Keepers Of The Hill
SevenRenny
Two
They could've picked a better hiding spot, but it sounded like Shota was getting impatient. The downstairs cellar had been a split-second decision; one she'd agreed to out of desperation and panic. The short wooden stairs had felt weak, sad and badly made, creaky. There were no lights, and she could barely see anything other than outlines of boxes and barrels and structures covered in sheets. She had hid between two boxes used as storage – beneath a sheet hanging over her like a tent. Footsteps of people coming and going above her were heard clearly. At the same time, there was another, stranger noise coming from the end of the room; something like the rattling of chains and clapping of old wood against wood. She couldn't make out what it was…
"I'm sorry for the surprise visit, Miss Midoriya..." She heard the muffled voice of Tensei Iida coming from above. She used to see him around the village, most of the time in regular clothes, practicing with his sword. In rarer times: in armor, on his way to more important duties. She could hear the clunking of his heavy gear as he stepped around.
"It's quite alright. I'm sure you're just doing your job," Inko assured him.
"Still, I wish I'd visited more often. Izuku, it's been a while. You've grown."
"Ah – hi, Mr. Iida. Thanks."
"Please. Just Tensei. Mr. Iida makes me feel old." He laughed lightly.
Turned out it wasn't just him and Shota here, but Mrs. Bakugo as well. It confused her as to why she would be here. She wasn't from the council, and she lived too far away from the Urarakas to be interested in her case.
"Look at you, kid – all muscle now!" Ochaco could imagine the fierce woman ruffling Izuku's hair.
With all the talking going on upstairs, Ochaco couldn't ignore the strange noises coming from all around. Peeking from under the sheet hanging over her, she searched for the noise, waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. A line of light cut across the floor from the exterior bulkhead door. With every wooden clap, the line of light thinned. It could've been the wind, she told herself… or… something, or someone, was messing with the door.
"Enough chitchat," she heard Shota grumble. "Let's get straight to matters at hand."
"Of… Of course… Yes. Please, have a seat. I'm sorry if there isn't enough room. I don't usually get visitors."
Ochaco's anxiety shot up, torn between focusing on the conversation and the metallic Scraaaatch-click-click from somewhere in the room with her. Cutlery cluttered. Something was moving about in the cellar. Something alive and moving about.
"Can I ask who do you trade with?" Shota asked bluntly
"Oh… I'm… sorry, but we don't give out names… Why do you ask?" Inko sounded nervous. Unsure.
"Katsuki's missing," Mitsuki blurted out.
"Katsuki?" Inko repeated with surprise.
"Brat disappeared right before his brawl tournament," Mrs. Bakugo said bitterly. "Kid jumps from one problem to another."
"A witness said he last saw the boy leave in someone's carriage heading uphill," Shota explained.
Ochaco was guilty to admit she felt relieved. They weren't looking for her.
"If you don't mind," Shota added. His chair skidded over the floor as he got up. "We'll be searching the place."
…
Shota saw Inko's face turn white. Her son looked panicked as well. The Midoriyas were terrible at pretending to be oblivious. Good. This would make things easier for him.
"Katsuki isn't one to sit still," Mitsuki reminded him. "I doubt we'll find him here."
Tensei placed a comforting hand on Mitsuki's shoulder. "We'll need to look for clues, just to be sure."
Shota nodded at the man partially covered in armor. "You, stay with them," he ordered before going up the spiral stairs to search the building top to bottom. Mitsuke had a point: her son wasn't one to go down easily. From what he knew of the boy, he was a champion in sword fights and dueling and thought highly of himself. He had an ego higher than the King's throne and the ferocity of a wolverine. He may have been drugged, perhaps. The Midoriyas may or may not have been aware of what the kidnappers had in there ride, but by the looks of shock in their faces, they probably had something around he wasn't supposed to see.
Upstairs seemed clear of any suspicion. A mess, but nothing that said Katsuki had been around. Going downstairs, however, there was a hallway designed to be a bedroom, or a temporary one. Some books were stacked over each other against the wall. Someone here could read. It was rare, for a rural person to be literate. A homemade blanket was folded on the floor, as well as a flask and a knife in its case nearby. He went back to the group he'd left waiting at the table being guarded by Tensei.
