??? POV

The only word I know right now is run. Run and don't look back. You can deal with them later but for now, escape and restore energy. Just keep on running.

I'm glad I took some clothes other than whatever they gave me because the ground outside the lab is covered is a cold powder. These boots and coat help a lot.

I can hear them chase after me so I do the only natural thing and transform into the beast. A big, murdering machine with razor-sharp teeth. And a small body that's mostly fur sadly. Nothing intimidating or threatening at all. Not even my growl or bark! I can hide but that's a coward's move, and I'm not a coward. I'm faster now though.

As I run, I get to a place with very tall labs and people everywhere. The white powder turns into a brown slush but I still keep going. I see some black metal bars.

If I can squeeze through there, then I'll be free! I won't have to deal with those scientists ever again!

I jump through but my chain gets caught on the metal bars. I try and try to pull away from the grasp of the chain at least. Suddenly someone on my side picks me and the chain up. He makes it so I have to face him. I thought it was a scientist but it was someone I've never seen before. He radiates sunshine and has an award-winning smile with sharp teeth like me. His hair is a bright red and it's put up all spiky.

"Hello! Who are you?" He asks, looking at the collar the scientists gave me a long time ago. There's a tag but it just says my test number which is #666. Under it, it has the logo of the lab, the fact that I am male, and says to contact them if I'm found. "Huh..." His smile falls as he looks at the tag. Footsteps run up to us on the other side of the fence. There are scientists on the other side.

"Excuse us, sir, but that's ours." The alpha says with a tone that makes you want to slap them. I growl and try to attack them but Red has a good grip.

"I don't think he wants to go back." Red slowly shakes his head and takes a step back.

"Of course he does! Come on, buddy!" The last part is said with gritted teeth and he tried to grab for me. Red jumps back and I bite his hand. The alpha jumps back and holds his hand. When he lifts the hand covering the wound, he sees it's bleeding and his eyes go wide. The beta scientist gasps a little.

"We'll be back to collect that dog." The beta says before they both sprint back to the lab. Red sighs while I blow air through my nose.

"You must hate them, huh." He somewhat chuckles. I just look at him. "So in the meantime, I can take you to my house and put up some flyers so someone can adopt you. My apartment is small and I don't know if we can have dogs. My roommate will love you! And so will my roommate's boyfriend and my other friend. First, we should probably get you some food. You feel light." After Red is done with his blabbing, he sets me in the ground and holds the end of the chain. For now, I'll stay with him and recover. Then, I'll attack that place.

~oOo~

We finally reach a tall lab but I can tell this one's different. The inside is a lot more welcoming than the other lab. There's red and gold fur on the ground making patterns. The walls aren't as bland. Some of the walls have windows, each showing a different scene with a golden windowsill. There's a big deal and Red carries me other there. A girl with black fur in a tight ponytail sits there in a red uniform. She lightens up when she sees Red.

"Kirishima! You brought a dog!" She exclaims. Red or, Kirishima, laughs and nods.

"Yeah but I don't know if they allow dogs here so I'm just keeping him for a little while. Plus my apartment is a bit crowded as it is. Kaminari always has Sero over and Sero practically lived there. He's a good guy and so is Kami, don't get me wrong! Just they take up a lot of space. Plus Mina likes to sleep on the couch sometimes."

"We both know he's small enough to stay with you." She says.

"Wait a second. Momo, can you take him?" He asks hopefully but I can tell he doesn't want to get rid of me that easily. Momo shakes her head.

"Jirou is allergic to dogs. He's cute though." She pets me and I try to growl but instead I lean into her touch. I don't know what 'cute' means but I roll with it.

"Yeah. Whelp little buddy, looks like you're still staying. Bye, Momo. Tell Jirou I said hi!" Shark-grin tries to wave at her but drops a bag of food. He picks it up and walks to a big metal room, box, thing. The lab has one of these. I had to learn how to operate it. It's very complicated but it took me like three minuted to figure out what it does and how to use it. He hits a button and big steel doors slowly shut. A few seconds of silence before the doors open again and we've been teleported to a different area of the lab. That machine is a teleporter.

Red walks up to a door and used a stick of metal to open it, which I think is weird. Why not use a card like everyone else? When we get inside, a noise goes off from his weird hand collar. He checks it before quickly setting me and the bag of food and bowls down.

"Alright here's the plan. I'll get you some food and leave you in my room for a while then I come back with toys and all that. I need to go to work right now though." He swiped the bag and runs into a room. He pours brown rock things into one and water into the other. He sets me on his bed then goes to leave.

"Bye, buddy. I'll see ya later!" Then he shuts the door. I wait until I hear the other door shut before I change back into my normal self. I still have my new clothes on so that's good.

I walk over to the brown rocks and pick one up. I sniff it before setting it down in disgust.

"Fucking disgusting." I get up and then the light on. His room is boring. He has a bed with two tables with multiple drawers in them next to each side and that's it beside my so-called food. I know humans eat better stuff than that.

I open the door to walk into another room. This room has a big thing that looks like some weird bed. In front of it, there's a tiny table and in front of that, there's another tiny table with a weird, big, black, box on it. On the first tiny table, there's a little rectangular box on it. There's a lot of buttons on it. I make a mental note to mess with that later.

Then I find the jackpot. I walk into a room and it smells like food. Real food. I smile and start looking through the cabinets. I find a thing full of something that smells sweet.

Kaminari's Cookies please DO NOT EAT!!! Thanks, gamer

Is what the package says. Too bad I don't understand it. I rip the plastic open and take one. One turns into three and three turns into five and five turns into ten then there's no more. I growl at the empty package then I move onto the next thing. A big white box that has two doors. A small one up top and a bigger one above. The sections have handles so I pull out the small one. The first thing that catches my eye is a clear container of something. There's a note that reads,

Kirishima's Ice cream! At least ask before you dig in. Thanks, Gamers.

I have no idea what this says because, like last time I explained this, I can't understand it.

I take out the container and set it on the counter before tearing the top off. The first thing I notice is, it's cold.

Then again, since when have I been bothered by the cold? Never!

I dig in until it feels like my head is going to explode and freeze at the same time. I hold onto my head and start whining as I fall on my knees.

Did I just eat poison? Why isn't there a symbol of a skull on it? Isn't there some code against that?

But just like that, it's gone. The pain releases. I'm free from that torture. I am immune to this poison. I only feel it's effects for a bit then they wear off. I growl at the cold poison then I shut the drawer of poison and I open the bigger door. A plastic cover catches my eye. I take it and go into the previous room. This cover is easier to take off. I just flip out some tabs on the side and throw it off. It's a pink circle thing with some white note letters on it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OCHAKO!!!

I still can't understand it. I go to dig in to find out, whatever it is, isn't pink, but white. It's like some sort of sweet bread with a pink blanket that's barely even considered a solid. I still eat the sweet bread thing and grab the little black box.

There's a red button with a white circle that has a line going through the top of it. Red buttons are my weakness so if course, I press it. I was expecting something to be destroyed but the big black box comes to life. This catches my attention. It's a moving picture. There are people inside the box!

I get so lost in the brilliance of the tiny people, I don't notice the door open. Someone gasps real loud, scaring the hell out of me. I turn around in alert to see a girl with pink hair and a pink apron on. We stare at each other then she decided to speak.

"Is it good?"

Is it good? Is that good?

I swallow before answering. "Is what good?"

"The cake? The thing all over your face and the couch?" She moved her hand and points in my direction. I nod.

"Now what do you want?! This isn't your lab!" I say, getting defensive.

"And it's not yours. I know the people who live here." She counters, putting her hands on her hips. I just growl at her.

"Okay cool. You caught me. What now?"

"Well, I can call the cops and tell them you're breaking in." She says, holding up another tiny black box. When she presses a button on the side, it comes to life and there's a picture of this person in it. I quickly run over and take the box from her.

"How?" She seems surprised but I don't know if that because I took it so suddenly or if it's because I never saw this device before. I start pressing buttons like I was with The Teleporter but the girl takes it back.

"EX-CUSE ME! Why did you take it? Have you never seen a phone before?" I hear the joke in her voice I still question her.

"Phone? Is that what it's called?" She looks dumbfounded.

"You've never seen a phone before?" She asks in a surprised tone.

"Nope. I haven't seen a lot of things. But that's not your business!"

"Wait then how did you get here again?"

"Some guy with red hair dragged me here then left when his weird hand collar thing beeped."

"Are you talking about Kirishima?" I nod and she smiles. "Is he your bbooyyffrrrriiieeennndd?" She drags on the last word which I still don't know what it means but I'm defending my honor!

"Hey! If Kalamari and Zero can be a boyfriend, then Red and I can too!" I defend. The girl starts laughing.

"Man, you're great," she wipes away a fake tear. "Do you even know what it means?"

"Of course I do!" I lie but she laughs more.

"You're great... Wait what's your name?" She stops laughing and becomes a little more serious.

"They call me Number 666," I growl out the name.

"My name's Mina."

"I'm calling you Pinky."

"I'm cool with that." She shrugs then something hits her. "Wait what do you mean by, they?"

"The fucking scientists! The people that live in that one lab not that far from here." Just talking about then brings even more rage.

"I'm calling you Blasty."

"I don't give you consent."

"Don't care. Here, I'll help you clean up then I can answer anything you want to know if you answer everything I want to know." I think about it and I cave in.

"Fine..."

~oOo~

We finally packed everything up and turns out that's not poison. It's what Pinky here called, 'ice cream' and I got a 'brain freeze'. Can you believe that?! We both fall on the 'couch' and face the moving box.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing to it.

"That's a T.V. Now my turn, what are you? Are you some Neko thing? A furry even?"

"I have no idea what those are."

"They're creatures with cat ears and tail but furry's are just people who dress up like animals."

"Well considering that the ears and tail are, ya know, real and not from a cat, I think you can connect the dots. I was a failed experiment. I was supposed to be this big strong wolf and strong person but I'm just this thing." I change into the stupid weak fluff and look at Mina. She 'aww's and puts her hand on her heart.

"You're so adorable! A pomeranian!" I change back to I can answer.

"A what?"

"Pomeranian. A type of dog."

"Oh. Who all lives here?"

"Just Kirishima and Kaminari but Sero kinda live here too. Are there others like you?"

"A lot of others like me. Most of them are asses though. Especially this one Halfie. He always acts like he's better than everyone else." I throw a pillow across the room. "Is the white stuff on the ground outside normal and is it there every day?"

"You mean snow?" I shrug. "Well it'll be here for a few more months then it'll be green out. You don't know what snow is?"

"I've never been outside a day in my life and the scientists think if I don't know how the real world functions then it'll slow me down if I escape. What does that 'phone' thing do?"

"A lot of things. I can call people on it, play games, and other things. Does anyone else know about this?" She gestures to me and I shake my head.

"You're the only one other than the fuckers that kept me captive my whole life."

"So Kiri thinks you're just a dog?" I nod.

"You asked another question. We can only ask..." I try to search for the word I'm looking for but I can't find it.

"One?"

"Yeah."

"You can't count?"

"What does that have to deal with anything?"

"Do you even know what that is?"

"Yeah. Roll call. When someone wants to check if everyone's at a certain spot. Ya know," I use quotes with the next sentence. "' Taking a count'. Everyone knows that." Pinky looks at me weirdly.

"We're going to play a game. I'm going to say something, and you have to continue it. Like if I say seeds, you say plants."

"I have no idea what those are."

"Whatever." She moves her arms and gets a drink before starting the so-called 'game'. "One."

I stare at her in slight confusion. She just moved her hand in a circular motion telling me to, 'go on'. I roll my eyes and look around.

"Fuck if I know, uh...." I throw my arms in the air and think. "Counting. I still don't understand."

"Two."

"What?"

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

"Is this some stupid rhyme thing or a spell?" I ask, getting angry.

"You can't count....."

"Not if no one else is here. Everyone who's supposed to be here is here. I don't need to plus that's not my job. It's the alpha's job. What does that have to do with trees? Hell, I don't even know what that is. I just know the word."

"Counting is a system of numbers. I guess they didn't want you to find out what that is for a code or something."

"There was this one box for a code. It has symbols on it but it was sound coordinated so I knew how to get through."

"Can you read?"

"Read?" She nods. I shrug as I answer, "I don't know. I don't know what that is."

"Wait earlier did you say something about a note?" I shrug but I knew I didn't. Just the author didn't have any other way of getting on the topic of the notes on the food. Pinky gets up and walks into the food room so I go with her. She shakes get head as she looks at the yellow note. This was the note that was on the cookie container thing.

"You ate Kaminari's cookies?"

"I guess."

"We need to get more before he notices."

"Okay but how?"

"I'm going to have to go to the store..." She facepalms but then a thought strikes her and I can tell I won't like it. "I'll get them for you if you let me put a dress on your pomeranian form thing." She smiles.

"Two words." I think I said this right but I figure it out when she nods. "Hell... No..."

"Then you get no home and you have to deal with Kaminari."

"No one cares about Kalamari. I can take him if he tries to fight me."

"No, you won't. Plus he has a boyfriend to help him."

"I don't care! I'm trained in combat and I know how to fight!" she stares at me intently and I lose.

"Fine but nothing too girly," she gasps and claps.

"Great! I'll be right back! Stay right there!" she quickly stands and goes to leave but I stop her.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about me. Even that shark boy if you run into him!" She runs her fingers over her lips and pretends to throw something. I quickly look in the direction she threw whatever she threw but she laughs.

"I was pretending to zip my lips. I didn't throw something," laughing, she leaves. I decided to look at the t.v. again but as a dog in case red decides to show.

*time skip*

The door opens and reveals Red and Pinky talking. Both of them are carrying brown bags full of items. Red and Pinky smile when they see me. Pinky sets her bags down and looks at me.

"Well, hello again, Blasty!" she picks me up and pets me. Before I could protest to 'Blasty' and being held, she scratches behind my ears and all objections are gone.

"Oh, you saw him before?!"

"Oh, yeah, earlier I came over to get Uraraka's cake for her birthday but it wasn't good. Then I heard barking and I saw him. He's so cute! I'm going to have to move in so I can see the guy more!" I tilt my head a little. Still not knowing what that means. None of them notice.

"I was wondering how he got out of my room. How about you take him? I don't think we have enough room for him in here," Red sighs, petting me. I look to see the sadness in his face and it makes my heart hurt for some reason. It must be another side effect of the ice cream.

"Sadly no. My parents won't let me get a dog plus I'm still saving up for an apartment. I wouldn't be able to take care of him," she sighs and sets me down. Then she smiles again and takes something out of the bag. It's a pink shirt that pops out near the end.

"Mina, did you buy him a dress?" Red asks with a smile and she nods.

"He's gotta have style. I bought other, more manly clothes as well so don't worry. Come here, Blasty," she scoops me up and puts it on me. Once she sets me down, both of them start laughing and awing. I stare at Pinky like I'm going to kill her. I hate this so much so I start barking. Red picks me up and starts petting me.

"Ssshhh, buddy. You gotta be quiet because I don't know if I'm allowed to have dogs," he scratches under my chin and I'm weak. I shut up and I feel my tail wag. "He's so cute, isn't he?"

"Yeah, so cute! Anyway, I'm going into the kitchen real quick, I need my cake container," Pinky picks up the brown bag and walks away. Red takes the 'dress' off of me and I shake my body like I'm getting rid of water. He picks up his bag and sets it next to me then he goes through it.

"So, I was looking for a bunch of small dog stuff after work and I found this," he pulls out a new collar. It's all black with metal stars surrounding it. It has a tag on it as well. "I got this for free. The guy said it was his dog's but then the dog outgrew it and he had another tag," he shows it to me even though I can't read. "It says Katsuki, male," he smiles as he shows it off. It's nice to think that someone cares about me. I never had a name before. Just nicknames from people I hate or dislike. Katsuki... I kinda like it. My tail wags a little as he takes the other collar off. I shake my whole body again, feeling free again. It feels like I'm leaving that life behind me. The life of being captured and experimented on. When he's done putting the new collar on, I stick my tongue out and wag my tail more. He just smiles and pets me.

"I got more stuff," he dumps the contents of the bag next to me. I just look at all of them in confusion. He picks up a yellow ball and showcases it. "This is a tennis ball," he picks up a strong-looking rope, "this is for tug-of-war! It's when you have two people and you pull and whoever let goes first, loses," he sets those two down and picks up the final item. "This is a shark stuffed animal. It's just something for you to chew on and something that'll keep you company," he half-jokes.

"Hey, Kiri, is it okay if I make another cake?" Pinky yells from the kitchen. He looks at the doorway.

"Yeah, sure! I'mma go help as well," he takes the last bag and rushes into the kitchen. I quickly follow him. He smiles and keeps walking around the kitchen like an idiot. I follow him while looking at him like he's stupid.

