I'll do my best!

@nastylamb

"Yes, this cardboard box you shoved me in is just the perfect picture of safety and comfort." Yukio hisses, although he makes no effort to escape just yet, having been caught by Eraserhead of all people after he had tried and failed to snatch some random passerby's lunch.

@rcbcllixvs

"Oh, you don't say? I almost didn't notice." Yukio hisses from his perch on a window sill, being protected from the hail thanks to an awning hovering right above the window. The weather had gotten atrocious the last few weeks, making finding food even more difficult for the shifter, as well as finding new places to sleep and rest for the day with the cold settling in.

@rcbcllixvs

"Eh? Oh, oh yes! Cats are adorable!" Yukio chimes, snapping his head up when a voice calls out to him, gaze slanting up to see the student who had approached him. Today marked a massive training segment for UA, with multiple classes grouping together to mix and match student groups together, combing under and upper classman with randomly selected groups and teams. The goal was apparently to teach the majority of the student body to learn and adapt to working with different people and different types of Quirks without prior knowledge of them.

     The gears must have been turning, but Nia retains her silence and patience as she continues to wait for how he’ll respond. It wasn’t like she was in a rush to get anywhere, though maybe the League was waiting on her and she was running a bit late to the meeting but they would understand if she explained her situation.

     There’s a quiet exhale of a breath she didn’t even realize that she had been holding as his form starts to shift again. It was a fascinating Quirk, one she’d not quite seen the likes of before. A million questions burn at the tip of her tongue but she holds her restraint, carefully handing over the partially nibbled bun when he finally accepts her offering. 

     “I’m… Nia, by the way….” She begins. May as well start with her own introduction, even if she decides to keep her full name out of it. She could have used the fake name she used as a civilian, but it didn’t feel right to her. “Do you mind… if I ask you… why you were… eating like that…?”

Once the bun is within grasp, Yukio harshly snatches it out of her hands before stuffing a good portion of it into his mouth, manners be damned as he chews quickly and swallows such a large bite. He repeats the process until there is nothing left and he’s now just left with the woman, crumbs smeared along his face as he finds himself standing awkwardly before her.

“Erm...thanks?” He mutters in response to the offered food.

The woman introduces herself as Nia, and Yukio doesn’t find the name...unpleasant as he pronounces it in his head. It’s enough to lightly unhunch his shoulders, as so far Nia hadn’t made any move to hurt him nor had he detected any ill intent. Her question has him confused, until he glances back towards the trash can he had been riffling through...Oh yeah, that.

     It wasn’t difficult to see that he was skittish. He had every right to be suspicious of her motives, this world had become so apathetic. Why bother helping anyone when the Heroes will do it? But Nia knew better than that.

     Nia takes another bite, this one smaller than the last as she barely nibbles off of one of the corners. Her bloodshot eyes watching the little shape for movements. She debated chasing after him if he ran, but would that instill confidence in her actions? Probably not.

     “Mm, I think… I’m good right now….” She answers simply. “Nothing I… want is anything you… can give me and I’m… not into asking… favors of strangers. I take it… that you’re much the… same. However, I’m offering without… the need for compensation. Sound good…?”

The woman claimed that she wanted nothing in return, and Yukio couldn’t read anything in her expression that hinted that she might have been lying. Not that he was exactly an expert in judging people, but he had learned to pick up certain miniscule changes in people’s expression and postures that aided him in detecting if something was amiss. It’s enough to have the shifter scurry closer to her, the gnawing pain in his stomach serving as motivation as he stops just a step before her.

From there, Yukio decided to shift back to his normal form, with bones and organs reshaping and resizing as the mouse began growing in size, fur receding and snout pushing in until Yukio is back as himself, weary eyes trained sharply on the woman before him.

It talked! The wolf talked! A shapeshifter, or maybe an animal with enhanced intelligence…?

