OI! YA WANNA TUSSLE?!

As he listened to his mate, Achim took another big bite he hungrily gobbled up without chewing a whole lot. Also, he promptly almost choked on the pickles at the mental image that flashed in his head. “PFFFT-!” and that was it, he burst into a messy, heartfelt laughter. “Hahaha! S-Sorry, dude, i-i-i just-…!” more laughter. “I just had this image of you only shifting your head an-an-and-” another round of laughter, this time, strong enough to make him fall backwards unto the grass. “An-And your head it’s too big an-and you just-just…TUMBLE OVER! CUS’ IT TOO HEAVY!” his laughter is so strong it brings a high pitch to his otherwise neutral, boyish tone of voice. And honestly, it’s no ill intent at all, it’s just him and his wild imagination.

It’s only about a minute later when he manages to regain some composure, leaning up to sit upright again and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “Oh, boy…! Sorry, dude, it’s really cool that you thought of that, it actually is! But i couldn’t help it, man…!” oh man, it’s been a while since he got the giggles like that. He’d almost spilled the half eaten burger everywhere when he tumbled over. True, the hand holding it was now extra messy now, but whatever. Achim will resolve by his… wiping his hand unto the grass. 

However, his mood drops a little when Theo asks him about his training. He should’ve seen it coming. “Eh, it’s coming along ok-ish.” he says with a bit of a shrug. “I mean, i’m still juggling what exactly triggers it, y’know? I can’t really find the-the… the thing that just makes me go woof!” hands gesticulate into the air, as if mimicking a small explosion. “It’s not exactly something i can train very well too. I only used it like…3 times? And each time it was a gut feeling. Like, i gotta go for it, right now, otherwise bad stuff will happen and i won’t be able to stop it.” 

He just finished his first burger and suddenly Achim burst into a fit of laughter, making him raise an eyebrow at him confused. Moving his hand over to pat his friends back a bit to make sure he doesn’t end up choking or something, he did inhale that burger before losing it.

“Don’t choke on me, dude.” Theo continued patting his friends back a bit as Achim continued laughing while trying to explain himself at the same time. He couldn’t help but laugh loudly after his classmate finally got out what the hell made him lose his mind. “Bloody hell...! That would be something and be looking like I just had a mascot head on if I did that.” He pat Achim’s back a bit too hard one last time before moving his hand away, after he knew he wasn’t in any danger of choking.

Theo snickered lowly, unwrapping his second burger and took a large bite out of it as he listened to his friend. “Mmmm tis fine” He chuckled, glancing at Achim and made sure to swallow his food before speaking again, his Maw made sure he didn’t speak with his mouthful. Which he was appreciative of, even if he wasn’t exactly when he was a kid. “Thanks man! I haven’t quite... uh, got it down yet and I can for about? Thirty seconds right now before I either fully revert back or I completely transform. But hey! Even it lasting for thirty seconds could mean all the difference, right?” He grinned widely a moment, before his smile soon faded after seeing Achim droop down beside him. 

Ah... shit, he wasn’t thinking. He knew this was still a sore spot for his friend, even if he hadn’t expressed it out loud. 

“Ok-ish is better than straight up no.” He gently nudged Achim’s arm with his elbow. “I also know exactly what you mean, mine was kinda the same? Though I knew for sure, once I bloody realized it, that I’d transform when I was upset, or rather when I was pissed the fuck off. How I got my nickname, ‘ Hulk ‘ growing up. Since... you know, his whole thing was ‘always being angry’ and he’d transform when super pissed.” Honestly he didn’t hate the nickname after awhile and just went with it, and almost used it as his hero name.

“What I mean is that you’ll get it eventually I know it, it’s just taking yea a bit since it’s something that doesn’t happen a lot. Wish I could help you train it better, ya know? Plus you wouldn’t really do a lot of damage to me if I transform as I’m pretty damn resilient and tough.” He moved his arms up to flex his muscles with a large smile. 

There’s the glint of mischief in his eyes and a downright, up-to-no-good grin tugging at his mouth when he got the approval for the plan. Good, thank God, Ectoplasm was one of the few teachers that actually managed to really freak him the heck out every time they had classes together. Not through any fault of the Hero, it’s just Achim that can’t really digest properly a quirk that lets you multiplicate yourself through spitting weird, silvery goo stuff. 

