𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀

10

Shouta was already feeling a lot better when he woke up the next morning. Maybe he had needed a bit of a break, after all. He looked out of the window and saw the sun slowly coming up, which was already lifting his mood. It seemed like the long winter was finally coming to a close and it was at least getting brighter earlier. It still seemed pretty cold, but that would pass too, he was sure about that.

He looked at his phone and it was about five minutes until his alarm was supposed to go off. Which was great, because he already felt pretty well-rested. This had only happened about... maybe five times in his entire life before? He woke up before his alarm quite often, but rarely ever because he was feeling well-rested or anything like that. He usually woke up earlier, because he was feeling like shit.

But today, Shouta honestly felt so good that he was actually considering quitting his job forever and just never working again. If not working made him feel this good, maybe it was worth it. And after all... why should he bend to the ever-changing whims of capitalism and the hellish society it created? Hell no. If he could get away with not working at all, maybe he would just do it...

But then as he sat up, his eyes fell on a pile of bills on his nightstand and he remembered exactly why he had to work. Oh well. He wasn't too upset about it, because today he actually felt like he had the energy for an entire day's worth of work. Which was also a rare occasion. Having energy was already rare enough and having energy for a whole day of work and being around people was virtually unheard of for Shouta and he almost feared that if he questioned it too much, it would disappear.

So he just stretched, before turning off his alarm and taking a few sips from the glass of water on his bedside table. Even that water tasted good today. Shouta wondered whether he was maybe still asleep or something, because this was getting a little too good to be true. He reached down to his arm and pinched himself, but nothing happened. Holy shit. This was actually happening. He was actually having a good day. What the fu- this was incredible. Insane.

Shouta chuckled out loud at the sheer madness of the situation, before getting up. He realised that his face wasn't itchy and neither was his scalp. Maybe it had all been a massive stress reaction. He was even feeling like he'd be up for eating something for breakfast today. Usually he tended to skip breakfast, because he was feeling way too miserable to have any sort of appetite, but today he was almost hungry. He'd have to see whether he had anything in the fridge.

But first it was time to get a cup of coffee and then he could worry about all that. And he should probably get a shower, although the thought of getting his hair wet seemed to be the worst thing that Shouta could think of at the moment. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he felt as if he had suddenly developed a much stronger aversion to water than usual, which was a little odd, but who knew. Maybe he had just never had the energy to actively hate water at any prior point in time.

Either way, he could worry about that after his coffee. Except that he really didn't have any appetite for coffee right now and that was what really confused him. Shouta always wanted coffee. Even if he was already shaking, because he had been drinking too much depression juice on an empty stomach, he always wanted more and more and more coffee. And now he suddenly didn't feel like it? No, no, no, no, no. Something here was seriously wrong. Something was seriously wrong with him, more precisely. And he had to figure out what it was. Quickly.

Shouta took a deep breath and stood up, wandering into the bathroom. He ignored the mirror, even though out of the corner of his eyes something seemed off. But he could deal with that later. He needed to wash his face first and brush his teeth and then he could take a look. Shouta turned on the tap and was about to splash some water into his face, but touching water seemed like an... an issue all of a sudden. What the hell was up with this? It was just water. Just... water...

With a deep breath, he held his hands under the running water and quickly splashed it into his face, before he could change his mind. And he hated it. He literally jumped back when he felt the water against his skin and he couldn't stop himself. It was almost like it was some sort of reflex, like an instinct or something. And now he also had water in his eyes which didn't really help.

Without being able to see much, he grabbed a towel from the shelf behind him and dried his face. This had to be the most unpleasant experience he has ever had. Well, the most unpleasant experience that involved water. He was sure there were worse things that had happened to him. Like him hissing at his workmates. Or purring in front of them. He still wasn't sure what the hell that was about. Hopefully it wouldn't happen again, because that would be emba-

Every thought in Shouta's head just screeched to a halt, as he finally properly looked at himself in the mirror. It felt a bit like a scratching record and the background music in a movie stopping. There was no way that what he was seeing was real. No way whatsoever. This wasn't him, he didn't look like this, this was not happening. Absolutely not. Shouta closed his eyes and shook his head, before looking at the mirror again. Nope. He still looked like that. What the hell?

What he saw in the mirror wasn't so different from how he normally looked, except... he had cat ears. And whiskers. And his eyes looked weird, but that was beside the point. There were two cat ears growing on his head. Black fur, same colour as his hair. He was turning into a cat. He was actually turning into a cat. What the fuck. Shouta shook his head again, but the ears didn't disappear.

"This is bullshit..." he mumbled, as he reached up to touch one of them. It was a proper cat ear. Warm, soft, and with fur. And now it all made sense. It all finally made sense. The way he was so much grumpier all the time. The way he was so tired and just wanted to sleep all the time. That weird itch on his face and his head that had now miraculously stopped. His sensitivity to smells and noise. The sudden ability to jump further and with much more ease. The hissing and purring.

He was turning into a cat. And it had started right after that evening when he wasn't sure whether that villain hit him with a Quirk or not. Damn it. So he must have hit him with a Quirk and Shouta was just too complacent to do something about it right away. And it probably was one that took its effect very, very slowly and over a long period of time. That's why he was only now seeing what was going on. Because no one would notice it in his behaviour, because all his life he had been behaving like a fucking cat. This was ridiculous - no, this was beyond ridiculous!

With a groan he leaned on the sink and took a moment to think. Okay. This was probably solvable, right? He could probably turn this whole thing around, right? First of all, he had to call in sick at work, because there was no way he'd be going to work, looking like that. And then, after that, he had to get in touch with Detective Tsukauchi, so they could find the guy they arrested that night and try to get the effects of the Quirk erased. Simple as that. And then everything would be back to normal and everything would be completely fine. Problem solved. Easy.

Except that Shouta knew it probably wouldn't be that easy. But that was a problem for another day. Right now he had to go and call in sick at work. He took a deep breath and walked back to his bed, sitting down on the mattress and taking another moment. Somehow this felt worse than it actually was. He took his phone from the bedside table and started calling Nezu's number.

"U.A. High School, you've reached Principal Nezu's office, what can I do for you?" he heard the cheery voice at the other end of the line.

"Morning, this is Aizawa. I'm calling in sick for today and possibly the next few days, because there's been... there's been a bit of an incident..."