'Good luck with tonight

- Momo'

You were not sure if the encouragement helped with your nervousness, but the sentiment was nice, so now all you needed was a short nap to gain energy for the debate.

You were about to snooze off when you felt a hand rubbing your right ear. You leaned into the touch but jerked away when you realized it was a stranger. "Please remove your hand from my head," you told them with a monotone voice.

It was a far too common occurrence to shout about, so you decided to take a calm approach.

The man just kept rubbing your ear. "I don't often get this kind of chance to meet your kind. You're all so cute. You remind me of our cat when I was a kid, had the same blue eyes as you," the man told you.

You didn't care about his sob story, so you pushed away his hand. You needed a nice nap as this could very well be a tense evening.

It didn't take long before his hand began fondling your ear again.

"Didn't I tell you to stop?" You asked and tried to push the hand away, but this time he was too strong for you.

"I explained myself, didn't I?" He asked.

"You told me that you had a cat when you were young, I don't see how this is relevant?"

"Why do you have to be so difficult? I had a stressful day at the job today, talks about layoffs, quarterly results not as good as expected," he sighed, not paying much attention to you.

"And how is that my problem?" You asked.

"Aren't that what you are for?" He asked.

"Unlike your cat, I'm not a pet. I'm a person like you and everyone else," you said.

"You really are one of them," he spat, "typical of my luck."

"So you've heard about us?" You asked rhetorically.

"Of course, the selfish hybrids in 'People, not Pets'. I'm so glad that you're ruining my day," his tone was clearly sarcastic.

"How is self-determination selfish?" You asked.

"You fail to see how you fit in the bigger picture. How when on a bad day, your luck strikes and you see a cute hybrid next to an empty seat. You finally see, maybe today wasn't so bad after all, feel the stress evaporate from your body as you run your hands through their soft colourful hair, but then they growl at you, telling you no - today isn't your day, not your week, not your year."

"Your problems are yours to solve, if I can't get some rest, I better look over my notes again, no more touching." You emphasised the last words while looking at him and finally pushed his hand away.

You finally got a moment of peace as he kept his hand to himself, for now. It was time to go over your notes again. This experience alone would be good material for your case.

"You've got an argument with someone?" The man asked.

"A debate on GTV, if you're so obsessed with me, you can watch me there. It's about hybrid rights, so maybe you can learn something."

"I might give it a try, but there are better choices if I want to see cute hybrids through a screen, but I'm curious about your performance."

"I don't need your encouragement. I've got this under control. What are you doing?" You asked as you felt a tug on your neck.

"Ao, cute name, fits you well," he said, looking at your name tag.

"You know that I've powers right, do you want to test out what they are? Move," you growled at him.

He finally left you alone for real. You set the alarm on your phone, so you could take a nap without risking missing your stop, you'd already lost a lot of time.

-x-

The alarm rang way too early, and you wished you could sleep for longer. But Momo wouldn't be happy if you somehow got late, and it would make everything that had happened today be for nothing.

The large building of the TV-studio was right next to the bus stop. As you entered the lobby, a sharply dressed woman holding a clipboard welcomed you. "You must be Ao, right?"

You nodded.

"Ah, let me just identify you properly first," she explained and grabbed the nametag of your collar and scanned it.

"Everything seems to be in order," she patted you on your head before putting a visitation pass around your neck.

She guided you through a short hallway into a larger studio. Lights flooding the main stage and people were running around preparing the show.

"If you need to go to the toilet you should do it now, you still have 10 minutes before we start."

"Yeah, I think I need to go yes," you said.

"You'll find the restroom over there," she pointed. "Don't be gone for too long, they need to apply some makeup on your face before thew show starts."

It was nice to get to relieve your bladder, but the nerves were creeping in on you again. Why did you volunteer for this? Momo should have done it, as she was more charismatic and calm than you. But her deal with her parents wouldn't allow that.

You splashed some cold water in your face, as you needed to cool down a bit. No, no, that was a bad idea. You grabbed for a paper towel and quickly dried yourself. You couldn't let the stress take over now before you were even on the stage. All you could hope was that no one else entered the restroom and you could get a moment of peace. The stalls behind you were empty, so you could at least be sure that you weren't going to be surprised by some dirty hands.

The clock didn't magically stop ticking just because you had a freakout. Your phone was making a noise in your pocket, a message from Momo.

'Stop stressing out Ao, you can do this, so go out there and show them who's the boss!

- Momo'

She was right! You could do this. You flashed your sharp teeth in the mirror. There was no reason to fear anything.

