Chapter Text
once the introduction meeting was over and everyone returned to their prior tasks, izuku was pulled aside by the older blonde man, whom he learned was named toshinori. the bunny was confused why the redheaded hybrid was standing behind the man but his question was soon answered as the man cleared his throat before speaking.
”izuku, this is eijirou. he is a dam, like yourself.” toshinori began. “we normally like to give new hybrids a chance to adapt to the place before we introduce them to potential roommates but eijirou here has been dying for a roommate since he got here. i know that a dog hybrid and a bunny hybrid isn’t the most ideal pairing in some’s eyes but i feel that you and eijirou will get along nicely.” toshinori explained.
izuku felt rather overwhelmed by the sudden proposition. he’d just got here, just gotten rescued from years of abuse and rape, and now he’s being asked if he’d be fine with being bunk buddies with a dog? he’d have to think about it. the bunny didn’t respond but simply twitched his nose and shrugged.
“i know it might be hard to feel like you’re comfortable enough to trust me at first, but i promise you i wont hurt you or your pups.” eijirou smiled softly and izuku glanced up at his choice of words. “they’re u-um...actually called kits.” he chuckled very softly and gently rubbed his small bump. he didn’t want to correct the other hybrid and sound like an ass but he didn’t want the redhead to accidentally embarrass himself in the future.
“like kittens?” eijirou asked while tilting his head to one side, his question seeming genuine. izuku couldn’t help but laugh at this. “no silly not like kittens.” he chuckled softly and shook his head. as the two talked, even over something small such as this topic, the bunny relaxed more and more. he was able to begin to let his guard down with the redhead.
by this time toshinori had left but it was clear that the two dams would be fine with living together. after some more conversation, eijirou led izuku back to his room.
bedrooms at the rescue weren't luxurious or spacious but they were comfortable and served their purpose. izuku looked around at all the chew toys and...other toys...that littered the floor and couldn’t help but blush. “don’t mind the mess, sorry. i just came down from my heat so i’ve just been in here for a week.” he blushed and hurriedly hid the non-chew toys away.
izuku shook his head and smiled. “no worries. it must have been nice to have a nest to curl up in during your heat.” he added, letting out a small sigh. he’d never had a proper nest to ride out his heat in before. but, to be fair, every time he went into heat he was confined to kurai’s room until it passed.
eijirou wasn’t quite sure how to respond to the bunny’s comment but simply nodded, changing subjects. "here let me give you some clothes. you probably don't want to be naked when I'm fully clothed." the dog hybrid chuckled awkwardly and grabbed one of his shirts and a pair of shorts for the bunny. izuku thanked him and looked at the crimson riot t-shirt he'd been given. his instincts told him he was being courted after receiving the gift of clothing but he knew that wasn't the case with his roommate. eijirou was just being kind. izuku had forgotten what it was like to wear clothes. he'd been naked for 5 straight years so he wasn't too uncomfortable with his naked body but he understood that maybe it wasn't very common in the rescue. “so how far along are you?” eijirou asked out of the blue. “in your pregnancy i mean.” he blurted out after a moment of izuku looking at him slightly confused as he finished getting dressed. “oh yes! um i think 8 weeks.” he glanced down and gently rubbed his belly. he wanted to offer to let the redhead touch his belly but his instincts were fighting him.
“this is my first litter...i’m not too thrilled or anything about it because of how they were conceived but having my own kits sounds kinda cool i guess.” he mumbled, his choice of words clearly displaying that his pregnancy wasn’t his decision. “I understand. I can't say I exactly know how you feel though. my first litter was taken from me.” eijirou spoke up and the bunny’s already lopped ears, drooped even more.
“oh...i’m so sorry...” he mumbled. “it’s okay. i’ve met one of my pups. she’s a real sweetheart.” he chuckled softly, a twinge of sadness evident in the small laugh. “i was 15 and a golden retriever hybrid i used to hang out with went into a rut. i had just recently had my first heat so i was due for another right around when she started to rut. one thing led to another and i wound up pregnant. her person hated that her ‘precious, goldie who wouldn’t even dare look at a scruffy mutt’ like me had gotten me pregnant.” he used air quotes to quote the person’s exact words. “she told my person before i even had the chance to explain things and my person was super mad. i wasn’t allowed to see the golden again and she and i eventually stopped trying to maintain a friendship through small interactions. after i had my pups, my person took them from me and kicked me out on the street. toshinori found me in an alley trying to keep warm in a cardboard box.”
