Crossing Fates : Book 3 - Detain (BakuDeku)

2 - Strained

The other Cadillac cut across traffic to join their SUV, and the two vehicles took the next exit ramp.

Their choices for stopping included two gas stations, a McDonald's, a Denny's and a Quik Mart.

Ochako pulled into the McDonald's lot and parked. Izuku stepped out and headed for the restaurant.

The other six surrounded him so casually it seemed to happen by accident. The psychos had smooth moves, he would give them that much.

Feeling an increasingly urgent need, he found his way to the single Male/Female restroom, accompanied by Ochako and Yui.

So far, the seven-month pregnancy didn't show much- a fact that pretty much freaked him out if he thought too much about it- and he could keep it completely hidden if he dressed strategically.

But the Bean, bless him, was beginning to exert some influence on his bladder.

That was going to get much worse before it got better.

The restroom was more or less clean, and empty.

He pushed past the two women, slammed the stall door shut and enjoyed a few minutes of what was likely to be the only alone time he would get that day.

Resentment and antagonism were two of the troubles that had followed him.

Izuku hadn't really gained acceptance from the Nyr over the past seven months.

Oh, he had from some of the sentinels. All the gryphons had embraced him, and Eijiro had become one of his best friends.

They also knew what kind of Nyr he was, and why he and Katsuki kept it a secret.

The gryphons were the only ones who knew. Not even the other two sentinels did, although that didn't seem to cause gargoyle sentinel Tokoyami any problems, but then it was hard to tell what he was thinking since he didn't talk much.

And he had achieved a kind of uneasy truce with the harpy sentinel Kyoka- at least enough to spar with the harpy on the training mat several times a week, although they didn't share confidences or socialize.

As far as all the other Nyr went, in the early days of his mating with Katsuki, expectation had turned to puzzlement, and then suspicion as the whispering began.

For example, he didn't reveal to anyone what kind of Nyr he was because he was stuck-up.

Or, he was a fugitive from some other domain because Katsuki wasn't the only one he had stolen from.

Or that he didn't bother to reveal what kind of Nyr he was because he was one of the antisocial ones, and he didn't care if he made friends or fit into any of the packs, herds or prides.

He was stuck in a box, his options limited. He couldn't just pretend he was a horse or a deer and dismiss the subject.

Nobody would believe him even if he tried, because his scent was too strange.

For the Nyr, it was hard to warm up to someone who kept something so fundamental to their nature hidden from everybody else. Knowing that and understanding the reasons why it was there weren't much help.

The low-level resentment and subtle ostracization still felt sucky.

Over half a year later, Izuku still felt like an uneasy guest in what was supposed to be his own home.

The only real friends he felt like he had were Eijiro, who knew everything, the new Dark Fae Queen, Mina, with whom he steadily corresponded, and a few people from his old job working as a bartender at Brain Wash's.