"So why are we going to class 1-A?" Nejire asked as she followed Mirio and Aya down the hall. Tamaki following along beside her. Aya turned her head from resting on Mirio's shoulder to look at her.
"Mister Aizawa wants us to tell the class all about how the work studies are going to go, isn't that right Togata?" She kicked her legs back and forth and Mirio adjusted his hold on her thighs to keep her up.
"Yep! He technically only wanted the 'Big Three' but since you've already met them Chatora, I figured he wouldn't mind that we brought you along." He turned his head to smile back at her. "Why do you always wiggle? It makes it so much harder to hold you!"
She laughed and moved closer so his hold would be better, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Sorry Togata, I just got excited!"
Nejire laughed as they drew nearer to the classroom. "You're so silly Aya! I still can't believe you got him to do this."
"Mirio's the one who bet her." Tamaki mumbled. Aya turned her head and smiled at him, sticking her tongue out and getting him to give a shaky smile back.
"You may know them as UA's Big Three." They heard from inside the room, Mirio opened the door and walked through, Aya still on his back. He slouched slightly so she could move off and then she stood to his right while Nejire and Tamaki stood to his left.
"I suppose it's the Top Four then, nice to see you again Miss Chatora." Aizawa looked over at her and his gaze narrowed. She rubbed at her head and waved at him. "Why are you here?"
"Nice to see you too, Mister Aizawa. Mirio thought it would be best if I came along since I already know some of the students, plus me and Tamaki trade the third spot all the time!" She looked over at Tamaki, but his head was looking heavily at the floor. She sighed and turned to look at the class, waving her hand and smiling. "Hello! I'm not sure if you'll remember me, but I'm Aya Chatora. I was at the summer training camp with you and the Wild Wild Pussycats."
She turned and looked at Tamaki. "Tamaki?"
He jerked at his name and then glared up at the classroom. She sighed as he finally turned away and moved to press his head against the wall. "Oh, Tama no! Did the potatoes not work?"
He shook his head back and forth. "No matter how hard I try I know they're not potatoes, you guys go ahead."
Nejire smiled and patted his back. "Come on Tamaki! You have to have the heart of a lion, not a kitten!"
She turned to face the class and motioned to Tamaki. "This is Tamaki Amajiki, our resident kitten, and I'm Nejire Hado. You guys have a super exciting time coming up."
She trailed off and then moved forward to one of the first desks, blinking curiously at the tall student sitting there. "Hey hey, why are you wearing a mask? Is it cause you're sick, or just trying to look cool?"
"Nejire!" Aya said, crossing her arms and huffing at her best friend.
She ignored her and moved over to smile at another student. "You're Shota Todoroki, right? How'd you get that big scar on your face?"
"Nejire!" Aya snapped, moving forward to grab her hand and pull her back, lightly scolding her. "You can't ask people questions like that, not nice."
They frowned at each other for a bit before Aizawa's voice broke through. "This is a waste of time!"
His eyes flashed red, and his hair began to lift, her classmates flinching as their powers were dulled under his gaze. Mirio laughed and moved forward. "No worries! I'm up next and I'll get us back on track."
Aya pulled Nejire back to stand along the wall next to Tamaki while Mirio moved forward to speak with the class. Aya smiled as he tried to land a joke, but it bounced off the nervous class heavily. "Ouch."
Tamaki huffed a small chuckle and she turned to hold out her hand to him. He grabbed it and pulled it into his pocket, gratefully holding it tight. Poor Tama, he has such bad anxiety.
"Come on! Let's go to the gym and you guys can fight me!" They all turned to look at Mirio in surprise. "Is that okay Mister Aizawa?"
Aizawa shrugged and then waved towards the door. "Fine by me, class head to training room A3, stop by the locker room and change into your gym clothes."
Tamaki released her hand, and she ran and hopped onto Mirio's back, wrapping her legs and arms tight around him. "Away we go!"
He laughed and moved his hands to hold her under her knees. He turned and walked out the door, Tamaki and Nejire following them, with the rest of the class slowly following behind.
"Oh! That had to hurt." Aya flinched away as she watched Mirio take the students down with rapid punches to their stomachs. "Mirio's going kind of hard, isn't he?"
Tamaki mumbled something and she walked closer to him. He sighed and repeated himself. "Mirio's always been powerful, but he doesn't know when to hold back."
"POWER!" They turned to look at their friend and she shook her head as he stood posed over them all on the ground. She walked over to where his shirt lay and grabbed it before walking over to hand it to him.
"I think you went a bit hard Mirio." He nodded his thanks and then pulled on his shirt.
"I don't think so, if they're going to be working with agencies, they need to be ready for the worst."
The students slowly began to sit up and move around. She walked over and held out her hand to the feathered student. He grasped her arm and she helped him up, rubbing her hand along his back. "You okay? Mirio can hit kind of hard."
