Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia
XXX
Muffled snickers sounded from above him, leading Kaminari to tilt his head up toward the crowded canopy above, his eyes diligently tracing each leafy branch as he searched for what should have been an obvious purple patch of human. With an amused grin, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "MARCO!" to the treetops. He did not have to wait long for a response.
"POLO!" Mineta's shrill voice sounded much closer than it did a few minutes ago, reinforcing to the blond that he was heading in the right direction. He was pretty sure Mineta was right above him, if maybe a little to the right. His gaze shifted over a few trees, spotting quick movement as the tiny teen tried to scoot to another branch and take cover behind the trunk.
He was such a cheater. They agreed climbing into trees was against the rules because the person who was "it" had to physically tag the other, leaving Kaminari at an unfair disadvantage since he did not have a good way to quickly scale up the tree. It wasn't like he could shock the little asshole either since wood did not conduct electricity. That left him with one choice.
He quickly backed up until he was hidden by the surrounding brush, giving himself cover while he readied his plan. He took his backpack off and grabbed the sharpshooting gear he promised he wouldn't use during their little game. As far as he was concerned, if Mineta was going to cheat then so would he. He slid the metal band over his wrist and locked it into place, smiling sadistically as he imagined what was coming for his duplicitous friend.
He crouched low to the ground, shifting his weight so he could crawl low amongst the bushes around him. He knew exactly where Mineta was positioned and wasted no time in scuttling as fast as he could on his hands and knees, trying to hold in his own laughter at their antics. As soon as he had eyes on the purple teen, he pointed his gear at the tree and shot a disk which attached to the trunk about a foot above Mineta's head. The sound his gear made upon release was swallowed by the surrounding sounds of the jungle and the smaller teen didn't notice anything, wholly focused on finding Kaminari who seemed to have disappeared on him.
"Gotcha," Kaminari whispered as he pointed his finger to the disk and released a low voltage streak of electricity. He did feel kind of bad for Mineta, given he was about to electrocute him, but what's done is done.
The flashy bolt traveled through the air, hitting the disk along with anything directly in the area around it. "EYYAAA" Mineta screamed as his tiny body jolted from the flow of electricity before loosing his footing and falling backwards from the branch he was squatting on only moments ago. Kaminari watched, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in a silent "O" as the teen fell. He sprinted forward, arms outstretched and ready to catch his friend.
Just barely making it in time, the smaller teen made impact against Kaminari's arms, the momentum from his fall causing them both to crumple to the ground in a heap. Mineta put a shaking hand over his chest as he laid on top of the blond, his whole body feeling numbed and stiff from the electrocution.
When his heart rate finally slowed, he glared as he harshly elbowed the blond in the ribs. "I cannot believe you did that. We agreed no electrocution! You could have killed me you big jerk!"
"We also agreed no tree climbing" Kaminari reminded him as he pushed the smaller form off his now aching body. For such a small fry, he really hit him hard when he landed on him like that.
"This game is stupid, I don't wanna play anymore." As Mineta got up and dusted himself off, something caught his eye. "Is that tape?" he asked as he pointed to the tree he had just fallen from, only now noticing it seemed to have an "X" taped onto it.
"I can't believe I didn't notice that before! I bet that's Sero's tape!" Kaminari walked up to the tree to inspect the white lines taped over the bark. "They must have been here at some point."
"I think you're right. Wonder why he's taping trees…." Mineta tilted his head, as if by doing so the answer would present itself to him.
"Maybe he noticed his quirk wasn't working like we did, and he did it to check and see if it went back to normal" Kaminari suggested.
That seemed logical to Mineta given he tried his own quirk out several times before his precious balls finally grew back normally and started sticking to things again.
It was getting dark, the end of day drawing near as the sun began its leisurely decent over the horizon. Mineta shuddered, silently begging the sun to stay put just that one time. He and Kaminari were decidedly vulnerable at night without their quirks, making him feel stripped bare and exposed to the dangers the world held for them. Over the past few days, he really grew to hate nighttime. Everything grew so dark, and he still wasn't used to the moon's red glow pervading the jungle. It was creepy. Not to mention it rained almost every godforsaken evening.
