While the wolf was showering, Izuku decided to prepare "breakfast".
He hadn't eaten anything but half a hot chocolate in the past 24 hours. His metabolism was fast, even for a rabbit, so his stomach was just about to eat him alive. He silently cursed and thanked the extra stores of fat on his thighs and stomach. They were probably the only reason he'd stayed conscious. However, he still hated their existence and everything they reminded him of. He could see the outline of his abs, sure, but it wasn't exactly emasculating to be cat-called nightly on his walk home. He worked out incessantly to get rid of them, and it worked, for the most part, but there was always an extra roundness to his features that never went away.. His mom always told him it was a combination of his omegan and rabbit genes, but that didn't make him feel much better about it. Rabbit hybrids were always overly sexualized.
This all ran through his head as he fried a couple eggs on the skillet. He hadn't expected company, so there wasn't much to choose from. Ramen boiled on another burner, completing just as the bathroom door creaked open.
Footsteps padded down the hall.
Izuku hurriedly poured the noodles into two bowls and rested a fried egg on each.
"Stay there, Katsuki, I'll bring the food to you." He yelled.
The footsteps retreated back into the bathroom, and Izuku promptly shuffled their dinner onto a tray and followed suit.
The tiles had been wiped clean, somewhat, but the blood stains would definitely require bleach. Pill bottles and other packages had been placed back into their respective drawers, but the first aid kit had been left perfectly untouched. Izuku handed the tray to Katsuki and moved his medical supplies to the ground--careful to not contaminate anything--and then gestured for the wolf to place it on the countertop. It would allow the wolf to eat while Izuku cleaned and dressed his wounds.
The alpha took his seat with a hum--the first content sound he'd made in a long time. He barely acknowledged Izuku as he began shoveling food into his mouth, but the rabbit took it as an invitation to get to work.
"If I wasn't actually starving right now, I think I would spit this back in your face." The wolf gargled between forkfuls of noodles.
"What?" Izuku questioned, more focused on his job than the conversation.
The rabbit shifted behind Katsuki and stood over him to get a good view. The wound was significantly cleaner, but there were definitely still bits that needed removal. He grasped the first pebble between his tweezers and gently pulled. If it hurt, the wolf gave no indication.
"Seriously, how do you mess up ramen?" The alpha continued, "Half my noodles are crunchy and the other half are burnt."
"Ummm…" Izuku thought. He'd only ever made it for himself, so he didn't have much reference to go by.
"Did you fucking stir it, dumbass? This is god awful. Next time, I cook." Katsuki said. There might've been a tinge of humor to his voice, but it was lost on the rabbit.
"Alright." Izuku agreed.
They sat in relative silence, the only sounds being Katsuki inhaling his ramen, until Izuku was confident he'd gotten all the debri out. Luckily, the cuts weren't as deep as he'd originally thought--just placed in an area that stretched open whenever Katsuki bent over. The shower had already helped stall the bleeding.
"Done!" The rabbit exclaimed. He grabbed the prepared gauze from his side and packed it onto Katsuki's back. It already had the antibiotic ointment lathered onto one side, because applying it directly to the skin would cause the alpha more discomfort. He grabbed a roll of medical tape and portioned off multiple long strips.
"Are you able to lift your arms a little?" He asked.
Katsuki compliantly raised one of his arms, and Izuku snuck under to get a good view of the contours of his body. The tape would be most comfortable if he followed it along a natural curve. His eyes skirted along the edges of the wolf's muscle. Plenty of his skin was tattooed with dark purple bruises, but it was alarmingly better than what he'd seen in the Ring. Could pure alphas heal faster?
As if reading his thoughts, Katsuki spoke up. "Another reason why Overcuck chose me for his disgusting game was because I'd be healed before the next night. Nifty trick, right?" Disdain saturated his words, "Not that I ever got many injuries."
There was an odd mix of emotions in his voice, and Izuku desperately wished he could see the alpha's face from his angle on the floor, but he supposed he could settle for the little bit of information the wolf trusted him with.
He ran a finger over a specific ridge between Katsuki's shoulder blades. Beads of sweat and water collected as he went, until they dripped down Katsuki's back--causing him to jump.
"What the hell are you doing?" The blond bit.
"I'm just trying to find the best place to put the tape." Izuku explained. He knew it was weird, but the alpha could get tape cuts if he wasn't extremely thorough.
"It's not damn rocket science." Katsuki countered.
Izuku's mouth opened to argue, but he ended up letting it go.
A few long moments went by before the rabbit was sure he had the correct areas mapped out.
Izuku grabbed a towel to pat the blond's skin dry, then placed the tape strips along their predetermined routes. His hands pressed them firmly into place, dancing over smooth skin with tight bunches of muscle just beneath. They dipped into the small valley between his biceps and wrapped around his ribs to secure the gauze like a backpack. Another strap of tape crossed in the other direction, and the omega felt years worth of stress when he smoothed over the area between the wolf's neck and shoulders.
