NOVEL NEXT The Big Three
I let out a yawn as I stretch, my fingers brushing against the scratcher that lines the bed frame before they curl. Popping my claws out, I let the soothing sensations of the material getting scratched fill me without opening my eyes. Only for my pleasant waking ritual to be interrupted by a chorus of ‘aw’s’.
My eyes shoot open as I flip from laying on my side to crouching on my bed, my arms held in a guard with my claws threatening whoever snuck into my room as I peer around with narrowed eyes.
Eyes that land on a trio of girls with disappointed looks on their faces, as well as some creepy guy standing in the corner and… “Tintin, nya?” My head tilts when I see the second guy in my room. He looks almost exactly like that old character that some studio tried to bring back. Apparently they thought since it was originally a pre-quirk era character no one would care if they reimagined him.
Too bad for them that Disney is as possessive as they are old. I don’t know when they bought the rights for the character, but apparently they did. As that studio found out after finding a lawsuit in their mail one day.
All that doesn’t explain why all these people are in my room though. But the grown up Tintin looks like he’s just about done laughing from the fact that I called him Tintin, so maybe he can explain.
He wipes an imaginary tear from his eye as he lets out a final chuckle. “Hah. Man, I can see why Sir likes you! I’m guessing that prank at the start of the meeting was your idea? I’ve never seen him so happy before!”
I tilt my head to the other side as my ears twitch, ignoring the way the girls ‘aw’ at the action. “That was him meowppy?”
He nods with a wide smile. “Yep! Despite wanting people to laugh and smile as much as possible, he has some problems showing them himself. But he more than makes up for it by being awesome and being a great hero!”
He fist pumps at his own praise while I turn my attention to the other two people I’m not familiar with. Both were at the meeting for the raid, but now that they’re out of their hero outfits I can see that they’re third years. Just a step below pro it seems.
The question now is; why are they here?
“So what are all of mew doing here? I can sort of understand these two,” I flick my tail to gesture at Minya and Tormew. “But not the three of mew.”
The girl jumps forward with her arms held excitedly in front of her. “Well, we thought that, since you’re kind of special -with Nezu’s stamp of special approval!- that we’d introduce ourselves! Your first hero raid, even if you’re cheating to participate and also kind of breaking the law for vigilantism, is a big step! Not even we’ve been on a raid before! Just ‘in the moment' stuff!”
She taps her chin with a finger before seeming to realize something. “Oh yeah! And I also wanted to snuggle your cats since they’re so cute. But you and that bed look super cuddly too! But your friends wouldn’t let me hop in!” She pouts while glaring at my friends, who glare back.
“”Snuggles are a reward! Not a privilege!”” Hearing the two speak in tandem I hold back a snicker. Ah, I told the two of them that the first time I caught them trying to sneak into my bed. Apparently, after the night where Minya needed comforting, the two took a liking to sleeping over. So I ended up telling them that group snuggles are restricted to once a week IF they were good and did well in class! Which ended up in them asking me for tutoring. Which is how I ended up turning my English lessons with Purrny into full on study sessions. Still fun though.
As cute as her pouting is, there’s still the matter of the creepy guy, as well as introductions. “Well, I’m assuming that nya’ll know I’m Catia, since you’re here. Didn’t cat-ch your names though.” I blink. “Wait a minyate. Wasn’t the raid supposed to be a secret, nya?”
Tintin rubs at the back of his head with an awkward look on his face before shifting so he can look at the girl. “Well… someone may have been excited to meet you after the show you put on at the meeting and…let it slip?”
I raise an eyebrow at the girl. If she’s let information on the raid slip already -ok, yes, to UA students, so the yakuza are unlikely to catch wind of it, but still- then it’s a good thing it’ll be going down tomorrow. I doubt she’d be able to keep it a secret any longer than that.
The girl in question bops her hand with a fist before waving excitedly. “Oh yeah! Introductions! I’m Nejire Hado, hero name Nejire-chan! That’s Mirio, and that’s Tamaki. It’s nice to meet you!” She points at the newly named Tintin and the creepy guy, respectively, and they jump in with their own hero names.
“I’m Lemillion, because I’m going to save a million people!” Mirio puffs his chest out in pride. Pride that I’m quick to deflate with some well-placed snark.
“Nya? And what about the other few billion people that nyaght need saving? They’re on their meown?”
He freezes with a ‘prey looking into the eyes of a predator’ look, the one where they haven’t processed the fact that they’re afraid and it’s just: “Oh no. A predator”. Then shifts to “Oh shit. A predator!”
The creepy guy looks distinctly uncomfortable for his own introduction, more so after my casual criticization of his blonde friend. “I-I-I’m S-S-Sun-Sun Eater.” That’s all he says before turning around and leaning his head against the wall while looking down. He mutters quietly to himself, but I’ve been friends with Midorinya for a few years! If I couldn’t pick up at least some of what he says, could I really call myself his friend? Compared to that Tamaki’s mutterings are easy pickings!
“She’s so scary, and she didn’t even show Mirio any mercy regarding his name. I wonder what she thinks of mine? It’s dumb, I know, but with my quirk it works well. Maybe I should have gone with something smaller. But-”
“I like it, nya. It’s ambitious, like what mrow hero name will be!” This guy’s self confidence seems to be as low as Midorinya’s was when we first met! Isn’t he supposed to be a third year? Or maybe it’s social anxiety instead of a confidence issue? But then why would he be trying to join a profession where social and public interactions play a major role in your pay and work?
His reasons are his own, though my words do put an end to his self deprecation which gets me a thumbs up from Mirio and my friends. Though most likely for different reasons.
After the initial round of introductions is over we get down to actually getting to know each other. Mainly about each other’s quirks, me explaining that I won’t be physically at the raid but instead inhabiting one of my cats. I have to say though, their quirks are pretty impressive. And Tamaki’s is downright scary.
I ask him what would happen if he eats part of someone’s quirk, like if he drinks Minya’s acid, would he be able to secrete it himself? Of course he refuses to test it for… obvious reasons. But still, the thought of him being able to eat someone and utilize their quirk is a bit disturbing.
It reminds me of Himiko’s, in a way. But her quirk requires the consumption of human blood. Not outright eating a person. Plus, unlike her, he doesn’t have to target a person. Nothing stops him from just sticking with animals, and his quirk actually benefits the most from that too. So if, for whatever reason, he started eating people to utilize their quirks?
It reminds me of that tooth guy I killed way back when. A slippery slope of who he’d kill for their power. And, eventually, he’d probably share the tooth guy’s fate. By my claws or another.
The other two’s quirks aren’t nearly as frightening! Mirio can basically phase through any object, though unless his outfit is woven with his dna he’d leave his clothes behind. Which reminds me, the appointment for Tormew is the day before the Sports Festival. Which will give us some time to get the Support department to put something together for her so that she’s not naked anytime we do hero exercises.
Hado’s quirk seems a bit more…nuanced?...than the other two. She can shoot out her energy from her hands and feet, and they take the form of spirals. She has no idea why. When I ask if she can do it from any part of her body she surprisingly nods, but says that she has trouble directing it like that. Still though, it could be a strong move to do when she’s surrounded or buried in rubble.
After a long couple of hours The Big Three of UA take their leave to grab some dinner before bed, and the three of us follow suit. After a meal of stove made ramen separate from the instant noodles filling one of the cupboards -much to Iida’s dismay- I decide to let the two of them snuggle with me for the night.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and I’m going to need all the relaxation I can get in order to get through it.