Hi.

This is an anthology/one-shot collection that is loosely tied together. Additionally, please, if you are an artist, don't DM me. I don't care, and already got art through a fic - art deal.

Additionally, I ran into formatting problems and am trying to fix them.

But anyway, enjoy the fic

It was Sunday morning, and Ibara Shiozaki was in a hurry.

Dressed in her church clothes, the vine-haired girl made an effort to walk as fast as she could, her purse moving in sync with her hurried steps. She had spent a few too many minutes staying in bed, soaking up the sunlight through her room's window. Then she took her time enjoying her breakfast of sourdough bread, and due to these small lapses of judgment, she was at risk of missing the bus to the church close -but not close enough- to U.A's campus.

Ibara was so hasty that in her hurry to make it to the bus stop in time, she didn't slow down as she turned a corner.

"Ah!"

Due to her speed, she couldn't stop herself from running into the person on the other side. The impact knocked her unfortunate target onto the ground, a small groan coming from them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Apologized Ibara, as she immediately reached out with her hand to pull the person -a girl with pink hair and glasses, around her age- up. When she touched her hand, though, Ibara felt a jolt of what was almost like electricity run up her arm. She thought that was weird, but chalked it up to being a static shock.

It took more strength than she thought to pull her up, which reminded her of Izuku's hellish, but necessary, training regime.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," the girl said, sheepishly.

Ibara frowned.

"Of course I had! I'm so sorry for running into you," she apologized.

"Oh, it's fine," the girl said, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, it seems like you're in a hurry, so I'll let you be on your way. Goodbye!"

Ibara could only make an expression of confusion as the girl ran off. Maybe she needed to go somewhere as well, but the nervous expression on her face said something different…

Ibara didn't know what the girl was going through, but she would pray for her and keep her in mind during Mass. Speaking of, she looked at her phone for the time. There were only a few minutes before the bus would arrive, so she had to start moving again if she wanted to get there on time.

Eventually, after enough speed walking, she turned a corner and there it was, the bus stopped about a hundred yards away.

The sight of her goal empowered Ibara to walk even faster. She was excited to go to church. The songs of praises they would sing, the contents of Father Higashi's homily, and the Eucharist…

Ibara was almost giddy, like a child running to the Christmas tree to find presents under it, pseudo-running to her destination. She felt goosebumps, except her skin felt tingly and warm in a way she could explain.

As she got closer to the stop -about 70 meters now- the sensation got worse. The feeling was the most concentrated in her hand, the same one she used to pull the girl she ran into up from the ground.

Ibara tried to distract herself from the sensation, but it was a fruitless endeavor; every time she tried to think of something to distract her from it, like her boyfriend, a nice piece of sourdough bread, or anticipating Mass -the feeling of something like a vibrating tuning fork on her skin pulled Ibara out of her happy thoughts.

Despite this, she had to keep on moving. She was now only around 40 meters away! If she stopped to let her pain consume her, it would only make things worse.

Ibara was only 30 meters away when a thought hit her.

Where have I seen that girl before?

The vine-haired girl had thought she had seen her before. Or maybe not seen, but heard of. Talked about it.

Pink hair and glasses. Was she a U.A. student?

Where had she met her?

"I'm sure you heard what happened, but a Support Course student-"

Sakura Aihara, her memory informed her. A first year in Class 1-I.

But that wasn't all, was it? Wasn't there more to it?

Ibara walked faster and faster as if getting to the bus stop would alleviate how she felt. Each step she took seemed to quicken her heartbeat, though, and that made things even worse.

"- accidentally activated her quirk-"

Ibara gasped.

"Oh Lord, no..."

Her whole body was buzzing and vibrating with a sort of odd energy that she put words to; meanwhile, sweat was running down her forehead like raindrops streaking across a car's windshield. She prayed it wasn't what she thought it was.

"

- It must've been time-delayed because five minutes later, I was…"

Ibara stopped dead in her tracks, the realization hitting her.

"An animal," she uttered.

Poof!

The next thing Ibara knew, she was falling, landing in a clump of clothes that trapped her inside them. A few seconds later, she crawled out of the fortress of fabric, almost running into a reflective piece of metal.

In the mirror-like substance, Ibara did not see her normal face, but rather a much smaller body with beady eyes. However, what pained her the most was the fact that also in the mirror, she could see the exact bus she walked to fill up with passengers and leave.

No, don't go without me, she cried out, but what was only heard was garbled squeaks and screeches.

She was looking forward to Mass so much, yet just like the snap of a finger, it was taken away from her. What could she do now?

