Chapter Text
Many people claimed the Whispering Woods of Musutafu was haunted, and every time Ochako Uraraka heard that, she giggled.
Sure, like most of the forests of the lands, it had a few spirits, and sometimes the fae made their appearances to weary travelers on the road that wrapped around the forest, but that was a standard in these parts. Every habitat had similar encounters, but not all of them had the same reputation as her home.
She supposed part of it was because it bordered the Shivering Lake, which resulted in pockets of mist often pooling between trees, and frequent winds that whistled through the canopies. But most likely, it was because it had stronger concentrations of magical energy than many other habitats – enough that it sometimes raised the hairs on people's skin, and gave way to some unusual phenomena. That was part of the reason she moved to this place, after all. As a druid, this was a place to protect, and a place where she could get a lot of magical components.
It was the middle of the night, and the druid in question was making her way through the forest, eyes skimming the dark surroundings. The full moon chased shadows, offering its aid, although it was unnecessary. She could see just fine in the dark.
She moved silently across the forest floor, bare feet pressing into the plush moss, and the tip of her gnarled staff digging into rich soil with each forward step. She was of modest height, with an asymmetrical skirt made of natural fibers, and a cropped bodice made of supple leather. A belt laden with several satchels and baubles hugged her hips. A Cloak of Seasons sat on her shoulders, and given that it was late Spring, the cloak had taken the form of cascading violet flowers down her back. Long, honey-brown hair was piled atop of her head, held together by a cage of roots. Two locks fell to frame her face, bouncing with each step. A pair of ram horns curled out from the sides of her head, decorated with bands made of copper and raw stone.
Although her appearance was atypical, none of the nearby townsfolk feared their resident druid, happy for her assistance with all things nature related. Of course, tonight, she was out and about for personal reasons. Shimmering Silvercap mushrooms only appeared during full moons, and they were excellent for a variety of potions. Ochako was eager to refill her stock, given how popular her modest potions were becoming. Who knew so many people were interested in sleeping draughts and calming elixirs?
Tsuyu did, and Ochako had a letter with 'told you so' from her druidic sister to prove it.
She moved through the shadows with ease, eyes skimming the area for the soft glow of the mushroom caps. It didn't take her long to find her first cluster, and with a bright smile she crouched down to harvest the valuable fungi.
It was as she was on the third cluster and carefully placing the caps in a bag that the forest fell quiet in a way it shouldn't have. Ochako frowned, brow furrowing as she listened to what the world around her was saying in its silence.
The night owls had stopped hooting. The crickets were no longer chirping. The deer had stopped calling. The wind rustled, and as it died down, she heard an ominous growl to her left that sent goosebumps erupting across her skin.
The rumble was from something large, and she stayed still, trying to assess what it could be. Of the natural inhabitants, bears left her alone and wolves rarely came down this way, preferring to stick closer to the base of the mountains. A lost dog? Unlikely. And this area wasn't known for large cats.
The creature growled again, and the sound was closer. This time, she could taste the dark magic the sound brought with it. Whatever this was, it wasn't natural. It didn't smell undead, at least, but it certainly wasn't interested in being friendly.
She gently put down her bag of mushroom caps, and just as she rose up out of her crouch, the growling turned into a vicious snarl, and it charged.
It was fast, but so was she, and she dove to the side as a large black shape crashed into the fallen log she had been in front of, sending splinters flying as the wood shattered. Ochako rolled smoothly to her feet, eyes on the creature as it whirled to find her. It was a large canine, as big as a workhorse, with shaggy black fur and brilliant glowing green eyes. Black tendrils of shadow rolled up off of its form, and truly, Ochako didn't realize lycanthropes could get this big.
It lunged for her again, but its teeth met air as she shapeshifted into an owl and flew up into the trees. Honestly, she could just fly away and leave it there, but this creature was dangerous, and it could easily find its way to the nearby town.
It howled at her, its eyes following her movements as she landed in a tree. Aggressively, it slammed into the trunk, sending leaves and twigs falling, and Ochako started to understand that this creature was beyond logical thinking.
