Chapter Text
Izuku pushed the door open, being greeted by an attempt from one of his classmates to trip him, which he simply stepped over. He knew their tricks by now, and if he could, he would always at least try to avoid another unnecessary bruise. He sneezed after a moment, almost falling with the force of it, catching himself on his desk, which he could feel the uneven surfaces of, caused by the cruelty of his classmates, who would carve words into the desk when they got to school. There were three beautiful spider lilies laying on his desk, their red petals curling like the claws of an enormous cat.
He sighed quietly, careful to not draw attention to himself, as it had never ended well when he did. It was routine to carefully scoop the flowers up, and set them in his bag as gently as he could, trying not to break any of the delicate parts of the three flowers. He'd put them in a vase with water later, the plants didn't deserve to die simply because his classmates hated him.
He sat down, his bag sitting beneath his desk and between his legs, something he'd learned to do on his ninth birthday when he found out that it could keep the others from just taking his bag and dumping all his stuff out of it. It was one of the most useful things he'd learned, since it protected his items from Kacchan when he got particularly mad with Izuku. Kacchan at the least, still knew not to try taking Izuku's bag if Izuku could easily reach it. Nor would Kacchan destroy anything in it, he'd be mean to Izuku, but he never destroyed anything, he cared too much about his Auntie Inko to destroy Izuku's stuff.
There was a loud clang as a metal water bottle fell from one of his classmates' desks and hit the floor. Izuku flinched at it, for some reason, since last week, loud noises had only been louder, and he'd been hearing things that nobody else seemed to pay any mind to. Like the concerning buzzing and sparking noises of one of the less reliable computers that students used to sign in and out of school. Or the quiet dripping of water in the math classroom.
The bell rang, signalling the start of class, and the end of the in-between period.
Their teacher began his lesson, and Izuku began writing notes as soon as he did.
The last bell of the day rang loud and clear, announcing the end of the day for the students. Most students, were excited at the sound of that bell, because it meant they could go home and have fun; but for Izuku, it meant trying to sneak out before Kacchan and his lackeys found him. A nearly impossible feat, because of the fact that Kacchan always figured him out, or one of his lackeys would notice him.
Izuku grabbed his stuff, and shoved it into his bag, not taking the time to sort it today. He needed to get out of there fast, so he wouldn't keep the group he was going to play with online waiting. It was surprising, how easily one could make friends when you were allowed to be as anonymous as you liked, leaving out any details you wanted to. Like your quirk, age, real name, hair color, your face, and even your gender. Granted, Izuku only left out his quirk, age, face, and name, since he wasn't willing to give those out to strangers, and his quirklessness meant that it'd be nearly impossible to make friends otherwise. But he needed to focus. Pay attention to his surroundings so he could sneak out of school and get back home without Kacchan spotting him.
Izuku stood up, careful to slip into the crowd of students moving to the door, even though his green hair would stand out, he could hope Kacchan wouldn't see him. He continued with the group, staying dead silent, and he actually got quite far with that method, so far in fact, he was already outside the school, when he heard Kacchan.
"DEKUUU!!!" Kacchan screeched.
Izuku winced at the loud volume of his friend, who was rushing at him. Izuku knew it wasn't going to make a difference, but he still ran, as fast as his weak legs, which he'd were actually stronger and faster than he remembered, could go. Which in comparison to Kacchan, wasn't all that fast.
Izuku let out a yelp as Kacchan shoved him, landing on his ass, in a dark alleyway.
He hadn't noticed how far he'd gone, or where he'd gone, until he saw the buildings on either side of the dead-end alleyway. He'd accidentally run into one of the worse neighborhoods, where muggings were common statistically, and there was many stray cats, which Izuku had watched Kacchan protect from one of his lackeys a time or two when they'd try and hurt the poor things.
Izuku got up, stumbling backwards, as he saw that Kacchan's lackeys had joined the group, and he had no way to get out of the alley.
Izuku cried out as another kick hit him in the side, he really hadn't been trying to fight back, just trying to get past them and run away from this area before he got knocked out. The pain had spread rapidly, and he was so terrified in the moment, that when he felt something he hadn't noticed previously within himself, he reached out for it and it reached back.
He felt smaller suddenly. Everything was suddenly so much larger than him, and he felt slightly off balance, and he wasn't standing upright.
He looked down.
What greeted him were paws, four of them, all covered in dull, dark green fur, which got paler around the elbows and ankles and stayed pale all the way up, and black stripes on each of the legs.
His attention on his new body was broken by something ramming into his very small body, and launching him into the air. He let out a loud cry, it hit his ears as a yowling mewl, like a small kitten in pain. He heard something shift, and a clattering noise closer by, before he was kicked again. This time, though, as soon as he landed again, not even on his paws, something large and black landed in front of him.
A rumbling growl came from the enormous creature, but he could also understand the growl. It was intertwined with words, such and interesting thing.
"Back away from him." The creature growled, low and deep.
He looked up, slowly getting to his paws, wobbling. He took a couple hesitant steps, his movements slow, and wary, towards the large creature, and towards Kacchan and his lackeys.
