She didn't make herself purr the way that she had wanted to the night prior. After putting on the lingerie and admiring it on her body she was embarrassed enough.

The confidence and empowerment that wearing the lingerie ended the moment she thought about lying horizontal on the mattress to do more with it.

So instead she kept it on and used that empowerment to get a schedule written out at her desk. Now that she was going to be adding in physical activities with her already busy schedule she wanted to make sure that she could do it all.

She had texted both Shinso and Aizawa Sensei in terms of times for tutoring and project work.

It was both frustrating and amusing that they hadn't messaged her back till after midnight. She probably wouldn't have gotten the messages till morning if she herself hadn't already been awake. Staying up late to look into beginner yoga and endurance training.

Marie was now in bike shorts and a tank top looking at the track. The track that she had only really used during her required gym class.

Just looking at it felt daunting. She took a breath in and shook her head as she exhaled out.

There were other students jogging and running on the track. Marie made sure to hop on to start her slow jogging. She timed her different levels of intensity. Her goal was simply to see how many laps she could do before hitting the hour mark.

Unfortunately she did a terrible job with her different levels of jogging and running that she was too tired and just walked the last 10 minutes.

She finishes off her new morning routine by heading to the common rooms for a stretch and full body stretch sequence of yoga before heading to the showers. While finishing up her showers and drying her hair she is accompanied by Gina who was getting ready to start up her own shower.

"So. How was your session last night." Marie glanced in the mirror in front of her. Seeing Gina undress in the reflection behind her. Her kinda friend still looked tired and was clearly just starting a genuine conversation.

Marie would bite, "I didn't have a session. But it felt good to wear something like that." She admitted and watched as the face in the mirror formed a small smirk.

"Yeah. It can do that. Maybe you should wear it more often. Maybe then you won't be so uptight all the time and be able to handle your cat."

Gina was being genuine. She thought the whole thing was amusing and she wanted to poke fun. But it was only fun to a point. She wasn't a bully. And the feline female wasn't a terrible person to be around.

"It gave me confidence." Gina heard the usually serious voice become more down to earth, "It made me feel like I was beautiful and capable of anything." The reflection in the mirror displayed the faint blush on the bridge of the girl's nose. Being behind her she could see the full length of her tail as if snug at the bottom of the chair gracefully. Different from its usual upright happy dance that she'd catch the girl in.

"Well," She closes her locker and grabs her products, "Whatever it is you did last night and this morning is working for you."

Marie shared the matching smiles as they went their separate ways.

The boys sat there in silence working on their homework.

Izuku was one of the few that he let in his room leisurely aside from Denki. Since the new year had started Hitoshi had not had much time to singularly make time or effort to hangout with his friends.

He was also someone that preferred more leisurely activities unless it was the thrill of training.

"So?" Izuku speaks.

"Yeah?" Hitoshi doesn't look up from his notes.

"Do you like Marie?" There was no tact at all.

"I don't know." Silence, "Do you like Tsuyu?"

Hitoshi can hear his friend's hesitation followed by, "I don't know."

Looking up he could see the tips of Izuku's ears turning pink.

The door to his room slammed open and in the threshold stood the pint-sized cat loving, wide grinned twerp of the house. Her eyes shot to Izuku and danced at seeing him in the same space as her.

"Hello Dezu. I saw your shoes at the door." She fidgeted with her fingers.

"Hello Eri, How was your day?" Izuku held a warm smile for the girl.

Hitoshi had expressed on multiple occasions that he should be more apathetic with his sister. But in the end Izuku couldn't help being his usual self.

"I got to see Kota today! He'll be coming to visit for Golden Week. Will you still be in the dorms, Deku! We can make candy apples and chocolate bananas."

A black cat ran through the doorway and jumped onto his notebook. Automatically his hand started to pet the cat and pull the notebook out from under it.

He only half listened to the conversation in the doorway. Leaning against his headboard he thought about Izuku's question.

Did he like Marie?

He thought of their interactions. They were interesting and he was intrigued by the girl. But he didn't know her to actually like her in that way. He also had other things he wanted to focus on. Hitoshi never felt like he could truly catch up with the class after coming in late. They also had real work experiences that not many their age did.

Then there was his guardian's childish teasing of the feline. He knows it was just that though. Aizawa cared too much about his students to do anything past that.

"Eri-chan." Hitoshi opened his eyes to see the person of his thoughts in his doorway. He watched as her eyes swept over his room.

Suddenly he was very aware of the current status of the room. The trashcan next to his desk had balls of paper next to it from the times he tossed without looking.

His yoga mat was still spread out at the foot of his bed and it had his workout clothes in the middle of it. Including his boxer briefs that had kittens on it. Other than that he thought there wasn't anything else embarrassing.

She didn't walk past the door frame though. Which Hitoshi both respected and also wished that she'd enter and be less formal.

"Hello, Marie. You hear for the project?" Izuku asked and looked from her and then to his purple friend.

Hitoshi downcast his eyes to the cat in his lap, "Aizawa has her tutoring Eri on Sundays now."

Izuku chuckled, "Oh, It must be a lot of work to be an aid."

Through Hitoshi's peripheral he could see motion below Marie. Glaring his eyes over just enough without lifting his head, he could see that her tail was dancing. It was different from the usual upward dance that he had experienced with her thus far.

"It's definitely more work this year so far but it'll only prepare me for later." He expected no other type of response from the studious student.

"Marie-chan will be in the Sports Festival this year, Deku. I told her last time that she's not going to be able to beat you." Eri took the extra step in her affection to tug on Izuku's hoodie sleeve.

