MHA: A Cat's Way

Ch 32 Confronted

"So again, I apologize for what I said, Young Midoriya." All Might holds out his hand to the boy in front of him. "You too can become a hero! So, do you accept my offer?"

He looks at the ground, his hair shadowing his emotion filled eyes. Time passes in silence, and All Might's hand starts to get tired from being held out. He sweatdrops, getting nervous about how long it's taking for Midorinya to answer him.

Eventually, he looks up, eyes filled with determination. "I'm sorry All Might, but I refuse."

"I refuse your refusal!"

"Huh!?" His eyes widen in shock and surprise, and he takes a step back before All Might coughs.

"*Cough* Sorry about that my boy. I'm not sure where that came from. Now, why have you refused? You could have my power and become the next Symbol of Peace!"

He shakes his head. "If you had offered it to me back then... on that rooftop, I probably would have accepted it in a heartbeat. But now?" He looks down at his hand. "Now I'm in UA. I managed to get in. Me. I, Izuku Midoriya, managed to get into UA, the best hero school in the country. Quirkless." He clenches it.

"I know that I can become a hero. And by getting into UA, I've shown everyone else that I can too. More than that, I'm going to show everyone that anyone can be a hero. No matter who they are. No matter their quirk. Even the quirkless." His determined eyes meet All Might's chagrined ones.

"I will be the proof of your words, even if you don't believe them yourself." He bows. "Thank you, All Might, for offering me your quirk. But I'm going to become a hero as who I am. As Izuku Midoriya. As a quirkless. And when I do, I will tell everyone that they too can become a hero. Goodbye, All Might."

He turns around and walks to the dorms, his head held high and his stride confident. It reminds All Might of when he stormed away from him on the rooftop after telling him to go to hell.

He sighs at the memory. If only he had said something different on that day. Would it really have been so difficult to tell him that he could become a hero? Even if he didn't think he could, he could have said yes instead of telling him to be realistic. He lets out a self deprecating chuckle.

Realistic. Well, it looks like he's the one who needs to be realistic.

He's pulled from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching from around the corner of the building. Panicking, he instinctively goes into his buff form and rapidly waves the smoke away.

Turning around, he sees me, Catia. "Ah, hello there Miss! HAHA! It appears that you have discovered me! That's right, I AM HERE to teach the hero class' heroics!" He holds up a finger. "HOWEVER! That is a secret until the actual class starts, so I would appreciate it if you could keep it a secret until the day after tomorrow!"

There's silence, and All Might sweat drops as he gets an acute sense of deja vu. "...You realize that I'm in the hero course, right? And that I'm one of the people who got your congratulatory videos?"

The smile doesn't leave his face as he works hard to keep from showing his embarrassment. Especially since he just realized that I'm the girl who pointed him out to the class!

Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, I decide against letting him dwell on the point long. I wave the issue aside. "Whatever. Anyways, I listened in on your conversation with Midorinya."

His eyes bulge, and I hold back a chuckle at the sight. Seeing the Symbol of Peace in distress is so cathartic~.

"Oh, uh, how-how much did you hear?" His eyes shift to the side as if looking for an escape, but there is no escape from a cat who has its prey~.