Cat Got Your Tongue?

Part 1/? - I Ate Her???

When the dust settled and the students of Class 1-A had recovered, they all stubbornly returned to their hero duties on Nabu Island. Most of those duties involved clean-up and reconstruction projects, lost dogs, and other such tasks.

With sore muscles and empty belly, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya was headed back towards base after a long and fulfilling day of restoration work. He had chosen a scenic route through a garden path, with trees and flowers on the right, and rows of tall sunflowers and vegetable patches to the left.

Although the boy was exhausted and hungry, he knew he couldn't, wouldn't, let his guard down.

So when shouts erupted from the gardens to his right, the adrenaline rush kicked in and he was wide awake. It was a girl's voice, followed by a boy's:

"Just leave me alone already, Tākoizu!"

A short girl darted into the path a few feet in front of Deku. She had orange hair and cat ears, furry arms and legs that ended in paws, and a long orange tail. She wore a dark blue romper that matched her wide, frightened eyes.

"C'mon, Tabeta! Do you really think you can be a hero?! Your dumbass quirk is useless in a real fight! You just run away like a coward!"

The cat-girl was pursued by a taller boy in shorts and a tank top. He had spiked turquoise hair and gray horns that looked like they were made of stones.

The girl, Tabeta, jumped off the low wall on the other side of the path and began to shrink in mid air. She shrunk to the size of a doll in an instant and probably hoped to disappear into the tall sunflowers. Before she could even land, Tākoizu had gripped her roughly in both hands and they tumbled through the sunflowers into the vegetable patches beyond.

"Help!!"

Deku was already in pursuit. "Let her go!" He yelled as he leaped over the stone wall and launched into the sunflowers.

The blue-haired Tākoizu staggered to his feet and turned to glare at the boy and the green lightning that crackled around him. "Who the hell're you?" He tightened his fist around Tabeta, who gasped for breath.

"Stop, can't you see you're hurting her?!"

Tākoizu smirked. "This little rat? She'll be fine, we're just playing."

But the desperate look in Tabeta's eyes screamed the opposite. Deku clenched his fists.

"You wanna fight, small fry? Then let's fight!" Tākoizu raised his free hand as rocks and bits of minerals shot towards him as though he held a magnet. The rocks dug themselves from the earth and coated his hands in armor, and Tabeta hissed in pain as they dug into her skin. Takoizu laughed. "Show me what you've got!"

Deku lunged at him, his right fist raised to deliver a punch to his opponent's chest. The punch landed and the power sent Tākoizu flying backwards. Tabeta flew out of his hand and Deku plucked her out of the air with his other hand to hold her in a much gentler grip.

Tabeta gasped for breath as she clung to his thumb. "Thanks...uh...whoever you are."

"Deku des! You're Tabeta, right? Are you okay?"

The soft-spoken boy put her at ease. "Yeah, those damn rocks hurt but they didn't break the skin."

"I'm glad you're okay! Are you able to regrow to your normal size?"

Tabeta thrashed her tail in irritation. "No..I can't control my own quirk yet..."

"That's okay! I will protect you, I promise!"

"Thanks, that's..." Tabeta's ears flicked up suddenly. "Deku, look out!!"

Tākoizu had untangled himself from the plants he'd stumbled into and was charging towards Deku. He aimed at Deku's open left side, where he held Tabeta.

Deku dodged and aimed a kick at Tākoizu's chest that didn't connect. He landed a distance away, holding the tiny Tabeta protectively against his chest. She needed to be put somewhere that was safe from battle, but he couldn't leave her anywhere either, and he couldn't go all out against Tākoizu without risking hurting her...

Tākoizu wasn't backing down, he collected more stones onto his hands and arms as he stalked toward Deku from across the field. When he suddenly charged again, Deku made a split-second decision and went with it.

"G-gomennasai, Tabeta, for this-"

Before Tabeta could ask what Deku was apologizing for, he had timidly opened his mouth and pushed her inside.

"What the hell?!" Tabeta braced her hands on the roof of Deku's mouth to force his jaws to stay open. Peering out between his teeth, she saw Tākoizu charging towards them with his fist raised and she stumbled backwards onto the plush tongue.

Tabeta was jostled around inside when Deku carefully closed his mouth over her and jogged forward to attack. "Oh you WILL be sorry for this! Baka!" The girl mumbled harshly as she clung desperately to his tongue while saliva soaked into her skin, fur, and clothes.

Tākoizu's voice, though muffled, traveled to her feline ears. "Damn, your quirk is powerful!! Where can I get that kind of power, huh?"

With his mouth full of tiny Tabeta, Deku's inability to respond seemed to anger his opponent and spur him on.

"Don't you underestimate me!! What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?!" Tākoizu laughed at his own joke. "Do you think she'll get punctured by your teeth if I punch your mouth hard enough?"

That did it.

Tabeta could hear the muffled shouts of Tākoizu as he got his ass kicked by the shorter Deku. But when he delivered a final powerful punch to knock him out, her grip was already slipping and she couldn't warn him in time.

Tabeta slipped feet-first into Deku's throat and got stuck.

Deku inhaled suddenly and swallowed, then coughed and gagged when the blockage in his throat didn't move. This made him swallow again in rapid succession, and the strong muscles tugged Tabeta down past his collarbone and beyond.

Deku gasped and clutched at his chest and stomach with his gloved hands, as if he could somehow stop her descent that way. Tabeta was a good deal larger than any bite of chewed food and the pain and pressure on his esophagus as she slipped down made his eyes water.

That pressure suddenly let up and Deku winced when he felt the tiny form squeeze into his stomach. Oh no! He gripped his belly in one hand and clapped his other hand over his mouth. I-I...ate her?!