A lone candle flickered in Izuku Midoriya's bare room. Nothing but the candle, a waste pot in the corner, and a straw mattress took up the place. Even though it was devoid of any real possessions, the walls were covered with intricate depictions of a world that existed only in the mind of a caged boy.

Soldiers marching off to battle, handsome princes fighting for the hands of fair princesses, dragons swooping down on villages, all of these things and more roamed the walls of Izuku's small room. The boy himself had tried to sleep, but his mind had been far too active all night, forcing his eyes to run across images he had carved into the walls. His thoughts had run to imaginary worlds where he was able to run in the fields surrounding his village, laughing within the other children surrounding him.

Life had been so wonderful and carefree when he had been little, before he had presented that awful day...
 
(Flashback to a year ago)
Izuku had just reached his 14th year. All of his friends had already presented, mostly betas with three of the girls being omegas. The town elder's son, Monoma, had been a beta too, which had upset the lad, who had been all talk about being the first alpha to present in generations of the town.
Jkz .W we
Izuku had been a late bloomer, but when he had awoken in a pool of slick, his new scent hanging thick in the air in his room, he had panicked and cried out for his mother, Inko.

As she had run into her son's room and surveyed the scene before her, her heart had sunk deep into her chest. Her baby had tears running down his face, his scent was unmasked, scared, and undoubtedly omegan. His night frock was sticky and soaked and his straw mattress would need replacing.

"Oh my baby!" Inko had collapsed at her son's side, releasing calming pheromones as she pulled his crying form into her own. Both of them knew what this meant for his future. Both of them knew the coming years would be bleak and hard for a male omega in a town where his kind were considered the lowest of the low.

It had taken all of her courage for Inko to tell the news to her husband. Her tear stained cheeks wouldn't stop trembling as she had given Izuku's father the news. The man had been furious with the news, so furious that his wrath that night left multiple bruises on his wife's skin.

The next morning Izuku had been confined to his room. He was only allowed out to help with grinding wheat at the family mill, and even then, he might as well have been a slave. None of the townsfolk would talk to him when they dropped off their grain. They would all just avert their eyes and speak only to his father. The man himself said little to nothing to the boy as well.

Only every two to three months, when heat would strike the boy, would Izuku stay souly in his room.
His heats were awful, but his father had forbade Inko from helping her son learn how to get through them. He had only one lone blanket that would quickly become soaked with slick.
At least the omega females of the village would be given additional pillows or blankets to make a nest and special instruments to help them through their feverish heats. Izuku was left to moan and pant unaided and alone, shivering, naked, and feverish in his room. It was a hellish life.

(And back to present day)

It took several hours after the candle had burned out, but finally, the greenette sunk into dreams of the night.

Eyes. Eyes bore into the boy, seemingly attempting to pierce his very soul. The eyes surrounded him, trapped him. He could recognize many of them. There were the worried, green eyes of his poor mother, the accusing, harsh eyes of his father, the judgemental eyes of the villagers.
They all swirled around him, whispering taunts and threats, growing into a whirlwind of hatred that threatened to pick him up and toss him into a gaping chasm, just out of sight.

"He's unnatural."

"A shame on his family."

"Who would ever mate him?"

"Don't even look at it."

"It's an abomination."

"Don't look!"

But the eyes did look. They looked and they circled him, faster and faster until he was certain he would be swept away.

But then something made the vortex stop, suddenly. New eyes came forward, peering curiously at him. None of these new sets seemed to have any hatred behind their gaze. They just... Looked at him.
There were over twenty sets of new eyes and they seemed to sweep away the old hate filled eyes that belonged to the villagers.

Relief filled him and he collapsed to the ground, not having realized that his legs had been trembling uncontrollably.

"Would you like to come with us?"
The eyes seemed to ask? He looked up and saw twk sets of the most dazzling ruby red eyes staring down at him. Beside them were a mismatched pair of stone grey and glacier blue eyes.

"Would you like to come with us?" They repeated.

"Wake up boy!" The harsh, commanding voice of his father broke Izuku from his dream.
When he didn't respond that very second a hard boot connected with his ribs. "I said to wake up!"
The youth yelped as fire burned through his injured side and he quickly sat up.
"I-I'm s-sorry father." He stammered out as he sat up hastily.
Purple and blue tinged bruises covered his torso from similar morning greetings. Already, the day's bruise was forming, eager to join the collection.

"Up with you now. Get a move on now, or you'll be working the stones alone today."
"Yes fa-father!" Izuku yelped, throwing off his nightwear and donning patched trousers and a brown tunic. The clothes were well worn, color tones faded. Typically, when a pup was of the age to present they would be given a colored token to wear on their person. If they were wealthier they might receive a new tunic or frock altogether, but in poorer towns it was usually some piece of jewelry or a flower crown. Reds and yellows were given to alpha children, blues and purples to betas, and soft pinks and greens were for omegas.

