Izuku trekked his way to the river through a path in the woods he was sure only he and the forest fauna were aware of. He walked alongside the tall, moss covered trees, his leather shoes parting the sea of wildflowers in front of him. He admired each and every one of them as he walked, noting their properties and uses.

Calendula for fevers, Honeysuckle for the skin, he made a mental note to search for his notebook once the chief allowed him back home to gather the rest of his things.

Izuku admired the tenacity of these flowers, growing rampant despite the lack of care they received, even here on the forest floor. He remembered an old book his mother once borrowed from the capital - a thick bundle of parchment covered in a layer of dust - where he read that a long time ago flowers only sprouted in certain parts of the land, and only under certain conditions.

The idea was silly to him as he prodded over amaryllis and poppy alike. Being away from the village always offered a respite for Izuku, but it was short-lived as he reached his destination. His heart beat thundered over the sound of flowing water, and he was reminded of his decision to escape from the house. Oh, what had possessed to escape those four walls?

Izuku finally stumbled upon the river without much trouble and found himself a nice spot upstream, farther away from the other omegas who were taking their afternoon baths. He had already taken a bath that morning, a fact that laughed him in the face and called him a coward. This was just an excuse to get out of the house after all. But Kacchan has an amazing sense of smell, he'll know if I showered or not…

There was no other way around it. Izuku began undressing, folding his pants onto a patch of grass and hanging his tunic on a tree branch. He would try to make this as quick as possible. This is all just a dream, he mused as he lowered himself into the crystal clear waters, a long sigh escaping him as his whole body relaxed instantly.

A dream, and in the morning when I wake, Kacchan will go back to normal.

This entire situation was very odd for Izuku. Instead of growing up learning about his heats and his changing body, he had spent his entire adolescence being told that he wouldn't be able to find a mate or start a family simply because he didn't have a scent. His own beta mother refused to speak on the matter, and no omega even bothered going any further than that; a waste of breath it would be to teach him, they said. The other omegas his age learned how to cook their mother's recipes and picked up a needle to mend their father's clothing while Izuku ventured out to the flower fields and spent his days in isolation.

And of course, he had to come in and change all that. Kacchan, with his striking red eyes and amazing skill with a sword, who would undoubtedly be the next village chief and lead their people into the future. Kacchan, who claimed that he could smell Izuku, and insisted that Izuku had a scent. Katsuki, who deserved a real omega.

He was almost done washing the random bits of dirt and knots out of his hair when a wave of embarrassment crashed over his shoulders. If his mother found out about the way he acted back at the cottage he'd never be permitted to step outside ever again. Where had that come from? Omegas were supposed to be naturally submissive and quiet, but he had acted coy and sultry. The alpha had pushed and Izuku had pushed back harder. Izuku doubted it was because of his oncoming heat - he wouldn't start acting like that for at least another day.

Izuku wasn't sure what to make of it. He chalked it up to Kacchan just being able to push his buttons, making Izuku act differently, and the green haired omega wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. He looked over his shoulder and watched the silhouettes of the other omegas from the village laughing and gossiping. All of them were content, almost all of them mated - they waded in the river away from Izuku.

He brought a hand up to caress his neck, where his most sensitive scent gland should be. Could that really be waiting for Izuku, if only he'd let it happen? Katsuki seemed to have made it clear that there was something going on between the two of them.

And Izuku would be lying if more often than not the blond alpha was the subject of his heat driven fantasies. His smooth palms rested against his stomach as Izuku stared back at his reflection in the water. What did Katsuki see in him? His hair was wild even when wet. His freckles were far too plenty and his body was not soft like the other omegas.

Oh well, Izuku thought as he began to rise out of the water, let sleeping dogs lie. Nothing bad will happen if I do nothing. He chuckled to himself. Not that Kacchan will make that easy.

Katsuki followed the distressed scent of his omega through a winding and untended path through the woods, his teeth clenched. If he was right, Izuku was probably going to bathe amongst his kind, and headed towards the river. The forest air was alive with the laughs and gossip of omegan women, as well as the buzz of insects.

As he approached the riverside, Katsuki had to lay low and take slow steady steps so as to not slip on the soft ground. The riverbank itself was lined with rich, dark soil, allowing the usually small cloudberry sprouts to grow into tall shrubs, and Katsuki stalked closer to the river side in their cover.

He followed the line of overgrowth along the river, being careful to hide himself from the bathing omegas. Katsuki's scent had to be withdrawn, just like his mother had taught him to do when hunting, otherwise it would be carried downstream and blow his cover. As he searched for the telltale sign of Izuku's fluffy hair, a string of movement caught his eye. To the right of him, a little ways off from where he could finally see a mass of emerald, some of the bushes began to shake violently. Katsuki was almost positive that shrubs didn't fucking giggle. Danger to omega, his instincts supplied helpfully.