No, Ibara, she told herself, don't lose hope. Izuku went through something like this, and there'll be another Mass later today. He can fix all of this and then we can go together!

Now, with determination, Ibara walked back to the dorms, as fast as her stubby little legs could take her.

"Hey, give that back! A new episode of Pokemon is coming on soon!"

Jiro waved the television remote in her hands smugly.

"Sorry Jammingwhey; the early bird gets the worm. There's a premier of the new music video my dad is in, and I got the remote first."

"Can we at least compromise and share the time?" Kaminari asked.

"Nope."

"Aw, man…"

Izuku smiled as he watched his classmates banter. After a long week of school, homework, and training, it was nice to just sit back and relax.

Currently, most of 1-A were in the living space, enjoying their Sunday morning; some watched what was on the TV (or in a better sense, argued about what to put on TV), while others simply enjoyed the moment.

Slam!

The sound of the front door abruptly opening drew 1-A from their activities to see who came in. Instead of another classmate or even their teacher, though, all that seemed to face them was empty air.

Slowly, however, a small green tendril could be seen receding from the doorknob before promptly retracting down to whatever it was attached to.

Some present, like Kirishima and Sero, stood up to see what it was, but the sight of it only silenced the room even more.

Entering the living room was a small animal, with a pointed nose and small, button-like eyes. It was shaped like a giant sweet potato; long, but round. Instead of fur, however, it had quills all around it like a hedgehog, except the coloring of the quills was off; they were green- a very familiar shade of green, Izuku realized.

Pit pat, pit pat, pit pat.

The hedgehog trotted across the main hallway with the residents looking on in bewilderment. For a hedgehog, it was remarkably fast, using its little paws to camper towards them.

It eventually reached the living space they were in, and went right for the back center of those sitting, Izuku included. Voices were silent as the most likely wild animal reached those sitting until the hedgehog reached its goal.

It trotted right up to Izuku, looked up at him…

And yelled.

"[Izuku!]"

"Ah!" The boy in question stood out of his chair, alarmed at the screaming hedgehog. He backed away slightly, as well as the other students.

"[I was going to Mass, but I ran into the same girl who turned you into a bunny, and now I'm stuck like this! Help me!]"

It continued to screech in garbled sounds and yells no one could decipher.

"Dude, why is a hedgehog yelling at you?" Kaminari asked. He had a perplexed expression on his face, but the vestiges of a smile were also forming.

"I don't know!" Izuku responded, frantic.

"[Quick! If we find the girl or get Eri to rewind me, I can get back to normal! Then, we can make it to Mass at a later time!]"

As the wild hedgehog continued to yell, Izuku began panicking.

"What do I do?!"

Jiro facepalmed.

"You fought Muscular and Overhaul, and you're asking what to do with a hedgehog?"

"It's sending out a mating call! Midoriya's Sigma energy attracted it to himself!" Mineta unhelpfully added.

"Of all of the weekends Koda left for home…" Shoji muttered.

"Midoriya, I will help you contain the wild animal!" Standing up, Iida stood by Izuku to his left and pointed his finger at the mammalian miscreant. "Now, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but you are trespassing on U.A. campus grounds! As far as I know, you do not have a permit to be here!"

Kaminari raised his hand to his mouth in a whisper-like gesture. "Did he just say that to a hedgehog?"

The animal, either not understanding or caring, hissed at Iida, driving him off.

[Izuku! It's me, Ibara! Come and help me!]

Izuku was beyond bewildered. "Why is it yelling at me, specifically?"

Momo put a finger to her chin in thought. "There does seem to be something familiar about it," she mused.

That gave Izuku something to think about. "When you mention it…" Crouching down, he grabbed the animal with gentle hands. "Come here, little guy."

The hedgehog did not like being misgendered, and screeched again, this time right in front of Izuku's face.

"Ow, what did I say?" Izuku said, raising the animal so that it was around eye level with him. Beady, green eyes stared back, accented by a face with white fur. Tilting the animal showed a brown underbelly, but the thing that stood out the most about the hedgehog was its quills.

Tiny, green needles poked around the hedgehog's body, just like how quills would. They almost seemed like…

"Shit," Izuku uttered, his face becoming pale.

The hedgehog protested against the use of the cuss word, despite its order (screeched, of course) falling on deaf ears.

The green-haired boy peered closely at the weird, abnormal hedgehog in his hands. He said only one word, and with it, the whole room exploded into questions and exclamations.

"Ibara?"

"Again?" Kendo asked despite knowing the answer.