"Where do you keep your tradables?" Shota asked.
"Oh, scattered about. Some things like warmer places around the house," Inko said, standing up to grab a potted Venus flytrap from the kitchen windowsill and plopped it on the table. "We can't keep things like this in storage."
"Interesting." Tensei rotated the pot to have a look at the carnivorous plant. "How do you keep track of everything, if I may ask?"
"Everything's written down on a list."
"Does it include dates?" Shota asked.
"Well, some of them. Some are approximate. We need to know when we receive items and when to expect exchanges."
"Good," Shota said. "I'll need to have a look at it, if you won't mind." The list might give him possible hints. It might also reveal nothing and end up being a waste of time.
The rolled-up parchment paper had lines going through them like arrows, crossing items off the list with black ink. He realized why Inko had handed it over so easily. He had no clue what most of the listed items were. It was like a puzzle. The lined ink was so thick it obscured the center of the words. The words he could make out: stones, food, materials, plants, mixtures he wasn't familiar of, shells, wood carvings and so on. One crossed out item caught his eye: a simple thing, to most people – maybe considered treasured to some hunters. Harmless as décor to others.
"What's this?" he asked, tapping a finger against the paper.
Inko took a look. "Oh, that. Just something we traded off not too long ago," she explained politely, her hands clasped together.
"Where is it now?" his question sounded more of a demand.
"I can't say," Inko said. "They were interested in a number of things here. That's all I can give you. I'm sorry."
Information he could use. He knew where to start now. "Where'd you keep it before handing it over?"
"Oh, we have had at the back of the shed."
"Show me."
…
Wolf pelt: a desirable thing, yes. Imported from who knows where, then that was eerie. With the large number of wolves in the area, it was best to hunt and skin one yourself. Getting one without knowing its full history can be problematic. Souls of warriors who died whilst wearing them tended to hitchhike on treasured clothing. Pelts were also used as practice for witchcraft and curses.
But of course, most people didn't know that. Most people weren't readers like Shota Aizawa. Most people weren't traders, like Inko Midoriya and her son, who somehow knew how to read and write.
Inko had her boy lead him out the back. Apparently, he worked around the shed more than she did. That did not explain Inko's suspicious glances out the window, looking into the forest – at anything that moved or made a sound – or how the boy kept looking around, as if they were being followed out the house.
"Something wrong?" Shota asked him impatiently.
The boy startled. "Oh, no sir!"
The shed door was left ajar. One would think they'd want stored items more secure. Or maybe they never thought they'd ever deal with theft out here. There was a foul odor nearby, along with the sound of buzzing flies. If it weren't for the flock of winged bugs near the ground, he wouldn't have been able to see the soupy mess on the grass: a mammal's vomit.
The boy in front of him stepped to the side to let him have a look at the shed's interior. Menacing hooks hang from the ceiling, as well as old tools and big screws against the wall. Animal skulls, deer antlers and feathery dream catchers dangled from the sky or were stuck to the walls. A wooden butter churn that looked to be unused for quite a while sat with its plunger sticking out. Tufts of fur waved at them on the floor with the drifts of air coming from the open door.
"You had it here?" Shota asked, looking down at the animal fur.
"Yes sir." The boy straightened his posture, now that the older man was paying more attention. "I brushed it out here. It had insects and a bad smell when we first got it. I had to clean it and dry it out. Parts of it fell off when cleaning."
"Hmmm… And it was still presentable?"
"The… uhhh, client thought so."
"Did you see any marks on it when you handled it?"
"Marks, sir?"
"Symbols. Unusual colors. Burns. Anything of that sort?"
The boy rubbed his cheek as he thought deeply. "I… hadn't noticed. No, I don't think I saw anything like that. But the pelt was incomplete when we got it. I hope that helps."
It did. If there was a curse mark, it had been torn off – whether by accident or not.
"And you can't tell me who gave it to you?"
"We don't give out names. I'm sorry, sir. We don't want trouble with anyone. I… hope you understand."
"I won't rat you guys out, if that's what you're worried about."