“Cool, let’s bail!” he wastes no time in throwing his bag over his shoulder and sprinting the heck out of the class. They needed to get out of the campus before break is over if they we’re going to have any chance at this. 

Some 20 minutes later, they’re settled underneath a tree in the park and the young man is messily and greedily biting down unto a poorly wrapped burger. The lower part of his face is already speared with grease and cheap ketchup and Achim finds it perfectly acceptable to wipe himself clean with the sleeve of his uniform. “So-!” he starts between bites, nudging his friend with his elbow. “How’s combat training? Got any new moves you’re working on…?”

.

Theo let out a loud laugh as Achim bolted seconds after speaking, he of course followed quickly after while still laughing. UA wouldn’t be nearly as fun, and or spontaneous without Achim there.

The pair of them were quite quick on their feet, even before using their quirks and arrived at the burger place in record time. Hopefully Ectoplasm won’t be too angry with them for not coming to class later, if they can’t sneak in without him noticing they were gone.

Theo plopped himself beside Achim, taking a large bite out of one of the two burgers he got for himself. Making sure to try keeping the burger contents inside the wrapper and not all over himself. Which was easier said than done as the burger was so greasy along with the rest of the condiments inside.

“Mmm?” He glanced down at his friend, making sure to finish chewing and then swallowing what was in his mouth before speaking. “It’s going pretty good! Been working on seeing if I can partly shift instead of fully shifting. Say.... just making my arms larger to protect someone, and or myself while not getting really big. Cuz ya know places aren’t always gonna be big enough for my big ass once I shift using my quirk” He laughed loudly, cleaning off some ketchup off of his cheek and licking it off after.

“DUDE!” a shout of pure excitement, loud enough to disrupt the peace of fellow surrounding students once it erupts. The young man does acknowledge it, but quickly grabs his bag, tosses it over one shoulder and rushes by the side of his mate. True, that hit on the back kinda pushed all the air out of him, but he found himself chortling with all his heart. 

“It’s like two more hours till dinner, ya big ogre…!” a vague attempt at playfully punching his arm. He swears, Theo was always hungry. “I could go for a cheap, greasy burger… what’cha say, wanna skip Mr Ectoplasm’s course?” a mischievous grin tugs at the corners of his mouth while bushy brows give him a little wriggle. 

Theo continued to grin widely down at Achim, he was so glad to have met this dork and become friends with him, made classes and training a whole lot more fun. He moved his hand from Achim's back, up into his hair to give it a quick ruffle before moving his hand back to his side.

“Is it really?” He wrinkles his nose a bit, he could’ve sworn it was later during the day. The punch to his arm made him laugh as it didn’t hurt in the slightest, though he knew his friend wasn’t exactly trying to hurt him. “Oooh a greasy burger sounds damn good...” He perked up at the suggestion of the chose of food and skipping Mr. Ectoplasm’s course. “That is mighty, miiiiighty tempting.”

"Oi! Achim!!” Theo called out to his classmate with a large grin, patting his back a bit roughly once reaching him. It was how he showed affection and also he loved the reaction Achim gave him.

“Maybe so.” Her tail went back and forth. Looking at the other student, he looked somewhat familiar. More than likely she’s seen him at the sports festival from years previous. Oh yeah! She was actually cheering for him last year. Though she wasn’t gonna be telling him that any time soon. Or ever.

“Well, nice to meet you.” He threw her bag over her shoulder, raising her other hand. “See you later.” 

He cocked his head to the side curiously at the first year student, it was clear she wasn’t a big talker. Which was fine as some people are just quiet and don’t talk too much. He sometimes didn’t himself and if he was using his quirk he’d grunt and make noises instead of speaking. “Probably is, least I think so.”

He gritted his teeth as the villain taunted his attempts to get free, and he growled as he poked his cheek. He wanted to be brave, but the tears on his face and his little heart beating rapidly in his chest gave away how scared he actually was. He was an idiot–he should have stayed put like Mandalay wanted. It was too late for that now though.

