Izuku and Suri have a conversation with All Might. Suri forgets what time it it is. The group celebrates the winter solstice.
Also, addressing a question from reviews; yes, the pure smut chapters were taken out. But have no fear, I'm writing a few smut chapters and all of them will be compiled into a companion series. I'll let everyone know when that's up so you know where to find it.
Now, onto this week's chapter.
"Let me get this straight, Young Midoriya. You saw your mother along with the other vestiges and she was able to communicate with them?"
Suri was pacing slowly behind Izuku as he spoke to All Might over the phone. He had it on speaker so that both of them could hear what his mentor and her uncle had to say but the volume was lowered enough so that only the two of them could hear him. It was a slight precaution, even if Jirou was a floor above her and on the opposite side of the hall from her room. Suri was going back and forth still mulling over the revelation that Izuku had brought her after they'd gotten back to his room several nights before.
"Have you spoken to your grandmother about this, Suri?" he asked next, turning the attention in the conversation to her.
"I did. I talked to her and my moms to see if they'd ever heard of anything before and none of them could think of a time they had. And that's saying something, knowing that grandma has seen a lot in her life," Suri answered, not slowing down on pacing at all.
"You told Maon?" All Might inquired.
"Yeah. I felt like I had to since… ya know," Suri shrugged. "And I feel like we should tell Mama Midoriya too. I think she'd like to know that Izumi was still around. Even if only as a microscopic part of Izuku's mind."
"I think you're right," Izuku answered and then cupped his chin and looked down at the ground, hard in thought. "But wouldn't that just make her sad or worry more? I've already done too much to put her through any more grief."
"You both make a good point," All Might sighed on the other side of the phone. The creak that came through meant he was deep in an office chair and had reclined it more than usual. It was a sign that he was tired and overworked but was less than likely to take a break any time soon. He was busy with something and Izuku and Suri had called him right in the middle of it. "Let's sit on this for a little while longer and see what options and consequences we can come up with. I don't want to put any more strain on Inko either."
Izuku and Suri's eyes went wide and the beast girl stopped dead in her tracks as the two of them looked from the phone to each other. The way he name dropped her so casually could only mean one thing. Izuku's expression turned into an expression that was mixed with intrigue, curiosity, and a little bit of fear. Suri's expression, on the other hand, turned to a mischievous smile that went from ear to ear and bared fangs.
"Inko, huh?" Suri purred with devious intent. "Sounds like the dating game is getting serious."
There was a long pause filled with realization. Realization of what he said. Realization that the kids had heard it. And, of course, the realization that Suri had even more ammo to tease her dear old uncle with and he wouldn't hear the end of it if he let her get that chance.
"A-Anyway! I'll add this development to my research for you, Young Midoriya. I've still got a lot to do but hopefully I'll have something for you soon but I can't do that while I'm on the phone. So uh bye, have a good night tonight!" All Might quickly sped through his words, doing a piss poor job that he was, in fact, hiding something. Several things from the sound of it.
"Uh, bye I guess," Izuku said to no one in particular, staring at the end call screen on his phone. When the screen cleared, it went back to his home screen which was a picture of him, Suri, Mina, and Tooru all smiles and peace signs in front of Mama Midoriya and Small Might. He was just now noticing how close of a proximity his mom and mentor were to each other in the picture and he started to go pale. "H-Hey Suri, how long um… How close are um…"
"How close are you to having to call him Dad Might?" Suri chuckled, watching her boyfriend's mind churn out all of the possibilities of words to express what he was thinking. The thought of Toshinori becoming his dad made his eyes go wide and he had to slap himself from getting too overly excited about the possibility. "Hey, let's face it, mom, could do much much worse."
That sentiment made both of them chuckle, going from bewildered to happy in a few seconds. It was a nice levity to the situation that still had both Suri and Izuku puzzled. Suri looked at the picture longer and chuckled as she took the couple steps from the middle of her room to her desk where Izuku was sitting. She sighed and purred softly as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, laying her chest against the back of his shoulders and nuzzling her cheek against his temple. She tilted her head enough to kiss the side of his forehead and smiled as he leaned back into her touch as the two of them stared at his phone just as it went to sleep and the screen went black.
"We're gonna need to take another family picture aren't we?" Suri said against his ear.
"I-I umm.. Yeah, we might have to soon," Izuku said, chuckling as he thought about the logistics of trying to shove his mom, All Might, him, Pazuzu, and all of the girls into one photo. Let alone taking them all to his mom and having to have the conversation specifying which of them all he was actually dating and which were a little more than just casual friends with benefits. "That's… gonna be really awkward isn't it?"
"Oh yeah!" Suri chuckled.
"Knock! Knock!"
"Oh mighty queen, your party has arrived for tonight's royal festivities!"
Suri blinked as she watched Tooru and Mina give a half hearted knock before bursting through her door. They were dressed in a lot of layers like they were ready to brave the winter elements, maybe even to go snow sledding or something, and ready to go. She gave them a confused smile as she looked them over as she wondered why they were covered head to toe and it must have showed because they glanced at each other with confusion. Then Mina gave her a look that clearly said Suri was missing something and being really ditzy to which Suri furrowed her brow at her girlfriends.
"What? Am I missing something here?" Suri asked with sincerity.
"Um… yeah," Tooru snickered and then she and Mina both facepalmed with exasperation.
Suri had forgotten something.
The hell did she forget?
It's not like there was anything she needed to do at night in the cold of winter. If anything the only thing she had thought of doing was doing some stargazing for the start of winter. The winter solstice and its corresponding full moon was…
Tonight.
"Oh fuck," Suri groaned as she pulled back from Izuku and rushed past Tooru and Mina to her closet where she began furiously digging through her clothes and throwing all care out the window. Off went her lounging clothes, being flung across the room as she quickly dug out a pair of jeans. They were massively worn, with countless holes and stained with a few streaks of dried blood but mostly covered in dirt. In short; they were very fashionable. "What time is it?"
Suri frantically threw her bra across the room to where it landed on Izuku's head. He was torn between chuckling and taken aback with pure confusion as he watched his girlfriend strip and then quickly redress. It was enough that he didn't even notice or care that the article of clothing had draped itself over the emerald mop of his hair. Then again, he never turned away at the chance of seeing Suri's bare breasts, even as they bounced out of view behind her closet door. When she reemerged a second later she was pulling down a black sleeveless top that was as shredded and worn as the jeans she'd put on.