Izuku had never been given a token. His father had forbade it. "I have to live knowing my only offspring is good for nothing but whorring and begging. When I die, the mill will leave our family. And you want me to give your son a present!?" A crying Inko had begged forgiveness from her husband after she had asked for a token.

Too often, the woman's days were filled with tears. This only made Izuku himself cry harder at night when he was alone in his room. There were so many tears in his life and he wished they would just drown him.

But they never did. And now he was tying up a slab of cheese and some bread in a cloth and heading out the door to go work alongside the man he hated most in the world. This was just another day.

Their small house was on the outskirts of the eastern side of a jumble of houses. About the thirty-some-odd houses made up Wïerarn Village. There were hardly more than a hundred people. It was a tiny cluster of families who lived simply, spending their days farming the surrounding countryside. The main source of income and food was wheat. And it was the job of Izuku and his father to be the town millers.

The grain mill was not in town, but rather, along the banks of the river just at the border of the land that belonged to its people. The river was crucial in helping the mill, for a giant wheel powered the grinding stones run by the water.
As the wheel would turn, pistons and sprockets turned, allowing the two massive grinding stones to come together time and again, crushing anything that got between them, be it grain or the occasional unlucky finger.

Izuku's very own father had lost two and a half fingers to the mill. It was quite common, almost expected, in fact, for a miller to lose up to a hand in his line of work. So far, the son's fingers had faired better than his father's.
It was not an easy profession by any means. The work was physically demanding, with Izuku's job being to wet the stones when needed, haul sacks of grain, ground and unground, and keep an eye on the overall wellbeing of the mill and all of its moving parts. His arms were lean but pure muscle. His back strong from heavy lifting. His feet and fingers nimble from needing to move quickly at times.

His father took stock of the grain, made sure everyone paid what they owed, be it in coin, grain, or other tradable means. He also was well respected in the community, though not as a jovial figure. He was blunt and honest to those who knew him, a good man by many opinions, so long as those opinions were not of his abused wife or son.

The oldest Midoriya spent much of his time talking with the other men, just outside the mill, speaking of the politics of the village and the land around them.
At this point, Izuku could run most of the mill on his own on a given day.

Today was one of those days. "Boy, keep an eye on things. I need to talk to the Tetsu Tetsu family about forging a new piston for me. I'll be back from the blacksmith's soon. Don't do anything stupid while i'm gone and don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you first, got it?"

"Y-yes fa-father." Izuku nodded meekly. He hated himself for the stammer he had when speaking to his sire. But he couldn't keep the tremble from his voice, no matter how hard he might try. The man grunted and departed, leaving Izuku with six sacks of grain to grind. Three wheat, two oat, and one barley. The three would need to be kept separate from each other.

It was about an hour into grinding the wheat that a rather high-pitched male voice weaseled its way into the mill.
"What's this? Is our little omega all by himself? It's a wonder the mill hasn't fallen to pieces!"

The greenette sighed and turned from his work. Of course, of all the people in the town to visit today, it had to be Monoma. "You s-ure s-eem to love the sound of your voice. It's a wonder you haven't m-mated yourself yet." Came Izuku's tasertane reply.

Monoma may not have been the tallest or strongest man in the village, but he was taller than Izuku by a head and went from leaning against the mill door frame to pinning the smaller lad against the opposite wall in a matter of a few swift movements.

"Maybe I'll just mate you instead." The blonde snarled, baring his teeth.

"Oh? Who d-died and made you al-alpha? We might have to f-file those c-canines of yours first, unmarkable."

It was common knowledge that a beta could not leave a claiming mark with their teeth. A derogatory slang used for them was "unmarkable" because a beta could never claim an omega or another beta the way an alpha or even an omega could. Even though theirs could not grow as long as an alphas, an omega still had two very sharp little canines.

To a beta, "unmarkable" was an insult on any given day. To the pompous and prideful Monoma, it was a punch to the face.
"Why you little bitch!" The blonde grabbed Izuku's tunic by the collar, pulling him forward so their faces were inches apart. It took everything in Izuku to hide how his heart was threatening to jump right out of his chest. He hated Monoma. He hated the bully who had picked on him since they were kids. This was the future town leader and he was neither a leader nor a man yet. He was relieved that the beta couldn't smell his stressed scent.

"You're the lowest worm in our village, omega! You'll never get a real mate. The most you'll ever be good for is keeping me entertained when I'm in charge one day! Then you'll be thanking me for freeing you from your life of prison."

"Ch-changing one c-cage for another is n-not freedom." Izuku spat back, eyes flashing with anger. He had his hands on Monoma's, doing his best to not be lifted into the air. Internally, he was a panicking wreck, externally he bore a calm anger. The two teens locked eyes, commanding the other to look away. Suddenly, one of Monoma's hands let go of Izuku's shirt and a fist connected with his face, plowing past his nose and into his right eye.

Izuku crumpled to the floor with a scream, blood gushing from his broken nose. "You'll submit to me one day, omegan bitch!" The blonde towered over Izuku.  "And when you do maybe I'll be kinder. Until then, you get what you deserve for your insolence."