Shizuka stares at the animal(?) in the alley with wide eyes, taking a few steps back but not leaving just yet, panic receding now that she knows the wolf has no intention of attacking in favor of concern. With the wolf sitting upright, Shizuka can clearly see its (his? theirs?) ribs even underneath the thick fur. Whatever (whoever?) the wolf is, it hadn’t seen a full meal in a while, and Shizuka feels a pang in the pit of her stomach at remembering how it felt, that awful feeling of emptiness.

“…”

Paper and plastic crinkles as Shizuka shifts the bags in her arms so she can drop one that contains one or two bags of beef jerky, a few convenience store bento boxes and trays of sushi, at her feet so she can carefully nudge it towards the wolf with the tip of her boot. Taking another step back, she stares at the wolf for a long moment, then at the bag she left on the cement, then back again.

The message is clear. Take it.

Despite his seemingly lax posture sitting upright, Yukio’s spine is practically rigid as he watches the stranger’s movements carefully. He observes different emotions flickering through her expression, but nothing that sets off warning bells that she might attack him, which is why he stays put. After all, this was where he had decided to crash for the day, and he really didn’t have the energy to find a new place to sleep.

The shifter’s ears perk up when the woman begins shuffling through her bag, pulling out multiple items and setting them into the dirty concrete below. He can smell the whiff of meat, fish, and whatever is stored within the bento boxes. Food, she was offering him...food?

With the sight of food, Yukio is reminded that he himself had not had a decent meal in days, and that gnawing pain of hunger settles deep in the pit of his stomach. Once the lady steps back after setting quite a few things on the ground, Yukio feels compelled to get back on his feet and inch closer towards the food, occasionally glancing up at her to ensure this wasn’t a trick.

Once he was within distance, Yukio allows himself to shift back to his usual form, fur receding and bones and organs rearranging until not before the woman is a large wolf, but instead a ragged teenager, whose hair was oily and matted, the shoddy clothing he wore dirty and much too large for his small frame. Sunken but alert eyes are casted in her direction once more, before Yukio reaches for one of the bags of jerky and tears into it.

Yukio practically wolfs down the first bag, nearly choking once or twice from how much he was shoving into his mouth as he ate swiftly and ravenously. After he is finished with the first bag, his attention is drawn towards the woman once more, and his guarded expressions softens ever so slightly as his gaze falters.

Reishi panted as he pressed his back to the dirty brick wall soon as he’d turned the corner into the alley, trying to flatten himself against it to keep hidden until the cops decided he wasn’t worthy to chase anymore. He hadn’t even been doing anything like robbing a store or anything when they found him, he’d just been wandering around, minding his own business. He had to wonder if there were still missing posters of him after three years…

The snarl coming from deeper in the alley had him jumping in surprise, and for the first time Reishi noticed he wasn’t alone, a kid around his own age was glaring at him, poised like they were ready for a fight. Ah damn, his Quirk’s range must’ve expanded again, usually at that distance it wouldn’t affect someone unless they got up close and personal with him but he’d learned pretty early that the area of effect would grow exponentially in response to negative emotions like fear or anger, like some twisted defence mechanism. While it could be useful under certain circumstances, it got him in trouble just as often.

Reishi lifted a finger to shush the other teen, but too late, his chasers must’ve heard him and their footsteps were getting closer and closer. Without thinking, Reishi tackled the kid, pressing them against the opposite wall and slapping a hand over their mouth to keep them quiet.

“Quiet, you idiot, you’ll get the both of us caught!” Reishi whisper-yelled close to the kid’s face before growing quiet, almost not breathing as the footsteps stopped at the entrance of the alley, at least three different voices exchanging a few words before the footsteps retreated, the alley growing blissfully quiet after a long moment and Reishi almost sagged in relief. That was a close call…

Yukio hadn’t expected a raggedy looking guy to come skulking around the corner, seemingly just as panicked as Yukio had been upon catching wind of him. Worse yet, Yukio’s sharp ears could also pick up the sound of multiple footsteps heading in the same direction as well. The fact that he also couldn’t seem to shift into his usual animal forms was also something that was leading him towards an approaching panic attack, and the guy suddenly lunging at him didn’t do the shifter’s anxieties any favors.