"We'd appreciate that very much, sir. I'm sorry I couldn't help more." The kid was taking the offer but not giving anything in return. That little runt…
Outside the shed, the carpet of grass thinned near the wall of the cottage. A wooden door lay flat on the grassy floor with a metal ring for a handle; dirt, dead leaves and loose grass sprinkled over it. A broom leaned against the house – something used to once in a while brush debris off the wooden surface. A heavy padlock went through the ring and a latch. A locked cellar. They'd left the shed wide open, but felt the need to keep the cellar chained shut.
Shota knelt and gave the ring a useless yank. The metal rattled. "Open it up," he ordered.
…
The boy had to hurry and get the ring of keys from his mother. She tossed it to him through the window she'd been looking out from the whole time. The boy came trotting back – keys ringing in hand.
The young man had to heave the door off the ground. Their shadows cracked down the stairs, zigzagging into the dark depths below. Izuku grabbed a lantern on the second step and knocked lightly on the glass, awaking the fireflies inside. They shone brightly like cat eyes in the night with some floating softly and some buzzing around erratically.
Shota followed the boy with the light down the weak stairs. Old dirt – collected over the years from going up and down the stairs – crunched beneath their shoes. The trip down was short. Shota took the lantern from the boy and navigated his way. What he thought was rope on the floor turned out to be shed snake skin; coiled in repetitive circles. A pot held the bottom of a few canes, some with a cobra heads carved at the top, some with birds: crows and owls, one with a lizard with its tail going down and wrapping around the stick.
Everything smelled of dust and horse. But there was no horse. Or, maybe, there were once parts of a horse, at some point. An elevated shelf on the wall held up a number of colorful glass bottles. One blue-filled bottle had what looked like tiny mushrooms growing inside. One bottle was filled with sand. Thousands of fat, green glowing ants went up and down tunnels they'd created in the soil.
There was the sound of scraping claws and a snort. Muffled wings clapped somewhere Shota couldn't see. Out of the corner of his eyes, a ghostly blanket breathed in. Lantern in hand, he turned and held the light out. The boy behind him winced and shielded his eyes with his arms.
"Mr. Aizawa?"
A long fabric was draped over boxes, and a raspy breath came from beneath the covering of sheets. This was no gust of wind or creaking of wood. The dangling edges of the blanket swayed like heavy curtains, hardly touching the ground.
"Is… is everything okay?" Izuku asked him cautiously. "Do you need help finding something?"
Something was shuffling and moving about just out of sight. Shota heard it.
"I can help if… if you're in a hurry, sir. There are medical herbs and leeches over there, if you'd like to take a look."
Shota tried to not suspect the kid of ill intent; however, he seemed to be intentionally talking over the noise. He had also ignored the older man's suspicious halt, and was now trying to redirect him away. Maybe Shota was jumping to conclusions. Maybe the lack of air down here was getting to him. The boy glanced at the blanket-tent at the next sound of something bumping against a crate and the whole structure shifted to one side. The boy winced and stilled, dreading the older male's next reaction.
This was no hallucination, Shota confirmed. His free hand checked the coiled whip attached to his hip before glancing at the boy, checking the distance between them. Izuku didn't seem to be much of a threat, but Shota wasn't about to underestimate him, and if there was something the boy was trying to keep hidden, then Shota would rather be safe then get stabbed in the back. The fireflies in the lantern weren't as bright as he wanted them to be. In one motion, Shota grabbed the loose part of the sheet and flipped it up.
A winged black cat beneath hissed at him.
He'd expected a living creature, just not this. The longer fur on the sides of its neck mimicked the hood of a cobra. The cat stood on its hind legs like a squirrel and held onto a cockroach with its front claws, giving Shota one more hiss as if to say – main!
"Eh?" Izuku's yelp almost sounded like a shout. "What? How… how did you get out?"
Izuku couldn't get any closer than a step. The winged cat stuffed the cockroach into its mouth and darted between Shota's longer legs. The creature had a curly monkey tail that bounced behind it. It jumped and attached itself onto a hanging birdcage on the ceiling, wrapping its tail around it for security. The empty wire cage swung with the added weight and the animal climbed around it like a squirrel going up a branch, reaching the top and sniffing the ceiling for a way, cockroach still in its mouth, a few legs awkwardly sticking out along with part of an antenna.