"Well, it is a coincidence, I guess…" Izuku trailed off, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Kendo frowned. "Kan always tells us to be careful when going off-campus, but this is something we weren't prepared for." The representative of 1-B, after being notified by Iida, had come to the dorms to check on her classmate.

"Still, the fact that the same girl who did it last time didn't learn to control her quirk and let it happen again is crazy," Kaminari commented.

"Like you dumbing yourself out every time you use your quirk?"

Kaminari put his hands to his face. "Ah, Jiro! Why do you have to be so mean?!"

Kendo's words stirred the already restless Shiozaki, who squirmed and fidgeted in Izuku's hands.

Kendo crouched down to the feral animal. "Is that you, Ibara?"

The animal (person?) in question snuffled, making a noise between snorting and grunting.

"Is that a yes?" The redhead asked.

"Um, I think so? Ah, Ibara, stop moving around so much!" Izuku could barely hold on to the squirming Shiozaki, wriggling and writhing around in his grasp.

"Why is she so feral?" Kendo asked.

"It's probably because as a hedgehog, she no longer has any control over how people treat her or perceive her. She's a woman in a very sexualized and demeaning field, a heteromorph when being one is either unjustly persecuted or fetishized, and a religious minority, where again, they are either mistreated, shamed, or discriminated against. In a form that doesn't have control and more primal instincts, all of her repressed resentment is coming out."

"..."

The residents of the dorms and Kendo stood in silence, looking from Todoroki, who was sitting at the dinner table, then at the seething Shiozaki, letting Todoroki's astute observation sink in. The bichromatic teen then took another chopstick full of cold soba to his lips, either unaware or uncaring of the attention he had put upon himself.

Until Mineta stood up. "Or it's because she's an animal and in heat!"

Instead of Asui, who usually knocked the grape-haired boy out, Kendo came to the rescue.

"I've got this," she said, and with one hand, she chopped Mineta in the neck, knocking him out. "Don't talk about my classmate that way."

Izuku looked down toward his girlfriend, who was gnawing (albeit lightly) on one of his fingers. "Ibara, is that true?"

The only answer he received was a grunt and a snuffle.

"So, what's going to happen now that Shiozaki's a hedgehog?" Kirishima asked.

"Well," Kendo said, "now that we've experienced something like this before, we have better knowledge of how to deal with this. After talking with the student who changed Midoriya, we learned the effects of her quirk last for about one day, so someone should always be with her until she de-transforms. While she can go outside, you should look out for animals who view hedgehogs as prey."

"Wow Kendo, you've got this down! Did you study this or something?" Kirishima asked.

Shaking her head, she said, "No, but Kan is at his gym, and according to Iida, Aizawa is spending the day with Miss Joke, so it's our responsibility to care for Shiozaki."

While Kendo spoke, Izuku felt Shiozaki calm down, but also beginning to sniff. Her little nose twitched, her head swiveling around as if to find where it was located. Izuku wasn't too concerned; he never had any pets, but he knew it was normal for animals to be curious about new scents. He was fine with it.

Until she started licking him.

"Ah! Ibara, what are you doing!?" Izuku's eyes widened in shock, and he could barely stop himself from yelping from the surprise attack. One moment, she was sniffing (in a really cute way, he could admit), but a second later, she started licking his hand. The abrasive texture of it was weird, especially on the skin. It was almost like sandpaper, but alive and…moist. Ew.

"Man, Izuku's getting some tongue action!" Mineta groaned, face down on the ground and his hand up to give his classmate a thumbs up.

Whap!

Again, Kendo came to the rescue.

"Not needed, Mineta."

"Uh, guys, could I have some help? Please?" Izuku had no idea how to feel about what was happening; meanwhile, Ibara diligently did her job without caring about the commotion going around her. Her beady green eyes were focused only on his hand.

"Did you recently eat something sweet? Maybe she smells sugar on you," Sato added.

"N-no? I had udon, but I washed my hands well after."

Momo spoke up. "What about objects that exude odors?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Izuku replied, shaking his head.

"Maybe she just likes you?" You're pretty sweet and she is your girlfriend, Deku."

"Maybe, Uraraka," he said, "but it's still…bizarre."

Or so he thought.

Things were manageable until Shiozaki began chirping.

And foaming at the mouth.

"Ah!" Izuku had no clue what was happening and dropped his girlfriend in shock. Luckily, she was only a few feet from the ground, but in response, she began screaming again and foaming at the mouth, all at the same time. If that wasn't enough, Shiozaki used the white, frothy substance from her mouth to lick herself, pasting the substance on her green, thorny, quills.

