Cats and Coffee

Chapter 2: I Have a Tail

A/N: Hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far. This chapter's short (only just over the 1k word hump) but I hope you like it nonetheless. A quick reminder that any fanart can be sent to Aizawa@email.com

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The next thing Shouta knew, he was waking up. He didn't remember blacking out—it was like he'd blinked and suddenly everything was different. But he must've blacked out because things were calm now and the street was practically deserted. The sound of the fight rang in his ears, but nobody was around. He frowned as he tried to stagger to his feet, only to lose his balance and fall forward—something was very wrong. Had those buildings always been that tall?

He pushed himself up a little more slowly this time. His entire body felt... off, somehow. His body wouldn't move the way he wanted it to. His joints wouldn't move right, and his hands... He glanced down and startled. Those weren't hands. They were fluffy black paws—cat paws. He played with the paws of his cats often, so he recognized them instantly. Something swayed in the corner of his vision, and he slowly turned his head to see something black and sleek.

He whirled around, stumbling on unsteady paws, but the strange thing moved away. He paused, turning just his head. If he had paws, then perhaps that was... a tail? Shouta stared. He had a tail. He focused on the new appendage for a moment, realizing that he could feel it. He twitched it, and the tail responded.

He blinked as things finally started to click into place. He was... a cat? Shouta took another glance down, and... yep. His clothes were in a pile on the ground at his feet... er, paws. Whatever. Damnit, how was he supposed to do anything like this? He had to get back to UA. Zashi was never going to let him hear the end of this.

If he was lucky, the Quirk would wear off shortly. Otherwise... well, Nezu could speak to animals, so he was fairly sure that they could figure something out. He glanced at his reflection in the window of a nearby shop. He was thin and scraggly, but his black fur was silky and shiny. He had cream markings around his neck that vaguely reminded him of his Capture Weapon, and...

Shit. His Capture Weapon. Leaving his clothing behind was one thing, but he couldn't bear to part with his support gear. His goggles were coming, too. And... Nezu would actually kill him if he left his Staff ID card just laying around for anyone to use.

"Damnit, I'm going to catch so much hell for this." He muttered, ears vaguely registering the cat-like sounds that escaped his throat. This was going to take some serious adjusting. Thankfully, it seemed that whatever Quirk turned him into a cat gave him an instinctive knowledge of how to move his new body. He experimentally stretched, getting used to having four legs and a tail. It was decidedly odd, but the more he thought about it the more natural it started to feel.

"Hopefully this Quirk isn't permanent. I like cats, but I don't necessarily want to stay stuck as one." He huffed, tail flicking in irritation. The movement drew his attention, and he groaned. "This will take some getting used to."

With a sigh and much trial and error, he dug his wallet out of his pocket with his teeth, and carefully wrapped his Capture Weapon around his body—a difficult task when it was about twenty times his current size. It still dragged along on the ground behind him, making him grimace. Still better than leaving it. He could wash it when he had two hands again. Finally, he finagled his goggles around his neck, which hung comically close to the ground.

He risked another glance in the window. He looked ridiculous! If Hizashi could see him now, he'd be laughing so hard that his Quirk would shatter windows.

Speaking of Quirks... Shouta glanced in his reflection again, and reached for his Quirk. Nothing. He flailed for a brief moment before feeling the comforting hum of his Quirk beneath what felt like a layer of glass—there, but unreachable. There was no way he could access his Quirk, as he was now. He sighed. What a pain.

He carefully took a few steps forward and eyed the coffee stain on the ground balefully. If only he'd had his coffee this morning, then none of this would've happened. He ignored the fuzziness in his head—likely a side effect of the Quirk.

He wasn't far from UA. Just a few blocks, honestly. The streets were a hazard area from the fight that caused this mess, and while he was sure he could get by normally, he could hardly walk tangled in his gear, not to mention the fact that he still wasn't entirely used to this new body yet. No, he'd have to find another way. Shouta knew the back alleyways of Musutafu better than the back of his hand by this point, and was confident that he could find his way back without trouble.

With a decisive nod that would look incredibly odd to any onlooker (as if a cat wrapped in capture gear with bright yellow goggles and a wallet in its mouth wouldn't be odd), he set off confidently down the nearest alleyway. He felt his fur fluff up when a few stray alley cats eyed him, but they kept their distance. Shouta wasn't sure if that was because of how strange he looked or if it was because they didn't recognize him, but either way, he was glad.

Getting scratched up by strays on patrol was one thing, but fights between feral cats could be deadly, especially when infection and the like was taken into account. Shouta didn't want to test his fighting ability as a feline, nor did he want to see if his immune system was up to snuff in this form. The best fight was an avoided one, after all.

It took him a little while of stumbling and stopping to readjust a few things, but he eventually found a rather comfortable gait. He knew the area around UA—often patrolled there when he wanted an easy night. This was why he was so stunned when, after what must've been fifteen minutes, he ran into a dead end.

He could feel his ears flatten against his head in confusion. No, surely he couldn't have taken a wrong turn! He could find his way back to UA with his eyes closed! But... then again, everything looked so very different when he was so tiny. And, now that he was thinking about it, his head was still kind of fuzzy. Was that an aftereffect of the Quirk? Wouldn't any aftereffects have worn off by now?

His eyes widened. It was entirely possible that the migraine medication he'd taken earlier was reacting negatively with his much smaller body. If that was the case, then he needed to find a relatively safe place to bunker down before it really hit him. He would be lucky if it didn't kill him, honestly.

He eyed a loose brick behind the dumpster with a scowl. He couldn't risk his capture gear or a UA Staff ID. Anyone with the card would have instant access to the school, which would be disastrous in the hands of a villain.

He winced as claws scratched against the brick, but he was able to pull the brick out enough to get a good look. It appeared that someone had hollowed out the brick and the space behind it. Shouta counted his lucky stars that he stumbled across this when he needed it. It made him antsy, though. If whoever made it wanted to use it, then he'd practically be handing them a ticket to UA. But it did look like it'd been a good while since anyone had moved the brick... perhaps it'd been used for some underground drug deals, and the people who'd been involved had been caught. Whatever the case, Shouta had to take the opportunity that presented itself to him. He carefully stuffed his items into the crevice, making sure not to let the brick fall out, because there was no way he could get it back in as a cat. He almost couldn't fit the goggles, but he managed to make due. He winced when he heard a crack as he was pushing the brick back into place. His goggles could be fixed when he had two legs under him again. Still, it was irritating to know he'd inadvertently broken them himself.

He scratched the brick to assure himself he could find it again, taking a mental note of the name of the shop across the street—Burgess' Books. He needed to get to UA before the medication really threw him off his game. Well, more than it already had.

With a sigh and his tail held high, he made his way in the direction he hoped UA was in.