"Oh no no no – please, come down?" The boy was panicking. There was a slight possibility the creature could climb over the wooden beam. It would be difficult to catch it then. He looked around the dark room, forgetting that the lantern was still with Shota, then finally seemed to remember where the tall cane basket he was looking for was, all while taking quick glances at the winged cat as it tried to eat the cockroach in its mouth while still holding on to the cage.
Shota had read about these long-tailed cats before – even got to see a few very brief glimpses of them from afar when they jumped on people's roofs to get around. He'd never gotten to see them up close for this amount of time. He wouldn't advise on keeping one indoors, though. He was no expert on the Tailypo, but he was sure it was as dangerous as keeping a wild bobcat as a pet.
Izuku fumbled with the basket. The wooden clasp of the lid was free and pointing at an angle, the stitching holding it sliding around. "It came loose. Is this how you got out? Hold on, let me… Don't move – I'll be right there!"
He flipped the lid up, ignored the second winged cat inside, and grabbed one of the many fur pieces tucked in there. At the sight of the fur in his arms, the winged cat clinging to the cage eased to the bottom and used its tail to hang upside-down freely. It willingly allowed Izuku to grab it through the fur blanket and its tail wrapped loosely around the boy's neck instead. Izuku had to awkwardly get the tail off of him when placing the creature back in the basket. He messed with the latch, making extra sure it wouldn't come loose again. "You're not old enough to be out yet. I'm sorry."
"Pets of yours?"
The boy must've forgotten Shota was there, because he almost immediately let his guard up. "No, sir. They're orphaned. Their mother was shot. Someone else will to take them in."
"And you're sure this person knows what they're getting into?" Shota asked skeptically.
"Yeah! He's very knowledgeable with animals. I know he'll take care of them."
…
"–don't know what to do with that boy. He's broken so many bones in those tournaments and oh-ho people are not happy, let me tell you that. Now he goes missing…" Mitsuki complained, sounding more angry than worried, before taking another chug of ale from a mug.
"I'm sure they'll find him, Mitsuki dear."
"I swear, if he's off traveling without giving us a heads up and we're here looking for him – I will personally mount his head on the wall."
Inko had focused her attention on her friend after it seemed like the wolf wasn't around, and it was almost impossible to eavesdrop on what was happening downstairs while answering Mitsuki at the same time. "Did he say he'd like to visit somewhere?"
"Said he wanted to make a name for himself. Make himself known." Mitsuki rubbed her forehead, sighing. The fang necklace swung back and forth when she leaned against the table, the trophy just inches away from the line between her breasts. "Why do I have a feeling he'll turn up on his own?"
"Maybe he'll come back in a few days. You'll never know, dearie."
"He'd better."
Mitsuki wasn't a woman to be messed with. She made sure those who didn't take her seriously left with their tails between their legs. Her reputation among the public was… mixed. On one side, there were those who couldn't take their eyes off her. This beautiful woman had men scrambling for words. A born leader, she was. A good one, at that. She also – as the ladies of the Town's market liked to say – liked to bite when it was right. On the other hand, some weren't comfortable with her independent nature. She gave no hint of concern for her own safety when out setting animal traps. "What about the house? The children? How will you have time? What if you get hurt?"– Questions came and went, and she would remind folks "it's my business" because Mitsuki had no time for old lady talks. She didn't mind "if, one of those bear traps she puts up were to chump off a finger or two or a hand." Why take such a risk, they wondered. To think such a pretty thing would end up scratched by leaves and bitten by insects and dirtied with mud… she could've taken a safer career!
And then, there was the whole deal with her marriage with Masaru. Oh, how could this perfect creature decline the hands of strong men and go after the unmanly Draper? He was a kind man; quiet, but kind. But, some felt the strong, like Mitsuki, belong with the strong. That was the logic, wasn't it? She declared Masaru good enough. "Oh, hush up. You missed out on this one. He's got balls. Damn good ones," she'd declared.
