Work Text:
Yagi sat on his desk chair, Hisashi next to him as Tsunotori and Tokage whimpered and wiggled in the plush leather seats in the large office. Yagi and Hisashi's office has ceiling-high cherry wood bookcases, vanished to be smooth and shiny.
The flooring was grey wood, sanded and burnt slightly to give it a rustic look. Two large desks sat in the middle of the room, with grey tops and black legs, gold accents of plant pots, and other miscellaneous things strewn around their desks. In front of the two desks, two authentic leather seats were placed, along with a grey and gold side table in the middle of the chairs, where the two vet techs sat. Tsunotori had gotten her bite wound checked out, stitched, and disinfected and was sporting nasty bruising around the upper part of her arm.
Tokage looked angry, brows pulled together, eyes dark with malice, anger, and resentment, clearly for Izuku. Yagi's shadowed cyan blue eyes were dark, hands tangled together on his smooth desk, knuckles whitened with how hard Yagi was squeezed his hands together, veins showing under his taut skin. Hisashi's stark white hair was blowing softly in the breeze of the AC; red eyes looked to be glowing with anger, the fire of disgust for these two burned in his chest. Hisashi leaned back in his leather office chair, marred hands squeezing his armrests in self-restraint, staring the two vet techs down. The two fidget and squirm under Hisashi's burning gaze.
Yagi clears his throat, adam's apple bobbing under the taut skin. The girls startle, Tsunotori's tail stiffens while Tokage's sharp teeth clench together, dark eyes directed at Yagi. "You both know why you're here, right?" Yagi asks, tone flat.
The girls nearly flinch at his flat tone, nodding their heads in unison. Tokage wrings her thin fingers, finger pads running over her polished blank nails, feeling the smooth surface. Tsunotori nearly whimpers, the corners of her doe-eyes burn with the surfacing of hidden tears. Hisashi and Yagi feel no pity for the two. Yagi's spindly fingers untangle, laying flat on his desk, shadowed cyan blue eyes staring at the two in front of them. "First off, what you two did wasextremely dangerous. It put you two and Izuku at risk. Honestly, we should fire you two right now,"
Yagi nearly growls out his sentences, hollow cheeks filling with air as he takes a large breath in, calming the raging fires in his gut, his thumb tapping rhythmlessly on the wood top of his desk. "But we aren't. You will learn from your mistakes. You will be re-trained and stripped of your vet tech title. Mei will be overseeing your training, and you will be kept on a short leash. You are also banned from entering the quarantine ward until future notice. The hybrids under your care will be put under another vet tech's care. Understood?" Yagi's tone leaves no room for argument.
Tsunotori chokes a sob, uninjured arm reaching up to cup her mouth, unshed tears falling from her lash line, cascading down my waterfalls. Tokage's manicured nails dig into the fabric of her pants, looking down. Neither speak nor confirm that they understand Yagi's statement. Hisashi, who was sitting quietly for the meeting, speaks up, "Understand?" He hisses, venom spitting in his words, glare fixing on the two. Tsunotori's and Tokage's heads snap up, eyes wide as they stare at Hisashi.
"Y-Yes...!" Tokage stammers, tripping and twisting over her tongue. "O-Okay!" Tsunotori responds in English, too panicked to switch to Japanese. Luckily, the two co-owners understand English, seeing they're fluent in quite a few different languages, nod before shooing the girls out of their office.
The two stumble to their feet, legs quivering as they bow respectfully. Tsunotori trots over frantically to the door, opening it before disappearing into the hallway; Tokage was not too far behind. Tokage's manicured hand disappears from their sight as the two co-owners watch the door click close. Yagi's bunched-up shoulders drop, leaning back in his chair, his bright blond hair squished by his headrest, shadowed eyes shutting as he heaves a sigh through his nose. Hisashi looks at his friend, red eyes dimming as he rubs his temple, a marred hand tracing the jagged scar on his jaw, reminiscing on how he got it.