"Yeah, I heard that your class is starting training. Gina asked me for some pointers. I told her she could run with me in the mornings."

At the response the feline snorted and the sound had Hitoshi's eyes lifting to her.

"Running isn't really Gina's kind of cardio." A sly uplift of her lip, "But I'm sure she'd say yes if you got Shoto Todoroki to also run with you."

Izuku laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. She isn't letting that go. It feels like she's putting me in a spot."

Hitoshi watched the conversation. How the girl's lips turned warm with her before her next response.

"I know that Gina can seem to only be," he noticed the girl look at his sister still in the room, "On a one track mind. But she honestly just really wants to make that connection with him because Endeavor's Management Team is her goal for graduation."

Izuku nodded his head in thought. The girl continued, "I started to do some laps this morning. I could run with the three of you if it makes it better."

"I'll talk to Shoto about it."

"Eri. Let's get started. Aizawa-Sensei is cooking up dinner and we'll be studying at the table."

"Will you be eating with us again?" Eri asked as she started out the door.

"I was asked and I said yes."

Marie gave him a glance before shutting the door behind them.

The bedroom was quiet.

"So?" His friend spoke up.

Hitoshi rolled his eyes.

"I'm interested. But I don't know her well enough to like her. I also think she's struggling with her quirk hormones."

Izuku, "Mmm Hmm. I've noticed that too."

Before Hitoshi could take his turn to ask about the amphibian the door opened again.

"Midoriya, you eating here?" His adoptive father asks.

"Only if it's okay, Aizawa Sir." Izuku didn't fully fumble.

When the door shut Izuku asked Hitoshi if he was up to playing video games till dinner was ready.

A clear avoidance to getting asked about the levels of friendliness with their frog friend.

The entire tutoring introduction went smooth enough for Marie. Eri did a well enough job of focusing and asking Marie random questions. There was a moment that Eri went to the kitchen to beg Aizawa if Midoriya could stay for dinner that evening.

She was making great progress with Eri and before long Aizawa Sensei was instructing us to clear the coffee table for dinner. A task Marie did on her own while Eri ran to get the boys.

While she was putting the curriculum in its designated box she felt the looming presents of Aizawa starting to set the table. Through her peripheral she can make out his man bun and scruff.

He was leaning over her right shoulder. But what she was even more aware of was that her tail didn't dance.

Or strike out embarrassingly to wrap around his wrist.

She didn't purr or blush or have any of her feline characteristics come out. And she couldn't feel more relieved in that moment as the man retracted and brushed against her shoulder before taking his seat at the table. Her cat would have had a field day over the whole thing.

The boys and Eri emerged from the hallway and they were all smiling. A sight that Marie had seen on Midoriya and Eri but had yet to see on Shinso's face.

It looked good on him, she observed.

Midoriya maneuvered himself and the young girl so that they got to the table first and left the only open next to the student aid.

When Hitoshi sat next to the girl he looked dead in his friend's eyes in front of him sending him a few daggers.

"Marie-Chan! Your tail isn't dancing today like it was the other day. Papa said you're learning to control your quirk. Did you find out how?" The little girl started to go off, "I suggested the Onii-san give you pets since that works on our cat. Did he give you pets?"

The three teenagers at the table choked on the food in their mouths.

Aizawa had a small grin to himself as we watched to see the children's response. The first to compose themselves was Marie.

"I. No. I actually." She cleared her throat, "I have taken things into my own hands."

The red on the teenage boys' faces deepened and Aizawa hid a chuckle behind a cough.

"You're petting yourself?" Eri lifted a confused eyebrow.

"Eri-" Shinso was going to stop everyone's embarrassment but Marie spoke over him.

"Actually Eri. I have started training." This caught the table off guard, "I started some endurance and stamina training today. I've found that it's helped my quirk become less sensitive."

There was a moment of silence as Eri took in the information.

"I also had to work really hard to control my quirk. Ginger and Quack are in the office for when I need to practice again."

Marie turned to get an answer for clarification.

"Ginger and Quack are lizards. The regeneration helps with training Eri's quirk. She went and named them." Shinso spoke while eating.

"They needed names. Test Subject G and H wasn't nice for them."

"Giving them names is just going to get you attached to them." Shinso threw back.

Marie could sense that this was more than just siblings arguing that there was a history behind this conversation that she didn't know.

"Hitoshi!" Aizawa's stern voice broke out over the table. Demanding quiet and ending the growing tension between the siblings.

Marie continued to eat her food but really she just wanted to be excused and head out of there.

There was a ding across the table from Midoriya's phone. Marie watched him roll his eyes.

"Your friend Gina is really interested in doing well for the Sports Festival."

"Hmm. All of our class this year is. I guess my training will have a dual effect." Marie nudged the moping Eri, "Maybe I can even beat Onii-san."

This brought a smile to the young girl's face, "I want to see."

"Pfft. I want to see you try." Shinso smirked while looking down at his food.

"Don't underestimate." Aizawa stated and Hitoshi's head shot up, "She's your manager and if she does her job right." His eyes trailed from his food to Marie, "She should know you and your quirk inside and out. She could have the upper hand if her physical training can hold its own."

Marie hadn't felt confident in doing the Sports Festival and only really trained so that she could control her inner cat.

But hearing Aizawa Sensei say that gave her a different motivation. To actually get to the point of beating Shinso.

"I'll be rooting for you, Marie." Izuku spoke up.

"Hey." Hitoshi barked, making all the kids all laugh.