Mitsuki kept on doing her thing, leaving traps around the edge of the village, hopefully bringing something back, and teaching pack animals that fellow pack members wouldn't return to the den. She and her husband made little business in the village with a small population, but spent well over at the weekly town market. The village knew they were doing well on that department. Or else, why would they be treated so decently?
Then came Katsuki, a surprising but liked result of the breeding of two people with opposite personalities. He was a male version of his mother, only louder and even more aggressive. He beat most kids his age in traditional village games – wrestled them into the ground, held them down – broken a few fixable bones. A brutal winner – Atta boy! – The crowd would cheer. Like throwing a wild dog in a group of puppies and watching him toss them around. He was talented in many ways, eager to go into those slippery mud pits and grab that squealing pig and trip kids who got to it first.
Dragon wrangling was even better. Those Mud Dragons liked to dig holes, so they were easy to find. Being the size of medium dogs, and having the need to charge their fire for a long time before they could shoot them a few inches away from their snouts for only a few seconds at a time, they weren't much of a threat. They were slow, and as long as they had their wings tied behind their backs, the rambunctious kids only had to worry about claws and teeth – pulling on the whiptail was safer, though it did cut palms if they weren't fast enough. It was a thrilling game. To prod at living things and see them react. The village was boring. Katsuki wanted something to get him moving. That wild energy of his was praised in public, but not so at home. Having two Mitsukis under one roof proved challenging. Caging him would only agitate him. It was clear to Mutsuki, he wanted out.
…
Shota and Izuku appeared in the hallway through a floor hatch. The cellar had more than one way in, Shota found out. Dusting himself off, he climbed out and noticed how the blanket on the floor he'd seen earlier had folded under the hatch door.
Hands behind his back, Tensei turned away from the wooden swan carving he was inspecting by the flower vase. "Should I ask or…?"
"I'll explain later," Shota said. "We should head back. Mrs. Midoriya, we'll be taking our leave."
"Huh?" Mitsuki turned to him and threw her elbow behind the back of her chair. "That was fast."
"Nothing of interest here," Shota said.
"Figured you wouldn't find anything here." She chugged her drink quickly, not wanting it to go to waste.
"We needed to be sure. The carriage could've gone further ahead or went off the dirt trail. We'll take our search elsewhere. Sorry for the disturbance." Shota stopped by the door; far enough so Mitsuki wouldn't ask him 'search elsewhere? Where?' Thankfully for him, she didn't.
Outside, Masaki held on to the horses' ropes. The animals grazed, flicked their ears, and one kept pushing Masaki with its head just for fun. They understood that break time was over when Mitsiku and Tensei came into view and the horse shoving Masaki stopped its foolishness.
"Aizawa, a moment, if you please?" Inko begged from the doorway of her home.
Shota looked at her, at the boy next to her with the worried look on his face, then back to his comrades on their horses. Mitsuki mouthed something close to 'what now?' Everyone watched him curiously.
What a pain.
"I'll be with you shortly," Shota said with exhaustion, too tired to yell. They somehow heard his message, thankfully. Masaki busied them with a map and Tensei pitched in, something about family armor.
"I'm so sorry I called you back," Inko whispered, her hands grabbing fistfuls of her dress.
Shota tilted his head and – crack – rubbed the back of his tired neck. "Better now than on the horse."
"My son and I hope you find Katsuki. I'm sorry we couldn't be of much help."
"No, there wasn't much here to begin with. Did you need anything?"
"This might sound unimportant, but we felt the need to inform you." Inko wrung her hands anxiously. "The forest animals have been acting strangely. We're not sure if it's just this region, but do, perhaps, keep that in mind if you plan to head off-road?" she begged.
"Strangely? Strangely how?"
"Not aggressive, just… not usual. Leaving their food uneaten, being noisy, ground animals on trees. Unusual."
Ground animals on trees? "Thank you for the warning. I'll keep that in mind."
As the man walked back to his black horse, the wolf's ears rotated, hearing his footsteps from afar. Red eyes fixated on the small pack of horses as the trotted off, kicking dust behind them. After hearing the council members, he'd had to back away into the shadows of long, skinny trees reaching out from the ground – away from the cottage to observe the situation from afar. Katsuki had gone from wrestling animals, to an animal on all fours, watching from the edge of the woods as his mother rode away on a horse alongside people he once knew.