Mineta hadn't even realized it had gotten so late. He and Kaminari must have been playing their game for a few hours if it was already time to start searching for a safe place to hunker down until morning. They found several different spots over the past four nights, given they were at the mercy of their current surroundings and what kind of shelter luck might have chosen to bestow upon them that particular evening.
"We should start looking for a place to sleep" Kaminari was clearly thinking about the same thing he was, his eyes heavy with uncertainty at the notion of trying to survive another night without their quirks. Mineta nodded his head in agreement, the movement somewhat pained from his previous electrocution. He made a mental note to attack his blond friend in the morning for his misdoings.
"I wonder how the rest of our class is fairing in all this" Mineta said absentmindedly while continuing his search.
"Heh, I'm guessing Bakugou and Midoriya are about ready to kill each other by now. In fact, they probably already have killed each other." Kaminari grew quiet for a moment, thinking more on the subject. "I bet they're having an easier time then us too since Yaoyorozu was probably able to make them tents and supplies. They probably aren't roughing it out here the same way we are."
"I miss boobs. I don't think I've ever went this long without having a nice pair to admire secretly from afar…"
"Dude."
"What? You know you miss them too! Don't lie." Kaminari had struck a nerve and Mineta wasn't having any of it.
"Honestly, I haven't really thought about them once since we started all of this. I've been more focused on, you know… not dying!"
Mineta gasped, refusing to believe such lies. "You take that back! Boobs are always first priority! Always!"
"I dunno, I think maybe- Hey! Look at that log over there!" Kaminari was about to refute his delusional friend when he spotted the perfect place to sleep for the night.
All Mineta saw was the end of a massive hollowed out log poking out of particularly dense brush. They couldn't really see where the other end was with all the shrubbery and branches packed so closely together. "There is no way I'm crawling in there and sleeping. We have no idea what's on the other side."
"Psh, we'll be fine. C'mon scaredy cat, let's go check it out." Kaminari gleefully ran over to the fallen log, inspecting the moss and groups of mushrooms growing along the surface of its entrance. With one last look over his shoulder to make sure Mineta was right behind him, he knelt into a crouch and began to make his way through the log.
Eyeing the mushrooms with uncertainty, Mineta determined they looked safe enough to eat. With his rumbling belly egging him on, he picked a handful of them and popped them into his mouth as he followed the blond. He ate some mushrooms just the other day which looked just like the ones he was currently eating, finding no adverse effects from them. It was probably safe...
Crawling through the log was a dirty business. It smelled like damp wood and dirt and their knees and palms collected little scrapes and scuffs from the rough surface beneath them. They continued for several minutes, neither speaking and the only sound coming from their shuffling limbs. Finally, the shuffling slowed and the confined, claustrophobic space around them seemed to open up, but it was still so dark.
Confused, Mineta stood and looked around, trying to make something, anything out in the darkness. It was unusually quiet, wherever they were, and the air was stale and unmoving. It still smelled damp like everywhere else but mustier than usual. The ground itself was drier too, having a lot less give to it then it did before they entered the log. Mineta walked around slowly, trying to understand what just happened.
"Where the heck are we?" Kaminari questioned as he stumbled around in the pitch-black area. His voice seemed to echo around them as he spoke. "We can't be outside because there's no light at all. Its not sunny and the red glow isn't here either. What the hell?"
"M-maybe we… we should go back?" Mineta stuttered as he turned to find the log they had just come from. It was so dark; he couldn't find anything at all. He blindly walked around with his arms in front of him, searching for that log. His foot unexpectedly caught on something, sending him tumbling to the floor with a yelp.
Kaminari whipped his head in the direction he heard his friend fall, frustrated that he couldn't see what was happening. He could here Mineta whimpering curses on the ground. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I tripped and banged up my knee. It hurts so bad!" Mineta felt around for the object he tripped over, his searching hands coming to a halt as they wrapped around something familiar. The cold steel of the object pressed into Mineta's hand as he lifted it up, feeling around for the button. A click, and suddenly the darkness was chased away by a white glow of light.