You went back into the studio, and one of the assistants began powdering your face.

"Sit down over there and wait for the signal."

There was a small audience in another part of the studio and no hybrids among them. You were the only one, alone in defending your case. It wasn't the only issue covered tonight, but still, why leave this to you alone?

Your ears began to perk up as they started counting down to broadcast.

"Welcome to Counterpoints with Kitano. First, on the program, we'll talk with a young activist from the youth hybrid group 'People, not Pets'. Also with us today, we've Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare; Katō." As he was talking, they gave the signal for you to step up at one of the podiums on the stage.

"I want to start with you Ao. You write that you experience lots of discrimination as a hybrid, can you tell the audience at home exactly what you mean by that?" Kitano asked.

"Thank you," you said. "Just on the bus here I had issues with a man that kept on trying to pet me, despite me telling him not to."

"If I can interrupt with a question here, do you dislike being petted?" He asked.

"If you listen to what I had to say you wouldn't need to ask that," you said.

"I heard what you were saying, but it is unclear what you really think. Do you dislike being petted or just not being listened to?" Kinato asked.

"How does it matter if I like it or not, you've no right," you said and raised your voice.

"Do you think all hybrids feel this way?" He asked.

"It is the view of 'People, not Pets', just because others aren't vocal about it doesn't mean they like it, I think many have just given up the fight."

"I'm happy to see our youth engaging themself with improving the society around them. But just because someone is charming doesn't mean that they are right. How old are you Ao?" The minister interrupted with a question.

"I'm fifteen years old," you replied.

"And you feel you've lots of life experience?" the Minister asked.

"I've more experience as a hybrid than you or any in your ministry has. As we're not allowed to vote, hold public office, we're not even allowed to run for student council, you wouldn't work with any" you argued.

"Do you feel any resent towards non-hybrids," he asked.

"What do you mean?" You asked. "Sure I'm annoyed at everyone who doesn't respect my rights,"

"How do we know you wouldn't use a position of power to get revenge," the Minister interrupted you again. "It is simply not safe to give you power, especially not to the radicals in your group. Even if you're acting in the best interest of hybrids, how can you represent the entire population when you fail to even properly represent the hybrid popular in your group?" He asked.

"What do you mean? We allow every kind of hybrids in our organisation," you said.

"Yet, 'People, not Pets' are run by two cat hybrids, and there are not many bird hybrids in your group, am I wrong?" He asked.

"Being able to write efficiently is important to do much of the work in our organization. We do wish we could do better," you explained.

"Is being able to write is a requirement to be heard? Forgive me if I'm uninformed, but aren't there many good accessibility tools these days for bird-hybrids?" He asked, but didn't let you answer before he continued. "I must admit that we've our problems, but that's where you come in and why your group is so important. You've got a lot of responsibility to see what we cannot see. And I'm sad to see you're struggling here.

"But we're not the bad guys. We and previous governments have done much positive for hybrids over the last decades. You consistently fail to see the real purpose behind things, instead, you apply malice where there is no malice and oppose things that are actually helping you. A perfect example of this is our collar program. You organised protests against a program that has done nothing but help you. It has drastically decreased the amount of kidnapping. We can know who you are for sure and know if someone has no right dragging you around, and if someone reports you missing, we can quickly find you. In fact, you're more likely to go missing as a non-hybrid than a hybrid, despite your much higher desirability. But no, you're fighting against it. And you're presenting a fringe view as if it was the mainstream view. We've done our research here, most find them fashionable. Hybrids feel safer. They are even tax-free to make sure they're not too much of a financial burden.

"For many jobs, you earn a lot more. To take catgirls as an example, I mean female cat hybrids, they earn a lot more working as a waitress than non-hybrids. You want to throw all that away for what?" The Minister asked.

"The collars might have helped us, but what does it signalize? That we're pets? That we're animals? Surely there are better ways, and if they are so fantastic, why not make everyone wear them?" You asked.

"And that it's the core of your message. You hate yourself for being a hybrid. You want to erase what makes you you, and make everyone else suffer with you," he argued.

At this point, Kitano tried getting a word in. "I've got this clip of Ao that I want everyone to see."

On one of the screens behind you, a video started to play. It was early evening, and you could recognise that tree, it wasn't far from where you lived. Several birds were flying around the branches. "Oh no," you muttered to yourself.

What passed in the next seconds was not something you want people to see.

Your blue hair became visible in the frame as you silently approached the tree and began to climb up with great agility. With no warning, you jumped at one of the birds and grabbed it with your mouth, and that was where the clip ended.

"Where did you get that?" You asked.