"It's just before 22:00," Tooru replied, looking down at the screen on her phone.
"Okay, so I won't be too late then," Suri grumbled in relief as she came around the corner to the altar at the foot of her bed. She snatched up her bone and obsidian necklace and a few hair ties. As she pulled her braids back and cinched them together with the hair ties, she looked at Izuku who was now standing and readying himself. "You need to borrow one of my jackets?"
"And maybe a hoodie," he chuckled.
"My closet is yours, love," she smiled wide and then turned so she could face all three of them. "Meet you there?"
"We won't be too far behind," Mina grinned. "Need us to bring anything?"
Sure paused for a moment and thought about the question. Now that she had a clear head - despite how much it was racing - she remembered the days and events she needed to remember. Tonight was the Winter Solstice and one of the last nights of Yule. It was also Christmas Eve. With tomorrow being Christmas she remembered that she was wanting to go above and beyond to give her class a feast for Christmas.
That required meat.
"Umm bed sheets that you probably need to throw away or towels you don't mind being stained and ruined. Lots of towels," Suri said confidently with a smile before marching to her balcony doors. "See you soon, my loves."
She blew them a kiss before opening her doors and taking a quick hop up onto her railing. From there she jumped, taking the second floor plunge and landed with a soft thud, her bare feet making a crater in the snow. Now that she was outside she could feel the pure power of magic on the air and she shivered from the pure ecstasy from it. It made her audibly purr with excitement before a small growl barked in her throat as she all but took to all fours, sprinting on her hands and feet through the snow and into the trees.
Branches and foliage cracked and split beneath her as she ran, happy as could be as the feeling of pure wild took over and she breathed in the cold, power filled air around her. As she got to the tree line surrounding the clan's Place of Power, she went vertical; leaping to the side towards one of the old, large trees and then bouncing to the one beside it. She scaled the two trees back and forth before she broke the canopy and sent herself skyward, becoming a silhouette against the full moon before she came rocketing back towards the earth. As she fell, she was happy to find her seat was open and ready for its queen to fill it to oversee the proceedings for the rest of the night.
The curious sight however was the fact that the night's activities had already begun. When she landed and spun around to stand high atop her stone throne she got a front row view to a fight. One that saw Hanegawa, the wereleopard, and Koto, the werefox, both nude in their beast man forms, growling and snarling at each other as they traded blows and took each other to the ground again and again. Suri watched, eyes locked on the two of them as they held each other in a stalemate because even though Hanegawa was stronger, Koto was a little faster. The leopard would pound the fox with hard hooks and would get two quick jabs in return.
Then came Koto turning the tables completely in his favor. The usually reserved and calm werefox clapped his hands when Hanegawa threw him over his shoulder and back towards the wall of the clearing. The clap rang through the open air like a small powered gunshot, making nearly everyone flinch from the sudden intrusive sound. Hanegawa was one of them. The leopard made the mistake of trying to shield his ears and didn't see his opponent coming through squinted eyes because with his arms up he gave Koto the perfect opening. The werefox quickly snaked his arm through one of Hanegawa's arms and over his neck while he wrapped the other in his legs. With all of that momentum, the deadweight of the werefox took the wereleopard off balance and to the ground, the back of his head getting smashed by both the ground and Koto's hip. The landing put Hanegawa in the uncomfortable position of nowhere to use his leg strength because he was rolled over, ass in the air. Speaking of air, he was losing it because the hold Koto had on him was a mix between a full nelson and a chicken wing so the leopard had an arm tight over his windpipe and no point of momentum to get loose.
"Do you give?" Koto snarled, shifting so he put more weight into the hold. The added weight effectively made the move more dangerous and left the seemingly taller and stronger male to have to yield to the smaller and faster werefox.
"Dammit," Hanegawa growled as he quickly tapped out, slapping Koto's bicep several times.
With the tap out, Koto shifted and rolled away and let the wereleopard free. Both of them panted and breathed heavily as, even though he'd won, Koto laid out next to his friend and the two of them stared upwards at the full moon. As they caught their breath Suri hopped down off of her throne and strode to the middle of them to check them over. They were both bloody, with quite a few claw and teeth marks left in each other's skin, but none of the scars would be greatly visible or leave significant scarring. It meant that, while they were going at it, they'd still been careful not to maim the other. It made Suri chuckle softly as she came to stand between them and extend an arm to either of her friends who both graciously accepted the offer to be helped up.
"That puts you two at a draw right?" Suri asked, looking back and forth between them.
"It does," Koto said, rolling his neck and letting it pop a few times to release the tension. He had an air of arrogance to him that was a nice change but it quickly relapsed into his normal quiet, reserved, and bookwormish personality. "We have two wins a piece at this time."
"The nerd's stronger than he looks," Hanegawa chuckled, moving his hand from Suri's to leaning on the werefox and using his shoulder as a post. The werefox groaned and rolled his eyes but didn't make any move to reject the leopard putting his weight on him. "Gotta keep each other on our toes if we get new members here soon."
"That's a good point," Suri nodded, acting like she hadn't let that notion slip her mind. It was a bad bluff and didn't go unnoticed by the group of wereanimals around her. It brought up another thought of hers. "Is it just other younglings that are going to try and take the entrance exams in a couple months or do others want to join right now?"
"As far as the Black Pool Clan goes, I know of one or two highschoolers that have asked me about you being my Queen," Hanegawa answered, his expression going a bit softer than it had been a second earlier. "They… find it hard to understand the concept of you being a Queen of your own clan already. Not that they were fans of yours in the first place."
"Ah," Suri rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Lemme guess, they're either mad that they didn't get to fuck the princess or the ew, foreigner crowd, aren't they?" The beast girl chuckled at herself as she put on the most sarcastic and overdramatic impressions she could.
"Both actually," Aiko chuckled as she came to join them, carrying both Hanegawa and Koto's glasses. Not that either the wereleopard or werefox actually needed them and were probably, in fact, just for show. "If you're talking about who I think you are, Hanegawa. The middle schoolers you're talking about? They could be… interesting."