She considered her options. Taking a life was something she would never do, and besides, most lycanthropes did not become so voluntarily. This person was likely just as much a victim as was anyone else. Despite that, she also had no interest in playing tag with it until morning, either.
But while she wasn't up for killing, a little tough love wasn't beyond her. Making up her mind, she shifted her energy and threw herself down to the ground. The werewolf charged at her, only to come to a skidding halt as her form expanded, larger and larger, until what had been a moderate sized owl was now a full sized moose. Despite the lycanthrope's notable size, the moose was much bigger, and with a guttural roar, Ochako charged forward, using her antlers to toss the large wolf across the small clearing, much like a ragdoll.
The creature tumbled to the ground, where it scrambled to its feet, ears flattened against its skull. It clearly didn't like that, but it also wasn't enough to make it stand down, and Ochako watched as it tensed, then darted forward, fangs and claws ready to tear her down.
Clearly, this werewolf had never encountered a moose.
For all its might, it was simply met with a meaty shoulder, and the wolf yelped as it was body-slammed into a tree. It hit the trunk with a sharp crack, and Ochako internally winced, hoping she hadn't broken too many bones. Healing magic wasn't exactly her forté.
She stomped the ground, ready to charge again, but the wolf did not get back up, staying in a slump beside the tree.
Oh gods had she killed it?!
In a whirl of natural energy, she returned to her true form, stumbling forward and dropping to her knees, staff in tow. Pressing a hand to its chest, she breathed a sigh of relief at feeling the rise and fall of its chest, although the soft wheezes implied that, yes, she had broken some ribs.
She sighed, green and gold energy coming to life around her as she formed the beginnings of a recovery spell.
Idly, as she healed this pitiful creature, she couldn't help but think its glowing green eyes reminded her of someone she once knew.
XX
The first thing Izuku Midoriya became aware of was that birds were damn loud. Too many of them were singing at the top of their lungs, and they were all too close, and it was far too early for–
Wait, how early was it?
Wait… this wasn't his bed.
Wait…
Last night was a full moon , and this was not the cage he'd locked himself in.
He must have broken out! Did he hurt someone? Oh gods, what if he'd killed someone?! He raked his brain for memories of the night before, and when vague flashes of him approaching a woman crouched in the woods surfaced, his blood ran cold. 'Oh no. Oh, no no no no–'
With a sharp intake of breath, he opened his eyes and threw himself into an upright position, terrified and expecting to find himself covered in someone else's blood and–
He stopped, staring at his surroundings. The room he was in was round, with peachy wooden walls that rose high up into a domed center. The walls were a little uneven and knobby, and it took him several seconds to realize it was because the room was actually inside a giant, hollowed tree. Bright sunlight filtered in through several round windows, highlighting the hanging plants from the ceiling and the vines wrapped around the tall, oddly shaped bookcases. Shelves stuck out from various spots on the walls, full of vials, stones, and magical reagents.
To his left was a large door leading outside and a fireplace made of smooth stone, with an opening leading into a small cluttered kitchen between them. And directly in front of him was a staircase that spiraled up and out of sight, presumably to a higher floor.
'Where am I?'
He shifted to look around again, then realized he couldn't move his feet. His eyes fell down to the gnarled roots shackling his ankles to the floor. That was slightly concerning, but not nearly as much as the fact that he was–
The sound of wood creaking made his eyes snap up to the stairs, and he panicked as he realized someone was coming down them. Quickly, he looked around, trying to find something, anything to–
"Good morning, my lycanthropic friend. Are you awake, yet–"
Izuku yelped, loudly, and as the person came into view, he finally found what he was looking for, dragging the folded blanket over his lap just in time to prevent his modesty from being immodest.
The relief he felt from not being butt naked in front of a stranger was quickly overshadowed by the realization that the voice that spoke was startlingly familiar.
He slowly lifted his eyes up to the young woman who came into view, and she came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, staring back at him.
They stayed like that for several seconds, and then…
"Midori?!"
"Miss Ochako?!"
