MHA: A Cat's Way (Ch 52) (Patreon)

(Catia: 7 years old)

I’m sneaking through an alleyway, following someone who might be able to lead me to All Might.

It’s been a full year since that day. That…horrible….horrible day.

I shake my head to get rid of the bad thoughts. I need to meet him. I need… to know. Why…Why did my mom have to die for him to beat the villain? Why did the news people lie and say it was the villain that killed her? Why did I have to stay in Japan instead of going back home to the United States?

So many questions, but not any that the people taking care of me now can answer. Well, they tried to explain why I couldn’t go back, but my friends’ parents could take me in! I could have people I know around me! Instead, since I don’t have any blood relatives I needed to be adopted by some people who live here.

I don’t like it. I especially don’t like how they say I have to take their last name. Even if that’s what they tell people, I’ll never accept my last name being Akihiro. That wasn’t my mom’s last name, it’s not my last name.

But there’s something more important right now. The guy I’m following is a hero. An important one! I overheard him telling some lady that he even knows All Might! So if I follow him, I could ask him if he can help me meet him! Then I can ask him…

I crinkle my nose up in disgust as I pass by an overfilled dumpster, my ears lying flat as a loud noise echoes in the shadows of the buildings. I don’t like it here, it’s scary. But my question needs to be asked, and I never manage to see All Might when I’m out with Pearl and Paul.

The hero moves around a corner and I speed up, thankful that I didn’t wear shoes so that the pads on the bottom of my feet make sure my steps are silent. But when I reach the corner, I hear voices. One I recognize as the hero I’m following. But the other is new. Also…

My ears twitch as they pick up another sound, one that’s quieter. I can’t tell what it is, but it sounds scared. Or maybe mad? It’s hard to tell over the words the hero and his friend are saying. But when I focus more on their conversation than the third sound, I wish I didn’t.

“So you're sure that it won’t be traced back to me?” The unknown person asks. They sound like a man.

The hero responds in an annoyed tone of voice. I’m familiar with that one since Paul always seems like he’s annoyed when I’m around him. “Yes, I’m sure. As far as anyone else will know, the girl was just caught up in a villain attack after sneaking away from her bodyguards. Just make sure that you hold up your end of the deal or else you might find yourself in the same situation.”

The other man laughs, and I can’t hold back my curiosity anymore. I just hope that Paul was lying when he said that curiosity kills the cat. I peek around the corner and see the hero talking to a man in a suit who’s holding-

I gasp, quickly ducking back in case they heard me. The suit man is holding a girl in a net! Not only that, but she’s tied up and has some things covering her hands! I don’t know why the weird things are covering them, but I can tell that it’s bad for her.

Luckily they don’t seem to have heard me and continue talking. “With Nekomura dead, all of her songs, her voice recordings, and especially the pictures will be worth more than five times their original value! And as the one who decides how many cds and albums are made I have a warehouse full of them! We’re going to be so rich that we can retire and live the rest of our lives in luxury!”

I swallow my fear and peek around again, getting a better look at the girl. She looks a bit older than me and has kind of pinkish-orange long hair done into a high ponytail. She’s wearing a cute red dress that flares a bit above her knees, and there’s something white attached to her hip though I can’t really see what it is.

I see the look of fear on her face. The tears falling from her eyes. Eyes that are crying out for help, but are finding none.

I know that I have to do something to help, but what? I can’t get a hero, one of them is responsible for the problem! Who knows how many more are the same! But I can’t just attack two adults, they’d just beat me up and do the same thing to me that they’re doing to her! All I am is a cat, I can’t beat someone who’s quirk helped them become a hero!

But as the hero takes the net holding the girl from the suit man, I realize that I don’t have to beat him. No, I just have to get the girl out of the net and the two of us can run away. If we get someplace with lots of people, the hero definitely won’t do anything bad!

With a plan now present, I follow the hero as he leaves the suit man behind, now carrying the girl. He goes through the alleyways for a while, and eventually exits onto a main street, surprising me. If he just walks out like that, won’t someone see him? That means the girl will be saved!