"Aww! He's following you," Pinky takes out her phone and points it at me. After a few rounds around the table and me being confused, he stops and pets me.

"So cute! Anyway, I'm thinking that we put his stuff in here," he takes out a big pillow with walls and sets it down. The 'outside' is black and the 'inside' is orange. The whole thing is in the shape of a box that was cut horizontally. He then sets a mat shaped like a bone next to the pillow thing. He picks me up and sets me in it and pulls a blanket over my back. It has explosions all over it. I suddenly feel cozy. The door into the apartment suddenly open and another person walks in. He has yellow hair with a black streak in it.

"Oh, Kaminari! You're home early!" Kirishima walks over with me and Pinky following. So this is the guy I'll have to fight later on. Wait no, Pinky got the cookies... he's spared for now.

"Yeah, bro. I thought you had work and classes until like... ten. It's only eight," Pinky smiles.

"Yeah, I am. Class let out early. Oh, by the way, Sero won't be here until 10:00 PM then he has to go back to work at 1:00 AM. He'll be back around noon though so he won't be bothering anyone. Just a little heads up." The new guy says. Then he spots me and smiles. "Aww, you got a dog!" He picks me up and I growl a little. He doesn't hear me.

"He'll respond to Blasty." Pinky cuts in. I growl at her as she smiles.

"That's an adorable name! So he's staying here?"

"I don't know yet and his name isn't 'Blasty', it's Katsuki," Red pitches in, petting me. "I hope we can keep him but I don't think we can,"

"Why not?" new guy whines, pulling me closer to him.

"We don't have space or money,"

"Well, then we will have to get a new place because he's so cute!" he starts nuzzling me and I push him away with my paws and he laughs. "Where did you even get him? I thought Pomeranians were like nine-hundred dollars?"

"Long story," Red looks exhausted suddenly.

"Whelp, I'm going to bed, I had a long day today," new guy sets me down and stretches before walking into a hallway that's in the kitchen. I didn't notice it before.

"Yeah, I should probably go home as well. I'll just make the cake tomorrow. I'll be here at like one to continue the cake," Pinky pets me the leaves. This leaves me and Red.

"Whelp, Katsuki, I'm going to go to bed. You stay here, alright? I'll leave my door open so you can eat but sleep out here," he ruffles my fur then walks off, turning the light off. My eyes quickly adjust to the darkness surrounding me. I don't know why but I want to be by him. It's probably my subconscious planning something. Yeah, if I can get him to trust me, then I'll get another person on my team.

I walk into Kiri's room and jump onto his bed next to him. It's comfy. I just lay down at the end of the bed. He sits up and sees me.

"Oh, hey, Katsuki. What are you doing, boy?" he pets my head again with a smile. I scoot closer to him. "Fine, you can stay up here with me for one night but then you have to go into your bed," he starts to pet me and I start dozing off. I never felt so cared for before. The most cared for I ever felt before is when the guards saved me from being killed by the other experiments. That was only one time when I was just a little pup.

Soon, I'm taken by sleep.

When I wake up, it's because something started yelling. The noise is coming from a little black box. Red gets up and hits it, effectively shutting it up. He sits up and pets me for a few seconds before getting up.

"I got to go to work right now. I work at a zoo with some friends," he takes some clothes and walks out of the room. I start to follow him but I'm picked up by the yellow-hair idiot.

"Hey, puppy, we won't be home sadly. Emergency numbers are on the fridge, the phone is on the counter. The first number is Mina, second is Kiri, then me, and Sero who you'll meet later. Well, I gotta go now," he sets me down and starts walking off. He's wearing a blue shirt and beige pants and he has a cup in his hand. Just like that, he's gone. I almost turned into a human but then, Kiri walks into the kitchen with wet hair and different clothes on. He took a shower. He reached down and pets me.

"I woke up late and I don't have time for anything right now. Sorry, boy," he walks out of the door. I wait for a few minutes then I turn into a human.

Finally.

I grab the blanket on the pillow thing and throw it over my shoulders then I grab the shark and look at the codes on the fridge. They look a lot like the codes on the phone. Didn't a yellow guy say the first code was for Mina? I'll test it later. I look around the kitchen some more and that's when I find a whole room of food. It's a small room but it still has a lot of food. A colorful bag catches my eye and I grab it. It has some weird nonrealistic human on it, smiling and holding something that kind of looks like the food Kiri tried to feed me yesterday.

With my blanket, stuffy, and food, I walk into the couch room and sit. Weird, the t.v. remote has the same code of numbers as well. I turn it on and I press random buttons. It gets louder and shows me some lions. Tearing open the bag, I curl up onto the couch and start watching the lions. A human is speaking but I don't care. I just want to watch this disaster.

As I'm shoveling the food down, I hear some commotion in the apartment.

"Hey, babe, it's too loud. You know I worked last night," a boy with black hair walks in and he stops when he sees me. Of course, there's another human in here. Why wouldn't there be? "Who the fuck are you?! What are you?!" He yells, fully awake. I groan loudly and hit my head on the table in front of me.

"Call Pinky, she'll explain it," I say.

"How can I trust you? Who's Pinky?"

"I think her real name is Mona or something like that."

"Mina?"

"That's the bitch," I stand up and he throws something at me. I look to see an apple on the floor. When I look at him, he picks up another.

"I-I'm not afraid of you!"

"Just call Mina!" I shove him out the way and grab the phone on the counter. Then I walk over to the fridge and I start punching in the number for Mina. I'm glad Kalamari told me hers was the first. I just match the symbols and press the green button.

"Hello? Sero? Why didn't you call me on your phone?" Mina's voice comes from the phone. I would be really surprised if I wasn't trying to prove a point.

"Wrong, Pinky, explain to Zero," I toss the phone at him and he barely catches it.

"Mina? What's going on? Why is there a furry in the house?!" He whispers.

"Oh God, uuhhh... That's Kirishima's new dog, he-"

"That's not a dog!"

"Look, I'm heading over right now. I'll call off work and say there's an emergency. He's safe to have around. Just be calm," there's a 'boop' and I don't hear her anymore. Zero stares at me and gets into a fighting stance.

"Alright, why are you here?" I just turn into a Pomeranian again then back.

"I escaped a lab, Red found me, and now I'm here."

"Does he know?" I shake my head and he takes out his phone from his pocket. "I'm calling him right now-" I quickly tackle him and try to get the phone away from him.

"No! I will not let a human ruin my chance of freedom!" Red's voice appears from the phone.

"Sero, I'm at work! If this isn't important, I swear," Kiri says quietly and quickly.

"Bro, this dog-"

"I know! I gotta go. Tokoyami needs help at the birdcages."

"No! You don't understand, this dog," I cover his mouth and stare at him, trying to shut him up.

"What about Katsuki? Also, are you okay? You don't sound like it," the door opens and reveals Mina. She takes the phone and holds it to her ear.

"Everything's fine, Sero's just overreacting. Katsuki bit him because he scared him. There isn't even a mark."

"Really?! Well, thanks for handling that, Mina. I gotta go now. Bye," Mina presses a button and puts the phone in her pocket.

"Sero, calm down. It means no harm," I turn into a dog and get off. Mina picks me up.

"Calm down?! How?! Why is that thing here? We need to turn it in. Maybe we'll get more money," I growl at him.

"No, he was experimented on over there and he just escaped. Who knows what'll happen if he goes back. He'll most likely be in big big trouble and get hurt really bad. How can you allow this to get hurt?" Mina pets in between my ears and I lean into her touch. Zero watches and sighs.

"Fine... Who else knows?"

"Just us two and we should probably keep it that way." I turn back and Pinky drops me.

"Look, I will not go back to that place. I finally got freedom for the first time ever in my life and I will not let some loser named 'Zero' take that away from me!" I say.

"It's Sero! And I won't. I understand how it is to want freedom," I stare at him.

"Yeah right,"

"Whelp, don't kill each other. I'm going back to work and I'll be back around one," Mina throws Zero his phone at him and leaves. I look back at Zero.

"You wouldn't know what I went through so shut it," I growl which makes him laugh.

"Oh Hunny, you have no idea what I've been through. Probably not as bad as your situation but I still understand how you feel, finally getting freedom."

"Okay, explain," I sit on the counter and stare at him. He looks away and takes a deep breath.

"Long story, I really don't want to get into," he goes to walk away. I need him on my side so I speak up.

"I was going to be cut into and killed. That's why I escaped when I did. My whole life I've been a pawn in their game, now I'm my own king and I'm close to calling checkmate. I've been electrocuted, close to drowning, almost beaten to death, burned, I almost froze to death once," Zero stares at me in shock.

"Why?"

"They want to test my limits so they can make more soldiers. I learned how to fight and I escaped. Your turn," he scoffs and smiles at me.

"Weird system but okay," he climbs up and sits on the fridge. "I was almost beaten, burned, froze, I was poisoned once which was a fun hospital trip, and electrocuted," he lifts his shirt and there are a few scars on his stomach. I smile and lift my shirt to show my scars. There's an X in sharpie over my heart and a large scar across my stomach as well. I can feel my tail wag. I have someone I can connect to out here.

"By who?"

"Parents. I was an accident and they didn't want me so they took it out on me," Sero jumps down. "But it's fine now because I escaped them like you."

"You don't want revenge?!" He shakes his head.

"Not really. Maybe when I was like, sixteen but not anymore," I stare at him like he's crazy.

"Why not?!"

"It's done and over with. Plus it was years ago," he smiles and walks over to me. "It also helps that they were caught and sentenced to prison for a few years."

"What's prison?"

"A place where very bad humans go and they suffer for a few years," Sero explains. I smile and nod.

"Good, they deserve it."

"Yeah, they really did..." his smile falters then falls. "You can't tell anyone though. Not even Denki knows," I tilt my head.

"Who's Denki?"

"Oh, Kaminari, yellow-haired guy. We're boyfriend's."

"Oh, Red and I are boyfriend's too," he looks at me in shock.

"What?!"

"Yeah, at least I think. Mina said something about us being boyfriend's so I guess we are," Sero laughs.

"Ooohhh... She's just joking. You aren't boyfriends. Do you even know what that is?" I nod.

"Of course I do!" Pride gets the best of me once again.

"Alright, whatever you say. Anyway, I'm going back to bed. I worked all night and I'm tired. Turn the t.v. down and be quiet. The walls are paper-thin," he leaves and I'm left wondering what paper is.

*Time Skip*

I hear the door open so I quickly turn into a pup, only to turn back. It's Mina.

"Hey, Blasty," she greets, throwing a ring of things onto the table.

Hey, Pinky."

"So, I was wondering if I could teach you a few things while I remake the cake you ate,"

"I don't know, I really like lions. They're pretty cool and powerful. I saw one take down a gazelle! Did you know they'll kill gazelles?! They might even kill a deer." I say, staring at the t.v. Mina just rolls her eyes and picks up the t.v. remote before turning the t.v. off. I quickly stand up and yell at her.

"Hey! I was watching that!"

"Hey! I need to teach you things! Now, let's go," she grabs the hood of my coat and pulls me into the kitchen. "Now, as I cook, I'm going to teach you numbers," I groan and sit on the counter, knowing I won't get out of this.

"Alright. I know one, two... tree and you lose me," I shrug and she sighs.

"Repeat after me, one,"

"One,"

"Two,"

"Two,"

"Three,"

"Tree,"

"No-"

"No-"

"Okay stop. It's three, not tree. And last time you said something about not knowing what a tree was, right?"

"Yeah, I just know it's a thing that exists," Mina points out the window. This is when I realize I haven't really looked around outside. The only time I was outside was when I escaped yesterday and my only concern was getting away, not taking in the scenery. I see giant labs, as normal, the snow, and giant pillars I never noticed before. They're all different sizes and have different tufts of fur, like hair.

"Those giant things are trees. The green on the trees is leaves," as I'm amazed, she turns back to the kitchen. I continue to take in the environment. The trees, the leaves, the people who look like ants, the snow, everything. It has a strange peace to it. Mina speaks up again.

"When we first saw each other, you called this place a lab... What did you mean?"

"I meant exactly what I said. This is a lab. People live in them. It's a shelter basically. I thought you were supposed to be teaching me, not the other way around," I cross my arms and stare at her.

"Bro, this is a building. An apartment building to be more exact. The only thing that's a lab is where you were holed up at. A lab is a place people perform experiments and get smart about stuff," she starts mixing something in a bowl. I wouldn't have cared but it smelled sweet.

"What's that?" I point to the bowl and she smiles a little.

"Batter for cake. I'm being lazy right now so I just used a box recipe. I still have leftover frosting so at least one thing will be homemade. Wanna try?" she asks, grabbing a spoon and handing it to me.

"Later. Are there more buildings?"

"Yeah, tons! There's stores, houses, apartments, labs, laundry mats, zoos, a bunch of buildings," she used the spoon to get all of the batters into a rectangle-shaped pan. It's a different shape than it was earlier. "How come you know like, every animal but nothing else?"

"The facility is full of were-people, how couldn't I? Plus I heard them talking about other subjects and about animals," I shrug. Mina puts the cake into a box in the wall and joins me on sitting on the counter.

"So when's your birthday?" I tilt my head at her.

"What does that mean?"

"How long were you alive? Didn't you ever have a birthdate or something?"

"Oh, yeah... I was born on the fourth month on the 20th in 1998,"

"You were born on four twenty?!" Mina asks, laughing. I tilt my head again.

"Didn't you hear me? Yeah, I was. What about it?" she continues to laugh.

"It's just, four twenty is a funny thing for some humans. Along with sixty-nine." I tilt my head at her.

"Why?"

"Weed is why."

"I have no idea what that is. What is it?" She laughs and shakes her head.

"Nah, Nah... I can't... I can't tell you... Ask Sero, he'll tell you," She laughed in between words.

"Why not? You're supposed to teach me!" I start getting agitated.

"Fine fine. Weed is a plant-"

"Oh, why not just say that?" I cut her off. She stands there and shakes her head.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, do you know the alphabet?"

"A bet the alpha makes? I don't know."

"It's a series of letters that... Wait, I never finished the numbers!" I groan. This will take forever.

*Time Skip*

Red walks through the door so I quickly turn into a dog. He smiles and walked into the room.

"Hiya Katsuki! How's my boy?!" He picks me up and pets me. This feels really good. He's scratching behind my ears and under my chin.

"Oh, hey Kiri..." Mina says with fake anger. Red looks at her and pats her head.

"What, you want pets too?" He jokes. Mina throws his hand off her head and smiles.

"A 'hello' will be good as well, ya know."

"Fine, hello Mina."

"Hello Kiri," I bark and start fidgeting. I don't know why but watching them be together made me angry. Mina looks at me with an arched eyebrow while Kiri puts me down. I bark at her and growl lightly. She smirks.

"Aww, is the big bad wolf jealous?" She touches my nose and I jump back. I suppress the urge to turn into a human and tell her off because I don't know what 'jealous' means. Red laughs so I turn my attention to him.

"He's cute, isn't he? Gotta love the little guy. I'm going to take a shower now. I had to help Tokoyami clean up the bird cages today," Red leaves and Mina picks me up and spins me around.

"Aww! Does someone have a cwush?!" I turn into a human and she drops me.

"I do not! I don't even know what that is so ha!" I fold my arms in victory.

"If you like someone vewy much, you get a thing called a 'crush' on them. Symptoms include wanting to be around them more, being jealous, blushing whenever they're mentioned or whenever they walk into the room, and not being able to get them out of your head. Do you experience any of that? Tell Doctor Mina." 

"Well, I have no idea what jealous means either," I say smugly.

"It's when you don't want him to pay attention to anyone else and you were just behaving like that right now. Didn't it make you just a little angry at how we were acting? It's because we've known each other since we were ten but still. What if we got together and he became my boyfriend and I became his girlfriend. Wouldn't that upset you? You do know what that is right? That's when people love each other and they hang around each other aallll the time and they kiss," Mina starts walking around me. Anger starts to boil in my blood even though I didn't know what some of that meant. 

"Kiss?" 

"That's when two people who love each other put their lips together. It's a way to say that they love, respect, and appreciate each other. What if Kiri did that to me, huh? What if-" I interrupt her.

"Alright! Enough! Stop that! I get it! I don't like it when you talk about that!"

"Ah-ha! I knew it! You like him! You like him! You like him!" Mina continues to dance around so I stop her. Well, I was going to but Kiri walks into the room so I quickly turn back. 

"Hey, is Sero sleeping?" he whispers. A door opens and Sero walks out with a hunched back and rubbing his eyes.

"He isn't anymore with Mina yelling. Who were you even yelling at? Were you teasing Kirishima?" Sero asks and Mina shakes her head. Kirishima looks at Sero. 

"No, I was in the shower. I just assumed that she was on the phone," Kiri shrugs.