"You could really use a massage or something." The rabbit murmured, but Katsuki was silent.
He peered around to see that the alpha had leaned across the countertop, eyes closed and a peaceful expression painted across his features. No angry lines disrupted the skin. His arms were curled under him, with ears flopped in an innocent way across his forehead along with dampened fur.
Izuku's heart caught in his throat. The sight was so painfully reminiscent that he desperately wanted to go back--to the time before everything happened to them. He wanted to bottle this feeling, smooth those scars away and wake Katsuki up just as happy.
But it couldn't last. The moment Izuku shifted to tidy the bathroom, the wolf's brow drew taut and scarlet eyes cracked open. He drew a deep breath.
"You're not wearing your mask, cotton-brain." Katsuki grumbled, "You stink when you think too hard."
"I wasn't thinking." The rabbit argued. He rose to the counter top and began fumbling with the clasps on the poorly repackaged first aid kit.
The wolf grunted a laugh, leaned over Izuku, and slammed the lid down so hard the clasps swung into place. A few stray drops of water dripped from the alpha's hair onto the back of the omega's neck.
There was a brief moment where Katsuki's chest rested along the back of the rabbit's fur, then the alpha shifted out of the bathroom.
"So, do you have any clothes that fit me, or am I just gonna go all~natural?"
Izuku tore his eyes from the medical pack to view the wolf's silhouette in the darkened hallway. Nothing but an undersized white towel clung to his waist, resting low on the ridge above his hips and hanging half way down his thighs. His blond tail stuck straight down in order to avoid knocking it off, but he held it together at the seam just in case.
"Ummm...yeah." The omega gulped, a little belatedly.
He tiptoed past the wolf, keeping his wandering eyes low to the ground, and traveled directly to the basket of unfolded clothes beside his bed.
The oversized sweatshirt he usually wore at home was in the dirty hamper, so he went for the next best thing: a shirt one size too large that had the faded design of some discount ramen shop on it. A nice old lady had asked him if he'd wanted to buy it years ago and he wore it every time he returned to her restaurant. The only pants that had a chance of fitting the alpha were a large pair of sweats that were stretchy at the waist and some basketball shorts he used for running. It was probably better to have options.
He hurriedly scooped them into his arms and turned to rush out the door, but nearly collided face-to-face with Katsuki.
"Damn, you're not one for interior design." The wolf said, squinting over Izuku's haphazardly placed posters and action figures. He side-stepped the rabbit and pulled a picture frame off his nightstand. "You kept this?" He questioned, holding up the polaroid of Inko and Mitsuki holding them when they were toddlers.
The omega dropped the clothes and snatched it from his claws.
"My mom sent it with me." He deflected. To be fair, it wasn't a complete lie, but he also wasn't entirely sure of the reason he kept it so close all these years when the other pictures collected dust in his closet. Either way, it was none of the wolf's business. The green fur on his head pricked on end--suddenly wary of the wolf in his personal space uninvited.
"I don't feel comfortable with you in my room. Please get out and I'll bring you some clothes." Izuku ordered.
Katsuki's eyebrows lifted in surprise, but his eyes simply did one final sweep of his room before shrugging it off and exiting.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. The alpha wasn't deciding to be confrontational, which was probably a reflection of his self-awareness that the omega was the only thing between him and the cold, hard street. Katsuki had parents he could room with, but they'd moved to a neighboring city about a year ago for a better working opportunity. The train ride was both long and expensive, so it wasn't a very convenient option.
The rabbit collected his discarded garments from the ground, brushed them off, and walked into the kitchen. Katsuki was crouched in front of his fridge, the door halfway open, scrounging around the drawers and tossing an embarrassingly low variety of vegetables between his hands.
When he heard the rabbit approaching, he stood and slammed it shut.
"You really live like this?" Katsuki complained. He leaned exasperatedly back against the countertop, arms propped behind him.
"I usually eat out." Izuku admitted.
The rabbit crossed the tiles and held out the small stack of clothing. "I'm going to run to the store after this, but hopefully these will work for now?"
The alpha's ears pricked forward curiously, a guarded expression clear on his face. He grabbed the outfit from the omega and inspected the garments carefully, making sure to give each of them a sniff before folding them back into a pile. Then he carefully slid the basketball shorts off the top and handed them back to Izuku.
"Don't want anything hanging out of these tiny things." He smirked.
Izuku accepted the item, face twisting with confusion, then realization dawned on him. His cheeks lit up like a stoplight, the crude joke catching him completely off guard. Katsuki was attempting humor--was this the same wolf he'd woken up to?