"That's an understatement," Koto chuckled, reminding Suri that she hadn't been the only outsider in Grandma Kuroyashi's clan. Werefoxes didn't have clans and were pretty independent among other wereanimal groups but that came with the caveat that they were usually associated and protected by one of the larger clans. It also meant that they didn't get the best treatment which is why Koto continually trained with and sparred against the others as much as he possibly could. "Almost all of them that we've heard about or talked to used to run with Yosuke."
"Well shit," Suri sighed and hung her head. "That means when they're asking about me they're trying to get something to use against me and make a power play. Fuckin' great."
"Which is why they'd have to go through us first," Pazuzu grinned as he came from behind everyone and dropped his weight across Koto and Hanegawa's backs.
Mai did the same to Suri and Aiko, giving a confident humph as she agreed wholeheartedly to her best friend's notion. It gave Suri at least some comfort to know that she had back-up as long as her friends were around and she had to half heartedly chuckle that just a year ago, she thought she'd never get that again.
"There's a part of me that says I can't blame them for their feelings of mistrust towards me since, ya know, I kinda brought Gemini to our doorstep," Suri shrugged with a half smile. "But that part of me is small and I can tell her to shut up cause we know better. And that's what I'll just have to prove to everyone else."
"So we're gettin naked already, huh?" Mina laughed, whistling a cat call at Koto and Hanegawa as she, Tooru, and Izuku entered the clearing.
"I thought we were holding off on the big group thing for a while," Tooru teased, snickering as she encouraged Mina further.
"I mean," Suri rolled her eyes and took a step back, openly gawking over the two boys in front of her who both cleared their throats and looked away from the entire group. It made Suri laugh and she couldn't help but lunge forward and hug the wereleopard and werefox. "Right? They're handsome as fuck but I think Saito would hex me or something if we did anything with her guys without her permission."
"Really? You told them?" Saito groaned, as the girl in question entered the clearing with her twin sister, Taiga, and Chibi. "I thought we were gonna wait to make it all official and shit?"
"Whoops, my bad," Suri chuckled and gave the guys an apologetic smile as she turned to greet her mates and her coven. "I didn't know you guys were keeping it a secret."
"Yeah," Izuku nodded, making it known that he'd even picked up on it. "It wasn't super obvious but it was a lot like how I was back when I first started dating these three. We didn't really have to officially announce anything because, well, everyone just figured it out."
"Right," Pazuzu chuckled next and gave the two boys and their apparent girlfriend a wicked grin. "Ever since we started going to the occult club you two couldn't take your eyes off of her. Now, it's impossible to get her scent off of you both."
"Pazuzu!" The three of them shrieked in unison, the two boys balling their fists and blushing hard from the insinuation. Saito merely confirmed his joke as she strode up to him, fists balled tight and socked him in the shoulder. Her tanned skin was a shade of red from head to toe and her face burned from heat despite it being cold outside.
"Babe," Ryuko sighed, facepalming as she came to join her trickster boyfriend. "I love you, but I didn't need that mental image of my sister."
"Truthfully, I thought it would be Hanashita, Koto would be hooking up with," Taiga added, brow raised as she looked back and forth between the two bookworms.
"I um had thought about it a time or two and we have um… been in positions before that could have led to something," Chibi admitted, shyly looking away and grinding her foot against the frozen grass beneath her. "But, since I knew he liked Saito a lot, my eyes wandered elsewhere."
"Oh?" Mina grinned wide, giving Chibi predatory eyes as she saw the flashing lights of fresh, juicy gossip on the horizon. She was excited to know what kind of tidbits of love and soap opera drama could be had and she was practically salivating at the notion. "Who is it? Who's got your eye, Chibi? Pleeeeease tell me."
"Um.."
"Chibi, c'mon."
"I uh dunno…"
"Please, you gotta tell your girl all the details!"
"I've um…"
"Uh huh."
"Been seeing…"
"Mhmm! Mhmm!"
"Mineta."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"As in…"
"Yeah. Um, we've been um…"
"Wait. Wait. Wait," Suri shook her head and waved her arms in disbelief before turning to Chibi entirely and giving her lolita obsessed friend a questioning glance. Chibi didn't waiver but continued to look away shyly with a small innocent smile that screamed that there was nothing innocent about what she was currently thinking of. Everyone's eyes went wide as realization dawned on all of them and they looked at the short girl with astonishment and it was Suri's mouth that blurted out what everyone was too scared to ask. "You're… Oh. My. Gods. You've been… mhmm! With…"
And then with a shimmer of light in her eye she looked up, smiling like an angel as she confirmed everything. No rumors. No speculation. Just the innocent, adorable smile that said she was two stories deep into a fantasy of her not so innocent mind's creation. If it were a cartoon, her pupils would be the shapes of hearts as she swooned and drooled over the man of her dreams. Dreams that no one wanted to be a port of right now.
"Minoru~"
Silence fell upon the clearing as everyone cringed and hissed with embarrassment as they all watched Chibi get lost in her daydreams. Suri curiously watched the girl, trying to wait for the whole facade to drop and reveal one big charade. When it didn't, she shook her head and sighed, forcing a smile as she chuckled softly at the short girl. The fact that she was happy and satisfied was enough to make her not question Chibi's emotions and if she sat back and thought about it; Chibi was kind of perfect for Mineta. So, in the end, good on her for snagging up a guy that complimented her. Where Mineta was balls to the walls - no pun intended - open with his pervasion, Chibi, truth be told, was just as much of a horndog as he was. Chibi wasn't an outright peeping tom like him, she was more elusive. Until you got to her book shelf and movie collection where she was anything but shy.
Purple also happened to be her favorite color.
"Congratulations," Izuku said finally and awkwardly before looking back at his girlfriends and shrugging. "I'm um… happy for you two."
"Thank you!"
"Anyway," Suri cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Do we have any more challenges happening tonight? Make them heard now or we'll move forward with our solstice offerings."