"I'll be okay." She smiled at him and then moved around with Nejire helping the students up. When they were all upright, they returned to their spots next to Mirio and she giggled softly at the defeated looks they all wore.
"So that's a taste of what it's like to fight me! So, what do you think?" Mirio said, smiling at the class. They began to heavily complain.
"No fair! How come you have such a good quirk!"
"Mine is nothing in comparison!"
"Do you have two powers like Todoroki?"
"Nope, just the one!" He interrupted, still wearing his smile.
"Oh oh! Can I tell them? Can I?" Nejire bounced happily in front of him, and at his smile she turned to face the class. "His quirk is called Permeation! How cool is that?"
Aya moved forward and covered her mouth with her hand, pulling her back to stand next to Tamaki. He looked over and shook his head at them. "Nejire, let Mirio explain his own quirk."
She kept Nejire's mouth covered while Mirio explained, much to her best friend's annoyance as she pulled and tugged at her gym shirt. When he finally completed his speech, she uncovered the girl's mouth and shrieked as her tongue moved out and licked her. "Nejire! That's so gross!"
She wiped her hand on her friends' shirt, glaring at her in disgust. Mirio laughed at them and Tamaki allowed a small smile. "You two are so strange."
She turned to stick her tongue out at him. "Says the boy who's in love with walls."
His ears turned pink, and he turned to press his face into the wall again. They laughed and all bowed to the class before following Mirio out.
They changed quickly and she ran out to find the boys waiting for them. She giggled happily when Mirio knelt so she could hop on, standing up once she was settled and making their way to their next class.
"So, what do you think about the class guys?" She asked after they had been walking for a bit, "Pretty powerful right?"
Mirio nodded as he began to climb the stairs. "Yeah, that one problem kid, Midoriya I think it was, wasn't surprised when I popped up behind him so that was a shock."
"They were missing one student, Bakugo, the one that got captured. I think he may be in trouble or something." She said, trying to remember all the students faces from camp. "I think he was an explosion user."
"Sounds like a powerful quirk." Tamaki answered, moving his hand to her back to help Mirio keep her balanced up the stairs. He let it drop once they reached the top floor. "I wonder why he's in trouble."
"We could ask Mister Aizawa!" Nejire said, bouncing along in front of them, twirling and smiling. "I bet he would tell us!"
"I don't think so Neji, Mister Aizawa is kind of mean if you bother him." Aya answered, moving off Mirio's back as they stood outside of their math class, waiting against the wall for the bell to ring so they could head in. "He's a super amazing hero, but man was he grumpy while the classes were training."
"I think he's always like that, did you see the bags under his eyes?" Mirio asked, stretching his back. "Man Aya, I always forget how heavy you are."
"Mirio!" Nejire said, turning and smacking at his arm. "You never comment on a woman's weight!"
Aya laughed and shook her head at her friends. "Relax Neji, I think he meant my muscles, not my fat."
Mirio nodded quickly blocking Nejire's hands from hitting him. "She has so many muscles that she hides all the time I forget! I didn't mean to be rude promise!"
"Still Mirio, Nejire's right." Tamaki said, watching them with faint amusement. "You better apologize or else Aya will make you carry her for another week."
"Oh, good idea Tamaki!" Aya said and smirked at the tall blonde. "I'd love to rest my legs and feet longer."
Mirio quickly dropped his top half into a deep bow. "I'm so incredibly sorry Chatora!"
"No worries Mirio, I was just kidding." She laughed and ruffled his hair, causing him to jump away and try to fix it before class. "And didn't I tell you to call me Aya? We've been friends for over two years, Tamaki does it why don't you?"
He straightened up and the bell rang. They moved against the wall allowing the students to walk out of the class before they headed in. "I try to, but I'm so used to calling you Chatora that I just comes out."
"Ahh, that makes sense. I do it with your name sometimes too." She patted his shoulder and they smiled at each other.
"Oh how about this! Every time Mirio says your name wrong you hit him with the nerf gun, and every time you do it, he gets to give you a pinch!" Nejire said, leaning over to smile at them. "How about that?"
Tamaki laughed softly beside her and Aya smiled. "Sounds good to me, deal Mirio?"
"Deal!" He shook her hand and they moved to walk into the classroom.
She pulled out another throwing knife from her side pouch and aimed at her friend, sending it flying. It hit heavily against the target behind him, and he turned to look. "Good shot!"
"Thanks!" She answered, grabbing two and throwing them one after the other. He stayed still for the first one but moved his head to the side as the second one neared him.
"Whoa! That one was close." She smiled at him and then walked around him to grab the knives from the target.
"You were supposed to be staying still Mirio, you said you wanted to train with me so you could get better and using your quirk in small areas of your body." She opened her pouch and slipped the knives into their places, turning to look at him. "Are you having difficulties? Is there anything I can do?"
