Chapter Text
Musutafu city; the setting sun bathed the town in its fading orange glow, growing shadows would engulf several areas until the street lights came on. Most of its population didn’t put too much importance on it.
“Shit! Shit shit shit!” Except for one boy named Izuku Midoriya. “Nice going, Izuku...you just HAD to stick around to watch Edgeshot take out those thugs, now it’s almost night time and you’re still two friggin’ miles from home!” He had to get back fast, after all it was an unwritten rule that they only hunted you if you were outside.
Unfortunately, a look at his watch told him they were already starting to come out. Sometimes they’d go after someone in the morning or afternoon if they were peckish enough, but evening and night were when they came out for real.
It was then that he heard the first warning…the echo of multiple tinkling giggles.
“ Hmm...there it is again! That delightful little morsel is nearby! ” He swore under his breath at the voice and took off into a back alley. The giggles came again, closer this time.
He swore a little louder when a glance back showed several shadowy figures making their way into the street. He gulped when there was a man letting out a surprised shout, only for the poor bastard to be cut off by squeals of laughter. “Shhhiiiiiiitt!” He quickly reached into one of the side pouches on his book bag and took out a pair of egg-sized glass balls.
Hearing a train nearby, he prayed it would cover the noise and threw one down behind him. “Ugh...mental note, tone down the strength of the stink balls.” He gagged at the odor of rotting garbage and fresh manure, but thankfully, the stink would mask his own scent.
He still didn’t know why, but they seemed to pick up on smelling him sometimes, and that got them excited. ‘Maybe I should double-check that soap-’
“I see you mousie!” A voice called out. And Izuku groaned when a shadow came straight at him, running on all fours.
“Why me!?” He took off into a full run, not worrying about making noise now. If one had seen him, others would be joining in.
“Ooh, she found him!” Another voice squealed out, followed by more giggles and shouts.
“Come on! Can’t you give it a rest!?” He threw the other stink ball. Unfortunately, it landed on a soggy cardboard box, cushioning the hit. Muttering a few less than nice things about whoever left that box, Izuku felt a chill up his spine when he spied more shadows coming up behind the first. Some on all fours as well or running upright, but others were leaping along the alley walls and flying.
“Remember, first catch gets first taste!” One yelled, getting cries of approval from the others.
Izuku swore violently under his breath and pushed himself into a dead sprint, using his speed to tic tac over a car that was parked in his way followed by a leaping climb over a fence. He yelped when a squirrel tail darted out from the shadows, nearly wrapping around him.
“Oh, poo! I missed!” The squeaky voice from the tail’s source muttered poutingly.
“Luckily for me!” He skidded around a corner that took him to one of the main streets.
“Home free!” He yelled, vaulting over the railing onto his apartment balcony. Several ‘aww’s and pouty noises told him they were giving up the chase. He quickly stepped through the sliding door that led inside before watching the shadowy crowd slip off back into town.
He’d escaped them again, but deep down, he knew that would only make them more determined.
“Mom? I’m home.” He called out, dropping his bookbag beside the kitchen table. The moment that feeling of relief settled in, he dropped almost bonelessly into the nearest chair..
“Home? But…” Inko responded from the living room before sighing. “Another chase?”
“Yeah.” Izuku ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion. “I got caught up watching Edgeshot catching a couple of muggers.” He let out a quiet groan. “Almost got snagged a couple of times.”
“You know, honey, maybe it’d do you some good if you…”
“I’m not going to just stand there and let them catch me, Mom.” He said, with a hint of finality.
“I know, I just don’t want to see you having to keep looking over your shoulder every time you see a girl.”
“Yeah, but I want my first time to be on my terms, and with someone I care about.” He replied.
“So much like your father.” She chuckled softly. “He was fast on his feet too, Until he finally marched up and asked me out.”
“Heh…Mom?”
“Hm?”
“Any idea why they’re so hellbent on catching me of all people? I mean, since you’re a…or were…you know.”
She let out an unladylike snort. “You can say it, Izuku. I may not be running with the pack…” With a sigh her body shifted, going from the short, pudgy little lady he was accustomed to, to a curvaceous siren. Two panda ears replacing her own. “But I’m still a Huntress.”
He was well aware of it, but knowing his mom was one still caught Izuku off guard sometimes. Huntresses; the result of a contagious succubus Quirk that raged out of control across the world during the early decades of the era. The virus-like properties of the Quirk spread rapidly among the female population, somehow ingraining itself into the X chromosome.
As time went on, it reacted with the Quirk genes, causing girls to develop physical augmentations. Almost all were animal-themed, for reasons doctors still had trouble discerning. This also, however, meant the Quirk’s original trait became a part of them; the need to feed carnaly.
While this aspect, luckily, didn’t manifest until they were older, it still occurred. Combined with the animalistic aspects that came to be, the Huntresses were born.
Finally enough, either from something buried with the original Quirk or something they came to work out, a Huntress followed a set of rules that they held onto almost reverently.
Their ‘hunting’ times were primarily the Twilit Hours, when the sky burned orange or rainbow. Possibly to give guys a sporting chance.
A male was safe indoors, unless you invited one in, then you were seen as fair game as if you were outside.
Sometimes, they’d develop a preference for a particular guy, or ‘favorite’. This was normally just one or two. A full pack was almost unheard of!
So why was that his case? Why were so many that intent on catching him of all people!? Hell, he’d actually come to recognize the voices of several.
“Because the harder someone is to catch, the sweeter the prey they are for a huntress. ” Inko replied bluntly.
He quickly looked up. “...I was mumbling again, wasn’t I?”
She nodded. “And given that it’s been what…almost two years? You’re one hell of a prize to them.”
“Why haven’t they given up by now? I mean, there’s bound to be others they can go after easily.”
"Well, we’re a tenacious lot, Izuku. Especially when the target can evade for this long. That, and the fact that the more thrilling the chase, the more intense things are for both parties once they do catch their ‘prey’” She gave him a knowing grin. “And I’ve seen the end of a few chases you’ve led them on.”
“Ok…so what’s the deal with the candy and…” Izuku’s face reddened. “...the panties I keep finding on my windowsill?”
“Oh!” Inko laughed. “I remember when I left things like that for your father-”
“Red card! TMI on the field!” Izuku cried,waving his hands at her frantically.