"Come Into My Office. Yes, The Restroom."

The Case of the Hero Course

(Or The Case of Dream Catching)

In loving memory of Autumn.

I miss and love you dearly.

Izuku looks down at the little girl who looks nervously up at him. She is holding on to the hem of his shirt, shyly glancing at him and then to the ground with golden eyes. She has short silver hair that goes past her chin, curling inward, and her skin is pale. She is dressed in a white shirt with a dark blue heart in the middle, and she wears a skirt that goes above her knees and a pair of shoes the same shade of blue. Izuku patiently waits for her to speak, drying his hands with a paper towel. He had just taken a five minute break to use the unisex restroom and redo his hair (he was in a rush earlier, and his ponytail was annoyingly not centered like he prefers), when he felt a small tug on his shirt.

The girl takes a deep breath, "A-are you the de-detective who finds lost animals? The-the one who found Hina's dog?"

"I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a detective," Izuku smiles, "but yeah, I try and find lost pets for people. Are you missing one?"

"Yes!" The girl exclaims, nodding her head before she realizes how loud she was. Her face turns red, a bright color on such a pale face (Izuku suspects her quirk may have to do with ice or cold temperatures). She drops her grip on Izuku's shirt and fiddles with her fingers instead. "My-my cat, Aki, is mi-missing. He-he―the last time I saw him wa-was last Thur-Thursday." Her voice turns thick with worry, and her eyes become watery. It is obvious that Aki's disappearance is affecting her.

Izuku crouches down so he can look her in the eyes, and he gives the best comforting expression he can. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Is it okay if I lift you up to put you on the counter? You can calm down and clean yourself up." She nods, and Izuku realizes that he doesn't have her name. While bringing her into his arms and placing her down on the counter by the sinks, he asks her. "First off, what's your name? Mine's Izuku."

"Na-Natsuki." She answers, rubbing her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Natsuki." He tries to take on a light tone, one that he uses mostly on children, while getting a paper towel. "Y'know, Aki isn't what you typically name a male cat?"

Natsuki giggles a bit, and takes the paper towel when Izuku hands it to her. "We-we thought he was a girl at first." She wipes her eyes, sniffing. "I'm not sure why though, but I'm the one who named him."

"It's great name regardless. Now, I need some information about Aki, like what color is his fur, his size, if he's a long-haired cat or a short-haired one. Things like that. A picture would be great if you have one."

"Aki is an orange and white cat, and, um, his fur is long and fluffy. We've only had him for less than two years, since he was a kitten, but he's around the size of our other cat, Yuri. She's really heavy, a-and sometimes it's hard to pick her up." Natsuki looks to the side, thinking, before her face brightens. She reaches into the pocket of her skirt, pulling out a folded paper. "I-I asked my mom if she could get me a paper version of a picture of Aki. I tho-thought that it might help you." She looks down, almost like she thought Izuku would belittle her for trying to help.

Izuku grins. "Smart girl," he praises, and Natsuki flourishes, a pink flush making its place on her face again. He takes the picture and unfolds it, allowing him to see the picture of an orange feline with a beautiful blond tail. "I'm gonna keep this if that's okay with you." She nods. "Okay, I'll try to find Aki for you. I can't promise that I will, but I do promise that I'll try all that I can." Natsuki looks visibly happy and full of relief, and she shoves her hand in her pocket again, bringing out a fist of coins. Izuku intervenes before she holds it out to him, "Hey, don't worry about payment. It's on the house." She goes to protest but stops when she sees the look on his face. She nods, putting the money back into her pocket.