("Toshinori, calm down!" Hisashi yells, dodging a large blond paw swiping at his face. Roars echoed in the center, blood splattering on the floor below him from his hands. Hisashi looks at the lion in front of him (ribs stretching his skin, a large scar on the left side of his flank, looking to be some sort of chemical reaction, seeing most of the fur around the scar was burned away, the scar a sickly and nasty purple and almost magenta pink color.) The large lion's matted and blond mane sagged, flopping around as the big cat growled and lunged for Hisashi. Cyan blue pupils that seemed to be shadowed over by the lion's brows, casting a shadow over them, glared at Hisashi, large paws wielded large sharpened nails, stained with red. The large cat lunged suddenly, right paw dug into his jaw and tore downwards, Hisashi's loud yell of pain echoed over the booming roar-)
Hisashi snapped out of his mind, marred hand reaching out to glide through the soft bright blond curls, calming to the man in the other chair, the tension in his brows melted with each drag of his fingers of Yagi's scalp.
"We'll save Izuku, Yagi,"
'I promise'
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Hatsume Mei never thought of herself as a violent person; sure, she liked experimenting on different machines and liked exploding said machines. (Legend has it, Power-loader sensei can still hear the phantom ringing of Mei's explosions in his workshop, even long after she graduated)
She liked trial and error, liked learning from her mistakes, and making new mistakes that she can fix! But she was not a violent person, really. Ask any of the vet techs that work under her watchful eye; she'll tell you how things work, laugh while things malfunction then help them be better! She was a crazed sweetheart (not like Toga, who liked to slit Hybrids necks and veins to drink their blood-), but she was kind. So, her wanting to bash her (her!) vet techs heads into walls was something that nobody could really explain.
She was furious! Her vet techs went behind her back, re-traumatized a hybrid who was high risk for relapse and aggression, and got injured in the process! She was basically foaming at the mouth, teeth grinding like the gears in a half-finished upgraded expandable and flexible muzzle she was working on that was comfy and didn't bring discomfort.
(One of the sweetest Hybrids at the center, Momo, a Standard poodle with a silky yet puffy coat, volunteered to test the muzzle when it was ready.) Mei's muscular, calloused hands gripped her workshops counter, veins bulging as her muscles strained, trying to reign in the inner demon just waiting to strangle the girls, scream in their face, and punch them in the face. (that seems a little overkill, but rationality is being thrown out of the nonexistent window right now, so all those options seem like a three-course-meal after weeks of not eating)
Unlatching her death-grip on the poor countertop, she turned, smoothing out her soot-stained tank-top, workshop coveralls tied casually around her waist. The steel-toed heavy-duty boots that she used just in case she dropped a wrench or machine on her foot (it's happened more than she can count on all her fingers and toes, she hasn't broken or bruised her feet yet!) clattered loudly on the floor as she walked, out of her workshop to find her vet techs.
She had gotten a text earlier from Yagi, explaining the situation, and if she chose to fire them, demote them to janitor duty (she'd done it before, Monoma was cleaning the toilets for a month before he was allowed back into the lab), or re-train them under her watchful eye, she had full reign of the situation. The one thing she was exceedingly angry about was Izuku. (Well, not at Izuku, per se, but what happened) The poor Big cat had likely taken quite a few steps back in his rehabilitation progress.
Before the whole debacle, Katsuki could nearly pet the big cat. He had once sat in the habitat, watching Izuku silently. (Izuku chuffed softly at him, sniffed him, and almost let Katsuki pet his nose, but pulled back when Katsuki's hand made contact, looking slightly fearful, before going to scratch at his rope-post, something they figured out he did in order to alleviate stress. He didn't claw his arms (like most hybrids do, clawing, biting, or breaking their appendages), but he did rake his giant claws into the rope, fraying the strands. They were so close-)
And now that progress was most likely down the drain, washed away to rebuild for another day. Right now, Mei needs to focus on chewing out her vet techs. (or ex-vet techs)
Mei walked down the center hallways; her head held high. Her pink dreadlocks were tied up loosely in a ponytail, smudges of soot swiped on her cheeks. Her swirling green-yellow eyes were cold, her gaze icy. She was a woman on a mission, damnit!
