What now?

I tensed as the bushes behind me rustled again, louder this time. My hands instinctively went up, ready to defend myself—not that I'm in any shape for a fight. My legs were still shaky, my whole body aching from the chase, the fall, and the fact that I'd been hit by a car not too long ago. But if something—or someone—was coming at me, I wasn't going down without a fight.

Come on, Izuku. 

You've faced worse, right?

I swallowed hard, forcing my breathing to steady. Then, out from the bushes stepped... people. Well, mostly people. But they didn't exactly look like your average civilians.

The first one was tall, with a messy mop of red hair and a face that looked like it was chiseled out of stone. He moved with purpose, holding a gun in one hand, and his tail—a big, spiky one—twitched behind him. Great. More cat people.

Then there was the blonde guy next to him, holding what looked like a stun gun. He was grinning like this was all some kind of game, his cat ears flicking every few seconds.

Wait, they have guns?

Two others followed—one with black hair and a relaxed expression, the other, a pink-haired girl with a smile that didn't match the tense vibe of the situation. All of them had cat ears, and all of them were carrying guns.

 This is getting worse by the second.

They stopped a few feet away, the redhead, who I could only assume was the leader, narrowing his eyes as he looked me over. His nose twitched, and I suddenly realized why. The blood. My blood, which had to be the reason they'd found me in the first place.

They can smell it.

Before I could say or do anything, the redhead turned to the others, his voice low but clear. "We need to call the boss."

The blonde one—stun-gun guy—groaned, slumping his shoulders. "Aw, seriously? Can't we just handle this ourselves?"

"No," the redhead replied firmly. "This is too big. He's... different."

Different. Yeah, no kidding. I'm the one human in a city full of cat people, covered in blood, running for my life. Of course I'm different.

Oh, this is bad.

The redhead gave me one more glance before walking off, pulling out some kind of communicator as he disappeared into the bushes, leaving me alone with the other three.

The pink-haired girl stepped forward, her eyes softening as she looked at me. "Hey, um, it's okay. We're not gonna hurt you."

They have guns. 

They literally have guns.

I shifted my weight, my legs tense, ready to bolt if I had to. Sure, I was exhausted, bruised, and probably half-delirious from everything that had happened today, but I wasn't about to let my guard down. Not yet.

"Seriously," the guy with the black hair added, raising his hands to show he wasn't going to shoot me... yet. "We just need to talk. No need to freak out."

Too late.

My heartbeat was doing somersaults in my chest, racing so fast I thought it might explode. I took a step back, my eyes darting from one of them to the next, my brain trying to process everything that had happened in the last hour. Cat people. Guns. Being chased. Getting hit by a car. And now this?

Me: "Is this... hell? Or heaven? Or... am I dead?"

They exchanged glances, clearly not expecting that question. The blonde one—stun-gun guy—scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I dunno how to answer that."

"No one's dead," the pink-haired girl said, her voice as soft as her expression. "You're safe. Well... sort of. We just need to figure out what's going on."

Safe? 

I just got hit by a car, covered in blood, chased, and now you guys show up with guns. 

Safe is not the word I'd use right now.

"Look," the black-haired guy said, trying to sound reasonable, "we just want to talk. You... you're not supposed to be here."

Yeah, no kidding. 

I don't even know where "here" is.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart, but it was no use. Everything was spiraling, and I couldn't tell if it was from the exhaustion, the pain, or the sheer insanity of the situation. Probably all three.

"I know this is confusing," the girl continued, stepping forward a little more. "But we're not your enemies. Just... relax, okay?"

Relax? How was I supposed to relax? They had guns. And cat ears. And tails. And I still had no idea where I was or how I'd survived getting hit by a car.

Focus, .... 

Don't freak out. 

Just... focus.

I forced myself to take another breath, my eyes flicking to each of them. They weren't attacking. Yet. And I was in no condition to fight, even if I wanted to.

Just keep it together. Don't do anything stupid.

The pink-haired girl smiled, as if she could tell I was starting to calm down, at least a little. "See? We're not so scary. Just... stay here, okay? Kirishima went to get the boss. He'll explain everything."

Kirishima? That's the redhead, right?

My mind was still swimming, trying to make sense of all this, but one thing was clear. I was stuck here, for now. No way I could outrun them, and definitely no way I could fight. Not in this state.

Great. 

This just keeps getting better.