"Does that matter? It doesn't distract from the matter at hand," Kitano said.

"Of course it matters! People are spying on me, filming me, and I know nothing," you argued.

"Doesn't people deserve to know? Your whole argument relies upon that you're more human than animal, but you show sign to be more animal than most hybrids. Hunting critters like this is not normal, not even for catboys like you."

"Don't use that word! There is nothing animalistic about hunting, people do that all the time. I don't eat it raw, I bring it back to mom to cook it if I'm hungry," you said.

"That's not the same. We don't go out in our backyard and snatch the first bird we see," Kitano argued.

This was stupid. They didn't want to hear your side, they wanted to set you up, make you look like a fool.

The heat from the light was starting to get at you, and you were loudly panting. You grabbed for the bottle beside you and took a large sip.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you holding us down? Calling us animals just because we do some quirky stuff! We've powers, and you don't. It should be we that were controlling you. I wish you could suffer too! Then maybe you too could see how it is. Having the world be against you. I could take on any of you if I wanted," you yelled out.

You'd not noticed that the lights had turned off.

One of the assistants quickly dragged you off-screen and sat you down on the floor. "You can still sit in the studio if you behave, but your time on the stage is over. This is not a spot for you to threaten people," they said.

You took your water bottle and poured the content over your head. "Stupid bottle, you made me wet," you called out and threw it away. You shook your head as hard as you could to get the water out and to prevent yourself from drowning. You were still a bit wet, so you grabbed the end of your shirt and dried your ears and everything else. But now you had another problem. "Stupid shirt," you grunted and pulled the wet clothing off yourself. It and the bottle were conspiring to make your evening even more miserable.

The lights turned on again, and not too long after, Kitano began talking again. "I'm sorry about that. We had some technical problems. Ao can sadly not continue, as the heat became too much for him. He can't dissipate heat properly poor boy. Next, we will hear from Dr Platzhalter from the University of Mannheim, an esteemed German University of psychology."

Should you stay, listening to what that stupid doctor had to say. You needed to message Momo and apologise, who cared if you made some noise?

You grabbed your phone from your pocket and turned it on. A message from Momo had already ticked in.

In the background, the Doctor was talking. "I'm quite appalled by what happened here today, bringing on a clearly mentally ill boy to talk about something he knows nothing about. If his mother is watching in on this, I've one message to her: This is not how you raise a hybrid child.

"Countless studies on this have shown that rejecting your animal side is just leading to depression and destructive behaviour. And I think we got a perfect live demonstration of this today."

Why couldn't he just fuck off back to Germany? You opened up the message from Momo.

'I'm sorry it didn't go so well, I don't blame you, you did your best, we just weren't meant to win tonight. They set a trap for us and I made you walk straight into it.

I apologise.

I don't think you should take the bus home tonight. I'll pick you up as fast as I can. It will all be fine.

- Momo'

You sent her a quick 'Thanks'.

You should have left already, but curiosity… was hard to resist.

"So Dr Platzhalter, do you have any recommendations for what parents can do to avoid problems in their hybrid child?" Kitano asked him.

"Most parents will have no issues, as hybrids aren't harder to raise than normal children as long as you follow common sense and follow the advice from your local paediatrician.

"If you think your hybrid child is in the danger zone, I would recommend you cut them off hybrids like Ao here. But if your kid is well behaved, this may not be necessary, as they could rather be quite a good influence. You should however be careful and not let them be alone together.

"On the subject of bad influence, this is all due to the parents. Not knowing Ao's exact history, I can not know for sure, but I've got a strong feeling that he is a result of a mother that hates him and made him reject himself," he explained.

Something flashed inside you, on autopilot, your body ran up on the stage jumped at Dr Platzhalter and swiped at his face with your nails, again and again till you could no longer connect with your target and your body started to levitate.

"What a doctor you are Platzhalter, no wonder your experimental programs back in Germany just lead to more aggression and feralness," The Minister commented as Platzhalter was tending to his injuries.

The lights were off again, again you'd caused technical difficulties. What happened there with you? What would happen now that you attacked someone?

The security guard that had dragged you off Platzhalter carried you out before you could hear more of what they were saying.

A man dressed nicely wearing a driver's cap approached you as you entered the lobby. "Hi, I'm here to pick up Ao," he told the security guard.

"Let me see your identification," the guard asked.

The driver complied, and the security guard took a picture of his ID.

"Alright, you can take him now. Make sure you keep track of him, he seems to be a bit unruly," the guard said. He then unhooked your visiting card and left you two.