A growl of frustration rumbled in his chest. His lips curled up, showing off the teeth his mother tended to sell as jewelry or weaponry.
...
The Midoriyas didn't have time to collapse in relief. As soon as the horses were out of sight, Izuku almost slipped on his way back to the hallway, sliding on his knees over the floor and grabbing the hatch door in a hurry. Making it halfway down the cellar's ladder before deciding jumping off would be a faster way down. He grabbed the firefly lantern Shota Aizawa had left behind. The sudden jostle awoke the beetles – the lantern blinked.
"Miss Uraraka?" Where could she have gone? How could she have changed hiding spots while Shota had been searching around? Or had she moved before they'd gone down there? "Miss Uraraka, can you hear me? They're gone – you can come out now!" He remembered when Shota was ready to peel away the sheet Ochaco was supposed to be underneath. That had been a nightmare. He was sure his heart had galloped too fast and tripped over itself and get back up again.
"Miss Uraraka?" A sickening thought struck him. Did she think they were trying to hand her over to the council? He'd never. He'd been ready to reach for his sword when Shota Aizawa had grabbed at the sheet. "Miss Uraraka, we didn't know they'd find this place. Please, come out… I'm so sorry this happened. They weren't looking for you! It's… It's okay! You're still safe…"
He heard a thud from above, followed by what sounded like a trail of sand rushing to the ground. Izuku aimed the lantern up, and stared for a full minute at Ochaco hugging the beam on the ceiling like a koala bear, her eyes struggling to look behind her from that awkward angle.
"H…Hi." She managed to breathe out a short laugh, panting from exhaustion.
Izuku was at a loss for words.
How did she get up there? How long had she been up there?
To his horror, she started slipping, and he only had a split second to think of what to do through panic and foggy confusion. Catching her felt like his arms would come off with the sudden extra weight of another person being dropped. The lantern clucked on the ground and the glass door popped open.
Izuku had never been physically close to any girl in his life. In fact, he had abandoned any thoughts or hopes of contact with people in general. Living with people hadn't ended well, and now that he and his mother moved away, strangers didn't stay too long. Encounters with playful young daughters of costumers, or even older women, were sometimes… confusing, due to his naïve mind and inexperience with social exchanges – Playfully booping him on the nose, throwing jokes that went over his head, brushing his hair as if he were their own child…
He wasn't sure what to do in these particular situations. He'd always been on the unsure end. While he wasn't living in the village and didn't have to use traditional rules anymore, that didn't mean other people from different places visiting the cottage didn't have their own traditional views. Some were so strict he felt like walking on eggshells around them, while others were so lax it didn't seem like any rules applied. He wasn't part of any community to blend in, but he was also exposed to a verity coming and going, he wasn't sure how to behave around others anymore.
It was always him who looked confused. It was never him and the guest.
He forgot whatever he'd wanted to ask her the second he saw her gazing at him.
Fireflies drifted around the room. The lantern had popped open. The tiny orbs highlighted drifting dust particles that had come down from the ceiling. One firefly flew between his face and hers, and that gave him enough time to see her clearly. Wide-eyed, curious, still very perplexed. He heard her release a breath she was holding.
"I…"
"Uh–"
The tiny birds inside their brains which had fallen out of their nests managed to flip back up.
They both blushed, the threat of close proximity suddenly being all too obvious.
"I – I'm sorry–"
"Oh gosh! I didn't mean – I –"
"Do you… d – do you need to – I mean –"
"–I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine! Can I… put you down? Can you stand?"
"…Oh! Yes! I mean, yeah, if you want – I meant–! I can… I can stand…"
They awkwardly looked at the ground while Ochaco struggled to stand on wobbly legs. He still had a hand on her elbow all the way back to the ladder, seeing as she wasn't stable on her feet. Inko mercifully hadn't commented on the commotion she'd probably heard from below. Instead, she helped cover over the hatch and settle the girl down over the blanket on the floor. Ochaco looked slightly green in the face, now that there was more light up here. Inko placed an empty bowl nearby, a flask of watered herbs (seeing as how Ochaco kept a hand to her stomach) and had Izuku fetch a damp clothe to press against Ochaco's head.