XX
Ochako had expected to find a person when she came downstairs this morning. They would probably be disoriented, maybe even frightened. Perhaps a bit bruised (it was hard to find injuries under all that fur!), and probably in need of some calorie-dense food and a hearty bath.
She had not expected to find Izuku Midoriya, her childhood friend who she had not seen in almost two years.
She gaped at him, blinking rapidly as if questioning her eyesight. There before her was a young man with the same boyish face, the same tanned freckled skin, and the same big, green eyes that she always loved looking into. Now she understood why the lycanthrope's glowing eyes were so familiar - they were the exact same shade of green.
His hair was still a mess of green curls, although it was in dire need of detangling and probably had enough twigs in it to build a birdhouse. It'd also grown longer. She could see the beginnings of a ponytail tied at the base of his neck, but she had no idea how far down his back those green curls tumbled. He'd accumulated a few scars over the years, silver dotting tanned skin, with one notable splotch on his right shoulder. She didn't quite remember him being this toned before, probably thanks to the paladin training, but she'd also never quite…seen him this naked, either.
She felt color touch her cheeks, noting he'd failed to see the bath towel she had folded behind him. It wasn't really clothes, per se, but it was better than the folded blanket he was using to cover his… lap.
"There's, um," Ochako swallowed, eyes moving to look at anything that wasn't him, "a towel behind you. If you'd like to, you know, cover up…"
"Oh!" He twisted, and Ochako spun on heel to both give him a moment of privacy and hide the blush sprawling across her face. Waving her hand, she willed the roots around his ankles to retreat, allowing him the freedom to stand.
There was a rustle of fabric, before she heard him stutter out, "T-thanks". She turned to find him on his feet, securing the towel at his waist, his back to her. Now she could see that his hair went down mid-back, but more importantly, he was quite bruised below his shoulders, probably from the impact of the tree. She must have missed it while trying to heal him.
"Do you hurt?" she asked.
Izuku rolled his shoulders experimentally and winced, more or less answering her question even before he spoke. "Head's pounding, and my back feels like someone dropped a mountain on it." He paused, swallowing. "Did I… do you know if I…"
"I saw no evidence of blood on you," Ochako said softly, walking past him. "I don't think you hurt anyone. But, let's first get you some pain relief, and maybe some food in you. Then we can talk."
She paused at the entryway to her kitchen, looking over her shoulder at him. "This isn't how I wanted to see you again, Midori, but gods, I'm still happy to see you."
The pitiful puppy look he gave her made her stomach do a flip that she pointedly ignored.
XX
Izuku stood awkwardly under the arch that led into the kitchen, a hand nervously holding onto the towel around his waist in case it tried to do anything funny.
Quietly, he watched as Ochako bustled about, setting a kettle to heat and preparing food. This wasn't what he ever expected to wake up to, not in a million lifetimes.
He hadn't seen her in almost two years. So much of her had changed, but so much was still heart wrenchingly the same.
Even at 19, she still had those cute round cheeks, rosy and endearing. She'd always had shorter hair in the past, but he had to admire the way the honey-colored tresses piled atop her of her head added such an air of grace. She was still shorter than him, but the horns were new. Honestly, they looked… really cute on her. He never thought horns on a druid would look cute, but…
He shook his head. Right. She had horns. Strong druids often had animal or plant-like attributes to their appearance. She must have gotten much stronger.
Her wardrobe was definitely different. What used to be leggings and flowy tunics was now, uh, not that. His eyes lingered on the toned arms and the tanned skin of her belly before he snapped out of his stare with some measure of embarrassment. Here he was being an utter disaster, standing in her kitchen in a bath towel admiring her glow-up, instead of trying to figure out just how much he'd fucked up last night. Truly, his priorities were astounding.
He sighed, trying to organize his thoughts, eyes drifting over the kitchen, taking in the shelf of mismatched and oddly shaped tableware, the drying herbs hanging from a rack, and the jars of preserved food in the pantry in the corner. It was all… so quaint. Natural. Pragmatic.
It was very Ochako Uraraka.