Before the rabbit had time to do anything more than gape like a fish out of water, Katsuki had already disappeared inside the bathroom.
Seconds later, a muffled tearing sound resonated throughout the house, followed by a loud, "FUCK".
The door swung inward and the wolf sauntered out wearing only sweatpants. The scraps of Izuku's ramen shirt rested in each of his fisted hands. "Your tiny-ass shirt wouldn't fit over my damn shoulders."
"So you destroyed it?" The rabbit wheezed, the touch of both shock and a smile playing at his lips. He was slightly upset about the early demise of his routine shirt, but the helplessly furious expression on the wolf's face was priceless.
"NO, if I wanted to destroy it, the thing wouldn't be recognizable anymore." Katsuki huffed, "It ripped when I tried taking it back off. I wasn't even pulling that hard."
"It's okay," Izuku assured, "I'll find you something when I go to the store. Do you have any preference?"
"Something black and bigger than...this." The wolf chucked the shreds into the kitchen trash can.
Izuku nodded, pulled out his pocket notebook, and jotted it down alongside the groceries in scratchy letters.
Katsuki spun around and sauntered into the living room, tail lazily wagging behind him, and stopped just behind the bloodied couch. Anger twisted his face, then maybe a hint of remorse, but the words that came out of his mouth were wholly insulting. "It was a lousy couch anyways, damn near broke my back sleeping on that thing. Do you ever actually sit on it?"
The rabbit decided it was an acceptable apology for getting wolf ketchup all over his furniture.
"I'm not home very often. Work takes up most of my time." Izuku murmured. He thought about methods he could use to clean the cushion, but visceral fluid had also likely leaked into the frame--and he definitely couldn't reach that with any kind of cleaning product. That couch was the cheapest thing he'd been able to find at the store, so replacing it would probably be the best option. Maybe he could visit some yard sales in the countryside where his mom lived.
The living room lights blinked to life.
"It's too damn gloomy in here--and your apartment is depressingly small." Katsuki huffed. He leaned against the far wall, running four claws through his drying fur and pausing to flick rogue strands away from his forehead.
"We can visit the market tomorrow." Izuku offered, already planning the day out. "I wanted to visit my mom and hunt around some garage sales, but you're welcome to join!"
Katsuki gave a slight nod. The movement seemed stiff, reserved--as if any emotion but anger was a sin to express. Izuku was pained to see the wolf guarded around him, but he reminded himself that nothing would change overnight. Trauma doesn't heal easily.
The rabbit hobbled around the house and gathered everything he'd be able to fit in the washing machine. By the time he was done, the pile spilled out of his laundry room and partly down the hallway. It would take him hours to get through all of it. The bloodied blanket alone would take a cycle.
Then he remembered his desperate need for a shower, the lack of edible food in his fridge, and the half-naked wolf in his living room that required a wearable shirt.
And it was already 8:30 at night.
A choked sob escaped his lips.
"You blow a circuit in there?" Katsuki barked from across the apartment.
"There's no TIME." Izuku wailed. He looked like he'd just murdered somebody--with blood and grime caked over his body, so he couldn't go to the store before taking a shower. The store closed at 10, but it would take him at least 10 minutes to walk there and there was still the issue of getting the laundry in before the blood permanently stained--
Katsuki appeared at the end of the hallway.
"I can do the laundry. Go rub your stink off before I get a migraine." The wolf pushed past Izuku and began shoveling fistfuls of clothes into the machine. The muscles along his back flexed with the expertly placed tape, but the alpha was obviously controlling his movements to avoid agitating the wound. He didn't look back to check if the rabbit had listened or not, but the omega knew he probably didn't want to chance the wolf's kindness. He grabbed the last clean towel from the closet and retreated to the bathroom.
The clock read 8:50 by the time he stepped out, so he had more than enough time to visit the store.
He found Katsuki lounging at the kitchen table, a small book clasped between his claws. It was his travel journal, the one marked with countless scribbles, pictures, and cost estimates for each adventure he wanted to go on.
"After being in the dark for so long, it's hard to believe these places exist." The wolf whispered--the words so quiet that Izuku wasn't sure they were meant for his ears.
The omega made a silent promise to show Katsuki the world outside--from the dazzling neon lights of the city to the star swept skies and sunlit valleys beyond.
He walked into the living room and the wolf looked up from his read.
"I'll be going to the store now. Is there anything else you need?" Izuku asked.
A smile lit the alpha's eyes, as if he had a joke waiting just behind his teeth, but he shook his head.
Izuku looked around for the mask he'd discarded earlier. Now that he knew his heat could be triggered on a whim, he didn't want to take any chances that it could return while out in public. He'd probably wear it in the house from now on too--leaving it off this whole time had been far too careless.
"Looking for this?" Katsuki said.