With that, Monoma spun on his heels and waltzed out of the grain mill, right as Izuku's father was coming back from his errand.
The man took one look at the bloody boy lying crumpled in the corner and sighed, as if he had come back to find a sack of barley had spilled all over the floor.

Grabbing a rag, he tossed it to his pup. "Clean yourself up and quit sobbing. Whatever he did to you I'm sure was for a good lesson. You're probably useless to me for the rest of the day now. Go home."

Staunching the blood flow with the rag, Izuku nodded tearfully and got up shakily. His father had already turned his back and was hefting a sack of grain to grind. The crying boy had been dismissed in less than a minute.

Izuku stumbled out of the mill and towards the general direction of home. He avoided the direct path there, opting for the woods. He didn't want anymore unpleasant encounters with the villagers since he wasn't being escorted home by his father like most days.

Soon enough the sobs turned to hiccups as he walked in the shade of the woods. He was a couple of stone throws off the path, not wanting to be heard trudging through the woods. Even though his nose was still bleeding and his right eye was swelling shut, Izuku had to admit that it was at least nice to be able to walk amongst the trees alone. It had been months since he had had the chance to be free for a bit. Calculating that his mother wasn't expecting his return yet, and knowing that his father would not be leaving the mill before sunset, Izuku weighed his options. He could walk home slowly and relish the small amount of freedom he had and get his face checked out by Inko sooner rather than later... Or...

Or I could actually have a few hours to myself. My face will hurt no matter what. If I can just get the bleeding under control I should be fine. And at least I'll get to be outside for a bit!

It was an easy choice for the boy to make. He turned northeast, veering away from the direction of home to the north. He knew exactly where he wanted to go. It was about a twenty minute walk deeper into the woods. The trees grew taller and older, their leaves thickening and blocking out more of the sunlight. Soon there were only dappled flecks of tinged light filtering through the forest trees. The sound of gurgling water caught Izuku's ears and he knew that he was close now.

Small streams and rivulets broke off from the large river that helped to power the mill. They stretched out throughout the countryside. One such stream meandered its way through these very woods. It was a particular spot near the stream that the boy was looking for. Soon enough, he found it.

In the middle of the woods there resided a small clearing. In the clearing was a massive pile of boulders and right up against them, a deep pool. The surface was dark and when unbroken, resembled a mirror. It was at this pool that Izuku knelt. Taking the bloody rag from his nose he plunged the cloth into the water. He hadn't realized how hot he had felt until the sudden cold kiss from the pool engulfed his hands and the rag.

He rung the blood from the cloth, putting the now much cleaner rag back up to his nose.
He sat only for a moment at the waters edge before deciding that he could let the blood stop while taking a dip in the pond.
Shrugging off his clothes, he slipped into the pond, still keeping one hand up to hold the rag to his face.
He shivered in delight at the coolness of the pond.
He closed his eyes as he walked out further from the earthy bank. In just a few moments the water was up to his chin. Pushing off with his toes from the leaves and the mud bellow him, he let his feet drift up to the surface, one arm out to steady him in the water. He floated like that, eyes closed, enjoying the peacefulness of the forest. Birds chirped high up in the trees. Squirrels chased each other playful from branches. Somewhere in the distance a twig snapped, probably from a deer.

Izuku let out a sigh of contentment. It was good to be in this sanctuary. He had discovered the pool as a kid. Even back when he had had friends he hadn't shared his secret place with anyone. It was his special place, a temple for his thoughts. And the best part-

That's right! How could I forget?

Izuku's eyes snapped open. His mother had taught him to swim as a young boy. He lazily kicked now, using the hand not holding a rag to his face to cup the water and push himself through the water towards the mound of boulders.

The rock formation looked like something a giant had made by taking a bunch of rocks and propping them helter-skelter on top of one another. Some jutted out over the pond a few feet. It wasn't long before he was next to them. Just like when he was a kid, Izuku found a small gap between two rocks and swam between them. It wasn't too tight of a fit, so long as Izuku submerged most of his body to get between the boulders. At one point he had to duck underneath the water entirely. When he resurfaced though he was in a small cave formed by the boulders piled together.

"Yes! Still here!" He shouted delightedly. Clambering from the water he was happy to find that the small cave had been left seemingly untouched in the past few years. It wasn't much really. There was enough space for Izuku to stand without hunching over. The cave was about two yards across each way. Small, but the perfect hidy-hole for a young boy years back.

There were a few small clusters of sticks, feathers, and leaves on the ground. Old nests from ducks most likely, but off in the corner was a small wooden chest. This was what Izuku had hoped would still be there.

Opening it, he found what he'd wanted. A thick candle, candle stick, and piece of flint were all at the top of the small chest. He had only used the candle for light when he had stayed out after dark. There was enough light to see in the cave during the daytime, as light peaked through several crevasses in the stone ceiling. It was what lay nestled under the candle that the lad was curious about.