"What the fu-"

"What a mad bouquet of darkness…"

"Quick, someone looks up 'rabid hedgehog disease!'"

Iida stood up. "Everybody, calm down! I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this! First, we need someone to find out what is happening!"

"Hey Jammingwhey, go search it up," Jiro snarked.

"Why me?" he asked, sighing.

"Because."

As Kaminari searched for what strange phenomena were occurring, Izuku wondered if he was in a nightmare or hell. To make sure, he slapped himself.

"Ow!"

He was not sleeping, good to know.

"Hey, so I searched up 'hedgehogs foaming', and this is what I got," Kaminari started. "Apparently, hedgehogs do this thing called anointing, where after they encounter a new smell, they lick the object, eventually secreting a foam that's similar to the original scent. After that, they coat themselves in it."

"And why do they do that?" Jiro inquired.

Kaminari scrolled down on his phone. "Scientists haven't found a clear answer, but usually, it's because of a new or interesting scent, protection-like scent camouflage-, and, uh…"

"What? What is it?" Jiro asked.

Kaminari blushed." Another reason hedgehogs anoint is because of…sexual behavior."

Again, the room broke into gasps, laughs, and exaggerated expressions.

"Fuck."

At that, Shiozaki screeched, most likely in protest of both Kaminari's suggestive comment and her boyfriend's use of profanity.

(In solidarity, Shoji began patting the back of his back in some sort of comforting gesture.)

Jiro smacked Kaminari's head.

"Give me that!" She said as she took the phone.

"Or, as the next line says, it's to cope with a new environment or situation. Which this is, Jammingwhey."

"Oh. I guess you're right..."

"Yeah, that makes more sense," Kirishima said.

Izuku sighed in relief. That did make a lot of sense; Ibara was in a new body, not even half a meter long, and surrounded by new smells. No wonder she was 'anointing' to respond to stress.

For a few minutes, the room steeped in silence, simply letting the foaming hedgehog lick her quills.

"Hey, since we're going to deal with her, do you guys mind if I share some other hedgehog facts?" Kaminari asked.

"Sure, Kaminari," Izuku absentmindedly said, to which Jiro rolled her eyes and gave the blond back his phone.

"Okay, so the hedgehog Erinaceinae- is in the order Eulipotyphla, the family Erinaceidae, and the subfamily Erinaceinae. There are around 17 different species of hedgehogs, with them being across five continents. The only quirked hedgehog was Kaiser the Metal Hedgehog from Hamburg, Germany, who had steel quills. While they are presumed to just eat bugs, hedgehogs are omnivores, eating all sorts of animals including carrion, small birds, fruit, and frogs." After mentioning the last item, he turned his head toward Asui. "You better watch out, Tsu," he joked.

"I'm a human with a frog quirk, not an actual frog. Kero."

"Still, she-"

Jirou rolled her eyes again. "Alright, continue with the info, Mr. Wikipedia."

"So rude," he muttered, before continuing. "For the lifespan of hedgehogs, it depends on whether they're domesticated or not. Wild hedgies -I find that cute- live around 4-7 years, but domesticated ones have life spans from around 8-10. Another thing is that hedgehogs can easily contract cancer, especially through fatty liver disease, as they'll eat any sugary foods that are nonetheless bad for their body, having evolved to accommodate a high protein, low-fat diet. I guess that means no bread for Shiozaki, right?" the blonde said, smiling.

Kaminari's last sentence was supposed to come as a joke, which in fact, did not.

A blunt earphone jack rammed itself into Kaminari's back "Why would you put that thought in our heads!" Jiro admonished.

"Hey, I was just joking!"

"Ask Midoriya if thinking about his girlfriend-turned-hedgehog contracting cirrhosis is a joke, Kaminari," Kendo said.

Izuku, at that point, was still wondering if he was still asleep, and if this was all just a weird dream. The thought of Ibara contracting cancer loomed over him, but unfortunately, the wrong person entered the room at the right time.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

"Oh no," Izuku whispered to himself. Near him, Ibara, interrupted from her anointing, growled, at the show of profanity.

Ibara's growling had the wrong effect of drawing the blonde bomber's attention. "-I was studying when I heard all of- what the fuck is that?" Bakugo pointed to the fuming animal on the floor.

"We were just chilling when a hedgehog came in and started yelling at Midoriya, but eventually, we learned that it's Shiozaki!" Exclaimed Kirishima.

Bakugo looked at the hedgehog and scoffed. While the animal had quills shaped like quills, he highly doubted something so stupid would happen to her. (Or maybe not; he had heard the religious nut from 1-B had bad math grades.)

