exposed to your triggers. But you’d also never be the same. And you’d never work as a hero again. You’d have to live in a daze. You’d never be able to smell your mate properly again, or your pup, or anyone else. That’s why this research is so important. We need treatment programs like this to help people. To let them live their life instead of sacrificing it. To breathe instead of silently suffocating. We’ve been working on this project for several years now. It’s ready to help people. It’s ready to help you. And we will help you. We’ll do everything we can to get you back to living without having to be afraid. At least of this. I get as a hero you might be afraid of some things a scent therapy program can’t fix.” She finished with that grin of hers, slipping easily back into herself.

Izuku was too stunned to really react. He knew so much of what she had talked about. The pressure to just deal with inconveniences of his secondary gender. Especially since he was a male. He had never really considered that people might have sensitivities. That people would use scents to control others in similar ways to how Father controlled Katsuki, if not quite as extreme. But it all made sense. It made so much disturbing sense. After all, he did vaguely remember Yokoyama trying to overpower him with unruly amounts of scent, as if he could blanket the air and suffocate Izuku into submission. Situations like that didn’t even account for people who had sensitivities. And for there not to really be any treatment for it other than drugs?

Well, he knew that problem too.

He pressed a hand to his belly, to the pup he shouldn’t have been able to conceive. Not after an alpha doctor had recommended to Katsuki for him to have an anticontraceptive procedure done on him while Izuku was unconscious in the wake of Yokoyama’s attack. Katsuki had only just reunited with Izuku after them being separated for five years. He’d just learned that Izuku had birthed his pup in those five years. He hadn’t even had a chance to speak with Izuku yet. And he’d been put in such an impossible situation. A situation that an alpha doctor had pressured him into taking.

Curious, Izuku tried to sniff out Dr. Han’s secondary gender but the sage was overpowering. He supposed she was probably an omega, by the way she talked about it. Then again, she didn’t quite act like an omega. But maybe he was being too judgmental for that. Many people didn’t consider him to be very omega-like.

“Nice speech,” Katsuki’s dry voice cut through the warm feeling spreading in Izuku’s chest, “but I don’t really care what you have to say. I can’t risk losing control again. Either you’re going to do something or you’re not. So let’s see what you can do.”

Dr. Han tutted, tick-tocked her head side to side. “Not yet, Mr. Bakugo! I told you. Today’s about defining some terms and answering some questions. Setting some ground rules, shall we say? So! Let me ask you a question first.” The doctor gestured to the fire behind her. “Any idea why we use such strong smells here in the office?”

“To piss me off,” Katsuki intoned. Izuku pressed his hand to his face, not even bothering to elbow the alpha.

“Not quite, though I know it’s irritating for alphas. We’re still working on that, so sorry about that!” Katsuki glowered at Dr. Han’s apology, but again she either didn’t notice or didn’t acknowledge it, going on without missing a beat, “It’s like a palate cleanser. The overwhelming smells make it so it’s hard to discern the scents of people. Bet if I asked you, you wouldn’t be able to tell me what my scent’s like, right? Or even what my secondary gender is?”

Of course he wouldn’t. If Izuku couldn’t pick up on it, there was no way Katsuki could. Katsuki was too stubborn to admit that, but he didn’t need to say anything. Everyone knew it.

Again, Dr. Han moved on without waiting for an answer, perhaps knowing she wouldn’t get one. “This creates a baseline. A neutral field, we’ll say. Everyone subconsciously has scents they are more sensitive to. For you, your mate and your pup are probably included in that, but you can also be sensitive to the scents of friends, family, even enemies. The really fascinating thing about it though is if you happen across someone who has similar tones to scents you are already sensitive to, you’ll pick up on them more naturally than others! So if, for example, your mate smelled like lavender, you’d be more inclined to pick up on the fact that someone in a group of five people has a lavender-like scent, and you’re more likely to like that person because of it.”

“So wait!” Izuku nearly leaped forward. “That means that people who remind Katsuki of Father’s scent could trigger him? Just like when he hears or smells Father?”

Dr. Han nodded. “Yup. That’s right. Most scents tend to be familial based. Children smell a bit like their parents, who smell a bit like theirs, and so on. But sometimes strangers can happen to have scents that are similar. The human nose can only pick up on so many smells. We’re not like dogs, who have extremely sensitive noses and can pick up scents from miles away. Even they have noses twelve times more powerful than us. So, it’s not unheard of for strangers to happen to have similar scents. Which is good and bad for us.”

Izuku glanced at Katsuki but he was just sitting there, watching the doctor. Waiting for her to say something, he guessed. “I get why it’s bad. We can happen upon a stranger with a similar scent that could trigger Katsuki. But why is it good?”

“Well,” Dr. Han sighed, “it means we can simulate Father’s scent and it would have the same effect.”

Almost immediately, every inch of Katsuki tensed up. The air seemed to crackle with anticipation, with horror, with a terrifying feeling of dread. Dr. Han raised her hands immediately. “It’s okay, we haven’t done that yet. You’re not nearly ready for that. But, it is part of the process. Farther down the line.”

Katsuki didn’t relax. Not a bit. His hands were clenched so tightly Izuku was surprised he hadn’t cut his palms.

The omega pressed his hand over Katsuki’s, but even that didn’t calm him. He just kept watching Dr. Han, this time staring as if he expected her to pull a venomous snake out from her coat pocket.

“Anyway,” she lowered her voice in an attempt to calm Katsuki, “it is a concern for us that even people who happen to smell a bit like Father could cause you to have a reaction. So I do suggest limiting your exposure to people you don’t already know their scent, at least for the time being. It can be hard, but while you’re here on the island, it’ll be a bit easier, okay?”

She sat and she waited, clearly for Katsuki to be the one to respond. Izuku kept holding his hand, encouraging the alpha as much as he could. Katsuki stared down the doctor, and only offered a small tip of his head forward for a nod.

Dr. Han took it with a smile. “It’s also part of the reason my goal is that you will never actually know what my scent is, nor what the scents are for any of my nurses or receptionists. This place will be a completely neutral field. There is literally nothing here that can trigger you because all we offer are artificial scents. And even if artificial scents are similar to a person’s scent, they don’t have any of the associated pheromones, so they can’t trigger a reaction. Make sense?”

Izuku nodded. “Yes, I guess. Are you… sure though?”

“Absolutely,” Dr. Han nodded toward the computer, “we did a lot of research on that, as well as consulted other experts who had done research on the same subject for different experiments and projects. Artificial scents, or at least scents from plants or objects, don’t trigger the same nerves as human scents do. That’s why alphas tend to react so poorly to them, because alphas are physically built to pick up on and react to the pheromones in what they smell.”

“You haven’t gotten to the part where you tell us what you’re actually going to do,” Katsuki growled.

“Excellent observation!” Dr. Han went back over to the trapdoor and pulled it up, yanking some sort of machine from within. It looked a lot like the portable sonagram machines that Izuku had seen in hospitals, but it was slightly bigger, bulkier, more of a box with a smaller black screen. Dr. Han set it in front of Katsuki and opened a panel in the side, yanking out several wires and a pack of stickers used to facilitate measuring heart rhythm and the like. “Do you know why omegas are literally magical?”

Izuku did not possibly know how Dr. Han could say something that could surprise him, but he found himself staring, a bit confused, a bit flattered, a bit uncertain whether she was being sarcastic. But when she looked up at Katsuki, she grinned knowingly at him. “You know why. You get it, don’t you?”

Katsuki snorted and turned away, but Izuku swore he saw the alpha’s eyes softening, the creases along his forehead fading away. While Dr. Han kept fiddling with her machine, Izuku watched Katsuki, saw how the anger didn’t quite hold in his eyes, the way that when he tilted his head over to meet Izuku’s gaze, there was understanding in him. When their eyes met, his lights sparked, that ember Izuku knew so well, that fire that burned between them, a home closer and safer than any physical house. That fire always smoldering, always there. And yet, every time Izuku looked over, he saw as it roared just a little higher, as if his gaze alone could stoke that flame into an inferno, as if it had nothing to do with the alpha at all. That it was him, always him, that kept that fire burning.

Katsuki saw the magic in him, and when Izuku looked at him, he saw it reflected back, this power he had, this magic.

Or maybe he was just seeing shadows and light dance in those crimson eyes.

“I don’t get what you mean,” Izuku turned back to Dr. Han.

“Hmm,” she tilted her head to the side, gestured to Katsuki, “maybe an omega wouldn’t. Here, lift up your shirt. I’m going to press a couple of these stickers on you.” Katsuki grimaced, but did as she said, allowing her to press stickers on either side of his heart, another on the right side of his chest, then attach some of the wires to them. “Need to put these smaller ones on your head.”

Katsuki showed his teeth. “You still haven’t said anything important.”

“Oh right!” Dr. Han patted a smaller triangle-shaped sticker to the alpha’s forehead. How Katsuki’s glare alone didn’t melt her into the ground, Izuku wasn’t sure, and he certainly didn’t know how she kept working as if nothing were wrong at all. “So, scents are one of the primal senses. Sight and hearing are the other two. Of all the senses most likely to trigger the most vicarial reactions in a human being, those three are the most effective. Other than touch. Touch is in its own category, though also very important for our purposes here. But first, scent! Scent helps to establish the tone of the situation. The right scents in just the right place can set the stage for success since on our most base level, we are more likely to respond subconsciously to it. And that’s really what we need to hit. We need to bring the subconscious to the conscious. We do that first by dressing the stage correctly. First part of that is a good palate cleanser to the olfactory nerves. Hence the artificial scents.”

As she spoke, Dr. Han continued to press stickers over Katsuki’s temples, under his jaw, and one right on the back of his neck, attaching strings until the alpha looked like a rather strange mayflower pole. It left him twitching in fury, just barely keeping himself from lashing out at the doctor. Izuku reached to put his hand on Katsuki’s knee but Dr. Han shouted, “Not yet!”

Izuku drew his hand away as she went on, “Anyway, about omegas. You’re part of a pack, right? How many omegas do you have in your pack?”

“Three official members. One pup. One live-in girlfriend. And Deku.” The words seemed difficult for Katsuki to say and Izuku couldn’t tell if it was because of the stickers he was wearing or the fact that he was still mad at the doctor.

Dr. Han stared at the alpha as if waiting for him to clarify. “So… six?”

“Essentially,” Izuku said as Katsuki glowered.

“Right!” She accepted that answer and moved right along. “Notice how I didn’t ask if you had omegas in your pack? That’s because there has never, ever been a successful pack larger than three people that didn’t include at least one omega.”

Surprise stunned Izuku for a moment, but only for a moment. After that, his mind began spinning with all he knew about packs, which was admittedly limited beyond Katsuki’s. There were several well-known packs, including several clan-packs from the Edo period that had been studied extensively. These clan-packs had been so huge though that there had inevitably been omegas in it. There were very few smaller packs that came to mind, but the few that did he couldn’t remember specific genders for many of the members.

“Do you know why that is?” Dr. Han’s voice broke through his thoughts.

Izuku frowned, trying to think, but Katsuki scoffed. “Alphas are stupid. Aggressive. Put them together, even if they’re used to one another, there’s going to be fights. Betas are peace keepers but they can get jut as aggressive as alphas if the tension’s high enough. Plus no alpha will listen to a beta. Omegas are the only ones who can keep things calm enough for betas to keep the peace. Can’t keep the peace if there’s no peace to begin with.”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!” Dr. Han grinned deeply. “Little surprised there, Mr. Bakugo! Are you an omega fanboy by chance?”

Katsuki snapped his jaws with a growl. “It’s my job to know about omegas since I’m mated to one. ‘Sides it makes most sense. Omegas are the only secondary gender with a dedicated part of their scent gland for just calming scents.”

“Right you are! So. Let’s get that baseline established, shall we?” The doctor turned on the machine, the screen immediately lighting up with three lines of differing colors. A red one seemed to be Katsuki’s heartbeat, steady but slightly faster than usual, reading a measure of ninety-two beats a minute. Not necessarily dangerous, but certainly above a resting average. A blue line showed only slight deflections, keeping exceedingly level no matter what. The reading on it was basically zero. The last line, a yellow line, jumped and fell so erratically on the screen that Izuku couldn’t properly follow it. It had several reading attached to it that he couldn’t actually understand.

Dr. Han pointed to the red line, “This is your heart rate. It’s elevated right now, probably because you’re upset and anxious and that’s fine by the way,” she added as Katsuki lifted a lip in his signature silent snarl, “and this here? This reads the level of pheromones you’re putting out. Alphas are weird. They’re the only secondary gender that doesn’t constantly put out scent. Usually an alpha’s scent is so strong that it’s unnecessary and they only release scent in response to something else, like, say, your mate walking into the room. You’ll subconsciously release a lot of scent when you smell him as a way to call him to you and as a way to reassure him. Right now you’re not putting out anything because of the artificial scents covering everything up. Nothing for you to react to. And this one!” She pointed to the yellow line, “Is the electric activity in your brain! We could do a different test to see what parts of your brain are activated but for the purposes of this test, we just need to see the overall effect. Okay!” She stood, grinned. “You wanna see just how magical your omega is?”

Katsuki and Izuku again glanced at each other, but before either could comment, Dr. Han handed the machine to Katsuki. “Take this. Don’t drop it. And come with me!” She led them to the other side of the room, where there were two doors. “I’m going to go in here, you two go in the other one. We’ll be separated but you’ll be able to see and hear me.” Without further explanation, she waved at them and disappeared behind her door.

Katsuki stared at the closed door. “Let’s just leave.”

Izuku grabbed the machine, holding it by a handle on the top. “Let’s see what she’s up to.”

“She hasn’t said anything useful. She’s a lunatic.”

“She’s trying to help. And we need the help.” He paused when Katsuki hesitated. “C’mon. Let’s just go see what’s going on.”

Before Katsuki had a chance to run away, Izuku opened the door, revealing a small but comfortable cubby, big enough for about five people to sit in, with a bench built into the back wall and a window between them and Dr. Han’s room. Dr. Han was visible on the other side, writing on a clipboard. She waved at them as they entered.

“Go ahead and put that where I can see it, please,” she said, her voice carried through from a speaker in the ceiling. Izuku placed the machine on a ledge in the middle of the window, tilting it so Dr. Han could read it. “Okay. Shut the door!”

Katsuki had lingered outside for a moment longer while Izuku set the machine up, but he reluctantly stepped inside at her request and shut the door. Immediately, a fan turned on, loud and sharp, cold wind crashing down over them for a few seconds. Then, it stopped, and calm settled over the room.

Or, not calm exactly. Izuku opened his mouth slightly and he found he could taste a burning campfire, roasting chilies, caramel. There wasn’t a neutral scent here to cover Katsuki’s and it suddenly dominated the space, filling it up nearly as quickly as the fan had whisked away the lingering smell of sage. Likewise, Katsuki blinked, his nose flaring as he took in Izuku’s scent. After the artificial smells had surrounded them for so long, Izuku was surprised to find how much his shoulders slumped as he took in Katsuki’s scent, as his world once again began to revolve around the familiar smell of his alpha and mate. Katsuki, too, seemed to settle quickly, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints as he took in the omega. His hand twitched as if he were about to reach for him when Dr. Han shouted.

“There look! Magic at work.” She was pointing at the machine, to the three lines on the screen. “See? Ten seconds smelling your omega and all your stats have leveled out. Slower, steadier heartrate, more pheromone output, less erratic electrical activity.” It was true. Katsuki seemed more relaxed and the machine proved it. The alpha was calming down, settling. Dr. Han pointed at Izuku, her grin wide and wild. Izuku recognized that look. That was the look of a woman on the verge of a breakthrough. “Okay now! Go ahead and put your hands on your mate. Especially on his belly.”

Katsuki shot her a withering look, clearly unamused at being ordered around so much, but he did as she said, raising his hands to delicately place them on Izuku’s belly. The tension bled out of the alpha. Izuku could almost physically see it draining away. The way Katsuki stared down at his hands, at the precious life between them, as his jaw unclenched, as the machine leveled out again and the alpha’s body reacted to being near his omega.

It wasn’t magic, Izuku knew. It was simple biology. Most people were comforted by touching the belly of a pregnant spouse or friend. He’d seen the same thing happen to Sano, the way she had breathed a little easier when she’d massaged his belly, the way she’d poured all her stress away as she’d stroked the skin where a small life lay. Even though alphas were hardwired to be aggressive and possessive, they were calmed by the same things everyone else was. Although, Izuku did have to admit he was a little surprised at just how quickly Katsuki was soothed by simply smelling and touching him. It made his heart flutter a little, knowing he had such an effect on him, knowing he had the power to ease the alpha with just his presence alone.

Without thinking about it, he nuzzled into Katsuki’s chest, purring when the alpha tucked him closer, when their bodies lined up as perfectly as they always had.

“And just like that,” Dr. Han’s voice didn’t quite break through their moment, but Izuku did look up to see what she was talking about, “your stats have come to a stable, normal level. Took about a minute. And that’s magical. No two ways about it.” She smiled at the couple, seemingly very aware that Katsuki wasn’t paying much attention to her. “When you’re ready, let’s talk about why this is important for our purposes. Also need to order a couple tests for you to do between now and our next session. Still need to establish a proper baseline.” She opened the door on her side and slipped out, leaving them to have a private moment.

They only had a moment, but stealing such time was something they had gotten used to. Between both of their works, between caring for Kazue, between every other aspect of their lives, they had found these precious moments where they could be together, just together, to sit and revel in the other’s presence.

Katsuki stole that time by planting a kiss on the crown of Izuku’s head. “You’re amazing.”

Izuku hummed. “So you say. But it’s not magic, it’s just biology.”

“No. You’re fucking magic, love. Always have been.” Katsuki kissed him again, opened his mouth to drag a teasing line of teeth by his ear. “I love you.”

Those words never failed to pull a smile from Izuku. He snuggled into Katsuki’s throat, purred deep enough to know the alpha would feel it in his bones. “I love you too. And I believe in you, Kacchan.”

That made that alpha pause, if only for a moment. He tightened his grip on Izuku, unwilling to let him go quite yet. “I’ll beat this. You know I will.”