His eyes widened even more as suddenly Theo turned into a beast right in front of them. A transformation quirk? He made a yelp in surprise as Theo threw his large claws into the villain and attempted to separate him from the tar. Unfortunately, it had a good grip on him and it was actually starting to hurt to try and free him from it. His teeth gritted tightly as he tried to brace for it.

But the claw seemed like it stopped. Like him, now Theo’s claws were stuck in this villain’s body. His heart sunk at the realization, and he felt a growing dread about this situation. He.. he was even more scared. No.. he had to be strong. Like Midoriya.. What would he do? He had to help somehow.. if this kept up the tar villain would just kidnap them both.

He tried struggling again, but still couldn’t move. That left.. one thing. His quirk. His hands were stuck inside the villain right now.. he wasn’t sure if it would help, but it was all he could think of. He activated it, gushing as much water as he could out of his palms.

Theo continued to snarl loudly, glaring dark holes into the tar like villain. He was so warm and... sticky it felt really gross to the touch, who knows how the kid was fairing. Besides being terrified, which he couldn’t exactly blame him for being as this would be scary for him.

He was also doing his best to be mindful of not accidentally hurt Kouta who was stick in further into the villain. His made sure that when his large hands went inside, they were positioned in such a way he wouldn’t accidentally scratch him with his claws. But... his hands were stuck and could barely move them no matter how hard he tugged.

Theo glanced down at Kouta a moment and saw his eyes were welling up more and he was so scared. “Don’t worry kid! I’ll save you, what heroes do!” He ended up growling it out as he was pissed at the villain and frustrated he couldn’t move how he wanted. 

❝  Awww...did I make the big bad beast ANGRY? ❞  The villain spoke with an amused tone to his voice. Was comical to him that he couldn’t separate the small child from his body.  ❝  You look more like a villain than a hero. ❞

This only pissed Theo off further, he was about to try and literally bite the bastard, when he felt something cool against his hand from inside the tar next to Kouta. What in the-Wait! Kouta has a water type quirk! Was he trying to help although he was terrified? Kid was helluva lot braver than he realized, a little shit sure, but clearly not a wuss.

Humming quietly, Yuri thought. Yeah, that makes sense. Sniffing herself slightly she could see what Theo meant. “Weird… I’ve spent half of my life as a cat, thought it’d be different.” Growing up with cats as a kid, it was the first thing she learned how to change into. Since then, she enjoyed to roam her neighborhood in her feline form.

“So your quirk is animalistic too, yeah?”

Theo crossed his arms as he watched the first year student seem slightly annoyed by him knowing she wasn’t a real cat. “You do smell like a cat, just not completely if that makes sense?” He was trying to make her feel better, though he was sure he was failing.

“Ya, my Maw has a transformation quirk and can shift into different animals so I guess I got it from her...” He paused, blinking at the shorter girl a moment. "Hey... I wonder if that might be why I picked up on you not being a real cat? Besides my heightened sense of smell?” 

          he smiles. it’s a small thing, gently curling the edges of his lips upwards as head ducks. it was true. there were more of them in a household but that just meant there was more fun to be had. at least, in his opinion. some would find his house hectic even though there were only five of them. it was more than most households seemed to have.

          ‘  it depends. she can sprout whatever she likes but when it’s out of surprise ? it’s random.  ’ though flowers could also match her mood if she so desired. a laugh tears it’s way from him in the form of a snort. ‘  i didn’t say i minded it.  ’ in fact, he enjoyed the moments theo got so overwhelmed he felt the need to hug him. if that meant he was crushed, who cares ?

          ‘  a booth sounds great.  ’ own eyes scan the room before landing on one not far from where they stood. ‘  that one looks promising. why don’t you go ahead and sit ? i’ll grab our drinks.  ’

Theo tilted his head to the side as he listened to Kashi explain what his Maw’s quirk occasionally does. “That’s kinda fun, it being a surprise on what type of flower blooms.” He nodded with a smile, it sounded really cute. Not that he’d admit it out loud. “Uh... just um.. making sure and all?” His smile faded a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck. He never wanted his hugs to hurt anyone no matter what form he was in.