"I was but then they hung up," she lies. I growl softly at her. 

" 'Ight, cool beans. I'm going to go into my room," Kirishima starts to walk away and I walk with him. I can't be with Mina right now. I look back, which was a mistake. Mina looks at me and makes weird faces at me with her lips together. Sero looks at her weirdly. 

Kiri notices I walked in with him and smiles. "Hey, buddy. How are you?" I jump up onto his bed and he pets me behind my ears. I can feel my tail wag and he chuckles. I can't like him. I just want him on my side so I can attack the lab. That has to be it. It doesn't matter that I need him the most at my side. Mina is wrong. I don't like him at all!

*Time skip*

I wake up and look around. It's late and Red is asleep next to me. I nuzzle him and was about to go back to sleep but I heard a noise in the kitchen. I get out of bed and turn into a human. It's probably one of those scientists and they're here to take me back. I can't let that happen. I just got happy, I will not let them take it away from me! I quietly sneak out, shutting the door behind me, and I see a figure on the couch in the living room. It's Mina. She's still here. Everyone is here and if the scientists are here to take me, who'll stop them from taking the others as well? 

Sneaking around the corner, I notice the scientist in the kitchen. I know it's not Sero because I can still hear him asleep in his room. He snores a little. I growl and tackle his back. 

"You won't take away my freedom!" I yell, hitting his head and bitting his hair. He yelps open the fridge door and collapses away from the light. I spring off his back, land in the light so he can see me better, and face him, snarling and growling, not afraid to attack him again. "Leave my friends alone!" The light turns on and I notice something that makes my face fall. It's not a scientist.

It's Calamari. 

He stares at me, looks at what Mina told me was a 'watch' then back at me. He groans and stands up. 

"I haven't had enough cups of coffee for this," he says, walking towards a machine. I look to see Mina by the light switch. She notices the situation is somewhat tamed so she goes back to bed.

"I should've gone home after dinner," she mumbles tiredly.

"Wait, you're not going to freak out?" I ask. He shakes his head and sips a hot drink from a glass pot. 

"Nah, the caffeine hasn't kicked in enough for me to freak out. Also, I'm a college student, I don't fear death, but welcome it. Especially at three in the morning when my friend's dog is actually a person," he takes another sip. "Man, I should get a Monster, that'll wake me up more... Also Sero kind of hinted at hit earlier. This doesn't surprise me. Also, please try to be quieter. I'm going to study because I have a big project coming up and this teacher grades harshly." and just like that, he's gone. I stare in the hallway he went down in confusion. Not the reaction I thought but I'm fine with this. I'm going back to bed. 

*Time skip*

I wake up due to Kiri's panicked voice. 

"I-I'm sorry sir but, we don't have a dog."

"Bullshit! I have a complaint saying you do! If I find out you have a dog, I'm kicking you out for lying!" 

"Wait, sir, please reconsider!" 

"Bah!" I sigh. I know exactly what has to be done... I turn into a human and throw the hood up. I'm glad the coat I stole covers up my tail. I'd be in trouble if it didn't. I look out of the door to see Kiri freaking out and an old man trying to come in. Kaminari and Sero walk into the living room.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sero asks, holding Kaminari's hand. 

"Uh, the landlord, you know, the guy we're renting the place from, thinks we have a dog in here. Isn't that crazy?" Kiri says, trying to sell the idea that the others should lie. The two boyfriends look at each other then back at the old man.

"We don't have a dog. Hey, Hanta, why don't you get me more coffee from the kitchen. Maybe we can clean up too. Don't forget to put the stuff under my bed." Kaminari says to Sero through gritted teeth. Sero nods and walks into the kitchen. From my perspective, I can see him pick up all the dog stuff Kirishima bought for me and he carries it away. 

"This is stalling!" The old man starts to get angrier. I've had enough of this. I walk out to face him.

"Hey! If you think we have a dog, then search the place! Do it, I dare you. You won't find anything. The only dog who came over was Mina's but Kiri told her to take it home because he knows we're not supposed to have dogs." I look at Kirishima who's staring at me in shock and a little bit of fear. He then snaps out of it.

"U-uh... Ye-yeah, go search for it. You won't find anything. May-maybe some dog fur but that's because of our friend's dog. She came over with the dog and I didn't realize until a few minutes later that she had a dog in the apartment," Kiri doesn't stop staring at me. Kaminari pitches in.

"Right, I'll even take you around so you can look," he looks at us both and nods. The old man follows Kaminari to the kitchen, where they find Sero. Kiri looks at me and was about to speak but I stop him by holding a finger up.  I slowly take my hood off and I show him my ears. His eyes widen and he's about to speak again but I go into the kitchen, flipping my hood back up.

"Yeah, and that's why we have the coffee machine on the left counter instead of right next to the sink," Kaminari says, clearly stalling for time. 

"Finally, now let's go." the old man walks towards Kaminari's room. I haven't been in their room before. It has a big bed, a t.v. on a tall dresser, a desk, and a lot of clothes on the floor. Kaminari starts picking it up and putting it in a hamper.

"I didn't know we would have a guest today," he chuckles nervously. The old man looks around and goes into the closet. Once he realizes there's no dog, he moves into the bathroom. He keeps on searching the place until everything is checked. 

After all that, we all go to the front door. "Well, I guess it was because of your friend's dog. Tell her to keep that mangey mutt out of my house!" once he's done yelling at us, he walks out, slamming the door. We all collectively sigh. 

"That was a close one..." Kaminari says, putting a hand on his heart. 

"Yeah, that was a close one. Whatever, uh, do you guys know why my dog is a human?!?!" Kirishima whisper yells, pointing to me. I sigh and step up close to him. 

"Look, Kiri, I know I should've told you when we first got here but I'm an experiment. One that went wrong but an experiment nonetheless. I can turn into a little pomeranian at will and it's not supposed to be like that." 

He shakes his head and says, "No, it's really not."

"No, I'm supposed to be this big monster but I'm not. I was going to be killed for it so I escaped and that's when you found me. Those people who were chasing me were trying to kill me so thank you very much." he stares at me and puts a hand up to his face. 

"I-I'm sorry... I just... I need a minute..." he walks into his room and for the first time, shuts and locks me out. I walk over and try opening it but it won't budge. My ears slick back as I sit against the door. 

"Oof, dude..." Kaminari says and Sero punches his arm. I glare at him and I fall onto the couch. Mina bursts through the door and sees us all. She's wearing her pink apron. 

"Hey, boys, watch out, mama Mina coming through," she makes it to Kiri's door and knocks. "Hey, Kiri? Why don't you come out and we can all have a civil discussion about this?" Kirishima walks out with a blanket around him. 

"Sorry, I just, needed a minute to think. I... This whole thing just confuses me. So," Kirishima looks at me. "You're not a dog?" I look at my arms, legs, just my general body then look back at him with a 'really' look. "Right, dumb question... Uuuhhh... Are you really just using me as some housing place then you'll leave?" I shake my head.

 "No, that would be stupid. Everyone already knows so I'd have to kill you all and I really don't want to do that. I hate saying it but... I'd... regret it... I kinda like you guys and I was hoping you'd stick around... You're way better than the scientists." I shrug as Mina 'aww's. 

"Okay, that makes me feel a bit better... Wait, scientists?" Kirishima tilts his head. "What scientists?"

"Weren't you listening before? I'm an experiment. I was made from scientists and I lived in a lab my whole life until you rescued me. Well, until you helped me."

"Alright... What all have you seen?" I sigh at this question as flashbacks run through my mind like a movie. I notice my plushie and blanket are on the floor on the side of the couch so I pick them up. I hold the plushie and I wrap the blanket around me. 

"I've seen a lot of things. I've witnessed people die, get tortured, have to fight to the death, I've witnessed scientists give us hope only to rip it away, I saw people, friends, freeze and burn while they were testing for limits. I saw multiple people beg for their lives on a daily basis and I was one of them... That's why I escaped." Mina sits next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. 

"Alright, if you don't mind me asking, what have they done to you?" I look up at Sero and we share a knowing glance. 

"I've been through a lot of what I witnessed except I never died. Electrocuted, shot, burned, I almost froze, drowned, suffocated, I was beaten to the brink of death a few times, and I was starved so they could see how long I could last. That's all they care about. 'How long can this thing survive this?' They don't care that we all can feel everything and how much it hurts..." I instinctively grip my stomach. "Yeah... They've done a lot..." 

"I'm so sorry, " Kirishima sits next to me.

"Don't pity me! What's done is done and I'm free. That's all that matters," I snort air out of my nose like a bull.

"Final question, what were you supposed to be?"

"Wow, you really don't listen. I told you before. I was supposed to be a strong wolf. Something that was capable of anything and everything. I was supposed to be as tall in my human for in my animal form. I was supposed to just be a killing machine but they put too much human DNA in me and boom. I'm weak." I say, gripping the shark plushie tighter. Flashbacks are still running in my mind. Flashback of all the terrible things. 

"Well, what about all of your friends? What were they and how were they like?" Friends? Right.

"I never really had friends. Just one acquaintance. A sheep person. Kind of like me but a sheep. For some reason, he can conduct electricity very well."

"Oh! Like Mareep?!" Kaminari asks. I stare at him for a second. 

"Sure... The scientists gave him the nickname Deku because he's practically useless. His number was 670." I explain with a small smile. 

"Can you tell me some good memories about them?" Now I can tell he's trying to cheer me up. 

"Yeah sure. One time, Deku was getting beat by some other experiments and by a few guards so I took them down. The head scientist thought it was funny since I was little so we weren't punished," I smile. "One time, a scientist gave me a device that could play music and we listened to it for a really long time. It was loud music and Deku didn't like it but I really enjoyed it. I played it around him just to annoy him sometimes but then a scientist found out that we had it and broke it. Another time, Deku got a carrot stuck in his nose when we first met! It was hilarious! He was crying while I got a guard to come help him." I smile at the memories. I don't have many good ones of that place at all, but I do have a few.

"What are some memories you have here? I'm guessing you have some since everyone but me knew. How'd the other find out." Mina smiles and jumps up.

"Bro, let me go first! Alright, so I just finished work so I was coming up here to chill and possibly steal some cereal like I usually do but then I heard the t.v. playing and I thought, 'huh... That's weird. Kiri should be at work' right? Well, I was right. When I opened the door, Katsuki was there, staring at the t.v. with cake and frosting all over him and the couch!" Mina explains with a smile. 

"Ooohhh, that's why you needed to make a new cake," the boys say and she nods. 

"Yeah. So we had to pick all that up plus other stuff and then we talked, I taught him how to count up to three then I had to go to the store because he also ate Kaminari's cookies,"

"That's why the package was new. I thought I was just tripping or something." Kaminari jokes.

"Yeah, it was great. I think Sero found out next, right?" Sero looks up and nods.

"Yeah. I was tired because I worked all night at the 7-11 and I just wanted to sleep. I woke up because some Australian guy was shouting about lions on the t.v. So I go out there, thinking Denki was in one of those weird documentary phases again but when I went out there, Katsuki was sitting down, the shark in hand. I freaked out a little-"

"OOH! That makes so much more sense!!! That's why you called me, right?!" Kiri asks and Sero nods. 

"Yeah but I'm not there yet. So I freaked out and he kept on saying, 'call Pinky, she'll explain it' or something like that. I had no idea who he was talking about because we don't call Mina Pinky."

"If he calls you some weird name, call him Blasty, he loves it,"

"I do not!" I yell at Mina. 

"Whatever. So he shoves me and calls Mina by looking at the numbers on the fridge."

"Wait, how did you know which one was my number? I thought you didn't know how to read?" Mina asks.

"I don't, Calamari showed me which number was whos." everyone looks at yellow hair. 

"I was bored, sleep-deprived, and I did it as a joke. I didn't actually think he would call you." He explains. 

"So she's all like, 'bro, calm down, he's safe to have around. I'll be there in a second.' I'm still panicking but and I call Kiri but Mina takes the call from me and says everything is fine. After that, she talks to me and explains to me that we aren't so different," he ruffles my hair with a smile.

"Wait, I did?" MIna asks and we nod.

"Long story I'm not going to say. Just know we had a heart-to-heart after you left." He smiles.

"Whatever, my turn!! My way was the best. So we all know, I'm a college student and I work at Best Buy, there is little to no will for sleep in my body. So it's three a.m. and your boy decided he needed some cheese and some coffee."

"That's a weird combination... Also, that's why there wasn't any shredded cheese! I was going to make a taco for breakfast." Kirishima says a little defeatedly. 

"Yeah, yeah, anyway, so I'm just there, in the twilight zone because I'm tired and I needed to study and do a big project for one of my professors. I started up the coffee machine and was making my way to the fridge when something jumps on my back and starts pulling my hair."

"Kinky, how didn't you know it was just Sero?" Kaminari elbows Mina while I'm confused. 

"Because he was going on about me trying to take his freedom. So I fall and Mina turns on the light and I notice, hey, he kind of reminds me of Katsuki because of the wittle ears and how he tries to seem intimidating. Plus earlier Sero texted me and said something about the dog not being everything he seems. I thought it was because he was like... a different type of dog but then I saw that and I was like, bingo."

"I said that because at dinner he stole my food off the coffee table in the living room," Sero says, glaring at me.

"Hey, I see food, it smells good, I eat it. I didn't know it was yours. What even was it?" I tilt my head.

"It was macaroni and cheese,"

"And you all know how I found out because I texted Mina what happened, " Kirishima says then his watch beeps. He gasps and looks at the time. "Ah fuck, I forgot about work!" he looks at me. 

"So since you haven't been outside like, ever, do you want to come to work with me? I'm sure they won't mind me taking a dog with me especially since I work at a zoo,"

"Yeah but quick question, what's a zoo?"

"A place with a whole bunch of animals. Like lions and penguins and a whole bunch of other stuff." I gasp and grip my stuffy tighter. 

"Really?! You'll take me?!" my tail wags in excitement. 

"Yup. I gotta quickly get ready though so hurry up. It's still cold out, being January and winter. so have Mina put a coat on you or something," he quickly runs into his room to get changed. Mina stares at me and grins slowly. 

"No, not that dress. I'd rather die."

"Fine, fine... I did buy other clothes though. I bought you a coat that matches that one," she reaches behind the couch and pulls out a brown bag. Oh right. She dumps a whole bunch of clothes on the coffee table and digs in the pile. I tilt my head as she does so. Soon, she takes out a dark green coat with white fur on the hood. It's exactly like mine. I turn into a dog and she puts it on me. It's a little too big but I don't care. Kirishima walks out and smiles. I grab my stuffy with my mouth and look at him.

"Aww, you look so cute," he picks me up and my tail wags again. "I have a leash I can take you on. Well, I'm going to leave now. Bye guys, don't burn the house down," Kirishima sets me down and attaches the leash on my collar. It's a lot lighter than the chain I said when I was running away. After that, he gently takes my stuffy and buts it in his pocket. "Katsuki, we have to book it," Kiri opens the door and we leave. 

As we run, I look around. There are so many humans out. I stay close to Kiri in a little it of fear. What if they're scientists? The snow is brown and watered down. I end up slipping a few times but I manage to stay by Kiri. I feel safer next to him. We reach a floor that slopes downward with bumps. Kiri starts to walk down them but I stop. I don't want to fall down them. I'm too little to walk down this normally. Kiri looks at me. 

"Come on, Katsuki, we might miss the subway," I stare at him and whine. He sighs and picks me up. "Have you ever seen the stairs?" I shake my head and he pets me. "Oh, well it's alright buddy," he calms me down as he descends. 

We make it to the underground and I see a human walking over. "Sorry sir, no dogs allowed in here," he stops us. 

"Oh, okay. Sorry," the man dips his head and walks away. Kirishima stuffs me in his coat and continues to walk. "Sorry, Katsuki. I don't have the money for an extra train ticket," he whispers. 

After a little bit, he unzips the coat and gently sets me in a room that smells really bad. A light comes on and I realize it's a bathroom minus the shower. "Turn into a human," he whispers so I do what I'm told. Before I go out, I flip the hood up. 

"Open the door, I don't know how." The door slides open and tucks itself into the wall. I stare in amazement. "Whoa..."

"Kat, listen to me," he takes off my collar and stuffs it in his pocket and hands me my stuffy. I hold it as I would die without it. "We're on a train and I need you to act your best. Once we get off, we'll go to the bathroom and you change back, okay?" I nod and we go. A train is basically a really long, moving hallway with seats. There are so many humans. It's packed. I take a step back towards the bad-smelling room but Kirishima grabs my hand and looks at me with a soft smile. 

"It's fine, I promise. I do this every day. I know it could be scary but it's fun once you get used to it." I nod and he leads me through all the people. I grip the shark and I can feel my heart pounding. Kirishima stops and holds onto a thing that's on the ceiling. I put my stuffy in my mouth and I grab another one of the handles. Kirishima looks at me and takes the shark. 