“Yes. I do.” He’d said those words before. Sacred words. Words that bound him to that dy. Words he so gladly entangled himself in, words that drew him ever closer to Katsuki. With those words still on his lips, he kissed the alpha, smiled when Katsuki kissed him back, followed after him when he tried to lean again. “Dr. Han is waiting!” He giggled when Katsuki nipped at his cheek. “Okay, okay, enough! We have time for that later.”

“Later,” Katsuki growled, but let Izuku slip from his arms, catching him at the wrist to plant one last kiss on his knuckles before finally letting him go.

Izuku hoped he wasn’t glowing when he stepped out of the room, Katsuki following close behind him. He felt a bit like a pup again, hiding in closets to sneak a kiss and maybe a quick grope of the alpha’s crotch. The same jitters were running through his stomach yet he couldn’t quite get himself to stop smiling. Katsuki stepped out with a satisfied smirk on his face. Yup, just like when they’d been pups. Only difference was instead of a backpack, Katsuki carried the machine with him.

Dr. Han was, thankfully, busy on her computer, typing furiously away, not paying any attention to the state of her patients as they crossed the room to sit the seats in front of her. After they’d settled down, she said, “Okay! So I’m going to order a scan of your back to get up-to-date images of the damage, so we know about where you’re at on scarring and potential pain triggers. Also going to have you undergo some simple psyche evaluations. Different from the ones they did at the ward yesterday,” she leaned over from her computer to say this, “these are more generalized. And also going to order a brain scan to see which parts of your mind are working overtime or not enough, if any. My nurse up front will help with scheduling all of that. Otherwise!” She finished typing and pushed herself away from the computer, facing the two directly, “I’d like to suggest trying some intimacy exercises. The stronger your bond to your omega, the better this is going to be for you. The best way to prevent another acute attack is to give your mind something better to focus on. A scent that is way sweeter, both figuratively and in this case literally. These intimacy exercises will help to start reordering your brain to prioritize your omega’s scent first, not Father’s.” She glanced between the two. “I don’t think you’ll have any problems with them, but if you do, let me know and we’ll try something else.”

“What do you mean by… intimacy exercises?” Izuku asked. They sounded slightly… questionable.

Dr. Han waved her hand. “It’s mostly a guide to very specific ways of activating certain parts of the brain through scent and touch. Lots of massages, lots of just holding each other and being mindful of each other’s scent. Nothing drastic.” She stood and approached Katsuki, starting to peel the stickers off of him. “As you saw, being with your omega is the quickest and easiest way to calm you down. Midoriya’s scent has a grounding effect on you. It keeps you in the moment with him, rather than on what Father might be trying to tell you to do. If we can rewire your brain to stay in the moment, to keep grounded so to say, then you won’t have to worry about losing control. And that starts with refamiliarizing yourself with your mate. Easy enough!” She tossed the stickers into a bin nearby and wrapped the wires around themselves, tucking everything neatly into the machine. “Any questions?”

“What’s the best way to start?” Izuku leaned forward. He was going to be a bit part of getting Katsuki better. That was fine with him. More than fine. But they had to start right away.

Dr. Han smiled. “I suggest going and finding either a scarf or a shirt with a very high collar, something that you can wear and keep close to your face. Have Midoriya scent it thoroughly and completely. Whenever you’re feeling off, even if it has nothing to do with Father, just breathe in your omega’s scent. Let’s start there. Oh, and Midoriya? The calmer you are when scenting, the better, and the longer, the better.”

“Okay.” That was simple. They could do that. They could go pick up a scarf on their way back to the house and have it ready within the hour. Relief, just like that.

But would it really be that simple? That was the question. Izuku could see that question written on Katsuki’s face. He wasn’t sure the alpha was going to give it a voice, and was surprised when he did.

“Part of what Father wants is for me to hurt Izuku,” he told Dr. Han. She paused in picking up the monitor to look at him, but he kept his face neutral, refusing to give anything away. “If he tries to take control, tries to tell me to hurt him, then won’t having his scent around just be worse?”

“No,” Dr. Han wasn’t smiling anymore, but she did offer a reassuring nod, a little tilt of her head toward Izuku, “don’t underestimate your protective instincts. Alphas are built to defend. Lots of people think alphas are supposed to be just super aggressive attack dogs, but that’s not true. They’re the defenders and protectors of our society. Nothing is stronger in you than the urge to keep your family safe. If Father’s asking you to hurt your mate, then he’s underestimating just how powerful that instinct is. Don’t let yourself fall for that lie either, all right?” Katsuki grimaced deeply, even more so when Dr. Han patted him on the shoulder. “Trust me! Get something with your omega’s scent, something where the scent will last longer, and wear it around for a day or two. Tell me how you feel after the fact. Oh, and I know it’s a little embarrassing but best place to find scent-retaining items are omega-specific or heat stores.”

“Okay.” Izuku stood and bowed to her. “Thank you for helping us.” He waited but Katsuki didn’t bow, not even when he elbowed the alpha.

“I’ll thank you when I see some results,” he growled.

Dr. Han smiled with teeth, something excited and a little compelling in the gesture. “Looking forward to the day.”

- - -

They ended up not being able to swing by a heat store afterward. Dr. Han’s nurse told them that Hitoshi had called and told them to get in touch with him as soon as their appointment was over. Since neither of them had their phones, they used the phone at the nurse’s station to call Hitoshi. The omega hero picked up immediately, “Hey. Get back to the house as soon as possible. We have a car waiting to pick us up.” Izuku’s stomach had turned at the news, his mind racing back toward Anon and the data and whether the security team knew he was colluding with a vigilante, until Hitoshi added, “Have to get to the airport.”

“Airport?” Izuku repeated, Katsuki turning to listen a little closer. “Are we leaving I-Island?”

“Nope. But we do have a plane to catch. So get back here as quick as you can.”

Plane to catch? If they weren’t leaving, then why did they have to catch a plane? The island wasn’t big enough for them to need a plane to get from one side to the other. So what other flight could they possibly be taking?

“Don’t know,” Katsuki said when Izuku asked him. He was inclined to believe the alpha rather than thinking this was another lie, as even he narrowed his eyes in thought. “Better get going.”

They rushed back to the house, only to find Rai, Hitoshi, and the pups standing outside of a rather sleek bus in front of their temporary home. Izuku stared at it for a second before Hitoshi ushered the pups into his arms and then all three of them up onto the bus.

“We’re going to be late,” he growled as everyone settled down. At first Izuku had wondered if the bus would have their stuff loaded onto it, that maybe Hitoshi had been lying about them leaving since their phones might still be compromised, but it was empty, even with all of them loaded onto it.

Something was going on. It made Izuku’s skin crawl to not know what.

“It’ll be fine.” Rai checked their watch. “Real time says the birds are ten minutes out.”

“Birds? As in, plural? More than one?” Izuku said.

“You’ll see,” Hitoshi grumbled. He stood at the front of the bus, hovering over Rai’s shoulder as the security captain started the bus up.

“Where are we going?” Hikaru leaned into Izuku’s lap as he asked.

“The airport.”

“Why?”

“Good question.” Izuku again glanced at Katsuki, saw that the alpha had his arms crossed and was glaring hard at Hitoshi and Rai. He still had no idea what was going on. But why wouldn’t he know? Why wouldn’t they tell him? “Buckle in, pups. Be safe.”

Hikaru frowned deeply but sat back into his seat and buckled himself in. Kazue had taken the seat on the opposite side of Izuku and did the same, but he stubbornly leaned in toward his omega, nuzzling into his side when Izuku put his arm around him.

“Mommy,” he said in that slightly disappointed voice unique only to him, “we should play when we get back. I want to play with you.”

A painful jolt crested over Izuku’s heart. He’d been neglecting Kazue recently, he knew. With everything going on with Katsuki, Anon, and Father, the pup had been pushed down his priority list. He still thought of the pup, his mind running a near constant loop of Kazue at the back of his thoughts, but he hadn’t found time to do anything with him. As it were, when they got back, he really needed to go to the lab and get some work done. There was data to sift through and gear to adjust. As much as he wanted to play with the pup, he didn’t know how to make the time.

“We’ll play soon,” he said, Kazue frowning deeply, unappeased by this half-lie.

“Mommy.”

“Yes, Kazue?”

“Moooooommy.”

Izuku leaned down and bit playfully at Kazue’s cheek, just as he’d done when he’d been a small pup. Kazue eagerly growled and snapped back at him, giggling when Izuku pressed a kiss to his face. Kazue wasn’t a small pup anymore, but in that moment, he felt like that tiny bundle of joy that had followed at Izuku’s heels for years, even before Katsuki had come back into his life. There was a thread of bliss in that moment, a moment where they weren’t on a strange island or on a bus that was taking them somewhere for some reason they didn’t know, that it didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing because the world had reduced to just them, pup and mother, enjoying a bit of fun. Izuku swore he felt his heart swelling.

He realized he missed Kazue. So much. When they’d gotten to the island, Kazue had said he’d missed his parents even though they had been together, had been reunited as a family by that point. Izuku understood that hurt. He was missing his pup, missing these moments of simple play and joy.

He missed when his mind wasn’t so consumed with anxieties. He missed when things made sense. But most of all, he missed the family they’d had before Katsuki had gone missing, before Father had come to ruin their lives.

It was tragic, really. It was all so tragic.

They arrived at the airport soon after. Rai spoke with the security personnel at the gate and their bus was waved through and directed onto a side road, taking them directly to the small single runway. There was a taxiway next to the main runway that Rai took the bus down, parking at one of the warehouses that lined the side of the road. A few small planes were parked at the terminal a ways down the road, but as Izuku looked around, he saw no sign of any planes coming in to land nor of any getting ready to take off.

As soon as the bus stopped, Hitoshi got off and stood right at the edge of the taxiway, glaring up into the sky. Izuku glanced at Rai, but the captain was on their phone, not paying any attention to them. When Katsuki stood and made for the front of the bus, Izuku told the pups to stay right next to him and followed. Kazue grabbed his hand and Hikaru the other as they exited, looking up expectantly. Izuku lifted his gaze as well, trying to see what there was to see. But there was nothing but blue sky, nothing even to hear. No distinct buzz of an airplane, no sign that anything was up there at all.

As they all stood there glaring up into the sky, Rai stepped off the bus behind them. “ETA five minutes.”

Hitoshi grunted. “They’re late.”

The captain grinned at the hero. “Breathe there, Psyche. They got nowhere else to go at this point. Have to get here eventually.” Hitoshi bit at his lip as Rai walked away, their attention back on their phone.

“By the way,” the captain paused next to Katsuki and Izuku, slipping two phones from their pocket, “these are for you. Double encrypted. Extra safe. You should be okay using them. Plus, our system’s officially clean and we’re running a scan right now to be sure nothing is picked up as the plane lands. No unexpected visitors this time. And we’re not anticipating any.”

“So no more run-ins?” Hitoshi called. Izuku hadn’t thought he was paying attention to their conversation.

“Nothing unusual to report,” Rai said as they handed the phones to Izuku and Katsuki.

Katsuki glared hard at his before he reluctantly slid it into his pocket. Izuku didn’t really have time to think about it, plus he didn’t want Anon to send him a message while someone was looking and quickly put his away as well.

Hitoshi still glared up at the sky. “Well, that’s some good news. Means everything’s actually working potentially.”

“Probably. Give yourself a little more credit than that,” Rai elbowed the hero playfully but Hitoshi just frowned.

His head tilted slightly, his hands raised to shield his eyes from the sun. Izuku snuck a little closer to Katsuki, the uncertainty of what was going on causing chills up and down his spine. As if he could feel the line of those chills, the alpha passed a hand up his back, pressing his skin flat, warming him with just a single touch.

“Where do you think we’re going?” Izuku asked him.

Katsuki was frowning deeply. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Izuku frowned. “So you think something’s on this plane for us?”

“Yeah.” Katsuki paused, listened, as the sound of rotor blades slowly rose from the horizon. “Something like that.”

Izuku waited, but nobody had anything else to say, especially as the sound grew louder and louder, closer and closer. He searched the sky, knowing it would probably be impossible to spot the plane until it was practically already landed, until Kazue shouted and pointed. In the distance, a small black dot was coming toward them. Its progress was surprisingly slow and as Izuku stood there, he realized why that was, why the sound was so weird.

It wasn’t a plane. It was a helicopter. A small black one, unlike the massive cargo helicopter they had flown in on. This one looked only big enough to hold a couple of people and in fact as they watched, they saw that two figures were indeed hanging outside of it, clinging to bars just outside the doors. Izuku squinted into the sun, trying to see what the hell was going on, then almost jumped out of his skin when Hikaru suddenly shrieked.

“MOMMY!” He tried to shake Izuku’s hand off of him, to race toward the incoming helicopter, but Izuku grabbed him and held him back. The pup struggled a little, reaching forward as the helicopter approached. “Mommy! It’s my Mommy!”

“Wait, wait!” Izuku tried to say, tried to keep the pup from running into danger. He squinted up at the sky, trying to see if what Hikaru said was true, and heard Katsuki growl behind him.

“No fucking way,” the alpha said under his breath.

“Dad?” Kazue whispered, but Katsuki kept watch on the helicopter.

Sure enough, from one blink to the next, as the helicopter crested over them, searching for a place to land, Izuku saw the snap of a white cloak, saw the deep purple of Amajiki’s hero costume. There was a second person on the opposite side of the helicopter, holding onto a handrail. It took Izuku a couple of blinks to confirm it, but there was no denying that white armor. It was Iida. Iida was on that helicopter. Iida was about to land on I-Island right in front of them.

A wash of air reached them as the helicopter descended onto the road a couple hundred yards in front of them. Only that kept Hikaru from trying to break out of Izuku’s arms to reach his mom. Izuku drew the pups closer, trying to protect them from the wind. They only looked up when Rai ran next to them and pointed to the sky. At the end of the runway, a white plane had appeared. In the excitement of the helicopter’s arrival, Izuku hadn’t noticed its approach. As they watched, the plane skimmed low over the runway, touched, touched again, then landed, racing to a stop down the road. As it did, the helicopter touched down and from one second to the next, Amajiki was running toward them.

Hikaru shrieked and finally broke free from Izuku’s grip, racing out to his mom. The omega hero crouched to scoop his pup up, to hug him close, to wrap his arms around the one person in the world he must have missed the most. As he did, Iida hurried over as well, calling out even before he’d reached the group.

“Bakugo! Midoriya! Are you all right?”

Izuku didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. Of all the things he’d been expecting, this was not it. He hadn’t thought they were going to see anyone from the pack in at least two more weeks. He certainly hadn’t thought that he’d see Amajiki before that. And yet, here they were. The helicopter that had brought them held only a pilot and a co-pilot, who were busy powering everything down. Behind it, the plane was on the taxiway, slowly, slowly making its way toward them.

The realization of what was going on hit Izuku all at once. “No way,” he whispered.

Iida turned to look at him. It was sometimes hard to tell what he was thinking when he had his helmet on. And sometimes it wasn’t that hard at all. Like in that moment. In that moment, Izuku knew the pack alpha was grinning.

“I’m glad to see you two again. Feels like it’s been too long.” Iida offered his hand to Katsuki.

Katsuki glared down at it. Even though Iida was his pack alpha, they had never quite gotten along, per se. They’d had a tolerable relationship, enough that it didn’t boil over in the packhouse, enough that Katsuki at least didn’t bite Iida’s head off for telling him what to do, whether or not he actually listened being a separate issue. They hadn’t seen in each in only a few days but in those days, so much had happened. The world seemed to have changed. It felt like it had been years since they’d seen the pack alpha. And maybe it was for this reason that Katsuki couldn’t seem to quite react to Iida’s outstretched hand, or why he didn’t outright reject when Iida reached forward to pat him on the shoulder. There was a sort of love in that gesture, a sort of welcoming home, a sort of reestablishing of lost and grieved connection. Katsuki glared and grimaced, but Izuku thought it might be for the alpha to keep from showing any weakness, any emotion that would convey just how much he’d been hurting in recent times.

Iida let that moment linger, squeezed Katsuki’s shoulder, and turned to Izuku. “Midoriya! You’re looking well!” Izuku still wasn’t quite sure what to say, but when Iida offered his hand, he took it, grabbed it with both of his. Held the pack alpha’s hand, and felt his lip quivering when Iida pressed his palm over their hands. “It’s all right now, Midoriya,” Iida said softly.

So many people had told Izuku that. That it would be okay. That things would work out.

For the first time, he wanted to believe it, could almost believe it. Maybe now, things would be all right.

He believed it a bit more when the plane came to a stop right in front of them and Hitoshi stepped forward. There was no surprise when the side of the plane popped open to reveal a staircase and the first person down those stairs was Kaminari. Kaminari didn’t even look up at Katsuki and Izuku. He practically tackled Hitoshi, the two of them rocking back and forth to regain their balance. Hitoshi buried himself into Kaminari’s shoulder, his body shuddering, fingers twisted in the back of his jacket. Their reunion was a somber one. But even that was welcome.

As was the next person who jumped off the plane, Uraraka glancing quickly around before hurrying over to join her mate. She threw her arms open and ran into Izuku, hugging him tightly. She didn’t say anything. But she didn’t need to. Izuku could feel it in her hug, in the way her scent was steady and steely. She was there to help. She was there to make things all right.

Todoroki disembarked next, and somehow the appearance of his alpha rival finally let Katsuki uncross his arms, gave him permission perhaps to relax. When the next person appeared at the staircase though, he was tense again, and when Izuku spotted him, he felt a prickle run up and down his spine.

Kirishima was wobbly on the staircase, but Shoji helped him down, one step at a time. Seeing his friend struggling, Katsuki broke his careful veneer of disinterest and ran to the plane, offering his hand to help. Kirishima grinned at the alpha, his one eye sparking, his other covered by a band of black leather.

“That’s everyone,” Iida proclaimed. “The others send their love. They wish they could have come but we only had so many seats. Plus we had to be as unassuming as possible. Hence why Kirishima could come. He’s the perfect cover! A wounded hero wouldn’t go on a potentially dangerous mission after all! Except! Any hero, no matter their wounds, would do whatever it took to help! Especially when it comes to friend and family!” The more Iida spoke, the more animated he got, until he was practically jumping up and down and stabbing at the air with his hands.