"Momo is waiting in the car," he said and led you outside. It had gotten a bit cold outside, and as the wind hit your bare skin, you hurried inside the car.

"I'm sorry," Momo said as you sat down next to her. She then draped the blanket around you.

"I'm sorry for screwing it all up. It was too hot inside. and I got angry when I shouldn't," you said.

"Don't think about it. What happened is not your fault," she said and held an arm around you.

You decided to take a nap on her shoulder. You needed some rest.

-x-

As soon as you entered into the hallway, your mother hugged you.

"I've prepared some food for you," she said.

"Thanks, mom, today went horrible," you said.

"It's okay Ao," she said.

You laid down the couch while your mother went into the kitchen.

The smell of chicken was quite nice right now.

"Here," your mother put the bowl of chicken on your table.

"Can you rub my ears?" You asked and sat up to grab the bowl.

Having your ears rubbed while digging into your mom's chicken was one of the best things you knew. As long as it was your choice, not other's.

But all good things would end, all that was left in your bowl was a pile of bones.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" She asked.

"Do you hate me, mom?"

"Ao," your mother said and got up from the sofa.

"Where are you going?"

"There is something I want to show you."

A moment later she was back with a picture album.

"Look at this," she pointed to a picture of you as a small kid. Your mother had tied a chicken nugget to a string and you were jumping at it.

"Why are you showing me that you played with me as if I were a cat when I was young?" You asked.

"You were asking me because of what Platzhalter said right?" She asked.

You nodded.

"When I first got you, I didn't mind, I did my research, read articles about 'How to raise your cat hybrid son'. But then as you grew older, I learnt to stop caring about what the books said., instead I started to listen to you how you felt. Others would have told me that your feelings were wrong and I should teach you to be more welcoming of strangers petting you. But instead, I let you decide how you wanted to be treated.

"So when Platzhalter accused me of making you reject your animal side because I didn't want a hybrid son, he was completely wrong. You changed how I thought about the matter, not the other way around."

"Thanks, mom, sorry I doubted you," you hugged her.

Today had been tiring. You just wanted to sleep. So you laid over your mother's lap and put her hand on your head.

-x-

Next morning you got a message from Momo again.

'We need to talk, meet me at the headquarters as soon as you can.

- Momo'

No school today, so you'd no excuse to delay things. You got prepared and called out to your mother; "Mom I'm going out to meet Momo, I'll text you if I'm I'm away for too long."

-x-

As you got into the bus, you saw a white-haired female cat hybrid sitting alone, what luck! Then no one would bother you. But why was she alone?

No reason to second-guessing your luck, you say down next to her before someone could beat you to it.

You didn't say anything to her, and she didn't seem to notice you, but you saw a weird smile from the corner of your eyes. Probably just something funny on her phone.

'Hi Momo, I'm on my way now.' You sent her.

"Name is Shiroi," she said.

"Nice name," you said.

"Are you going to tell me that you've got a white cat with the same name?" She asked.

"Eh.. no."

"I'm just joking, I just hear it a lot," she said and clutched her fingers. "Why can't people stop and not go up to me and talk about their cat," she growled.

"I do actually have a cat white and black cat at home. We got them as kittens when I was five. Since I was blue, I decided to call them white and black, Shiro and Kuro. There aren't any blue cats, but people feel the need to tell me about their blue-eyed cats," you said.

"That's cute," she laughed. "I don't mind small children coming up to me, they're innocent. But it's not cute as they become teenagers and adults."

"So what did you wa…" you were cut off as a man picked you up and put on the seat opposite to him.

"Hi, I got some tuna for you Shi~," The seat thief told the girl.

"Thanks," she replied and began to eat it with a spoon while rubbing her head onto him.

Why would she rub herself up on a stranger like that?

You kept watching them for a bit, but after just a few minutes he gave her one last pat on the head and left the bus.

"That's how you get what you want, not by acting like a tiger," she said.

"But I like tigers," you replied. "What is this about?"

"I just wanted to talk to you Ao," she said and jumped over to the seat next to you. "Sorry I don't have any tuna left, you'll have to earn your own."

"Nobody ever gives me food on the bus," you complained.

"Do you growl at them and push away their hand when they try to pet you?" She asked.

"Of course, but I'm cute when I do it," you said. The trick was that you were always cute.

"I admit that I'm cheating a bit. Notice how that we're left alone? It's my quirk, I can make people around me not notice me or stuff around me. It's better than being invisible. That guy only takes this bus for a few minutes before he switches to another, so I don't have to deal with him too much and he gives me food," she explained.