Kacchan looked mad. But not at him, or the creature, seeing as instead of turning on Izuku or the creature, his right hook came right at the lackey that had kicked Izuku twice.
"What the hell dude?! Sure it was Deku, but you could've killed him!" Kacchan screamed at his lackey, before glancing at the still mad creature, and deciding to leave.
Kacchan growled something at his lackeys, before leaving them in the dust as he stalked away from them.
The big creature turned towards Izuku, and he could finally tell what it was. It was an enormous jaguar, almost completely black except for the white markings on its snout, ears, paws, chest, and tail. It's eyes were purple, and it was far, far larger than him.
"Hello little one. Apologies for not introducing myself, I am Crowleap. You are young, and do not smell of any of the colonies. So you must be unnamed. I will name you Greenwing." The enormous she-panther stated, leaning down to be closer to his level.
Izuku perked up, wobbling as he walked forward, paws unsure, but eyes bright with curiosity, as he stumbled forward.
"Hmm.. You should be old enough to have lost the wobble in your stride, but you still are swaying badly. I guess I'll have to carry you back." She huffed, before she suddenly shrunk, no longer so enormous she could probably snap him up in one bite.
Izuku startled slightly at the way she suddenly was only big compared to him instead of absolutely enormous. She had all the same markings, and just as much muscle, just on a smaller scale since she herself was smaller. She leaned down over him, and suddenly he instinctively went limp as she grabbed him in her mouth by some of the fur on the back of his neck, he curled himself up a bit more, to keep his legs out of her way.
Crowleap leaped up onto a dumpster, before jumping onto a fire escape, which she simply walked up till it was as high as she'd get on it before jumping to the roof of the building. She began moving across the rooftops with Izuku in her mouth, granted, he'd been given the name Greenwing by the she-cat.
He looked up at the sky, it was growing closer to dusk as time went on, but it wasn't that close yet. He would have time.
He let out a startled squeak when he felt air rush past him, as he and Crowleap landed in an alleyway, before he heard stirring, and there was suddenly around six cats besides Crowleap surrounding him.
The first was a large, fluffy tomcat, with sandy yellow fur with light orange stripes, his eyes were the color of oak leaves, and his fluffy was focused most around his neck. The second was a large she-cat, with silver and white fur, and piercing blue eyes. The third was a dark brown tom with equally blue eyes, and a white patch over most of his left side. The fourth was a small grey she-cat with a missing eye and a torn ear. The fifth was a fluffy black tom with dark yellow eyes and a white fleck on his snout. The sixth was a small, but incredibly fluffy white and dark blue tomcat with yellow eyes.
"I found him being attacked by highwalkers, Greysand, you will have to look him over for me once he you six properly introduce yourselves." Crowleap mrr'ed, tail flicking into a question mark position shortly before she placed him down.
"I am Greysand. I am our primary healer, and I am Crowleap's first litter's "aunt"." The small grey she-cat meowed, introducing herself in relation to Crowleap.
"I am Curiousfeather, one of Crowleap's first litter. I sometimes assist Greysand." The white and dark-blue tom greeted, anxiety and hesitation mingling into his voice.
"I am Whitenose, the only kit in Crowleap's second litter." The mostly black tom introduced himself, curiosity obvious in his tone.
"I am Lioneye, Curiousfeather is my littermate, and I'm mom's assistant when it comes to managing the colony and protecting it!" The sandy-yellow tabby tomcat mrrow'ed, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
"Salmonsnap, Greysand's adoptive kit." The silver and white she-cat stated.
"I'm Frostedtree, Salmonsnap here's my littermate, and I'm who scouts out the best hunting spots!" The brown and white tomcat announced, obviously excited.
Izuku perked up, tail flicking excitedly as he stumbled over, paws a little more sure than when he first started walking.
"I'm Greenwing! Crowleap gave me the name!" He meowed, walking forward to get a better look at the other cats, only to trip over his own paws.
His mood dampened a bit. Couldn't even get introductions right, just had to trip over his own paws.
"Don't look so down about tripping over your paws Greenwing, you're probably hurt, or you just don't walk right. We got a cat, she didn't wake up when Crowleap landed, but she couldn't walk right for seven sun passes after we found her despite being the same age as you were. She's just napping in Greysand's den cuz she's best friends with Greysand and will wake us all up in the middle of our sleeps because she wants to go out otherwise." Whitenose purred, helping Izuku back onto his paws, before leading him to Greysand's den.
He heard a quiet mrr from some cat in the den, before he saw a fluffy calico cat deeper in the den gazing around sleepily, before seeing him, a kit, stumbling towards her.
"Oh! Hello little one. Take it Crow's found another kit to take in. What's your name? Mine's Koiscales!" The she-cat greeted, standing up to walk towards him so he wouldn't have to stumble over for so long.
"Crowleap gave me the name Greenwing!" He responded, trying to run over, but only managing to end up sprawled out a couple centimeters away from the older cat.
"Oh my goodness, you've got the same issue I had! I see why everyone thought I was absolutely adorable as a kitten!" The she-cat purred, before helping Izuku up, and waving off Whitenose with her tail.
