"Stop smiling. It's too early for you to be in a good mood."

They both turn toward Gina.

"It's four-thirty in the afternoon." Danny states.

"Ignore her. She's just upset that she still hasn't been able to talk to Todoroki." Marie states as she starts to pack her bag.

"And where are you headed to?" Danny comments.

"On Friday's I have laundry duty and I'm meeting Shinso there. How much have you guys been able to get done with the project? So that we know when to reach out to Midnight."

"Where are you doing Aizawa Sensei's laundry?" "You're going dressed like that?"

Both Gina and Danny spoke at the same time with their words overlapping.

She first looked down at her clothing. She was wearing lounge shorts and a hoodie.

"There is nothing wrong with my outfit and I'm headed to Aizawa Sensei's apartment in the heroes building."

"How do you expect to get yourself purring again with that get up." Gina raised a brow.

"I guess it's a good thing I'm not going there to get my purr on."

With that she left to head over the hero building.

It felt like foreign territory to walk the paths to the heroes building. The last time she entered the building was when Hitoshi brought her for the group project.

Upon entering the common area she was happy to see some students from the hero class that she recognized.

"Ochaco Uraraka." She got the girl's attention.

"Oh, Marie. Are you here to meet with Shinso?"

"No. Yes. I mean. I am but I also have to meet with Aizawa. Which floor is his apartment?"

"Aid stuff? He sure does push past the limits of what an aid does?" The bubbly hero laughs, "You'll find them on the very top floor. Dont push yourself too hard."

Marie knew that there were things outside of regular aid work that she did. But she also knew that the extra work would help prepare her.

During her last two years of internships she has experienced different types of heroes that have different expectations from their managers.

From one's that were strictly manager paperwork and PR collaboration to being on a management team of lap dogs.

When she was on the top floor she was in a hallway that held a plain door with the nameplate of 'Shota Aizawa'.

Marie was feeling a bit nervous and wasn't sure why. Was it because of Aizawa Sensei? She thought of their conversation yesterday and it made her blush. There is also the fact that she's taken notice in the man's attractive physical features. Enough for her dreams to start wondering in a zone that made her wake wet the past few mornings. The only really positive thing about it was that it was a release before starting the day.

And then there was Shinso.

'-I didn't mind it.'

What was that supposed to mean? It was really frustrating. He said he was going to meet her here. Was he already inside? Maybe she should message him.

The elevator dings behind her and gets her attention.

"Hey." Shinso walks out. She notices that he had a large bag of take out in his hand. He was wearing black sweatpants and a plain white tee. It was interesting to see him wearing loungewear. Making Marie think about just how short her shorts were.

"Hey. So. Umm. Should we wait for Aiza-" Marie didn't even finish before Hitoshi was opening the front door.

"I don't think Aizawa mentioned it but I live here as well." He holds the door open for her.

"Oh. I didn't realize. I knew he was your mentor but didn't know there was anything more." She takes off her shoes in the foyer and follows the boy through the entrance.

"Yeah. We like to keep it that way. The hero class knows and the paperwork was just finalized recently. Me and Eri are officially Aizawa's adoptive children." Shinsoleads to the kitchen to put the food down, "Have you eaten?"

"I haven't. Whose Eri?" Marie felt like she was learning so much all at once. Her stomach also growls confirming her hunger.

Hitoshi looks down at the girl's stomach as it growls and in doing so he takes in her casual wear. She looked… comfortable.

"Eri is my sister. She's 10 and behind in her education. You're probably going to be doing her laundry. She's just recently gotten into training bras and her clothes seem to have multiplied over night."

Marie laughs at the thought of Shinso and Aizawa trying to keep up with a fresh preteen girl. And now that she looked around she could see the evidence everywhere that there was one living there.

The laugh brings a light to the room for Shinso.

"I'll show you her room and while you get the laundry started I'll plate us some food." The boy lifts the container as he speaks and then puts it back down on the counter.

Marie nods her head, "Okay."

She follows Hitoshi through the living room and down a hallway that she notices has four doors and one as the end.

"It's this second door on the right." He opens the door and upon entering Marie knew she was in a 10 year olds room. It was definitely going through the transition from child to teen.

K-pop and idol posters all over the walls and plushies littered the bed and floor. With an obvious like for the colors purple pink.