Todoroki eyed the pack alpha flatly and turned to Midoriya. “You doing okay?”

“Fine,” Izuku wasn’t ashamed that his voice broke, that his eyes were teared up. Todoroki frowned as the omega wiped them again. “I’m fine. Actually. I’m a lot better now.”

Amajiki and Hikaru had wandered back over, the omega hero holding his pup, looking very comfortable despite the pup’s size. For the first time in a long time, Izuku saw that Amajiki was smiling. “Thank you, Midoriya, for keeping Hikaru safe for us.”

Izuku nodded, his throat closing up, his emotions overtaking him. He leaned against Uraraka, felt such a wave of relief when she supported him without a word, that she was there and she was ready to help. He cleared his throat. “Is, uh, Togata here too?”

Hikaru picked his head up but Amajiki said, “No. It would have been too obvious if he’d come with me.”

“This was an undercover mission,” Shoji explained. “We had to make sure we looked like we were just doing our normal hero work. Not that we were going to rendezvous with you.” He gestured to Rai. “Captain Rai was a huge help in setting everything up.”

Rai grinned at the praise. “Least I could do. Plus, truth be told we could use the extra help with everything that’s been going on.”

“Right! That’s why we’re here.”

Izuku didn’t know why, but it surprised him to hear Kirishima’s voice. The beta had one arm around Katsuki’s shoulders and was holding a crutch with his other arm. His feet seemed unsteady and his voice was still slightly hoarse. But the beta held all the enthusiasm that he always held. Kirishima grinned at Izuku, missing an eye he’d never have again, practically unable to walk, looking more like a crippled old man than the strong hero he had been only weeks earlier. But he still grinned. And when he spoke again, Izuku smiled, and felt a sob in his throat. “Don’t worry. The cavalry's here now!”

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t know what came over him but as soon as they got back to the house, all he wanted to do was pile with all the pack members. He even dragged Katsuki into it, the two of them huddled close together with Kirishima right next to them. The head beta was sore, he said, from traveling and grateful for the rest with the pack. With Katsuki’s and Izuku’s permission, he did sit up long enough to scent Izuku’s belly, the massage easing a weight off Izuku’s shoulders he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying. The relief seemed to translate to the beta as well, Kirishima’s smile softening as he worked, his eyes drooping a little more closed, until he was practically in a trance.

The only people who didn’t pile with them were Amajiki and Hikaru, since they weren’t part of the pack, and Hitoshi and Kaminari. The couple had needed some alone time to reunite, for Hitoshi to decompress after everything that had happened, and just to have some peace. And was there such a peace to be had then to be reunited with even a small portion of the pack. Having Iida and Todoroki there, having their familiar and protective alpha scents surrounding his family made it so easy for Izuku to lay his head down, and having the reassurance and camaraderie of another omega in Uraraka, as well as the comfort of the two betas Shoji and Kirishima, Katsuki and Kazue by his side, it was all so perfect. Izuku had not known what he had expected after reuniting with part of the pack, but hell if it wasn’t exactly what he’d needed.

They piled together in a makeshift nest of pillows and blankets in the conference room, the table having been pushed out of the way and the lights turned off. It was a cozy, dark, warm place, serene in a way Izuku couldn’t have accurately described. No, it wasn’t the pack room at the packhouse. It wasn’t really anything like that. But he could capture a bit of the feel of it, the full and loving presence of so many of his friends and family. He hadn’t ever really thought about how much he had been missing the scents of the pack, but each smell washed over him, Izuku eager to drink them all in, the cold, spicy alpha scent from Todoroki, the smell of grease and oil and smoke from Iida, not-so-sweet flowers from Uraraka, Kirishima’s breezy, open-window scent, and Shoji’s soothing salty beach scent. In theory, such smells together didn’t really work, but somehow, the overtones of the pack were so wonderful and welcoming. Izuku snuggled with the pack and closed his eyes, pulling Kazue close to his chest, cuddling with him as he used to when the pup was much smaller, happy that he’d been eager to join the pile with them, with Katsuki wrapped around both of them, holding them together and close. They dozed, settled in that moment, let that moment stretch on and on, with only the occasional shifting or the rumble of low conversation to break the stillness of it all.

Minutes, hours, days, some time later, Izuku snapped out of the haze to a sharp pain in his abdomen.

He sat up, sucking in air, trying not to call out. The pup struggled in his belly, trying to find a more comfortable position. Along the way, they had kicked something in Izuku, some vital organ he was sure he probably didn’t need anyway. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, felt a gentle hand on his back. He expected Katsuki, but when he looked, it was Uraraka, the omega smiling gently.

“Just shifting around,” Izuku hissed out, taking in another breath even though it hurt to do so. The pup finally settled and he could breathe a little easier. Uraraka kept a hand on him until he, too, had settled.

“Everything going okay with them?” She nodded toward his belly.

“As well as they can,” he couldn’t help but to laugh. In the midst of everything, his pregnancy had also taken a backseat. “Be better once all of this is over.”

Uraraka nodded. “Let’s not talk about that for now. Later. We have time.”

“Right.” They did have time. The pack was there. They would help. They could back them all up. Izuku and Hitoshi wouldn’t be alone in trying to keep Katsuki sane and the pups safe. Katsuki wasn’t alone in trying to keep control. Of all the people in the world Izuku thought could help him most, he knew Kirishima was the next best person beside himself. The head beta had been friends with Katsuki the longest beside Izuku, knew him better than anyone else. They had been unofficial hero partners for a long time. Having Kirishima at his side again, having that bit of normalcy. It would help. Izuku knew it would.

He pressed his hand over Uraraka’s. “Thank you. For coming. We really needed… well we needed all of this.”

Uraraka nodded, strangely grave. “I know. We wanted to come sooner but we were afraid Father would find a way to infiltrate with us. We thought we would put you in even more danger. Then, when we heard about what happened to Bakugo, we knew we couldn’t wait any longer. We’ve always faced things together, as a pack. It was a mistake to tell you to do this on your own.”

A powerful pressure was building in Izuku’s chest as Uraraka spoke. As her words dug out all the things he had been hiding, forcing down so he could try to keep everything together, try to keep the family running. Somehow, she found all those weaknesses, and her words exposed them all, brought them up to a place he couldn’t so easily ignore them.

He did his best to talk around the lump building within him, “We knew you were working on finding Father on the mainland. We knew we weren’t… well….” He couldn’t finish the sentence. Because truth be told, he had felt alone in recent weeks. They had each felt very alone. Katsuki, Hitoshi, Kazue, Hikaru. Being together hadn’t been enough. They’d somehow carved out a place to be alone with each other, alone in their fears and their worries, alone in the terrible things they were facing.

Luckily, he didn’t have to say anything more. Uraraka took his hand and squeezed it, and that was that.

They settled back amongst the pile, Izuku picking out Kazue amongst the pack and snuggling with his pup. Kazue growled and wrapped his arms around Izuku’s face in a sort of possessive gesture. Katsuki had never done that before, but it was a very alpha thing to do. Izuku nipped at his arm, a gentle reprimand, and Kazue released him but only briefly, his arms wrapping around Izuku’s neck instead, pressing himself into the omega’s scent gland.

He wasn’t sure how long they laid there. He was aware of himself dozing in and out, as well as the other pack members napping contently. Iida and Todoroki remained the most vigilant, as any alphas in a pack pile would be, but even they allowed themselves moments to drift into sleep. Kirishima slept like the dead but he was warm and soft in a strange sort of way. Like Katsuki, what had happened to him had stripped him of a lot of his body mass. He had withered away some, only to give way to a sort of softer version of himself. This version of Kirishima was easier to nestle next to, felt more like a person than a rock. It didn’t feel particularly good to think about the fact that Kirishima had wasted away trying to heal and this was the result, but Izuku did take comfort in the warmth of his body, the steady rhythm of his breathing, the fact that he was still there. The pack crowded around their head beta, drawn to his heartbeat, his breath, his very life. Even as sickly as he still was, Kirishima was holding the pack together, and was all the happier for it.

The pile started to break up when a ringing phone pierced through the soft quiet of their nest. Iida leaped up almost immediately, stepping out of the room but not before pressing his phone to his ear and muttering a sharp, “Yes? What’s happened?”

Uraraka got up and followed him out, gesturing for Todoroki to stay when the alpha tried to do the same. Although he did as was asked of him, there came a rising tension to the pile. Those who remained curled a little closer together, couldn’t quite find that comfortable ease between them anymore.

Soon after, Uraraka returned, stepping to Katsuki. “Dr. Han is calling,” she said, and the alpha growled but peeled himself up from the pile.

Izuku went to follow but Katsuki pressed him back down. “Keep your eye on him, Shitty Hair,” the alpha growled.

Kirishima grinned. “Will do!”

Izuku wanted to growl something about not needing people to watch him, but when Kirishima rolled into the space Katsuki had once occupied, he couldn’t deny that having him and Shoji piling with him and Todoroki watching over them didn’t feel wonderful. Since there hadn’t been any betas except for Hikaru in their group since they’d gotten to the island, he was missing the steadying presence of the betas, more than he had realized. As much as he wanted to move, he also didn’t want to move at all, finding it easier to tuck himself between them. He worried about Katsuki – he always worried about Katsuki – but he also knew that he was in good hands. Iida and Uraraka would back him up with whatever was going on. He didn’t need to follow the alpha, to make sure he would be okay.

So he laid back down, shut his eyes, dozed again until Kazue wriggled out of his arms.

“Mom,” he growled, “I’m hungry. Can we eat now?”

It was so like Kazue to interrupt the most relaxing time Izuku had had since before Katsuki had been taken to ask about food. While he sighed, Kirishima chuckled. “You ready for lunch, pup? I bet if you ask nicely, Shoji will help you cook something!”

Kazue turned to Shoji with a little quirk to his eyebrows, before turning back to Kirishima. “Uncle Kiri, can you cook?”

An icy jolt cut through Izuku, the words of what to say, how to explain everything, disappearing from him. How did you tell a child that someone who looked okay, someone who wasn’t bleeding, someone who had only lost an eye, could be weak and frail Someone who had been one of the strongest people he’d known? Kazue had idolized Kirishima in many regards. Like Katsuki, he had been attached to the head beta, had considered him his closest uncle. They hadn’t really been able to explain to the pup yet what had happened to Kirishima. Everything he knew had been through whispers he’d heard on accident. But Izuku didn’t know how to tell the pup that Kirishima had had a major trauma, that his brain had been hurt, that he might never be able to cook again, or even walk properly. That he might never be the uncle Kazue had known.

All this rushed through Izuku’s head, and was answered with a bright laugh from Kirishima. “Sorry pup, not today. Plane ride has me beat! I’m not as young as you are anymore!”

Kazue frowned deeply, but after a moment, he turned to Shoji. “Uncle Shoji, will you help me make lunch?”

“Of course,” the large beta unwound himself and stood, offering Kazue a hand as he did.

Kazue glanced at Izuku, who remained curled up on the ground. Izuku nodded and the pup took Shoji’s hand, following him out of the room.

Once they were gone, it was just Izuku, Kirishima, and Todoroki. Without backup from the rest of the pack, Kirishima did stiffen a little when Izuku moved closer to him. “Is this okay?” The head beta asked.

Although he and Izuku had previously had a rocky relationship, Kirishima having overstepped his bounds more than once and Izuku not being okay with that, he could comfortably say on his end that he had forgiven the head beta. Kirishima had never intended any harm and had worked to right the wrongs he had committed. More than that, he had always worked to make Katsuki and Kazue happy, and had given his life to save Izuku without a second thought. Of anyone in the pack, Izuku couldn’t have been more comfortable than being with Kirishima in that moment.

He nuzzled a little closer to the head beta, catching Mina’s scent in the undershirt the beta wore. A pang of loneliness hit him, the empty voids where the rest of the pack should have been. Mina, Tsu, Jiro, Sero, Yaoyorozu, even Kaminari. When Izuku closed his eyes and really concentrated, he could pick up on the subtle scents of the missing pack members on the beta. And over it all was his own warm scent. All the things Izuku had come to love.

He purred happily and felt Kirishima smile beside him. After a quiet moment, Todoroki stood from where he had been watching and came to lay beside the two of them. Izuku could tell the alpha had no intention of sleeping, but he did seem more relaxed being nearer to them.

It was wonderful. Surrounded by the pack. Knowing Kazue and Katsuki were being taken care of. Being able to just let go. Just for a few minutes. And not having to worry that something would slip through his fingers.

It was just too wonderful for words.

- - -

The door opened some time later and Izuku heard a familiar possessive snarl from Katsuki. “The fuck you think you’re doing with my omega, Icy Hot?”

Todoroki lifted his head. “Cuddling?”

Katsuki snapped his jaws and growled. “Back off.”

The alpha pushed himself up and away from Izuku, leaving the space next to him empty. Izuku whined at the loss of his snuggle buddy, only to purr deeply when Katsuki leaned in to him.

“Time to get up. You should eat something.”

Izuku almost said he didn’t want to eat, but as soon as he opened his mouth, it was as if his pup had heard mention of food and flipped a switch in his body, focusing every cell on the single fact that he was absolutely ravenous.

“Lunch sounds good,” he purred, then sat up.

Next to him, Kirishima also pushed himself up, but the movement was laborious and almost painful. Izuku lent him a hand while Todoroki stood and went to actually help him get up. “Bakugo, get his other hand?”

“All right, fine,” Katuski growled, but as soon as Kirishima took his hand, he eased the beta up with a quiet, “I gotcha, Ei.”

“Thanks,” Kirishima leaned heavily against Katsuki while Todoroki went and got his crutches. Although they helped insofar as they were something the beta could lean on, moving around was still difficult for him. Todoroki kept at his side, clearly there to help.

Katsuki, however, turned to Izuku, helping him to his feet next. “What did you want to eat?”

“Fish.” He said it before he could really think about it.

Katsuki paused. “Anything in particular?”

“No. Grilled fish,” he patted his belly. “Request straight from the pup.”

Katsuki glanced down then back up at Izuku, as if he did not believe for one second that the pup had requested anything. Foolish alpha. He would never know the strange pull of wanting something because someone else was craving it. To be fair to Katsuki, Izuku had never requested grilled fish before. It wasn’t really a staple of their meals. Katsuki made a wonderful fish broth that they had fairly often, but grilling wasn’t in his usual repertoire.

However strange the request and however Izuku phrased it, the alpha nodded. “All right. I’m sure there’s something here. If not, I’ll go get something.”

“Okay.” Izuku leaned into Katsuki, hummed when the alpha rubbed his neck along his cheek. “Thanks for piling with us.”

Katsuki grunted, led him from the room without another comment. He did wait for Kirishima and Todoroki to follow after them, keeping a close eye on the beta. Izuku, too, watched Kirishima’s slow progress across the hall, Todoroki eventually helping him into a seat in front of the television. It was on some news channel but the volume was off. As soon as he sat down, Kirishima searched for the remote and changed it over to some sort of action movie. He sat back, grinning at the screen.

Izuku enjoyed action movies as much as the next person, especially if they centered around an underdog hero, which many did, so he sat with Kirishima. Katsuki muttered something about going to figure out his grilled fish and left him with a quick kiss on the lips and a stolen lick at his cheek which had Izuku chirping in protest and the alpha walking away with a smug grin. Todoroki took a seat in a nearby chair and drew out his phone, checking through his messages.

“There you are!” Uraraka’s voice was a pleasant surprise as she joined them on the couch next to Izuku.

“Everything okay?” Izuku asked her, keeping his voice low.

The omega grinned. “Everything’s fine! Don’t worry so much, okay?”

“Hard not to. That’s just about all I’ve been doing since we got here.” It was hard to admit it, but once the words were out, they were out and Izuku found he didn’t really have to sit with them anymore. Telling Uraraka about how hard it had been lifted that weight off his shoulders, made it something he could tackle, something that could be fixed.

And with a snap, it was something that to be fixed, Uraraka telling him, “Whatever it is you’ve been worrying about, we’re here to help. So you can rest easy now. We’ve got your back!”

“Hell yeah!” Despite his obviously weakened state, Kirishima had not lost any of his enthusiasm. He even activated his Quirk in his hands and knocked his fists together just as he’d done since Izuku had met him. “Don’t you worry, Midoriya. The pack’s been working overtime to find and stop Father. He isn’t going to get away with everything that easy!”

“I believe it.” He didn’t say how he, too, had been contributing to the fight, in his own way. It felt as if he and the pack and the police were all on their own different paths to getting to Father. Eventually, one of them would have to break through, trap him, stop him. It seemed like the whole world was against him.

And yet, he was still hiding, still scheming, still attacking them from the shadows. And he would continue to do so, undoubtably, until he was found.

Izuku bit at his lip, caught Uraraka frowning at him. She opened her mouth, probably to ask him what was wrong, but Izuku piped up first, “Um! Uraraka, could I ask you for a favor?”

“Sure!” She was so willing to bounce right back into a more joyful persona. Izuku wondered if it was all an act, but he didn’t think so. He was happy to be with the omega again, after all, and he suspected she felt the same.

“I want to go shopping,” he said, “to a heat store. But I, uh, don’t really want to go alone.”

It wasn’t that odd of a request, but Izuku still felt a little awkward asking it. If he’d needed something in the past, he’d usually gone by himself. On rare occasions when members of that pack had time, they had all gone to the shopping district together, but Izuku was not usually the one to suggest such outings. Even knowing the island was safe, he still felt uneasy at the thought of going out alone. Plus, he didn’t really want to be parted from the pack.

Thankfully, Uraraka didn’t even blink at what he’d said. “Of course! You want to go today?”

“Whenever Katsuki’s not paying attention,” Izuku glanced over his shoulder, aware of rumblings from the kitchen where the alpha was cooking. “It’s… something for him.”

“Oh, I see! Except Bakugo’s not going to just not pay attention to you, Deku.” Izuku blushed at her words, knowing they were true. Uraraka puffed out her cheeks as if she were thinking. “We need a distraction.”

They might have sat there for a while thinking of something if Kirishima hadn’t yelled, “Yo, Bakugo!”

