MHA: A Cat's Way

Ch 35 The Battle Begins

So, apparently Uraraka floated herself up the side of the building and checked all the windows for signs of either Iida or the bomb. Luckily for her, they were both in the same room on the third floor. While Iida was busy hyping himself up to play the villain, Uraraka floated herself through the window and onto the bomb.

She would have gotten there sooner, but she needed to take breaks every few windows to avoid vomiting. Something that would be especially bad considering her helmet arcs below and a bit in front of her mouth.

Either way, the heroes win the match, and since nobody got too badly injured they all came back to the observation room to continue the class and learn who the 'MVP' of the match was. Obviously it's-

"Uraraka showed impeccable skill in her quirk usage, as well as her ability to sneak in and reach the objective undetected. Meanwhile Midoriya and Bakugou gave into their rivalry and neglected the exercise! While Iida attempted to embrace his role as a villain, doing so distracted him from protecting the bomb. Leading his team to lose."

It's hard to argue against Momo's analysis of the match. It's pretty much spot on. Except for one thing...

"Nya are you talking about? Obviously that was all part of Midorinya's plan. He distracted Bakugou while Uraraka snyagged the bomb." I can't help but feel like she's underestimating Midorinya's brain too much. But I suppose she can't truly understand unless she sees his notebooks.

Before anyone else can add their input, Ass Might decides to settle the discussion. "YOUNG AKIHIRO IS CORRECT! YOUNG MIDORIYA TOLD YOUNG URARAKA OF HIS PLAN TO BE BAIT DURING THEIR TIME WAITING! SO HE IS THE MVP!"

I grit my teeth at being called 'Akihiro', but I definitely don't want him calling me by my first name. While Midorinya simultaneously manages to puff out his chest in pride and hunker down in embarrassment at being praised, the lots for the next battle are drawn. It's Mina and I vs Todoroki and Shoji.

"Girl power vs Man power!"

"Queens vs Toms."

"Cuteness vs Hotness!"

"""Battle of the genders!"""

While Mina, Toru, and I hype the next fight, my opponents simply stare at us with deadpan expressions. Well, I assume Shoji is deadpan. It's hard to say, what with the mask and all.

"So, you wanted to do something with your cats?" Mina questions me once we get to the room with the bomb.

I nod, summoning five brawlers from my reserves. Given the two I've already summoned today, that leaves me with ten more cats I can use. "Nya, how much acid can you nya?"

"Hmm," she taps her chin in thought. "I'm not sure, but if I produce too much too soon then it starts to burn me too. So no unlimited acid for me~." She winks at me when she says her last sentence, but there's something about the look in her eyes...

Shrugging it off for the moment, I tell her what I want her to do. She's surprised of course, but does it anyway. And to her surprise and my glee, my idea works! Smiling, I summon five mage cats to pair up with the brawlers, and another three that I send to some random windows. When the match starts, they'll shoot their energy balls out at the heroes.

Given how powerful Todoroki's quirk is, we're going to need all the advantages we can get. Which leads me to the role the last two mage cats I summon will fulfill, as well as the rest of the acid Mina will be able to produce...

While Mina does her job, giggling maniacally, I arrange the positions for my cats. Since I'm not fighting to kill, I'll have four pairs scamper around the building, and the last pair stand guard in front of the room with the bomb. They can make their own decisions though, as everyone saw when my spy cat attacked Ass Might, so they might decide to join up if the heroes aren't quick enough.

Speaking of my spy cat, since I liked what it did I decided to let it do what it wants for the rest of the day before I unsummon it. Last I saw it was sunbathing on a mailbox. Even if putting guards on the door makes it obvious which room the bomb is in, it doesn't really matter.

After all, who said that villains will always play by the rules~.

(3rd POV)

When All Might calls for the exam to begin, balls of light start shooting out of the third story windows of the building, taking the heroes by surprise. Todoroki uses his ice to create a barrier, blocking the shots while Shoji uses his arms to create more arms to shield himself.

Luckily for him, they aren't charged shots. So instead of him losing a small chunk of his body, they simply hit with the force of a strong punch. Nothing he can't handle.

Seeing the ineffectiveness of the attack, the cats seem to come to a decision and change their focus. Instead of aiming at Todoroki's ice barrier, they all focus their attacks on Shoji, forcing him to take a step back with a grunt of pain. If one strike feels like a strong punch, three feels like a metal bat!

Seeing that he's free to move, Todoroki makes a dash for the building and touches it with his right hand. A thin sheet of ice quickly makes its way up the face of the wall, covering the windows and preventing the cats from shooting any more of their energy at them.

"What was that?" Shoji asks as he rubs the sore spots on his arms where he was bombarded.

"Mage cats. Catia said that they're her ranged attackers." Todoroki replies

"And you didn't think to mention that before?" Irritation laces Shoji's voice. If Todoroki knew about them, then he should have told his teammate. Or even used his ice to protect him too!

He gets a blank look in reply. "I didn't think of it." He walks into the building and puts his hand on the wall. "It's not like it will really matter though." Ice rapidly begins coating the entire interior of the building, spreading to the outside through the opened windows as well. "We've already won."

Shoji can only shake his head at his teammate's arrogance as he follows him deeper into the building, his breaths visible from the cold. "We've already seen her mage cats, and she might have summoned more cats after you froze everything. We have to be careful of her quirk's versatility.Not to mention that now that you've frozen the building, I'm going to have a much harder time finding them." He glares at Todoroki, reprimanding him.

"She's strong, I know. But I'm stronger." Ignoring the glare Shoji sends him, he pulls back from the corner of the hallway just in time to avoid a trio of energy balls heading for him. Seeing them, he takes a quick step out and flick his hand in the direction they came from, causing a barrage of spikes to shoot forward along the ground and skewer the mage cats from the windows. They vanish in a flash of light.

Turning his head back, he gives Shoji a small but immensely arrogant smirk. "See?"

Shaking his head, Shoji simply follows as he prepares himself to help his teammate when he should need it. If he should need it.