Vets, handlers, and volunteers passed her in the halls, yet none interacted, seeing she wasn't to be messed with right now. They parted ways and moved around her seamlessly. Most, if not all workers here had good dodging skills and reaction times, seeing some hybrids would like to throw things at them (aggressively or playfully,) and some got loose from their habitats in the center and would bolt down the halls, sometimes knocking things (or people) over in their escapades down the halls. (Kaminari was the most evasive, tiny ferret they've ever had.
He'd dodge you so easily, it's basically second nature to him, but he would run into a wall seconds later, so... He'd be able to dodge you, but not inanimate objects that don't move...or chase after him.)
By the time she got to where she was informed Tsunotori and Tokage were, she was clenching her fists and setting her icy gaze on the breakroom door. A soot-covered hand clutched the cold door handle; the ice-cold door handle sent shocks around her hand, an oddly calming action as she twisted the knob, opening the door with a drawn-out 'creaaaak.'
Two heads snapped towards the door while a volunteer slipped out of the room, feeling the tension thrum like guitar strings, playing a cold and dangerous melody that seemed to wrap around them, the soft but tantalizing tune hung in the air. Mei stared the two vet techs down; Tsunotori's lab coat had been abandoned, thrown over the chair she was sitting in, her arm wrapped up, white gauze standing out on her olive color skin.
Tokage's manicured nails were tapping on the table; the rhythmless taps had stopped once Mei walked into the room. Her cold gaze fixed on the two, watching them squirm and whimper under her stare. Her steel-toed boots thudded with each step she took, standing right across from where Tokage and Tsunotori sat, her hands suddenly slammed on the wood table, garnering a screech from Tsunotori and a violent flinch from Tokage, the both not expecting the sudden sound.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Mei raised her voice; the echo of her angered shout echoed slightly in the cozy breakroom. "M-Mei-san..!" Tsunotori's feeble and wavering voice raised slightly, trembling with fear for the woman in front of them. "Don't." Mei snarled, baring her teeth, making Tsunotori curl in on herself, shoulders curling upwards.
"I don't want any fucking excuse from either of you, so don't. You have tampered with a hybrids progress and went into his cage, unauthorized, might I add, and got attacked." Mei's finger poked and tapped at the table as she spoke, her left arm flexing under the weight she was leaning on it,
"And that is on you. It is not Izuku's fault; even if you try to blame it on the big cat, it is not his fault. You were trained for this, but what do you do?! You mess up a hybrids process badly! We don't even know the extent of your actions right now." Mei seethed; she felt like she'd pop a blood vessel if she didn't calm down. Mei sucked in a deep breath, her chest swelling before it was exhaled out of her nose. "I have two options here, one...I kick your sorry asses the hell out of here, blacklist you from every fucking hybrid center in the fucking country, or...I re-train you, make sure you will never screw up again, and you'll be on your merry way." Mei sighed, straightening her back, rubbing her temple slightly before looking down at the girls.
"But I don't have enough fucking time on my hands to train your sorry asses, so get up, get packed, and get the fuck out of here," Mei roared, her throat vibrated with the yell. Tokage and Tsunotori sat there, stumped for a moment, eyes widening as they stared at Mei in disbelief. Did they really screw up so badly it ended up with firing?
Mei observed them, seeing their eyes starting to glaze over with overthinking, but she didn't let them; slamming her hands back onto the tables, startling them out of their minds, she roared once again, pointing to the door, "NOW! Leave your fucking coats and badges, and go." Tokage shed her coat while Tsunotori nearly tripped over her hooves, scrambling out of the breakroom to collect her things. Tokage followed after quickly.