“What?” Katsuki snapped from the other room.

“Let’s go a round! You and me! Let’s see who’s in fighting shape!”

Both Izuku and Uraraka blinked at Kirishima at the same time Katsuki peered out from the kitchen to cut a glare toward the beta. “You really are a moron! We’re not fighting. I’d wipe the ground with you. Besides, I’m cooking lunch for my omega! Shut up and leave me alone!”

“All right, all right, you might be right,” Kirishima held up his hands and grinned. “But hey, you think you’d be willing to go to the gym with me? Gotta get stronger. Gotta learn some basic walking techniques again. Thought you might remember a trick or two.”

The anger bled out of Katsuki so quickly that for a moment, just a moment, everyone could see the pain and the grief that the alpha hid under all the bravado. His expression smoothed out with a bit of a pout, reminiscent of the look Kazue sometimes got. After a moment, the alpha snorted. “Deku?”

“He’ll be fine!” Uraraka waved her hands. “I’ll keep an eye on him!”

Katsuki ignored her, keeping his gaze only on Izuku. He was looking for something, and Izuku didn’t think it was permission. He didn’t need permission to go with Kirishima. So what did he need from the omega?

With a jolt, he wondered if it was reassurance. Did Katsuki need reassurance that he would be okay? That being apart like that wouldn’t lead to another incident, another trip to the psyche ward, another nightmarish trauma.

Izuku didn’t smile at Katsuki. He met the alpha’s gaze with steely determination, with a resolve that they would make everything okay. He nodded once, hoping to impart even a fraction of that resolve to the alpha. Katsuki seemed to take that nod, to weigh it carefully.

Then he turned away with a scoff, “Fine. But I’m feeding Deku first.”

“Right-io!” Kirishima gave two thumbs up even though Katsuki had left already. He winked at Izuku and Uraraka, and it felt so right, so much like home.

Izuku smiled. It wasn’t a big smile. Just a little smile. A contented smile. A smile that came easily, casually. A smile that he didn’t have to think about.

They sat there for a while, chatting pleasantly. Eventually they were joined by Shoji and Iida, the pack alpha making it a point to first greet his wife then Izuku, taking the omega’s hand and squeezing it before sitting next to Uraraka.

“How’s Shinso?” Kirishima asked.

Iida grimaced and tapped his glasses. “Resting.” It seemed that was all there was to say at the moment.

As much as Izuku was worried about his friend, being with Kaminari was the best thing for him. If they needed time to relax and be together, then Izuku understood. He understood all too well.

“And Amajiki is with the pups,” Iida continued, “he seems quite content as well. Nothing out of place.” He directed the last few words to Izuku, another reassurance to him that things would be okay.

Izuku didn’t really need the reassurance. He already knew.

Katsuki eventually appeared and set a plate in front of Izuku piled with grilled fish dashed with a bit of lime juice, some fluffy rice, and steamed vegetables. By that point he was so hungry he forgot to thank Katsuki until the alpha leaned in close.

He kissed Katsuki and purred, “It’s delicious.”

“Good. You okay here?”

“Yup! I’m just going to hang out with Uraraka.”

Izuku tried to make it seem innocent but Katsuki had a way of sensing when things were off. He’d probably picked up on the subtle hints after living with Izuku for five years. So when the alpha paused at his words, Izuku wondered if he was going to just let it go or if he was going to press the issue. Katsuki glanced to each of the pack members in turn, then turned to Kirishima.

“Ei, you ready?”

“Let’s do it!” For all his enthusiasm though, he did need help standing, leaning heavily on Katsuki as he got his feet under him.

“Here,” Shoji got up to help. “I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t need your help!” Katsuki snarled, though even he had never quite been able to muster as much frustration and irritation at Shoji as he could the others.

Kirishima put a hand in his face, “Oh c’mon, Kats! He’s not helping you, he’s helping me!”

“I’m helping you,” Katsuki snarled, “and get your stinking hand out of my face!”

“Aw, that was just a thank-you pat! See? Thank you!”

“Stop touching me!”

“If I did that then you’d have to drop me. Guess Shoji needs to tag along after all.”

Kirishima grinned as Katsuki silently seethed, clearly going over the entirety of their conversation, looking for a way out.

He snapped away from both betas with a growl. “Let’s go Tentacles.”

“Hey, he didn’t call you Hentai this time!”

“Shut it.”

Izuku rubbed a hand over his forehead, but the truth was he was happy to hear such banter from Katsuki again. It had been too long. Three dark, grueling months too long. Let Katsuki have his moments, let him reintegrate himself with the pack. During everything that had happened, it hadn’t escaped Izuku’s notice that this was the first time Katsuki was seeing some of the pack, and the first time he was getting to act as second alpha to them. They were each trying to reestablish where Katsuki had fit into their lives just as much as the alpha was trying to fit himself back into his old life. Let him have his moments. Let him yell and be ridiculous for however long he wanted. He needed that time.

Once Katsuki and the betas were gone, Izuku turned to Uraraka. She grinned at him.

“So, is there a good place to go on the island? Any place in mind?”

“I don’t have one, no,” Izuku smiled. “I haven’t had a chance to really go anywhere on the island.”

“Guess it has only been a couple days. All right!” Uraraka popped up off the couch. “We’ll just go explore a little, how about that?”

Izuku couldn’t help but to laugh, taking her hand when she offered it and letting her pull him up.

“What are you two scheming?” Iida asked in a way that told Izuku he didn’t trust the omegas one bit.

“Scheming is such a mean word!” Uraraka grinned and grabbed Izuku by the arm. “We’re just going to go out and have some fun! Fun is an essential part of healthy living, isn’t it?” She turned this last statement toward her mate with a mischievous little smile, one that she didn’t give too often.

Iida crossed his arms and tapped a finger along his forearm, as if this were his process of initiating thoughts, and said, “You’re right. Fun is necessary. But keep an eye out.”

Just as Iida’s tone remained serious, Uraraka’s next words dipped as well, “I will. Don’t worry about us, we’ll be careful.”

And just like that, Izuku was reminded again that although the pack was there, things weren’t actually that much better. Father was still after them. He was still a massive threat. The pack wasn’t there to have fun. They were there to help keep the family safe, as well as the others on the island, the innocent bystanders who could get caught up in the madness surrounding them.

Izuku’s smile faded, though he was jolted out of his thoughts when Uraraka bounced up and down. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! I haven’t been out shopping in forever! This is going to be great!”

- - -

Uraraka kept ahold of Izuku’s arm, Izuku bending his elbow to support her as any gentleman would. This act, plus the fact that both of them were omegas and Izuku was pregnant to the point he was showing meant that several people they passed gave them weird looks. Izuku took note of them, only because after what Iida said he was paying attention to those around them. Father may not have access to the intranet on the island anymore, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t smuggled someone on a boat or plane. It didn’t mean they were safe.

Those that gave the two omegas weird looks, like they were trying to correlate what their relationship could possibly be to the image in front of them, Izuku dismissed. Obviously anyone associated with Father wouldn’t care about who was hanging off his arm; they would know Izuku was married to Katsuki, not a female omega. While glancing through everyone’s faces, he did also catch one man who glowered at them as if they were emitting a particularly offensive smell. Izuku made sure to catch his eye and hold it, watching as he bristled under the clear challenge.

Not one of Father’s people but still an annoyance nonetheless.

As they walked, Uraraka took up most of the time talking, though she too clearly kept an eye on their surroundings. She was a lot better at being subtle about it, quick glances, sideways tilts of her head that seemed natural but were her chance to look over her shoulder, small indicators that she was taking note of what was going on around them.

For as fun as their outing was meant to be, they were both on edge.

It got a little better once they spied a heat store several blocks down from the edge of the shopping district. An attendant greeted them at the door and even she looked at them a little strangely, but didn’t comment.

“Anything in particular you’re looking for?” She asked them.

“Clothing or blankets that retain scent easily and for long periods of time,” Izuku answered.

The attendant smiled. “Great! This way, then!”

She led them to the corner of the store, where shelves had been lined up displaying large plush pillows and blankets. Uraraka paused to run her hand over a large blue one that reminded Izuku of Iida’s hair color.

“Here’s all our blankets. Different sizes are available for any nesting or heat needs!” The attendant spread her arms proudly, as if she had stitched every last thread of the blankets. “And over here are some of our clothes! We have special maternal sweaters that are really quite lovely for holding scents.” She hurried them over a couple of aisles to a set of clothing display racks.

“This is good,” Uraraka smiled at the attendant. “Thank you.”

She smiled and told them to call her over if they needed anything, then she let them be. Izuku glanced around the store and bit his lip. Katsuki was an alpha alpha. He wasn’t particularly sensitive to things that made him seem too unalpha, but he also wasn’t a fan of such things. If necessary, he would do whatever he needed to, but that didn’t mean he would like it. Izuku didn’t like the idea of him just putting up with something to try to get Father out of his head. They needed it to be a pleasant, enjoyable experience for him, something to gently pry Katsuki’s instincts and mind from Father’s control. That being said, heat stores such as this one catered exclusively to omegas. There were the odd beta who went into a pseudo-heat, but those were few and far between, and alphas never had heats like omegas. Sometimes alphas would go into ruts, which were similar in body mechanism but very different emotional experiences. As such, nothing in the store was anything like something Katsuki would be drawn to for himself.

Izuku glanced around and sighed. “This might take a while.”

“We have all day,” Uraraka said patiently. She picked out a shirt with a high collar, simple, black, with an orange stripe along the sleeve. “Something like this might work?”

Izuku tentatively ran his fingers over the shirt, felt how it was so incredibly soft, as if it were disappearing between his fingers. He honestly didn’t know what Katsuki would think of that. Comfort in his clothes didn’t seem high on his priority, but it seemed hard to imagine he’d object to it.

“Maybe,” Izuku bit his lip. “May as well try it out.”

He picked up the shirt in Katsuki’s size and they went around the entire store, checking the rest of the clothes, the blankets, anything and everything they could find that was scent-retaining. Izuku picked up a couple of things for himself and Uraraka ended up grabbing that blue heat blanket, but nothing else stood out as something Katsuki would enjoy.

As they stood in line waiting to check out, Izuku couldn’t help but to feel a little disheartened. This wasn’t just him trying to do something nice for the alpha. This was literally something his life was staked on. Failure wasn’t an option. And yet, Izuku was already feeling discouraged. This heat store was as much like any of the other heat stores he’d ever been to, and while there were specialized stores, it was unlikely any of them would be on I-Island. Maybe he could order something.

He groaned in dismay, felt a little better when Uraraka took his arm again. “We’ll figure something out.” She said it so confidently that it seemed to just manifest exactly what they were looking for in that moment.

When Izuku turned to thank her, something caught his attention over her shoulder. A rack of scarves stationed at the edge of the checkout line. They hadn’t paid much attention to them before, having dismissed such displays as they usually held small trinkets and toys and last-minute purchases.

The rack displayed several scarves of varying color, make, and length. One in particular stood out so vividly that it pulled Izuku’s attention from all the others. His hand reached for it before he’d even realized and when he pulled it from the rack, he felt an incredulous smile on his face.

“Deku?” Uraraka tilted her head toward him.

He showed her the scarf, and smiled widely. “This. This is what I was looking for.”

- - -

Katsuki did not like being away from Izuku. He never had, and that feeling had only been amplified by recent events. That being said, he did feel better knowing his omega was safely with his pack members, who would each fight to the death to make sure no harm came to him. Knowing that did make focusing on what was in front of him a little easier, but only a little. Because what was in front of him was painful enough.

They were in a brightly lit room, the florescent bulbs humming above them. Katsuki had drawn all the window shades shut and had closed the door to the private room. He’d been surprised to find that the gym had such a room, and even more so when they’d offered two ballet bars to help them. Such things weren’t exactly therapeutic level, but Katsuki had used ballet bars before when he was in recovery.

It made things all the more painful. He could see himself, gripping those bars tightly, snarling in fury as his body refused to move the way it had only weeks earlier. But it wasn’t him who was struggling. It was his best friend, the man who had nearly died to save his mate. And yet, for it all, Kirishima’s teeth were still set in a grin.

His feet were unsteady under him as the beta white-knuckled the two bars he was standing between. He’d gone up and down them twice now, this being his third attempt, and he was struggling hard. Each step was a fight. Each little twitch of his legs was a calculated move. Kirishima was sweating and panting hard, and yet he was still smiling. Katsuki didn’t get it. He watched the beta stumble forward and felt a stab of pain right where his heart lay in his chest.

“Almost there,” Kirishima panted again. Katsuki said nothing, tightened his arms crossed over his chest.

He hated seeing the beta struggling so much, especially knowing he was like this because he’d tried to save Izuku. It should have been Katsuki to take that bullet, should have been Katsuki keeping his omega safe. Kirishima should have never been put in a position where he had to stake his life on rescuing Izuku. That was Katsuki’s job. He’d failed not only the omega, but the beta as well.

He swallowed, trying to push down the guilt and shame, and was thankful Kirishima was concentrating on his walking too much to notice.

Each step was painful, but slowly, Kirishima made it to the other side of the bars. At the last few steps, he started to sway and his chin dipped forward, exhaustion making his whole body tremble. His smile had slipped away at some point.

Katsuki stepped to be right beside the beta. “Can’t give up now, Ei,” he growled, and Kirishima lifted his head slightly. “Two more steps. C’mon.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima steadied his breath, held it, lifted his foot like it weighed about two hundred pounds, and shuffled it forward. He leaned heavily against the bars, so much so that Katsuki had to brace them.

“One more,” he prompted.

Kirishima stayed right where he was for several long minutes, then pushed himself up. Determination and stubbornness his set pointed teeth in a snarl rather than a grin. He picked up his foot, pressed it forward, and made it to the end of the bars.

When he did, he nearly fell right then and there, but Katsuki grabbed his arms and held him up, held him victorious against his own body. Kirishima panted and grinned and laughed. “Did it!” He lifted one shivering arm in celebration. “Now. Maybe a nap. A nap sounds good.”

Katsuki shifted his grip, pulling Kirishima’s arm over his shoulder and taking hold of the beta’s waist, holding him up. “Just sit down for a moment.”

“Ha! You’re being soft, Kats.”

“Shut it.” There was no heat to his response. The knee-jerk reaction to Kirishima’s teasing did feel misplaced in that moment, but neither of them seemed to notice or care. “Sit down.”

Once Kirishima was safely in a high-backed chair with sturdy wooden arms he could lean against, Katsuki went to find Shoji. The other beta was working out elsewhere in the gym. Katsuki had initially hoped he would get a chance to do some training as well, but Kirishima had required his full attention, and he hadn’t minded giving it. He still owed the head beta so much, and he would for the rest of his life. Without Kirishima, Izuku would almost certainly be in Father’s grasp at that very moment, suffering unspeakable atrocities. The thought drove an icy knife straight through Katsuki’s chest, but he found it didn’t make seeing his hero partner in so much pain any better.

When Shoji spotted Katsuki, he set the weights he’d been working with down and met him halfway. “We’re leaving. Kirishima’s tired.”

Shoji nodded. “I’ll get the car.”

They hadn’t been able to keep the bus that had brought the pack back to the house, but Rai had given them access to a car to use, almost entirely because of Kirishima’s inability to walk very far. Katsuki fished those keys out from his pocket and tossed them to Shoji without another word.

Back in their private room, Kirishima was stretching out in the chair as much as he could. “Oh man! That was a good one, Kats. Feel that one in every part of my body.”

“You’ll feel it more in the morning.” He remembered that distinctly. The feeling of muscles rebuilding, of his mind remembering how to move certain parts of his body. It was a strange thing, to reconnect with something that had never truly left him. It had been more like he had left it, separating himself from his body, seeing them as two separate entities, and suffering through the process of remembering that his body was, in fact, still his. He hoped the process was easier for Kirishima than it had been for him. “Shoji’s getting the car. You ready to move?”

“Give me another minute.”

Katsuki grunted and put a hand on Kirishima’s shoulder, squeezing him. The beta placed a hand over his, and again, Katsuki felt a pain in his gut.

“Hey, Shitty Hair.”

“Yeah, Kats?”

“Thanks. You know. For what you did.” He paused, glared at the ground. “Wish it was me instead of you.”

“Nah,” Kirishima gave him that stupid grin. “You’ve already done this once. Don’t need to go through it again. ‘Sides. A real man’s okay with facing his weaknesses. Just gotta be okay with getting a little stronger every day!”

Stronger every day.

While Katsuki wasn’t relearning how to walk, he was trying to build back some of the muscle that he’d lost during his captivity with Father. That process was proving to be a frustratingly long one, as was his learning to take control back from the villain. But he was making progress. He was getting stronger every day, as Kirishima had said.

Katsuki shook his head when he realized the beta had said it more for his benefit than his own. It was like him to do stuff like that. He was like Deku in that way. Putting other people before him, even when he was the one in most need of help.

There weren’t words adequate enough for that moment, so Katsuki just stood in support of the beta until Shoji returned to say he’d brought the car around. Together they helped Kirishima to the car, got him all settled in, and started back to the house. The entire time, Kirishima joked and made quips, trying to earn a smile from Katsuki.

He never quite managed it, but Katsuki did feel a sense of relief wash over him, having his best friend at his side once more.

- - -

Upon arriving back at the house, Katsuki handed Kirishima over to Iida to help back to his room and went to find Izuku and Kazue. He checked all the obvious places, the lounges, their bedroom, Kazue’s room, but there wasn’t a sign of the omega or pup. On his way past Hikaru’s room, he heard a laugh and paused, peering in through the crack in the door.

He spotted Hikaru on the ground, chatting about something or other, with Kazue right next to him. The alpha pup watched, perplexed, as Hikaru showed off his hand, revealing all ten of his nails had been painted in a warm forest green. Wearing nail polish wasn’t allowed at their school and nobody besides Mina wore anything other than clear polish in the pack, so it was the pup’s first real exposure to it and he seemed highly confused. Usually something like nail painting he would have simply attributed to Mina’s often strange and carefree way of living, but here it was, shown in a completely normal setting. Hikaru laughed again when Kazue gave him a blank look at what he was seeing, rolling onto his back and kicking his legs up in typical Hikaru theatrics.

