MHA: A Cat's Way (Ch 38) (Patreon)

On my way to class with Toru and Mina, we can hear a commotion over by the gate. Since we have time, we wander over in that direction and see a mob of reporters crowding the gate. Immediately I turn on my heel and start walking back towards the building, quickly followed by my friends. “Nya-ope. Nyat dealing with that today.”

Mr. Aizawa starts the class off by going over a few of our matches from yesterday. He praises Midorinya’s strategy, and tells Bakugou not to be a baby just because he lost his match. As for me…

“Make sure you don’t take it too far during training. You seriously hurt your opponents yesterday. If we didn’t have Recovery Girl as the school nurse, they would have had to go to the hospital to get treated.”

I flick my tail dismissively. “I took that into consideration, nya. It’s why only one cat nya’d up a hairball instead of more of them.”

He blinks for a moment, so I explain. “That’s what I decided to call the energy balls my mage cats nya. My mage cats now nya hairballs.”

After staring at me for another second, he just looks away and continues class. “Let’s get down to business. Our first task will decide your future.” He pauses to let everyone’s minds go wherever they go before continuing. “You need to pick a class representative.”

There’s a collective sigh of relief before everyone erupts into shouting why they should be the ones to be picked. I just roll my eyes.

Other than getting extra work, being class representative is a way to get noticed by pro heroes once you graduate. It basically ensures that you’ll have a spot in an established agency once you graduate.

The thought makes me smirk though. I don’t plan to join one when I graduate, instead I’ll go solo. Sure, it’s more difficult for solo heroes, but ones like Mirko prove that it’s viable. Ignore the fact that she’s a crazy battle maniac. And the others all have some screws loose. That means nothing.

Besides, I have my cats, so I’m basically a hero force unto myself. Actually, that gives me an idea for my hero name…

I’m pulled from my thoughts by a piece of paper being placed on my desk. Blinking in surprise, I look at the person who gave it to me. Sighing, Momo explains.

Huh. So we’re voting for class representative? I don’t really care, so let’s go with someone most people wouldn’t expect, but will still be fun.

Writing their name down, I walk up and put it in the box. And the results end up:

1. Catia Akihiro 5
2. Izuku Midoriya 3
3. Mina Ashido 3

Seeing the results, I can’t help but blink in surprise. “What the nya? How in the nya did I manage to nya five votes? I didn’t even vote for myself!”

Iida, fists clenched on his desk, responds through gritted teeth. “That just means that you are truly the one best suited to lead the class.”

Shrugging, I follow Mr Aizawa’s directions and step up to the front of the class along with Midorinya and Mina. “Catia is your class representative, and her deputies are Midoriya and Ashido.”

Since I’m class rep anyways… “First order of business is to nyap until lunch! So says the class rep, nya!”

Iida slams his feet onto the floor as he abruptly stands. “That is not how a class representative should act! Moreover, you do not have the authority to-”

“I’ll allow it. Though you don’t have to sleep if you don’t want to. But if you wake me up, there will be consequences.” Mr. Aizawa’s words float out of his cocoon, forcing Iida to stop  his complaints. Smirking at him, I head over to my desk and put my head down, happy with my little abuse of power.

But is it really an abuse of power if the higher power allows it?

𝌡𝌡𝌡

I take a bite out of my steak and rice, my tail swaying happily behind me. Across from me, Toru’s eyes follow the tip. Next to her are Momo and Todoroki, and to my right is Mina. Oh, looks like Midoriynya wants to sit with us today. I can see his clan looking all sad that he isn’t sitting with them today. I’m not sure why, but their downcast expressions amuse me.

“Hey Catia, I had a question about yesterday’s mock battles.” I move my tail, motioning for him to continue. “Well, I noticed that you didn’t use all of your cats. I was just wondering if there was a reason for that? Sure, you still won even without using them all, but the fact that you only didn’t summon one might  be an indication of some kind of limit or backlash. How often exactly do you summon all of your cats?”