Everyone looked from one to the other. There was some pause between Pazuzu and Aiko, with the werewolf taking a considerably long look at Izuku and the wereleopard giving the same glance to Mina. It occurred to Suri that the two of them were considering challenges but then backed out of their own thoughts. It made Suri curious to know if Aiko saw Mina as someone who could go toe to toe with a lycanthrope; the look made the answer lean towards a yes. For Pazuzu; he knew how much of a punch - or kick - Izuku could deliver and joked about wanting to spar with him at full power. The look said it wasn't so much of a joke afterall.
In the end, no challenges were issued. It meant that tonight's Lupanar was much more reverent than the previous ones had been and that was fine by everyone. When it came time for offerings and observing the Moon Goddess everyone gathered in a circle at the foot of the stone throne. Pazuzu and Suri made a small bonfire in the center of the group to keep Izuku, Mina, Tooru, Ryuko, Chibi, and Saito warm. But also because fire on a winter night was especially gorgeous.
Once the fire was stoked and reaching high above everyone as they sat and relaxed on the ground, Mai pulled a couple items from her backpack and crawled around the outside of the circle to bring them to Suri. The items made Suri's eyes go wide and she choked back a laugh as she met eyes with the werewolf girl who gave her a simple, self pleasured smile. Seeing the items in Suri's hands made Pazuzu begin to crack up, bellowing into the night air as he watched his friend crawl back towards her spot between Ryuko and Taiga.
"Mai, how the hell did you get this?" Suri chuckled, shaking her head as she looked back and forth between a full bottle of mead and a polished drinking horn. "The teachers would kick your ass if they knew."
Mai simply shrugged and pursed her lips with a smug look of mischief.
"Well, hell," Suri sighed with humor. "I guess were doing a fuckin legit Blot."
"Blot?" Izuku, Tooru, and Mina asked in unison.
"Blot means 'to make holy' so it's prayers and offerings directly to the gods we're tied to spirituality," Suri explained as she opened the bottle and began pouring the alcoholic beverage into the horn. "It's like going to a shrine and writing your wishes and desires on an Ema. But we're more vocal here. We vocalize our wishes and desires or make a toast, finish it by saying Skol, which we'll all say, and then you take a shot from the horn."
The three of them nodded slowly as they listened to Suri talk. Their eyes were trained on her hands as they watched her pour and fill the horn with the soft amber liquid. Their eyes then followed the horn as she raised it upwards to her nose where she took a deep breath. Apparently, from the shiver and smile accompanying the audible purr she made; it smelled absolutely amazing.
"M-Mind if I go first then?" Izuku asked, surprising everyone by his offer of being the one to get everything started. He looked back and forth between everyone before settling his eyes on Tooru and Mina next to him and motioned towards them. "That would mean we'd go around the circle in this direction."
"Yeah. You know what, I'm up for that," Mina grinned, nodding her approval.
"Me too," Tooru said, nodding in agreement.
"Okay then, Green Bean, the floor is all yours" Suri said with a small chuckle before handing the horn to her boyfriend, watching him take it from her tentatively. He stared at it for a moment and then looked back at her with a questioning glance. "It's okay if you change your mind, I can start us off if you want me to."
"No, I'm okay. I just," Izuku paused again and looked back down at the horn, watching the amber liquid softly sway inside of its container. He agreed with Suri's previous sentiment now that he was closer to the drink; it smelled sweet and rich with flavor. He cleared his throat and looked up, watching everyone's eyes glitter and dance with the reflection of the fire in the middle of them, fire that seemed to give him a little more confidence and made him blurt out the first thing that came to mind. "To heroes!"
The sudden outburst took everyone aback for a moment. They all patiently waited for if anything was to come next and when Izuku saw that, he decided he should probably add more to his sudden toast.
"A-And um… to all of us continuing to do our best here at UA."
Izuku raised the horn and was about to take a sip when he caught Suri's eye out of the corner of his. She was grinning ear to ear but also had a very expectant look that asked if he was sure that was everything he wanted to say. It made him think that he'd forgotten something. And then he realized he had.
"Oh! Um.. s-skol?"
"Skol!" all of the werebeasts and witches cheered in a hearty chorus of approval.
The sudden roar made Izuku flinch in surprise but the looks on everyone's faces said that he'd done a good thing. He also took note that they all raised their fists, mimicking the motion of a toast of their own. The motion reminded him that he had the mead in hand still and he quickly raised the lip of the horn to his lips and took a quick swig. One that was probably a little more than he'd intended to take. His eyes shot open as he took a large shot and had to quickly take the horn away from his mouth and passed it to Tooru next to him. He quickly forced himself to swallow the excess amount he'd taken but in the end was far from opposed to the flavor he'd ingested. The mead had a crisp taste that warmed him from head to toe with a rich sweetness that had the underlying spice of cinnamon, vanilla, and even a slight flavor of apple mixed in somewhere. The closest thing he'd tasted that he could compare it to was a cider but even that didn't quite compete with what he was tasting.
In short; it was just as delicious as it had smelled.
"To um… Friends. I-I'm really happy that I've been able to meet all of you. Thank you for, ya know, not making me feel invisible. Like, Saito, Pazuzu, Mai, I can't thank you guys enough for this, I still get blown away every once in a while when I look in the mirror and can see myself. You've… You made my dreams come true," Tooru happily said, trying to hide the massive blush that was burning through her entire body at the moment. She held the horn up, nodded to everyone and brought the horn down to her lips. "Skol."
"Skol!"
Tooru audibly shivered and whined a little as the mead filled her and left her with an unexpected aftertaste that she couldn't decide if she liked or not. The drink itself was great but she didn't feel like it was the most amazing thing she'd ever tasted either and she pondered that thought as she passed the horn to Mina next.
"To love!" Mina shouted excitedly and startled both Tooru and Izuku who weren't quite ready for the sudden outburst. Her proclamation however, made everyone else giggle. "You know I'm a sucker for romantic gossip and storylines cause I always wanted to experience love. And now that I have. Really and truly," she said with a wide grin as she looked at Suri, Izuku, and Tooru. "I wanna thank the gods or forces of nature or whatever that brought us all together. So… Skol!"
"Skol," Suri and everyone else said in return, chuckling from Mina's toast and then watching her take a quick shot. The chuckling and giggling continued as Mina's skin flushed a darker shade of pink and she let out a whoot as she swallowed the drink. It was very much like they'd taken the girl to a bar and was now watching her hit a shot of a harder drink.