Setting the candle and flint carefully to the side, Izuku lifted out different childhood treasures. There was a feather of a red tailed hawk, a chunk of rose quartz, a speckled white and grey rock that looked like an egg, a piece of gnarled tree root that twisted and turned in on itself. As he picked up each familiar trinket, Izuku smiled. These were all his from a time before he had presented, from a time when he had been carefree.
The,  he came to the bottom of the chest. There were three small necklaces fit for boys. The cords were leather strips braided together by nimble little fingers. On each braided chord, there hung a small pendant. Nut shells had been hollowed out, and each was carved with an animal. There was a wolf, a hawk, and a fox. Izuku had actually done a pretty decent job on the carvings. He had swiped a small pot of red dye from the village tanner and had soaked the carved shells in the dye for a few days, making the carved wood a crimson color.
He had made these with the hope of him, and the two kids he used to chase around the village as kids would present as alphas. Tetsu-Tetsu, blacksmith son of Tetsu-Tetsu, and a very bossy girl, Kendo, both had been fun to play with as kids.
Izuku smiled sadly at the three tokens. The cords were small and would probably be too short for the typically thicker necks of alphas. But to a scrawny boy they had seemed like the perfect sizes for neck wear. He wasn't sure why, but he decided to take the three pendants with him. He carefully pulled them from the chest then neatly packed everything else back in.
He wasn't sure when he would get the chance to come back, but he wanted some memory of himself to be out in the woods, free.

With a smile, Izuku also suddenly realized that his nose had stopped gushing blood. He had his pendants, his nose still throbbed but stung leds now, and his right eye was closed completely shut, but that also hurt less than before, and he was in his childhood hideout. Today had been a pretty good day, he decided.
He would take maybe one more hour to swim in the pond and enjoy the outdoors. He might even climb a tree or something, and then he would head home.

After making this decision, Izuku turned to exit the cave back into the water, only to jump nearly out of his skin! For there, sitting in the water looking up at him was a boy. Although, "boy" was a very loose term for the person before him.
A very muscular youth, no more than a year or two older than Izuku himself, grinned up at the green haired boy who had let out a deafening scream in the cave.

Wet, red hair was plastered to the newcomer's scalp. Matching red eyes looked up at Izuku amused, and the teeth behind the grin... Were filed into fangs.

Now, dear reader, this description might sound kind of frightening, put frankly. Red hair, red eyes, sharp teeth, big old' muscles. But what you have to realize is the dopey expression on the teen's face, paired with him quickly raising his hands placatingly and saying "hey, it's okay man! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" All put Izuku's nerves at ease rather quickly.

"Oh- uh, i-it's okay. I just wasn't expecting to s-see anyone in here is a-all."
"Why is that?" The red head cocked his head to one side, clearly curious, as though talking with naked boys in small caves was completely normal to him.

"Well, I-" Izuku tried to find the right words as he tried to cover his nether region with the rag he'd used for his nose, completely forgetting that the rag was still bloody.

"Jeez man! Is that blood? Are you okay?" The stranger asked, suddenly alarmed. He quickly clambered out of the water, butt naked as well. The muscles didn't stop, continuing to show how toned his body was down to his toes, Izuku noticed before looking away embarrassed. "Woah, wait... What happened to your face" The red head continued, consern in his voice. "And there are bruises all over your torso. Did you get in a fight or something?"

"Yeah, or s-something... But I-I'm okay." Izuku stammered, waving his hands in the air, accidentally dropping the cloth and the necklaces in his hast to reassure this complete stranger that he was fine.

With seemingly no concern for personal space, the stranger put his face up close to Izuku's. "There's barely any light coming through the cracks of these big rocks, but- is your nose broken man? Your eye doesn't look all that good either. You say you got these in a fight? That's crazy!"

Izuku was suddenly frozen in place. His senses were beginning to go absolutely haywire. As the bigger youth had approached, Izuku had seen that he had had to hunch his shoulders to avoid hitting his head on the rocky ceiling. Then he was just right next to Izuku and the sudden...

The sudden smell! I've never smelt anything like this before. It's like honey and cedar. Is this what an alpha smells like!?

The hairs on the back of Izuku's neck stood straight up. His head suddenly felt like it weighed one hundred pounds. Now that this strange boy had noticed the wounds they suddenly felt like they had just been delivered once more. Izuku took a step back, trying to clear his head, only to stumble over the chest behind him.

Oh hell!

He'd forgotten the chest was there! He started to fall, but right before his head came in contact with a rocky wall, the red head grabbed him by both arms.

"Hey there man! You don't look like you're doing so hot! Let's get you out of this cave into some fresh air, okay?"

His lungs weren't working. Why couldn't he breath? Izuku's heart hammered in his bruised chest. The hands gripping tight to his arm didn't hurt. They were firm but reassuring. But to an omega who had never in his life been around an alpha, they sent pure electricity arching up his arms and down his spine.

The omega's body, quite simply, had gone into shock.

