A week after moving in, Midnight returns, her lips twitching as she tries to hide a smile. Seeing that, I give her a suspicious look. She simply giggles in response.

“So, you’ve been here a week already. Have you gotten settled in yet?’ She smiles at me. Briefly, I consider confronting her about whatever it is she’s obviously trying to hide, but decide against it. Everyone has their secrets, and I doubt that whatever she’s hiding will be too problematic for me.

Unbeknownst to either of us the principal of the school, Nezu, is on his way to see how I’m settling in. As well as to investigate the reaction he saw.

In my room, I’m pouting at Midnight, who started laughing when she saw how I decorated my room.

I figured that since I’m going to be staying here for the next three years, I might as well go full in for what I want.

Which obviously means that nearly everything is cat-themed. The boring bed was replaced with one that looks like a sleeping black cat. The desk has been covered in cat stickers, and is decorated with cat decorations. I also have a few posters of cats being cute on my walls. And the reason why Midnight is laughing…

Scratching posts.

I’ve basically turned the wall with the door into one big scratching wall, as well as a few individual posts in front of it.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” I grumble. “It’s perfectly natural to want to scratch stuff. Not to mention that my cats enjoy it too, nya.”

She finally manages to get her laughter under control and pats my head. “Heh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just that your room is so cute! I didn’t expect this at all from how you acted when you first got here.”

I roll my eyes. “Well how would you feel if you were told you had to move onto your school’s campus after putting a ton-nyaf effort into finding a place that would let you move in?”

“I’d be mad.” She promptly says.

“Exactly.” I nod.

She walks over to my bed, smiling at it before giving what I have hanging next to it a curious look. Which makes sense since those are the only things not cat-themed. Sort of.

“So what’s with these?” She asks as she peers at them. “I don’t know of anyone named ‘Clause’ or ‘Cat-aclysm’. Are they some new up-and-coming hero?”

I hold back a dark chuckle. “Nope. They’re on the other side of the law. Though people have been debating on whether or nyat they’re a villain or a vigilante. I’ve seen them a few times, and I managed to get these autographs!”

Midnight frowns at the excitement in my tone, but shrugs it off. They probably saved her from someone, which is why she admires them. She thinks to herself as I continue.

“I’m one of the few who were lucky enya-gh to get her autograph before she changed her name to Cat-aclysm. And I have the original hoodie she used when she first started, also signed!”

At this point it’s really hard not to laugh at how I’m basically fangirling over myself. But I have to keep up the appearance that I’m not her! Plus, it’s really amusing to trick people like this~.

“That’s pretty cool!” She smiles at me before it transitions into a smirk. “So, I figured that since you’ve been here a week, I would get you a housewarming gift. Hizashi helped me pick it out.” Seeing my confusion, she clarifies. “Present Mic.”

I shrug. “Cool. Thank you. What is it?” She didn’t come in holding anything, so it’s probably a good luck charm or something.

When she starts giggling and pulls out a small red bag proclaiming it has one ounce of catnip, my eyes widen. I start to smile as my tail rises and starts to twitch.

“That is a great gift.” Before she can even react, I already have the bag open in my hand. She stares in surprise as I promptly pour the contents into my mouth and start chewing.

When my eyes gleam and I start purring, she finally speaks. “This might have been a mistake.”

𝌡𝌡𝌡

(3rd person)

Principal Nezu walks into the 1-A Heights Alliance dormitory, a wave of satisfaction passing through him at finally getting permission to implement them.

“And all it took was the family of one of the accepted applicants getting murdered.” He mutters disappointedly to himself as he climbs the stairs to the female side of the dorms.

“Even then, there were a few who tried to argue against it. Disgusting money-grubbing humans.” Thankfully, a few subtle reminders of how the board would look should he leak word of their… past incidents was enough to get the reticent few on board with the dorms.

Reaching his destination, he knocks on the door and waits for a response. He’s prepared for a variety of reactions to his appearance. Shock, surprise, or confusion, due to the principal suddenly showing up. Confusion due to them not knowing who he is. After all, he doesn’t really make many public appearances outside of school. He’s even ready for them to act as if they’re better than him, simply because they are human and he is a rat.

What he is not expecting is the sound of Nemuri Kayama’s voice to come through the door. “P-please wait a minute! We-we’re indisposed at the moment!”

Now, given the reason the student is in the school in the first place, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to discover the R18 hero in their room with them. Perhaps making sure they are ok, or trying to see if they require a trip to Hound Dog, the guidance counselor.

But at the same time, a teacher should not be in a student’s room with the door closed. Especially the R18 hero! The high pitch of her voice also does not inspire confidence.

Reaching up to the door handle, he turns it and pushes the door open. What he sees causes him to freeze.

The student, Catia Akihiro, is lying across the lap of Midnight, who has her hand on her head. They’re both looking at the door as Principal Nezu walks in, though their expressions are far different.