"You have to hold it. Not with your mouth. Here," I take it back and just hold onto his hand and the stuffy.

I stare out of a window and I watch the dark tunnel we're zooming through. I was almost at peace until I felt a tug on my stuffy. I look to see a kid trying to take it. I continue tugging at it but then the kid starts whining. 

"Mine!" it yells, about to cry. 

"No, fuck off, kid! It's mine!" I growl. Kiri walks over. 

"Hey, I'm sorry about my friend here but that's his. Can you please let go?" Kirishima asks kindly. The kid was about to hit Kirishima in the face but the child's mother stops it. I thought I had to fight a child.

"I'm so so sorry! He had a stuffed shark just like that and he left it at home," the woman says.

"It's alright. No damage was done and no one was hurt. Everything's good," Kirishima says before going back to standing. I glare at the child and hold onto my shark tighter. Kiri grabs my hand again to stop me from fighting the kid. The train stops and we start to walk off. Not just us though. A whole herd of people gets off at the same time we do. I squeeze his hand tighter and he gently squeezes mine back. 

"Don't worry, Katsuki, we're almost there. I promise it's not that crowded at the zoo." We get past a spinning side thing of death and continue. Kiri looks around before turning sharply. He leads me to a door and we walk in together. The lights come on and it's another half bathroom. "Alright, stay still for a second," he puts the collar back on me and I feel more comfortable. "Turn back into a dog then we can go," I do so and I hold the shark in my mouth. He smiles and scratches me under my chin. "Good boy, now, I have to carry you in my coat again," he picks me up, zips me up in his coat, and we're off. 

I stay as still as I can. I feel him moving up and I can tell we're on more 'stairs'. Once we reach the top, he sets me down and I shake. "Alright, We're almost there. It's just up ahead. Do you want me to hold your shark or do you want to hold it?" I bite down on it, staring at him. "Alright, try not to drop it, alright, buddy?" I nod and we start running again. There are fewer people so I get more confident. I get more distance and I start to speed up. I like the feeling of the wind in my fur. Kirishima laughs and I smile. I like his laugh. It's such a nice sound. It's one that brings joy and makes you want to laugh as well. 

We finally reach an opening in greenery. "Tada, this is the zoo. He leads me in and he walks into a building with people inside. "Hello everyone," he greets. A man walks over and pets me. He has a tired look on his face and long, black hair.

"So is this the little guy you asked to bring?" He asks. 

"Yes, it is, Aizawa. This is Katsuki and thanks to you for letting me bring him," Kirishima bows. 

"No problem. Now go out there. Asui needs help with the crocodiles in the reptile house. A kid threw their hat in the exhibit and she's trying to get it back."

"Right, thank you and later!" Kirishima and I start running again. We exit the building. Just smelling the place makes my head spin. There are so many new scents and noises. We pass places with tons of water, with no water, places with houses, places without houses, just tons of things. Kirishima notices me looking around and chuckles. Finally, we reach another building. We enter it and I immediately sense a temperature difference. It's a lot warmer in here than it was outside. Kirishima leads me to a hole in the ground with tall walls. Well, tall from my perspective right now. Red easily jumps over it. He looks at me.

"Katsuki, stay," I sit down and continue chewing my stuffy, watching him. There's another girl in there and a lot of crocodiles. The girl has long green hair and an outfit that matches Kirishima's. A dark green shirt with tan pants. There's a red hat in the water which reminds me of the mission we were told about. Now that I'm looking around, I notice a little boy watching the two intently. It must be his hat. He notices me and walks over. 

"Mister, is this your dog?" He asks. 

"Huh? Katsuki? Yeah. He's nice so if you want, you can pet him." Red says before going back to focusing on all the crocodiles. The hat is in deep water and the two are discussing something. The boy sits next to me and starts petting my head. I try to pay attention to the crocodiles but soon I'm in his lap, getting my stomach rubbed. Soon, I hear some commotion in the water. I look to see they finally got the hat and they're coming back. The green girl walks over and hands the boy his hat. 

"There you go. Next time be a little more careful, okay?" she says sweetly. The boy nods before setting me off his lap. 

"I will and thank you." he looks at the hat and smiles. There's a piece missing. "Did an alligator bite it?" He asks, hopefully. 

"No," he frowns, "but a crocodile did." he smiles and looks up at Red. 

"Wow! That's so cool! Anyway, thank you guys," he bows then runs off. Once he runs off, the two sigh. 

"Fred is getting more aggressive. He's growing up and I don't like it," the green girl says. 

"We all gotta let go of our babies at one point. Anyway, this is the dog I was talking about, Katsuki." the girl looks at me and smiles.

"Why, hello there. I'm Tsu, how are you?" I just pick up my stuffy and bark. She laughs then pats my head before standing up. "Thanks for helping me. I couldn't get the pole because Kevin broke it last week and I haven't gotten around to making another. Your dog is really cute and fluffy!" 

"Thank you. Well, I'm going to check on Boris now. It should be time to feed him anyway. Bye, Tsu!"

"Bye Kirishima," he grabs the leash and we start to walk off. He hums as we walk and I start to squeak my stuffy. He smiles and reaches down to pet me. 

"Alright, so I'm in charge of some of the aquatic exhibits. There's a shark named Boris and he's a zebra shark. He's not out where people can see because it's too cold out for him. We keep him in a big room." we enter yet another building and Kirishima whistles loudly and sharply. "Feeding time!" he lets go of my leash and he locks the door. "If you want, you can turn into a human. Only I have the key to this place and no one comes in here because it's my job to take care of him. Come on," I turn into a human and hold my shark in my hands. I wonder if Boris is a big shark or not. I hope so. I hope he's bloodthirsty and hostile. What an interesting creature he would be! 

Kirishima has two white buckets. I look at them, hoping to see chum and blood but nothing. One has some crabs in it while the other has a few small fish. 

"Where's the chum? I thought that's how you feed sharks? I saw a movie about it." I state the facts. 

"Oh, Boris isn't dangerous. He's really docile and hasn't ever bitten anyone before. In the summer, sometimes we'll have him out with the dolphins so people can swim with them."

"Aww, that's boring..." I complain and he laughs. 

"He is a simple guy," he throws the food in and puts his legs in the water, after taking off his shoes and socks of course. "Aren't you?" he says to the shark but he doesn't respond. "Aizawa said we might get more zebra sharks in the spring." I watch the shark eat. It doesn't even look like a zebra. He has spots all over his body instead of stripes, like a zebra.

"Why doesn't he look like a zebra?" I ask. 

"Zebra sharks are named after the stripes they have when they're young. He's five years old so he doesn't have any anymore. We rescued him from another zoo three years ago. He wasn't in a correct habitat and he wasn't being fed correctly." We sit there together, watching Boris eat and swim around. 

"Why not have something cooler? Like a great white or a bull shark?"

"Easy, they can't be kept in containment so we have this guy instead," he gestures towards the water. "Bull sharks can be kept in captivity and a while ago, we even had one. One day, he killed a zookeeper so we decided to have a break with them. Hey, want to look around the zoo some more?" Kirishima asks and I turn into a dog with my tail wagging and stuffy in my mouth. "I'm going to guess that's a yes," I bark and bolt to the door. Kirishima laughs and follows. He unlocks the door and grabs the leash and we're off again. 

I actually look around when we go outside this time. There are a lot of trees and other plants around the zoo. Kirishima starts walking so I follow. 

We walk past a lot of animals and we even went behind the scenes a few times. We saw the monkeys which reminded me of 673 because they have tails. We saw bats and we were about to go to see the lions but someone stops Kirishima. 

"Hey, Kirishima. I haven't seen you all day," there's a boy with all black hair and a red necklace thing all around his neck. He also has black marks around his eyes. It looks like Mina did something with her face altering stuff. Kirishima smiles and walks over to him. 

"Toko! Hey, man! How's Bert?" He asks, dropping the leash. Disappointed, I look at the closest exhibit and smile. It's the lions! Lions are my favorite because I look like them and I'm tough like them. I set my shark on the ground and I go closer to the fence. One is sitting on a rock, sunbathing while two females are laying down on the ground sleeping. My tail wags as I watch them. Finally! I get to see them! The male yawns and I hear a squeak. My stuffy... I turn to see it behind a bush. I start walking over to it but it bolts. I look up at Red to see him still chatting. 

I'll be back later.

I bolt after it, barking. It's facing me and going away from everyone. I didn't know stuffed animals were supposed to move. I chase it anyway. We end up behind a building with no people around except one. How could I be so stupid?! It's the alpha of the lab and he's dangling the stuffy with a piece of fishing wire. I turn into a human. 

"Of fucking course... I can't be happy, can I?" I growl, ready to throw hands. 

"You are in big big trouble, thinking you can run away like that," he avoids my question. 

"KATSUKI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" I hear Kirishima yelling for me and my heart falls. I look back and the alpha chuckles. 

"Did you trick a human? That's the human who helped you escape, isn't it? How cute, he gave you a name."

"Just give me back my fucking stuffy and go your way and I'll go my way. Leave me the fuck alone," my voice is dripping with venom as I growl those words through gritted teeth. My fur and hair are sticking up from my hostility. He laughs. 

"You have been one to use such colorful language, what did he call you? Katsuki? What a cute name-"

"You can't call me that! Only my people! The people who actually care about me!" I then realize my grave mistake.

"People huh? Plural. Well, isn't that nice? You-" I take this as my opportunity to fight him. I jump at him but someone grabs me by my arms and holds my mouth closed. "Enough of that. Put him in the van," he throws my stuffy onto the floor and stomps on it. I bite the person's hand that's over my mouth. 

"KIRISHIMA! HELP! KIRISH-I-" the alpha smashes my head into the wall, stopping me from talking. The guy puts his hand back around my mouth to stop me. I look to see Kirishima rounding the corner. He freezes when he sees me and his mouth falls open. 

"Katsuki?" he whispers and I whine. 

No...

"Ah, I remember you! You took my dog away from me. Thank you for returning him to me. Unfortunately, I can't have you going around, talking about him," the alpha nods his head towards Kirishima and another one of the guards rushes over and grabs Kirishima. I try squirming around and I manage to get my mouth and an arm away. 

"NO!" I scream, trying to get to Kirishima. "No, please! Leave him alone!" 

"Wow, I had no idea 'please' was in your vocabulary," the alpha starts walking away. "Knock both of them out and let's go. It's cold out here." The last thing I see is a brick wall. 

*Time skip*

I wake up to see white all around me. No... Not again... I can't be here! Not again! I back up against a wall and grip my head, almost ripping out my hair. I make myself as small as possible in the room. I want to shrink and disappear. I need to. I can feel my heart and my breath quicken. I start shaking and hyperventilating. 

No... Not here, not again... They're going to kill me. I'm going to die here. I'm going to die in this facility and the last time I ever saw Kirishima, was when he was frightened out of his mind. It's all my fault. We both are going to die in this stupid lab. I start whining and a few tears fall onto my knees. I can't be in here again. They'll harm both of us. I have to get us out of here. 

I suddenly feel a hand go around my shoulders and I'm pulled into someone's arms. I look to see it's Kirishima. I nuzzle against him and whine. 

"I'm so sorry... It's all my fault," my breath hicks. 

"Ssssshhhhh... It's alright, Katsuki. It's all going to be okay." 

"What is this?"

"It's the lab I think."

"No, what you're doing to me."

"It's a hug. People do it to help others and to let them know they'll be by their side." I throw my arms around him and 'hug' him tightly. Kirishima starts humming and he pets my head. I hear the door open so I look up to see the alpha. I stand up and guard Kirishima. 

"Stay back!" 

"How precious. You know, we always started our projects from scratch," he looks at me, "but look where that got us. Why don't we start with an already existing human?" he looks at Kirishima whose eyes widen and his pupils get smaller. I look back at the alpha.

"Touch him, and I'll kill you," I threaten. 

"Aww, poor 666... You should already know I don't do anything here. Guards! Get the redhead!" heavily armored guards walk in. 

"No!" I grab onto Kirishima and try to hold him close but it's to no avail. One of them shoots my hand so I let go and clutch my hand. It's not the worst thing, seeing as it's only one of the dart guns they have. It's a ball with a needle on it that stimulates a gunshot wound. "Gah! Fucker!" I quickly take the needle out and shake my hand, trying to get rid of the feeling. I launch myself back at the others but they're already gone. 

I sigh and curl up again. My heart starts to ache again. I wish Mina was here because then she could tell me what's happening. She knows everything.

A bell goes off and my door opens again. It's mealtime. I don't know if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner though. I walk out and my heart stops again. I didn't think I'd see him again and I completely forgot about him. 

"Kacchan! You're alive and back!" Deku rushes over to me happily. "I didn't actually think you would go, especially without me," he says, sadly. "Also, I heard someone call you Kacchan so I hope you don't mind that I'm calling you that now.

"Why wouldn't I go through with it? Also, he didn't call me 'Kachow' or whatever you said, Deku. He called me Katsuki. He gave me that name." I frown, thinking about him.

"Who even was he? He didn't have a white coat on and I never saw him before. He can't be a scientist." Deku pitches in. 

"He's not. He's just a regular human..." he gasps.

"You saw a human?!" 

"A shit ton of them. Like, way more than everyone in this lab. There's so much out there... There are trees and grass and snow and cake and coffee machines and ice cream and brain freezes and zoos and macaroni and cheese and so much more!"

"What are you even talking about? Are you sure you can handle lunch today? Maybe you should go back to your room," Deku says with a pity smile. I growl at him. 

"No! I need to find Kirishima before they torture him or kill him!" Deku sighs. 

"You know there's no way to escape that," he sighs and holds his arm. 

"But I did escape it!"

"You were brought right back though. Maybe you should forget about that whole thing and just live how we did before." Deku sighs. I punch him and shove him into a wall. 

"Don't you ever say that again! You know damn well that they're going to kill me soon because I'm useless just like you!" I'm seething with rage. How could he say that? Doesn't he know?

"Okay... Sorry about that. I forgot..." he sighs and looks up at me with a weak smile and tears in his eyes. "They told me this morning that they're going to kill me as well since I'm just taking up space... I guess we're in the same boat, huh?" 

"Not if we get out of here, which I plan on doing as soon as I find Kirishima."

"Alright, I'm with you. How did you escape last time?"

"I don't think that would work again. They're not that stupid enough to fall for it again." I start to pace, thinking. 

"How about we fight?"

"You know very well I'd win and I have no idea why you're suggesting this," I roll up my sleeves but he stops me. 

"No, no, no! I mean as a distraction then we both fight them, throwing them off. After they're confused, we can book it and find the room with the guard outfits. After that, we can go along, trying to find Kiri's room," Deku suggests. I stare at him.

"That is the stupidest plan ever. It'll never work..."

"Do you have a plan? I'm sorry, Kacchan but I think this is the only way. Why don't we at least try it?" I groan loudly. 

"Fine, if this doesn't go right, I will fight you for real," I get ready to start the fight but Deku stops me. 

"No, no, no. Fight as animals so we can turn back, adding to their confusion. Not all of them are used to us being able to turn into creatures at our own free will," Deku explains. I groan again and turn into a dog. 

"In this form, I'd still be able to beat you, you know," I growl. He turns into a green sheep.

"Let's see who really can beat who," I jump at him and start biting at his legs. He stomps on my tail so I yelp and jump away. He kicks me into the wall so I jump and start attacking his face. I tear at the wool, trying to get a grip so I wouldn't fall off of his face. I bite his nose and hold on for dear life. He starts bleating loudly before biting my stomach. I let go and fall onto my side. He goes to stomp my stomach but I dodge and bite his leg. I hear yowling and I feel claws digging into my back. 

"No!" Deku yells, I throw whoever off and I see the halfie cat. I hate this guy so much. He always acts like he's the king of the lab because he's useful. He's a tiger with red and white stripes instead of normal black and orange. 

"You're just taken back and you're already trying to fight him? Wow, you're pathetic," he roars and charges at me again. I quickly dodge and bite his tail. He turns around and swats at me. 

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me," Deku rushes over and stomps on the halfie. 

"What are you doing? I thought we were close," Halfie says, clearly hurt by Deku's actions. 

"Just, please follow when I leave," three guards rush over to pull us apart from each other so we turn back and start fighting the guards. I bite the guy's hand and I start to book it. Deku headbutts someone in the nose while the Halfie slices their arm. Both of them are right behind me. Now that he's human, I can describe this form. 

Half of his hair is white while the other is red which explains the weird coloration of the tiger. He has very high heat receptors so he doesn't burn easily but only on a certain half of his body. The red side is better when it's dealing with heat and fire while the white side is better dealing with cold and ice. When they were testing that, they tried seeing if his red side could handle the cold but he managed to get a freezer burn from it right over his eye.