The stranger took one look at the boy before him and without a moments hesitation he hoisted Izuku up into his arms and quickly made his way to the pool's surface, peaking out from between the mouth of two boulders.

"If I were you, I'd shut your mouth. We're going to be under water for a little. Take a deep breath!"

Izuku managed to snap back to himself enough to gulp in a deep breath of air before he and the stranger were under water.

It was only for a moment, but luckily, the sudden cold water shocked his system enough to reboot his body. Unfortunately, Izuku was not used to being carried on land, much less under water. He felt completely helpless, and he thrashed under the water reflexively.

The stranger may have saved him from hitting his head on a cave wall earlier, but it is very hard to keep someone who is convulsing in your arms, under water, while swimming between two submerged boulders, from banging their head against one of the boulders.

When Izuku's temple connected with the hard stone, he was out like a light.

~Kirishima's Point of View~

Oh gods above and bellow! I've killed him! I was trying to save him, and I killed him!

Kirishima, who was a gentle, caring soul, plowed his way quickly through the water. It was only a matter of moments before he was out of the water and hauling the limp form of this strange boy onto a patch of mossy soil.

There was a small scrape from the rocks on his forhead that was bleeding a bit, and the boy's mouth was hanging open. The worst part was that he wasn't breathing.

Crap! He's probably inhaled water.

Kirishima went into action. He cupped both of his strong hands over the greenette's chest, trying to avoid the blotchy bruises best he could, and pushed down, concentrating on counting as he did so.

After about twenty reps, the smaller boy's body convulsed suddenly, and he started coughing up water. He was still out cold, but he started gulping down air again, at least. Sighing in relief, Kirishima lay down next to the kid, his own chest heaving, not having realized that he had been holding his own breath for the past minute.

"Oi! Shitty hair! Where the fuck are you, ass!"

Kirishima grinned toothily. He knew that colorful language and harsh voice anywhere. "Just follow the sound of my gorgeous voice, Bakugou! You sound close!"

"Just shut up and tell me where you are!"

Kirishima laughed at that, making no move to sit up yet.

"Well which is it? Do I shut up or tell you where I am?"

His toothy grin grew as he heard booted feet tromping through the woods, getting closer with each step.

"You oaf, I was-" A tall blonde came out from a cluster of trees to the left of where Kirishima was resting. He cut himself off as he surveyed the scene before him. "What the actual fuck Ei? What's up with the naked kid next to you, and why are you naked!?"

The red head shrugged, finally sitting up.

"I saw this guy swimming as I was walking by. He didn't notice me at all and just went under water at one point by those giant rocks." Kirishima gestured to the mound of boulders. "When he didn't resurface I wanted to see where he'd gone. Turns out there is a small cave in those rocks! Who'd have thought!? So I decided to jump into the water and ended up in the cave. I didn't realize this guy was all battered until I got closer, but then he kind of just..."

"He just what, shitty hair?" The blonde asked, crossing his arms impatiently.

"He kind of... collapsed." Kirishima shrugged. "I'm not sure why. When I got close to him he just stiffened suddenly and then fell."
Bakugou wrinkled his nose. What kind of story was that?

"He just needed some help, is all. I figured it would be best to get him out of the cave into some fresh air, ya know? But he regained movement when we dipped under water to get out of the cave... And he hit his head against a stone slab... But I got him breathing again, and he seems to be doing better!"

"He stopped breathing at one point!?" Bakugou roared, incredulous. Kirishima winced at the booming yell. "Well, yeah, man. There was water in his lungs! But I took care of it!"

Kirishima looked up at his long time friend. The blonde had unkempt hair that stuck out every direction. His eyes were just as crimson as Kirishima's, and a constant scowl seemed to be glued to his face, at least... At least, when his mouth wasn't gaping open like it was now.

"What was that green bean even doing in the cave to begin with?" Bakugou asked, picking his jaw up off the ground.

"I'm not sure. But he was holding- ah crap!" The naked red head scuttled to his feet quickly. "Bakubro, watch him for a minute, would ya?"

Before the blonde could protest, the red head had jumped back into the pool and had disappeared under the rocks in a heartbeat.
"What is that red bastard even doing?" Bakugou muttered to himself.
Not long after, Kirishima was hauling himself back out of the water, with something wrapped around his hand.

"What have you got there?"

"Not sure, but this guy dropped 'em right before he fell." Kirishima said as he set the three necklaces down on Izuku's chest.

"Damn. This guy's got a lot of cuts and bruises. I wonder what from? He's either a fighter or damn clumsy." Bakugou said. "He said he got all those in a fight, if I remember correctly.  Kirishima's memory was notorious for being quite fallible.
Bakugou snorted, getting a good look at the boy sprawled out before him.

The boy had shaggy green hair that clearly needed a trim. Freckles dappled his face, but they continued down his torso and across his arms. His skin was extremely pale, like he didn't get out in the sun much. And the white of his skin helped amplify the mean bruises on his ribs, and the black eye he was sporting. To the blonde, the scrapes and bruises only added to the look. He found he wanted to know what this guy's eyes looked like. Overall, he looked...