"No, I just get scared sometimes. It's hard to use your quirk when you're scared." He shook his head and she walked around him to stand back on x marked on the floor. She hummed in thought and then moved to an x further back.
"Here, this will give you more time to react. Are you ready?" She grabbed three of her throwing knives, holding one in her dominant hand and the other two in her left.
He took a deep breath and moved in front of the target. "Ready."
She threw the knife, and it went through his right shoulder. She threw the second and it went through his left. She lifted her left hand and threw the last one, it went through his abdomen, but she watched in amusement as his shirt fell. "Mirio, are you even focused?"
"Sorry! Sorry," He said, grabbing his shirt before it fell and pulling it on. "I promise I'm trying."
She waited for his shirt to be on and then she threw another knife, it passed through his thigh and she smiled at him. "Much better! We couldn't do your legs before."
He smiled at her and held his hand up for a high five, running towards her. She lifted her hand to smack his. "Sweet! Thank you for training with me for this Aya. I really appreciate it."
"Of course! I may not be able to help all the time, but if I can you know I'll be there." He walked back to the target to grab her knives and gently tossed them to her.
She narrowed her eyes and flashed her hands out to grab two of them. She tossed one up and caught it with her teeth while her now free hand grabbed the third one before it hit the floor. Her eyes flashed his amusement as he jogged over to her.
"Damn that's impressive!" She put the knives back in her pouch and pulled it closed before typing the code in to lock it up.
"Thanks! Years of training with Uncle Wara." She followed him out of the training room, and they made their way to the one across the hall.
"Are you sure you don't have a quirk? The way you can pinpoint and shoot, or throw is so accurate! I would guess at you having a quirk like Mister Snipe's." She smiled at him and shook her head, enduring his questions about her quirk again. He never believed she didn't have one, regardless of how many times she, Nejire, and Tamaki told him. It used to make her upset, but he never treated her differently and it was a compliment to her in a way.
"Not unless my last appointment was wrong, still quirkless. It's okay though, if one showed up, I wouldn't know what to do with it, I've gone so long without." He nodded and opened the door for her, following behind her as they walked through.
"True, but man, I don't know what I would do without my quirk." She sighed and pulled on his arm to get him to stop. He frowned down at her but waited patiently.
"Your quirk isn't everything, Mirio. You're an amazing fighter without it, it's just the Plus to your Ultra. Some people fight with their quirks, but you can do it without your quirk. Remember that okay?" She gave him a small smile and he returned it, rubbing her hair in a brotherly fashion before turning and running off to their friends.
"Mirio!" She growled following after him and then leaping towards him. She fell through his body and quickly rolled until she fell to sit on her rear in front of Tamaki. "Oh hi Tamaki!"
"You guys, if you weren't adopted, I would swear you were siblings." He shook his head and held down a hand for her to grab. His tentacles moved back into his normal fingers and she took the hand.
"He wishes he was cool enough to be related to me." She stood up and released his hand, patting away the dirt on her rear. Mirio laughed pulling his pants and shirt back on from where they had fallen.
Nejire floated above them, using her quirk to keep moving away from Tamaki's tentacles trying to grab her. "You guys don't even look alike."
"I meant in personality Nejire." Tamaki answered, finally grabbing her ankle, and pulling her down until she landed on her butt on the floor.
"Ow! Tamaki that hurt!" She glared up at him and sent a wave of glowing light spiraling towards him. He flinched and covered with his arms but was still pushed back until he hit the wall.
"Ouch..." Aya giggled and held out a hand to Nejire.
"Yeah, like you two are much better. We shouldn't be called the Top Four anymore, it should be the siblings of UA." Nejire jumped up and smiled big at her.
"Alright, it's almost dinner time. You coming Aya?" Mirio said, helping Tamaki up.
"No, I need to head to the gym while my stomach isn't full. I'll see you guys back at the dorms." She waved bye to them as she left the training room. She stretched her arms and then jogged towards the big gym at the other end of the training unit of UA.
She walked in behind a taller student and gently pushed past him. "Excuse me."
He moved out of her way and she walked over to the treadmill, stretching her legs, and then starting to run on it. She pulled her headphones from her pocket and plugged them into her phone, turning up the volume until she couldn't hear anything else.
She ran for a mile and then stopped it. Breathing heavily and grabbing the cleaning supplies to wipe it down. She felt eyes on her back, and she put the cleaning supplies back, cautiously looking around but only seeing two other students working out, the taller student from before (a first year maybe?) and one of her own classmates that waved and smiled at her. She waved back before returning to her workout.
She moved to the open space and stretched out her limbs, moaning in satisfaction as her shoulders popped. She rolled her neck and then moved over to the leg press machine. She hummed at the weights already on the machine, before moving them off and putting two fifty-pound ones on either side. She sat and pressed it up, doing ten reps before putting it back in place and adding two more fifty-pound ones on either side. She grunted at the weight as she pushed it up, but finally settled into a rhythm.