His eyes moved back to the young woman as she pulled some food out of the icebox. Truthfully, there wasn't a day that went by that he hadn't thought of her, but he also didn't think he'd ever get to see her again.
This wasn't how he wanted to see her again, either. Once she found out what happened, would she even still want to talk to him? But she'd probably already figured out some of it, given that he woke up shackled to her living room floor after a full moon night. Was she the woman he remembered lunging at last night? Was she upset? She'd never been one to hide her emotions, but things could change in two years. After all, he was nothing like what he used to be…
He swallowed the lump in his throat as she turned and gestured for him to take a seat at a small wooden table with two chairs by the window. He did so, watching as she placed a plate in front of him with some herbed bread, smoked cheese, and cured meats.
"T-thanks," He said, voice barely audible as he began to pick at the contents. She nodded, pouring two cups of tea. He watched as she mixed some sort of white powder into one of the cups before placing it in front of him.
"This will help with the pain. I can… heal your bruises after, if you're comfortable with that."
Izuku swallowed the piece of cheese in his mouth and tilted his head. "You can do healing magic now?"
She flushed a little, sliding into the chair across from him. "Yeah. Not as proficient as Tsu. I'm sure you remember she was just gifted in everything, but I figured it out in the end. I'm average with it, more or less."
He nodded, picking up the teacup and sampling its contents. It was kind of bitter from the medicine, but he ignored it, taking a small sip. "That's still impressive. I remember you telling me most druids specialized in only one or two branches of magic, and you were already gifted in two, so that's still… really awesome."
He hadn't expected his comment to make her turn pink, and she tucked one of those long, shiny locks of hair behind her ear, shyly glancing out the window. A tiny smile touched her lips. "Thank you. You've always been full of compliments. Guess that hasn't changed, huh?"
He felt his own cheeks heat up in response, and he found himself unsure of what to say, although the last part reminded him once again of the elephant in the room, and he glanced back down at his food, quietly picking at a piece of bread.
Ochako seemed to realize the same. She sighed, resting her forearms on the table and clasping her hands together. "Your paladin training was supposed to end a year ago. You stopped writing letters, and when Tenya returned, he refused to say anything other than you had something you needed to do, and he wished you good luck. Was this the reason you never came back?"
Izuku stiffened, staring down at the cup in his hands. Despite knowing the question was coming, he still felt cold at the words. It took him several seconds to find his voice. "Yeah. I…" He sighed, closing his eyes. Might as well get it over with. "It was my last month of training. We responded to an urgent request up in the Azure Mountains. It was me and Tenya, and a couple of our seniors. Villagers claimed something had come in through the night and killed several families. We didn't realize at first. Missed the full moon because of the bad weather. We stayed for the day, and the snow storm lifted right before nightfall – Tenya saw the moon and made the connection right before they attacked."
"It was a pack?" Ochako asked.
Izuku nodded, not looking at her. "Six of them. I–I'd never seen werewolves look like this. They were huge and–" he paused, sighing, "–well, I mean, you saw me last night. A-anyway, there were four of us, panicked villagers, and six gigantic, frenzied werewolves. The details don't really matter, except we had no silver, and it was a difficult fight. One of them lunged for a woman fleeing with her baby. I… didn't let that happen."
"You were bitten," Ochako said simply.
Izuku nodded and pointed to the jagged scar on his shoulder. "It was messy, but superficial. I managed to kill it before it could do worse, but the damage was done. It was still the middle of the night under a full moon, and I started transforming."
He watched the druid before him suck in a breath through her teeth, and he shook his head. "I didn't kill anyone. Realized what was happening and, uh… made sure I wasn't a threat."
Ochako went still at that, and he could tell she was going over the possibilities of what that meant. And he knew she knew him well enough to –
She narrowed her eyes. "Did you throw yourself off the mountain?"
He swallowed nervously. "M-maybe."
She stared at him. Harshly. "...You idiot."
He shrunk in on himself. "I– I wasn't sure what else to do! I figured if I broke a leg, I'd be too slow to attack anything!"
