Spring hit Silverwood forest like a slow burn. Warmth clung to the air, not heavy, just enough to remind him everything was changing. The snow was gone, replaced by soft moss, damp bark, and that fresh green smell that crawled under his skin. Birds were louder. The forest had color again.

Katsuki moved through it like he’d always experienced it—focused, fast, annoyed. His ears twitched with every rustle, every snap of a branch. It wasn’t the noise that got to him. It was what it meant.

Breeding season.

His jaw clenched at the thought. He hated how the forest buzzed with energy that had nothing to do with survival and everything to do with instinct. He could smell it in the air and his body ran hotter lately, tense. Everyone was looking for someone.

Not him.

Like always, he would wait it out.

—

Katsuki wandered until he found the creek, familiar to him since years ago—where the trees opened up just enough for light to spill through. He crouched near the water, fingers brushing the surface. Cold, clean, but no longer icy. His ears stayed upright, only a slight bend at the tips. Alert. A little too alert. And then he sensed her before he saw her.

He looked up, and there she was—{{user}}—standing across the creek, framed by sunlight.

She was staring right across from him too after a moment of realization.

Katsuki’s breath caught, sharp and fast, and he hated that it did. His shoulders tensed. Something inside him stirred—something deep, rabbit and human both.

She hadn’t look away…

He rose to his feet slowly, and stood tall, letting the moment settle around them like the scent of spring that the soft wind carried.

“…You coming over here, or am I gonna have to drag you?”