Next came Koto, Saito, and Hanegawa who made toasts to friendship and the pack. Saito extended that further and surprised everyone by making her relationship with the wereleopard and werefox officially official. Thankfully she'd waited until Hanegawa had passed the drinking horn on to Chibi before she brazenly grabbed both of them by the backs of their necks and pulled them into her. The group got a laugh from watching Ryuko wave one hand frantically while covering her eyes with the other. Ryuko may have been a voyeur, but watching your twin sister with two guys who were stark naked and clearly happy to be there was a hard pass.
No pun intended.
After the quick little affectionate display next to her, Chibi raised the horn high and held it there for a few long moments of silence. She'd apparently drawn a blank on what to say. She looked down for another moment to draw inspiration before narrowing her eyes at her own attire and then looked back up to meet eyes with Suri, Mina, Tooru, and Izuku. She stiffened with determination before making a toast to her friends and thanked them for accepting her and her hobbies. It was no secret that she feared being picked on for her obsession with lolita fashion and cosplaying hobby. She doubled down on the gratitude by thanking her Class 1-A friends for not being too harsh about the revelation she was with their classmate.
Next came Taiga who graciously toasted everyone and thanked them for compassion and companionship. It was bittersweet for her because, being a third year, in a couple months there was no guarantee that she'd still be able to see her friends. Izuku surprised her by noting that, no matter what, all of them would always be friends. She toasted to that with a fang filled grin and agreed wholeheartedly that they were stuck with her.
After that came Mai.
The mute girl stared at the drinking horn for a few seconds and then looked up and furrowed her brow. She had apparently thought to bring the alcohol but had forgotten one simple thing about doing a Blot. Of course she could sign her toast and everyone would at least catch a hint of what the words her hand movements would create were saying but she also now had one hand restricted. She'd had the best of intentions but ultimately made things harder for herself. She had the thought to force herself to speak and try her hardest to use her voice. That however required sacrifice because trying to speak ultimately hurt like hell and sometimes made it so that she coughed up blood. It was infuriating to her that she could literally heal a broken arm in only about a week on her own but her corroded and underdeveloped vocal chords; well those just never seemed to heal.
She narrowed her eyes at the horn, then the fire, and then turned her sights to Suri. The beast girl held a soft look that was patient and caring because she knew that Mai was struggling and wanting to say her peace. She also knew that it would be painful if she tried. Both Suri and Pazuzu were about to offer to translate or say something for her, the werewolf girl knew it, and opted to do things her way. Her way was that she stood up, walked around the inside of the circle to its head where Suri sat and then kneeled in front of her so they could see eye to eye on an equal level. Her firm, frustrated expression softened and she let out a deep breath before leaning forward, eyes closed, and laid her forehead against Suri's own. Suri for her part was taken aback at first because she was expecting a heated kiss that was overly blunt and forward because that was how Mai expressed her feelings more often than not. This however was the opposite and Suri found Mai to be cautious, reserved, and even shy about the gesture as she took a few shaky breaths as her heart stopped racing.
Mai then pulled back, placed her hand over her own heart and nodded so that Suri caught the gesture before taking the hand and placing it on Suri's chest above her own heart. Then came three actions where Mai pointed to Suri, then to herself, and then pinched her fingers together and made a motion from the corner of her lips back across her cheek. Suri narrowed her eyes as she took a moment to remember what the motion meant and then her eyes went wide with a soft happiness in them.
"Home," Suri said softly and then let that expand to what she thought Mai might be saying entirely. "I'm your home?"
Mai nodded, smiling shyly. Suri couldn't help but chuckle and look over towards Izuku, Tooru, and Mina who had differing expressions. Tooru seemed to share Mai's sentiment, Izuku was giving Mai a very thoughtful expression like he was still trying to understand it all, and then there was Mina. The pinkette was on the verge of tears and fanning herself like she was burning up but she was smiling. It was the same expression Suri had seen on the girl watching dorky romantic comedies and this was the scene where the guy finally gets the girl. Only in this scenario, Mai was playing the quirky guy that was head over heels for a girl that's way out of his league but had just so happened to give him the off chance of a shot.
Suri giggled as she watched Mina and then looked back at Mai who was waiting expectantly for an answer of some kind. An answer to a question she'd never even asked in the first place and didn't realize it all.
"To your home, your friends, and your companions." Suri said with a grin to which Mai nodded eagerly and then threw back a shot from the drinking horn. "Sko-umph!"
The group laughed and Tooru, Mina, and Ryuko threw out a couple catcalls as Suri's declaration was cut short by a forceful and abrupt werewolf girl. Aiko, who was sitting next to Suri, rolled her eyes and snickered as she took the drinking horn from Mai's free hand and passed it down to Ryuko. It would be her turn next once their queen was not so distracted. The distraction being an eager Mai who, once she'd swallowed her toast, had lunged forward, grabbing the collar of Suri's tank top roughly and slamming herself into her. The sudden, forceful kiss from Mai was more than happily reciprocated by Suri. Once she'd caught her balance and corrected herself, her hands moved quickly from the cold ground beneath her and into Mai's hair where she gripped the werewolf girl tightly. The two of them giggled into each other's mouths after the first initial round of heated passion before they both let their ears fill with the chants and catcalls of the girls around the fire. It was Mai who pulled back first and for once was blushing shyly as her eyes shifted back and forth to everyone around them and then fell back onto Suri's eyes. The look she gave Suri said something along the lines of sorry and that she didn't know what had come over her.
"Don't you dare say sorry for that, sweetie," Suri chuckled and leaned back.
Mai looked into Suri's eyes for another moment, reading the beast girl's sincerity before nodding with a quick humph and pulling herself backwards out of Suri's lap. The werewolf girl then bowed her head towards Ryuko, wordlessly telling her that it was her turn to declare her toast. And then, instead of returning to her previous spot, Mai looked at Izuku, Tooru, and Mina and crawled their direction. To their surprise the werewolf girl flopped in front of them, laying her head in Izuku's lap while she laid herself across Tooru and Mina's laps. The three of them looked back and forth at each other and the girl laying in their laps, shrugged in unison, and accepted her. To Mai's surprise and comfort, Tooru quietly dragged her fingertips along Mai's forearm, Mina rested her arms on Mai's hip, and Izuku; well Izuku took the opportunity to idly run his fingers through her hair.