As he did, Katsuki caught the eye of someone else in the room. Not Izuku, but Amajiki, the omega hero watching him at the door. He’d traded his hero costume for more casual clothes and seemingly had just been enjoying some time playing with the pups. Of everyone outside of his pack, Katsuki trusted Amajiki the most when it came to handling Kazue. He could be both firm and gentle when needed and Kazue trusted the omega hero, sometimes more than he trusted Amajiki’s mate. While Togata was a kind and caring person, he was also a loud alpha and Kazue still had problems with trusting alphas since he witnessed Izuku be attacked by Yokoyama. Seeing Kazue relaxed around Amajiki helped to ease some of Katsuki’s own tensions, and he stepped back from the door and left them to play.

Knowing Kazue was okay, Katsuki turned to look for Izuku. Since he wasn’t with Kazue and he wasn’t in any other obvious spots, Katsuki did begin to worry somewhat. Either Izuku had gone off to do something stupid or he was hiding away for some reason, and typically those reasons were never good. He had to find his omega.

In his search, he found himself in the dining room, surprised to see it occupied by one beta and one omega. Kaminari grinned at Katsuki just as Shinso eyed him flatly.

Last Katsuki had seen Kaminari, it was like the rest of the world hadn’t existed beyond his mate, the beta wholly wrapped up in caring for Shinso. Now, he had that stupid grin on his face. “Hey there, number two! How’s it going?”

As was his usual response, Katsuki went to snap at Kaminari, but he reined himself in, rolling his shoulders to release the tension in them. “Where’s Izuku?”

Kaminari gestured out a side door. “He went to the gardens with Todoroki. Think they needed a quiet moment.”

“With Icy Hot?” Katsuki snarled and went to stomp away, but something Shinso said pulled him back.

“You know it’s because of you,” the omega said, as unimpressed as he ever was, “he likes being around Todoroki because he reminds him of you.”

“How?” Katsuki snapped. “I’m nothing like that guy!”

“Yeah. I think that’s why.” Shinso leaned back in his seat and almost like a magnet, Kaminari moved with him, putting his arm over the back of the omega’s chair. “Todoroki reminds him of you because he’s so opposite to you.”

Katsuki did not really understand how those things could be connected, but he bit off the snarl that wanted to rise in response to his confusion. Omegas were a different beast. Izuku did things Katsuki didn’t understand purely based on some weird instinct of his. And he wasn’t usually completely wrong, if he wasn’t completely right to begin with. So fine. But he didn’t have to like it.

Katsuki went to turn toward the gardens, pausing briefly to glance once over Shinso and Kaminari. The omega seemed at ease. More like what Katsuki had remembered of him from before all this madness. Things were starting to slot back into their normal places in life.

That was good.

That… was very good.

But he still needed to find Izuku.

Without saying anything else, Katsuki headed toward the back door. He expected to find Todoroki with Izuku, so when he saw the alpha sitting across from him, leaning forward in conversation, he didn’t feel as much of a spike of jealousy.

But he did still growl just to make his point. “What’re you two doing?”

“Talking,” Izuku said it with a bit of bite, which was good to hear. Katsuki was glad that his omega was still grounded enough to be angry at his possessiveness. Another step toward normal. Whatever normal might be in this world. “You’re back.”

The last words weren’t necessary, but Katsuki did confirm them by dragging a chair right next to Izuku’s and collapsing into it, glaring back at Todoroki, who ignored the challenge.

“We’ll catch up later,” the other alpha said, and Katsuki lifted a lip in response to such a proposition.

He almost growled when Izuku responded with a cheery, “Sure!”

But at least it got Todoroki to get up and leave them alone, sliding the door shut behind him. Katsuki snorted in satisfaction, taking Izuku’s hand and kissing his knuckles.

“That was rude you know,” the omega’s reprimand was admittedly weak, as he also leaned toward Katsuki and purred when the alpha licked at his palm. He put up no other complaints, allowing Katsuki to just enjoy licking the sweat from his hand. Salty, but just a little sweet, a bit like lavender. Really, the omega had no right to be so fucking delicious.

“Oh, wait!” Izuku shook his hand out of Katsuki’s grasp and got up. “Wait there!”

Katsuki sunk into his seat and glowered, even when Izuku returned. He didn’t look up as the omega approached him, and was therefore surprised when Izuku slid into his lap. The omega settled between his thighs and kicked his legs up over the arm of Katsuki’s chair, wrapping his arms around his neck. Which was admittedly a little hard because he was holding a bag in his hand. But still welcome. Katsuki shifted a little to make sure Izuku was comfortable, giving way to his possessiveness with a bit of a growl, by wrapping his arms around the omega.

“Here,” Izuku offered Katsuki the bag, “I got you a little something.”

Katsuki had to admit, accepting gifts from Izuku was still a little hard. He understood that it was just the omega’s way of showing his appreciation and commitment to their relationship, but as he took the gift, he was already planning on what he was going to get Izuku in response.

As he wrestled with the bag, Izuku nestled into the crook of his neck, scenting him deeply, completely distracting him. Forget the bag. All Katsuki wanted to unwrap was the handsome omega in his lap.

“You’re gorgeous,” he reminded Izuku, who trilled in delight.

“You know. I think I like these intimacy exercises the doctor ordered.”

Oh right. That had been something the doctor had said. It was, admittedly, a bit of a buzzkill to know that Izuku was doing this partly because some doctor had ordered it. But he could still find appreciation in that it was happening at all. And Izuku did still seem to be enjoying it just as much as Katsuki was.

He could look past the omega’s motivations and accept that yes, he could get used to more of these intimacy exercises.

“Open it,” Izuku prompted, and Katsuki opened the bag and reached inside.

His fingers hit something soft, something unexpected. He frowned, saw the sparks in Izuku’s eyes, and drew out a scarf.

At first, he stared down at it in confusion, his mind slowly working out that yes, the doctor had also told them that he needed to wear things that retained Izuku’s scent, that he needed to rely on the omega’s scent whenever he was feeling anxious or upset in any way. And indeed, he could smell a soothing, calming scent rolling off of the fabric, but it wasn’t until he stretched the material out in front of him that he understood why Izuku was so excited.

The scarf was one of those that looped in around itself, a self-contained circle. Or at least, at first glance it was. Upon closer inspection, there was a clasp, small, out of the way, nearly hidden in the swath of cotton. The clasp meant the scarf could be unclasped and worn like a regular scarf. The scarf itself was a braid of three bands of some of the softest, lightest fabric Katsuki had ever felt. Izuku owned soft pieces of clothing and blankets that he had purchased from heat stores for those days when he wanted something cozy yet not too warm on summer nights. This felt very much like that. The woven bands were a dark, absolute black, with bits of silver so the entire scarf seemed to shine in certain lights.

At a glance, such a scarf wouldn’t have meant anything to anyone else. Some may have appreciated it for its simple beauty, for its comfort, for how it felt like a cloud in Katsuki’s hands. Katsuki saw the braided cloth, like links in a chain, the clasp that held it together, and the deep black that shone like obsidian, as something entirely different.

The scarf looked almost exactly like the black chain that Izuku had gifted Katsuki when they’d been courting, the same chain that had been lost when he’d been taken by Father.

A strange welling spread in Katsuki’s chest. The loss of the chain had quietly devastated him. He and Izuku had had a real fight over that chain, Katsuki taking the omega’s gift as a sign that Izuku wasn’t interested in having Katsuki as a partner, that he was trying to reciprocate the gifts the alpha had already given him, to pay him back. But it had meant so much more than that. It had been a symbol of their shared partnership, of Izuku’s commitment to the thought of them, them the couple, them the unit, them.

He had more than once reached down to his pocket, to try to grasp where that chain had once sat clipped to his belt loop, only to draw away with nothing.

Here was Izuku gifting it back to him. A sign of his commitment, his love, his willingness to stand with Katsuki through these hard times, to see him through. A reminder of what had happened. A comfort to the future that lay in front of them. A solution for a problem they were facing in that moment.

It smelled so much like Izuku. Like warm, summer nights spent in fields of wildflowers and lavender, so much so he thought if he bit into the cloth it would melt into the honey taste of Izuku’s scent.

“Do you like it?” Izuku asked.

Katsuki ran his fingers over the material, turned it around so the clasp was behind. He tossed it over his head, wrapped it around his neck once. With only a small tuck of his neck, he could bury himself into Izuku’s scent, as if he were nosing into the omega’s neck.

Instead, he drew his mate closer, growled contently, whispered, “You’re amazing,” and smiled when Izuku hummed happily in his arms. Theirs was a peaceful night. A wonderful night. A night of quiet and togetherness, of listening to one another breathe and being so achingly happy for the sound.

- - -

It, of course, could not last.

After spending a blissful night with Katsuki, Izuku lay in bed, listening to the alpha sleeping. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about how they were starting to resolve problems. They had a starting point with Katsuki. They knew how to start helping him. The pack had arrived to help assist in any problems that might arise from Father. Melissa was helping him get some upgrades for Katsuki’s and Hitoshi’s gear.

He was the only one who still had work to start.

He didn’t get up from bed. But his hands twitched nearly all night, planning, scheming, readying for the next day. The day in which he had no more excuses.

It was time to participate in the hunt for Father.

Chapter Text

Katsuki got up before Izuku. No surprise since the omega had been up late planning and preparing. When he moved to get up, Izuku rolled over and groaned, not wanting to follow after him but feeling he should. Katsuki ran a hand along his back and growled, “Sleep. I’ll get breakfast made.”

Izuku grumbled something, even he wasn’t sure what, but when he peered up, Katsuki had slipped out of the room. He rolled into the alpha’s spot on the bed and wrapped his arms around his pillow, savoring these last few minutes.

His day was going to be a busy one. This might be the only moment of indulgence he had. Besides, he needed to start coming up with a plan. He needed to go down to the lab, but a new problem had presented itself to him: the pack.

He couldn’t work on Anon’s data without seeming suspicious and there was no way that the pack would let him go alone. They had come to that island for the express purpose of helping them. It would be crazy for them to just shrug their shoulders and let him wander off. So. What was he going to do?

He picked at who was mostly likely to let him off the hook. Kirishima, probably, but Izuku wasn’t all that sure even if Kirishima told him to go that the others would just let him make that decision. The head beta was weak. The pack sensed his weakness. In times long since passed, weakness such as his would have gotten him booted out of his position as head beta. Nowadays, people were more civilized about it, but Izuku had no doubt the alphas wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say when it came to that sort of decision making.

Who else was there though? Iida certainly wouldn’t allow it, neither would Katsuki. Kaminari and Shoji had just about as much say as Kirishima at the moment. Uraraka maybe, but after their walk yesterday, Izuku was worried she’d picked up on how stressed out he was. Or maybe he could use that to his advantage….

…What was he even doing?

He was laying there, trying to think of ways to deceive the pack. The very people who had come to help them out, he was trying to figure out a way to trick them.

How pathetic was he.

The door swung open quietly, so Izuku expected it to be Katsuki, though when he lifted his head, a different alpha scent hit him. “Mom?”

“Yes?” Izuku pushed himself up, spying Kazue at the door. The alpha pup glanced around, then hurried into the room and shut the door behind him. Without saying anything else, he leaped up onto the bed and nosed his way into Izuku’s arms.

Another reminder of things he had let go in recent weeks. Kazue was so starved for attention that he was literally taking it from his mom. Izuku hugged the alpha pup tightly, trying to control his scent so Kazue wouldn’t be able to tell he was upset.

“Mommy, when are we going to go home?” Kazue asked it so innocently. As if they could get on a plane tomorrow.

“Soon, firecracker, soon.” Guilt made the name feel sticky on his tongue. He hugged the pup a little tighter. “I’m sorry. I wish… I wish things were better.”

“They will get better, Mommy. They already are. Uncle Kiri is here, right? And Uncle Iida and Auntie Ura-ka, and Uncle Shoji and Uncle Denki. And even Uncle Sho!” The pup sagely nodded as he named off each pack member. “So things are already getting better. But I want to go home soon. I miss Sakura and Takahiro and Harue. I even miss…,” he trailed off, then scrunched his nose up, “well… maybe not Fumiko.”

Izuku couldn’t help but to laugh, to feel a sense of relief at the joke, even if Kazue had completely meant it. His smile faded when he thought of the pack pups. Save for Kaminari and Shoji, each of the heroes who had come to help had pups on the mainland. They’d left not only the pack, but their pups, their significant others. Mina had let Kirishima come on this mission. She’d let her recently wounded mate leave her side, leave their weeks-old pup. Iida and Uraraka had left Fumiko. Shoto had left his pups and his mate. They had all made sacrifices to help Izuku, Katsuki, and Kazue.

And here he was, taking advantage of them.

Kazue nosed at Izuku’s cheek. “Mommy, don’t be sad. It’ll be okay.”

He hated that Kazue knew he was in pain. He hated that the pup was so starved for his attention and yet all Izuku could do was wallow. The omega sighed, rubbed his cheek along the pup’s head. “I know, firecracker. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.”

“Damn right you will be.”

Izuku startled, not having noticed Katsuki in the doorway. He was holding a tea tray, looking half put together and still smelling a bit like sleep. Just like any other morning at home. And just like any other morning, he kicked the door shut behind him as he brought the tray over to the bed.

“You eat yet, Kaz?”

“Nope!” Kazue leaped up, eagerly leaning over the tea tray to see if the alpha had brought him something.

Of course, Katsuki handed him a bowl, the alpha pup growling contently as he sunk to the ground next to the bed. Katsuki gave another to Izuku and set the tea tray aside, then sat next to Izuku.

“C’mere, pup. It’s not our bed.”

“Kacchan,” Izuku grumbled, but the alpha snorted.

“Like you can say anything. How much rice have you gotten on our mattress?”

Izuku glared at him from over his bowl as Kazue took the opportunity to carefully find a seat next to Katsuki. He leaned against the alpha, finding a comfortable spot to eat. Katsuki ran a hand through Kazue’s hair then turned to his own food.

There was peace and quiet for the moment, so much so that Izuku felt his stomach turning. He missed these moments. He missed his alphas. Missed having them by his side, content, quiet, happy, safe. Setting his food aside for a moment, Izuku leaned into Katsuki’s neck and nuzzled into his scent gland, purring when the alpha growled.

“Eat. It’ll get cold.”

“Fine.” Izuku paused a moment longer to take in all of Katsuki’s scents, the chilies, the subtle hints of caramel. When he turned back to breakfast, he asked, “So… any plans for the day.”

“Actually meant to talk to you about that.” Katsuki shot Kazue a glance, seemed to consider something, then said, “Dr. Han called yesterday, remember? Told me she’d signed me up to run some tests today. I’ll be doing that off and on. Won’t be around a lot.”

“Oh.” Well that was convenient. It meant Katsuki was going to be out of the way when he snuck to his lab. Izuku bit his lip, silently thanking whatever god had set that up for him.

“What tests, Kacchan?” Kazue peered up at the alpha, a little leery.

Katsuki ruffled his hair. “Gotta get my back scanned. Take some temperament tests.”

Kazue blinked. “You mean they’re going to test if you’re angry or not? They can’t just tell?”

Katsuki nearly choked and Izuku pressed a hand over his mouth to stop from spewing food all over the bed.

“No, pup. Not like that.”

“So what’s the test about?”

“Eat your breakfast. And stop laughing, Deku. You’ll choke.” Katsuki waited for everyone to settle down before he continued, “Anyway, I’ll be in and out of doctor offices all day sounds like. You’ll be on your own for the most part.”

Good news. In some aspects.

“We’ll be okay. No trouble, right firecracker?”

Kazue growled into his food, and it was hard to tell if he was agreeing with Izuku or upset at being told to behave. Not that Kazue ever misbehaved. Other than getting into fights at school. Wow, they hadn’t addressed that yet either. Izuku touched his forehead, sighed, purred when he felt Katsuki stroke a hand over his knee.

“You sure you’ll be okay, love?” Katsuki whispered quietly, as if Kazue wasn’t sitting right there and could hear him anyway.

Izuku nuzzled into Katsuki’s side. “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. I want to… spend some time at my lab anyway.” It was a risk telling Katsuki. There was a good chance he was going to tell him to take someone from the pack with him.

Instead, the alpha grunted. “Shinso mentioned you went into a frenzy with that American chick while I was in the ward. You got some ideas bouncing around that head of yours?”

“Yeah. Got an idea for an upgrade for you. Plus need to think about that equilibrium problem you’re having. And I told Hitoshi I’d work on the range his persona chords can product. And, uh…,” he scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Lots of things going on.”

Of all the things Izuku was expecting, he wasn’t quite ready for Katsuki to nod. “Good. Like seeing you busy with your engineering again. Should be what you’re worried about.”

Izuku flinched, froze when Katsuki turned a glare toward him. It was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking. Did he know? Did he suspect? Well, Izuku supposed he wouldn’t be a hero if he wasn’t suspicious of something with how he’d been acting recently. He hadn’t been subtle about something bothering him. Seems like it was too much to ask for the alpha to simply write it off as him being worried about Father infiltrating the island. Katsuki knew him too well.

“R-right,” was all Izuku could think of to say in response. Another dead giveaway. He saw it in the tilt of Katsuki’s eyebrows, how the alpha clearly looked him over, as if he could read exactly what was wrong right off his skin.

“Take Uraraka with you.” He said, and Izuku deflated.

He’d known it was coming, but now that Katsuki had said it, he felt a little like he’d been smacked in the face. But he had to think of something.

He buried himself into his breakfast, trying to calm Katsuki, maybe convince him he’d been swayed, giving himself more time to think. An idea struck him, and although he didn’t really like deceiving Katsuki, he cleared his throat and said, “You know, Uraraka needs to be here to help Iida. With keeping an eye on Father.” He added the last part on quickly as Katsuki turned a glare to him. “But I get it! You want someone to come with me. All right, fine. I’ll ask Todoroki to come with me.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Izuku tried his best to look innocent, but Katsuki didn’t even seem to be paying attention to him anymore.

“Not Icy Hot. Anyone else.”

“C’mon, Kacchan! Todoroki’s the number four hero. Rumor has it he could finally pass Hawks soon, and he’d be number three! If something happened, he’d know what to do.”