With their newfound light encasing the small dwelling, both boys looked around in awe of where they somehow ended up. Rocky walls stretched on either side of them and loomed overhead with jagged edges. The entrance was well concealed by the massive trunk they crawled through in addition to surrounding shrubbery and vines. What was really interesting though, was the large collection of human possessions scattered around. Someone had stayed in that cave, for a while from the looks of it.
XXXX
Black ink looped and curved across the bottom left leg of the taped letter, Izuku feeling a twinge of frustration as he read the written words their friends must have left for them. "Evening, Day 4." Who knew three words could be so devastating? Here they were at the end of day five, yet despite their progress they were somehow a full day behind the larger group leading the way. This was the first time any of them bothered to mark the tape, and Izuku guessed he was glad they did since it offered them a general idea of their proximity but at the same time it didn't feel good to know they somehow lagged further behind.
Honestly, they were both trucking it, challenging each other to keep moving forward despite their fatigue, despite their nightly quirk setbacks, and despite the occasional pissing contests. They were definitely getting along better now, especially given the growing feelings and attraction they shared, but they were still Deku and Kacchan at heart. There was no shortage of arguments and trivial disagreements.
"This is bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit." Kacchan waved his arms around frantically while giving the poor tree the most withering scowl ever. It was almost as if he was trying to set that tree on fire just by looking at it. "We've been hauling our asses, barely resting, eating on the fucking go, stopping at night only once my quirk has fully powered down and somehow those assholes are a day in front of us. A whole fucking day!"
"To be fair, its not like we're using a precise method or anything. I mean, we are literally just following marked trees and judging direction based off paths that look like someone else had walked there a few hours ago. Going with your gut isn't a science and I'm sure we are moving slower because of it." Izuku was bummed too but in the end, this was just another obstacle he would need to overcome. He felt Katsuki inch a little closer to him, carefully wrapping his arm around his waist and bringing his smaller body in closer. The action itself didn't quite feel natural yet, but Katsuki loved the way it made the nerd blush as he melted into him.
"Your optimism is fucking nauseating, Deku" he said, his demeanor a bit more relaxed. Izuku smiled lightly as he nuzzled his head into the crook of Kacchan's shoulder, both staring at that daunting "X" with unease. "I'm seriously going to murder them when we find them."
"What? Why?"
"I don't need a reason. Its just what's going to happen." Kacchan tightened his hold on Izuku's hip, his face morphing into that of devious aggression before melting back to a neutral state. "So, I was thinking…" He began but stopped short, not offering anything more.
"Yeah? What's up Kacchan?" Izuku looked up to him with his big doe eyes, wondering what he meant to say. His face was covered in sweat and dirt, his green curls perpetually damp from the humidity. Still pretty fucking cute in Katsuki's opinion.
"It's nothing."
"No, tell me! I wanna know!"
"Fuck it, fine. I was just thinking when this is all over and we're back home we could train together some mornings." Katsuki shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away as he mumbled "When we're done training, we could even get some ice cream after since you're apparently obsessed with that shit." Dead silence led Katsuki to chance a look down in Deku's direction, gauging his reaction to the proposal. He found watery eyes staring back at him, likely on the cusp of spilling over and down his cheeks.
Izuku sniffled and rubbed his eyes before finally responding. "I thought you only train with Kirishima in the mornings. You really want to train with me instead?" Izuku tried to quell the hope from his voice even though the blond had directly stated it was what he wanted.
"You know my training schedule?"
Another sniffle and Izuku seemed hesitant as he answered, "I know everyone's training schedule."
"…."
"…."
Katsuki laughed while shaking his head, like he should have known. "Of course, you fucking do. You probably have it all written down in that journal of yours." When it came to heroes and hero related business, Deku was an encyclopedia with information documented meticulously, even down to the smallest minutia. "And yes, instead of Shitty Hair."
"You're sure?"
"Damn nerd, you know I don't do anything I don't want to do. Yes, I'm fucking sure." Katsuki was now wondering how long it would be before their conversations were less exhausting and Deku was more secure with the idea of them doing things together. Knowing him, it would take a while.
"I'd really like that" Izuku said softly, staring at his bright red shoes, which contrasted tremendously with their environment- and everything else, as he spoke.