"So why did you want to talk to me?" You asked.

"I saw you on TV. You're making us look quite bad and I want you to stop it. Dad is trying his best and then you show up and make him look bad?"

"Minister Katō is your father?" You asked.

"Yeah. Dr Platzhalter got what he deserved and people may have some sympathy with you, but you're fuelling the Golden Sunrise party's BS on how we're all dangerous and unstable," she said.

"No one listens to them anyway. And we don't get change unless we fight," you argued.

"There is a reason tigers are endangered while domestic cats are dominating. Stop being a stupid tiger, start scheming like the cat you are."

"I'm not a cat, I'm a human, a person like everyone else," you said.

"Yes, a completely normal human boy who chases birds and eat them"

You started to growl at her.

"Did I make little tiger boy here angry?" She asked and started petting your head.

"Stop it," you said and slapped away her hand.

"You're no fun," she said.

"I need to go, this is my stop," you said and left your seat. "Stupid annoying girl," you mumbled as you walked out the bus.

-x-

As you entered Momo's office she didn't look happy.

"Please sit down," she said and patted the seat next to her on the sofa.

You sat down and she curled her arm around you.

"I've bad news, but please don't be mad at me," she said and took a deep breath. "I'm being forced to kick you out of the organization or else the government will withdraw our licence."

"Why?" You asked.

"Do you want to lie in my lap?" She asked.

You nodded and got down in her lap. "Please, pet me," you said.

"They think our organization might take the wrong path with you," she said while rubbing your ears. "I have to give out a public apology later today on the news. I'm so sorry, I don't think you did anything wrong, but I have to denounce you. I'll still ask you for advice as before, but it will be all unofficial."

"Do you think I can just lie like this for a while?" You asked.

"Sure, Ao," she said and you stopped focusing on everything else and just paid attention to her touch.

But you couldn't lie there all day and Momo had other stuff to do. So after a while, you had to go home.

-x-

As you entered your house, a new strange smell invaded your nostrils. The smell of old office supplies if you were to put words on it. There were no unknown shoes in the hallway, but you were taking no chances. You peeked around the door looking for intruders but you couldn't see anyone, but you could hear footsteps. Mom's footstep. Was it safe? Was she being threatened by some barefoot burglar?

'Wake your inner tiger and slowly sneak towards the intruder,' you told yourself.

The steps were from the kitchen, so you walked by the wall making sure your footstep was as silent as possible. But as you peeked through the kitchen door, there was only your mother there with Shiroi walking between her legs.

"Oh hi Ao, why are you hiding, is something wrong?" She asked you.

How could she not know that something was wrong? She must have seen them.

"I smell someone new here, I think its someone trying to rob us," you explained.

"Oh, that was Kanryō from the Hybrid Safety Bureau, I need to talk to you, it's bad news. Do you want to get Spotty first?" She asked you.

It was a bit childish, but your leopard plush helped you calm down so you went to get him. Mom wouldn't have you get him if you didn't need him.

You had perhaps a bit too many plushies in your bed, but it didn't take long sniffing out Spotty amongst all the others.

Back down at in the coach you buried your nose in its head as you waited for your mother to start.

"I love you Ao," she started. You knew that already. "I'm not going with their pretend story that you're dangerous, you're not. But they're unhappy with what you did on TV yesterday and want to punish you, to make an example of you and to delegitimize you."

"What kind of punishment?" You asked with a muffled voice. "They already made Momo kick me out of PnP."

"You know about U,A. right?" She asked.

"No, no, no," you bit into Spotty. "You didn't agree to it, right, right, you didn't?"

"I'm sorry, I had no choice. They threatened to take you away from me that if I didn't agree, and they're already pulling your application for the engineering highschool you've studied so hard for. Come here Ao," she said and you laid your head in her lap still clutching your plushie. "I'm sorry, you don't deserve this."

"What's going to happen now?" You asked and put her hand on your head giving her an invitation to pet your head, you really needed it now, Spotty wasn't enough.

"You got a medical appointment next week, they want to run some tests. And after that it is just to wait for the school to start, you are free till then, you're not under house arrest," she said.

-x-

Today was the first day of misery, on your way to UA for the first time. You stop nervously on the platform as the train arrived. You took a deep breath in before you hurried inside.

You walked down the aisle on the look for a hybrid with an empty seat next to them. You would have thought you scratching up Platzhalter face would have scared people off, but no, the world didn't work that way. There should be a solid chance of someone else going to UA with this train.