The blond’s shout is cut off when a hand is pressed against his mouth, cutting off any noise as Yukio is flattened against the wall. Outside of his animals forms, Yukio himself wasn’t exactly very strong or intimidating. He was a malnourished teen surviving on scraps on the streets, face gaunt and body thin where stolen clothes swallowed his figure, along with extremely unkempt and matted hair. To say that overpowering him wasn’t a hard feat was an understatement. 

For better or worse, Yukio does freeze on the spot as the other pairs of footsteps approached the entrance of the alley following the random stranger’s warning, daring to not even breathe if that would alert any more people to his existence. The blond trembles under the other’s weight pressing against him, heart hammering against his ribs as his fight or flight response battles against his need to remain silent.

Yukio had been wandering through multiple alleys throughout the day, shifting through garbage bins and occasionally sneaking into ‘Lost and Found’ boxes throughout the city scavenging for anything useful. So far the teen had managed to survive four years on the street without being caught, and he intended to keep it that way.

The shifter had just been about to hop into a nearby dumpster when suddenly his body felt strange, as if he no longer had control of it, his fur receding and body growing and expanding until-

“!!!!” He was suddenly back in his humanoid form, complete shock overtaking his features. He still had plenty of time before he was at his limit, so why did he..?

Even without being able to shift, Yukio still had unnaturally keen senses that couldn’t be shut off, which is how he’s able to both hear and smell that someone was right around the corner of the alley. Someone who was entirely too close for comfort-

     “I suppose… that’s reasonable….” She muses, although the shape change was certainly a surprise. What an interesting Quirk, but rather than chase behind him she sits herself down on the ground where she had been standing.

     Her movements are slow as she reaches into her bag, withdrawing a large red bean bun that she had been carrying with her. Unwrapping it to take a bite out of the snack.

     “…You sure you… don’t want half?”

Yukio keeps his eyes trained on the mysterious woman, keeping himself alert and ready to flee at the first sign of danger. Tension wracks his frame when he detects movement, although the stranger’s motions are slow as she reaches into a bag and pulls out some kind of bun. The sight is enough to make his mouth water, and his stomach to ache, having not had a decent meal in days.

The offer is tempting, but Yukio hadn’t survived so long on the streets without being cautious and making the right calls.

Shizuka hates leaving the base on her own, but she ran out of snacks and there is no way she can survive without any long enough for someone to be available to accompany her.

So here she is, one hour and one near panic attack later, bags of snacks hanging from her arms and clutched to her chest, speed walking down some back alley to get home as fast as she can…

…which might take a bit longer than expected when she trips over something rather large when she rounds the corner into another alley, barely managing not to lose her footing or drop her bags as she regains her balance.

“!!!!!”

If her voice worked, she’d scream when she realizes that the thing she tripped over is a sleeping wolf.

As soon as Yukio felt a weight collide into his ribs he was jolted immediately awake, a snarl erupting from him as his blackened lips are drawn upwards to bare teeth as he frantically finds the source of his disturbance. Golden eyes fall to a woman stumbling away from him, her own eyes wide as she stares at him.

The shifter forces himself onto weary legs, his glinted gaze locked onto her figure as his body tenses, sparing a few seconds to see if she tried anything, whether that be fleeing from him or trying to attack him. When neither happens, he snorts and sits himself upright, his own panic starting to ease as logic and reason come to mind. She had probably just tripped over him on accident or something.

Staring starry eyed and slack jawed up at Mirko’s hero agency, his scouting application held tightly in his hands. This was one of the agencies he had been recommended to!

So with all the new followers coming in, consider this a mini starter call