"Beautiful." Bakugou muttered under his breath.

"What was that man?"

"Nothing."
The blonde tisked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Now put your damn clothes on. We have to be back at the camp before sunset, remember? And unless you managed to catch some fucking fish while your were swimming,  we still need to check the snares for dinner."

"Alright." Kirishima said reluctantly, heading over to the base of a tree where he had set his clothes earlier. "But what should we do about the omega?"

There was a pause as Bakugou and Kirishima looked at each other for a brief moment.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Katsuki asked.
Kirishima blinked. "What do you mean? I wasn't quiet. What are we gonna do about the omega boy? I feel bad just leaving him out here in the open. But- I mean, he probably has a home and family to return to... But I just feel bad leaving-"

"I know what you meant." Bakugou snapped, stepping closer to the comatose greenette. He sniffed the air. Having been in the pond water, his omegan scent had been faint. Kirishima had noticed it for the first time when expelling the water from Izuku's lungs. As Bakugou sniffed the air, he could make out the sweet scent of mint and strawberries.

How did I miss that before? No, the scent is faint. It's natural you didn't smell it sooner. He allowed himself the mistake.

"Well, would you look at that. A male omega." Was all he said.
"I know. I've only ever seen two before now." Kirishima said, his tunic and britches on already, now just lacing his leather boots.

Before either young man could decide what they should do, the omega began to stir.
Kirishima realized he was still totally naked and jumped up from his finished boots.

"I-I should find his clothes!" He said, his voice louder than he'd intended.

"Good idea." Was all Bakugou responded with, sitting down close to the omega and crossing his legs. "I'll wait here."

"Sounds good."

And with that, Kirishima began to circle the pond, jumping the brook that divided him from the other side, searching for any garments that could be the boy's.

~Izuku's Point of View~

As he started to regain consciousness, Izuku was very aware of his throbbing head. He felt like he'd banged his forehead against a brick wall. Groaning, he sat up, feeling something fall off of his chest.

The tokens? How did I get them out of the cave?
He wondered.

Then he smelled the tiniest traces of that alpha from before on the pendants and his head began to pound profusely. He groaned and clutched at his head. His hair was still damp, he realized.

"Hey, don't be an idiot and sit up so fast after likely getting a concussion." A gruff voice said, off to Izuku's right.

This only made Izuku jump, causing his head to pound even more. "Sorry, w-what?" He managed to say, expecting to see the red head as he turned, squinting his good eye.

"I said to take it slowly, moron." Came the turs reply.
Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin for the third time that day, because the person speaking to him may have had red eyes just like the sharp fanged fellow from the cave, but this guy was definitely not the red headed guy from before!
Instead, Izuku was now staring at a well toned blonde, with spiky hair that went every which-way.

"Um... Wh-who are you? And what are you d-doing here?" Izuku asked timidly. The blonde was just as big and intimidating as the redhead... More so even!

"Tsk! Doesn't matter what I'm doing here. I do as I please!" The rowdy blonde said, his voice loud, but not at a shouting level.
He noticed the omega seemed to shrink back at his words. Normally that would make the alpha smile. Intimidation was power. But for some reason, the frightened look of this green eyed boy didn't sit well with him, so for one of the few times in recorded history, he lowered his voice a bit. "My name is Katsuki Bakugou." He said proudly, thumping his chest. It was then that Izuku's head started clearing enough to realize that the blonde was wearing a red tunic.

Red! A second alpha!?

When Izuku gasped in shock, he inhaled the rich scent of caramel and autumn leaves. This was too much for him! His senses told him to bow his head, bare his neck, submit to this alpha. His body sent jolts of electricity down his spine, and his skin felt like it was being pricked by thousands of needles. It was just as overwhelming as the first time. And he ended up clutching his head in his hands and curling into a ball.

To further the panic welling up inside, he realized too that he was completely naked still!

It was at this moment, while Izuku was curled in a ball and Bakugou was sat beside him, mouth agape, unsure of what he had done to cause this kind of reaction, that Kirishima returned, holding a bundle of clothes.

"Hey man! I found these over-" the red head haulted in his tracks, taking in the scene before him. "Bakugou! What did you do!?" Kirishima ran forward quickly and knelt beside Izuku.
"I DIDN'T  DO A DAMN THING!" The blonde barked. The glare from his companion reminded him to lower his voice. "He just... He just fell over like that when I introduced myself! How hard did you ram his head into the stone, Ei?"

Sighing, Kirishima tried to get the greenette's attention. He could see the boy's chest rising and falling rapidly and sweat was beginning to bead on his brow. Both eyes were squeezed tight shut and he appeared to be in immense pain.

"Hey! Hey buddy!" Kirishima spoke gently, placing a hand on a shaking shoulder. "You don't look too hot. Can you tell my friend and I here what's going on so we can help?"