Needless to say; Mai was one happy werewolf.
"To my sisters, our little coven, our queen and clan that have accepted us. To my dearest sister and the future of her love life and, most importantly, to our mother Gaia for her blessings. May she be strong and continue granting us opportunities for all of us to grow and find love," Ryuko toasted next, speaking proudly and happily, despite the soft tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. Before she finished her toast she looked up at Pazuzu sitting next to her and smiled with every ounce of love and happiness in her. "Skol."
"Skol," everyone parroted in response, happily watching her take her drink from the horn. Her lips smacked with delight as she swallowed her share of the mead and then passed it to her boyfriend next.
The werewolf grinned as he took the horn but held it in front of him for a long while. They all watched as he gave sincere thought and reverence to the drink in front of him. The idea that Pazuzu, of all people, could think in reverence made everyone want to check and see if perhaps hell was about to freeze over or pigs might take flight. It was a ludacris notion but of course it wouldn't be the most surprising thing to happen to them this year.
"Fuck it," Pazuzu chuckled and raised the horn high. "I fucking love you guys. So cheers to ya for taking a chance on me. I know I'm a pain all your asses so here's to another year of all the shit I'm gonna put y'all through. Skol, motherfuckers!"
"Skol!"
Pazuzu howled into the night air as he downed his shot of mead and crashed back into his seat with a happy bellow. With one hand, he pushed the drinking horn towards Aiko while his left arm wrapped around Ryuko and pulled her to him. She was more than happy to giggle and get dragged into his lap before receiving a firm kiss on the back of her head. The leopardess chuckled as she watched her friends next to her and then sighed as she looked down at the drinking horn in her hands. She pondered what to say for a long moment before looking up and meeting Suri's eyes where they locked for a few more seconds.
"Ya know, if you wanna kiss me, either ask or make a move, hun. I'm not gonna say no," Suri grinned, narrowing her gaze at the leopard girl who coughed and looked away quickly.
"Ahem! To um.. To friends, unity, and getting stronger together. Pray the gods bless our little clan," Aiko cleared her throat and declared proudly into the night.
With the horn held high, everyone waited for her to finish her toast and waited on bated breath to accept her toast. Her next words were muffled with a growl before she took her drink from the horn, savoring the taste of it. What was clear however was the fuck it she had groaned before turning on Suri. The beast girl saw her coming and was more than happy to accept her, cupping her chin with one hand and taking the drinking horn from Aiko with the other. The two girls groaned into each other as Aiko cupped Suri's cheek and fought tooth and nail to restrain herself from relinquishing all of the control she had. All the while Suri happily enjoyed the lingering taste of the mead that was now mixed with the taste of Aiko's lips and tongue, much like she had with Mai. The difference was that Suri could feel the leopard girl's shaky breaths and full body shivering as the kiss continued for one more long moment. She watched Aiko shudder as they pulled back from each other and her eyes were still closed, it made Suri cock an eyebrow in interest.
"You okay, hun?" Suri whispered with slight concern, low enough so that no one else heard her.
"Y-Yeah," Aiko swallowed, leaving her eyes closed, before leaning in and whispering her response into Suri's ear directly. "Mina isn't the only one who's learned for herself what love is. I-I know that's presumptuous of me, my que- S-Suri, but I-"
"I love you too, Aiko," Suri smiled wide and whispered back, knowing exactly what the leopard girl was wanting and struggling to say. The added kiss on the cheek left her blushing like crazy to the point it practically burned throughout her body. Suri knew as much from the way Aiko stumbled back into her seat and blinked in shock for a long time as she stared wordlessly into the fire in front of her. Still adorning her wide, fang filled grin, Suri stood at the head of the circle, holding the drinking horn high into the air above her. She scanned the group once more before the words of her heart filled toast spilled into the night.
"To the gods that saw this group of misfits and thought, ya know what, they belong together. I wish all of you happiness, prosperity, and the drive to keep getting better. I know that I'm probably not what you all thought of when you imagined a Lupa, Hyo-Ra, or Vixen but fuck am I happy and proud that all of you have taken a chance to let me be your Lupra," Suri chuckled as she toasted her friends and clan. "Here's to us. All of us including our extended family all over the campus here at UA. Here's to another year of new beginnings and wonderful adventures for everyone. I mean it with all my heart; I fuckin love you guys. So to the Winter Solstice Moon; Happy Yule, Merry Christmas. Skol."
As everyone cheered the toast, Suri threw back the final shot of mead, emptying what was left in the drinking horn into her and happily sighed as the sweet drink coated her throat. She savored the mix of honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and apple spice, a drink that was both sweet and savory at the same time and had the sensation of both cooling her and warming her all at once. In short; she loved the taste and knew it would be dangerous to have on hand because it was just so damn good. Another part of her knew better and thought to make sure the bottle made it back to the fridge at the dorms and would stay there either until summer solstice or next winter solstice. It would probably be better to keep it on hand for special occasions.
Once she'd finished bathing in the afterglow of her toast, Suri returned the horn and the bottle of mead back into Mai's backpack. It would be safe there in the meantime until she could get it to the fridge. Once she'd stood back up she, the other wereanimals, and the witches shivered as a breeze of energy flowed through the clearing and hit them with a spike of power. The rise in energy, power, and pure magic was invigorating which meant those who weren't shy about it - namely, Suri, Ryuko, Pazuzu, Mai, and Taiga - all let out audible groans or purrs of pleasure. The sound coming from Mai made Izuku momentarily stop his motions as he had been still idly twirling her hair through his fingers. He thought he might have accidentally scratched her from his mindless movements but he was also well versed in certain noises by now and knew the sound that had escaped her meant something very specific.
That suspicion was confirmed when Mai turned to look up at Izuku, both questioning why he'd stopped playing with her hair and frustrated that he had. Apparently just him and the girls idly touching her like they'd been doing did something for her. Something that had been making its way slowly to an edge and now it was gone. That said; the frustration in her eyes was far from anything with malicious intent. No. That frustration, as he'd come to learn well, was usually followed by being-
"Sweetie, don't think about starting somethin you ain't gonna be able to finish," Suri chuckled, looking down at Mai with a smirk as she came towards her and her mates. "I don't think he's gonna want to be under you when midnight hits."