"Tch. Good." Katsuki stepped away from Izuku, pointing in the direction his gut was telling him their friends had gone. He could see how the flora around them had subtly shifted from several moving bodies traveling through. There were a few broken twigs, bushes whose leaves littered along the ground around them suggesting someone had brushed past and knocked them loose, and a few hanging vines were pushed out of the way, wrapping around the trees and other shrubbery instead. "Let's keep moving. I'll be damned if those extras get any further ahead of us."
Several hours had passed before they decided it was time to slow down and search for something to eat. Deku was able to find an assortment of black beetles, which he shoved into a small, tan pouch with a disheartened sigh. Katsuki on the other hand, found a bush growing purple berries and quickly stuffed as many as he could carry into his pockets. Before he showed them to Izuku, he popped one in his mouth, bursting through it with his teeth. His mouth was instantly coated with the fruit's sweet juice and he chewed it slowly, holding it in his mouth for a few minutes to ensure he didn't have any reaction to it before swallowing.
Excited to show Deku what he'd found and expecting the other teen to be overjoyed by the prospect of something sweet to eat, Katsuki rushed back to where he'd left the nerd. He was no longer crouched by the fallen log, nor was he within direct sight. He glanced quickly around his surroundings, seeing plenty of green but none that belonged to Deku. He wanted to call out to him but didn't want to risk disturbing anything dangerous that could be lingering nearby. "Deku!" He whisper-shouted. "Where the fuck did you run off too?!"
"I'm over here Kacchan! Come look at this!" The quieted timbre of the greenette came from not too far away. Katsuki ran in the direction he believed the sound to have come from, stopping shortly after once he spotted him. Relief washed over him as he watched the smaller teen carefully study a cluster of unusual trees. The trees themselves weren't any different from the rest of the trees but what was peculiar was that these trees bore dozens of hollowed out holes. Izuku was currently trying to look into one with the flashlight Momo had made for him a while back.
"Oi! Don't waste your flashlight, stupid Deku." Katsuki crossed the distance between them, snatched the flashlight from Izuku and turned it off.
"But Kacchan! Don't you wanna know what's in there?" Izuku looked from Katsuki, to the hole and back to Katsuki before swiping at his flashlight to steal it back. Noticing what he was up to, Katsuki was quick to hold the flashlight out of his reach when he tried to grab it. "C'mon Kacchan, just let me look!" Deku was about to take this to the next level and use OFA but something else caught his attention instead.
He watched as what might have been the cutest animal in existence, scurry out of one of the tree holes. The little guy was covered in fluffy tan fur with darker patches of brown dotting his back and white fur covering his chest and round little belly. His ears were tiny chocolate colored points atop his head, and he had a few whiskers poking out from around his little nose. The furball crawled out of the tree on all fours but as soon as he touched the ground, he seemed to favor walking on only his hind legs. For such a tiny animal, he was able to walk fast and in no time, he was at Katsuki's sneakers and making his way up his pantlegs.
They watched, Katsuki dismayed and Izuku envious, as he made his way up the pantleg, reached a tiny paw into Katsuki's pocket and removed a purple berry from the blond's stash. He opened his mouth wide and shoved the berry in, munching quickly as the juice from the berry dripped down his furry little chin. Once finished with his food, he chittered quietly before sticking his paw back in for seconds.
"KACCHAN! Give me some of those berries!" Without waiting for a reply, Izuku shoved his hand into the blond's other pocket and removed a handful of the purple fruit. He then gingerly wrapped his fingers around the small animal, squealing just a little at how soft he was, and happily placed him on his shoulder. He showed off the berries he held and watched, delighted, as the little guy grabbed one from his palm and smooshed it into his little mouth. His tiny paws were now also covered in the purple nectar, and Izuku watched as he grabbed two more from his palm.
Though a little irritated that Deku had chosen to feed their fruit to a random animal, Katsuki couldn't bring himself to intervene and instead watched with the smallest glimmer of a smile as Deku continued to feed it.
Just when Izuku thought this couldn't get any better, he heard more chittering coming from the trees and soon enough a whole mob of precious fuzzy cuteness was clamoring out of the trees and gathering around their feet and climbing up their pants.