She continued adding weights until she was at a total of five hundred and fifty. Her legs shook at the effort, but she pushed through. She felt eyes on her again and she huffed in annoyance. She hated people watching her workout. It was one of her biggest pet peeves. Brought about from years of people underestimating what she could do as a 'quirkless' child. She growled and put the machine back, finally getting fed up with it.
She pushed herself up and grabbed the cleaning supplies again. She put the weights back in their spot and moved over the squat machine. She put weights on either side and moved to squat under it, she smirked at the burn she felt and pushed herself to do fifteen reps this time. She continued again until she was squatting four hundred and then she pushed it back as her legs threatened to collapse.
She knelt down and breathed heavily as her legs shook. Damnit, I pushed too far. Her stomach growled loudly, and she gently rubbed it, trying to ease the ache.
"Are you okay?" Her head snapped up and she craned her head back as she noticed how tall the guy was. She looked over his form and blinked in surprise. He had two strong arms, and two extra, tentacle like arms attached to them on either side. His chest and shoulders were wide under his tank top. He looked down at her from under light gray hair and she looked back up at him, noticing the mask and recognizing him from class 1-A as the student Nejire had questioned. "Do you need help?"
His mask moved as he spoke but held firm in keeping his nose and mouth covered. She smiled up at him and shook her head. "I'm fine, just went a bit too hard with my legs. Thanks for checking on me though."
His eyes shifted over as he looked at the bar she had been lifting and his eyes widened. He looked back at her and she saw his mask move up in what she guessed was a smile. "I would think so, that's a lot of weight."
Her smile turned into a smirk and she straightened up, waving away his reaching hand. "I'm fine, I can lift more than that, it's just squatting fully that's an issue."
She wiped her hands on her yoga pants and held out a hand to him. "My name is Aya Chatora. You're from class 1-A, right?"
He nodded and shook her hand, his grip strong in hers. "Yeah. Mezo Shoji, nice to see you again."
"You too, sorry about my friend this morning." She smiled and grabbed the cleaning supplies, wiping down her weights. He grabbed them from her as she cleaned them and put them away.
"It was fine, a learning experience even though it really hurt." She laughed and shook her head at him.
"I meant with Hado; she always asks questions without thinking about how it sounds. She's been like that since we were little." She moved into the empty space and sat down, beginning to stretch out her muscles.
He followed her and sat down across from her, mirroring her movements and that mask movement was back. "Oh that? I didn't even remember it. Everyone asks eventually."
She smiled sadly and looked up from underneath her arm as she reached over and grasped her foot. "Just because everyone asks, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt any less."
He blinked in shock at her before crossing his legs and resting his arms in his lap. "I suppose so..."
She shrugged and switched, reaching her right arm over her head to grab her left leg. She huffed as her bangs tickled her nose and shook her head to move the hair. "Ahh it's attacking me!"
His shoulder's shook with laughter as he watched her. She smiled at him and moved back up, reaching her arms behind her back, and curling forward. "I need a haircut, but I'm so busy it's hard to get it scheduled."
"Why are you so busy?" He asked curiously. His eyes widened and then waved his hands quickly. "I mean- You don't have to answer that."
She laughed lightly and straightened up. "I'm not mad Shoji. I have my work with the Agency, schoolwork, training with Mister Snipe, and then working out and training with the Big Three."
"You train with Mister Snipe?" He asked. She nodded and crossed her legs to mirror him.
"Yep! I work with him to train in my weapons, specifically my guns but he helps with my knife throwing and sword training too." His eyes shone with admiration and she flushed lightly. "My hard training comes from my uncle; you'll remember him from the training camp yeah?"
He nodded and smiled. "Tiger, right?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yep, that's him! My big lovable kitten of an uncle."
He laughed and rubbed his neck. "I wouldn't say loveable. I trained with him and he ripped me a new one every day."
"Oh yeah, but that's why you guys were there. If he's not on the job he's super sweet and snuggly." She stood up and held out a hand to him. "So, have you decided what agency to go to?"
He took her hand and stood up, shaking his head. "No, no one has extended an offer to me yet, so I'll have to find one."
"Oh that's surprising. What rank are you in the class order?" She asked, walking with him out of the gym.
"Tenth. Not super impressive." He said following her towards the cafeteria.
"Maybe not right now, but if you're in the top in the beginning, that only means the ones behind you can overlap you later on." He turned his head to look at her. "I was at the very bottom of my class my first year here. I only got in because of the recommendation from Tiger and Snipe. But now I'm battling for third with Tamaki every other week."
He turned to look ahead and nodded in understanding. "You must have worked very hard with your quirk to get there. It's impressive what you can do."
She laughed and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Shoji, I don't have a quirk."
He blinked in shock and his head snapped to look at her. "What? But you're shooting and training...?"