"I can make it quick," Mai signed, giving Suri a snarky grin.
"You may be fast, but they like taking their time," Suri quipped back, putting her hands on her hips and making a motion with her head that directed Mai's gaze from her back to Izuku, Mina, and Tooru. "Don't think you wanna rush that, do you?"
Mai looked back up to Suri and then back to the three cradling her and let out a grumpy sounding sigh. She shook her head, not needing to sign or mouth anything to get her point across that no, no she did not want her first time with any of them to be fast.
"Atta girl," Suri chuckled and then sighed, rolling her neck as the tension from the building power began to make her muscles slowly tense. Time was becoming short so any goodbyes or goodnights they wanted to make needed to happen soon. And that's when she remembered something important. "Oh, shit. You guys brought the junk towels or bedsheets right?"
"Of course," Tooru chirped, being reminded of what was currently sitting in hers and Izuku's backpacks right behind them. She quickly turned and reached for both, presenting them to Suri and opening them to reveal the contents inside them. "We brought three or four towels and I think we've both got two bedsheets a piece."
"Awesome! Thank you babes," Suri said with relief as she pulled the towels and bedsheets out and placed them onto the stone throne.
"What were they for anyway?" Mina asked curiously.
"Tomorrow's Christmas. And it's not only gonna be our first Christmas all together but it's gonna be our first in the dorms too, so I wanna make sure everyone has a good time," Suri explained as she began stretching and loosening herself up. "And the key to a good time is food."
Suri had a plan set in her mind. It was a good plan that she thought would be sure to surprise everyone and make sure all of her friends ended the holiday with plenty of memories. Memories that were going to be shared over a feast of her own making. which is why she had them bring what they did.
Tonight's hunt wouldn't be for her and Atiena. They'd be hunting. She would get her fill of blood and flesh, no doubt about that. However, instead of eating her kill nearly whole tonight, she'd make the kill and take the entire animal back to the dorms. She'd use the bedsheets and towels to transport the carcass and then spend the morning preparing the feast and seasoning what was going to go into the oven.
With how much work she had in front of her, Suri and Atiena both guessed that they wouldn't be getting any sleep. Unless there was a chance to nap during the day. But that brought up another thought. Normally, after a hunt, they'd return to the dorms, shower, and then climb into bed with Izuku, Mina, Tooru or a combination of the three of them. They'd come to expect to wake up and find Suri in bed with them. Tonight would be different.
But it didn't necessarily have to be.
"So, babes, listen," Suri said, offering a weak apologetic smile. "I'm… not coming back to bed tonight. Only cause I'm gonna have a lot to do," she quickly added, waving her hands defensively.
She then turned her attention towards Aiko and Mai standing near them. She gave them both a soft grin and then turned back towards her mates.
"But… you don't have to wake up alone," Suri offered with a wink and motioned her head towards the two girls beside her.
"We'll be in my room tonight," Mina grinned wide, picking up on Suri's hints quickly. Of course the pinkette would never turn down a chance for some cuddle action. "Front doors to the dorms will be open so you can get a quick shower in and get cleaned up. Then just come up and climb in."
"Are you sure?" Aiko asked cautiously.
"Oh please," Tooru giggled and put her hands on her hips giving the leopardess an are you serious expression. "I've woken up in bed cuddled up to you after a full moon at least twice now. You know we're sure."
Aiko let out a squeak and blushed furiously as she was so blatantly called out by the invisible girl. She took a moment to breathe in, hold it, and then let it out to set herself straight.
"Fair point. I guess- M-Mai! What are you- Sto-"
Aiko grumbled and growled at the werewolf because in the middle of her talking, Mai had decided she would take things into her own hands. Namely Aiko's tank top. The girls laughed as Mai grabbed at and stripped Aiko of her top, which of course left her completely exposed and left her frustrated and confused. She growled and sneered at Mai until Mai stripped herself of her own top, folded both shirts and handed them to Tooru. Aiko was about to reprimand Mai but was stopped as she found an equally topless - scratch that - nude Suri handing neatly folded clothes to Tooru as well.
"No more excuses," Mai signed before she gave Aiko a challenging glance and handed her shorts to Tooru. She too now stood there in the nude.
Glancing around, Aiko realized she was the only wereanimal still at least partially dressed. Of course Koto and Hanegawa had never redressed after their match but now standing next to them was a proud Taiga who was working something out with Hanashita. Then coming towards Aiko and Mai was a nude and proud Pazuzu who's clothes were finding their way into Ryuko's satchel. She grumbled again but even her own beast chuckled and shook her head inside their shared mind.
Aiko was not winning this one.
"Fine. You're right," she sighed and moved to make quick work of her leggings. Once completely bare, she placed them into the pile in Tooru's arms and gave her a weak smile. "I guess we'll see you soon then?"
"Yup," Tooru chirped with delight in response.
Before she could say anything else, she, Mina, and Izuku were pulled into a four way hug. Suri clutched them tight and sighed happily as she held them and squeezed her lovers into her.
"I'll be in the kitchen when you guys wake up. You don't gotta rush down but I'll be waiting for you, my loves," Suri grinned and looked back and forth between the three of them.
"We'll see you then and we'll be okay," Izuku nodded, giving Suri a firm smile. He then gave Suri an assured, confident look that snuffed any doubt or worry in all of them. "Now go enjoy your hunt."
The confidence and delivery made the girls all shiver with anticipation. The sudden take charge attitude made Tooru and Mina press into him just a hair tighter, made Aiko and Mai's mouths go dry, and made Suri audibly purr. To top it off, all five of them shared a heat burning quietly in their cores that Izuku just lit. It reminded them of something discussed in their girl talks that they hadn't asked Izuku about yet. Now they felt a need to.
"Yes, sir," Suri purred quietly.