They never guessed the reason to her sudden sickness would be this.
"You what?" both mother and son exclaimed.
Ochaco giggled tiredly on top of the blanket-covered floor. "I made myself float," she admitted, slightly proud of herself. Not long ago, she'd feared this power, now, it seemed like something she could be happy about. Something she could go 'Look, look what I can do!'
Izuku, sitting cross-legged on the floor, hummed at the new knowledge. "That's how you got up there. So you can float things and yourself, too."
Ochaco sat up and removed the wet cloth from her head. "Yeah, it was by accident when something down there scared me. But I know I can float now!"
"That's amazing, sweetie," Inko congratulated and, to Ochaco's surprise and delight, gave her a hug she hadn't expected. She couldn't help but laugh at how loving this woman was. Inko gave such motherly bear hugs.
"… Something down there… Oh! I just remembered!" Izuku piped up, startling the two ladies. "I think the baby animals are big enough to handle the trip now. One got out earlier on its own. I think I can deliver them now."
Inko blinked. "Now?"
…
Tightening his jaws on the stick, he pushed and prodded the end against the suspicious patch of long grass and thin ropes he could clearly see. He knew the snare was meant for animals smaller than him, but he wasn't stupid enough to get himself caught just to prove his theory. The bait: an impaled dead rabbit at the top of a stick like a flag. Insects buzzed around exposed flesh. The stick was against a tree and, from Katsuki's view; he could see a few wires here and there. Jabbing the stick he held between his teeth into the rabbit's thigh and giving the corpse a frustrated shove. In a blink of an eye–
Snap! – The stick in his jaws was slapped away. A loop of barb wire had magically appeared, tightly hugging the tree so hard there was an outline where weak bark had cracked from the force, creating a ring around the tree. That could've been his neck, or back, or muzzle. It was a good thing he wasn't stupid enough to simply reach for the easy meal put out for him.
Speaking of which, that rabbit corpse had flung somewhere… Ah. Not too far. He knew could've gone hunting. But why bother? No need to waste his energy when this meal was sitting nearby.
However, before he could pick it up, an orange critter had the nerve to swiftly run between his long legs, grab the rabbit from literally under his nose and run off. He hadn't even heard the damn thing. He knew he was getting messed with by a freaking fox when he caught a glimpse of the tail. It irked him, even more, to think this animal was probably watching him for some time, waiting for him to do the dirty work.
Katsuki didn't hold back that animalistic rumble in his throat. "Oh, you will regret that, bastard." Never mind using his smart human brain. Screw that. If that fox thought it could get away pretending to be a smarty, then it was about to face the devil himself.
The fox dove into bushes, zigzagging and changing directions as often as possible to spread the foxy scent around. The limp rabbit jiggling in its mouth collected leaves and twigs. From the sound of heavy panting and snapping branches, the scent trick hadn't done much when the giant wolf could clearly hear her.
The panicking she-fox did the mistake of looking back at the monster behind her – and she stupidly tripped on the dead rabbit's unlucky foot.
Wide jaws came down, engulfing her neck and chest, trapping her front leg in his mouth and pinning her body to the ground.
"Thought you could take my stuff, eh?" Katsuki held her there, enjoying his victory. She stayed frozen in place, eyes and mouth wide in horror, as if wanting to scream but nothing came out. Her back leg pushed at his chest in a pitiful attempt to fight back. He felt her rapid heartbeat in his mouth – heard her fast, short panting, felt how incredibly still she was trying to be with how hard he was pressing his teeth into her fur. His victory melted away. He was, at this point, holding a blade to an old woman who had out-smarted him seconds ago.
Pitiful.
She stayed frozen in place when he released her. Still keeping her weak eyes on him, she slowly turned, crawled, then crawled away faster before speeding off.
Katsuki left to look for something else.
No one got to have the rabbit.
Notes:
-You remember this fic? Yeaaaaah, I had the second and half of the third chapter done two years ago and I just never got around to it. At this point, I just want to finish my incompleted works.
-I don't feel healthy enough to look over it for improvements, but at the same time, I want to get this off my list of things I want to complete.