Beast In The Woods

Echo Hunter

Izuku crawled into his den after getting back from the mall and then police station. He took off his shirt and the hidden bulge at his side emerged to reveal the hilt and part of the blade from Stain. He held his newest trophy with shining eyes and examined his new prize. He was still upset that he could keep it all and had to think quickly to get this much but he was glad he did so as he put the broken sword on two bone nails he made to hold it over his trophies. He was very aware of how many lives that sword had taken from his time with Gang Orca and even more so from the scent of old blood on it.

He preened at his growing collection and his latest battle in taking out a very dangerous villain. He thought of Gang Orca and immediately pulled his phone out to tell him about it. He messaged the hero and not a minute later he was calling. Izuku answered happily.

"Izuku, what did you do? You fought Stain!?" Gang Orca said immediately after he picked up. He sounded extremely alarmed and shouted the last part.

"I did! And I beat him!" He said proudly. With the same attitude as a child showing their parent that they made their bed by themselves.

"What happened!? Why? When?" Gang Orca stuttered through the phone.

Izuku went on to tell the story of his class going shopping for camping supplies and then Shinami attacking him and then Stain arriving. "I did get really angry when Mina was hurt. After that, we fought, and I beat him. Aizawa and Nem showed up right after." He finished.

Gang was quiet for a long moment and Izuku heard him let out a long sigh. "Is everyone alright? Your mate? You're not hurt are you?"

Izuku smiled brilliantly. "Mina is okay now, I bit most of Shigizaki's hand off, and I think I broke a lot of bones in Stain's body. I'm fine, I can heal!"

"Who is Shigizaki?" The hero asked confused.

"You know, that one villain that attacked us at the USJ and can turn what he touched to dust."

"It's Shigaraki Tomura, Izuku." He said fondly.

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I'm right."

He chuckled on the other end of the phone. "I'm glad everything turned out alright and good job taking out one of the most wanted villains currently. It's getting late and a young pup needs their sleep."

"Not a pup," Izuku grumbled.

Gang Orca chucked again. "Goodnight, Izuku."

"Night, Gang!" He smiled cheerily.

With that, Izuku went under his furs and fell asleep soon after. His sleep was mostly calm but he did dream of his mate getting more hurt than she did at the mall. He dreamed of Stain's mauled corpse at his hands with his mate dead nearby. He woke up earlier than usual and stayed awake in his furs remembering the nightmares he had. It had been a long time since Izuku had had nightmares of any kind and it was no surprise to him what the subject of them were. He comforted himself by the faint scent of Mina on his clothes and the reality that she was safe. He stayed there for a long time until he saw the sun beginning to shine into his den. His stomach grumbled at his need for a meal, he had used more energy than usual due to having to heal numerous cuts from Stain.

He got up and stripped the shirt he had on to go on a hunt in his territory. It wasn't long before he was back at his den with a few smaller animals on skewers over the fire. He munched on them while thinking about how else he could shift his body. He hadn't had much of a chance to experiment since he was usually busy with school or spending time with his mate. He did enjoy the form he took when he battled against Kacchan in the Festival with more armor than usual but his senses were limited due to his face being covered. He hummed in thought and ran through the possibilities. He had an array of senses he could choose from while being armored like before. He would most likely keep the scales since they were easy to move in and easy to replace if damaged. But how to see?