The Heart of a Hero [BNHA]

Chapter Eleven: The Sports Festival Pt 5

Nikita felt sick to her stomach and was happy she'd skipped lunch as she felt like she'd have thrown it up. She was alone in the waiting area, waiting for her match with Shoto. Midoriya and some of her other classmates had all wished her luck but they all seemed nervous for her too, sensing her apprehension. Though she didn't like the idea of fighting Shoto seriously, she couldn't let him down, he wanted her to do this, so he could prove himself. Her mind drifted to the first time she'd met Shoto, though at the time he had no idea it was her, she wondered if even now, he knew when their first meeting was.

Young Nikita cringed as her stomach began to ache. Her mother and father were away with Endeavor helping with some natural disaster. They left her with a kind neighbor who often watched her when they were away for extended periods. Nikita cried out as the pain in her stomach began to intensify. She crumpled to the floor as tears welled in her golden eyes. Something felt like it was moving beneath her skin, crawling through her veins, trying to claw its way out.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as the pain worsened. Her skin began to shift, it was agonizing it felt like it was being ripped open. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her hand beginning to change, growing smaller and furrier. She felt herself begin to shrink, her clothes soon drowning her. In a matter of minutes, the pain subsided and when she tried to examine herself she found every inch of her covered in fur. She ran to the mirror in the room she stayed in with her neighbor and felt her heart stutter in her chest as she found a small black panther cub with bright gold eyes staring back at her. Her quirk had awakened!

Desperately she tried to force herself to change back, no matter what she did, nothing happened. Was she going to be stuck as a cat for the rest of her life? She tried desperately to call out to the lady who was watching her but the only sound that came out was a soft meow. How was she supposed to communicate? She ran to the bedroom door but couldn't open it as she couldn't reach the handle and didn't have hands to grab it. Another meow escaped her as she tried to paw at the door.

The door swung open after a moment, "Nikita? AH!" The lady screamed as she spotted the black panther cub, "Shoo, get out! I'm allergic to cats." She scooped up the black panther cub and dropped it onto the fire escape before glancing around outside, "NIKITA?! Where did that child go?" She closed the window behind her with a sneeze.

Nikita panicked and began pawing at the window, but the lady had left. A loud booming roar of thunder sounded from overhead causing the tiny cub to jump and nearly fall from the fire escape. She desperately clung to the edge for dear life and struggled to pull herself up before making her way down to the ground. Her mom and dad talked about their friend Endeavor's family, his wife was very kind and she loved cats, maybe she could help.

She scampered in the direction of their home, trying to remember every time her parents had talked about where it was. The sky opened up above her and rain began to pelt her as another roar of thunder rumbled above her. Nikita let out a terrified cry as she ran on all fours. It didn't take long for her to find the giant Japanese style mansion her parents had talked about.

As she passed through the gate, she heard a loud vicious growl and turned to see a snarling Doberman. Nikita let out a panicked cry and ran as fast as she could toward the mansion. The Doberman was right behind her snarling, growling and trying to bite at her as she ran. She was going to die!

"Stop it!" A small voice yelled from the giant mansion and Nikita spotted a boy about her age with two toned hair, the right side a pale silvery white the left side a bright vibrant red. He ran toward them and just as the Doberman was about to tear into her, he picked her up and kicked at the dog. "Leave the kitty alone! Meanie!" The boy's mismatched eyes looked down at the small black cub trembling in his arms, it was bigger than a normal cat but still looked like a baby. "What are you doing out in this storm, kitty?"