"What is this life, Kacchan?" Izuku thought he must have died and gone to heaven.
"Little fuckers ate all the berries" Katsuki mumbled as he watched tiny hands come out of his pocket empty. "See, that's what you get you little glutton."
"Kacchan! Don't talk to them that way, they can hear you." Izuku laughed as the one on his shoulder yawned lazily and then proceeded to weave his little paws through his curls like it was still searching for more food. At the same time, another one had grabbed Izuku's pouch and was dragging it towards the trees. He stopped his struggles to chew along the metal zipper and scratch at the brown fabric. "You know what's in there don't you?" Izuku grabbed his pouch back and unzipped it. "Here, let me help you out."
"Deku, don't give them all our food! The moon's completely out now and we aren't going to have a lot of time to find more before I power down."
"But look at them! They're so hungry." He watched with a glowing smile as three more climbed up his pants and limbered over his arms to get to the beetles in the pouch.
"No, Deku, they're fat and obviously are eating just fine."
"No way, I found the beetles and I want to give them to our new furry little buddies." Izuku reached up and scratched underneath the chin of the one still hanging out on his shoulder. The little guy leaned into his touch, making Izuku shriek with happiness again. "They're so soft." The greenette picked up one that was batting at his shoelaces from the ground and gently placed him in Kacchan's hands. "See? They're so cute!"
With a raised eyebrow, Katsuki looked down at the cuddly and surprisingly soft furball in his hands and found he was petting its little head without even realizing it. Damnit, they were fucking adorable.
Eventually, they both sat down so they could play with the tiny animals. When they were finished eating the duo's food supply, a few retreated to their holes but most stuck around to explore the new things that walked into their domain. They were quite curious, pawing at their backpacks, scratching at the metal of their water bottles, and pulling nonedibles from their pockets. Izuku grabbed Shogi's journal to see if he had them recorded within its pages and found that was not the case.
"Guess I'll just have to add a page for them then." He said as he pulled a pen out and furiously scribbled a picture of them onto the page, stopping occasionally to get his pen back from overly curious little paws.
"What are you going to call them?" Katsuki asked as he absolutely did NOT nuzzle the nose of one of the little floofs.
"I'll name them Kawaii."
"What, cute?" Katsuki barely suppressed a chuckle at his name choice.
"I'm tired Kacchan. It's the best I got right now."
"Alright, Kawaii it is."
Suddenly, a soft rustling sound came from off to the side, putting both boys on high alert. They looked around their surroundings, trying to figure out what it was when out of nowhere a long, pointy black line pierced through the air from behind the trees and went straight through one of the little Kawaii by Izuku's feet. It shrieked as the line retracted back behind the trees and its little sounds of fear and pain fully disappeared into the night.
Having watched the whole thing happen, Izuku was on his feet and getting ready to rush at whatever just attacked the fur babies. Before he could move another inch, the black line darted out from the trees once more, taking yet another Kawaii.
By now, the Kawaii knew they were in danger and were chittering loudly as they dashed toward the trees for protection. It was chaos as they ran on all fours all over the ground, making it difficult for Katsuki and Izuku to move without stepping on any of them. Tears filled Izuku's eyes as he glared at the area where the thing kept coming from. Without wasting another second, he jumped over the mob of panicking Kawaii and darted behind the trees. Katsuki watched him go, feeling panic set in as he knew his own quirk was probably gone at that point. He should not have permitted them to get so comfortable. That was a rookie mistake, one he would not make again. Despite his lack of fire power, he chased after Deku.
Izuku stopped in his tracks, staring open mouthed at the creature responsible for killing two of the Kawaii. It was one of the mammoth sized kyōfu, those long-legged, black insect looking things he saw that night they slept in the hammocks. He watched in horror as its long leg, which had speared the Kawaii, reached back towards its body so it could eat its screaming prey. The screams were silenced as its leg extended back in front, but instead of touching the ground it seemed to now be pointing from midair at the green haired teen.