"Yeah, so what does the critter look like Ave Maria? There's plenty of quirked animals, and if you dumbasses forgot already, we have one as our principal!"

"Grr…" At Bakugo's last comment, Shiozaki began to growl, looking right at him with beady, focused eyes.

Izuku put a hand on the agitated animal. "Ibara, I know you don't like swearing, but be calm; you're better than this."

At that, Ibara stopped but didn't take her eyes off of the resident firebomb. She also began to sniff loudly, looking up while raising her nose to the air.

Bakugo laughed. "Deku, did you adopt the little bastard as a pet or something?" A smug grin appeared on his face. "You always attract weirdos, don't you?"

"Hey Bakugo, I don't think it's a good idea to insult the boyfriend of a feral hedgehog right now, bro," piped up Kaminari.

"Shut up, Sparky, I know what I'm doing, and one thing for certain," Bakugo pointed his index finger at Ibara, who resumed seething, "that stupid animal isn't going to do jack shit to me."

"Kacchan, you're playing with fire…" Izuku warned.

Ignoring his comment, Bakugo knelt to face the tiny animal.

"Yeah, sure," he snarked. "Plus, don't hedgehogs have a bad vision?" he raised a hand, wagging a finger right in front of her.

"Hey 'Shiozaki,'" he mocked, "how many fingers am I holding up?"

Izuku regretted letting Ibara go. "Kacchan, give Ibara to me."

Bakugo took no heed of Izuku's words. Instead, he continued to 'play' with her. He raised his hand and lowered his pointer finger. "This little hedgie went to the market…"

Bakugo put down his thumb and pinkie."This little hedgehog stayed home, this little hedgie had roast beef…" Bakugo raised two other fingers.

"Should we do something?" Kaminari whispered to Ojiro on his left.

"We probably should, but Bakugo needs to learn a lesson about annoying people, and honestly, I can't take my eyes off this. It's like watching a train crash in slow motion," he replied.

"Bakugo, stop this! You're harassing a fellow student in a bad position!" Momo objected, scowling.

Yet the Explosion user carried on. "This little piggy had none," he said, lowering his ring, only leaving his middle finger.

"Kacchan, stop this!"

Yet Bakugo didn't listen, placing his outstretched middle finger on Shiozaki's nose. "And this little hedgie cried 'Wee! Wee! Wee!' all the way-"

Chomp

Shiozaki appeared to have enough. A second after Bakugo tapped her on the nose, she opened her mouth and clamped her teeth down his finger.

"Ow! It fucking bit me!" Bakugo howled in pain. He pulled in vain to release his finger, yet the action of him swearing only made the feral beast bite down harder. He waved his hand around wildly, to fling her off, though Ibara held on for dear life.

Many of the students couldn't help but laugh at the sight of 'big bad Bakugo' flailing around after antagonizing a good classmate-turned-hedgehog of theirs; Kaminari and Sero's cackles could be heard throughout the room, while even more reserved students like Momo and Shoji couldn't help but smile.

Izuku was not laughing, however. He stood up and rushed to Bakugo to try to calm him down. "Kacchan, be careful! Let Ibara go!"

"What do you think I'm doing, you damn-ow! Why is she biting so hard?!" He shook his arm again to get the attached animal off, but Izuku quickly grabbed onto the animal.

"Ibara, you're hurting Kacchan! Stop biting him!" He wasn't sure if she was listening, but Izuku had to do something. Planting his feet on the ground, he pulled.

Except, he pulled a bit too hard, and came crashing down, hedgehog included.

"Ah! Screw you guys, I'm going out!" Bakugo said, cradling his punctured finger. "I swear to All Might that if I get rabies from a hedgehog…" he muttered, but still, he walked out, admitting defeat.

With one problem gone, Izuku was able to focus on what was in front of him; namely, the small animal on his chest.

Her claws lightly dug into his shirt. When Izuku had yanked Ibara off of Bakugo, he had fallen flat on his back, with Ibara right on top of him.

Izuku smiled, albeit sheepishly. "Uh, hi Ibara, how's it going?"

She screeched in return.

"Let me guess: you want me to take you to church?"

"Uh, is this pew taken?"

Izuku turned his head to the right, where a man was standing.

Around the green-haired boy, the pew he was in was barren, except for himself and the small animal with him.

In his lap, 'participating' in the Mass was Ibara. He didn't know if there were any rules regarding animals in the church, but luckily, no one said anything. Yet.