"Oh." Was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

"Yeah. So, good luck. The laundry room is through the kitchen." And he just leaves her there.

Marie looks around for a hamper and just starts putting the clothes from the floor in it. She also finds different garments hanging from the desk and chair.

At the desk she sees polaroid pictures of cats and flowers. But the ones that stand out to her the most were the ones of Aizawa and Shinso.

Some of them the guys were having their everyday resting face and there were others where you could see the forced smile.

A picture of, who she guessed was Eri, and a boy with a red hat also sat there. With red hearts colored all around the picture.

Marie thought it was cute and thought about how she hadn't really had a girly coming of age stage.

She huffed as she takes the basket and walks toward the kitchen.

She passed Shinso who was setting up space for them in the living space.

It was oddly comforting being in the space. The apartment had a calming aura that was new for Marie. Her house growing up always felt sterile and pressurized. Like you always had to watch your step.

It didn't feel that way here.

"Your home is nice." She sits on the floor at the table with Shinso.

He looks around the space. Him and Eri had definitely made themselves comfortable. "Yeah. It's our home now. We should get started on the project before they get back. Eri's not going to leave you alone once she meets you."

Marie takes a bite out of her food and then starts to fiddle with her bag that Shinso must have brought over to the coffee table.

She noted that in her head for later.

"Okay. So I want to start by saying that if I ask anything that makes you uncomfortable, let me know. But for the most part this is going to just be some of the fun fan service stuff."

Hitoshi watches as she takes a folder that in his opinion already had a chunk of information in it.

"What's all of this?" His finger grazed over the folder.

"My first steps to building your profile were to get any and all media records of you. What you look like to the public." She didn't dive too deep into that one. Because there was a slip between positive and negative feedback. Another of gray areas.

"As your manager." She pauses and giggles a bit, "As your UA 1st semester manager, I would like for us to be able to work together on what you do and don't want shared with the public. And how we can shorthand things if we need to."

Hitoshi watched as her tail was dancing behind her as she spoke. An indication that she must really like this type of work.

"Let's finish this food quick so that you can have my full attention." He watched her tail do a twirl at his words.

"Sounds good." She moved all of the work aside and they started to eat in silence.

He focused on eating his food. But wasn't blind to the fact that his eyes would wonder over to her and when they did they'd make eye contact for just a moment before she turned away first.

"Do you like me?" He just came out with it. Causing her to sputter and choke on her food.

Her cat ears stood up right while she tail seems to want to curl around her. There was a deep red that was across her face.

He felt an enjoyment watching her like this.

"I. I. I. I don't like you. I mean I don't hate you. But you. You." She stuttered and muttered reminding him of his closest friend.

He lightly grabs her chin and turns her head up to have her look at him.

"I what?" He looks into her flustered eyes.

Marie felt paralyzed at his touch. She what? He what?

His touch was soft but firm on her chin. And looking up into his dark eyes felt like she was drowning.

She thought of her dream and before she could answer him.

A cat pounces on Shinso. It was a heavy black cat and Marie could sense that it wanted all of Shinso's attention.

"Sorry." He mutters as he turns to the cat that was in his lap and starts to pet it causing the cat to purr.

Marie watched as Shinso's finger went through the cat's fur and would pet the cat's head. The cat's head pushed into his palm making the cats purr deepen.

She scolfs at the scene.

Hitoshi hears this and starts to laugh. "Are you jealous?" Even as his words come out he continues to pet the cat.

"Never." She moves her food and brings her work closer to her, "Let's get this started."

Hitoshi didn't push it. Not this time. They spent the next few moment going over fun facts about him. Things that Hitoshi found pointless.

When the laundry beeps they both stand. Her to swap the laundry and his to take care of their plates.

While their backs were to one another doing their tasks she heard the front door open. For some reason she felt a mix of excitement and nervous.

The anxious feeling making the hairs on her body stand.

"Hitoshiii! Did you get the apple pastries?" A small voice yells across the apartment.

Marie turns around to face Shinso, who must have thought the same thing because they were now only a foot or two away from each other.

Aizawa figured that the aid was already here. He saw the shoes at the door.

"Aizawa! Onii-san has a girl over! And I think they're playing mommy and daddy!" His head shot up.