“Deku, drop it. Not Icy Hot.”

Although he’d gotten into the conversation to try to trick Katsuki, the uninterested tone the alpha took ticked at a nerve that Izuku had forgotten he had. He hated when Katsuki tried to tell him what to do without a good reason. He hated when the alpha tried to control him. And he absolutely hated when he thought he could just make Izuku do what he wanted just because he said so.

Izuku tapped his bowl, then thrust it over Katsuki’s arms, deliberately getting in his way. “Kazue, take my bowl to the kitchen.”

Sensing that the omega was not pleased, Kazue took the bowl and hurried from the room without complaint. Once he was gone, Izuku shoved himself out of bed.

“Deku.” There was a warning in the tone of voice Katsuki took. Izuku hated that too.

“No! You don’t get to call me that when you’re being an ass.”

Katsuki growled in such a way that even with his back turned, Izuku could still see the alpha’s eyes roll. “You’re being dramatic.”

Without saying anything else, Izuku stomped out of the room. “Todoroki!”

“Oi!” He heard Katsuki scramble after him but Izuku headed further into the house, calling again for the other alpha. “The hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Pissing you off,” Izuku snapped, then paused when Todoroki leaned out from a doorway down the hall. “Todoroki! I need your help.”

Todoroki glanced over Izuku’s shoulder, to where Katsuki stood as a snarling, growling shadow over the omega. “Why?”

“Because I want to go to my lab and Katsuki won’t let me go alone.”

Todoroki seemed to think over something very carefully. Katsuki growling behind Izuku probably had something to do with the long pause he took before speaking. “I can be around if you need help.”

Izuku nodded stiffly. “I guess that settles that!” He stomped away without once acknowledging Katsuki.

He was aware of the alpha growling something to Todoroki, to which he said, “Why would I let that happen?”

Izuku grumbled under his breath. Typical Katsuki. Typical.

Typical….

He paused on the staircase. Thought about what that meant. What typical Katsuki told him about the alpha’s progress. That there had been progress. That they were moving forward.

Izuku ran a hand over his belly, trying to imagine what the little person inside of him might one day look like. Would they have blond hair? Green? Hadn’t Katsuki’s dad had brown hair? And what about their eyes? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t quite cobble an image together.

“Midoriya?”

Izuku startled, finding Amajiki at the bottom of the staircase. He’d forgotten the omega hero had come with the pack, hadn’t hardly seen him much since they’d arrived.

Amajiki was holding a stack of clothes, the familiar off-white suggesting it might be his hero costume, one foot forward as if he were midstride. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.” Izuku could still hear Katsuki growling behind him. He started back down the stairs, said to Amajiki, “Thanks for coming. We’re happy to have you here as backup.”

Amajiki offered a tentative smile, one that surprised Izuku, though he didn’t really know why. “I think I should be thanking you. You kept Hikaru safe and happy for us. Don’t think I could ever thank you enough for that.”

“Yeah, right…,” Izuku rubbed the back of his head, did not point out that if he was doing a good job at all, Amajiki probably wouldn’t have felt the need to come collect his pup himself. “Is, uh, everything going okay in Japan?”

“Yeah,” Amajiki nodded for Izuku to follow him, heading toward the laundry room under the stairs, “Mirio’s been focused on finding the League, on finding the connections to Father through them and Hiku. Since Hiku attacked you, he’s been underground. That’s unusual. Even if he’s not outright attacking people, we’ve still seen him pop up from time to time, usually recruiting people to the League.”

Izuku nodded as Amajiki spoke, adding, “Right. I guess he would be their biggest recruiter, with how he can give people Quirks.” When Amajiki gave him a strange look, Izuku shrugged. “He gave me a Quirk, didn’t he? Only makes sense that he’d use that power to boost the League’s street credibility as well as bolster their ranks.”

“Uh, I guess,” Amajiki was still looking at him hard. Izuku thought for a moment he might have given something away, told the omega hero something that he shouldn’t have known, until Amajiki said, “I forgot you’re an analyst as well as an engineer. Guess you’d have to be for your job.”

“Yes. My job.” Izuku left it at that.

“Anyway. Mirio’s working hard and so are a bunch of other heroes. We’ve made progress.”

“But you still haven’t found Father,” Izuku said, and Amajiki sagged forward.

“Not yet. But we’re getting closer.”

Just as Father’s getting closer to us. Izuku bit his lip. “Anyway, uh, just so you know, the Board that oversees the island gave me permission to use an old lab here. Or, an unused lab, I guess, it’s not really that old. Anyway, I’m going to go and work on some projects today. Could you… would you mind keeping an eye on Kazue for me?”

Izuku didn’t know why he was so nervous to ask the omega hero. He couldn’t decide if he was uncomfortable with the idea, or if he felt guilty, or if it was something he wasn’t even fully aware of. All he knew was the words were hard to get out, and he knew they showed. The pack could forgive him some eccentricities since they had seen him having almost daily mental breakdowns since Katsuki had disappeared. He wasn’t convinced Amajiki would so quickly accept him acting at all suspicious. And yet, he couldn’t seem to stop being abnormal.

As he held his breath, waiting for Amajiki to call him out, the omega hero sighed. “Hikaru has so much energy but Kazue can be so calm. Some of the time. Sometimes he gets really wound up and he reminds me of Bakugo a lot.” He shivered, shook his head. “I’ll watch him. It’s nice having him around for Hikaru to play with. Takes some of the pressure off of me. I am here to work, after all.”

“Oh, right. Okay.” Izuku shifted. “Is there… anything in particular you’re working on?”

Amajiki shrugged. “Patrolling mostly. Just stuff I’d do back in Japan. Since Father gained access to the intranet, he’d have had access to the island’s route and security protocols. There’s no guarantee the island is completely safe anymore.”

Izuku felt a jolt at the news. He hadn’t considered that Father’s infiltration had been so damaging. But of course such an intrusion would have given him access to that information. Not only had Father been tormenting them this entire time, but he’d also been tracking them, watching as they slowly drifted through the ocean.

“It’s weird though,” Amajiki continued. He threw his stack of clothes into the washer, which Izuku flinched at. If that really was his costume, he should not be washing it in a normal washer, but Izuku decided that was a conversation to have another time. “Even though Father seems to have known where the island was this whole time, we haven’t seen any movements that suggest he’s tried to reach the island and we’re not sure why.”

“Weird,” Izuku agreed. He wondered if that was Anon’s doing. Or if something else was going on.

Shivering slightly, he cleared his throat. “Well. I’m going to be at my lab for most of the day. If you needed anything.”

Amajiki looked up at him from his laundry. “You’re going alone?”

Izuku forced a smile. “No. Todoroki’s coming with me.”

“Oh.” That seemed to pacify the omega hero, who turned back to the washer. “Okay. I’ll make sure Kazue’s okay here. It’s the least I can do after how you took care of Hikaru.”

“It was nothing.” This should have been the point that Izuku walked away. That maybe he could have snuck away while Katsuki was still distracted by Todoroki and Amajiki thought he was being safe. But he paused, thinking about Hikaru, about what the pup had done, how he had used his Quirk, the ramifications. He bit his lip, swayed, said, “You know. Hikaru kept asking me to let him use his Quirk to help me.”

Amajiki sighed but didn’t turn away from his task. “He’s been like that more and more recently. Makes sense, too. He trusts you, after all. He wouldn’t be worried about using his Quirk on you.”

“Yeah, but, just so you know… I think you should be careful with him.”

At this, Amajiki rose, blinked questioningly at Izuku.

Izuku swallowed hard, trying not to be intimidated. Amajiki was the number six hero for a reason. He wasn’t one to be messed with. And this was his pup Izuku was talking about. However, this needed to be said.

“He used his Quirk to help calm Katsuki and myself. I think he’s doing it by taking energy from the normal chemical reactions that happen in our bodies. But if he does it took much, he could accidentally put someone in a coma, or even kill them.” The words came out in a blur, Izuku forcing them quickly out, stampeding one word right after the other. And when he had said it all, Amajiki was still just staring at him. As if Izuku hadn’t said anything at all. “I mean, uh, it’s a great ability. He was very helpful. But he is just a pup and I think… it could be dangerous.”

Still, Amajiki just stared. As long as the moment lasted, as much the silence pressed down on Izuku like a thumb crushing him into the floor, he couldn’t move. The omega hero’s gaze pinned him there, the pressure of the quiet rushing over him, nearly taking his breath away. Without thinking, he put a hand to his belly, felt a little shiver from the pup under his skin.

Amajiki was the first to move. He turned back to the washer, sighed. “We know. We’ve been keeping an eye on it. Trying to keep people from noticing. He would never hurt someone intentionally. But… well, we know what he’s capable of.”

Izuku waited, but Amajiki said nothing more. Just kept working at the laundry. Even with his back turned, his presence kept Izuku standing there, waiting, waiting. He swallowed again. “I’m not scared of him. I’m not worried about it. I just wanted to make sure you were aware. That you could talk to him about it. Keep him from going overboard.”

“We’re trying,” Amajiki turned a thin smile at him. “If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.”

This surprised Izuku so much he finally found his feet, swayed back so much he actually took a step. Nobody had ever asked him for advice on pups. Well, other than Katsuki but that didn’t count. Certainly no other omega, parent or otherwise, had asked him for such advice. Kazue was the oldest of the pack pups, but the pack had already figured out a system on how to raise their pups before he’d shown up and Sano ran an entire daycare. She didn’t need any advice on how to raise pups, she did it every day. And Amajiki? Technically, all of his pups were older than Kazue. He’d been a mother long before Izuku. He had much more experience in it. And yet, here he was, asking for advice.

And, just as surprisingly, Izuku found he had something to say. “When Kazue manifested his Quirk, he destroyed the pack’s kitchen and burned his hands really badly. So we really had to work with him on restraint. On keeping his emotions in check. I don’t know about Hikaru’s Quirk, but we found out pretty quickly Kazue’s is tied at least a little to his emotions. It’s similar for Katsuki. So we really worked with him on breathing and focusing, and that helped a lot. We also told him exactly how much he could hurt someone.” He smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, he found out firsthand, so it was a little easier. But maybe helping Hikaru understand it would help him get how dangerous it is.”

Amajiki listened carefully and once Izuku had finished, he sagged to the side, almost to the point of falling off his feet. Izuku reached as if to catch him, alarmed, but Amajiki just muttered, “That sounds exhausting. I can’t even imagine. Keiji ate buffalo and pulled one from the ground. It trampled the living room. Explaining that to the investigators was awful.”

Izuku grimaced sympathetically, but luckily for him the pack had handled all the investigations for Kazue’s incident. “Keiji can summon animals?”

“Any animal he’s eaten before, yeah. He keeps threatening to eat elephant. You have no idea how hard he tried to get his hands on some crocodile when we visited Australia.”

Despite Amajiki slowly sinking toward the ground in despair, Izuku laughed, picturing the omega hero and Togata desperately trying to keep their pup from eating some strange shish kabob. “Guess I’m lucky. I only have to worry about Kazue.”

As if on cue, an explosion literally lifted the house and dropped it back into its foundation. Izuku blinked in shock as Amajiki groaned. “You were saying?”

Unfortunately, Izuku didn’t have time to respond to the omega hero. He rushed back up the stairs but had to pause to take in the scene at the top. The hallway was on fire already, a small flame crackling on the carpet. Nearby, Katsuki crouched with a hand trailing toward the ground and the other raised, sparks flying. Across from him, Todoroki had his foot planted in front of him, ice building at his toes, fire billowing behind him like a cape. Both alphas were snarling, challenging one another, rising, meeting, and surpassing each other.

Until, that is, Izuku literally shouldered Katsuki aside. “Knock it off! That’s enough you two!” As he yelled, Izuku made sure to release as much calming scent as possible. The fact that he was pregnant meant that as his scent washed over the alphas, their attention was almost unwillingly yanked to him instead of one another, every instinct in them telling them to protect the omega.

Todoroki was the first to shake himself out of the trance, rising up and letting his ice and flames die away. “Apologies, Midoriya.” He tapped the ground lightly and a path of ice shot across the hallway, consuming the burning carpet and extinguishing the fire. “That was uncalled for on our parts. It won’t happen again.”

“Speak for yourself,” Katsuki had gone back to snarling. “Don’t you dare forget who you’re talking to, Icy Hot! Iida might be pack alpha but I’m the real number one around here!”

Todoroki gave him a sort of annoyed look but deliberately turned his back, earning another growl from Katsuki. “When you’re ready to leave, let me know, Midoriya.”

As he walked away, Katsuki yelled, “Hey! Get back here! I’m not done with you!”

“Oh yes,” Izuku stepped in front of Katsuki, the alpha stopping short, lifting his chin to glare down at the omega, “you are! Enough, Katsuki. What are you even doing?”

Katsuki snapped his jaws, pressed his face very close to Izuku’s. Another challenging display. It made sense, somewhat. Katsuki hadn’t been around the pack in three months. Of course he would have to reorder himself between them all, especially with the other alphas. It had probably not been a good idea for Izuku to instigate Katsuki against Todoroki since they had had the most friction out of any of the alphas in the pack before, but he hadn’t really considered that there would be added aggression to the situation. Katsuki had been the number two of the pack. After being gone for three months, like Kirishima, his spot was more honorary than anything else. He’d have to earn it again. And this was how he was going about it.

But Izuku wasn’t afraid of Katsuki, nor was he going to rise to his alpha challenge. As an omega, he didn’t have to, wasn’t compelled to by his instincts, and as his mate, he felt doubly as assured that Katsuki wouldn’t do anything, even as the alpha snarled right in his face.

“I told you already,” Izuku snapped, “stop being an ass about this.”

“Out of the way, Deku.”

“No. You don’t get to call me that when you’re acting like this, Katsuki.”

“Quit treating me like I’m a child!”

“Then stop acting like one.” Izuku stood his ground when Katsuki pressed even closing, bumping shoulders against Izuku, forcing him to take a step back. He ceded that space to Katsuki, but did not otherwise show submission. “Kazue acts better than this. Take a breath. Todoroki’s not even here right now.”

Katsuki growled. “You’re going to go with him to your lab.”

“That’s my choice, not yours.”

“I don’t approve.”

“I didn’t ask for your approval.”

Katsuki snapped his jaws again, so close Izuku could feel the air hiss as his teeth slid together. He growled, released as much alpha scent as he could muster. The air was heavy with both his scent and Izuku’s calming scent. Anyone who walked into that hallway was liable to fall straight on their backs by the punch of such smells.

Luckily for them, everyone seemed conveniently distracted or, likelier, did not want to trip into a fight between mates who had been separated for an agonizing amount of time and were currently being hunted by some of the most dangerous villains in all of Japan. It was like they were in their own little bubbles, their own world, with Katsuki snarling like a feral alpha and Izuku not backing down against his challenge.

“Tell me why you’re upset,” the omega said.

Katsuki scoffed. “I already told you. Not Icy Hot. Anyone but Icy Hot can go with you.”

“Why not Todoroki? He’d look after me.”

“Don’t push it, De—” Katsuki paused when Izuku narrowed his eyes. “Whatever.”

“You don’t get to be this angry about something and demand that I do something without giving me a good reason.”

“I don’t trust him!”

“Trust him? He’s your packmate! He’s the number four hero in all of Japan!”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I mean that he—!” Katsuki leaned back suddenly, blinking. He seemed to shake himself loose a little, realize just how aggressive he’d been acting.

Izuku was used to such moments. Katsuki was intelligent and methodical and extremely quick witted. He was also impulsive as hell. He was just smart enough to cover up his impulses and to correct when those impulses led him into a potentially bad situation. When danger wasn’t immediately present, like when he was fighting villains, he tended not to recognize the danger as quickly. Katsuki, thankfully, did not get into Izuku’s face very often. In fact, he had only done this three times since they’d gotten back together five years earlier. Once when Izuku had tried to give him the chain as a gift, when Katsuki had mistaken the gift as a symbol that Izuku didn’t respect him as his alpha, once when they’d fought over Kazue’s schooling after the media had endangered him and Izuku had insisted on sending him to school rather than having tutors teach him, and now this, with Katsuki floundering in a world that should have been familiar but had somehow left him behind.

This jerk back, this return to reality, was what Izuku had been waiting for. He was not happy with the alpha’s behavior. But he knew Katsuki would snap out of it eventually. When he did, Katsuki took a couple steps back, swallowed hard, as if he’d just eaten gravel, and reined his scent in. Izuku gave him the moment to regain his composure, never once letting up his own calming scent. He could tell it was helping.

Once the alpha was breathing normally, Izuku snapped, “You owe me an apology. Then you owe me an explanation.”

Katsuki cut a glare in his direction, ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. Lost control for a moment. Wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah? What the hell was all of that about?”

“Not here.” Katsuki nodded down the hallway. Izuku tapped his arm impatiently, but decided it was better to follow the alpha this time.

They slipped into their bedroom and shut the door, Izuku never once letting up on his scent or letting his arms uncross. He kept them tight to his chest, making sure Katsuki knew he was still extremely displeased. Not that he thought the alpha wouldn’t know. But it was good to remind him.

“Well?” He asked.

Katsuki grimaced. “I don’t want Icy Hot and Four Eyes thinking I need a different alpha to keep you safe. I don’t want them to think I’m weak. That I need that sort of help.”

Izuku suppressed a sigh. He understood this was an alpha dominance thing, but that was not an excuse. Katsuki had been out of line and telling Izuku he hadn’t wanted to appear weak was not the explanation he wanted to hear.

He went to say just this when Katsuki continued, “Everyone’s started to look at me like they think I’m about to fall apart. Like they can’t trust me to keep myself together. Especially the other alphas.” He nodded to the omega. “You do it, too.”