izuku had noticed how hard the redhead fought to keep tears from spilling over. the bunny felt so terrible for his new roommate. he gently crept forward, keeping himself slightly guarded out of habit, and rubbed his chin on eijirou’s shoulder instinctually, scent marking the other dam. he watched as tears began to fall from eijirou’s eyes as the memories of his past resurfaced. izuku frowned, his nose twitching rapidly as he tried to think of how to comfort the hybrid of a different species. he stood on his toes, making him significantly taller than before due to just how long his fluffy feet were, and gently licked the tears away while softly grinding his teeth periodically.
eijirou wasn’t quite sure what izuku was doing but he definitely appreciated the gesture. his tail that had managed to droop down from the sadness he reminisced on, began to perk back up and wag slightly. the dog hybrid fiddled with the hem of his shirt awkwardly as he tried to push away the sad emotions. after a moment, izuku reached up and gently pulled eijirou’s head down a bit more. he stood even higher on his toes and pressed their foreheads together, closing his eyes while grinding his teeth more. he could sense the confusing radiating from the redhead so he took a moment to gently explain.
“rabbits don’t have many vocal cues to show our emotions so we rely heavily on body language and gestures to get our emotions across. by pressing my forehead against yours, it’s me telling you i’m sorry for what happened to you.” he spoke barely above a whisper in a small yet soothing voice. he still wasn’t fully adapted socially so he hoped eijirou didn’t find his behavior too weird.
fortunately, the dog hybrid was more than happy to accept the gesture. his tail was wagging gently, but not rapidly like when he would be excited about dinner or when he’d get to go into town with toshinori. it was slow and steady, meaning he was content. “thank you izuku. this means a lot.” he said softly, nudging his nose against the bunny’s. izuku smiled and closed his eyes. they stood there for a few moments, izuku occasionally cleaning the tears from eijirou’s face between long bouts of his own soothing tooth purring.
their content huddle was interrupted by a knock at the door which made izuku nearly jump out of his skin. well he did jump. quite high actually; his long ears grazing the ceiling. he scrambled behind eijirou, his chest heaving quickly as his eyes were locked on the door. eijirou frowned at the behavior and hollered a soft “come in!” he stayed positioned in front of the bunny to show he was protected but there was no need in reality.
“hi there, so sorry i scared you!” one of the employees apologized as she stepped into the room. she had large kind eyes and rosy cheeks. “my name is ochako. you’re deku right?” she spoke and the bunny side eyed her at the name she called him. “it’s izuku.” he mumbled, not taking his eyes off of her, not trusting her fully. “oh-duh! my mistake! i was in the bathroom during introductions earlier so i just read your name from the plate on the door.” she chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck. the bunny’s nose twitched as he sniffed the air to see if he could tell her secondary gender.
“oh! i’m an omega! i remember toshinori mentioning you felt safer around omegas and dams.” she smiled brightly, hoping to ease some of the ever present nerves the bunny was tormented by. as if that one word held so much power, izuku’s tense shoulders immediately relaxed. his stature shifted so he was no longer anxiously side eyeing her from behind eijirou. the dog hybrid was happily wagging his tail as the two got acquainted.
“i know you’re just getting settled in but i’m the groomer for the rescue and i came to help you get all cleaned up. i know you’ve had a really eventful day so i totally understand if you’d rather rest for the remainder of the day but i promise, promise, promise you, that you’ll feel a million times better after you get a nice bath and a haircut.” she smiled. her smile reached her eyes which was all izuzku needed to know she wasn’t going to lie to him.
he remained silent for a moment, thinking. he looked up at eijirou who was smiling down at him. his tail still wagged happily as his tongue fell out the right side of his mouth with his smile. it was pretty adorable. “can eiji come…?” izuku spoke so quietly that if ochako hadn’t been so close she wouldn’t have heard him. eijirou’s ears perked up at the nickname, his tail somehow wagging more. “of course he can!” she smiled brightly. “o-okay…let’s get this over with….” he mumbled.
izuku wrapped his arms tightly around his belly, grabbing a fistful of eijirou’s shirt with the hand closest to the other hybrid. eijirou chuckled softly and nudged the bunny hybrid’s long, fluffy ear with his nose before placing a small reassuring kiss to the matted fur. he placed his hand on the small of izuku’s back, earning only a slight flinch from the dam in response. he cuddled closer into eijirou’s side as they walked toward the door. ochako smiled in awe at how adorable the two hybrids were. it wasn’t often that a new hybrid became so attached to another so quickly.
she led the duo down the hall and to the salon as they liked to call it. she already had all of her tools laid out to properly groom the very neglected bunny. “normally i wouldn’t ask a bunny hybrid take a bath since you can’t regulate your body temperature as well as other hybrids but i would strongly suggest you take one. even just to wash away the bad memories.” she frowned slightly, sympathy lacing her words.