You finally found a spot and the reason it was empty. A dog hybrid wearing a muffle and a UA companion uniform like yourself. But you couldn't let you be scared by him, he'd be your least of your worries till you can break free.

"Get away from me scratchy face," he said as you sat down next to him.

You turned to him. "No, I'm the least likely to be harassed here, so I'm sitting here as long as you don't start to pet me."

"Don't mind him, Kacchan has been like that since we were children," you heard a voice from the side.

You looked at him, he was wearing the iconic UA hero uniform. You turned away from him. He was your first enemy at the school.

"My name is Katsuki, not Kacchan," he growled.

"I'm Midoriya, we'll be classmates. It is your first year right?" The other asked.

Don't pay that freak any attention Ao.

"Can you hear me?" Midoriya asked and touched your ear.

You turned towards him and growled, "I'm ignoring you on purpose."

With a closer look, you could see that the tips of two of his fingers were missing. You turned towards the angry boy and his muzzle and smiled. Midoriya deserved it.

-x-

As you approached the entrance to UA your stomach began to tighten itself.

You were not alone, next to you were another cat hybrid, red and white split in half.

"Should we go in?" You asked him.

He turned to you and glared at you.

"You're a first-year too right? The hero students are going to be bad enough, so why fight among ourselves?"

"Filthy animal," he replied and walked inside.

had suddenly stopped working. You didn't know what to say. How could a hybrid say something like this? It was just wrong.

"Are you okay?" Someone asked you.

"No, yes, I…" you said and swatted them away with your hand.

There was no question, you had to help that boy. It wasn't just your reputation as a hybrid rights activist, but also a fellow being. And it would be the hardest issue you'd ever face, you had no illusion that it would be easy and there was no guarantee that you could do anything to help, but you had to try.

The boy hadn't been scared away by you. "We should go in, the name's Hitoshi. You?" He asked.

"Ao, but I thought everyone knew it already," you replied.

"True, but it would be rude not to ask," he said.

"Thanks," you replied and followed him in.

The door to your classroom made you feel tiny, it felt like it was growing as you were looking at it. Like it was swallowing your soul.

"Everything will be fine Ao," Hitoshi said and walked in.

Nothing was fine right now, but you followed him in and found one of the back seats. As you weren't allowed to sit in front of someone as your moving tail might distract them. They should look at the teacher, not your tail, it wasn't your fault that it was swinging about.

You sat down in the empty window seat so you could look out the window when class got too boring.

Hitoshi took the seat in front of you and you decided to stare out while the rest of the classroom filled in, and it looked like he had the same idea.

The classroom just became noisier and noisier as the last students arrived and you had to try to cover your ears.

"They're all so cute," a girly voice squealed. You turned around and a saw a pink-haired girl looking over the class.

"If you're here because of cute hybrids, you've come to the wrong place. And for those who've not had hybrid classmates before, please keep in mind that their ears are more sensitive than yours." A rugged man dressed in a yellow sleeping bag said.

"I'm sorry," she said and sat down on the last seat.

"I'm Aizawa Shota and I'll be your homeroom teacher. And since you think they're all so cute, let see if you think the same after you've fought them," he said.

"But we don't have our hero costumes yet, so do we get to borrow one?" someone asked.

"No, your first lesson as a hero will be about what powers you're dealing with, so you'll be wearing your gym uniforms for this, you'll find them in your lockers. Follow me," he said and lead you outside and into a large building on campus.

-x-

"Each hybrid will fight two hero students," Aizawa explained as everyone was ready and had changed.

"That's doesn't sound fair, but I don't mind an easy first day," you heard someone say.

"Easy? You're right in one thing, it's not fair but life as a hero isn't always fair. I don't expect a single hero team to win today. I hope you'll learn to respect the power you're dealing with here or you won't last long as a hero. You might not even last very long as a student at this school."

"Hear that losers, I'm going to kick your ass," the blond dog hybrid barked.

Aizawa brought out a black box. "Draw one card each, it will tell you which hybrid to fight. You're not allowed to switch."

One after another they picked a card and held it up for the rest to see.

You were against Midoriya and Hitoshi it looked like, and you'd try not to beat up the later too much, he seemed nice.

-x-

The arena looked like it was made to fit a lot more than the three of you. Did that mean you'd be facing a lot more opponents in the future? You hoped not, as two opponents were optimal for you.

Scattered around were lots of obstacles, places to take cover, and a high ceiling. You should have no problem with this.

"Got a good look of the arena heroes?" You could hear Aizawa's voice over the loudspeaker. "The first rule before engaging the enemy is to be aware of your surroundings."