Izuku felt his insides twist a little. Because he was right. Izuku was worried about Katsuki. He worried just about every moment of every day. That wasn’t unusual in and of itself, but it was a different kind of worry from what they were used to. Izuku had once worried that he would get a phone call, one that started out with, “Midorya, I’m so sorry.” He’d once worried that Katsuki wouldn’t come home one day, that the front door would never open to him again. That fear had been confirmed, had been given speech and time, three months of it. But now that Katsuki was back, he had brought with him a different kind of fear. The fear that he was going to watch Katuski fall apart, either under Father’s sway or under the pressure of everything. Watching his alpha struggle so much, to watch him scrambling to get back to himself, to watch him falter and fall again and again, with no end in sight, was much too painful to express. The worry was eating him up inside. Apparently, it was also eating up Katsuki.

“Icy Hot’s the worst one,” he concluded.

“He’s just worried,” the words sounded pitiful as Izuku said them. “We’re all just worried.”

“Yeah. I know. It’s driving me crazy.” Katsuki shook himself, as if trying to rid himself of the feeling of everyone watching him. “I can take care of myself. I can figure it out. That’s what all this with Dr. Han is supposed to be about, right? I’m getting the help I need. What I don’t need is a bunch of losers looking over my shoulder. Not that you’re a loser,” he added when Izuku glanced at him.

“I get it. I do. But that’s still no excuse,” Izuku twisted his hands together.

“I know. Sorry.” Like Izuku’s explanation, Katsuki’s apology felt feeble, pitiful.

The two shifted uncomfortably, not quite able to look at the other.

Izuku cleared his throat first. “Well. What can I do to make you feel better?”

“Don’t go with Icy Hot to your lab,” Katsuki grumbled. “Don’t need him looming over your shoulder too. He’ll use it as an excuse to start following me. If that happens, we’ll have a real fight.”

“You will not. This house isn’t ours,” Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay fine. Todoroki won’t come with me. But I don’t think that solves the problem, does it?”

Katsuki growled, but said nothing else.

Izuku looked after his alpha, felt his stomach twisting up. He hated being angry at Katsuki. It was easy to get angry with him, but hard to stay angry, and now with things burning low, Izuku found he couldn’t quite find a grip on the annoyance he’d been seething with only seconds earlier.

Katsuki needed him. More so than ever before. And he knew that.

With a purr, Izuku crossed the room, wrapped his arms around the alpha’s waist, snuggled into his scent gland. Katsuki welcomed him, melted against him, swayed a little, rocking in a sort of soothing motion.

“It’s going to be okay,” Izuku said, as he had so many times recently.

“I know,” Katsuki sighed. “Just… one thing at a time.”

“One at a time,” Izuku repeated. He kissed the alpha’s cheek, felt a growl stir in his mate’s chest. “I’m going to my lab.” He said, and Katsuki nodded. He paused, bit his lip, and added, “I’m going to go alone.”

Katsuki frowned, but Izuku kissed him again. “Come see me. When you’re done with your tests. Come sit in the lab with me. I promise Todoroki won’t be there.”

“You’ll be alone,” Katsuki said.

Izuku shrugged. “Well, if I’m alone and nothing happens then that just proves everything’s okay, right?”

“That is terrible logic, Izuku. You’re better than that.” Still, he didn’t move away. In fact, he took a moment to trace a hand up Izuku’s belly, as if feeling where the pup’s head might be resting. “Uraraka checks up on you. Every fifteen minutes.”

“Half hour.”

“Twenty minutes.”

“Half hour.”

“Twenty minutes.”

They glared at each other for a count of three.

Katsuki snapped his jaws. “Thirty minutes. You answer me the moment I text you though!”

Texts every fifteen minutes, then. Izuku sighed. But he nodded, hugged his mate a little closer. “Deal.”

Katsuki rocked him again, rubbed his jaw along the omega’s cheek. Then, “Did you seriously just negotiate with me about this?”

“You were the one complaining about being treated like a pup. How do you think I feel having a chaperone making sure I haven’t slipped and broken my leg?”

Katsuki growled. “Do not break your leg.”

“Noted.” Izuku paused. Listened to Katsuki’s heart beating. It was slow, steady. The alpha was calm. That was good. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Everything.”

Katsuki paused. Then, he laughed. “That’s a terrible list.”

A smile curved along Izuku’s lips. If he remembered correctly, he’d said those exact words to Katsuki at one point or another. “I’m sorry this has been so hard.”

“Mmm,” Katsuki took a deep breath. “It’ll get better. It’ll get a hell of a lot better when I grind Father’s skull into the dirt.”

“You should not go into any sort of confrontation with Father.”

“If I got control enough, it wouldn’t matter, wouldn’t it?”

“He’s still able control all alphas and betas with just his scent, Katsuki! Wouldn’t matter if we broke the deeper brainwashing.”

“Hmm,” Katsuki burrowed his nose into Izuku’s neck. “Guess I’m lucky I’ll have you as backup.”

Izuku felt a little taken aback at first, until Katsuki took his hand and lifted it to the scarf hanging at his neck. No, Katsuki would never, ever take him to battle with him. Not physically at least. But he had always taken a part of Izuku with him everywhere he went. In the chain that used to hang at his waist. In the scent that coated his neck. In the ring that shimmered on his finger. And now, in the scarf around at his throat.

Izuku threaded his arms with the scarf, interlaced his fingers behind Katsuki’s neck. “I always have your back.”

The alpha grinned. “I know.”

Izuku knew when Katsuki kissed him that they hadn’t resolved anything. There was still so much going on. But knowing Katsuki’s insecurities, knowing that even though the pack was there, it did not solve their every problem, knowing all of it was a good thing. Now they could tackle it. One thing at a time.

Izuku broke away from Katsuki and checked the clock over the alpha’s shoulder. “You should get going. Walk me to the lab first?”

Katsuki took his hand. Kissed each of his knuckles, softly, reverently. He saved Izuku’s ring finger for last, swiping his tongue over the omega’s skin and the matching ring he wore. Izuku took his hand back and made a disgusted sort of noise that Katsuki laughed at.

“All right, love. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

- - -

When Izuku flipped on the light switch to the lab, he heard the machines whirring to life. The papers that Izuku and Melissa had gone through had been pinned to the far wall in exactly the same chaotic pattern they had been hung in the security office. Someone, either Rai themself or someone on their team, had painstakingly recreated Izuku’s work for him, without him asking. He felt warmth spread through his chest when he thought about the security forces, who were and had been working just as hard as everyone else. He couldn’t forget them.

But for now, he had another mission.

Izuku had said goodbye to Katsuki at the front door of the building but he did lean out in the hallway to make sure the alpha nor anyone else was around. The hall was empty and when Izuku listened very closely, he didn’t hear anyone else walking around or banging on their own experiments. For all intents and purposes, he was completely alone.

At least for the next thirty minutes or so.

Which meant, he didn’t have a lot of time.

Izuku turned to the main computer, saw that it had booted up fine. Apparently Anon really had fixed it after it had short circuited. Izuku paused to think about this, and stored that little piece of information away for later. He didn’t have time to think about the vigilante. He had bigger fish to fry.

He took a breath, sat down, and opened the folder left by Anon. Just as he had asked, the vigilante had organized things a little differently from the last time Izuku had looked at the files. Instead of being grouped by where the files originated, they had been ordered by subject matter. There was a “Hiku” folder, a “Yumi” folder, a “Father” folder, and an “other” folder. Izuku would have to look at the “other” folder later.

Just as he was about to turn his attention to the “Yumi” folder, a message popped up on screen, along with a new document.

You should see this. Anon wrote.

Izuku glanced at the file. It was titled “Scoundrel, Let’s Make a Deal.” For a moment, Izuku searched through his memories for the name, but he could only remember a small-time villain who had been in jail for some time now. But… it couldn’t be related to him.

…Or could it?

Izuku glanced at Anon’s message again, and clicked on the file.

Chapter Text

The file, Izuku quickly discovered, was a chain of emails between one Scoundrel and one Hiro Sugawara. Father. On its face, Izuku had no idea what Father could have wanted from Scoundrel. Where Father was one of the most influential and powerful villains in Japan, thanks to his connection to the remnants of All for One’s forces and Hiku, whether or not he actually enacted on that power, Scoundrel had been a relatively small villain who had terrorized omegas in the city for about a month’s time.

His aim had been to reinforce old and outdated social expectations that had once suppressed omegas, wanting to return to times of omega curfews and chaperoning. Supposedly he had wanted this because his own omega had been murdered by rouge alphas. Izuku could sympathize with that. Scoundrel’s way of trying to enact change, and the oppressive measures he wanted to put upon omegas, was not something Izuku could tolerate. In his quest to force changes, Scoundrel had kidnapped three omegas and forced the police and the omegas’ mates into a cat-and-mouse game of puzzles and riddles to save their loved one. He had gotten more and more deranged as time went on, going so far as to threaten omega heroes, who he saw as abominations. In the end, he’d given a list of six potential targets that he intended to harm as a way of showing the need for stricter laws in how omegas were treated and the freedoms they had. The list had included Uraraka, Jiro’s girlfriend, Amajiki, a student at U.A., an up-and-coming hero, and Izuku. Scoundrel had eventually come after Izuku, but Izuku had managed to defeat him in hand-to-hand combat and the villain had been arrested.

In the long list of things that had happened to Izuku, Scoundrel didn’t really rate high on the list, though he did sometimes jolt awake at night, hearing the cruel, fading laugh of the villain. Scoundrel had been a villain he’d been able to overcome nearly by himself, with a little help from the pack pups. It was a win, all things considered, and not something that had haunted Izuku much in the years since the incident.

As he read the emails, everything that had happened, everything Izuku had seen and done and how Scoundrel had reacted to him, was cast in that sticky sweet, suffocating light that followed Father wherever he went.

The first email was from Father to Scoundrel. It read:

Good evening dear sir,

It’s quite lovely to have the opportunity to introduce myself to a gentleman of your caliber. I’ve been aware of your recent actions and have paid close attention to your exploits of the systems of false justice and law, where I learned we have similar interests.

Let me introduce myself. I am Hiro Sugawara. I am the head of a wonderful family. I used to run this family with a beautiful omega by my side, but she was treated mercilessly by heroes and the police and has since departed this world. Hers is a light I still hold close, as I imagine you can understand. I heard of what happened with your mate. I understand the pain you feel. I dare say that you and I have a similar sort of pain.

To that end, I believe we also have a similar way of dealing with that pain.

You wish to see change, yes? Well I do as well. And I would be willing to help in your venture. My family has considerable resources that may be made available, should you require them. I have only a small price I would ask, something that would fall in line with your already set upon plans.

So, Scoundrel, my dear sir, shall we discuss this deal in greater context?

You may reply to this message. Be assured, there is no possibility of any hero or legal entity receiving it. My family is well equipped to make sure of that.

Yours sincerely,

Hiro Sugawara

Father

The note chilled Izuku, though he couldn’t place why. Maybe because he knew Father had very little interest in what Scoundrel was doing, beyond perhaps his interference with heroes and police. He didn’t seem to care about regulations on omegas in society at all. He was playing another game. And he was willing to use his dead mate to get what he wanted.

Scoundrel had responded only half an hour later:

I’m positively joyous to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sugawara! It’s truly a tragedy when these things happen. And to know the heroes and police had a hand in your sweet omega’s demise! HEARTLESS! This is simply unacceptable!

HOWEVER! I am running a righteous crusade! I cannot just accept the help from anyone with a tragic story! You must understand what I aim to achieve, you must share in my convictions! Besides! I daresay I have been rather successful so far in confounding the police and heroes on my own.

Fear not! I shall continue forward, knowing I have your full support!

Good day to you, sir! And I hope you find peace!

Izuku pursed his lips as he read. From one end, he knew Scoundrel had been zealous, but it was crazy to turn down such an offer. And he had apparently changed his mind. So what had happened?

His answer came in the next couple of emails, both from Father:

I do understand, dear sir, but before you decline, allow me to demonstrate what I offer when I extend a helpful hand.

The next email came three hours later.

I am glad we were able to come to an understanding, dear sir. I look forward to our future endeavors. I shall be in contact in the next few days.

Scoundrel replied three minutes afterward:

I EAGERLY await your message! To a glorious new future, Mr. Sugawara!

Izuku sat back, wrung his hands at the messages. It was easy to assume that Father had shown Scoundrel just how capable he was. Perhaps using Etsu’s abilities or another one of those in his family. Scoundrel had not linked back to the League at all, so it was unlikely that Hiku or any of his minions had been involved. Which meant Father and his family had been directly working with Scoundrel.

It made sense. Scoundrel had gone from using cheap webcams and simple slide presentations to announce his crimes to then using state-of-the-art drones and supposedly having access to very specialized technology. And that didn’t mention the fact that he had somehow knocked out all communication within an area of the city before his attack. If Izuku had to guess, that was Etsu’s work. Scoundrel just hadn’t been the type beforehand to even think of doing something like that, much less to actually to actually pull it off.

Father had orchestrated that last attack of his. The attack he’d launched on Izuku.

He sat forward, almost knowing what was coming next:

To my dear associate,

I hope this finds you well. I’ve a request for you and if you are willing to fulfill that request, then I will offer to you all the strength and resources of my family. Rest assured, I promise you complete success in your mission if only you are willing to change your plans ever so slightly.

As we spoke last time, you had given the heroes and police a list of potential victims. A fine joke that, something to really get under their skin. But when we spoke last, you had mentioned that you were still undecided on which victim to go after first.

May I make a small suggestion?

I’ve business with one of the omegas you’ve targeted. If you agree to help my getting in contact with them, by any means necessary, then I shall be glad to offer anything you need to execute such a mission.

Please let me know your interest in such an affair.

Father

A terrible, sinking feeling made Izuku lightheaded. He almost didn’t want to read Scoundrel’s reply, but he forced himself on:

Of course! I’m willing to listen to any advice you have to give, though I have narrowed down my list considerably already. Let’s see if our thoughts are matching up! Who did you have in mind?

Izuku knew what Father’s reply was going to be.

My dear Scoundrel,

I’m glad to find you in good spirits. This is what I am suggesting:

Aim straight for the top. For the one that will hurt the most. The one with the most sympathy publicly and the one the media is already inclined to be distrustful of.

You should focus your efforts on Izuku Midoriya.

Upon reading his name, Izuku sat back, rubbed his eyes. He had an impulse to start laughing but knew if he did, he’d be sobbing soon after. Father had been manipulating things this early on. Scoundrel had attacked him years before Katsuki had been taken. Father had been planning this for years.

Taking a breath, Izuku read the rest of Father’s message:

Ground Zero is frequently criticized by the media and public and the story of what happened to his omega garnered wide attention. If he allows this to happen again, then it will wholly discredit the hero establishment. And besides. I’ve some business I wish to have with Midoriya. It would be beneficial to us both if you were to target him.

Not to worry. I wish him no harm. I would take quite good care of him. And you would get what you wanted as well. It really would be the best solution for all.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Father

Scoundrel’s reply did not come as quickly as before, a couple of days passing before he messaged back:

I am not completely comfortable putting an omega who has already suffered so much through such a tragedy. I had thought this to be my last resort. If the heroes and police did not listen to anything else, then this would get their attention, certainly. But perhaps not as a first measure. Besides, I did not take you as someone to have any sort of dealings with the mate of a hero. What would your intentions be? I am doing this for the protection of omegas! Not to cause them further harm!

The hypocrisy made Izuku’s teeth hurt. It was hard to forget that Scoundrel had outright attacked and hurt him in the end, all for the sake of protecting omegas apparently.

Father’s reply made him feel no better:

My dear Scoundrel,

When opportunity presents itself, you should not hesitate just because it would be hard or tragic. If it is necessary, then you should proceed. Yes, Midoriya has suffered much, but that’s the point, isn’t it? Don’t you want to stop that suffering?

That is my intention. Ground Zero was responsible for my mate’s death. I simply wish to save Midoriya from a worser fate. He would join my family and be under my protection. I think you can agree that this would be the best outcome, yes?

And besides, as I said before, I would be willing to provide all the resources necessary for you to carry out this mission. Success against even the number two hero would be guaranteed. Wouldn’t that be something of an accomplishment in and of itself?

I would also be willing to provide monetary proof of my ability to care for Midoriya. Does ¥25,000,000 sound enough for you?

Father

Izuku read the last line a couple of times over, not quite comprehending what he was seeing. When the numbers finally sank in a little, when he’d confirmed that yes, that did in fact say “¥25,000,000,” he shook his head. “Well,” he muttered to himself, “at least I know I’m worth a mint.”

Which did beg a question.

Twenty-five million yen sounded like a lot of money even in this context. Father was very clearly intending to buy Izuku from Scoundrel and while Izuku did not know the going rate of such things, he found it hard to imagine that twenty-five million would be a normal transaction, especially to kidnap a support engineer, whether or not they also happened to be the mate of a hero. For that kind of money, Izuku imagined one could pay for a hit on a top hero, including Katsuki. So why was Father willing to funnel so much money into this? Did he even have that kind of money? If he did, him being able to stay outside the realm of the government seemed both more and less likely. Where did he store that kind of money? What banking system did he use? It was hard to believe he had twenty-five million yen in notes just laying around.

It also begged another question, one that sent shivers through all the nerves in Izuku’s hands and made him question thing even more: why was Father so desperate to get his hands on him? This had been before Katsuki had been kidnapped, before Izuku had met Father, before their fated run in. This had been years ago. He’d been that desperate to get Izuku even then? Why? Something wasn’t adding up here.

Scoundrel’s response added no further clues:

Well, my good sir! I must say you’ve rather changed my mind about certain things! Shall we schedule a talk to solidify plans? I think you would be a great match for keeping Midoriya truly safe! Let’s save this poor, suffering omega together!

There was nothing after that. Either Anon didn’t have the emails or there weren’t any more. It wasn’t a satisfactory ending. All it left Izuku was with a terrible, sinking feeling and a lot of questions.

He thought again over all that Father had said and done, how he had acted when they’d met.

It was strange, thinking about it. He’d been so gentle with Izuku, all things considered, right up until the very end. Then, when he’d attacked Izuku, he’d actually tried to do the most harm to Izuku’s baby. He still hadn’t directly attacked Izuku himself. So what would be the point of trying to kill his baby, knowing Izuku was about to get away?

It was hard to say. Perhaps Father knew that Izuku being pregnant made his scent more potent to Katsuki and therefore he was more of a threat. But even without the baby, his scent was a threat to Father’s control. So that seemed unlikely. What else was there?