"Is all me, anyone can get as good as I am if they train hard. But nope, I am part of the 20% without quirks. Within UA I am the 1%, only one other person here has no quirk, but that's for them to tell people." She turned down the hall and her ears picked up the sounds of the cafeteria. "I have Tiger to thank for my combat skills, and Snipe to thank for my mastering weapons."
He nodded in understanding. "It's even more impressive what you've done now. I'd love to see what you can do."
She smiled at him and pulled out her cellphone. "Here, put in your number. The next time I'm practicing my weapons I'll let you know to see if you want to come watch."
He took the phone and put in his number, putting a simple octopus emoji as his name. She laughed when she saw it and sent him a quick message so he would have her number too. "It was nice to see you again Shoji, and to actually meet you face to face."
His mask moved again in a smile and he shook the hand she held out. "You too Chatora."
Weeks later her phone vibrates with a message in her pocket. She pulls it out and hides it behind the student in front of her, reading it curiously. Who could be messaging me? I'll see tiger later and my friends are here.
She sees the emoji and smiles. Where are you?
She responds back. Class, about to get out. Why?
He responds back after a few minutes. I received a request to go to the Pussy Cat Agency. Can I go there with you?
Absolutely! I'll meet you by the front gates. Make sure to bring your hero uniform and the paperwork okay?
Got it, see you later.
She smiled and put her phone back in her pocket, jumping when her best friends face is far too close to her own as she looks up. "Neji! I've told you to stop that."
"Who were you talking to? Tiger?" She asked, ignoring her friend's words.
"No, it wasn't Tiger. It's a student from Class 1-A." She answered, Mirio turned from his spot behind Nejire, and Tamaki looked up from his notes from behind her.
"Which one?" Mirio asked curiously.
"Shoji, Shoji Mezo. He's the really tall one with the extra limbs." She answered smiling at him.
"Oh I remember him! The one with the cool guy mask, right?" She laughed at her friend and turned to face them all, happy for their free time to work on the work sheet so they could speak freely.
"Yes, that one. He helped me the other night when I pushed myself too hard." Tamaki nodded in understanding and looked back down at the worksheet.
"You always overdo it Aya, one day you're going to collapse." He said to her, not looking up.
"I know, I know. I'm trying to get more rest I promise." She answered, tired of this same argument. "Anyways, he told me he didn't have an agency yet and Tiger asked me if there were any students I thought would be good to work with."
"Oh, so you pulled a mentor move like the rest of us!" Nejire said smiling at her.
"If you want to call it that sure. I just knew Tiger would get along with him and he's worked with the team before." She said, turning to her worksheet and starting to fill it out.
"Well that was really nice of you Aya. I hope it works out." Mirio said, going back to his worksheet.
"Me too."
She walked towards the gate with her friends. Swinging her messenger bag back and forth as she moved. "So let me see. Tamaki has Kirishima. Mirio has Midoriya. Nejire has Asui and Uraraka. And I have Shoji. We all have first years at our agencies. How fun!"
Nejire bounced along beside her laughing as they drew closer to the gate and saw the small group waiting for them. "Yep! Looks like they're all ready for their first day of work!"
They all waved to the group, Tamaki shaking as he hid behind her form. "I hate this, I want to go home."
"You haven't even left campus yet Tamaki. Come on." Mirio said pulling him out from behind her and pushing him towards Kirishima. "You have a first year to mentor! Go on man you've got this!"
They all waved their goodbyes and broke off towards the first years. She smiled up at Shoji and his mask moved in a smile. "Did you bring your hero costume?"
He raised up his hero case and nodded. "Yep, and I have the forms from Mister Aizawa."
"Awesome! Come on, my car is around the corner in the parking lot." She walked out of the gate and turned to the left.
"A car?" He asked from behind her.
She nodded and turned her head to look back at him. "Yep! The Pussycats Agency is located near the training camp. Tonight is going to be a trial run; Tiger will explain it all to you when we get there."
She unlocked her car and placed her case in the backseat with her bag. He did the same and he sat down in the passenger seat. His legs hit the front and she laughed before reaching down under his legs to hit a button that allowed the chair to go further back. "Sorry. I'm used to the Big Three riding with me."
He smiled and shook his head. "You guys really are friends huh?"
She buckled herself in and turned the car on, turning down the music. "Yeah. Me and Nejire have been friends for as long as Tamaki and Mirio. Once we all got to UA and figured out how fun they were, we became quick friends and started training with each other. What about you? Do you have any friends?"
She pulled out of the parking lot and made her way towards the camp. "The whole class is pretty much friends, not including Bakugo because he tends to push us away. But I guess my best friend would be Tokoyami."
"He's the one with the shadow quirk, right?" She asked turning to look at him before looking ahead again. "Kind of looking like a raven?"
"That's him. He's kind of quiet but so am I so it works out." He answered, watching out the window as they traveled.