The rabbit turned to see the mask dangling from a single claw on the wolf's hand. He hadn't left the table since Izuku arrived, so he'd had it on him the whole time. It made the omega slightly uneasy.
"...yeah" He answered, wariness evident in his voice.
Katsuki's face scrunched.
"Relax, I wasn't doing anything weird with it. It was just collecting dust on the floor." He held it out for the rabbit to take.
Izuku walked over and grasped the velcro, but the wolf didn't let go.
The rabbit's mouth opened, but Kasuki's words drowned his question.
"I have a theory--that you don't need this."
Izuku met the alpha's crimson gaze, uncertainty and curiosity pooling in his stomach.
"What makes you say that?" He managed to squeak out. Katsuki leaned closer, until their faces were mere inches apart, then his eyes roved to the side of the omega's neck and a clawed hand raised to brush away his curly green fur. The scent of caramel and Izuku's own shampoo wafted through the air.
Izuku jumped back, and Katsuki let him.
"W-What are you doing?!" The omega's voice moved up an octave.
"It's just as I predicted." The wolf said. A look of deep thought plastered his features.
"WHAT IS?"
"Dr. Nemoto mentioned you had heat issues." Katsuki murmured.
"Okay?" Izuku pushed.
The wolf folded both hands into his lap. The movement brought Izuku's eyes down, then sliding up his well-defined torso to see a serious expression set on the alpha's face.
"You know, I found the secret to your heat--and it's not some scientific bull crap like that bird thought it was."
Izuku said nothing, his lips glued together from shock and an interest for Katsuki to elaborate.
"It happens when I want it to." The wolf declared.
Laughter erupted from the omega. It wasn't a particularly funny joke, but Izuku was sure Katsuki would get a rise from how seriously he'd taken it at first. Why had he expected the wolf to actually contemplate something like that?
When the tears cleared from his eyes, he saw the wolf staring back at him with the same solid expression--and his laughter died in his throat.
"If I'm the only one that does this to you, doesn't that mean something?" Katsuki asked.
The realization that he was being serious hit Izuku like a truck, and suddenly he was infinitely more invested--and terrified--of the conversation. The alpha brought a hand to his own neck, hovering just above the scent gland.
"I mean, I practically drowned in omega pheromones for years, yet a scrawny little rabbit like you was the one to trigger me?"
"What do you mean?" Izuku questioned, finally finding the words to talk.
"I've never lost my composure like that before--the way I did during that fight," he elaborated, "and I've been thinking, I have this constellation of stars right on the side of my neck…"
Izuku's mind screeched to a halt. A cool washed over his face as the blood drained from it.
"You don't mean?" The rabbit whispered.
Katsuki removed his hand and tilted his chin into the light. Along the side of his neck, over the soft swell of his scent gland, lay a series of little white pinpricks--faded scars in the shape of a crescent moon. Izuku's own hand shot to his throat. His thumb traced the ridges of the muscles in his neck until they met the familiar bump, but they brushed over smooth skin. Skepticism scrunched his face.
"They're there." The wolf assured, "Look in the mirror if you don't believe me."
Izuku shook his head, accepting the wolf's words but unable to fully grasp the meaning.
"We played rough as kids. I have scars everywhere, why are these any different?" He criticized.
"For a detective, you're an idiot." Katsuki huffed.
"Weird immunity to pheromones… no heat cycle… scars on the throat…" Izuku began to mumble, but the wolf cut him off.
"When the hell did we fucking mark each other?" He finally spat out.
In an instant, everything clicked in the rabbit's head--the signs were all there--except one.
"But I don't remember ever...with you?" Izuku said, a crack of embarrassment betraying the end of his sentence. He eyed the bare torso of the wolf, as if staying his abs would make him remember the elicit memories.
Katsuki's entire body rolled with his eyes.
"You don't need to do that to form a bond." He snorted.
Izuku's silence spoke for his innocence. His eyes snapped back up to Katsuki's.
"We've got some questions to ask our parents. I always thought they were too damn close." The wolf continued. He relaxed back in his chair, ears pointed triumphantly in the air. His theory was undeniable, and he knew it.
"Maybe I should replace you at the police station." He added after a moment. His cocky smirk trained on Izuku, but it fell when he saw the omega's face.
Izuku recoiled. A million thoughts, questions, and emotions filled his mind to bursting. He stepped away from the table and scored the entrance for his shoes, fumbling with his wallet, then his phone. His limbs moved on autopilot. He was completely unresponsive to Katsuki's confused shouts. He just needed space. He needed time to process everything--free from the wolf's piercing gaze.
He snapped the door open and stepped out into the cold night air.
Thank you so much for reading!!Next chapter might get a little SPICY because ughh... there is no longer a couch for Katsuki to sleep on so ;) Might not be complete smut though. We shall see.