The Heart of a Hero [BNHA]

Chapter Eighteen: Atonement

Nikita woke with a start to find herself lying on a super comfy luxurious sofa in a familiar office that instantly made her shake with fury, Endeavor's office at his Hero Agency. She jerked upright and winced as her ribs protested the action. A soft fleece blanket fell off of her as she jolted into an upright position. She looked to it curiously before scanning the oversized office with her bright golden eyes. Endeavor was sitting at his desk. There was a giant stack of letters spilling over his desk. He hadn't seemed to notice that she'd awoken, immersed in whatever he was doing.

She thought about making a run for it, but thought better of it and quietly padded over to his desk. "What are you doing?"

Endeavor looked up surprised that the cat like girl had managed to sneak up on him and even more surprised that she didn't bolt the first chance she got. He knew her feelings toward him, similar to the feelings of everyone else that was supposed to be close to him, because he'd made too many mistakes, mistakes he was now trying to make amends for.

"Reading fan mail." Endeavor replied simply causing the cat girl to pause and throw him a skeptical look.

"You actually read your fan mail?" She folded her arms in front of her chest, "I just assumed you'd set it on fire and not give a damn what anyone thought of you." Nikita flopped into the chair across from him and winced as her ribs protested.

"You're supposed to be taking it easy." He reminded her, his voice stern and sharp. He frowned as he saw her tense at his tone, "I'm trying here...you don't make it very easy."

"Why should I?" She challenged him.

"I guess that's fair." Endeavor sighed.

Nikita surprisingly felt something akin to sympathy for him as she saw the look of frustration on his face, he really was trying. Why the sudden change? She bit her lip not wanting to talk to him but knowing she should try to give him the benefit of the doubt since he was making an effort. "...so, what do you do with them once you've read them?"

Endeavor looked over at her in surprise to find she was actually trying to be sociable. There was a faint trace of a smile on his lips as he got to his feet, "I can show you, if you like?"

Nikita frowned but reluctantly got to her feet. "Ok..."

"You take this stack." He handed her a small stack of neatly pressed letters with their respective envelops opened neatly with a letter opener before grabbing another stack ten times the size of the one he gave her. She trailed along behind him through the giant empty halls to a room at the opposite end of the hall.

The door opened automatically when they got within a certain distance of it and Nikita gasped when they stepped inside. The room was entirely filled with neat rows of filing cabinets, it was almost like a filing maze. She looked up at Endeavor curiously. "This is all fan mail?"

He nodded, "It is."

"I wasn't aware that many people liked you." She blurted before she could stop herself and cringed thinking, he'd get angry.

Endeavor shook his head, "You know, young lady, I have at least one letter from you in here." He smirked.

"That's a lie." She hissed causing her black tail to puff up.

Endeavor sighed and made his way toward a file cabinet with the current year on it before opening the top drawer and neatly placing the stack of letters and their envelopes in the filing cabinet. Nikita handed over the small stack of letters he'd given her to carry and watched as he placed them with care.