Well… there was instinct.

Specifically, there was an old, outdated, and horrific pack tradition from much more ancient times. One that involved when packs took over old packs, usually killing off the alphas and some of the betas but leaving the omegas. Since omegas were seen as the lifeblood of any pack, they were usually spared and absorbed into the new pack. That being said, it wasn’t uncommon for the new pack to kill off all the young pups, and to dispose of any pregnancies, as part of the purge, whether it did harm to the omegas or not. To have a fresh start, so to say, with their own blood.

Izuku pinched his lip, working through an idea. An idea about Father’s family. Father’s pack. He’d never really considered it as such. But in truth, a family that size, with that many non-blood related members, would just be a pack. Father as a beta heading the pack was interesting, but it wasn’t unheard of. The head alpha position just meant that that alpha was in charge of the pack’s overall safety.

Like… like Ryuichi had been in the alleyway. When Izuku had lunged at Father, he’d protected the beta. He’d served as the muscle. The guard. The protector. As the traditional pack alpha would have acted. It was hard to remember, since Iida didn’t serve in a typical pack alpha position. Katsuki actually more closely held the role of what a real pack alpha would have looked like, and he more closely mirrored Ryuichi.

And just like Kirishima, who held the family together and was the peacemaker, Father acted as the head beta. The one who kept the peace, who directed the members. Even his rather unconvincing handle on everyone spoke more to a head beta role in a pack. He kept things running smoothly. That was his place in the pack. His Quirk and the fact that he had taken more of a leader position had masked this, but the underlying truth was there.

Father’s family was just a pack, and he was the head beta of the pack, with Ryuichi probably acting as his pack alpha. Izuku did have to wonder if Tsuda and Yokoyama had served in the pack alpha spots before him or not, but it didn’t really matter. Because there was something else Izuku was realizing as he sat there, staring at his own price tag.

Sugawara hadn’t liked omegas. She’d had omegas killed by the dozens. Izuku had yet to encounter another omega who was a part of Father’s family, except for maybe Tsuda, but Tsuda had only ever presented his main aspect as alpha and beta, never as the omega. Maybe because Sugawara had hated his omega persona. And she was dead.

Father’s head omega was dead. His pack’s only omega was dead.

Izuku looked up at the twenty-five million yen note on his screen, and remembered something Dr. Han had said: “There has never, ever been a successful pack larger than three people that didn’t include at least one omega.”

Father was desperate to get Izuku because he needed a replacement for Sugawara. He needed to get an omega in his pack. And with his inability to control omegas with his scent, he wasn’t able to just fall back on his Quirk to make another omega join his family.

But why Izuku? If he was so desperate, why had he chosen a specific omega instead of just snatching someone off the street? There was something he was still missing. Something wasn’t making sense.

Wait… just how long had—

The door behind Izuku slammed open and he nearly leaped out of his seat.

A scent flooded the room, Izuku recognizing it to be Katsuki immediately. While this would have normally settled his nerves, he knew that he had extremely sensitive data on his screen and scrambled uselessly for the keyboard and the mouse to try to get rid of it, all the while screeching and growling and being just a bit too startled by everything to function correctly.

When he looked up though, the messages were gone, replaced by random schematics that had been uploaded to his computer previously. Specifically, they were of the gauntlet Izuku had been working on for himself.

“Easy,” Katsuki lowered his voice when he spoke, let off more of his scent to try to calm Izuku.

Izuku thought about trying to get the schematic off the screen but Katsuki was already looking it over and honestly, he was just happy that somehow – probably through a little help from Anon – it was schematics and not the messages between Father and Scoundrel that were up on his screen. So he sat back in his chair and shook his head. “Sorry. Wasn’t expecting you.”

Katsuki considered this, his expression unreadable. He shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered over to the computer. “You’re jumpy.”

“It’s been a stressful few weeks.”

Katsuki grunted in acknowledgement and leaned over to kiss Izuku. “This lab’s matched to our biometric data, right? Should be safe here.”

“Right.” Not for one second did Izuku trust that. Everything was theory until it was put into practice and he wasn’t all that excited to test it out. “Anyway, why’re you here? Thought you had doctor appointments?”

“I did. But you didn’t answer my texts.” Katsuki had been glaring up at the screen but glanced away to glare at Izuku. “You didn’t keep our promise.”

Izuku blinked, checked the time. Over forty minutes had passed. He fished out his phone and saw that he had several texts piled up from Katsuki and one from Uraraka saying she just wanted to make sure he was okay. He grumbled and replied back to her while Katsuki turned his attention back to the screen.

“Had an MRI on my back done. Waiting to see those results.”

“Have you had one before?” It was a stupid question and Izuku knew it even as the words left his mouth. He’d gone with Katsuki to get one done before, as an annual checkup on if he was developing any worrying problems.

Katsuki, who undoubtably knew this and remembered this, glazed right over his fact. “Yes, but it’s been eight months, including three months where I was stuck with a crazy villain, so who knows what I look like now.”

Izuku nodded, tried not to think about what he’d read in Yumi’s reports. “Have you had any back pain since you got back? You haven’t mentioned it.”

“I haven’t,” Katsuki said the words slowly, one syllable at a time. He fell into the sort of silence that told Izuku he wasn’t really looking to continue the conversation thereafter.

Which was fine. Truth be told, Izuku didn’t like talking about Katsuki’s injuries that much. Especially his back. Katsuki had first hurt his back in a semi-suicidal effort to stop a girl from destroying the city with her out of control Quirk. He’d broken it again during his first fight with Hiku. Izuku had seen the effects of that battle up close. He’d found Katsuki laying in an alley, half-dead and under threat by other villains. It had been a couple of years since that, but Katsuki’s back had always been a worry. He didn’t complain very often but he still showed signs of being in pain every now and then. Izuku had lived with him long enough that he could pick up on such signs and offer comfort to the alpha. But he hadn’t noticed anything recently. In the chaos of it all, he wondered if there was simply too much going on for either of them to notice whether his back had been hurting or not.

The MRI would be a good test to see just where he was at. Izuku did want to know that, at least, but until the results came in, he was okay with just waiting a little longer.

Instead of thinking about that, Izuku found himself trailing back to twenty-five million yen.

Twenty-five million yen.

It wasn’t uncommon for Izuku and Katsuki to share quiet moments. Usually, the quiet moments were some of the best. In such times, there were no distractions to each other, just their presence, their togetherness, their wholeness. Izuku had spent blissful days and nights listening to Katsuki’s silence, to the ways his body moved and the ways he stood still, the ways he would huff or growl quietly at whatever he was thinking about, the way he sometimes tapped his finger on whatever happened to be nearby, his arm, the table, Izuku’s thigh.

This was a different quiet. Katsuki wasn’t relaxed into the quiet. He was upright and still, like a guard dog expecting trouble. Izuku, too, found it an awkward pause in conversation, a time he didn’t want to cede over to the quiet.

There was a lot unspoken between them. Neither could quite figure out what the other was trying to say. And that was really what made this silence much different from the others.

Izuku bit his lip and thought again, twenty-five million yen, and before he could stop himself, he asked, “Kacchan, have you dealt with human traffickers before?”

In an instant, Katsuki snapped toward Izuku. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t hardly move. Instead, he looked over Izuku, searched him, tried to burrow through the question to what lay at its center. Of course, Katsuki could never know what Izuku was really thinking, not unless he’d had access to the emails before.

Wait, had Katsuki seen these messages before? The alpha had kept a lot of information from Izuku in the past. Anon hadn’t specified if he’d gotten that file from the police or from somewhere else. What if Katsuki did know about it and did suspect something?

Izuku shifted uncomfortably, unable to fully meet the alpha’s gaze. “I-it’s just. I, um…. Do you remember Scoundrel? That… that villain who went after omegas? And he, he always said that he’d find another home for the omegas if the police didn’t manage to save them. And, you know, he came after me. I just—” he swallowed, stared at the keyboard in front of him. “Do you think… he would have sold me to human traffickers if… if things had… if he had—”

“Why are you thinking about Scoundrel?” There was a hard edge to Katsuki’s voice. A question under the words he’d said: What’s happened that this is what you’re asking me?

Izuku ducked a little. Of course it would be strange for him to be thinking about Scoundrel of all people. He never really talked about him at all. There had been many nights that Izuku had shot awake after a nightmare about Yokoyama or Tsuda or Sugawara, but very few about Scoundrel. There had been many days that Izuku had pulled Katsuki aside and talked to him about his experiences with the different villains he’d had contact with, an exercise recommended by Mai, but Scoundrel was not often a topic that came up during those conversations. So of course Katsuki would be suspicious of him asking about Scoundrel. Why would he be thinking about Scoundrel of all people at a time like this?

As Izuku stared at the keyboard, he happened to notice his arm, his eyes snagging on the scars along his skin. He was naturally pale, but somehow the scars shone white, pulled tight like silk instead of skin. Remnants of Yokoyama’s attack on him all those years ago. A physical scar to match the psychological ones he still battled with. Usually he wore a brace to cover them. The one he’d been wearing on the day of Father’s attack had been damaged at some point or lost at the hospital, and he hadn’t put his spare on his packing list when the pack had thrown their luggage together in that dash for the airport the day they’d left. He hadn’t really had time or a chance to notice the scars again. But as he sat there, thinking about Scoundrel, thinking about Father, thinking about all the things that the villain family had put him through, he ran his fingers over those scars.

“Been thinking about a lot recently,” Izuku muttered.

He sensed rather than saw Katsuki’s shift. The alpha softened in a way he only ever did with Izuku. He reached to take Izuku’s hand, to draw him away from those scars, to kiss his knuckles, and to pause before he answered. “It’s unlikely that Scoundrel was associated with any human traffickers. He was mostly a lone wolf.”

Mostly, Izuku thought. So he does know something.

“And anyway, doesn’t matter. Didn’t happen and it was never going to happen. I would have never let it happen. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said, even though it was almost a lie. No, Katsuki would not have let that happen. But sometimes Izuku did wonder what could have happened if he hadn’t held the villain off, if he hadn’t knocked him out first. Katsuki had arrived late. Shoto had arrived late. The police had arrived late. There was a world where they had arrived entirely too late and Izuku ended up unconscious from the sleeping gas Scoundrel could produce from his palms. If that had happened, it would have been all too easy for the villain to secret him away and pack him into a car or otherwise shuffle him off to places unknown.

Places unknown being Father’s care. Izuku didn’t want to imagine waking up to Father looming over him.

Somehow, he’d avoided that fate by the skin of his teeth. They hadn’t been so lucky with Katsuki afterward, and Father was still determined. If he’d been willing to spend upwards of twenty-five million yen just to pay Scoundrel to try to take Izuku, what other resources could he bring against them?

The more he learned about Father, the worse it seemed. But at least he understood now why Father seemed so determined to get his hands on him. For some reason or another, he’d chosen Izuku to be the omega to hold his pack together.

And still, there was a question there, something he couldn’t quite place.

It had been five years since Sugawara had died. If there were no omegas in Father’s pack, then how were they still united at all?

“This doesn’t look like one of my gauntlets. You working on the side for someone?” Katsuki’s voice pulled him back.

It was a strange thing, to blink up at his computer screen and try to switch from thinking about Father to the engineering projects he’d been working on. “Oh, no,” Izuku paused, but realized this was a secret he didn’t really care if he kept anymore. “This was for me. I wanted… I don’t know. A way to keep myself safe I guess. A way to keep villains away. It was supposed to be a defensive tool, something I could use if I really needed it. But I was trying to be too clever. I got caught up on thinking about how both you and Kazue can use explosions and I wanted to be able to do the same, but things aren’t working well. None of the compounds I’ve been thinking about using work. They’re too volatile. Too dangerous. I kept blowing up the prototypes.” He sighed, rubbed a hand over his forehead. When he had a moment to stop and think, he really was very tired. He needed a nap. Maybe for a week. A week-long nap.

Katsuki glared over the gauntlet, hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Easy solution. Just use my sweat.”

Izuku paused. Lifted his head. “What?”

“My sweat. Use it instead.” When Izuku didn’t respond, Katsuki shrugged and said, “Look, you’re most used to working with my sweat, aren’t you? You know how it reacts inside and out. It’s probably the easiest thing to use for something like this. Just be careful. Explosions from your palm have a bitch of a kickback. Could hurt your wrist or your shoulder if you’re not watching it.”

Izuku waited, but Katsuki fell silent after that, offering only a raised eyebrow, as if he were expecting the omega to do something next. But what was there to do? Izuku had always expected to get a big reaction from Katsuki if he ever found out about the project. He’d always been touchy about Izuku doing things to keep himself safe. It was some weird alpha instinct of his, along with a want to ignore the fact that Izuku could and had found himself in danger because of who he was, who he was mated to. Katsuki didn’t like to think about how his mate could be hurt or put into dangerous situations for any reason. He'd pushed against Izuku learning hand-to-hand combat even, though he’d eventually given on that one and taught Izuku everything he knew.

When Katsuki found out about the gauntlet, Izuku had expected him to absolutely lose his mind. And here he was, calm, collected, even offering advice. How things had changed. Guess they didn’t have the luxury of trying to pretend Izuku didn’t need the ability to defend himself.

Still, Izuku said, “You’re… okay with this?”

Katsuki made a short growling noise, halfway to a huff. “Do I like the idea of you carrying around what amounts to an explosive grenade in your hand all the time? No. Not one bit. But I do like the idea of you using that grenade to blow the shit out of some dumb villain.” He paced away from the computer, going to the wall where all of the projects Izuku had been working on were hung up. “Look, things are tough right now. You’ve always been tough and strong, but this is different. I get that. Even if I don’t want to acknowledge it. You need a way to keep yourself safe. So do it. Get this in production. I’ll get some sweat ready for you to use. We’ll make it happen.”

“Just like that?” Izuku still felt like he was reeling.

Katsuki grinned over his shoulder. “What? You not ready to kick the crap out of whoever’s dumb enough to come after you?”

“Well,” Izuku put a hand to his stomach, “if I can avoid it, I’d rather go that route.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki purposefully turned away, “me too, love.”

There was another pause, another silence that wasn’t comfortable. There were still unspoken things swirling around them. Izuku knew what his were: that he was helping a vigilante try to track Father down. He didn’t know what Katsuki could be thinking about. Nothing good, he supposed.

With a groan, Izuku pushed himself up. He wasn’t quite pregnant enough for the added weight and girth to really start effecting his movements, but he put on a bit of a show to draw Katsuki’s attention, stumbling his way toward the alpha until Katsuki gave in and met him halfway. His arm drew around Izuku’s waist, holding him up. Izuku pressed against his chest, nuzzled into his neck. He smelled so good. He was steadier now, too. Stronger. Little by little, Katsuki was recovering, getting back to what he used to be.

“We will defeat Father.”

The proclamation took Izuku off guard. Although he was only a little shorter than Katsuki, he felt like he had to tilt his head up quite a bit to catch a glance of the fire roaring in the alpha’s eyes. He glared forward as if Father was standing right in front of him, spilled all his defiance into that look.

“We will defeat that bastard,” Katsuki said again, the air hissing between his teeth. “It’ll happen. And once he’s gone, you and me, Deku. We’re going to celebrate. We’re going to toast to that fucker’s cell in Tartarus. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. I’ll do whatever you want to do. Name it. What sounds like the perfect way to celebrate that asshole’s defeat?”

It didn’t really take much thought, though Izuku did feel a little silly saying it out loud. “Home, Kacchan. Spending time at home, just the three, or—” he pressed his hand to his belly, “just the four of us. You know how we really celebrate? We go back to our lives and we go on like he didn’t mean anything at all.”

Katsuki smirked deeply, all teeth, all fire. “See, I knew I loved you, omega. You’re right. Going home and having a bottle of sake does sound like the perfect way to celebrate. But,” he leaned into Izuku’s forehead and whispered, “I’m taking you somewhere. Somewhere special. Maybe we’ll rent a place up in the mountains. Or maybe we’ll go to the beach. Someplace we can just relax and rest up.”

“Someplace we can be a family,” Izuku muttered, thinking about it already. Cozying up with Katsuki by a fire overlooking the ridge of a mountain, Kazue playing on his video game nearby. Or maybe him laying out on the sand watching Katsuki and Kazue battle through the ocean swell. Something normal.

He flinched away at the word. Normal.

He knew from experience that the old normal was gone. Katsuki would never know that normal again, not after what he’d been through. Izuku, though he hadn’t been missing for three months, would also never know the normal again. No, there would be no return to normal. They’d have to find a new normal instead. One day a time. One battle at a time. One peaceful hour at a time.

“We can talk about that later. Right now I don’t want to think about Father or the League or anything else. You know what I want?”

“Name it,” Katsuki grinned at Izuku.

“Take Kazue and me out to see the island. I want a real tour of I-Island. I want to see all the labs and the projects the scientists and engineers are working on here. You can arrange something like that, can’t you, alpha?” Izuku wasn’t afraid to let a little extra scent leak out, to rub his head along Katsuki’s neck, to play to Katsuki’s more alpha tendencies.

Katsuki, as alpha as ever, let his jaw slack open and he drank up Izuku’s affection like life-giving water. “You got it, love. I’ll make sure they open this whole fucking island to you. You want to see it all? We’ll see it all.” He pressed a grin to Izuku’s forehead. “You think anyone’s ever broken this lab before?”

“Do I even want to know what you mean by that?”

Katsuki’s hand trailed a little lower at Izuku’s hip. “What do you think I’m talking about, omega?”

Izuku glanced at the computer, which he knew for a fact Anon was keeping a close eye on, as well as the camera in the corner of the room. “Um, let’s not right now. There’s eyes watching.”

“So?”

“Katsuki.”

“All right, fine. But you owe me one.”

Izuku kissed his jaw. “Deal.”

Katsuki growled, a little less than satisfied. He didn’t immediately let go of Izuku, stubbornly holding his mate to him, holding the moment for as long as he could. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’ll always love you.”

Izuku nipped at his chin. “My love for you is conditional on whether you’re being an ass or not.”

“You saying you’ve never loved me, then?”

Izuku elbowed him. “Stop. I do love you. But sometimes you make it hard to like you.”