At the gentle touch, Izuku's good eye snapped open. "I- I d-don't know wha-what's wrong with m-mm-me." Izuku gasped out. "M-my b-body just f-feels out o-of control." Bakugou noticed that the shaking boy's eye was totally dilated, the iris blown wide.
"Are you going into heat?" He asked, worridly. "N-no. Not for a month or two y-yet." Izuku gritted out between clentched teeth. Then he shrank into an even smaller ball as he realized something. "Y-you can tell I'm an o... an omega?" He stammered, not looking at the two worried faces.

Bakugou snorted at this. "Of course we can, idiot. Alphas can always smell an omega. That's common knowledge!"

A thought suddenly struck Kirishima, who had been desperately trying to think of what could be happening to this poor omega.
"Hold on! Hey, pal, what's your name? I'm Kirishima."

The naked boy, peaked up at the smiling red head cautiously. "Iuku Midoriya." He managed, without a stutter. "It's nice to meet you, Izuku Midoriya! Tell me, are there any alphas where you live?"

Izuku shook his head in the negative. Tears started running down his face.

Both alphas looked at each other, eyes wide.
That's why he was so overwhelmed!

Bakugou had heard that alphas were scarce to the west, but he would not have thought to ask that question like Kirishima had.
He had been useless!

As for the red head, he managed to carefully take Izuku's hands and pull him up into a sitting position. "Hey now, you're fine, Midoriya! I'm sorry. We didn't know! There are lots of alphas where my friend," Kirishima glanced at Bakugou, "and I come from!"

Izuku, for his part, gripped tight to the hands holding his, but his eyes starred down at the ground, his breathing still hard. "Hey, do you think you could look at me?" Kirishima asked gently. Izuku slowly lifted his head. "Great!" Kirishima beamed. "Now, just slow your breathing. I've heard it can be overwhelming having alphas around when you've probably only come into contact with a few, huh."
Izuku sniffed and took a shaky breath. "Y-you're the first I've met. I-I didn't think  I'd h-have this kind of r-reaction is all."

Two sets of crimson eyes went wide. "We're the first?" Kirishima asked. "The first alphas you've ever met?" Bakugou echoed, incredulous.

A freckled head nodded in affirmation. "Ah jeez man. I would have tried to mask my scent better if I'd known! I'm sorry!" Kirishima stammered out, abashed. Bakugou snorted. "Like you've ever been good at that." Then he turned his attention to Izuku. "Here," he picked the pile of clothes up off the ground where Kirishima had set them. "How about you put these on. It's a little distracting talking to someone who's completely undressed."

Izuku's face turned redder than Kirishima's hair. "Oh, right!" He yelped, letting go of the hands that had helped ground him. He hastily stood up, trying to ignore how dizzy he felt. He turned his back and put his clothes on as quickly as he could. Once that was out of the way, he turned back around to see both alphas had respectfully averted their eyes. Now that the threat of Izuku passing out again was gone, he could have sworn a pale pink tinge had crept up on the blonde's cheeks. But when he blinked the man's face was back to being the sun kissed tan from before.

"Feeling a little better?" The red head asked with a toothy smile. "I think s-so." The greenette responded tentatively.
"You've got something on your mind. I can see it in your face. Just spit it out already." The one called Bakugou said, blunt as a hammer.

Izuku played with the hem of his worn tunic, casting his gaze to the earthy ground. "W-well, i-i-it's just..." He cursed internally. He hated his stutter. It only seemed to grow worse with each passing day of his father's glares and his mother's numbed expressions. With the intense gaze of these two strangers it was especially amplified.

Don't they know?

Izuku took a shaky breath and finally looked up to meet those twin gazes. Starting again, he blurted out, "Why a-are y-you two being s-so nice to me?"

There was a pause while Kirishima and Bakugou exchanged glances. The blonde's face maintained a turse expression, but the red head smiled at Izuku and jabbed Bakugou in the ribs playfully. "I don't know why you think my friend here is being nice. He's a stubborn ass. But you're human, just like us, right?" Kirishima said, dodging a jab from Bakugou as he spoke.

"Damn shitty hair." Bakugou muttered before turning his attention to the confused and worries looking omega. "We treat people however the fuck we want. Let me guess, you're from some town that doesn't accept male omegas, aren't you?"

This time Kirishima was the one surprised at his friend's knowledge, because Izuku nodded in the affirmative, tears beginning to grow at the corners of his eyes.

"Hey!" Bakugou barked. "I never said we were from from a town like yours. So quit those tears! Don't act like the weakling your people just assume you are." Bakugou glared.
Kirishima was positive that the sharp tone and words would send this little omega into sobs. He knew this was Bakugou's way of trying to encourage the boy before them, but Kirishima was one of only a handful of people who knew when Katsuki Bakugou was being caring.

So when Izuku straightened up and furiously rubbed away the tears in his good eye, Kirishima was more than a little surprised. "You're right!" The greenette exclaimed, clenching his fists. "I have to p-prove to th-them that I'm not weak!"