"Okay, what is going on?!" Halfie asks again. 

"It was a diversion, idiot! So we can escape!" he stares at us and 'ohs' silently. "Yeah. Let's hope you didn't ruin our chance!" I growl. As I'm looking at the doors, I realize they have words above them. Mina taught me how to read a little bit while we were waiting for the cake. She taught me what words looked like and how to sound them out. She chose laundry mat and I'm thankful for once. I look around, hoping to see letters that look similar to what I remember. Finally, I find it. 

"This door! Uhh..." I stare at the keypad in confusion. Suddenly I remember the pattern of the door outside. I just hope all the doors have the same code.

"How do you even know if this is the right door?"

"I'll explain once we get in there! We need to get through now!" I hit enter and rush in, shutting the door behind Deku. I was correct on both things. All codes are the same and this is the laundry room. Luckily, no one is here. Deku reaches for the light switch but I stop him. 

"If we turn that light on, they'll be able to see the light from under the door," I whisper. He nods and gets his hand away from the switch.

"Alright, explain. How did you know this was the laundry room?"

"Because a human taught me how to read and she taught me about numbers. If you ever need the code, it's 5837. They look like this," I look around before I find a marker. I grab Deku's arm and I write out the code. "Try to match the symbols up to this." I write it on Halfie's arm as well. 

"Oh wow! You have to show me how to do whatever you did when we get out of here!" Deku says happily. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I look around before spotting a pile of clean uniforms. "Bingo," 

*short time skip*

After a few minutes, we manage to find which ones fit us and we put them on. We decided to wear guard uniforms. I look at my coat and boots I had and sigh. Memories. I put the helmet on which immediately makes my ears uncomfortable but I try not to pay attention. We had to help Halfie get all of his hair in his helmet because they'd recognize us immediately. We just tell him to keep his head down so they don't see his burn. The helmets are all black and they have a piece of plastic protecting the eyes. 

"Alright, let's go," I start to walk to the door but I'm stopped.

"Kacchan, you have to take off your collar." I stare at him like he's crazy. 

"Why? I don't want to take it off."

"We took ours off. You have you so we don't get caught." Deku says pitifully. 

"No, this is the last thing I have from him. This is the only thing reminding me I can be free!" I yell at him. 

"Kacchan, please! For one, you're too loud. They might hear you. Now you have to take it off." I glare at him before sighing. I take it off and look at it. I rub my thumb over the metal stars on it. I find the tag and look at it. It's a circle which is different from the lab tags. I put it in the vest instead. 

"I'm still keeping it. I'll just hide it and you can't tell me otherwise!" I growl as he sighs and the Halfie rolls his eyes. 

"Fine, let's go now," he turns to the Halfie, "remember, keep your head down. We'll lead you-"

"I'll lead him into a wall on purpose-"

"I'll lead you so you don't have to worry." Deku looks up and me and nods so I nod back and turn to the door. Putting my head up against it, I try to listen for more guards outside. Once I'm sure it's safe, I go out and lead the others. 

"Hey!" I jump and turn around to see a guard walking over to me. "We need more guards to watch the humans," he says.

"Humans?"

"Yeah. Remember when that weakling escaped? You know we captured it, right?" I was about to go off but Halfie stomps on my foot. 

"Ye-yeah, I do," I say.

"Good. Well, the stupid experiment got in contact with humans. There are a redhead and a blond being held,"

"Calamari?!"

"Well, his name is Kaminari from the files I read. Wait-" fuck "how did you know his name?"

"Uh, I read the files on him. I just forgot about it."

"I see. You know how to get to their holding cell?" I shake my head. "Alright, go up there, turn left and it's the first door on the left. Here's a map," he hands me a white rectangle with lines on it. "Don't lose it. The boss said his guy's important." I nod and start following the lines. 

"Great job guys, that was close," Deku whispers to us. "We're almost there. We just have to follow this map and we're golden!" 

After following it, I notice that there's a number at the top. It's a room number. I know where that is! 

"Guys, we have to go this way, I know what room he's in."

"Who's room is this? This is the red guy, right?"

"No, it's one of his idiot friends. We have to save him as well," Halfie groans. "Shut it before I smack you."

"You wouldn't blow our cover like that," I growl because he's right. 

We finally reach his room. I open the door and walk in. He's sitting on the bed and when he sees us, his eyes widen and he backs up. He has light scars over his face and arms. Scars that look like lightning and he has a black eye. I shut the door behind us.

"Stay away! I was already tested and something was already done! I know I have a lightning bolt in my hair but that's because I dyed it. I-I just wanted to be cool." I take off my helmet and he stops and smiles. 

"Blasty!"

"Shut it, outlet. We're getting you out of here," Deku and Halfie also take their helmets off and he calms down more. 

"Oh my god, thank god! I thought I was going to go through all the horrible stuff you talked about," Kaminari gets up and rushes over. He hugs me so I hug back. After a while, we separate but he keeps his hands on my shoulders. His smile falls and his arms start shaking lightly.

"Katsuki... They did something to me..." that got my attention and I growl.

"What did they do to you?"

"I-I don't know but when I got here, they started testing me with electricity because of my hair. Once they found out that I was just a normal human, they hooked me up to a g-giant machine..." he stares at my vest with empty eyes, clearly remembering what happened. "They said I was the first person they tested it on..." tears spring to his eyes and he rests his head on my chest. "I-it hurt... s-so much... I-I'm so so sorry. Th-they said I should stop whining because most of the people there experience things worse than that daily. How... How could these people be so fucking heartless?" I rest my chin on his head and I pat his back. 

"I know... It sucks... This is why we're getting out." He wipes his nose and looks back up at me. 

"That's not all. Something happened to me..." he takes his hands off me and stares at them. They have more of the lightning scars on them. 

"Well?"

"They tested me with electricity again and I didn't feel anything. It just... tickled. Kat, what did they do?" he looks up at me. 

"They did something so you're resilient to electricity. They've never done anything like that before though," Deku pitches in. Kaminari looks at them. 

"Oh, hello. You must be Deku, right?" Deku looks at me quickly. 

"You told him about me?"

"They asked about the other experiments, I told them." I shrug. 

"Okay, who's that guy though?" Halfie takes his helmet off. 

"People call me Halfie, Half-face, things like that."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, we need an excuse to take him out..." I say, pacing around. 

"We can say we were ordered to take him to test. Easy." Deku says. I nod. 

"Fine, let's go," we put our helmets back on and after that, I grab one of his arms while Halfie takes the other. "Act like we're going against your will." he nods and we leave. He starts thrashing around and trying to escape the second we walk out of the door. 

"You'll never take me alive! How dare you? I'm calling my lawyer! I didn't kill my wife! I demand my call home!" I have no idea what he's talking about but I don't care. I see two guards carrying Kirishima past us. He sees Kaminari and starts freaking out.

"Kami? KAMI! I'm so sorry! Fight it! I'm sorry! KA-" a guard smacks the back of his head. 

"Shut it!" I growl and start following them. 

"What are you doing?" the guard up ahead asks. 

"Give him to me, now," I growl lowly which makes Kirishima look up at me in shock.

"Why? And what are you doing with him?"

"WE GOT ORDERS!" We all look at Deku who just nervously shouted stuff.

"What?"

"We-we just got orders from the boss! We're supposed to t-take them to him. Th-that's why we have all of us." I Deku continues. I nod.

"So, hand him over before I walk right up to the boss and tell him that I couldn't do my job because some newbies won't let us," Halfie says, not looking up. "You haven't been here long. The boss will literally have your skin for not giving us him," he looks up and lifts the piece of plastic up. "Look what he did to me! This was because I didn't give him his drink quickly enough." Halfie says, threateningly. The two hand over Kirishima quickly.

"I-I'm sorry! We didn't know. We were told that he had to go to our memory machine thing," one of the guards starts but Halfie continues.

"Well, that was canceled. Now, git!" he stomps his foot and they scamper off. Halfie snorts air out while staring in the direction they went off into and puts the piece of plastic back down.

"Wow! That was amazing! Way to take charge!" Deku compliments, grabbing Kirishima's arm while I grab the other. 

"Thanks. I hoped they would buy it," he smiles. 

"Wait, I'm confused... What's going on?" Kirishima asks. 

"We're getting out of here. Now shush. This is the tricky part," I whisper. "Guards don't go outside with experiments so, at that point, we'll have to bolt so we don't get shot, got it?" all of them nod and we start to make our way to the loading dock. This is where I escaped last time and as I expected, there are more guards here. A loading dock is a place where they pull big metal boxes through and it gives them all the supplies they need. We walk in and as expected, the guards notice something's up. Luckily, one of the walls opens up like a mouth and one of the big metal boxes starts going through it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A guard asks, angrily.

"RUN!" I yell, letting the others go and we run towards the opening. I push Kirishima and Kaminari ahead of me so I'd be the last one out. 

"GO! GO! GO!" Deku yells, climbing up the inclined ground and jumping to the ground. He freezes and looks around outside. "Whoa..." Halfie does the same so I push them and we start running again. 

"I have an idea but it's risky!" Kaminari yells.

"What?" Kiri asks as we run. The guards start chasing us so I throw my helmet off. It's not going to do anything anyway. My ears are finally free. 

"Hey TikTok and welcome to my live! So uh, I'm currently running away from a facility in the woods, north of the gay bar in Mustafu. They kidnapped me and my friend. Please call the police. They have a whole bunch of other people things there as well, including my friend, Katsuki, who escaped from there before," Kaminari points his phone at me. 

"What's going on? That's holding us back! Get off your phone!" I yell before putting my collar on and turning into a dog. Kaminari smiles. 

"Alright, thank you very much gamers. I'm going to go now though because the guards are catching up. Don't forget to call the cops! Peace!" He clicks something and puts his phone in his pocket. "Lots of people said they would call the cops in the comments. We're being saved," I keep on running faster. I notice Deku and Halfie are already in their animal forms. I hear loud sirens and Kirishima screams out. He takes a few steps then falls to the ground. I turn back into a human and I notice he has one of those darts in his leg. One of the ones that make it feel like you have a bullet in your skin. 

"I've been shot!" he cries. I take it out and carry him. 

"No, you haven't. It's something that makes you think you've been shot. After a while, the pain goes away." I explain. I see a whole bunch of guards rushing at us from the city. "Fuck! We're cornered!" my hope starts to drain. We were so close!

"No, that's cops! They're here to save us!" Kaminari yells. The 'cops' rush past us and start shooting as well. Some people rush over to us and usher us to one of the giant metal boxes but it's red and white and flashing.

"Don't worry guys, you'll be safe now." the girl who ushered us says. Deku and Halfie turn back, scaring her a bit. 

"S-so it-it's safe?" He asks and she nods. Kaminari starts panting and sits in the box. 

"Thank you, lady," he says. She notices Kirishima in pain so she takes him from me.

"What happened to him?!" She asks, looking for wounds.

"He was just shot with this," I hand her the dart and she looks at it. "It has stuff in it that makes it feel like a real bullet. It's to slow us down but not to actually hurt us since they don't have many supplies. I've been shot with a lot of these in my life so I know," I explain and she nods. 

"Okay... Also, what are you?"

"We're experiments from that lab. We've been there our whole life." Halfie explains. 

"Okay... What are your names?" Deku takes off his helmet. 

"My number is 670 but everyone calls me Deku because I'm useless," he explains with a smile. Halfie takes his helmet off next.

"My number is 793 but most of the people call me Halfie because of my hair," he explains and she looks at me. I never bothered to learn his number before so this is news to me. I'm older than him.

"Number 666 and that guy named me Katsuki. I escaped not that long ago but I was recaptured," I explain and she nods before turning to the two humans. 

"What about you, sir? You don't look so good," Kaminari smirks and props his arm upon his leg with his pointer finger pointing up. 

"I became a living Pikachu," I notice sparks fly out from his finger. "I was normal though. They just kidnapped me and did something," he says, sitting with his legs folded. 

"Wait, what?!" Kirishima asks, sitting up. Kaminari pokes Kirishima and says, 'zink'. Actually, Kaminari didn't even touch him. He held his finger close to him and you could barely see a thin, blue line hit Kirishima. He jumps back and holds his shoulder. "Ow! That felt like a static shock!" he gets closer. "That was pretty cool though," Kaminari nods with a somber look as Kiri looks at his hand. He's remembering whatever happened. He starts sparking, causing Kirishima to jump back.

"Well, I think it's time for you boys to go home now." the lady sighs. 

"Okay. Thank you, by the way." Kirishima says, bowing. 

"No problem, we just wanted to help," I remember the other idiots are still here but quiet. That's new for Deku. I look to see they're just looking around.

"Wow! It's cold powder!" Deku says, picking up snow and letting it crumble out of his hands. I walk over. 

"That's snow and the pillars all around us are trees. The green under the snow is grass and I was told that the snow won't be here forever so that's good. Mina told me that these types of trees are called 'fir' trees. They have needles and are green all year. The weird pillars without needles are still trees and the green on them is called leaves." I say.

"Wow! you know a lot!"

"I know I do,"

"Hey, Katsuki, come on, we're going home," I smile at Kiri's words and I walk towards the box with the others beside me. I never knew what home was but then I realized it's the apartment.

"What's 'home'?" Deku asks Kirishima. 

"Oh, it's a place where you feel safe and where you stay most of the time. You guys can stay with us for a few days until we find out what to do with you because the place is already crowded." Kirishima explains. Deku nods and we all get in the box.

*Time skip*

We finally walk through the door of the apartment and I fall onto the couch. Suddenly, there's a loud noise in the kitchen and Sero walks out. He has bags under his eyes and he stares at us.

"Denki?! What happened to you?!" Tears spring to both of their eyes. Kaminari sparks before rushing over and hugging him. I lean over to the other two. 

"They're boyfriends," I whisper as they look at me weirdly. They pull apart and they do a thing with their face. I think that's the kiss thing Mina was talking about. Once that's done, they put their hands on the face of each other.

"Where did you go?! What happened?!" Sero asks again which causes Kaminari to chuckle. 

"The scientists from Katsuki's lab came over while everyone was gone and took me. I resisted so they punched me, resulting in my sweet new black eye that makes me look tough," he jokes which makes Sero laugh. 

"But what about all of these burns all over?"

"Long story short, I'm a Pikachu now," he pulls his hands away from Sero and puts his fingertips close together. After a few seconds of him concentrating, electricity zaps in between his fingers. 

"Are you okay?!" Sero asks, still being concerned.

"Yes, Hanta dear, I'm fine now. I promise. How long were we gone?"

"Four days. Mina and I were worried sick for you three." 

"Well, we should-" there was a ringing sound. Sero takes out his phone, the source of the sound.

"Hello?"

"Sero! Turn on the news! Now!" Sero looks at us before going to the t.v. 

"Alright-"

"I'm coming over right now," she says before her voice is gone. Sero turns on the t.v. and Deku and the Halfie gasp. 

"Wow! What is that?" Deku asks, sitting down next to me on the couch. Halfie gets close up it and starts touching the screen.

"A t.v. You never saw one before?" 

"No, I had no idea that humans could fit in here." 

"But, Katsuki knew what a t.v. was. How come-"

"Mina told me," I say and he nods. The door bursts open to reveal our pink-haired friend. 

"Look!" she notices all of us in the room and she rushes to hug me, Kirishima, and Kaminari. "What the hell guys?! What happened to you?! You just disappeared!" she cries. we all put our arms around her.

"Well, Katsuki and I had a run in with the scientists from his lab and we got taken." Kirishima explains.

"Then, when I was here alone, some of the guards busted in and took me, giving me a black eye," Kaminari explains, pointing to his face. 

"Ugh! Idiots! Don't do that ever again!" she hugs us tighter so I try to get out of her grasp.

"Alright, I'm out of here," I start pushing her arms but it's to no avail. After that, she finally lets go and looks at the other two. 

"Who are you guys?" she asks with a smile and wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Everyone calls me Deku."

"Everyone calls me Halfie."

"Okay, we'll give you boys a proper name later. First, we need to look at the news. I'm glad you guys are rich enough to afford rewinding." Mina sits down so I sit next to her. Deku sits next to me while Kaminari and Sero sit together on the floor. Kirishima sits in front of me and Halfie sits by him. Finally, Sero rewinds it and I notice the lab is on t.v.

"Earlier today, the phones at Mustafu police department started ringing off the hook. The people started talking about people who were missing for four days were found running away from a lab. At first the cops thought it was a prank but so many people were calling. Turns out, Kaminari Denki, one of the missing boys, started a live on an app called TikTok and started explaining things. The boy has a large following so it explains why so many people were calling. The police sent a whole bunch of their people over and found an underground lab that was testing on humans. There were multiple half-humans at the scene but they seemed to be helping the police taking the actual humans down. We captured the multi-millionaire, Rika Otoko, who was the man behind all of the human testing. At the time, a drone was flying over the forest and captured this video-" it shows a video of us all running through the forest. You can see me turning from a dog into a human and same with the others. "Who are those mysterious half-animal people? We'll keep you updated. And now, the weather-" Sero turns the t.v. off. 