Midnight has an expression of panic, knowing what this looks like. Sure, she’s the R18 hero, but that doesn’t mean that she wants her boss to walk in on her! Even though that’s not what’s going on here, it’s definitely not something she wants her boss to think he’s seeing!

But Nezu isn’t looking at Midnight, no. His focus is on Catia, who doesn’t have the same panicked expression as her teacher. Instead, she has a gleam in her eyes that sends a shiver up Nezu’s spine. It evokes a feeling that he’d long forgotten. Something… primal.

And as her tail starts to sway side-to-side, it comes to him. It’s the feeling prey feels when a predator has them in their sight. And a natural predator to rats are…

“Ah, you are a cat.”

Everything freezes at his words for a brief moment. Then he bolts out of the room, quickly followed by Catia’s shout. “Lunch!”

𝌡𝌡𝌡

(Catia)

One hour after we first met, I’m now sitting in the principal’s office facing a calm and collected Principal Nezu with a contrite Nyamuri at my side. I know that I still have a slight gleam in my eyes, but it’s died down quite a bit.

We’re not the only ones in the room, however. A hobo looking man who I recognize by the goggles around his neck as Eraserhead is standing to my side, holding the other end of his scarf that’s wrapped around me. Present Mic is next to Nyamuri, and Ectoplasm is next to Nezu. The ones who stopped me from eating the principal, as well as the one who kickstarted the event. Plus Present Mic, which confuses me a bit.

“So,” Principal Nezu starts, “would you care to explain your actions?”

Given that my arms are tied to my body, I use my tail to point at Nyamuri. “It’s all her fault. She gave me catnip, nya!”

Even though it’s totally her fault, Nyamuri objects! “No it’s not! All I did was give you a housewarming present! I didn’t do anything that would make you chase Nezu!”

I nod. “The catnip is why I chased him though! So it’s totally your fault!, nya”

Eraserhead sighs. “Explain, problem cat.”

I shift. “Well… catnip helps me get more in touch with my… cat side. Or maybe my nya side?” I tilt my head while I think of how to phrase it before shrugging. “Basically, it puts me more in touch with my animal instincts. And since Principal Nezu looks like a rat…”

He sighs. “You did what cats do. Now that it seems to have worn off, are you still going to go after him?”

I shake my head. “Nya-ope!”

He looks at the victim of this entire fiasco to see what he wants to do. With a sigh, he gestures for him to let me go. He does so, and I stretch now that I’m free. Though I’m being watched like a hawk by the two teachers who had to stop me.

Principal Nezu is now looking at Nyamuri with a disapproving glare. “Why would you think it would be a good idea to give a student illicit substances?”

She raises her hands in protest. “It’s not an illicit substance though! She’s a person, so I didn’t know she would react like that, it was meant to be a joke! Besides, it was Hizashi’s idea!”

Called into the limelight by his friend’s betrayal, he looks for an escape. “Hizashi…” Eraserhead growls warningly, causing him to flinch.

He smiles while sweat drips down his face. “Ok, it was meant to be a joke because of her quirk! We underestimated how much it makes her like a cat!”

I shrug while everyone else continues to glare at him. “On the bright side, my quirk got stronger, nya.” Now everyone is looking at me again!

“What do you mean by that?” Questions Ectoplasm, who’s been silent this entire time.

“When I eat catnip, I do end up more cat-like for a bit, but my quirk gets stronger as well, nya. Usually in the form of my cats getting a bit fiercer, though this time it feels like I can nyaow summon more of them.”

“Can you please explain your quirk, for those who are unaware?” Principal Nezu prompts me.

My ears twitch. “Sure. Apart from being a felicitous feline, I can also nya four types of cats into existence. Which is where it gets its name from, Phantom Cat. I can summon claw cats that nya in close quarters, mage cats that nya at range, defense cats that nya while protecting, and normal looking cats. I can also inhabit a cat while I sleep”

Going to keep the nature of my spy cats a secret until I need to tell them. Easier to get information that way.

“Can we see some examples?” Eraserhead asks.

I look at Principal Nezu, and he gives the ok. So I summon one of each. I found out a while ago that I can turn off the memory transfer for my spy cats when I summon them, which has been really helpful when I’m at max catergy but don’t have any spying to do.

In the room appears a muscle-bound cat, a cat holding a shield, a cat with a wizard hat, and a normal looking cat. Eraserhead immediately picks up the normal looking one and starts petting it, much to my surprise.

No one else bats an eye though, instead peering at my cats. Since they’re busy, I take stock of my catergy. Seems like I can summon seventeen cats now. Well on my way to having a platoon of cats at my side.

Seemingly done with their inspections, Principal Nezu directs me to dispel them, which I do. But seeing how infatuated with my cat Eraserhead is, I hesitate with that one. Especially with how he glares at everyone after the others disperse.

Shooting glances between him and the principal having a staring contest, I speak up. “Um, he can keep that one. The normal ones last a week before dispersing on their own. The special ones last two hours.”

With a sigh, Nezu gives the ok and I’m dismissed.