"That's sweet. I'm glad you guys could put everything that happened at camp behind you and still be friends." He nodded but didn't respond. She turned the music up and they sat in silence as she drove away from the campus.
She was pulled into a hug as soon as they walked inside. She laughed and hugged her uncle back. "Hello to you to Uncle!"
He put her down and rubbed her head, causing her short hair to puff up in all directions. "Hello kitten! I see you brought the first-year student with you! Good job!"
He turned to face Shoji and held out his hand to him. "Good to see you again, Shoji correct?"
He nodded and shook the hand. "Yes sir, thank you for this opportunity."
"Don't thank me yet, let's go into my office so we can discuss the details." He turned to walk into a brown and tan cat themed door. He opened it wide to let them in and the color theme matched the door throughout.
Aya closed the door behind her and moved to the fridge in the corner, pulling out a couple waters and her favorite lemonade drink. She handed both of them the water and sat down on the couch next to the desk, laying out on it and grabbing a ball of yarn from her uncle's knitting basket to toss up and down.
Shoji sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk and pulled the forms from his bag. "Here."
Tiger put on his glasses, a sight that always amused her, and looked over the paper. "Top ten of your class, good grades, incredible strength and scouting skills. Very impressive, good eye Aya."
She shrugged and continued to toss the yarn up and down. "You said you wanted another trainee. I figured with his strength and how he did against the mountain beasts Pixie-Bob sent them that he would do best."
Tiger nodded and put his glasses down next to the forms. "Alright. I think you would do good here, but our agency doesn't work the same as others. You'll be at the same standards as Aya is, so I expect you to bring you're A Game every time I see you. We also don't have our trainees with us every night or every other night like other agencies. You leave the school on Thursday afternoon, and you don't get back until Sunday evening. Your weekends will belong to us, unless it is a family event or school event, in which case we need notified by your homeroom teacher, or you need to tell us ahead of time unless it is an emergency."
"Why only on the weekends?" Shoji asked.
"Because our agency is pretty far out here. It's an hour drive from your school, less if Aya uses her lead foot."
"Hey! I resent that statement." She grumbled, tossing the yarn at him, he easily dodged before speaking again like she had never opened her mouth.
"We don't want to take up too much of your evenings during the week, so this is the arrangement we have made, and the school has agreed to it. Do you have your own car?" Shoji shook his head no. "I didn't think so, Aya will drive you back and forth so I hope you get along."
"Me get along with someone? Never!" Aya said, rolling onto her stomach and resting her head in her hand. "So what do you think Shoji?"
He looked down at his lap, his fingers interlocked together as he thought. "I like it, the opportunity sounds amazing, but I'm not exactly sure why I was offered it."
"Oh I can tell you that!" She said sitting up and leaning forward. "Because you can scout, you can lift extremely heavy weights, and you can make quick decisions. Plus from the reports I've read from Mister Aizawa your cooperation is one of the highest in class. We need someone that's good at scouting here. Tiger is strength. Pixie-Bob is distance fighting and training. Mandalay is close combat and sending information. Rag Doll is now intelligence and coordinating. I'm a distance fighter and close combat. Now we need scouting for out in the forest and field."
He nodded and his mask moved in a smile. She smiled back at him. "Okay, I accept."
"Wonderful!" Tiger said, leaning over to grab the Pussycats Stamp from his ink block. He pressed it and then hit the papers with it. "Welcome to the team!"
Aya clapped and jumped on the couch wiggling excitedly. "Oh Ragdoll is going to be so happy!"
Aya showed him around the agency, introducing him to the team and then walking him towards the rooms. She opened the one on the left. "This is my room; I live here during the summers too so it's pretty full of my stuff."
He looked inside and then followed her across the hall. She opened the door and turned on the light. "This will be your room while we're here. Part of our job is to also make sure the students we have training here stay on their best behavior and don't burn the place down. We have permission to help train them, but the team is pretty good at that already, so I pretty much just leave them to it. You can fill this room with whatever you want, and I recommend getting another hero costume to leave here so you're not just using the one all the time. I can mention it to Mister Aizawa tomorrow before homeroom. You should also bring extra clothes here too, like pajamas and training outfits. We'll need to get you a bigger bed, the last trainee was shorter than me."
"Don't worry about it, I sleep on a mattress on the floor at school. We need training outfits?" He asked in confusion.
"If we've had a not so crazy day, Tiger likes to train to keep us all at top form. It's nothing like how you guys were trained, but it helps us stay prepared. We'll get you a bed, don't worry about that." She left the room and he followed her around a corner. She tapped her fist against the door looking at him. "This is the trainee bathroom. Technically it was just mine, but with you here we'll be sharing it. It has a shower and everything so if you need to bring your products feel free, I don't take up a bunch of room. It is a big shower, tall and wide because Tiger sometimes uses it if Ragdoll is using their shared one."