izuku looked at the tub with a bit of confusion. he hasn’t been properly cleaned since before he was captured. he relied on himself to keep clean in his dirty pen. the breeders never gave him any toiletries to properly clean himself and only changed out his hay once a month. thinking back on it make the bunny feel insecure about how he must smell. he tried to keep himself as clean as possible but grooming yourself only gets you so clean.
he nodded at the suggestion and watched the omega woman draw him a warm bath. “do you want me to sit with you? i love baths!” eijirou spoke up and smiled down at the greenette. izuku glanced up, thinking for a moment. the idea of a bath frightened him a bit so having eijirou there would definitely help ease the anxiety building in his chest. “y-yes please.” he muttered.
once the two were situated in the bathtub and the water was warm enough, izuku began to clean himself. he was trembling from being so cold despite being in warm water. eijirou let out a soft whimper of concern at the bunny’s trembling but izuku gently purred with his teeth to show he was okay. “bunnies aren’t supposed to have baths…we can’t regulate our body temperature very well so a lot of the times if we get wet, we get sick. we clean ourselves for the most part so baths aren’t necessary.” he said softly, mostly to inform eijirou.
the redhead seemed to understand and nodded. ochako turned on a small space heater she kept just for hybrids who needed to to keep extra warm during bath time and pointed it at the bunny. he mumbled a small thank you as he continued to clean himself. he massaged the rabbit shampoo into his curls as best he could given the mats and gently scrubbed his ears with a damp wash cloth. he took special care to clean his belly, as if he was cleansing his unborn kits of their monster of a biological father. the bath felt so nice despite the cold air of the room giving him goosebumps. he was tooth purring loudly and happily as he washed away the years of neglect; the years of abuse and rape; the years of isolation.
once eijirou had cleaned himself as well, the pair got out of the tub. izuku immediately huddled up against eijirou to stay warm while ochako got them towels. there was a lot of loose fur from izuku's lower half in the tub which told ochako she'd have her work cut out for her. "lets get you boys all dry." she smiled as she led them over to the station where the hair dryers were. "I'll dry your hair and your fur before I start brushing you and giving you a hair cut. please let me know if the dryer is too hot for your skin or if I'm brushing too hard okay?" she gave him a kind but serious look. izuku nodded and sat down in the salon chair.
ochako let eijirou dry himself off since he was familiar with how the dryers worked and he wasn't getting a full grooming today. the dog hybrid pulled a chair close to izuku and sat as close to the bunny as the salon chair would allow. he placed a comforting hand on top of the greenette's and gave his hand a squeeze to show he was right here. izuku gave a tentative squeeze back as ochako continued to gently blow dry his matted curls. eventually he had to stand up as she needed the bigger dryer for the fur on his lower half.
once he was fully dry and thoroughly fluffy, ochako got to work brushing out the years of undercoat that had been left to mat on the poor bunny's fur. she had to shave a good portion of his fur down due to the immense amount of matting but izuku didn't mind. he was captured to be bred for his desirable fur. 'to hell with the stuff, shave it all off,' he'd told her when she apologized for how much she'd need to get rid of. she cut out the mats in his curls and trimmed and shaped his fluffy ears. eventually when ochako got ready to shave to izuku's feet, the bunny couldn't help but thump his foot hard against the ground out of instinct. the sound was so loud and abrupt that two pairs of eyes were fixed on him in confusion as well as concern. "sorry, instincts..." he mumbled awkwardly. "my feet are super ticklish." he offered them an apologetic smile. "that's alright I'll use the sheering scissors instead to keep the tickling to a minimum." ochako offered, which was greatly appreciated by the hybrid.
after hours in the salon, izuku was an entirely different bunny. he felt sooooo good to be clean! he'd forgotten what it was like to have his hair be short and not perpetually blocking his vision. he'd forgotten what it was like to not have his skin ache as the matted fur tugged at it painfully with every movement. he was so happy that he couldn't hardly contain himself! he just had to celebrate with a binkie, no matter if he'd earn some weird stares from the others in the room with him. he got a small running start and hopped into the air, throwing his head side to side, flicking his feet and twisting in the air. a bright smile was plastered on his freckled cheeks. he'd forgotten he even had freckles. to someone not familiar with bunny hybrids, like eijirou, the flailing in the air could have been seen as a sign of fear but the bright smile and hop in izuku's step once he landed told the redhead the behavior was a good thing.
the bunny walked up to eijirou with a new found pep to his step and smiled wide. the dog hybrid could see now that izuku's two front teeth were actually a bit bigger than the rest, which coupled with his perpetually wiggling nose, dusting of freckles and curly green locks, made the bunny absolutely adorable. the german shepherd hybrid wagged his tail happily as he finally got to meet the real izuku.