He had trusted Hitoshi when he said there wasn't anything. Stepping into the kitchen he sees Marie was a basket of laundry and Hitoshi with a dish towel. They were pretty close but nothing that young Eri accidentally insinuated.

He signs.

'Mommy and daddy'.

Right.

"Eri, This is Marie. She'll be attending your laundry on Fridays and tutoring on Sundays." He nonchalantly states.

Marie's head turns to Aizawa, "What?"

"Yeah. I've added that to your aid duties. That's why I asked if you'd be able to balance your management work and aid work."

Hitoshi watches as his foster father throws a challenging look at the feline student. Looking at her face he could see that she wasn't going to stand down.

"As the top student in the management program you can expect the best and nothing less." She speaks firmly and clearly.

He smirks.

"Good." Aizawa nods down to her tail, "And also get your cat under control."

Hitoshi looks down toward her tail and sees that it's wrapped around his ankle. He had hardly felt it.

Marie blushes and forces her tail to remove from his ankle.

"Yes Sir. Also would you like me to fold the laundry as well?" She looks down into the basket.

"No, Eri has to learn some responsibility."

Eri groans.

"Okay." She turns to finish the task of swapping the laundry and ignoring the Aizawa household.

She tried to stay in her head but her cat hearing couldn't help but pick up on the motion that was happening behind her.

As Aizawa was making plates of food and Eri asking to eat the pastries with her main food.

Marie smiled to herself when Eri won over the argument. Growing up her mother had been strict with her diet.

Because 'there is nothing more unflattering than a fat cat.'

When she reentered the living space the spot with her school supplies was open for her and on each side of it was Aizawa and Shinso.

She took the spot and it was in that moment that she became super aware of the two guys. And how much bigger they both were in comparison to her.

Bing.

Marie welcomes the distraction of her phone. She didn't welcome the fact that it was a group chat though.

Third Year Management Class

Topic: Advancing in the Sports Festival

She snorted at the topic.

Both Shinso and Aizawa turn to the girl.

"What's so funny?" The youngest girl sitting across from her asks.

Hitoshi watches as Marie shuffles her papers together. As if hiding their work.

"My friends are messaging me about the Sports Festival." She answers his sister.

"That's still months away from now." Shinso speaks up before finishing his pastry.

"That's exactly why they're bringing it up now." She looks down at her notebook, "It will be our last year competing. For some people it's still their last chance to be recognized as a potential hero candidate. For some it's a competition that we don't always do well at."

"Oooh. Are you going to beat Hitoshi this year Marie-chan? I don't think you can beat Izuku though. Not even Hitoshi can beat him." Marie could swear she saw hearts in the girls eyes as she spoke about Izuku Midoriya.

"I don't really think much of the Sports Festival. Last year was my first year competing and I barely made it through the first round. This year I kinda want to do some scouting."

Again Marie's tail was showing that her interests were being spoken about.

"You want to manager one of the up and coming heroes after graduation? That's risky." Aizawa didn't make eye contact as he finished his food.

"I know. I know that the easy route would be to work through an agency that would just assign one to me. But I would like to scout out someone who I can fully manage and help them with their personal goals. And as a team to grow together. " Marie started to pack her stuff in her bag, "Shinso, thank you for the food and the questionnaire." She pats her bag where the work is, "I'll have to text you later. We'll still need to make time for a few more tweaks for the end project."

The Aizawa household watches her leave the apartment and they continue to sit there for a moment in silence.

"She had a really pretty tail and it was all over the place. Does that mean she's happy just like our cats?" Eri asks the table.

And like on que the black cat jumps into Hitoshi's lap again. His hand automatically gave it pets.

"Marie is still working with her animalia quirk." Hitoshi listens in to his father's words, "Her tail moves based off of her emotions. Things she likes and dislikes."

Eri giggles, "Well then, she must really like Onii-san because it was wrapped around him."

Hitoshi fights back the blush.

"Yeah. Maybe she just wants to get some pets from him." Aizawa teases.

The cat in Hitoshi's lap purrs. Too bad it wasn't Marie's purr.

"Niko loves your pets Hitoshi. I'm sure Marie would too."

And with that he stood up from the table.

"I'm going to my room."

Aizawa's smile couldn't be any bigger, "Hey, do we need to have that talk yet?"

"Not yet. Dad."