"Yeah, this doesn't look too bad, whatever he can do doesn't seem too bad as we can just hide and sneak up on him," Deku replied into his microphone, he must have forgotten that your ears could easily pick up what he was saying.

Foolish fool.

"Good, I'm going to turn down the lighting a bit. You're most likely to face cat hybrids in darker areas and at night, so you better get used to it here," he said.

Things started to fade a bit and lose colour, but you could still see everything you needed to see. It would be much harder for them.

"Go, you've 10 minutes," Aizawa called out.

With a small gesture of your hand, you targeted Midoriya and lifted him off the ground before making eye contact with your other prey.

Hitoshi thinking was quick and he ducked down behind a wooden box before you could grab him with your telekinetic powers. Or it would have been quick thinking if it had mattered. You pushed him back with your other hand and kept hin pushed into the wall.

Now, how should you play with the green idiot…

When you turned your attention back at him, you could see him trying to grasp for something to latch onto, to no use.

You lifted your hand more so he shot to the ceiling falling on his back and as soon as he got up, you pushed him back making him fall back into the wall.

And best of all, he was too stubborn to give up, that would teach him to act like you were a stupid cat.

You targeted one of the boxes and hurled it at him, making sure it just about missed.

You could taunt him and ask if he was going to give up, but then you'd risk ending the fight early by him giving in. You never asked a bird if it wanted to give up, so why give Midoriya that chance?

You decided to let Hitoshi loose, just to see what he'd do with his newfound mobility. And from the looks of it, he was about to making a lasso to capture you with. But it was clear he struggled with the dark.

While Hitoshi was working on that, you made sure to keep Midoriya pushed into the ceiling.

He ran towards you on the ceiling. If he ran past you, you could lose control over him and drop him, better not allow that. Your quirk prefered working on things in front of you.

You pushed him back down onto Shinsou to disrupt his lasso.

What to do next?

"I'm calling this off now," you heard Aizawa say over the speakers.

"It hasn't gone 10 minutes yet, I still have some time left," you yelled back. This wasn't fair.

"Midoriya and Hitoshi are nowhere near to even touching you and you still haven't moved an inch since I started the clock. I'm not going to waste more time with you playing around with them. Come to the observation room," he said.

"Stupid sensei," you mumbled to yourself.

The observation was much less fancy than you had expected. It was just a classroom with several large monitors in the front. Not some kind of fancy high tech room you'd see in a sci-fi movie full of blinking lights and dimmed lighting.

"Good work Ao," Hitoshi told you as you sat down behind him. "I had hoped my plan would work."

"Thanks," you said.

"Why do you hate Midoriya so much?" He asked. "I saw how you were going much harder on him during the fight."

"He is a horrible person," you said without explaining it further.

-x-

Next was Katsuki against Kirishima and Iida. It was kind of a surprising result. He was fast and pushed himself with his explosive quirk. And he wasn't' required to wear his muffle anymore it looked like.

But his explosive speed came with a cost, it was hard for him to change direction on the fly. Iida was fast enough to be able to read and dodge his attacks while yelling orders to his partner.

Each of them was holding one end of their rope, trying desperately to catch their opponent as he was flying around.

It looked like it wasn't going to work, but with a stroke of luck they caught him and he crashed to the ground.

Iida and Kirishima were quick to get on top of Katsuki and immobilise him.

"Good work both of you, it shows that you come from a hero family Iida and that you're taking this seriously," Aizawa told the two over the speakers.

-x-

"Next up is Neito against Aoyama and Kendo," Aizawa announced when the trio got back in the classroom.

Before he walked down to the arena he went up to you and touched your ears. "For good luck," he said and smirked before going up to Katsuki and touched his ears too. "Let me show you how it's done."

He wasted no time getting down to the arena.

When Aoyama and Kendo were in place, Neito called out to Aizawa, "Start the round!"

Why was he in such a hurry?

"Alright, are you ready heroes?" He called out.

Both of them nodded.

"Then start," Aizawa called out and began to dim the lighting.

Neito wasted no time, with a fling of his hand he threw them backwards. Did he have a similar quirk to yours?

He then held his hands in front of them and they let out an explosion similar to Katsuki's. He had two quirks? No, he had copied yours and he was on a timer, that was why he tried to hurry this up. The heroes only had to run out the clock and they would win. But would they realize it?

"Give up losers!" He called out and pushed them up in the ceiling before flinging them back into the ground. It was much harder than what you had done to Midoriya.

But Aizawa interrupted the fight before they could surrender. "I'm calling this off, I don't want any injuries here. And Neito, be more careful with your classmates in the future."