Izuku yawned, before glancing up at the sky, and deciding to go find Crowleap to ask if he could go out, since Greysand said he was perfectly fine, and was already improving in the walking part of his abilities.
"Uh. Curiousfeather?" He mewed, stumbling over to the older tom, who visibly startled, before realizing it was just him.
"What is it Greenwing?" Curiousfeather responded, head tilted slightly, something he'd picked up from his mother.
"Do you know where Crowleap is? I wanna ask her something." He responded, watching the other tom, before quickly following as Curiousfeather signalled him to.
"Crowleap! Greenwing has a question for you!" Curiousfeather shouted into a den, which got him a grumble before Crowleap came out of their den, and waved him away.
"Crowleap... Can I go elsewhere? Truth be told I'm not normally a cat." Izuku said, ears flicking back and tail shifting anxiously.
"Of course kit, I knew that when I found you, but you're young, and weak, so I'll bring you to where you would like to go, just so you'll be safe." Crowleap responded, her voice gentle and motherly, just like Inko's (as she'd insisted he call her) had been before that diagnosis.
Izuku nodded, before feeling Crowleap pick him up.
Crowleap jumped up to a box, before placing him down and calling out.
"I'll be back in a bit, I'm going to be bringing Greenwing somewhere, nobody is to follow, and Lioneye is in charge until I return." Crowleap yowled, before picking Izuku back up and leaping up a difficult path, and finding her way to the rooftops, from which Izuku pointed her to the right direction.
Izuku let out a small yelp as Crowleap jumped down onto the balcony of his room, something he was grateful for because of the fact it meant he could enjoy the breeze but not have to deal with any neighbors. It was also useful in this situation because he just knew Inko would not approve of the panther carrying him, nor the fact he was a cat.
He landed on his paws when Crowleap placed him down, and bode farewell before the large feline took off and began on her journey back to her colony. Which she had invited Izuku to come live with whenever he wished to. It was nice knowing he was welcome somewhere.
He turned around, and promptly realized he needed hands to open his balcony.
It took him around half an hour to figure out how to turn back, and while he was grateful that he wasn't naked, he also was not accustomed to being bipedal because he'd gotten adjusted to having four legs, and the addition of the weight of his backpack made it even worse.
He slid the door to his balcony open, slipping off his shoes, and stepping into his room, before dropping his bag next to his desk, and sitting down in front of his computer. He powered on the monitor, before navigating to discord to find at least twelve notifications from the server he had for his playing group.
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I-DUST3D-TH3-FOCKIN-K3YB0ARD
where is our local ball of anxiety
IF0CKEDY3RMUM
Yeah where is he, normally, he's like, twenty minutes early and working himself into an anxiety attack waiting for us
CHICKENNUGGETL0VER
Yeah where is the little dude, we still need to defeat the ender dragon
I-DUST3D-TH3-FOCKIN-K3YB0ARD
Who the fuck keeps putting the moss in the chest for the mines
Moss goes in the moss chest
NOT with the cobblestone and shit
Istg
Y'all pissed me off so bad I dusted my fucking doritos again
IF0CKEDY3RMUM
Haha dumbass
Pay more attention when you're eating your doritos
CHICKENNUGGETL0VER
Man Im so bored, normally the ball of anxiety would be doing something to make it more enjoyable but he's not here for some reason
- - - - - - - -
Izuku sighed, before typing a response, and entering call with the other three.
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ALM0STDR0PPEDMYCR0ISSANT
sorry, had a major holdup.
Apparently my quirk decided to exist and I was a cat for like two hours
- - - - - - - -
"YOOO!!! CROISSANT IS BACK!!!" IF0CKEDY3RMUM screamed as soon as Izuku entered the voice chat.
"My fucking ears Fock." Izuku cursed, because it was a very valid reason, to curse at Fock.
"Fock, can you like, not scream. You know Croissant has been struggling with loud noise sensitivity, because you complain about him whining about it constantly." I-DUST3D-TH3-FOCKIN-K3YB0ARD grumbled at Fock.
"Wait, hold up a minute, Croissant, what do you meant your quirk "decided to exist"?? Wait- you can become a cat-?! We're changing your nickname!" CHICKENNUGGETL0VER chirped.
- - - - - - - -
ALM0STDR0PPEDMYCR0ISSANT's nickname was changed to Startledcat
- - - - - - - -
"There. That's better." Chickennugget announced.
- - - - - - - -
Startledcat's nickname was changed to ALM0STDR0PPEDMYCR0ISSANT
- - - - - - - -
"No. My nickname is already Croissant, you are not changing me to StartledCat. Bad Chicken nugget." Izuku declared, before entering the game.
Three hours later, Izuku and the other three had finally decided to hop off for the night, since all four had gone till exhausted, and they all needed to sleep. Especially Izuku, because the rest of them had told him that his tendency to stay up late wasn't particularly good for him. Especially not with how he didn't make up for it during the day.
So he went to bed, with the knowledge he had a quirk. Maybe not the one he'd expected or wanted, but he had one.
And he sure as hell wasn't going to waste it.