Mei stared at the cameras, knowing Hisashi and Yagi were watching, seeing the camera rotate slightly, a signal. Her request of blacklisting them from working at any other hybrid rehab center in the entirety of Japan. A permanent black mark would be on their record as well, along with details of why said black mark was there. She felt her anger dissipate, leaving the breakroom to take a nap in the cot she had in her workshop.
Yelling at people takes a lot out of people, really.
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Kaminari was a great escape artist. It helped when his spine was bendy, and he could wriggle his way right past people (and into the hole he dug in his habitat, connecting to a vent that led right out into the hallway). So, he wriggled his way through the hole, dragging the cardboard box back to cover the hole, and skittered out. Ducking into the vent, the vent cover was easy to slip past, and like always, Kaminari slipped right through before he darted off down the hallways, careful to peek around corners to check if anyone was coming. (He didn't want his adventure to be cut short, damnit) (curse your Kirishima and your freakishly good intuition)
(he was always busted just before he got a foot from the vent).
Thankfully, it was a dull day, so people were doing paperwork...ugh...paperwork. Now, Kaminari liked paperwork, especially when he could rip it up and use it as nesting material! That was the good type of paperwork, really. He liked to thrash his head around and tear the cursed papers to shreds, taking the remains of his enemies (math... damn you math!!!) to his nest and rest in them, adding to the evergrowing bundle of blankets, guts of stuffies he's ripped up in his free time, and a lot of paper.
Kaminari managed to slip into the quarantine ward, following closely behind someone who was taking food into the ward, while Kaminari slipped down the opposite hallway, his paws skittering across the tile flooring that was made to look like wood. His claws clicked and clattered across the floor while Kaminari darted down the different hallways, passing a large viewing window. Kaminari passed the window until he saw motion and felt eyes staring at him; he turned, seeing the large black big cat staring at him, sitting down, emerald eyes glowing in the artificial light.
Kaminari fully turned, skittering to the window, standing on his hind-quarters and pressing his front paws to the glass. The big cat looked down at him, slitted pupils dilating. Soft, smooth chuffs echoed in the hallway; small chirps and dooking came from Kaminari. The large black cat lifted his paw, placing it carefully on the glass, paws squishing up against the glass. Kaminari dooked at the tiger, looking around to find a way it, before seeing a vent. A vent he could get into!
Skittering over to the vent, the large cat watched as he slinked into the vent, electric blond tail disappearing into the grates. An electric blond face with a streak of black poked out of the grates before his body followed, now fully in the hybrid's habitat. The tiger laid down slowly, tail swishily softly as Kaminari trotted happily up to him, touching noses. The tiger made soft chuffing noises, eyes half-lidded, ears flicking back and forth occasionally.
Kaminari watched the tiger lay in his side, a large freckled pink tongue lolled out, wrapping around the black-furred, slightly scarred muzzle, drifting down the side before slinking back into his jaw. Kaminari climbed onto the tiger's side, burrowing into the long, warm fur of the tiger, feeling the skin rise and fall with the breaths of the big cat. Kaminari chittered softly, getting a soft chuff.
He decided, yea...he likes this place.
(He's unaware of the absolute panic he's caused, but hey, Kaminari functions on a sole brain cell. You don't get a lot from him.)
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Kirishima is panicking. He's sure under his red hair dye; he's getting grey hairs. Kaminari managed to slip out of his cage once again. (honestly, nobody knows how he gets out) Nobody can find him, and they're sure he's in the building. Nobody had gone outside, and all of the doors have sensors and cameras for motion, at ankle height, hip height, and drilled into the bottom roof. None of the sensors or motion detection cameras tripped, so he was inside...but where?!
This facility houses hundreds of hybrids, and nobody knows where the fuck he is! he could be in the fucking vents for all they know! (They really should invest in ferret-proof vent caps. Or kaminari-proof vent caps...do they sell those?)