"No, you can sit here," he said quietly. It was near the beginning of Mass, in the middle of the Psalm, and Izuku didn't want to disrupt the other attendants.

The man a thirty-something with a mop of black hair, a plain face, and a business suit- genuflected and entered the pew, sitting next to Izuku. "Oh, I just thought since you're the only one in this pew, and since you have a therapy animal, that you wanted to be alone." He loosely gestured to the other pews, filled with laypeople.

At the mention of 'therapy animal', Ibara perked up and raised their head resting on Izuku's lap.

"Th-therapy animal?" Izuku sputtered. "No, I just took her here because she wanted to go."

"Oh…uh, okay?" The man scratched his head in confoundment. "I don't think animals can receive Communion, and that was even way before Vatican III."

"Tell that to your human girlfriend turned hedgehog," Izuku muttered.

"What?"

Izuku waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Just enjoy the Mass.'

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Every step Izuku took accelerated his heartbeat. He was in a line of people going up the front of the church-Communion.

However, the thing that separated him from the others was the small animal in his arms.

"I don't think they're going to give you Communion, Ibara."

The hedgehog in question snorted but otherwise stayed still.

Eventually, Izuku got up to the front of the line, right in front of the priest.

Izuku held up the furry little menace (ahem, his girlfriend) in his arms. "Sir, I know this looks like a Hedgehog, but this is actually a person, and she'll probably bite me if I don't get her to have Communion. So please, unless you want this quirked animal to go berserk..."

Ibara did not receive Communion (and luckily for the priest, did not go berserk, though she did angrily screech in protest until Izuku covered her snout, after Mass, the priest did give Izuku a blessing for animals and a hedgehog treat.)

Being so close to the ground was almost exhilarating, Ibara thought.

Of course, she didn't like being a hedgehog; she wished she could've received Communion (the priest later gave her a blessing for animals and a few pet treats after Mass, which weren't half bad) and enjoyed the rest of her Sunday as a human, but roaming the floors of the dorms made her feel powerful, menacing, in her small, prickly body.

Ibara had felt annoyed that her classmates were taking care of her like a pet; she could still think and feel, just like everybody else. All that was different was that everything was more…simple, to her.

Nonetheless, her friends set up shifts to care for her (just like how they did for 'Mosu', which she found to be quite the irony).

Ashido had been on duty for taking care of her or as the girl had coined herself, 'Mina the Hedgehog-sitter.' She had dressed her in 'outfits' like a giant bow around her head or a turtle onesie. (Honestly, she found it fun, even if it felt patronizing). Ashido had left -something about a free giveaway- leaving her 'unsupervised'.

Currently, she was scuttling in the hallway between the living space and the kitchen. She heard faint sounds of a television - someone was watching it, but she couldn't see them from where she was. She didn't know where Ashido went, but she didn't care; right now, she was in her domain.

Then, she smelled something.

Food.

One of the largest differences of being an animal was the change in senses; while she still had sight, it wasn't the same, being out of depth and distorted. However, an upside was that her sense of smell greatly surpassed her human version. The 'normal' scents she became accustomed to were exotic and interesting now.

Sniffing, she picked up a trace of something… fruity. It was around here, but not in front of her. Tracking the smell, she scampered over to where it was concentrated.

Laying on the ground was a small hollow tube with the fruit- strawberry.

Ibara didn't care that it was on the ground; anything on her level was fair game. Already, she was tired of the pet food given.

Poking her head in, she devoured the berry (so sweet), and once Ibara was done eating the tasty morsel, she pulled out of the tube.

Except she couldn't.

She was stuck.

Her snout was firmly placed within it. She could see out of the tube, but it was like looking through binoculars or a periscope. It felt oddly calming, though, but she couldn't get it off.

She first tried to use her claws to pry it off, but that didn't work. Her little, patheticitty bitty paws were too small and not strong enough to get it off. Then, she lowered her head, hoping the angle would help her...

Nope, that didn't work.

She wandered around, looking for something to remove the object around her head.

Bonk

Oh, she ran into a wall! Wait, could she break the tube with it?

With all the strength she could muster, Ibara hit her tube head against the wall like a baseball bat. She tried pushing through the tube, but it was too narrow.

Ibara was getting annoyed now. A low growl escaped her mouth, though with the tube encasing her head, it reverberated and made her sound like something monstrous. She put her font claws on the wall and climbed up so that her head was looking straight up. She was vertically up, and in vain, pushed up.

The thing was, she was parallel with the wall, and with just a bit of movement, gravity took its course and she fell -only she was upside down. The good thing was that she did get the tube (a toilet paper roll?) off.

