MHA: A Cat’s Way

As I walk to Letter Hose’s place to meet up with Midoriya I think back on the past week.

After we left him back at the mall, Himiko and I went back to our day of hanging out. Though really that only consisted of spending the rest of the day screaming our lungs out at a karaoke bar. I hate to say it (not really), but the two of us have some pretty good voices. If we find another girl we can start an idol group. Anyways, after we finally got tired of karaoke we headed back to the hideout to go to bed.

I’d already texted Pearl that I’d be staying the night at a friend’s house. And the cherry on top of a good day was bringing a kidnapper back home for Himiko to play with. He had his girlfriend with him, but the hideout isn’t really meant for more than one person. So depending on who you ask, either she got off easy or the guy got lucky since he got to live a bit longer.

I slept that night listening to a criminal getting his just deserts accompanied by maniacal giggling.

I slept better than I have in a long time.

The rest of the week was more of the same. People talking about the end of Water Hose. People talking about that bastard All Might. People talking about some vigilantes causing trouble for the heroes, but I took that one with a pound of salt.

Come to think of it, Himiko and I can technically be counted as vigilantes. Neither of us have a hero license, and we deal with criminals. Really only a couple of differences.

One, we kill. Two, we are perfectly fine with stealing from the criminals we deal with. Sure, I don’t believe that every vigilante has a heart of gold and treats those they catch with care and respect, but a good deal of them are simply people who want to do good but fall into  circumstances where they couldn’t obtain a hero license.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts as I see Midoriya waiting outside the store, sweat beading on his forehead as he tilts backwards from his overfilled backpack.

I raise my hand to him in greeting. “Yo.”

He jumps a bit, just enough for the backpack to finally pull him backwards. With a confused yelp he falls. Looking at him struggling to get up kind of reminds me of a turtle stuck upside down, but I manage to hold back my chuckles as I help him back up. 

His face beet red, he finally stutters out his own greeting. “H-h-hi Catia! L-l-long time no see!” I stare at him as his face gets even redder.

“Did your stutter get worse?” I ignore his blank look, waving my question away. “Whatever. You have the information?”

“O-oh. Yeah, all eleven volumes.” He suddenly looks worried and apologetic. “I really don’t need you to pay me for these, you can have them! I pretty much already have them all memorized anyways, and paying ten thousand yen per volume is really a lot…” He trails off as I glare at him.

“You can’t be selling yourself short. Honestly you could probably sell these for more. If you didn’t care who you sold them to you could easily make a few million yen selling them to villains.”

His jaw drops. “Why would I do that!?” His shout draws the attention of passerby and I can’t help but roll my eyes as I grab his arm and lead him into the store.

“Didn’t I just say? To make a few million yen. Most people don’t analyze quirks, after all. And even those who do aren’t as thorough about it as you. For a villain, knowing which hero they’d be most likely to encounter as well as how their quirk works would be a godsend.”

His jaw drops as I take his backpack from him. “I never thought of it like that before…” He goes quiet, lost in thought.

I, meanwhile, have Letter Hose copy down the contents of the notebooks. Given how filled each notebook is, it’s not cheap. But thanks to the generous donations of wealthy individuals to the charity of vigilante girls, Himiko and I have plenty of money. The only reason I don’t get my own place is because of all the questions I’d get about where I got the money from.

By the time everything’s copied, Midoriya still isn’t done thinking about what I said. Was it really that surprising? I decide to give him a few minutes as I summon a brawler cat, putting the equivalent of three cats worth of energy into him.

I watch as it coalesces into a large humanoid cat a bit shorter than me at five feet tall. The fur is flush with its body, so you can see the muscles on it. Even with the faint blue light that he gives off. Whenever I put more energy into my cats, they always give off a glow. At least my normal cats don’t. It’s a good thing that blue cats aren’t considered that weird in today’s society, but if you put on a blue glow on top of that then they’d be obviously suspicious.

 I hand him the stack of notebooks tied together with rope. “Take this home, then dissipate.” He gives me a firm nod before taking his burden and leaving, much to the bemusement of Letter Hose.

Seeing that Midoriya is still distracted, I decide to take matters into my own claws.

The crisp sound of a slap resounds throughout the store. Midoriya looks at me in shock. Seeing that he’s out of his thoughts I nod, dropping the large wad of cash I slapped him with into his hands.

Seeing the amount his eyes bulge and his jaw drops. This time I do chuckle at his bug-eyed expression. Hearing me he blushes before tucking the money inside his pocket. Then he bows.

“Th-thank you for your business!”

I snort. “Yeah, yeah. Anyways, did you find a good gym? We could work out together if you want.”

His face brightness up as we leave the store.

“I did! It also has various martial arts classes too, so I can try out a few different ones and see what works best for me. Though when I checked the price it was kind of expensive…” His eyes dart down to his pocket. “Though I guess that’s not an issue for me anymore.”

I smile at him. “Nope, so what’s the name of the gym? We can check our schedules to arrange at least one day we can meet up.”

“Oh, any day is good for me. Other than watching heroes I don’t really have much to do.”

“That’s convenient. You good with Sundays?”

“Yep! My mom is going to be so excited when I tell her I have plans now!” His eyes shine in excitement and I smile. I don’t think he’s even realized that we’ve been walking for a while now.

I pay a street vendor and he hands me two kabobs. I hold one out to Midoriya and his face flushes, trying to refuse. Too bad for him that his stomach gives him away. His flush deepens as he quietly thanks me, turning a bit away as he takes a bite.

Seeing his reaction I tilt my head. Why do I get the feeling that I’ve seen this somewhere before? But…different.

Before I can pursue that thought, a voice rings out and Midoriya’s face goes pale.

“Deku!”