It takes me a few moments to parse the deluge of words, but when I do I realize that he’s right. “Nya. I guess I never really nya all of them at the same time.” I frown. “Thinking about it, I always leave one cat un-nyad. I feel like there’s a reason, but I cat recall it.”

I fall into thought, trying to recall a time when I’ve summoned each cat available to me, but I draw up a blank. I think there was a time I did it during training with Coach and Himiko, but for some reason the  details are furry.

I’m pulled from my thoughts by the loud blaring of an alarm. Luckily it’s not too loud, since it’s just the bell ringing and a voice saying ‘level three security breach’. Guess they took into account students with sensitive hearing when they set it up.

While I’m thinking of this, people flood out of the cafeteria, clogging up the halls in their panic to get to safety. Of course, my table has stood as well, but instead of rushing they’re urging me to get up. Rolling my eyes, I stand and walk over to the window, crossing my arms at what I see. Looking back, I use my tail to point, encouraging the others to see as well.

Confused, they do so, realization and relief dawning on their faces as they see that it’s just the media. But that still leaves the problem of the mob clogging the hallway…

“So Catia, you have any tricks on how to get the dummies panicking to calm down?”

I roll my eyes at Mina’s question. Just because I’m amazing doesn’t mean that I have a solution to every problem. But in this case I do. But it’s… uncomfortable.

But seeing everyone’s expectant looks, I just sigh. “Fine… but someone is going to get clawed if I do it.”

They exchange looks, suddenly much less enthused about calming everyone else down. But Midorinya still steps up. “I’ll do it.” But his face still shows his worry. “But, um, do I really have to get clawed for you to do it?”

My ears twitch as I shrug with a displeased expression. “Well, I’m going to claw whoever does it. Though I suppose you can have Todoroki nya you some ice armor. Arm, chest, and face.”

Looking at him, he gets a nod and his upper body is swiftly covered in a layer of ice five inches thick, with holes for his mouth so he can breathe. We make our way to the back of the crowd and I take a deep breath. “Ok, Midorinya, grab my tail as tightly as you can.”

He blinks in surprise but listens. But his grip is far too weak, making me scowl. “Nyo. Grab it. Hard, nya. If it doesn’t hurt, it won’t work.”

He hesitates, driving my nerves up even more. “Hurry up, nya! Either nya it or don’t, but don’t act like you are and th- MEEEEOOOWWWWHHHH!!!”

He suddenly reaches out his other hand and grabs my tail, squeezing as tightly as he can. Crying out in pain it echoes down the hall, causing a good deal of students to hold their ears in pain. I, meanwhile, whirl on Midorinya with my claws extended and do my best to dig them through the ice armor.

Long grooves are dug into the ice covering his arms, trailing up to his chest where my claws are buried into the ice of his chest about halfway through. Growling, I try to pull them out so I can try again, but Todoroki puts his right hand on his shoulder and more ice covers my hands, freezing me to Midorinya.

It takes a few seconds, but I manage to calm down thanks to Mina and Toru scratching behind my ears. The mob in the hallway is looking at us now, shocked into silence. Seeing that I’ve calmed down, Todoroki burns off the ice, disconnecting me from Midorinya. But I’m in no mood to explain anything to them anymore.

While I rub my tail, I nudge Mina to explain. Though surprised, she does so. “Hey everyone! So, it’s not an attack on the school or anything. The media just got inside. Which might be worse? Aizawa Sensei would think so. Anyways, you’ll see them if you look out the window, so just calm down. What if someone got hurt in your rush to avoid publicity?”

She snorts. “Just imagine the headline: Students at the hero school UA trample each other in their rush to avoid the press. What are they hiding?” She glares at them, an effect magnified by her black sclera. “Not only yours, but the school's reputation would drop faster than if it was hot. So get a grip!”

A few of them try to force their way to the window while others head back to their seats to finish their lunch with contrite looks on their faces. Seeing the results, I nod and lean in next to Mina’s ear.

“I mew there was a reason I voted for you.”

I don’t see the blush turning her cheeks purple.