With her own happy confidence she let her energy and power out, flooding the clearing with warm electric wind that caught everyone's breaths. The power was enough that it began to make the air begin to rotate, turning their small bonfire into a spiraling tornado that began to climb in a small pillar of light and heat. As Suri's growing power filled and pressed against everyone else, it coaxed out all of the power and magic from her clan and coven to join it. Soon, the winter clearing was as warm as a summer day, melting every trace of snow from the grass and into the tree line, as Pazuzu, Aiko, Mai, Taiga, Koto, and Hanegawa's warm power joined Suri's. With the amount of power coming to a boiling point, the wereanimals bathed in and embraced the overwhelming rise as energy danced and prickled off their skin. The power reached critical mass as the fire spun and twirled faster and tighter until it popped, exploding with a loud crack before becoming a blinding flash of light.
POP!
When Izuku, Mina, Tooru, Ryuko, Saito, and Chibi were all able to open their eyes again, it was to a wondrous sight. Small glowing embers, thousands of them, were falling to the ground like a gentle snow. The thousands of tiny amber glows flickered and sizzled into darkness as they touched the ground and quieted the bright sunset glow. The amber hue was shifted to a silver blue ethereal glow as the clearing remained lit by the light of a high and mighty full moon carrying the blueish glow of winter with it. That glow sparked and glinted off the small sea of fur, outlining the otherwise silhouetted figures now there. In their darkened mass came the bright fiery glows of their eyes radiating in the darkness.
In the center of the group was Atiena, her chartreuse eyes flickering with the green fire radiating from them. Her large shoulders rose up and down slowly while a puff of steam rose into the cold air from her maw. Next to her on her right was Pazuzu in his wolf form, standing a little taller than her, his eyes glowing red, having shifted from amber to crimson. Beside him was Hanegawa in his leopard form, eyes glowing with a bright yellow hue that matched his fur's sunflower color scheme. And finally to his right was Koto in his red fox form, which was the size of a mastiff and made him massive but still the smallest of the pack. His eyes shown as a bright hazel, complementing both Saito's blue eyes and Hanegawa's yellow.
It was both a little ironic but also incredibly fitting given the revelation of their relationship.
To Atiena's left was Hinata, Aiko's leopard form, standing just a hair smaller than her. Her fur contrasted Atiena's where, instead of a dark earth toned coat, she had a coat of mostly white fur with black and dark blueish grey spots covering her. Her eyes had the same golden green glow as Suri's though it might have been a shade or two darker in this form of hers. Next to her was Kyu, Mai's wolven form, who was covered in burgundy and rose colored fur signifying her as a carrier or red wolf lycanthropy as opposed to timberwolf or black wolf like Suri and Pazuzu were. Her eyes had also darkened a shade or two in this form, taking her usually pale lilac eyes closer to bright violet color. And finally next to her was Taiga, the largest of all of them, where her bengal tiger form completely dwarfed Koto's fox form and made the impressive size of the leopards and wolves seem normal by comparison. Despite the massive size, she still managed to carry all of that poise and elegance she had in her human form to this one as well where it almost seemed like she was posing for an invisible camera somewhere.
Atiena grinned, bearing her large fangs as she came forward, butting her head into Izuku, Tooru, and Mina, rubbing her fur against them like the oversized cat she was. The quick display of affection was accompanied by a loud rumbling purr before she turned back to her pack and made a motion towards them. The slight nod of her head saw the group quickly disperse, disappearing into the trees with the sound of growls and snarls and snapping branches once they hit the tree line. Atiena gave one look back to her lovers and friends before bowing her own head and disappeared into the darkness as well, leaving the clearing colder as the bonfire's embers were snuffed out and frozen over.
"Guess that's our cue," Mina said with a happy sigh.
"Yeah! Phew, it's freezing," Tooru added in with her own gleeful exchange.
"Hurry and go warm them up already, lover boy," Ryuko chimed in, snickering as she came to playfully push Izuku closer to his two remaining girlfriends.
Izuku gave her a shy smile, his eyes holding some apologies. He'd be the first to admit that it seemed pretty unfair that she was going back to her dorms alone and was probably about to offer the company. She simply shook her head with a grin and placed a finger to his lips to shush him before he could even get the words across.
"Ah! I know what you're gonna ask, sweetie, but nope," Ryuko grinned and gave him a firm, confident glare. That confidence turned mischievous as she pushed off of him and began walking backwards towards the business course dorm rooms which were across the clearing and through the trees due south of them. "Not tonight anyway."
"Night guys," Saito rolled her eyes, making her way across the clearing in almost the same direction towards where the support course dorms were located. "I'm gonna get as much sleep as I can before those two show up."
"Same," Ryuko agreed with her twin.
"Well, goodnight then, I guess we'll go do the same," Izuku nodded, flashing his own grin at both of them before turning around to face Mina and Tooru. He took each of them by hand and together the three of them started to head back towards their dorm building. "We should probably try and get some sleep too."
"I mean," Tooru giggled, letting the word hang with devilish intent. "We could have time for a little bit of alone time before our guests arrive."
"Oooo! Yes, we could," Mina happily nodded, fully committing to Tooru's request.
"I mean I gu- huh? Hanashita, what are you doing?" Izuku began but was taken off track by the sight of Chibi happily skipping and walking alongside them.
"I'm not going back to my dorm tonight," she said with a dreamy tone. The three of them noticed her phone shining and giving them more light to see through the forest… as well as what was on said screen. It didn't take long to realize what was going on and the eggplant emojis followed by the water droplet emojis cemented that speculation. But it was the dreamy sigh and heart eyes that took a sledgehammer to the point. "Minoru~"
"Yeah… you know what, we probably should just sleep," Tooru said in a dry, dreary tone.
If there was one way to take all desire out of anyone, it was definitely knowing that Mineta was about to get his freak on. No need to call the horny police or pull out the horny bat, that mental image was enough to suck the life out of any intimacy. Nope. No sexy time was ahead for Izuku, Mina, and Tooru, just getting into pajamas and crawling into Mina's bed thankful to the gods that they'd chosen the pinkette's room and not down the hall from the dirty deed. Instead they wished the gods to have mercy on the boys side of the dorm for what they might have to hear.
Of course, if Taiga had anything to say about it; she'd turn the thing into a competition. She'd probably come back from the hunt and get cleaned up enough to be presentable for Iida. And then… well, then any sleep Mineta and the rest of the guys would be getting would be stolen.
Yeah, sleeping on the girl's side of the dorms tonight was definitely the right call.