MHA: A Cat's Way (Ch 32) (Patreon)

“So again, I apologize for what I said, Young Midoriya.” All Might holds out his hand to the boy in front of him. “You too can become a hero! So, do you accept my offer?”

He looks at the ground, his hair shadowing his emotion filled eyes. Time passes in silence, and All Might’s hand starts to get tired from being held out. He sweat drops, getting nervous about how long it’s taking for Midoriya to answer him.

Eventually, he looks up, eyes filled with determination. “I’m sorry All Might, but I refuse.”

“I refuse your refusal!”

“Huh!?” His eyes widen in shock and surprise, and he takes a step back before All Might coughs.

“*Cough* Sorry about that my boy. I’m not sure where that came from. Now, why have you refused? You could have my power and become the greatest hero!”

He shakes his head. “If you had offered it to me back then… on that rooftop, I probably would have accepted it in a heartbeat. But now?” He looks down at his hand. “Now I’m in UA. I managed to get in. Me. I, Izuku Midoriya, managed to get into UA, the best hero school in the country, quirkless.” He clenches it.

“I know that I can become a hero. And by getting into UA, I’ve shown everyone else that I can too. More than that, I’m going to show everyone that anyone can be a hero. No matter who they are. No matter their quirk. Even the quirkless.” His determined eyes meet All Might’s chagrined ones.

“I will be the proof of your words, even if you don’t believe them yourself.” He bows. “Thank you, All Might, for offering me your quirk. But I’m going to become a hero as who I am. As Izuku Midoriya. As a quirkless. And when I do, I will tell everyone that they too can become a hero. Goodbye, All Might.”

He turns around and walks to the dorms, his head held high and his stride confident. It reminds All Might of when he stormed away from him on the rooftop after telling him to go to hell.

He sighs at the memory. If only he had said something different on that day. Would it really have been so difficult to tell him that he could become a hero? Even if he didn’t think he could, he could have said yes instead of telling him to be realistic. He lets out a self deprecating chuckle.

Realistic. Well, it looks like he’s the one who needs to be realistic.

He’s pulled from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching from around the corner of the building. Panicking, he instinctively goes into his buff form and rapidly waves the smoke away.

Turning around, he sees me,Catia. “Ah, hello there Miss! HAHA! It appears that you have discovered me! That’s right, I AM HERE to teach the hero class’ heroics!” He holds up a finger. “HOWEVER! That is a secret until the actual class starts, so I would appreciate it if you could keep it a secret until the day after tomorrow!”

There’s silence, and All Might sweat drops again as he gets an acute sense of deja vu. “...You realize that I’m in the hero course, right? And that I’m one of the people who got your congratulatory videos?”

The smile doesn’t leave his face as he works hard to keep from showing his embarrassment. Especially since he just realized that I’m the girl who pointed him out to the class!

Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, I decide against letting him dwell on the point long. I wave the issue aside. “Whatever. Anyways, I listened in on your conversation with Midorinya.”

His eyes bulge, and I hold back a chuckle at the sight. Seeing the Symbol of Peace in distress is so cathartic~.

“Oh, uh, how-how much did you hear?” His eyes shift to the side as if looking for an escape, but there is no escape from a cat who has its prey~.

“Oh~, around the time you said ‘I AM HERE!’ Seriously, do you always have to shout like that?” I shake my head in mock sadness. “You would think that with you vomiting up blood, you would be less energetic.”

I hold up a hand to forestall his words as he opens his mouth. “But we aren’t here to talk about that. I’m here to ask you a question.” My eyes narrow. “Nine years ago, you defeated a person with a quirk that allowed them to change size with a single punch. It was in one of the tourist districts, outside an otaku hangout. Do you remember?”

Aware that there’s nothing he can do about me now knowing his secret, he simply wracks his brain for the incident in question. It isn’t easy, he’s fought a lot of villains over the years, and the small-time ones don’t really stick out. But nine years ago in the tourist district… A size changing quirk…

Finally, his mind alights on the villain in question, just as he reverts to his skeleton form with a waterfall of blood falling from his mouth, causing me to take a step back with a wrinkled nose..“I remember that one. He was running around challenging people to fights, and when they refused he would throw them at the nearest building. When I showed up, he grew to twice my height and yelled out about how he’d finally found a worthy opponent, and that our fight would be legendary.”

I snort. “Sounds about right.” I let my hair cover my eyes. “Do you remember what happened after you punched him?”

He gets a confused look on his face. “Afterwards? Well, I turned him over to the police and finished my patrol. Though I was later informed that he had killed someone, and felt regret that I hadn’t gotten there sooner.”

I sigh. “But that’s wrong, All Might. The villain didn’t kill anyone. Well, not directly anyways.”

His look of confusion deepens. “What do yo-”

I cut him off. “You killed her, All Might. You punched the villain while he was giant, and he landed on her.” I meet his eyes and he’s taken aback by the deep hatred and loathing he sees in them. “You killed my mother when you decided to showboat by sending the villain flying instead of just trying to knock him out.”

All might’s mind freezes for a moment as my words reach it. I don’t let him process it though, instead continuing with what I’ve decided to say. “I’ve hated you for the longest time. I’ve imagined how happy hearing about your death would make me. I’ve even made plans to kill you myself. I’ve trained to kill you myself. But now? With you like this?” I look over his skeletal form, his clothes hanging loosely off of him.

“You aren’t worth it. You’re pathetic.” I turn away from him and start walking away. “I’m going to become the number one hero, and I’m not going to let the failure you’ve become make me one as well.”

I leave him behind, frozen in shock from all I’ve told him. Making my own way towards the dorms, I see someone waiting for me. We share smiles. “So,” they ask, “are you ready for our date?”

I nod, and we start walking to the school gates. There, we stop and take in the view overlooking the city. They grab my hand and pull me down so that we’re face to face with each other.

“I know we barely know each other, but I love you, Catia.”

I close my eyes as their face comes closer to mine. “And I love you, Mineta…”

“NNNNNNYYYYAAAAAAAA!!!!”

I wake up with a jump, my claws latching onto the ceiling. I hang there, upside down, while I catch my breath. Eventually, I come down from the roof. Not because I’ve calmed down, but because my fingers and toes are starting to cramp. Landing softly on my bed, I hop off and walk to my favorite scratching post that gives off the scent of lavender when I scratch it.

I work at it for a few minutes, and it works to an extent. But not enough. Giving up, I get dressed after looking at the time. Down in the foyer, I see everyone eating breakfast before we need to head to class. Seeing someone in particular, I know what I have to do.

Sneaking up behind him, I grab him by one of the balls on his head and throw him at the nearest wall. Seeing and hearing him make a satisfying thunk, I nod while the rest of the class watches in shock at my sudden attack.

“Nyat even in my nightmares you little grape!” Turning around in a huff, I leave after grabbing an apple for a light breakfast, muttering after I’m out the door.

“Seriously, the nya was with that nightmare? Letting my prey go free after spending nine years on the hunt?” I shiver. “That’s what would be pathetic, nya.”

(Did I get ya? I totally got ya didn't I? Heh. The hint was her lack of cat talk, since that's more a physical condition than mental. Happy April Fools!)