I hope no one is watching, Ibara thought. She had no leverage; her legs were up in the air, like an overturned turtle. Moving her legs did nothing except swipe at emptiness.

"Heh heh heh…"

Did she hear…laughing? Not only that, but the voice seemed familiar…

"This is hilarious! Thank you, Wikipedia-San, for telling me about this!"

Oh no…

No wonder she recognized it. That laugh had a nagging presence in her class, always pulling pranks and jokes around her.

Kuroiro.

The anger and humiliation she encountered made her quills sharpen. On instinct, she curled herself into a ball and rolled around. It was uncomfortable at first, but with enough effort, she planted her paws firmly on the ground…

And stared at Kuroiro.

The shadowy schemer held a video camera in hand with a Cheshire grin plastered on his face.

"Hello there, my dear Shiozaki. I hope you've had a berry good Sunday."

Ibara barred her teeth and snarled.

Bakugo wouldn't be the only person bit today.

Izuku had never owned an animal. Partially, it was because he and his mom's apartment, but also because they didn't have enough money to afford one. Of course, he had met Yuwai-chan, Koda's pet bunny, but he doubted giving an animal a few head pats was the same as actually caring for one.

He was correct.

"Ibara, where are you?!" Izuku looked around frantically to spot his girlfriend, but she was out of sight.

After being told that hedgehogs needed exercise and activity, Izuku took Ibara on a walk (fortunately, Aizawa and Nezu gave him the day off to care for her). The two were enjoying a stroll through a park, until Izuku was distracted by a passing cyclist with an All Might shirt he had never seen: during the momentary distraction, Ibara must've smelled something curious and ran off.

Where did she go? He knew hedgehogs had bad eyesight; did she accidentally drop off a step and hurt herself? What if a hawk decided to have her for lunch? Did she know her way back to UA if she got lost? No, he was worrying too much; he couldn't jump to conclusions… yet.

Next to the sidewalk was a bush. Searching through it, he found nothing but stray leaves that coated the grass below.

"Oh no, Kendo is going to murder me for losing track of her," he said. Combining his hair through his fingers, panic crossed his face. "What am I going to do?"

"Mister, is this your dog? I found it in a trash can while eating some food."

What? Izuku turned around to see a small child with bright pink skin and purple hair. He seemed to resemble an aquatic animal, like a starfish.

He also was holding Ibara, sitting calmly in his arms.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Izuku bent down to take Ibara from the boy and smiled. "You don't know how worried I was." He glanced at Ibara with slight disapproval. She stared back, but with the biggest 'puppy dog' eyes to feign innocence. What, the food smelled good, she seemed to say.

"You didn't answer my question," Starfish boy bluntly replied. "Is that your dog?"

Izuku's smile quickly turned into a frown. "W-well yes, this is my 'animal', but it's a hedgehog, not a dog."

"Hedge…hog?" The boy asked. "So it's like a pig? Do we get bacon from hedgehogs?"

Oh no.

In his arms, Ibara began screeching and writhing around. Gently, he began stroking her prickly fur to calm her.

"No, hedgehogs aren't the same as pigs. They're pets, not food," Izuku explained. "And in fact, we feed them." An idea struck him. Setting Ibara down on the ground (and trusting that she wouldn't go gallivanting somewhere to encounter new smells), he took a few objects from the oversized hand pockets in the hoodie and handed them to the child. "Here, give it to her."

"But my mom told me I couldn't receive candy from strangers," the boy said.

Izuku raised his hands in a defensive position. "What? No no no! This is to give to her! It's blueberries!" He hoped no one else would see the scene as anything more than it was, but on that train of thought, where was the boy's mother?

Meanwhile, Ibara gave Izuku the evil eye. You were keeping blueberries from me? How dare you! She seemed to say.

The child took the blueberries, and with a bit of wariness, he moved his hand toward Ibara.

As Ibara happily munched on the berries, the Starfish boy giggled. "Ha ha ha! The hedgedog feels funny!"

Hedgedog? "No, it's not a dog, it's a completely different animal," Izuku explained.

At the boy's comment, Ibara stopped gobbling up the food and stared at the child.

"What do you mean?" Starfish boy asked. "You took it to the park, and it looks like one!"

Frowning, Izuku shook his head. "There may be some similarities, but hedgehogs aren't the same as"

"Marin, what are you doing talking to strangers?"

Oh no…

Izuku would've asked how someone could have a quirk making them resemble Cthulu, but he thought it would be best not to.

He was not looking forward to the explanation ahead.