But reality is often disappointing. When I make my own way to the street, I see that it’s deserted. Police tape is blocking off this street from the others, but there’s no police around. There are holes in the ground, and some of the buildings have collapsed as well. The hero enters one that’s leaning a bit forward, and I swallow as I follow. No rhymes! This is serious!

Inside there’s a short hallway that ends in stairs leading upwards, and there’s a few doors on the sides too. But it’s as ruined as the outside, with large rocks scattered around and holes littering everything. I’m not sure where he went, but as I focus my ears I hear a thump and a sound of pain coming from the third room on the right. I quickly sneak forward and peek around the corner and… see the hero cutting the girl free from the rope?

I thought that he’s a bad guy hero though? Was he pretending? But then why did he bring her so far? Questions that are quickly answered.

Leaving the rope tying her arms and legs together, he tears a bent pipe poking out from the wall and gives it a few swings. I’m confused until he turns to the girl. “It’s a good thing I had this place closed off by saying some of the buildings are likely to collapse. Even if you let off with your quirk as loudly as possible, there’s no one around to hear it. Still though, best not to take chances.”

As she realizes what he’s going to do, she tries to crawl away, only to be met with a kick to the stomach. He kicks her arms so they’re extended in front of her and raises the pipe.

And I jab my claws into the back of his knee.

I feel them go through the skin, the blood squirts out, a tearing sensation as I keep moving forward. Behind me the hero falls to one knee as he grabs his leg in pain, but that’s not important right now. What is, is cutting the girl’s bindings and making a run for it! The first part goes well, and I manage to pull the shocked girl to her feet, but turning around, I can tell that the second part isn’t going to go as well.

The hero is standing now, and he looks very angry at the blood flowing down his wobbly leg. “You’re going to pay for that brat!” He swings the pipe again, and it gets bigger, becoming sharp on one side. It’s a sword now!

I gulp, I’ve been doing that a lot today, and look at the girl who’s messing with the things on her hands with a determined expression. “S-sorry about not b-being m-m-more help.” She ignores me, intent on her hands, making my tail droop in sadness only to stiffen in fear as the hero swings his sword in front of us.

I back away, dragging the girl with me as the hero takes a heavy step forward. Fear builds up in me. I don’t want to die! My mom wanted me to live, so I need to live! And I have to find out why heroes-

My thought cuts off as abruptly as our retreat when we back into the wall. Realization hits. Heroes… they aren’t heroes. Heroes don’t do things like this. Heroes don’t try to kill children. They don’t threaten them.  They don’t treat them like a piece of the scenery. They don’t lie about the people they hurt.

They aren’t heroes!

Rage builds up alongside my fear, quickly matching it. And when they’re both at their peak… I feel something.

Something new. It’s like something just…opened, maybe? That’s not exactly right, but it’s as close as I can get. But I’m not the only one to notice that something has changed, because whatever happened, it’s making me glow!

The her- no, the villain stops, wary of what’s happening. Quirks are unpredictable, and you can’t always tell how dangerous it can be at a glance. But in this case, his hesitation is a bad thing for him.

The light pours off of me, gathering into a shape between the villain and us. It builds quickly, taking shape into something familiar. Something comforting.

A cat.

But it’s not a normal cat. Instead, it’s standing on two legs and its fur is kind of wild. Not like the neighbor’s cat whose fur is always smooth and well groomed, but more like those alley cats that are always fighting. Especially with how it’s baring its claws and the snarl on its face while looking at the villain who scowls back.

“Pathetic little parlor tricks aren’t going to get in my way.” He swings the pipe-turned sword at the cat,  only for it to duck under it and slash at his hand. He pulls back with a shout as four red lines appear on his hand.

But the cat doesn’t stop there, taking advantage of the villain’s distraction it charges at him and rams into his stomach, pushing him back. He brings the sword down, trying to impale it, but it drops to all fours and dashes between his legs to get behind him.

I’m pulled away from watching the battle by the girl tugging on my arm, and when I look I see that she’s gotten rid of both the things on her hands and her gag. “Come on, while he’s distracted.”

