Who needs thumbs anyways?!

Chapter - 01

Izuku abruptly awakens his fur standing on end. One of those damnable humans closed the lid of the dumpster in the alley below far too harshly. Why they always insist on making so much noise during the time any sane creature is supposed to be asleep he'll never know.

To make matters worse this happened on one of the few times he's been able to actually fall asleep. Lately he's been beset with the same nightmare he's had since he was a kitten. The faces and names have blurred with time but the one who burned him? His eyes are always there almost as if they were made of fire too.

He's always conflicted whenever these nightmares occur because it always starts off with the sweetest dream he's ever had too. A kind woman with eyes that almost seemed to mirror his own verdant green ones. The scent of lavender and kind words with a soft touch. Izuku would say it could be a memory from his first owner, but he knows it's just a dream. Humans aren't nearly that kind.

Just before he can fully remember, no it's not a memory. Just before he can make out the face of the woman, her mate with the eyes of fire grabs him by the scruff of his neck. No matter how much he struggles and claws the man his grip only tightens. He hears words he can't make out anymore as he's tossed on the floor with a false sense of having survived. If he's lucky he wakes up before the fire licks his side, before the smell of his flesh and fur burning reaches his nose. Before he hears the screams of the woman as her mate directs his hate and fire at her.

It doesn't matter that when he wakes up that patch of skin on his side feels raw. It doesn't matter that he feels like that woman gave him his name. It's just a dream his kitten mind made up to remind him humans aren't to be trusted. Sure he survives on the scraps a few of the kinder ones leave out for him, but he'll never trust one of them ever again. It's a mistake he only made once and one he would rather forget about.

Deciding to do just that he stretched out shaking out his tail and made his way to the edge of the roof he was napping on. Expertly he hopped and slid down against the outcroppings in the building till he reached one of those staircases humans have against the sides of buildings. In no time at all he was down in the alley keeping an ear on his surroundings as he made his way to a spot one of the kinder humans would leave him food sometimes.

Making his way over to the dish he was cautiously happy that there was indeed some food left out for him, this human even went the extra step and left out some water too. Now Izuku isn't some housecat that's too good for the puddles the sky provides, but nothing beats fresh water nobody else has drunk out of. Perhaps milk? NO he won't fall for that delicious trap again! It's how he was caught by the last human from the area before he moved to this side of town.

Izuku finished eating and ignored the urge to sit and clean himself right there. That's another way you can get caught by the kinder ones. Then they take you to the place with the cold tables where various others of their kind poke, prod and blind you. Supposedly for your own good if the others they have caught are to be believed.

Izuku thinks it's just human propaganda to enslave the weaker minded of his kind. Never trust the crazy musings of a housecat or those depraved morons, dogs. They are even worse than house cats, they practically worship the two legged devils. Making his way back to head to his new favourite sunning spot like he always does after eating, Izuku notices something next to the dumpster. A book.

Izuku knew he wasn't like other cats, none of the other ones he's met can understand the scratches the humans make he however can though. It's not often he gets a chance to read. Usually it's just the scratchings on the side of the human buildings or the odd newspaper here and there that end up next to the trash instead of in it. There's certain words he's not sure of but it's better than what some random house cat can do!

Carefully he picked up the book in his muzzle and climbed up to the roof the same way he got down, though with a bit more effort than usual given his current load and now full stomach. Eventually he did make it and dropped his book and with luck it was on the correct side too. No need to paw it around to fix that.

Reading the cover it was harder than he thought, it contained a word he's seen before but wasn't sure what it meant or even how it would sound out loud. Quirks: How they changed society.

The more he read the less he understood, if he's reading correctly, and it's pretty sure he is barring a few words here and there. Well then the reason he's so smart is because he's one of the rare animals who also have this thing called a quirk. The chances of that were quite slim and it matched with how he doesn't remember his mother or his litter mates. Was he made in a lab? Whatever that meant.

It was the only thing that made sense the more he thought about it. Animals with quirks almost never happen naturally. According to this book only experiments made in labs or their offspring can have quirks. Now if he knew what an experiment or a lab was he'd be much closer to an answer.

Not that he was looking for an answer or anything. He was fine being the only cat in the neighbourhood who could understand the words humans spoke. It certainly helped to spot the fake kind ones. The ones who hide their intentions with body language but whose words betray them. It's a useful skill to have, even if he spent much of his time as a kitten trying to talk back to them. He's learned now though, at best you gain an annoyed glare and at worst? Well he could understand before the worst came and get away from it.

Before he knew it the sun had warmed him enough that he had fallen asleep still trying to understand much of the book. He understood now what the two legged devils meant when they spoke about heroes and villains. To Izuku though it seemed all the same, just a bunch of humans making an unnecessary amount of noise. He usually avoided areas where they made a lot of noise, but reading about this he couldn't help but be curious about it. So that's what filled his dreams. Using his quirk to save his cat brethren from the tyrannical rule of humans.

When nightfall came Izuku was still asleep and hadn't noticed he was no longer alone on his rooftop. One of the two legged devils was creeping closer with an amused look on his face. Izuku jumped awake when a loud click filled the air and he spoke. "A cat that reads? Zashi wouldn't believe me without proof! Too cute. . ."