He approached the offending shrub slowly, and dove his hands in, wrenching out the offenders. Two shorter, younger looking alphas, one in each clenched hand, thrashed around in his grasp as they hung from the necks of their shirts and cried out silent screams. Katsuki recognized them as the village's local troublemakers.

"What the fuck do you two think you're doing, huh? Spying on omegas as if runts like you even stand a chance." Katsuki scoffed under his breath at their scared expressions. "Don't let me find you here again, now scram, brats!"

Thoroughly satisfied with scaring the peeping toms away, Katsuki watched the mass of emerald hair move again, and again, until the upper half of Izuku's body was visible and out of the river. To Katsuki, he was stunning. His ivory skin glistened with river water, each freckle a constellation that some deep part of Katsuki yearned to explore. He was almost so preoccupied with staring at Izuku from the hiding spot in the bushes that when the omega began approaching him, Katsuki almost surged forward to capture the smaller man.

But Katsuki was frozen in place as Izuku's naked body reached above him and pulled down a linen to wrap around his waist. Great, those runts were hiding right underneath my omega's clothing. Katsuki tried his hardest to control his breathing - seeing his chosen omega like this was doing things to him that no other had done before.

He certainly didn't flinch back as a now clothed Izuku reached a hand forward and plucked a single berry from the shrub, nearly missing Katsuki's nose. "How odd," he mumbled out loud. "I don't think I've ever seen cloudberries the color of blood. How strange." The omega smiled, and Katsuki's heart sped up. "They remind me of a certain hot headed alpha. Although, the flavors are off. These are too sweet. He's more of a spicy kind of man. You would agree, wouldn't you, you pervert?"

Great, he'd been found.

"Tell me, how long has the wolf been stalking his prey? I thought I made it clear I didn't want you to follow me. Now look at you Katsuki, hiding in the bushes like some pup peeping on these bathing omegas."

"Are you jealous?" Katsuki's sharp smile joined his peering red eyes. The omegas scent, still caught somewhere in the earlier stages of heat, flared.

Izuku's face flushed a bright red, stretching down his neck to paint it a delicious pink. Katsuki instinctively licked his lips, his sharp teeth poking through.

"N-no! You can do whatever you want!" The omega began scrambling away, nose high in the air in a show of disinterest.

"You're not even supposed to be out here anyways! Didn't your mother put you on house arrest? I'm apt to fear what might happen when you disobey a direct order from the village chief, never mind your sire." Izuku hurriedly fixed his fresh linens and left Katsuki to stare dumbfoundedly after him through the shrub. The omega sure was being quite mouthy now, especially after he had clammed up earlier.

Katsuki's inner alpha propelled him forward to defend himself, and he completely ignored the shrieks and calls of the other bathing omegas from downstream. They weren't worth paying attention to. No, the one that commanded his attention was currently walking away from him thinking they'd won one of their first arguments. Oh how wrong Deku was.

Katsuki's longer legs made it easier to overtake the omega, and the alpha stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Oi, you're one to talk about leaving the house." Katsuki closed the gap between the two of them, their noses brushing as that deep blush cascaded over Izuku's face again. "I don't give a shit if it's only the 'early stages' of your heat, you should be back home in your nest."

Katsuki watched as Izuku's eyes softened slightly, and relished in the calm scent coming from the shorter man. A handful of different emotions seemed to take turns appearing on the omegas freckled face. Taking Izuku's hand in his own, Katsuki began the short walk back to the village and to their shared house, making sure to avoid any prying eyes by going through dark alleys and weaving in between houses.

The situation he was in was so crazy to him - it seemed so impossible to him to think that he and Izuku would go from longing glances and harsh words (mostly from his part) to running around hand in hand trying to remain hidden from the eyes of the villagers.

"H-hey Kacchan?" A strange noise was beginning to emanate from Izuku's throat. "Don't, don't you think this reminds you of when we were kids?" The alpha and omega raced through the shadows of their village, hidden between houses and fences. He stole a glance back at Izuku, still clutching tight to his hand. Izuku's face wore a wobbly smile, the same smile he'd seen plenty of times before, and when Izuku's eyes met his own, Katsuki returned a small, toothy smile of his own. Under the darkening sky, hand in hand, Izuku burst out laughing. It wasn't some cute omegan giggle used to charm alphas, no. It was deeper, much more familiar. He belted out with tears welling in his eyes without a care for the scorchingly disapproving eyes that were hidden in every window, and Katsuki, looking back, had to join in. It was true; he felt like they were kids again, with not a care in the world.