I stumble along behind her as she pulls me to the now unguarded doorway. He notices, and with a scowl manages to kick the cat away as we get close, though now it’s between him and us. Now leaking light, it turns to us and charges, confusing and scaring me. Is it not part of my quirk!? I thought it was helping us!

But as we get through the doorway, it jumps and digs its claws into the frame. Now, I don’t know a lot about buildings other than it’s bad to damage them. But I do remember being told that the areas around a door are a big part of making sure the ceiling doesn’t fall.

So when it manages to tear down the wall and ceiling above the door, I know that it’s time to get out. But I guess I already knew that, what with the hero-who's-actually-a-villain trying to kill us.

So as the building above us starts to rumble, we speed up in our run to the door as the sounds of the villain and cat fighting starts up again. We make it out, and even a bit further away before it collapses. Obviously I know that when something explodes or a building collapses you aren’t supposed to look back at it, but I’m only eight so I think I can be forgiven.

But I do find out why you aren’t supposed to look back.

I see the villain, cuts crossing his now torn outfit. He’s almost to the door, his eyes wide and his hand outstretched. He’s afraid, terrified. But there’s a bit of hope as his hand crosses the frame, only to vanish as the second floor collapses on top of him.

As the rest of the building falls in a cascade of grinding rocks, a large dust cloud rises into the air. The earth shakes, causing me to stumble and fall. The girl helps me back up and we keep running as the cloud envelopes the street. It’s only when we reach the alleyway I’d gone through to get here that we stop.

We stay there and watch as the cloud starts to disappear. I don’t know how long it takes, but eventually it’s all gone. And we’re left with the sight of the collapsed building. And peeking out on the ground in front of it, the arm of the villain, still extended in the hope of saving himself.

He’s dead.

My quirk… killed him.

I… killed him.

I’m suddenly hyper-aware of the bit of blood on my claws, and I slowly bring my hand up in front of my face. Their blood is on my hand, the proof is clear. I killed someone. I killed them. Good people don’t kill. Bad people kill. Monsters kill. I’m a-

I’m pulled away from my thoughts by arms wrapping around me. It’s the girl the villain had taken. For the first time, I hear her voice. It’s… familiar.

“Thank you. You saved me. If it weren’t for you, he would have killed me! I had no idea what kind of lunatic my manager was!”

She says a few more things, but only one really sticks out to me. “Y-y-ou think I’m a h-h-hero?”

She nods rapidly as she pulls me away from the scene of death. “Yeah! I mean, this isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped, though it is the first time a pro hero is the one to do it.” She scowls at the thought, obviously agitated by the thought.

“B-but… I killed him.” I point out in case she missed it. “H-h-heroes don’t k-k-kill… Do they?”

Hearing the plea in my question, she pulls me in for another hug and starts patting my head. It feels nice, so I lean into it while my tail starts to sway happily. “You did nothing wrong. He was a bad man who was trying to do a bad thing. He’s probably done a lot of bad things before today, and would have done more bad things if you hadn’t stopped him.”

She pulls away though her hand maintains its petting. “You are my hero because you killed the villain, and now he can’t continue being a villain. You stopped the problem. You saved me. If that’s not what a hero does, then I don’t know what they do.”

Her words take root, forming the base for my future ideals. I killed someone, which is bad. But since they were bad, it was actually good. Is… All Might good? If I get rid of him, will I still be good?

I shake my head free from the serious talk, turning to the girl. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself before, my name is Catia.”

She raises an eyebrow. “No family name?”

I shake my head as my tail dips. “No. Not one that I’m allowed to use, anyways.”

I can tell she’s curious, but she leaves it alone for now, which I appreciate. Maybe I’ll tell her one day, if we become friends.

She holds out her hand, bringing me hope that we will. “I’m Nekomura Iroha. It’s nice to meet mew!”

I giggle at the cat pun, then blush as I realize that she’s the mysterious person who has a massive following for her songs online. Pictures of her are rare and highly sought after, while people who try to pass off fakes as real are horribly disparaged.

Though I don’t react more than becoming a bit shy and blushing, inside I’m running around and doing flips!

I met and saved such a talented person! Oh, I hope we can become friends!

AN: Finally! Beware of family gaining a self-home-improvement mood.