With movement that was blindingly fast, its leg hurtled forward toward Izuku. The teen activated one for all and dodged out of the way just in time. A second leg came at him at the same time Kacchan came running up from behind him. It distracted him just enough that he moved too slow, his shoulder grazed by the impossibly long, razor sharp point of the kyōfu's leg. The wound was shallow, stinging only a little, but Izuku was so high off adrenaline he didn't even notice. He charged forward, leaping high into the air and with the help of one for all and full cowling, he snapped his leg forward and landed a mighty blow against the beast with his shoot style.
The impact caused the kyōfu to fling backwards, breaking through several trees before the congestion of the jungle finally slowed its momentum. Izuku was satisfied to see it was not getting back up any time soon.
Breathing heavily, Izuku stared unseeingly at the trail of destruction his attack had caused. His eyes were beginning to water, but it was Katsuki placing his hand on his shoulder that finally broke the damn. Tears cascaded down his cheeks and he turned and wept into the solid wall of Kacchan's chest. Not sure how to respond to the waterworks, Katsuki wrapped his arms around the sobbing teen and held him close. Eventually, Izuku's sobs broke down into dry shudders that wracked his whole body.
"Its my f-f-fault! Th-they never, never would have come out if… if it wasn't for the f-food!" Izuku was beside himself with guilt, feeling responsible for the death of the Kawaii.
"Shh, it's okay Zuku. It's not your fault, they were just doing what was natural to them." He thought for a moment before adding, "If anything, you gave them a nice last meal." That was not the right thing to say, however, and Izuku broke down into another tirade of tears and sniffles.
Realizing what he said might have done the opposite of help, Kacchan lifted Deku's chin so he could look into those watery pools of emerald. Izuku wrapped his arms around Katsuki's neck and closed the space between them, kissing the blond with all the overwhelming emotions he felt swirling around in him. His lips were wet, the kiss a little salty but it was all either of them needed.
With a gentle swipe of his tongue, Katsuki silently asked Izuku for entrance who in turn parted his lips just enough to allow the blond to deepen their kiss. Izuku tasted a little like the sweet berries he had found, leading Katsuki to realize he must have slipped one before the Kawaii gobbled down all of them. He lapped up that sweet flavor, enjoying the way it swirled with Izuku's own taste as he kissed him passionately.
His hands leisurely wandered down Izuku's sides, coming to rest under his shirt, just along his hips. He made small circles around his hip bones with his thumbs, smiling into their kiss when his stroking thumbs caused Izuku to shiver, his skin covered in little goosebumps. He wrapped one hand around Izuku's back, noticing how soft Izuku's freckled skin was beneath his touch. With the gentlest tug, he brought Izuku's body in the rest of the way, so it was flush against his own, his lips now making their way down Izuku's jawline and neck with little wet kisses and bites.
Izuku moaned lightly against the sensation, moving his head back slightly to offer Kacchan better access. When Katsuki made it to the base of his neck and bit down and sucked on that sweet spot between his neck and shoulder, Izuku's knees weakened while his body was overcome with such need he thought he might combust from the sheer force of it alone. His arousal was evident in the hard bulge forming in his pants and he shamelessly gyrated his hips against Kacchan's erection to get some heavenly friction.
Steady breaths were quickly transforming into needy pants, both teens were greedily thrusting their hips together as they moaned into the night. Katsuki quickly returned to Izuku's mouth, stroking his tongue across Izuku's in rhythm with their hips, his head clouding over with arousal. He wanted to see Izuku's face, wanted to see the way he looked when he was so filled with need for no one else but his Kacchan. He peeked an eye open, but what he saw caught him off guard. Tears still collected at the corners of Deku's closed eyes, grounding Katsuki and reminding him of what just happened. With a sigh, he pulled away, smiling when Izuku whined at the loss of contact. He quickly leaned in and kissed the tears from both Deku's eyes before kissing the cute freckles on his cheek. "As much as I want to continue this, we really should find a safe place to sleep for the night. It's late and my quirk's gone. So, to be continued for another night, got it?"
Izuku squirmed uncomfortably, his erection pressing against his pants in a way he did not care for. Regardless, he knew Kacchan was right. "Got it" he agreed as they both went in search for a place to sleep.