Despite the circumstances at hand, Izuku felt very relaxed.

Ibara sat in the green-haired boy's lap, her head contently resting on his knee. Taking her on a walk must have tired her out, or maybe it was the Toaster Incident earlier that day (Tsuburabra and Awase were not happy about their snatched bagels).

Izuku stroked Ibara's fur with a brush, which seemed to relax her a lot. He wondered if her thorn quills were uncomfortable for her. (Maybe that was part of the reason she seemed to be so agitated?)

Based on the previous animal incident and Aihara's quirk, Ibara would de-transform soon; Izuku had discussed with Kendo about letting Ibara stay with him and his class, and while the Big Fist user agreed, she and some of the other students from 1-B wanted their classmate with them. Thus, here he was, watching Ultraman in the 1-A dorms with Kodai, Monoma, Pony, and around half of 1-B.

Then, Izuku's peace was cut short by a screech.

He looked down' Ibara was vibrating profusely, yelling, looking right at him.

"Oh shit, she's going to transform!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed

"[No swearing!]" Screeched Ibara in hedgehog, but they still couldn't understand it.

"I know Shiozaki, we'll help you!" Monoma shouted.

"What do we do?" Pony asked in a panic.

Kendo stood up. "Someone get the blanket!"

"On it!" Tokage shouted. Quickly, a floating hand snatched the emergency blanket.

Izuku grabbed Ibara and deposited her on an empty couch before draping the oversized blanket over the quivering hedgehog, just in the nick of time.

Poof!

Instantly, the space was filled with something very much human-shaped.

"Ibara, is everything all right?" Izuku asked.

In response, a blushing Ibara peeked out from the blanket.

"Hi…"

From a few feet away, Kuroiro began cackling. "And the power of Kuroiro the Great saves the day!" he cackled.

"I thought it was Vantablack the Great?" Yanagi asked.

A light smack from one of Shiozaki's vines quickly shut the Scheming Hero up.

"Is everything alright?" Izuku repeated. "Does anything feel off, or do you need anything?"

"Well, I need to return to my dorms, but I don't have any clothes to wear," Ibara blushed, gesturing at the blanket that was covering her up.

Luckily, Momo came to the rescue.

"Here, I can make some for you!" She said enthusiastically. She opened her shirt, and in the blink of an eye, the multicolored glow of her quirk revealed a loose white shirt with a very short skirt.

"Um..." Ibara didn't know how to respond: she didn't want to be ungrateful and reject her gift, but she had certain standards.

"Here, you can wear my stuff," Izuku said, saving Ibara from a strained relationship with the Creation user. "Momo, you could maybe give the clothes to a homeless shelter. I'm sure they would love some new clothes."

Nodding her head, Momo smiled in understanding.

(Behind Momo, Jiro had to restrain her laughter at the conversation. While she held a hand to her mouth to muffle herself, she was heard.)

A few minutes later, Ibara was dressed in black sweatpants and a hoodie that read, 'coat.'

Ibara, her face still red with embarrassment, was relieved enough to show a hint of a smile. "Thank you for caring for me, Izuku,"

"Of course! You did the same for me when I was a bunny, so I'm glad to help!"

After a few more goodbyes, Ibara left the dorms with her classmates, though she was a bit ahead of the others, a bit mortified.

Ibara usually didn't wear clothes like hoodies, but the clothes she wore felt relaxing. The hoodie, though at least three sizes too big, was very comfortable. When she was a hedgehog, she became accustomed to Izuku's 'scent', and wearing something with it made her feel … safe, like a warm hug.

A sudden thought struck her, turning her face into a frown.

"Is keeping my boyfriend's hoodie a sin?"

Author's Note:

Well, here it is.

Before writing Bunnyzuku (the first chapter), I had an idea for this chapter, and I'm very glad I got this out. It took a lot to finish it (mostly on the procrastination front), but I am glad for how it turned out.

I also have two deleted scenes;
1.

"Wait," Kaminari put his hand to his chin in question. "If Shiozaki anointed herself after biting Bakugo, accidentally absorbed some sweat, and lit her on fire, would the sweat-anointed quills make her an explosive hedgehog?"

Ojiro sighed. "Why are you thinking about this?"

Additionally:

2.
"Why is she so feral?"

"Because she's being held and can't go fast?"

"...Why would she have to go fast?"

"All hedgehog 'gotta go fast.'"

"Todoroki, that's from a video game."

"It is? I thought it was a hero documentary."

Thank you for reading this. If you feel like it, leave a comment and/or like it, and hopefully, I'll see you later.