Okay, no collar. 

That's settled. 

But now what?

I stared at the collar for a few more seconds, still lying on the bed like it had any right to exist in my life. Finally, I let out a long, frustrated sigh and flopped onto the bed, feeling the plush softness beneath me.

The bed was ridiculously comfortable—way too comfortable for someone in my situation. It only made me feel more out of place. Here I was, in some mafia house that looked like it could host royal banquets, lying in a bed that probably cost more than my entire apartment complex.

What am I even doing here?

I closed my eyes, trying to calm the whirlpool of thoughts spinning in my head. Everything about today—the car, the cat, this weird world of cats—was too much. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to be at UA, training to become a hero.

Training—ha! Like that mattered now.

I rolled over onto my side, staring at the unfamiliar room around me. I was in a mafia mansion now. Bakugo's mafia mansion. He was some kind of big-shot leader, and here I was, a... pet? Is that what this world really thought of me?

Deku the Pet, nice ring to it, huh?

I'm supposed to be a hero... or I was, before I died.

The words echoed in my mind, bringing with them a sinking feeling that I'd been trying to ignore. I'd died. I'd saved that cat, gotten hit by a car, and died. And now, here I was, in some weird alternate world where cats ruled everything, and humans were at the bottom of the food chain.

I didn't even know if my friends back home knew what happened to me. Did they even realize I was gone? Or had my body been whisked away to this world before anyone had the chance to notice?

Great. 

Just great.

I pulled one of the fluffy pillows close to my chest, burying my face in it for a moment. The scent of lavender lingered faintly, trying to soothe me, but my mind was having none of it.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I'd worked so hard to get into UA. I'd trained, studied, pushed myself beyond my limits. And for what? To end up as some... pet in a mafia house? No, it didn't make sense.

I saved a cat, I reminded myself. That was the whole reason I was even here. One moment of instinct, of doing what a hero was supposed to do, and bam—flattened by a car. I'd barely even registered the cat before everything went dark.

And now, apparently, that cat had given me one of its lives, and that's why I was here.

That cat's life... does that mean I have extra lives now too?

The thought was kind of ridiculous, but in this world, who knew? I'd already survived being hit by a car, after all. Maybe it wasn't the last time I'd cheat death here.

I sighed again, sinking deeper into the mattress. I didn't want to think about the mafia part of this. Or the fact that Bakugo—of all people—was leading it. The thought made my head spin.

Bakugo. Kacchan.

The memory of him flashed in my mind—his ears, his tail, the way he'd looked like the boy I used to know, but not quite. And the chipped ear... just like that stray cat from all those years ago.

Kacchan, the boy and the cat... they're the same.

It was weird, but it made sense now. Somehow, it all fit together, even if the details were still fuzzy. But that didn't change the fact that I was stuck here, and I had no idea what to do next.

Should I try to escape? Go back to the human world? But how? Bakugo said humans who came here didn't get to leave—they were pets now. And even if I could get back, would I be the same?

Would I even have a place to return to?

Hero training, my mind reminded me. That's what I'd been doing. Training to save people. But now I was in a mafia house, and everything felt upside down. Should I still be thinking about being a hero? Did that even apply here?

Ugh. I don't know anymore.

I curled up on the bed, pulling the blanket over me. My brain felt fried, and no matter how much I tried to make sense of everything, it just kept spinning in circles.

Maybe I just needed to rest. Just for a little bit. Maybe things would make more sense after a nap.

Yeah, right.

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of exhaustion finally start to take over. My body was tired, my mind even more so. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but for now, I just wanted to sleep. To forget about this whole mess, at least for a little while.

As I drifted closer to sleep, memories of my time at UA flashed in my mind. The training exercises, the friends I'd made, the heroes I looked up to. All of it felt so far away now, like it belonged to another life.

Maybe it does...

I was on the edge of sleep when I heard it. A knock.

Knock, knock.

My eyes snapped open, and I groaned inwardly.

Really? 

Now?

I pushed myself up, glancing toward the door. The knock wasn't loud, but it was enough to break through my half-asleep haze. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I could just ignore it and go back to sleep, but then the knock came again, a little more insistent this time.

Knock, knock.

Great, what now?

I sighed, dragging myself out of the comfort of the bed. Whoever it was, I wasn't in the mood to deal with more surprises right now. But something told me I wasn't going to get a choice.