Kirishima stared, dumbstruck, as his companion stepped close to Izuku and lifted a rough hand, tipping the Omega's chin up, making one green eye look at two stern red ones. "That's the spirit! Show those morons they can't walk all over you. Don't let 'em beat you down. You're stronger than that. Got it?"

Izuku nodded emphatically, squinting his good eye in what Kirishima could only assume was an attempt at a fierce expression. The scene of the powerful alpha holding the chin of the omega who stood a head and a half shorter than him was comical. But the other alpha didn't laugh. "Got it!" The omega chirped.

"Good." Bakugou said, clearly satisfied. A lopsided grin crawled onto his face and he moved his hand from the smaller lad's chin up to his green hair, ruffling the locks approvingly.

"Remind them who's boss. Now, I think we'd better be off," the blonde said, gesturing to Kirishima. "Oh, right." Izuku said, hiding his disappointment. He glanced up at the trees, trying to see what kind of light trickled through the leaves. Sunset would be approaching soon.
"I need to b-be home soon m-myself!" He realized he'd let the time get away from him. He'd need to hurry to be home before his father! He stepped away from the alphas hastily. "It was nice m-meeting both of you! I h-hope we can m-meet again someday, Bakugou, Kirishima!"

Kirishima let out a toothy grin. "Yeah! It was nice meeting you too! Take care of yourself, but if you need rescuing again just say the word!" Bakugou just snorted, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

Izuku started jogging in the general direction home, waving behind him as he went. "Bye! Thank you f-for your help! Bye!"

His head hurt as his feet pounded against the earthen ground. He may have gotten some good muscle built up from the strenuous labor of working his father's mill, but his cardio wasn't the best.

I can endure the pain. My head feels like it wants to split in two. I can't pick up the pace any. But I just have to maintain it otherwise...

He let his thoughts trail off. He didn't want to think about what would happen if his father made it home for the night before him.

He slowed his pace as the treeline's end grew nearer. The sun was almost hidden from view by this point. Rich shades of pinks and purples painted the twilight sky. Izuku could make out the various hues through the thinning trees. He had made his way through the woods until he was at the spot closet to the clearing that led to the road right in front of his family's cottage. He stopped behind a tree at the edge of the wood. His mother had the fire lit in the hearth. He could see the smoke spouting up out of the chimney. He listened for voices, knowing that if his father had made it home first, there would be a high chance of shouts coming from the cottage.
Izuku let out a sigh of relief when he heard only the sounds of a few birds and the chirps of crickets.
Looking down the path, he could just make out a lone, hulking figure coming down the road.

Father! I need to hurry!

Izuku dashed out from his hiding spot and made it all the way to the yard in front of his house when he managed to trip over a jagged stone that was jutting up out of the earth.
He let out a yelp as he went down. Arms out to protect his face. This was just not his day, apparently. Luckily, he managed to catch himself, but his head was definitely pounding after his mad run to the house. Sinking all the way to the ground, he rolled over, groaning as he clutched his injured head.

"Izu? Is that you, honey?" Inko asked, opening the door after she'd heard the noise outside. "My baby! What happened?"
She rushed outside and was lifting Izuku's head into her lap within moments. "It's nothing, mom." Izuku said, trying to sit up, embarrassed. "I just ran into something while at the mill. Father sent me home... B-but I tripped and hit my head on a rock, s-see?" He turned his head so his mom could see the bloody bump on the side of his head. "I'm n-not sure how long I w-was knocked out for after th-that, but I got up and came h-home as s-soon as I c-could. I had to get back b-before..."

Inko smiled sadly as she helped her son up off the ground. "I know baby. But you're back now. So let's get you inside and cleaned up. That looks like a nasty black eye. And I think your nose is broken." The two walked inside and Izuku was sitting on a chair by the fire in no time, his mom taking proper care to bandage up all the bumps and bruises Izuku had received throughout the day.

Shortly after Inko had finished her task, the cottage door swung open and in stomped Izuku's father. He hardly glanced at his son, sitting by the fire before turning his attention to his wife. "It's been a long day and I'm starving. He needs to be back in his room. I'm sure he's had plenty of time out here."

Inko frowned slightly, looking between her husband and their son, but simply nodded. She and Izuku had both learned the hard way to never argue with the man of the house. "Of course dear. Izu, honey, head on over to your room. I'll bring both of you your supper."

And with that, the male omega's day filled with many various types of excitement began to wrap up.
He was back to being a prisoner in his room, and he would continue to be so unless his father called him to work the mill.
Izuku sighed as he shut his bedroom door behind him. Even though his whole head and face throbbed, he was glad he had gotten to go outside that day. He didn't know when he would ever get another chance to walk freely outdoors, and it had been nice to go back to his old childhood haunt.

And you got to meet not one, but two alphas!

He ate his dinner quietly once Ink brought it to him- a simple lamb stew. Then, he curled up on his straw mat, careful to sleep with his head resting on his good side. It took a few hours of laying there miserably, his head aching, but he eventually nodded off, with his final thoughts being

I really hope I can meet them both again one day. There was just something about them...