“Booth it is” He nodded before blinking down at Kashi. “Oh sure? I’ll be over there waiting for ya.” He hummed lowly, leaning down to kiss Kashi on his temple gently “If you wanna grab me a snack too surprise me, you know I’m not fussy.” He chuckled lowly as it was true, he wasn’t a picky eater at all.

He couldn’t help a small chuckle. He was trying so hard! Guess there were advantages to being as small as he is–he could move far more easily around things than the hero student could. As he looked back at him with a mischievous grin, he was puzzled by the expression Theo had then. He looked forward when he told him to watch out, trying to stop his run as he saw exactly what he had been trying to warn him about.

He immediately tried to run the other way, back towards the U.A. student but he didn’t really get anywhere as the villain’s ooze grabbed him and pulled him back. As much as he tried to struggle, he couldn’t escape as they pulled him towards them until he had effectively been merged with their body.

He struggled as much as he could, but it didn’t seem to help him in the slightest. “Lemme go-!!” he strained, trying to hit the villain with his fist but only managing on getting his hand more stuck. Panic was setting in as he couldn’t get free, his eyes widening at the villain’s plan to use him to get to the Pussycats. Tears formed in his eyes as he continued struggling but only succeeding in tiring himself out. He didn’t want something bad to happen to them because of him. He was such an idiot! His wide eyes turned to Theo, begging for help. He just wanted to have fun.. He didn’t know this was going to happen!

Theo let out a deep growl while glaring deep holes into the tar like villain, crouching down slowly as he did. This cocky villain thought he already won and was teasing him. He’ll be wiping that stupid grin off his face soon enough! Just he needed to figure out how to separate Kouta from this villains body without harming the kid.

The kid looked terrified and he couldn’t blame him, this would be even more scary for a small kid like him. He eyes were so wide and pleading with him to save him while the tears were running down his cheeks. 

Don’t worry Kouta, I’ll save you from this asshole.

❝  The more you squirm, the harder it’ll be for you to be separated from me. ❞  The villain teased with a large smirk on his face, moving one of it’s fingers to Kouta’s cheek to poke him.

Since this villain was distracted on teasing the poor kid. Theo used this opportunity to shift quickly into his werebeast quirk. Using the element of surprise along with his larger body and speed to grab onto the villain, least best he could as he was like tar. He moved a large hand to grab the villain’s head while the other moved into the tar like body between him and Kouta to free the kid.

“I’ll be taking him back, VILLAIN!” Theo snarled, trying to crush the villains head in one of his large hands. All the while trying to separate Kouta from him with the other, this tar was already sticking to his fur and felt warm to the touch.

          ‘  affection is sort of a necessity on our household.  ’ more between his siblings and him than between his parents. while it was seen between his parents, with his siblings it was always there, always present. they were only a few years younger, which meant they were always there whenever he needed or wanted something. often times they spent time curled up in their rooms with their toys or their games with each other or watching movies when it felt right.

          smile is given as the other buries his face in his hair before he nudges him lightly in the side with his elbow. ‘  oh ? that’s…cute. mom often makes flowers pop up everywhere when she greets people. they sorta just…appear when she’s happy.  ’ her quirk wasn’t necessarily hero worthy but she never had cared about that. ‘  sounds like your mom gets excited. good thing ‘m used to you crushing me in your hugs with your beast form.  ’

          focus is directed towards the path ahead. a short laugh escapes at his words and nod is given. ‘  i’ve noticed.  ’ tease given, smile curling edges of lips. attention is pulled to the door before him and he ducks his head as the smile widens slightly. ‘  thanks.  ’ then he steps forward and into the warmth of the shop and waits for the other to follow suit.

"Guess our households are kinda the same then.” Theo chuckled lowly, gently headbutting Kashi with his forehead once more. “Though... I feel like your family is a wee bit more, but not too much more. Uh, if that makes sense? Just more of ya in the one house kinda ting.” Fuck, he was rambling wasn’t he? Dammit... 

He let out a low laugh trying to picture the image of flowers blooming out from his Maw. “That is pretty cute, they a mix of flowers? Or a certain kind?” Maybe she bloomed out different kinds depending on her mood? “Ya, she gets excited a lot and... wait I don’t crush you that hard, do I?” Theo couldn’t help but worry for a few moments before relaxing once he realized Kashi was teasing him.

“I wanted to make it big.”