"Wow... I can't believe you got people to call the police through TikTok!" Mina says, lightly hitting Kaminari's head. 

"Hey, whatever works though, right?" Kaminari shrugs

"Why didn't you just call the police?"

"What's more believable? One person calling and being like, 'hey uh, so I was kidnapped by some science guys in a lab out in the woods and I'm running with some weird hybrid people. I promise I'm not on drugs,' or a lot of people calling and saying, 'hey man, we know where some missing people went. They're currently running away from the place that kidnapped them with three other people. You gotta bring more guys though because they're being chased with guns,'. Now, if you were a cop, would you listen to the one guy or the herd of people calling?"

"I hate that you're right..." Mina sighs. 

"Exactly. You think that I'm just some dunce but that's when you gotta remember, I'm the one in college. I'm smarterer than you all think,"

"A smart guy wouldn't say, smarterer," Kirishima grabs a pillow and hits Kaminari with it. He grabs the pillow from Kiri and smacks him right back.

"Shush!" he laughs. 

"How did you all meet?" we all turn our attention to Deku. "S-sorry. I was just thinking out loud."

"No problem, bread slice! Kirishima and I were in the same middle school but we became friends in high school." Mina says, messing up his hair. 

"I also met Kirishima in high school. All three of us did." Kaminari smiles before putting his arm around Sero. "But I met him around five years ago. I was going to the gas station because I wanted a Monster and he was the cashier. Not the most romantic thing but I don't care." Sero laughs and starts speaking.

"He was cute. Once he saw me, he started to blush and was a stuttering mess. He kept on coming in every night until I finally asked for his number," Sero says, hugging him. Kaminari turns red and chuckles. 

"Yeah but ever since then, we've been together. 

"There isn't a person I would rather be with,"

"Well," Kaminari starts, making Sero worry. "Shrek is pretty hot," Sero smiles and lightly punches Kaminari's shoulder. 

"So, Kacchan said something about you guys being boyfriends... What does that mean?" Halfie asks.

"Oh, it means we're closer than the others, we love each other, and we might get married and start a family." Sero says, making Kaminari nod.

"What's a family?" I ask. All of them look at us in slight shock.

"You don't know?" all three of us shake our head.

"It's a group of people who love each other. It's not always romantic."

"So, we're a family." I state, making the others smile. Mina puts her hands on her heart and tilts her head.

"Aww, Kaaatt... You're so sweet."

"Wait, what does love mean?" Deku asks.

"Oh boy..." Sero sighs. "Mina, you got this one."

"I do got this one. Love is when you like someone a lot. Romantic love means you like like like someone. Like you never want to leave their side," she eyes me then Kirishima. I roll my eyes but there's some truth there. "Platonic love means you like like someone but as a friend. You're really close with them and most likely have been for a while." Mina explains. "Like, I'm in platonic love with all of these goofballs." Mina punches Kirishima's arm. 

"Why me?"

"You're the closest," she shrugs.

"Whatever!" he playfully shoves her face. 

"Anyway, what are we going to do with those two?" we turn our attention back to Deku and Halfie. "Oh! Wait! I have an idea! Okay, so I was at work when I found out and it was because of my friend, Uraraka! She said Iida, you remember him, right?" the boys nod while we shake our heads. "Well, he's a cop and he told her everything that happened and said it was on the news. She lives with Tsu who has a big house. Maybe, they can take them in!" She says, happily. 

"Who?"

"Oh, my friend whom I love platoniclly. I'm sure she'll love you two!" Mina takes her phone out and calls her friend. 

"Hello?" a voice I never heard before says in the box.

"Hey, Uraraka! Remember the hybrids that were recently found?"

"How could I? That was like an hour ago."

"You know that you and Tsu have a big house?"

"Yup!"

"Well, my two friends are the two humans we saw on the t.v. and they brought three of the hybrids here. One of them is our friend because he escaped last week but we have no place for the other two. If it okay if you guys take them in?" Mina asks.

"I'll have to ask Tsu but I'm pretty sure it's a yes. What are their names?"

"They don't have names, really. The green was was called Deku while the other was called Halfie," she says sadly.

"Aww, poor babies. I'll be there in a minute. Wait, where are they?"

"We're at Kirishima's apartment. It's the apartment building by the bakery. We're in the apartment 376."

"Okay! I'll be there in a minute!" there's a 'boop' and she's gone. 

"There. She'll be here in a minute," Mina says happily. "Is it okay if I see what animal you guys are?" they nod and transform. Deku looks down as Halfie licks his paw. 

"Oh wow... The quality on the drone was bad so I didn't really know either," Sero says, petting Halfie. He backs up quickly and looks at him with slight fear. I roll my eyes.

"These idiots aren't going to hurt you," I say then Kirishima pets me. I raise my head and straighten up my back. "See? It doesn't hurt." Halfie looks back at Sero who tries again. Meanwhile, Mina is hugging Deku.

"OHMIGAWD HE'S SO SOFT!" she says, petting him. Sero and Kaminari are both petting Halfie. I can tell on their faces that they like the attention. We were never cared for like this so it makes sense why they like this. It's good attention for once. 

*Time skip*

The door opens and reveals two girls. One is the girl from the zoo while the other is I'm assuming Uraraka. 

"Aww! Is this them?" Uraraka asks. Deku turns back, making Mina fall. Halfie also turns back and walks to the two girls. 

"He-hello. I-I'm Deku," he turns pink and scratches the back of his head. 

"Hello, Deku. I'm Uraraka and this is Tsu. Who's your friends?" she asks, looking at me at Halfie. 

"Halfie and I'm Katsuki. Kirishima gave me this name," I introduce. I turn into a dog and Tsu gasps. 

"You're the dog! I have good news for you," she reaches into a bag and takes something out. I turn back and gasp, taking it back. It's my stuffy!

"Thank you!!" I say, hugging it tightly. She smiles and chuckles. 

"Ochako said that we were heading to Kirishima's house and I knew his dog had that. I was cleaning up around the zoo when I saw it. I knew it was yours because it had bite marks over it. I kept it so I could return it to Kirishima the next day but he never showed. I know why now though," she explains. 

"Yeah. Anyway, we're very sorry to ask you this but they have no where else to go and I know that you guys will take care of them. This place is just too small for all seven of us." Kirishima says.

"I can tell. We'll take them in," Tsu smiles.

"Really?! Aw, thank you. I didn't want to leave them alone. This means a lot. If you need help paying for anything, I'm sure we can help since we're giving them to you." Kirishima smiles and hugs them I look away angrily. Why is he hugging them? I'm the one he should be hugging! I'm the one who he hugged first so he shouldn't hug anyone else! I cross my arms and look away. Mina looks at me and smirks. 

"What?" I mouth at her and she just waves her hand. 

"You don't have to. I'm sure they'll be no trouble at all." Uraraka smiles.

"Okay but the offer still stands. Anyway, I wish you guys luck and thank you once again," Mina says. I decide to pay attention to the others as they say bye.

"Deku," he looks at me. "I've been here longer, ask questions, go outside, do whatever you want. You're free. Same goes for you, Halfie." Deku tears up and hugs me, which is weird. "How did you know about hugging?" I ask, not hugging him back. My arms our out and up from surprise. I won't be by his side anymore so I don't have to hug him. 

"I just watched everyone else do it and I know that it's some sort of respect thing," he says. I sigh and hug him back. 

"You do it to help others and let them know they'll be by their side," I repeat. ACK! Why am I crying again?! It's not like I actually like Deku that much. "I think hugging is also about respect and liking someone plat-whateverly."

"Platonic?" he laughs and I nod. 

"Alright boys, we're going to go now. Come on," Uraraka says so I let go. I quickly wipe my eyes so I don't seem weak. I look at Halfie I hate the guy but I'm still happy he got out of their as well. No one deserves to stay in that place. I just pat his head. I refuse to hug him. 

"Bye guys!" Kirishima says as they leave. I know they're safe now and that's good. Everyone in that place is safe. Even if I didn't like most of them, I'm happy they're safe. 

*Time skip*

I grab my shark and I walk into Kirishima's room again. Mina took the couch and I don't want to sleep on the pillow. I turn into a dog, grab my shark in my mouth, and I jump up there, accidentally waking Kirishima up.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Katsuki. What are you doing, boy?" he asks, sitting up. I sit by him and he pets my head. My tail wags and I push my head up to his hand more. He chuckles and picks me up before setting me on his chest. I lay down and start chewing on my stuffy. 

"You know, I thought it would be weird between us after I found out that you were actually a human person thing but I don't think it will. You're a good boy and nothing can change that, Katsuki." I smile and whine with my tag wagging. He just laughs again. "You're so cute," he picks me up and set me beside him, under his arm. I snuggle closer to him when I notice a pain in my chest. My heart is beating faster but it's not because I'm afraid. I'm not afraid of Kirishima and never have been. Why is my heart acting like this? Am I going to explode or something?! I have to tell Mina about this. She knows everything. 

Once I'm sure he's back asleep, I get out of his grasp and jump down with my stuffy. I look up to make sure he didn't wake. He didn't. Sighing, I push my way out of the door. I see Mina's body sprawled onto the couch so I jump onto her stomach. She jumps up, making me fall onto her legs. 

"O-ow! Katsuki, why?!" she whisper-yells. I sit on the arm of the couch and turn into a human. 

"Mina, I think I'm going to explode or something. Is this normal? What's going on?" I ask quietly. She sighs and sits up.

"What time even is it?" she rubs her eyes and looks at me. I shrug. 

"I don't know. I don't even know what time is," she picks up her phone and groans. 

"It's four. I have to get up at six," she rubs her face then looks back up at me. "Alright, what's happening?"

"Well, my heart races, I feel like I have to throw up, when I'm a human, I can feel my face heat up and my tail wags. My heart is racing but I'm not afraid so I'm going to explode, right?" she stares at me and flops down, groaning again.

"You woke me up for relationship advice?!"

"No, I woke you up because I'm going to die! Don't you listen?!"

"Go ask Kaminari or Sero. It's a guarantee that one of them will be up. I'm going back to bed. Please don't wake me up again," Mina lays back down and I growl at her. I'm going to die and all she cares about is sleeping. I turn back into a dog and I walk off into Kaminari and Sero's room. Just as Mina said, one of them is up. It's Kaminari and I can tell just because he's letting off more electricity. I quietly bark to get his attention. He looks over and smiles, getting out of the desk he was sitting at. 

"Hey dude, what are you doing up?" he whispers. I just start walking into the kitchen and he follows. I don't want to wake Sero up. Once we're back in the kitchen, I turn into a human.

"Kaminari, I'm going to explode and die," he stares at me in shock. 

"Wait, what?!"

"I woke Mina up and I told her but she didn't care and told me to ask one of you-"

"Wait, wait wait, back up. How do you know you're going to explode?" he whispers, very concerned. 

"My-my heart starts beating really fast, I feel like I have to throw up, when I'm a human, I can feel my face heat up and my tail wags. The thing is, normally my heart only races when I'm afraid but whenever that happens I'm around Kirishima and I'm not afraid of him. I'm going to explode, aren't I?" he stares at me before smiling and laughing, sparking a little. 

"Oh, Kat, you're a hoot," he puts his hand on my shoulder. 

"Why is no one taking this seriously?! I'm going to die!"

"You're not going to die. Does this only happen around Kirishima?" I nod which makes him spark more.

"This is great. You love him!"

"I-what?"

"You love him! That happens to me whenever I'm around Hanta," he lights up and sparks again. "Oh! Call him Eijirou tomorrow and see what he does!"

"Why? His name is Kiri-"

"His last name is Kirishima. His first is Eijirou. You gotta do it and tell me what happens," he smiles and puts his hands back on my shoulders. 

"But why? You never answered that," I roll my eyes and back up from his arms. 

"Because, when someone likes someone else, they call that person by their first name. Just do it and watch what he does. It'll be worth it. I'm going back to my room. Get some sleep. It's four in the morning," and with that, Kaminari leaves me confused.

*Time skip*

I'm sitting on the couch with my legs crossed and watching t.v. It's a show about sharks so I'm obviously holding my stuffy. Kiri-Ejirou walks out of his room and sits by me. 

"Hey, Kat. How are you, buddy?" he pets me and I smile. My heart starts racing again and I grip stuffy tighter.

"I'm good, how about you, Eijirou?" I ask and he looks at me with a confused smile. Pink defines his face. 

"H-huh?" 

"Kaminari said to call you Eijirou last night because I thought I was going to explode," I explain and he nods. 

"I see- wait, why did you think you were going to explode?"

"This is great. You love him!" Kaminari's words ring in my head so I shake it like I'm trying to get rid of water. 

"No reason, really. It's okay that I call you Eijirou now though, right?" he shrugs and looks at the screen but his face turns back to light pink. 

"I-I guess. There's nothing wrong with it. So, what else did he say? Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just at that moment it felt like things were going down. He didn't really say anything else though," I shrug. "He did say that all of this is just because I love someone. I'm not so sure though."

"Oh, it's Deku, right?" he smiles and I stare at him like he's insane.

"You're kidding, right? I do not love that little rat. We've just been friends since I was a pup," I cross my arms angrily. 

"Is it that other guy? I think you call him Halfie?" I pretend to throw up, making him laugh. "I guess that's not it."

"Mention him one more time and I'll actually throw up on you," I threaten jokingly, making him laugh again. I love his laugh. It's intoxicating almost. 

"Alright, alright. Is it Mina? I know you talk to her a lot." 

"Nah, she's just a friend and nothing more. I talk to her the most because I'm used to just having her to talk to since you guys found out later on." I shrug. 

Fuck fuck fuck he'll catch on!

"Alright, alright. I would say Sero since you guys said you had a 'heart-to-heart' but Kaminari would be angry, not teasing. Is it him? Kaminari, I mean.I know he'd actually be flattered, not angry about that. Is it Ka-" Kaminari walks in, sparing me. I should've kept my damn mouth shut.

"What's up, brosephs?" he sits in between us. "Watching a documentary, I see," he says, watching the screen. Then he sparks and turns toward Eijirou. "Did he do it?!" Eijirou nods and smiles, making Kaminari laugh. 

"Yeah, at first I was confused but then he told me you told him to call me it," Kaminari frowns.

"Aww, you weren't supposed to tell him. Whatever, so, are we just chilling?" I nod and look back at the screen.

"We were talking about your guys' conversation last night and he thought he was going to die but he just has a crush on someone," my ears slick and I focus on the t.v. My face heats up again. Kaminari looks at me and smirks. 

"I see~. So did he tell you who he has the crush on?" I stand up and walk away. I walk into a random room with a door and I realize it's the small food room. I turn into a dog and hide behind bags of the colorful rock things. When I hear familiar squeaking I remember that I left my Stuffy out there. The door opens. 

"Katsuki, sorry for making you walk away. Come on out, buddy," I look to see Kirishima laying on the floor, staring at me. I glare at him and look away. He sighs. "I can see you're still embarrassed so I'll let you cool down. I'm leaving the door open for you though. I'll drop the subject for you, bud." he gets up and walks away. I snort air out of my nose and walk out to get my stuffy. When I do, I see Kaminari laughing silently and zapping. I storm over, take my shark, and storm back, hiding from everyone.

*Time skip*

I finally decide to stop being a baby so I get out of the food room and into the kitchen. I turn back and walk into the living room, clutching my shark, angrily standing. Kirishima sees me and smiles. 

"Hey, I have an idea to make it up to you. You need to change because I'm going to take you to Mina's bakery!" I tilt my head. 

"What's a bakery."

"Oh, right! A bakery is a place where you can buy sweets and stuff like cake."

"Fine, I'll go but I won't like it," I glare at him and he stands up with a smile. 

"Great! Also, you need to change. You're still wearing the guard outfit," I look at my arms and sure enough, I am.

"Oh yeah. I had to leave my coat and boots at the lab," we walk into his room and he hands me a black shirt with a skull on it. It has a tag on it, which is weird. "I thought only collars had tags," I say, looking at it. "Is...Kohl's a lab too?"

"Oh, no. That's the company that made it. I never wore that shirt before so I never took the tag off. You can take it off if you want," I rip it off with my teeth and Kirishima gives me some pants as well. "There you go, you can go into the bathroom to change." I nod and go do that.

When I'm done, I look at myself in the mirror. I have to admit, these are some comfy clothes. The pants are a little too big but that's fine. I walk out and Kirishima hands me a coat. It's not like my old one. It's bright orange and he has a red one. It's really thin for a coat but I put it on anyway. 