She walked him back towards the offices and opened the door with a purple and black cat on it. She turned on the light and he walked in to see two desks and shelves of files. "This will be our office. It's mainly for when we're not helping with training or scouting through the forest. You're more than welcome to use it for schoolwork, cause that's what I do, and the team doesn't mind. We also eat dinner together every night and we take turns cooking and cleaning."
"Sounds like a family." He murmured moving to the desk free of clutter and sitting in the chair.
"We are." He looked over at her and she smiled, leaning against her desk facing him. "They are my family. I was raised with them."
"I thought Tiger was your uncle? Is someone on the team your mom?" He asked curiously.
"No, Tiger is my guardian. He adopted me when I was seven, I moved into his house near here, but we spend most of our time here anyways, so this place feels more like home, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, Mandalay, even Kota the little brat are all family to me."
"What happened to your parents?" He asked softly, trying not to pry but his curiosity got the better of him.
Her hand rubbed against her wrist in a nervous fashion, and she gave a sad smile. "They put me into foster care. They had entered a quirk marriage to get a super powerful kid, and ended up with me instead, so their pride couldn't take it and they left me for someone else to care for. When Tiger found out, he's my biological dad's older brother, he called a lawyer and got me. They signed over parental rights to him, and I haven't seen anyone from my family since."
"Oh Chatora I'm so sorry." He stood and walked towards her, holding out his arms in a welcoming manner.
She walked forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, curling her head into his chest and smiling as his arms wrapped around her. "You give amazing hugs, Mirio would be so jealous."
His soft laugh hit her ears. "I'm glad I can compete with the top student in one way."
She enjoyed the hug for a few more moments before pulling away. "While we're here you need to get used to using hero names, or nick names. Tiger only ever calls me Kitten unless we're fighting villains, other than that the other members of the team use each other's hero names. Mine is Marauder."
"Tentacole is mine." He said, still staring at her in concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine but thank you. Let's say goodbye to the team and then we can head back to campus. You'll see them again on Thursday if Mister Aizawa files the forms away tomorrow. Before we come back we can go to the store to grab the stuff you'll need here, I need to get some more things anyways." She left the room and he followed, turning off the light and closing the door behind him.
He walked towards her car and took the time to appreciate it in the setting sun. It was a black color with deep red leather seats. He sat down in his seat and his head bumped against the top. He slouched down slightly but stopped when she reached her hand to the console and hit a button. The roof began to move back and he watched in amazement. "It's a convertible?"
"Yep! Sorry, I should have put it down on our way here. Tiger bought this for me once I got my license as a combined Christmas and Birthday gift. He's super tall so he made sure he could fit into it. It helps because Mirio always sits in the back with Tamaki and they both enjoy the extra head room. Now you can enjoy it too!" She turned on the heat so they wouldn't get cold and made her way down the dirt road towards the highway.
He watched her from his seat and found himself admiring her like he had a couple weeks ago in the gym. Her arms were toned and looked strong under her school uniform. Her legs moved as she pressed the pedals and he watched as the muscles appeared and then disappeared within her plump skin. He looked up at her face and his cheeks flushed lightly under his mask as he saw her chewing on her dark tinted lips in thought. "Everything okay?"
She looked over at him and he noticed from their close quarters that her eyes were a dark blue, not a gray like he had thought. She released her lip and gave him a small smile. "Are you hungry? We can get dinner on campus, but since we weren't there that long we have extra time to grab something if we want."
"That sounds nice, but I didn't bring any cash with me." She huffed at him and waved her hand as if hitting his comment away.
"I didn't ask that. My treat, a congratulations for getting with an agency." He flushed again and thanked himself for the mask he always wore.
"I wouldn't have gotten it if not for you." She turned to smile at him and he found himself memorizing the image.
"It was either you or someone else within your class. No one else would have fit as well as you do." She turned back to the road and turned the radio on, ending their conversation easily.
He turned to look out the window and enjoyed the breeze as it hit his skin. He quietly turned one of his extra limbs into an eye and watched her from it. The setting sun kept hitting her face with orange light and he enjoyed the way it turned her light blue hair almost purple. He found himself wanting to touch it, but folded his hands into his lap and interlocked them to keep from acting on the urge.
They drove along for a while more and then she pulled into a parking lot and parked the car. He looked around and smiled at the sign above them. "Pizza?"
"It's one of my favorites, and Lunch Rush never makes it because it's 'too unhealthy'." She rolled her eyes and got out of the car, making sure to grab her wallet from her school bag before locking the car. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, I like pizza. It's a nice change from the food we always eat." He walked faster and then opened the door for her. She smiled at him and walked through, telling the hostess they needed a table for two.
The hostess left and he took the time to look around the restaurant. It was small, but warm as heat made its way out of the kitchen. He startled as her hand touched his shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Our table is ready."