So, here he is, shaking a shiny bell ball throughout the facility, looking like a maniac to the newer employees, and the pitying glances the older employees give him make him want to bash his head into the floor. His walkie-talkie suddenly crackled to life, making him stop his self-deprecating, grey-haring walk of shame (Mina's words, not his. He'd call it more of a walk of 'testing his self-restraint'), pulling the walkie-talkie from his belt.
"Shitty hair," The voice through the walkie-talkie came through clearer, and it was Bakugou. He pressed his finger on the button, taking into the walkie-talkie, "Yes?" He leaned against a wall, fidgeting with the ball in his right hand absentmindedly, staring at the walkie-talkie in his hands. "Come to the quarantine ward and come to Izuku's habitat," Kirishima's eyebrows furrowed, staring at the walkie-talkie, "Okay..?" His voice filled with confusion; maybe Bakugou needed help with something? He pushed himself off the wall, placing the walkie-talkie back onto his belt loop, knowing Bakugou did the bare minimum when communicating over walkie-talkies.
Placing his keycard on the scanner, the light lit up green, allowing him to pull the heavy metal door open before it auto-sealed behind him. Taking the quick way to Izuku's habitat, he saw Bakugou standing there, hands crossed as he stared at something. Bakugou turned, holding his hand up to his mouth, making a 'shh' gesture. Kirishima nodded, walking over to Bakugou, before looking at what he was looking at...and oh...
Kaminari was curled up on Izuku's chest, both sleeping peacefully. Kaminari was dead to the world, curled up in Izuku's long fur, sticking out like a sore thumb over the black canvas of fur. Izuku was asleep, ears still flicking back and forth every once and a while, while his tail would twitch in his sleep. They both seemed peaceful, docile even. Kirishima wanted to take in the domestic sight, but he felt like slamming his head into the window.
He had spent two fucking hours looking for Kaminari, only for him to be peacefully napping?! A cruel, cruel world for Kirishima Eijiro. Kirishima sunk to the floor, head in his handsBakugou seemed to take notice of his suffering after snapping a few pictures of the domestic sight, tapping Kirishima's shin with his foot, making the redhead look up at him. "We'll watch the cameras, and we'll get them later when Kaminari wakes up; let's go, hair for brains. We've got paperwork to do, and we've gotta figure out where Kaminari escapes from." Katsuki spoke in a hushed but harsh tone, making Kirishima sigh, pushing up on his knees to stand, one last look at the sight before they were off.
(They managed to find the hole. They patched it up before Kaminari was awake. They had caught him trying to sneak back into his home but grabbed him before he reached the hallway his home resided in.)
(Kaminari hissed and squeaked, upset his secret was found out.)
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Izuku stared at the fur on his side; the indent of the ferret still resided in his fur; the curls had yet to bounce back and fluff up again. He missed the warmth, honestly. It was comforting.
Izuku stood, shaking his shaggy coat out, watching the subtle curls of his coat take shape once again, stretching for a solid minute before scaling the platforms, too tired to try and climb up the scratch-pole. He nearly collapsed into his nest, tail hanging over the side of the platform as he nuzzled into the teddy bear's lap; the smoke and caramel musk was starting to fade. Luckily, he knew where the smell came from. Kacchan.
The blond, who didn't hurt him, yell at him and had a kind touch (for the mere seconds, his hand rested on the bridge of Izuku's muzzle, it was warm and kind.) He smelt of bonfire smoke, along with a natural burnt sugar or caramel musk. He smelled sweet, and honestly, Izuku wanted to flop into his lap, lay his head there, press his nose against his stomach, and fall asleep to soft whispers and kind touches.
Maybe one day, but today was not that day...maybe not tomorrow either.
Izuku can only dream about soft whispers, kind touches, and the sweet smell of campfire smoke and caramel.
(Home, his unconscious mind supplies, home.)