"That's a jacket, different from a coat. Since we won't be outside long, I thought we should just wear jackets," he says, walking to the door. I follow him, grab my shark, and throw my hood up. He looks at me. "I don't think you need a hood anymore. Everyone already knows," I nod slowly and pull it down. Instantly, I'm put on guard. My hair raises up and my ears swivel, listening for any threats. He grabs my hand and gently squeezes it to calm me down. I take a breath and try to calm down. "Repeat after me, I'm okay,"

"I'm okay."

"Everything is okay."

"Everything is okay."

"Now take a deep breath and count to three then let it go," we both take a breath then let it out. "Better?" I nod and we start walking to the teleporter. "You know, I'm surprised that you never asked about this."

"Because I already now what it is. It's a teleporter," he starts laughing so I look at him weirdly. "What?"

"It's not a teleporter. It's called an elevator, silly. It elevates you, or takes you to another floor. It doesn't teleport you," he says with a smile. 

"Well, whatever. I call it a teleporter and you can't stop me," he shakes his head then the door opens. We walk past Momo who's talking to another girl.

"Bye, Momo, bye, Jirou," Kirishima says, waving to the two. They wave back as we walk through another door. The cold air hits me and I want to go back inside or turn into a dog. There's more people out here so I tighten my grip on my shark and on Kirishima's hand.

"Don't worry. We're almost there. She works in a bakery literally right next to the apartment building," we turn left then walk into the next building. It's warmer than it is outside, I'm grateful for that. When we sit down, Mina rushes over.

"Oh my god! Hello guys! How are you?" she asks, happily.

"Great! I decided to take Kat out today since the zoo is closed temporarily. Apparently, while I was gone, one of the cages broke so they have to fix that. Hey, can you get two bubble teas? Both strawberry strawberry. Oh! Also a slice of plain cheesecake." Kirishima says as Mina scribbles something down on a... thing...

"Hey, what's that?" I ask.

"What? Cheesecake?"

"No, well, I don't know what that is either, but I mean what you're scribbling on."

"Oh, it's a pad of paper so I can remember what you guys order. I don't think you'll know but, do you know what you want?" I shake my head so she walks off. 

"Don't worry, I'll let you try the cheesecake." 

"What's the other thing you said?"

"Bubble tea?" I nod and he smiles. 

"You'll have to find out." I look over to see Mina put a triangle on a plate then go over to a counter. I notice Kiri's talking to me so I turn my attention back to him. 

"Huh?"

"I was asking what food were you given when you were in the lab?"

"Oh, just this disgusting slop. It had everything you would need though. All the vitamins, minerals, protein, and things you would need to keep us healthy," I shrug, looking at the table. For a second, I thought I was back at the cafeteria with a tray of the weird gunk in front of my but when I blinked, it was gone. Mina sets down a plate and a cup in front of me. The cup has a whole bunch of circles in it and the plate has the triangle thing on it. 

"Enjoy your date, boys," she winks and walks away. 

"Minaaa," Kirishima whines, watching her walk off. He turns pink again. 

"What's a date?" Kirishima looks at me and turns red instead of pink. 

"Uh, it's a... Its a thing two people do when they like each other," he says. I shrug.

"Oh, okay. I didn't know we were on a date," I pick up a fork and look at what I think is the cheesecake. I poke it and it jiggles a little. I look up at Kirishima who turned red again and is staring at me with his mouth open. I tilt my head and stand up. "Should I get Mina? You're red and I don't think you're supposed to be that color," I say, ready to go get her. He shakes his head and stands up with me. 

"No, no, I'm fine. Let-lets just eat this now. You'll love the bubble tea!" He says, sitting back down. I copy him and sit down. He picks up a fork and cuts the cheesecake. I stare at it intently. 

"All the food I've had doesn't wiggle like that, Kirishima smiles.

"You should see jello. You'd be surprised. Try some," he cuts some of it off and hands me his fork. I stare at the fork then at him with my ears slicked. I hesitantly take the fork and eat it. He looks at me in anticipation. I hand him his fork back and I grab my own, getting another piece. He smiles again. 

"It's better than I thought it would be, I have to give it that," I say before I eat it. 

"I knew it! Alright, you have to try the drink," I look at the circles in it. 

"Mine has... I don't know what it is but it has something in it."

"Yeah! It's supposed to be like that. Mine has some too," he holds his drink up and shakes it. The circles bounce off of the inside of the cup and each other as he shakes it. I grab my drink and take a sip from the straw. I instantly regret it as those circles immediately go down my throat. I start coughing so I stand up with a hand on my heart. "Kat! Are you okay?! You're supposed to eat them not swallow them! I should've told you that," I glare up at him, still coughing. Luckily, I don't die from them. I sit down after a minute and just breathe. 

"Sorry, I'm used to drinking my drinks not eating them." I say, bitterly. 

"I'm sorry, that was my fault. I should've warned you. I forgot you haven't had this before. You have to pop the bubbles in your mouth," he explains. Alright, round two. I take another drink, making sure to pull away from the straw once I had what Kiri called bubbles. I break them open and flavor explodes in my mouth. I look up at him, surprised and he's just sitting there patiently with a smile. I swallow and look away before I could feel my face heat up again.

"It's good. I just have to remember that there's food in it," I say before taking another drink. 

"Yes! Two for two! Anyway, when we're done, want to continue to go out or do you want to go back home?" he asks.

"I want to go into the town more," I say before taking another big drink of the tea. Kirishima smiles and takes more cheesecake. Mina walks over.

"Heyo losers, how are you?" she asks, resting her hand on the table. 

"Well, Kat almost died from the bubble tea but after teaching him how to actually drink it, he liked it, right Kat?" I shrug and look out of the window. 

"Oooohhh, you taught him, huh? Did you help him?" she does the same thing with her face she did before. Her lips are all puckered out and she's making weird noises. 

"MINA! You know what I mean!" Kirishima yells, turning red again. She just laughs. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, is this all you'll be getting?" she gets the paper pad thing out, ready to write down more food and food that's supposed to be a drink. 

"Yeah, I'm going to take him to the park after this so we'll probably get stuff there as well."

"Alright! That would be seven fifty," Kirishima gets out a pocket thing full of paper like that's in the pad thing. He hands her some of the slips and she walks off. "Peace boys, have fun on your date! Don't do anything I would do."

"MINA!"

"What? I was talking about going to the movies. I love going there as on a date. I have no idea what you're thinking of," she sticks her tongue out at him then disappears behind behind a wall. 

"Sometimes, she can be a real pain," Kirishima says, face palming. I smile at his action. 

*Time skip*

We finished and I turned into a dog since I felt safer like that. I was so caught up in the food that I forgot I had my stuffy with me. I'm carrying it in my mouth right now as we walk. 

"You know, Katsuki, you don't have to walk around like that, you can be a human.  No one would even notice really." I shake my head and he sighs. "Alright but I don't want you to be so low to the ground without a leash. Someone can easily pick you up so," Kirishima picks me up and holds me. He puts me in his jacket but lets me poke my head out so I can still breath. I squeak my shark which makes him smile. We continue walking until we get to a giant patch of grass. It has some people and dogs. 

"This," he lifts me out of his jacket, "is a dog park. It's in a field, as you can tell." he sets me down. "Do you want to play around?" I look around and I notice all the things the other dogs are doing. Some are chasing flying discs, some are laying down, some are walking or running away with a stick. Not going to lie, a part of me really wanted to play along like that. I 'bow' down with my tail high in the air. Kirishima smiles and crouches down quickly. I squeak my shark before bolting off with him following me. 

"Kat, I'mma gitcha!" he yells so I run faster, barking. I just run around the park in circles. I have no idea how but he appears in front of me and takes my shark. "Ha! Want it?!" he asks, panting. I bow again and bark a few times. "Go get it!" He throws it so I rush as fast as my little legs would let me go. I quickly grab it and race back to Kirishima before dropping it down in front of him, barking more. "Want me to throw it again?" he reaches for it but I back up. Another smile forms on his face. "Want me to chase you for it?" I start running again with him close behind. 

This is the most fun I ever had in my whole life. I never actually had fun or did anything. Even in the apartment, all I did was sit around and watch the t.v. Yeah I learned a lot more but this is actually really fun. The zoo was pretty cool but we didn't get to play around like this. This is exciting and it gives me a fake fear since I don't know if he'll catch me. I feel arms go around me so I turn back to a human and start laughing in between panting. I know it's Eijirou. My stomach goes back to feeling weird and my heart races more. It's probably because I haven't actually exercised in a while. 

"I gotcha!" Eijirou says, lifting me up. I laugh more and kick up. 

"Ei, put me down! I dropped the shark," my smile is audible through my words. He sets me down and I go to pick it up but he swoops in and grabs it. 

"Gotta catch me!" I smile and start chasing him.

"Eijirou, I'm going to get you and win this game!" I yell as I run. He just continues laughing as I chase him. Eventually, he slows down and so do I. We both end up laying next to each other on the ground, panting. 

"I haven't ran like that in a while," Eijirou says, staring at me. I look back at him with a smile. 

"If it makes you feel better, neither have I," we start to laugh again. This moment is so pure and I know it'll be etched in my memory forever. My heart is still beating quickly even when I catch my breath. We sit there for a while, just looking up at the tree. I feel safe for the first time in a while. Well, safe outside of the apartment. 

"Hey, do you want to go get something to eat or drink?" Eijirou asks, breaking the silence. I look back at him.

"Only if you actually have to drink the drink," he chuckles again and my smile widens. 

"Darn, I don't think we should then."

"Get up, let's go," I laugh, causing him to laugh. 

"Don't wanna," he fake pouts. 

"Excuse me?" I turn around to see a girl. My smile falls. She ruined it. Eijirou gets up quickly and stands at my side. 

"What?" I ask.

"Uh... Are you the person from TikTok?" She asks. I tilt my head before remembering that Kaminari showed me on that app thing. 

"Yeah, I am," she smiles and jumps. 

"Can you really turn into a dog or was that special effects?!" she asks. I start walking away, not wanting to deal with this. Unfortunately, she follows me. 

"Yes I can, now can you leave me alone so I can continue my date?" Eijirou snaps his neck at me and turns red again before turning to the girl. 

"He-he doesn't actually know what a date is. He just thinks it's two people hanging out with each other. He doesn't know a lot of things," Eijirou defends. The girl nods before following us some more

"Can you do it?" she asks. I continue to walk away. I don't like this attention.

"Do what?"

"Turn into a dog!"

"I already told you I can." I growl. 

"No, I mean, can you show me?"

"Why should I?"

"Alright, I'm sorry about him. He just gets cranky when he hasn't eaten in a while-" Kirishima tries to bud in but she just talks over him.

"Can I get a picture at least?"

"Fine," she squeals then throws her arm around my shoulders before holding her phone up. I'm surprised when I see myself in it but I don't say anything. She takes a couple of pictures then backs off, looking at her phone. 

"Thank you!!" she rushes off.

"That was weird. I didn't like that," I admit.

"Yeah."

"Hey, you said that I had the idea of a date wrong, right?" I ask. he nods. "Then what is a date?"

"It's when two people who like each other romantically go out. Sorry I didn't clear that up better for you," he nervously scratches the back of his head. My face heats up so I look away.

"Oh, sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry. Want to still go get something?"

"No, I think I want to go home now," I pick up my shark and start walking away. I follow our old scent trail back home, hugging my stuffy. Kirishima didn't process what I said apparently because after I exited the park is when he just started following me. My ears slick back and I stare at the ground as I walk. I start whining and I'm glad no one is actually paying attention to me. 

Eventually, Kiri catches up. "Hey, something wrong? You kind of stormed off."

"Nothing is wrong. I just want to go home and sleep now," I sigh. 

"Oh, okay." he stays silent the rest of the walk home. 

I don't know why but it stung me a little. I feel his hand grab mine again and he gently squeezes it. I calm down even though I'm not upset because of the people. I have no idea why I'm upset but my heart started aching again. It ached like when I was back at the lab and they took Kiri. When I was at the lab, I thought seeing him might make my heart better but right now, it seems like he's making it worse.

We finally reach the apartment and I go back to my hiding place, turning into a dog in the process. Kirishima is hot on my trail. 

"Kat, where are you- why are you going back down there?" he asks, laying back on the ground. I just look away and whine again. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did. Maybe you can come out and we can talk about it? I'll make you hot chocolate. Wait, can you even have chocolate? Whatever, I'm make you something, just please come out." I don't know why but I didn't want to be by him. I just want to be alone. I sigh mentally and go out anyway. When I do, I rest my chin on his lap and he pets me. 

"Did I do something?" I shake my head. "What's wrong then?" I turn back. 

"I have no clue. I just started feeling really shitty after the conversation," I shrug. 

"What conversation?" 

"The one with the girl and after the date question. I have no clue why though. My heart just started hurting." he slowly nods and pets me again. I smile and feel myself getting better. 

"Well, whatever it was, I hope you fight through it since it's most likely nothing major. You're a tough puppy and if you need help, you can talk to me or to any of the others. You must be so confused still about the world and everything on it. There's so much more out of this town and this country and out there in general. Sometimes, you have to find things out on your own and I will dread those times. Unfortunately, this seems like one of them. Even if it seems like you have to face a problem on your own, ask anyways and we will still try to help. I know I'm the one who found out last but I don't care. I was the first who found you and I helped rescue you. Kat, you mean a lot to me and I'll help you in any way I can," this really fixes my heart. I lunge up and hug him. He smiles and hugs back. Before I know it, I turn into a fucking  s a p  and I start crying again. 

"Ugh,  I hate crying. I feel weak but I think that's what I needed to hear," he smiles and chuckles a little. 

"Well, it's true. We'll try to help as best as we can," he whispers. 

"Thanks."

"No problem."

*Time skip*

I wake up when I hear a door open but I don't move. It's Kaminari. "Hey dude-"

"Sh, he's asleep," Kirishima whispers. 

"Oh, I see. So, that's why you're sitting on the floor?" Kaminari whispers. I feel Kirishima's head move.

"I don't want to wake him up. He looks so peaceful and we kind of had a rough day. Well, I think. I don't know but when we came back home, he seemed pretty defeated for some reason. I need to move though because my legs fell asleep and it hurts," Kirishima explains. 

"Pick him up and move him. I'm sure it won't be that hard. He doesn't look that heavy."

"He's not. I took him to the park today and we were running around and I when I caught him, I picked him up," you can hear the smile in his voice and I have to try my best not to smile with him. 

"Aw, I bet you guys had a good time."

"We did. He tried bubble tea for the first time and he choked on it," he laughs a little and starts petting me softly. 

"Poor guy," Kaminari chuckles before sitting down next to Kirishima and starts petting me as well.

"I'm going to take him off the ground now. He's been laying here for like thirty minutes," I suddenly feel arm wrap around me and pick me up. My head, ears, tail, and limbs all point to the ground as he hoists me up. "He's so cute. It's absolutely terrible what the lab did to everyone there. Also, what did they do to you? Well, if you want to talk about it." Kaminari sighs.

"They hooked me up to this one machine thing and now I can conduct electricity without it hurting," I can picture him staring at the ground, shrugging and reliving memories. 

"I'm so sorry..."

"Nah man, it's fine. It's in the past and I can summon electricity. Did they do anything to you?"

"Not really. They just let me be in the same room as Kat until he woke up. After that, they took me to another room. Then, they grabbed me and they told me they were going to take me to some machine thing. They wanted to see if they could continue their experiments with normal humans instead of, 'starting from scratch'. When I was going to the machine, I was rescued," he shrugs and starts walking. 

"I'm just glad that we saved everyone, including Kat," a door opens and I'm assuming it's Kiri's room door. He sets me down on his bed and sits next to me before he starts moving hair out of my face.

"Me too. Everyone deserves a break from there. Did you know that the youngest one found was a month old while the oldest was thirty-two? He said he lived there his whole life. It makes me want to beat up the fucker who did it," Kirishima growls. 

"Yeah. Apparently, they've been doing it for fifty years, just he was the one who survived the longest. Did you see Deku's and Halfie's reaction to being outside?! They were star-struck! They didn't even know what fucking grass was until Kat told them!" I hear a lot of sparking going on. Kaminari's mad. 

"I know. You never know how good you have it until someone worse comes along. What matters now is that everyone is safe now." The sparking slows down and dwindles to nothing. 

"You're right it just, makes me so angry that I just-" he growls again.

"Yeah, it makes you want to bring Hell on Earth for those people. I'm just glad it's over."

"Me too," he flops down next to my body.

Me too.

*Time skip*

It was a peaceful morning the following day. Was peaceful. Past tense. I was sitting on the couch watching something about dolphins, as I had been since the black box in Kiri's room said 2:42 a.m.. I know it's later though because Sero left, Kirishima left, and Mina presently stopped by to make sure I didn't accidentally kill someone or myself.