He followed her to the table and they sat down on either side. She turned a menu towards him and pointed at it. "You pick everything you want and then they cook you however big you want it. You can pick anything on the menu. I've seen Tamaki pick squid and crab for his once."
He laughed at her shudder before she turned look outside. "Don't worry, I'm not super adventurous with my food."
She turned a smile to him. "Me either, what do you want?"
He looked over the menu and turned to see the waitress waiting. He told her his order and asked for a water. Chatora gave hers and she picked up both menus before leaving them. Chatora pulled out her phone and began to play on it. "Awe, all the first years were accepted by the agencies. That's so cool."
He pulled out his own phone and looked at a message from Tokoyami. First day went well, you? He responded to his friend and then put his phone back in his pocket. "Tokoyami's first night went well too."
She smiled up at him before turning back to her phone. "We'll have to plan a little outing for you guys to celebrate. We won't invite everyone of course, but maybe the ones that go to our same agencies, Tokoyami can come too of course!"
His mask shifted as he smiled. "That would be nice."
They sat in silence after that, her thumbs flying across her phone as she responded to messages. He picked up his own and looked over the news, trying to find anything interesting. The waitress interrupted them, placing down steaming pizzas and their waters.
She walked away and he looked down at his hungrily. Chatora laughed and he saw a flash of light before she turned her phone to face him. "You look so cute. Pizza was a good pick yeah?"
He flushed at her comment and looked at the picture of himself. He laughed lightly and turned one of his extra arms into a mouth, picking up a slice and beginning to feed it. "Definitely."
She picked up her own piece and they ate hungrily for a bit. She finally stopped and peered at him curiously. "Shoji?"
He looked up at her. "Yes?"
"Why do you eat with your arm? Why not use your mouth?" She asked. He shifted uncomfortably.
"Technically it is my mouth, with my quirk I can make different parts of my body appear on my arms." She nodded and took another bite of her pizza.
"Yeah, I remember that from the training camp. But why not use that one?" She motioned towards his head and he looked away uncomfortably. "Oh, you don't have to answer that. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. Most of my classmates just deal with it and don't ask. Plus I'm kind of used to it now." He sighed heavily and put the slice back down. "My quirk, while useful in certain situations, made me develop a mouth that is, unsightly to most. So to ease people's minds I wear the mask at all times and use my arms to eat and drink."
She hummed in thought and leaned her head on her hand as she watched him. "Well that sounds very admirable. I hope one day you feel comfortable enough in yourself to show everyone, and when that day comes I'll punch anyone that says anything."
His mask moved as he gave her a sad smile. "Thank you Chatora. It probably won't happen for a while but I appreciate it."
She locked her car and walked with him towards the front gates. It was darker out now and she yawned sleepily. "No training tonight for me. I'll be heading straight to my room to get my classwork done and then going to bed. What about you?"
He nodded in agreement as he stretched his arms above him. "Same here. Thank you."
She turned to look at him in confusion. "For what?"
"Everything today. The ride to the agency, the opportunity there, the pizza, the drive back here." He turned to look at her and let his arms fall back to his sides. "I really appreciate everything you've done."
She smiled at him and he memorized how her eyes glittered in the moonlight. She patted his arm and showed her agency badge and pass to the robot there, allowing them to enter the campus again. "It's no trouble Shoji. I'm just happy to finally have someone that can help me out there. The team can be a bit much sometimes."
She walked with him to his dorm and he looked down at her. "Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?"
"That's super sweet, but no. I'll be okay. Thanks. Don't forget to give the forms to Mister Aizawa tomorrow morning so he can get them turned in and give you your free pass to leave campus for Agency shifts. Also mention to him about getting the extra hero uniform yeah?" She turned to walk down the stairs as he nodded after her. She waved her hand and then disappeared around the corner, heading towards the third-year dorms.
He walked into his own dorms and smiled softly at the gazes that hit him. He waved a hand at them and closed the door behind him as Denki and Mineta raced over to him.
"So how was it man?" Denki asked him. He raised a thumbs up at him.
"Good, the Pussy Cats accepted me in." Denki held up his hand for a high five and he slapped his hand against it.
"That's awesome dude! That third-year student, Chatora? She works there right?" He asked, leaning back against the couch and looking up at him.
"Yep. She's the one that got my name to them." He answered, leaning against the wall, and looking around the common room to see everyone watching him.
"Man she's so hot, her body is a bit big, but her hips and breasts are huge!" A thick tape rushed over and wrapped around Mineta, causing the smaller boy to start struggling.
Shoji looked over to see Sero looking at the struggling mass with disgust. "She's Shoji's mentor you pervert. Plus one of the top students at our school, show her some respect."
"He doesn't show respect to the top heroes or Midnight, why would he care about a student?" Mina asked, her own glare hitting the struggling mass. "Disgusting."
He nodded his head to Sero in thanks and picked up his hero case and school bag from the floor. "See you all tomorrow."