She groaned and buried her face in her hands in a manner he had seen far too many times when they were younger.
He wasn't about to tell her he broke both legs, either.
XX
Man, he sucked at lying.
Ochako rubbed her hands over her face, grimacing at Izuku's story. "So…let me repeat all of this to you, not to make sure I got it right, but to make sure you understand how stupid it sounds. You jumped off the side of a mountain, breaking both of your legs in the fall, before finally landing in a snowbank where Tenya found you hours later, hypothermic and weak from blood loss."
Izuku gave a singular, stiff nod, finding the rind from a piece of cheese utterly fascinating to look at.
Ochako continued. "Then, after you got back to the outpost and patched up by a cleric, you decided that instead of telling anyone you got bitten so you could get help, you made Tenya swear an oath of secrecy, packed up your things, and …disappeared into the night."
Another nod. That rind was really fascinating. Was that a stray piece of cheesecloth stuck to it?
"And… because you didn't tell anyone, you were kicked out of the Order because they thought you abandoned them, and you've spent the last 11 months hiding from everyone out of fear you might hurt them, only going into towns when necessary, even though you're only a threat for three days out of every lunar cycle. And you spend those three days locked in an abandoned prison tower you found, except last night you finally escaped."
Izuku sighed, lowering his eyes to his lap. "I didn't know what to do. I was scared. I didn't… want to cause what I saw in that village."
He heard the chair drag across the floor as Ochako stood up, moving past him. He didn't lift his head, expecting her to leave the room. Probably frustrated. After all, he knew very well how many stupid mistakes he'd made, but it wasn't like he could just–
He sucked in a breath when he felt her small, calloused hands rest on his shoulders in a gentle, but firm touch. He sat up straight, eyes flying open as he saw green light erupt out of the corners of his vision. A sweet, cooling sensation followed, trickling down his back where everything hurt, and he exhaled softly as she sent the regeneration spell deep into his body.
She said nothing, and Izuku chewed on his lip, trying not to think too hard about the feel of her fingers on his shoulders, and how long it had been since he'd had any kind of human touch.
After a moment, the green light faded, and his back felt worlds better. The medicine from his tea was also starting to kick in, and his headache was beginning to ebb away. He sighed, closing his eyes. "That feels a lot better… T-thanks. I–" He swallowed, opening his eyes to look out the window. "I need to go soon. There's still two more nights of the full moon, and I gotta find another cell in the tower that I can use. I…I don't want to repeat last night."
"What exactly happened last night that you don't want to repeat?" Ochako asked.
He blinked rapidly, turning his head slightly, although he still couldn't see her. "I attacked you!"
She snorted. "If you can call it an attack… you never touched me."
He paused, realizing he hadn't actually asked what happened. "I… what happened, then?"
"You lunged, missed, and I turned into a moose and slammed you into a tree."
Izuku sat there for several seconds, processing that sentence. "A moose."
"A moose."
"Like… a full sized… moose?"
"Uh huh."
"With antlers?"
"Yup. Wanna see?"
"N-no, I believe you," Izuku replied in a voice slightly too high pitched.
He heard her chuckle, and he jumped slightly when she squeezed his shoulders. He forgot she was still touching him. She let go of him, walking around so that they could see each other. He found himself looking up at her and was surprised to find her giving him a gentle smile. "Let me help you."
He blinked, unsure of what she could even offer. It wasn't curable, and he couldn't expect her to guard him the entire night. But… he kept making all the wrong decisions around this. Maybe it was time to stop trying to do it all on his own.
He sighed, shoulders slumping. "How?"
"Well… there's a few options. Easiest to do in the short term is to drug you. There's a few written accounts of successfully sleeping through frenzy-based curses with powerful sedatives. You'll wake up feeling like shit, but you'll also wake up knowing you didn't harm anyone."
"I'll do it–" He stopped short when she wagged a finger at him, giving him a look.
"Well, hold up, silly, that's not your only option. There's also the Equilibrium Enchantment. It's… a bit difficult to make, but long-term it might be better. In fact, that's what I'd recommend."