I didn't know where Kaminari was and there was a strange peace. I didn't have to be bothered. The only other person in this place was my stuffy.

Then the door bursted open.

"Alright where- Katsuki! You're just the dog, hybrid, totally-not-a-furry, person, thing I needed to see!" He says with a smile. His phone in front of him.

"Uh oh," he jumps next to me on the couch and holds his phone up like the girl did yesterday.

"I'm doing a live right now on TikTok and some people were asking about you. Say hi!" He waves at his phone so I copy him with a confused expression.

"Oh-kay... Hi?" I can see myself on the screen and a lot of words appearing and disappearing as more popped up.

"Hey, can you read?" Kaminari asks and I shake my head.

"No but I can figure words out. Like cat and I have laundry mat in my head forever probably."

"Why's that?"

"Because Mina was trying to teach me how to sound words out with it. Then because I remembered it, I saved our asses so my brain is just like, 'Hm, I may need this again'." I explain. Kaminari looks at his phone then starts laughing.

"No, I can't ask him that, animelover521! He wouldn't even understand it! Anyway, I gotta teach this guy how to use technology because everyone else is teaching him things. Goodbye everyone, wave!" I wave at the phone and he ends whatever that was.

"What was that?"

"I'll answer that later. First, TADA!" He hands me a box. I look at it with a bored expression then up at Kaminari.

"What's in it?"

"Open it and find out. Wait," he starts pointing his phone at me again. "Now open it!" I roll my eyes and open the box. A phone is in it. It looks new.

"Who's is this?"

"Yours! I also got you headphones so you can listen to music."

"Mine?" He nods. I carefully take it out of the box.

"It's all yours," this is the first thing that is actually mine. The shark, though I love it to death, is mine and Kirishima's. That pillow thing that was brought back out from under Kaminari's bed isn't mine either because Kaminari was sitting in it, waiting for coffee. Mina uses that blanket every night she sleeps over. I think this is the first thing that is actually mine.

I look up at Kaminari with my mouth hanging open. He just smiles and messes up my hair.

"Everyone is teaching you stuff so I thought maybe I should teach you something too. Mina's teaching you about life, Kiri's 'teaching' you about love, Sero said when he comes home he's going to teach you how to cook. I need something then I remembered that our society is all around technology. It's perfect! Working at BestBuy has its perks." He says.

"Thank you!" I smile and he stops pointing his phone at me. "How do I turn it on?" As I'm looking at the sides of the phone, I notice two buttons. One is a long button while the other is less than half its size. I press the little button first and it turns on the phone. It's different than Kaminari's and it's different from Mina's. Mina's has a circle on the bottom of it while Kaminari has multiple circles on the back in a square. 

"I'm guessing you like it, right?" Kaminari asks. 

"I do, I really do just quick question, why does it look different than your guys?" I hold it up to him. He smiles patiently. 

"There's multiple types of phones. Since I'm not a millionaire, I got you a phone called a Moto e6. It's a good brand and not as expensive as a Samsung S20 Ultra which is what I got. Mina has an iPhone 8. I don't remember what phone Kirishima has but Hanta has an LG X Charge. Mina can't steal anyones charger but neither can I. You, Kirishima, and Hanta could share chargers if yours ever breaks or something until someone gets around to buying another one. Your phone came with a charger though. The headphones are right here," he hands me another box. It looks like one of the machines the scientists used before to test my hearing. I set the box on the coffee table for later. 

"How do I work it?" I ask, pointing to the words on the screen. 

"You gotta do this-" he touches my phone and moves his finger up. The phone takes me to another screen with a few squares on it. "I downloaded a few apps for you so you can learn stuff when no one's around. Most of them are just about learning how to read and how to count since you never learned that type of stuff," he ruffles my hair again. and taps one of the 'apps'. "Now, I gotta go. I just wanted to give that to you real quick and I got side tracked. I'll see you later tonight, okay?" I nod and continue looking at the bright screen. I was so captivated that I barely heard Kaminari leave. 

*Time skip*

I'm still looking at my new phone. It's just so cool! I'm learning stuff away from people! The door opens and Sero walks in. "Alright, remember what I said earlier?" I tilt my head at him and furrow my eyebrows. 

"Nope."

"I said I was going to teach you how to cook!" he says, enthusited. 

"I don't think I was paying attention but Kaminari said something about it earlier," I go back to my phone. I already learned up to 1st grade, whatever that means. 

"Good! So, I plan on making something very simple first, come on," Sero walks away so I decide to follow. I turn my phone off and stuff it in one of my pockets. "Alright, we're making dinner tonight. Lasagna," I tilt my head at him. 

"La-what?"

"Lasagna. It's good and easy, trust me." I just notice Sero's carrying a few bags. He sets them on the counter and gets stuff out. One of them is a pan similar to what Mina used for the cake except the sides are taller. I look at that then he starts putting things in the pan. A few metal tins, rectangular boxes, and a lump wrapped in a white paper. As I look at everything in the pan, I hear him rustling in the background. He gets out a pan, a pot, and a pot with a lot of holes in it. 

"Alright, please don't get frustrated but I'm going to give you easy jobs since I don't trust you with the stove. I just don't want you to burn yourself. Can you fill up the pot halfway up with water?" I nod and grab the pot before walking to the sink. Once I'm done, I set it on the stove. 

"There, now what?"

"Get the noodles and pour them all into the pot," he turns a dial above the stove and a fire starts under the pot. My fur stands up from fear. 

"FIRE!" I pick up the pot, about to throw the water in it on the fire but Sero stops me.

"No, it's supposed to be like that. It's like tamed fire. It's so the water can boil and actually don't put the noodles in yet, I forgot the water has to boil first," he has his arms outstretched towards me. I squint my eyes at him then I set the pot back on the stove carefully. 

"Won't the fire spread to the stove and to the house?"

"Not if we're careful and usually I am," he sits on a counter and points to his chest with his thumb. 

"Okay... I just don't trust fire. I have experience with it. Once, my room was accidentally set on fire with me in it. One of the experiments who can control heat got angry at me so he set my room on fire and shut my door. Luckily, the scientists heard me panicking and opened the door for me and got rid of the fire. I didn't get burned or anything but it was a close call. I never saw that guy again though."

"Oof," he says before unraveling the paper off whatever it in it. It's a big chunk of meat. "We gotta cook it. Oh, wash your hands! I forgot. Good thing I didn't touch the food yet," Sero walks over to the sink and turns the water on but I don't care at the moment. The chunk of meat is in a bag of clear plastic. I've never seen anything like it. "Kat!"

"What?"

"Hands! I'm not getting sick because you refuse to wash your hands. I'm already struggling for money. I can't take sick days," there's a little serious tone in his voice so I roll my eyes and walk over. 

After those short seconds, we go back to cooking. "Alright, now can you get me a thing that's in the second drawer under the coffee machine? It's a stick with four 'walls' sticking out of the end of it." I look and see a lot of cooking things. 

"Uh... This is a lot of tools," I snap out of it and start looking through the drawer until I finally find what I think he's talking about. He looks at me and smiles. 

"Good job. Now, you might want to stay back just a little because sometimes the grease pops and you can get hurt," I notice he put the meat on the pan and it's on the stove. He takes the tool and starts mashing it. I turn into a dog and sit on the pillow thing. "Like the bed?" 

I turn back. "This is a bed?! It doesn't look like one," I look at it and yup, still doesn't look like a bed. 

"Well, it's a dog bed but still. It's a bed, just not for humans," he says. The pan starts making a lot of noise so I turn into a dog and hide in the food room again. "You can pour the- Kat? Where'd you go?" I poke my head out and look up at the pan. It kind of scares me. I didn't think cooking could be so dangerous. He smiles and gets on my level. "Aw, it's alright. It's just the grease cooking as well. It doesn't hurt that bad, I was just being cautious," he scratches the back of his head. I walk out and turn into a human, still sitting on the ground.

"I don't like that sound," I admit, staring at the pan. 

"It's alright, I promise," he pats my head and goes back to the pan. "You can put the noodles in now." I look at the items that are in the pan on the counter. 

"What are noodles?" 

"Oh, they're in the boxes," I open the boxes and there are long rectangles that are wavy on the sides. 

"Are you sure these are the noodles? They look weird," I say, lifting up the noodles and pouring them in the water. The water is boiling so I make sure to be careful. 

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"What even is lasagna?"

"Spaghetti cake."

"Okay, what's spaghetti?"

"I'll show you later," he sighs. Once I'm done, I get on eye level with the fire. It's blue but I can still feel the heat. "Kat, I need you to put the strainer in the sink and run hot water please," I assume that's the other pan since I'm straining just carrying it to the sink. Probably because there's things in it but I don't care. 

"Alright, watch out!" I quickly take the stuff out as he heads over with the hot pan. He quickly turns back around and sets the pan back on the stove. "That's not the strainer but that's my fault for not telling you which one. The strainer is the thing with holes on it." 

"Oh," I switch out the things and he walks back over. He pours the meat in the strainer and turns on the hot water. 

"This is so all the remaining grease goes down the drain instead of staying." The meat turned brown instead of red. 

"That's cool. I never saw that before. I remember when I was a pup and when they could spare expenses, they bought meat for some people. It was for the weaker people, like for herbaviours. It was red like it was before. I don't remember much but Deku got really sick after eating it and almost died honestly. I took some from him and I was completely fine. I guess he was allergic or something," I shrug before going back to the noodles. 

"Wait, what?"

"They fed us meat before. I had to get some because they only fed us like this slop stuff that had everything you needed for the day. They only gave it to the herbaviours for some reason." 

"They fed you guys raw meat?!"

"Well, not me, I just stole some. I guess so? I don't know," I shrug. What's wrong with that?

"No wonder he got sick! You're not supposed to eat raw meat. I don't know if you didn't get sick due to you being part dog or something but humans are not supposed to just eat raw meat. It carries a lot of harmful bacteria." Sero explains. 

"Then that was probably some plan to get rid of people easily. I mean, I remember a lot of others getting sick as well. Some even died. I should've connected the dots but back then I was really close to Deku so I just paid attention to him the most," I don't know why but I was just plundged into a whole bunch of memories at once of my childhood. 

"They treated us pretty nicely when I was a pup. I don't know if it's because they still had a lot of money or if it was because I was a child," I smile, remembering those times. The nice times. The times before I was nine. That's when things go to shit for most people. I don't know why they wait until they're nine and not ten but whatever. 

I remember the first day of Serious Testing. Before that, it was just blood being drawn, them checking my vision, just them checking up on me in general. The first thing was I had to fight another kid around my age until one of us died. They said it was to test our humanity and to see how far in fighting we would go. I actually lost that day but the girl I was fighting spared me. She was in serious trouble and I never saw her after that. We weren't even close but we weren't enemies. We just existed together. 

A few years ago, I was a huge jerk to Deku. I would do nothing but bully him until I was reminded of that girl who saved my life. It took a while for me to stop bullying Deku but by the time I was 18, we were back to how it was way before, when we were little. We grew apart after that but I'm still glad I ended up on good terms with him. I'm almost 22 now. I've been in that place for twenty one years of my life.

"Well, I'm just happy that everyone's free. Also, looks like noodles are done," Sero walk away to do something but I don't pay attention. I just sit in that dog bed as a dog and think. I think about my past, trying to just think of the good times but then I fall asleep.

My door opens. It's lunch time and I'm going to get my room buddy today! I can barely wait! I skip my way to the lunch room and sit at my table. You have to sit at a certain table depending on how old you are. I'm too excited to eat right now. I'll eat more later. A science girl walks over to me with someone hiding behind her. 

"666, this will be your new room buddy. His number is 670," she says kindly. The person looks at me from behind her. He has green hair and big eyes. 

"Hello," he greets, carefully sitting down next to me. 

"You do know why you're getting a room buddy, right?" I shake me head and the science girl explains more. "A large part of the building burnt down and you have to share until they get it fixed."

"Okay! I'm sure we'll be best friends!" I smile at her and she walks away. This is when we get an announcement. 

"Attention everyone! Since we have more people joining us, I thought we should celebrate. You'll be getting carrots, grilled cheese, and tomato soup. Thank you for your time," the alpha nods his head at all of us. 

"You are very welcome, sir," we all say at the same time. Everyone has to say that after he makes an announcement. I decide to actually get food since I haven't had any of this before. 

"Come on! Let's go before it's all gone!" I grab my room buddy's hand and I start running. He smiles and runs with me. As we're running, he accidentally  bumps into a guard. 

"Watch where you're going, stupid Deku," he spits. We continue running.

"Why'd he call you Deku?"

"I don't know. A lot of people do for some reason. You can call me that too if you want!" 

"I will."

We finally get our food and we sit down at our table. We sit and talk until near the end of lunch time. One second I look at my food to finish it, the next Deku got a carrot stuck in his nose. 

"OW OW OW OW! C-can you get a guard?! I can't get it out. It hurts my nose." I start laughing a little but the I go grab a guard. 

"My friend got a carrot in his nose," I tug on the vest of a guard and point to Deku who runs over and falls. Luckily, the carrot falls out instead of getting even more stuck. "Oh, nevermind!" I run back and help him up. "Are you alright?" he rubs his nose and nods.

"Yeah," the chime goes off telling everyone that lunch is over. I grab his hand again and go show him my room. 

*Time skip*

I've been sharing a room with Deku for a really long time. I'm nine now. I'm sitting on my bed, with my head hanging off and touching the ground. 

"I saw a bug today!" Deku says once he enters the room. I sit up and see the scientists there. They just brought him back from a checkup.

"Wow! What did it look like?"

"It had wings and it flew. It almost hit my face!" he says, sitting down next to me. 

"Whoa!"

"Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's go kid," one of the scientists say. I roll my eyes and get up. 

"Fine, fine, I'll be back later, Deku," I wave at him before leaving. I wish I stayed. 

They put me in a room with a girl. The room has a mirror in it which meant they would be watching us somehow. I don't know much about this girl. I just know we sit at the same table. She recently moved to a table ahead of me though. She has brown hair and round eyes that never fully look at you. They're almost all brown and black. She has a weird, forked tongue. It's not like any other person at the lab. Finally, she drools a lot which is very weird. 

"Alright, 654, this is 666. You're probably thinking why we brought you both here at the same time. You two are going to fight so we can see your skills and your humanity. Humanity is mercy and it's bad. Show no mercy and go all on out. Fight as best as you can," they walk through another door and I'm left alone with her. I used to go to this room a lot with Deku so they could see how we respond to each other. 

"What are you?" I ask.

"What are you first?" I roll my eyes before turning into a pup. She looks at me sadly before turning into a giant lizard. A voice booms in the room.

"Fight thirty-four of the day. Pomeranian verses komodo dragon. Go," the voice sounded so bored. She opens her mouth wide and hisses. Saliva strings her mouth. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. She starts booking it at me. I look around for any one to help me like before when a fight would break out. I whimper and start running. I don't know what to do. Why isn't anyone here to help me?  I don't want to do this anymore. I want to stay with Deku in my room, not be in here. 

Claws pin me down so I bite her foot. Hissing, she steps off of me. I know no one is going to help me now. I have to fight. I run around her and bite her tail but she whips around and bite my torso. I start yelping and trying to make her let me do. She shakes me like a ragdoll, tearing open my sides. I scratch her chin until she starts bleeding and she lets me go. Both of my sides are bleeding heavily. I try to run away but I just fall in pain. She stares at me and walks over. I turn into a human and face her, pushing myself backwards. Tears are rolling down my face and as soon as I hit a wall, I hold my sides. My ears are glued to my head. 

"P-please don't," my breath hics. She walks towards me and once she approaches me, she turns back. So many emotions are present in her eyes, sorrow being the biggest. 

"I won't and I'm sorry. I'm not vemonous because I'm more human than komodo dragon. You're at the younger table, right?" I nod. "I'm so so sorry. Here, let me try to patch you up," she rips the sleeves off her black shirt and ties them together before tying them around my waist and over the wounds. 

"What are you doing?" the voice asks. The girl stands up. 

"Why should I kill this poor little boy? Just because you told me too? Well, I refuse. This is wrong and even I know that. I refuse to get rid of a life because you tell me too," the door bursts open and guards rush in. They grab her by her arms and pull her away and that's the last time I saw her. 

I jolt awake, yelping and instintively grabbing my sides. A guard rushes towards me so I back up but they hug me. 

"Kat, it's alright, you're home and you're safe. It's alright, buddy," I try getting away but then I realize it's just Kirishima. He holds me, shushing the whimpering, rocking me back and forth. I slowly start calming down and hugging him back. She was killed after that, I know she was. I'm not stupid. "You okay now?" he asks.

"I think so."