"I'm sorry sensei, I forget how weak humans can be sometimes," he smirked and left the arena.

"Kendo and Aoyama, take a trip to the nurse's office and ask her to check you up, just in case," Aizawa told them.

This was getting boring and no one would probably care if you dozed off.

"Hitoshi, wake me when we're done," you said and laid down on the table for a nap.

-x-

"Wake up," Hitoshi whispered to you while poking your arm.

You got up at let out a big yawn before moving your attention to the teacher.

"Five victories for the hybrids and one for the heroes," Aizawa called out. "At the end of the year, I expect the opposite. Hero students, as homework for tomorrow I want you to analyze your battle and one other of your choosing."

"Sensei, what are we supposed to write? It is our first day and we've not learnt how to do this stuff yet," the pink-haired girl asked.

"Raise your hand next time Ashido. You are supposed to write about your plan. What went right, what went wrong, what you could do better, what your opponent could have done better. And I want you to write an analysis of the quirks you faced today, what you think is the limitation and the full power of them. And maybe the most important part, what kind of support equipment you would want that counters most of the quirks."

"All that for tomorrow? We've barely got any time and we need to get together after school to get to know each other," Ashido argued.

"You don't have any other homework for tomorrow so there should be plenty of time. If you rather want to hang out with friends than doing your schoolwork, you can drop out," Aizawa said.

You raised your hand.

"Yes, Ao."

"Do we hybrids have any homework for tomorrow?" You asked. You didn't intend to be that kid in class that reminded the teacher about homework, but you had to be certain.

"No," he said and moved onto the next issue. "You've orientation in 45 minutes in the auditorium. So you can talk together and get some food before then. The cafeteria isn't ready yet, but food will be delivered soon. You can push the desks together as you want, but put then back again before you go," the teacher said before stepping into a sleeping bag and laying down on the floor.

In not too long, several trays of food were rolled into the classroom. You could smell it all. Pan-fried fish, chicken, rice, bread and of course vegetables and salad. But you were not going to touch that, you were not a rabbit.

"Do you mind if I push my desk next to yours?" Hitoshi asked.

"Go ahead," you said and went to get some food. You decided to fill your plate with some chicken, a bit of fish and a small spoon of rice. It was important to have a varied diet.

When you got back to your desk Katsuki had pushed his desk next to yours too. "I'm just doing this so Deku doesn't think he has to keep me with company," he explained.

You gave him a nod before digging into your food.

"Ao, I was wondering, what kind of stuff can you lift with your quirk?" Hitoshi asked.

"I don't know, I'm not supposed to use my quirk outside of my home or places like this, so I've no idea what my limitations are," you explained.

"How many things can you lift at once?" Midoriya asked and sat down on the side between you and Hitoshi. Where did he come from?

"I don't know and I'm not telling you," you said.

"Leave him alone Deku," Katsuki said.

"This is part of my homework. You cannot figure out everything by observation, some stuff you just have to ask about."

You went back to ignoring him and finished your plate. Afterwards, you pushed the plate away and laid down on the desk. "No touching," you mumbled. You still had some time for another nap.

-x-

The orientation was 30 minutes of what could be said in 5, and most of it was of no use for you. You didn't need to hear the teachers introduce themselves, especially pointless was it when couldn't smell them. The only thing of use was confirmation that you were allowed to use your quirk as you wanted while on the school ground, as long as you didn't do it in a disrupting manner.

-x-

You sat next to Bakugo on the way home, he seemed to be a bit less opposed to it this time, so that was nice. His muffle was still off. You too would probably be angry all the time if you had to wear something like that. And while he was looking the other way, you stole a snift, sure you had passively observed some of his smell already, but to get the real nuances you had to get closer to separate them from everything else.

He didn't seem to notice, so you were safe. For the rest of the trip, you stared out the window watching the world pass by.

-x-

"Welcome home Ao, how was school today?" Your mom asked as you got home.

"More fun than I expected, I got to fight two of the hero students and use my quirk," you said and jumped into the couch.

"That's good, did you make any new friends?" She asked.

"No, but it doesn't matter, I don't want any of the hero students as friends."

"They can't all be bad can they?"

"They wouldn't be there if they weren't bad. So they must all be bad," you argued.

"What about the other hybrids, were any of them okay?"

"I'm not sure if I like them or not yet," you said. "I've not even got to smell them properly yet. I think I just want to nap till dinner is ready, I don't have any homework anyway so."

"There is no need to rush it, you've plenty of time to make friends. I'll start cooking soon," she said.