Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku was in love.
He wishes the admission was an easy one. Something he didn’t have to agonize over with every new dawn Like, what the fuck? Why did he have to suffer like this? Constantly under the pressure of being heart achingly in love with someone.
It’s not even like they could be together. Not with their history. Not with the way their relationship currently was. Barely were they friends.
Izuku wanted more. So much more.
But it wasn’t realistic, so he bit his tongue and turned away. He wonders if Katsuki’s noticed the distance he’s been forcing between them. If he’s figured out why Izuku looks so pained whenever their patrols happen to line up.
Well, doesn’t matter now.
Because, goddamnit, Izuku’s in a situation.
He’d been on patrol with the object of his affections cruising down roads and highways, taking down any villains they come across. They had to split up after word got out about their comings, the crooks who are familiar with their patrol route hiding in the alleys they don’t usually pass through. Not tonight, though, as they made sure they had all their bases covered.
So, Izuku had been alone, ears raised to catch the explosions booming somewhere far off in the background. Crimson eyes flashes across his mind’s eye, paired with large hands and strong jaw, tightly hugged costume… So, in short, he’d been distracted. Pretty dang distracted.
He hadn’t caught the hand coming for him until it was too late. He’d only had his head slightly turned to the left by the time it had slapped against the back of his knuckles, what quirk the other possessed already passing through the brief contact. Whatever it had been, didn’t affect him immediately, but Izuku knew it would only be a matter of time before it did. His opponent was very obviously stalling, trying to buy as much time as he could.
Smoke climbed up his nostrils, and it was only a second he had to fall back as Katsuki flew through, casting explosion after explosion at the offender. He looked gorgeous like this, face smeared with blood and breaths being drawn in heaving gasps, and yet even with the physical exertion, he was still smiling, cackling madly as he tumbled through the air, high off the energy of defeating this villain.
“Oi!” He shouted, voice an enchanting timber. “You dead?”
“Not yet!” Izuku called back after a pause, trying to pull some oxygen into his lungs so he didn’t straight up pass out. “Code Violet and orange.” He pants, which means His quirk is touch based. He got me, but I don’t know what the effects are or how long it’ll take until it activates. Isn’t immediate, takes time.
Katsuki lets out a curse under his breath, eyes sharpening into a glare. “Tap out if ya’ need to. I can take care of this fucker without you.” And with that, he was charging back in a cloud of billowing smoke.
And of course, when the visibility was absolute shit, is when that quirk finally decided to kick in, consuming him in a torturous, heart stopping moment where his eyes were rolling back and his bones were shrinking shrinking shrinking.
If anyone asked him to describe the pain he felt in those few seconds before passing out, he’d say, in total honesty, that it was the worst thing he’s ever felt.
…
“...Just put them in his locker. We’ll have someone come by later to professionally examine it.” Says a voice, fuzzy and somewhere off in the distance as Izuku slowly comes to his senses. It’s pitch black. “It’s probably best if you take some time off, Dynamight. We don’t know if this was a planned attack, and if it was then we don’t know if it’ll come for you next.”
There’s a string of curses that come from somewhere too close by. It trembles across his breath, furious and scared all the same. It argues, and Izuku can almost see the way that his face is probably twisted with rage and regret. There’s an acceptance there, as well, like he’d been aware of the new even before he was told.
There’s a halt in conversation, a dismissal, and Izuku’s entire world is flipped upside down. It’s incredibly disorienting, trying to say something but it coming out as a flurry of spitting and hissing. His mind is overrun b a plethora of different feelings. He tries to orientate himself, maybe spread out his hands or something, but something is so fundamentally wrong about the action that it has a whole new wave of dizziness washing over.
A pause- and then the world, once shrouded in darkness, is blinding. He tries to close his eyes- tries, because for some reason his eyelids don’t want to respond to his command, and has to suffer against the light until it finally clears up. He clambers against something, gets thrown back with nothing to grapple onto, and lands against a soft surface.
He gets about a few seconds to look down and- hey, whys the ground so close? Where are his legs? His hands? What are these… nubs, that are attached to him?
Something soft gets thrown over his head, and it’s a miracle that he isn’t squished when the walls close in. Well, sure, it’s not the best fit and there definitely isn’t any wiggle room, but atleast his bones aren’t creaking under the pressure. (He does still have bones… right?)
Ok. This is fine. So, he’s most likely been hit with some kind of transformation quirk. Not the worst thing that can happen. It definitely wouldn’t be the first case, not after pro hero hawks got turned into an armadillo. There were memes about it for the next month or so that followed before the general public seemed to forget about it entirely.
There were procedures for this. If you’re turned into an animal, find the closest hero and have them bring you home. It’s why it wasn’t uncommon for heroes to pick up any stray that walks up to you. (The footage of Kirishima housing an entire Alligator had been another internet sensation. Unfortunately, the gator was just an animal and not an unfortunate victim. (Did Kirishima keep the alligator? Is that why he moved into a more expensive house and had to work almost triple the hours?))
Keyboards and notepads would be available for the animals to use if they needed to communicate something. Hopefully, Katsuki would find him, set him on his laptop, and this whole situation can be over. For until the quirk wears off.
The world is moving against and he has to hold his breath to not puke. Can the animal he’s currently stuck as barf? He knows rats can’t… Oh god, he hopes he’s not a rat, Katsuki might kick him out otherwise due to PTSD from UA’s principal, Nezu.
He’s something small, that’s for sure, able to be stuck inside whatever compartment this is. If he had to guess, he would say that this is the case for Katsuki’s hero suite. The fabric smells- tastes- (he doesn’t know, he literally doesn’t have nostrils what is this sensation?) of nitroglycerin.
He worries for a moment about being stuck in his locker at the agency, but is quickly soothes when a deep rumble reverberates. A car, he assumes. If Katsuki’s on leave, then he’ll be taking the case over with him, likely to look it over for any damage and writing down any new ideas to enhance the suit.
Over the working days, heroes aren’t allowed to take their suites home. They have to leave them at the agency to be fixed up by the support and costume department. They can only take it to otherplaces during days off. Which is good, because as comfortable as this place is, it’s definitely going to suffocate him if he stays for too long.
He’s unsure as to how long it takes until the car finally stops for a final time. The case in sound proof, so if anything was said or done on the outside world, then he genuinely doesn’t know.
Some more moving- and then the pressure against his sides is gone, light pooling in through the top layer of clothes. Katsuki’s voice floods in, a bunch of insults muttered under his breah. His feet stomp against wood, before their drifting away, somewhere further into the building.
Slowly, Izuku uses whatever light there is to take stock of the species that he was. What he finds, however, is far, far less than ideal. He takes it back. He’d rather be the rat. He’d rather be the rat.
As of right now, Izuku is sporting about eight legs, eyes, fur, and not a single bone.
Goddamnit. He’s a spider.
Now he doesn’t just have to worry about getting a message across, he also has to worry about being
squished.