Izuku blinked, unfamiliar with the name. "The what?"
Ochako sat on the edge of the small table, folding her arms. "It's… well, a permanent enchantment usually applied through a potion or, in some rare cases, an implant. But essentially, it balances out curse effects or spell effects. It doesn't cancel them, but it redistributes their properties. Generally, it's used to make unremovable curses more tolerable."
"More… tolerable?" Izuku asked, feeling a spark of hope ignite.
"Well… in the documented cases of using it on lycanthropy, it allowed the person to be able to fight back against the bloodlust during transformation, generally keeping some sense of humanity through those nights. It does so by taking some of the wolf-like effects and making them persist outside of full moons."
"I…had no idea this was a thing," Izuku admitted, dumbfounded.
"Well, of course not. Instead of getting help, you ran off and hid from everyone who would want to help you," Ochako replied softly.
He groaned at his own stupidity, dropping his head on the table with a thunk, barely missing his plate. He felt Ochako pat his head affectionately, and he let the gentle pressure of her fingers against his hair ground him.
Again, she said, "Let me help you, Midori." She paused, then added, "I want to help you."
Something about her saying it that way made his stomach tighten into a weird knot, and he lifted his head to look up at her. "Even after running away?"
"Yeah, dummy. Guess I'm just that fond of you."
The statement brought tears to his eyes and he reached up, wiping them away with a knuckle. He couldn't remember the last time he felt… hopeful.
"Thank you, Miss Ochako."
"Oh, don't thank me," Ochako said with a glint in her eye that made Izuku suddenly very nervous. "You're going to make up for every blunder you've made through this so far. First, you're going to get a bath, because you smell like a dog and your hair looks like a rat's nest. Then we're going to partake in the arduous task of untangling all the leaves and twigs in that hair. Not even elder druids look that rough."
He flushed, reaching up and feeling around his head.
Ochako continued, ticking things off on her fingers. "Then, once we find you something to wear that isn't a towel, you're going to go retrieve your things and bring them back here, because I'll be damned if I keep letting you live in the old Axiom prison tower."
"H-how'd you know which tower?" Izuku asked, alarmed.
The druid rolled her eyes. "There are only two towers close enough to my woods that you'd end up in them last night, and one of them is beside a town, while the other isn't. Pretty obvious where you holed up at."
Izuku sighed, nodding. "Yeah, okay, that was a dumb question." Then his brain caught up with the rest of what she said. "W-wait, you want me to live with you?!"
"Yes, Midori, I want you to stop living in a decrepit tower," Ochako replied dryly. "I've got a spare room you can have. I'll even fortify it with my magic, because I know you're going to panic about the sedatives not being strong enough to contain you."
"Are you su–"
"Finish that sentence and I will turn you into a field mouse."
"W-wait, can you do that?!"
"Want to find out?"
Izuku swallowed, shaking his head nervously. "N-no thank you."
"Then it's settled! Anyway, once you're back here, you're going to write letters to everyone you ghosted, explain what happened, and that you're working to fix it. I'll have one of my owls deliver them. And when this full moon cycle is done, you're going to go visit your friends and family, apologize in person, then help me collect the ingredients necessary for this enchantment."
Izuku whined in the back of his throat, and he hated how dog-like it sounded. "I'm gonna make Mom cry…"
"You already did," Ochako reminded, and although she said it softly, the harshness of the truth still made him wince. "This is a step towards making up for that."
He nodded, feeling tears return to his eyes. "Yeah… I know. I wish I could undo what I did."
"You can't, but you can make strides to repair the damage. This curse doesn't have to define you, Midori. We'll make sure of that."
He sighed, wiping at his eyes. "Y-yeah. I'm gonna be forever in your debt."
"Friends don't carry debts."
He paused, slowly looking up at her. "Are… we still friends, then?"
"We never stopped," she replied softly, and before he could really absorb that statement, she pushed off the table and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a half-hug. His head hit her torso, and he sighed, a few tears slipping down his cheeks.
"I missed you, Miss Ochako."
"I missed you, too, Midori."