Tied to Another

Chapter 14: Unexpected Trauma Dump

   Izuku stared at his phone screen with poorly hidden excitement, of course to the mirth of his peers who were hanging out in the Common Area with him. He smiled joyously down at his conversation with Ururfurabu from the weird Shiketsu thing. It was a pure, unbridled, puppylove like squish. Or that was the term the internet gave him for a platonic crush.

    He smiled wider at a sarcastic response from the other and pressed himself further into the arm of the couch. They were setting up an 'academic' hang out of sorts because Urufurabu-kun said 'If you enjoy analysis that much I'm willing to be a subject for you to study 🤷‍♀️😱😐' the end of which confused Izuku but he was enthused in spite of it.

    He was super excited for however this progressed!

   "Nah, my quirk doesn't really do much. 's just a simple mutation." Ururufurabu-kun yawned over a cup of coffee.

   "Ok! So, enhanced senses?"

    "Yeppers-" The taller paused to take a sip of his God defyingly caffeinated drink. "I can smell for about 1.6 kilometres, hear around 9.6 to 16 kilometres, and see up to about 120.70 kilometres."

   Izuku nodded and arduously wrote it down in a notebook. This was such a unique experience! No one has ever offered or asked Izuku to analyse them before! It made him really happy Urufurabu...uhm... Shiro-san didn't find it creepy and even encouraged it!

   "Uh, this might be a bit personal so of course you don't have to answer, Senpai-"

    Shiro interjected, looking highly amused. "Senpai? We're in the same year, Akarui."

    Izuku blinked. "E-eh?!"

    Shiro flicked an ear, looking at Izuku with a sort of tired amusement that seemed to be common for him. It wasn't the first time Izuku noticed the shreds in the other's left ear, but his gaze lingered on it and he was sure Shiro was aware. "You get a nickname for me, I get a nickname for you, Spot Light." He snorted his jocularity before taking another sip of his drink.

    Izuku blinked a few times, processing. "O...ok! Fair enough! Uh... how'd your ear get so beat up?"

   Shiro hummed, flicking it again. "Didn't have the best start in life, pissed off my superiors."

   Izuku blinked, a common thing with anyone alive but with Izuku in particular. "What'd you do?"

   "I don't... want to get into the specifics, it's... gorey and unpleasant for a multitude of reasons. In short, I was born in the Underground and they didn't like that I was intent on not being a dog." He yawned, stretching a leg and leaning back. "The cleaner looking ones, straight, less organic nicks, are from a blade while the jagged one was torn by hand."

   Izuku winced at the thought, Shiro gave an amused but audibly uncomfortable laugh.

   "Yeah, it wasn't nice. After that I gave in."

    "W-why were you born... there? What parent...?" He trailed off, unsure how to word it to not be offensive.

    "Not by choice." Shiro huffed. "An experiment to see if wolf quirks would react like wolves, y'know? Could be domesticated." Izuku looked and felt horrified, watching Shiro's face for any sign he wanted to change the subject but the other offered more information. "They do, if you were curious, just not as well... or significantly. My fur, for example, isn't as wiry as it should be, I'm more akin to a wolfdog 1/20 mutt, 19/20 wolf." He gulped down the last bit of his hellish caffeine concoction and rested his head on a propped up hand. "Still sucked, but it's interesting."