After what felt like an eternity of absolute failure, we finally gave up.

Bakugo was still laughing at my misery, Todoroki looked like he wanted to walk into traffic, and I? I had completely lost the will to live.

"This is bullshit," I muttered, dragging my feet toward Aizawa's place. "Actual, undeniable bullshit."

Todoroki glanced at me. "You're really just... going to tell him?"

I let out a dead inside sigh. "What other choice do I have? He's going to find out eventually."

Bakugo snorted. "Oh, I can't wait to see this. You, groveling? Begging for mercy? Best shit I've seen all week."

I was too tired to even threaten him again.

We reached Aizawa's apartment building, and I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the end of my existence.

Then, with as much courage as I could muster, I raised my hand—

And knocked.

There was silence.

Then—footsteps.

I could already picture his exhausted glare, his unimpressed sigh, the exact way he was going to murder me in my sleep.

The door creaked open, and there he was.

Aizawa stared at me, his face blank as ever, waiting.

I swallowed thickly. "Uh, so... about your cat—"

Something soft brushed against my leg.

I froze.

Slowly—so, so slowly—I looked down.

There, curling around my ankles, purring like an innocent little angel, was the cat.

The cat we had been losing our minds over.

The cat that had disappeared into the abyss.

The cat that had somehow, in the most cursed twist of fate, returned on its own at the exact moment I was about to confess.

I just stood there, completely and utterly unable to process reality.

Todoroki made a small noise beside me—probably as stunned as I was.

Bakugo? Oh, he was choking on his own laughter.

Aizawa, meanwhile, simply picked up the cat like nothing was wrong. "Thanks for bringing him back," he muttered, scratching behind its ears. "But don't stay out this late again."

And with that, he closed the door.

I just stood there.

Staring.

Processing.

"...What the actual fuck," I whispered.

Bakugo wheeze-laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall for support.

Todoroki just nodded slowly, as if finally accepting that life itself was an actual joke.

And me?

I realized, in that moment, that I was never escaping this chaos.

We started walking back, none of us speaking for a good ten minutes.

Bakugo was still occasionally snorting, and I could feel my eye twitching every time he did.

Todoroki was staring at the sidewalk like it had personally betrayed him.

And me? I was replaying the last hour in my head, trying to figure out where my life went wrong.

"Okay," I finally muttered. "Let's just... break this down for a second."

"Nope," Bakugo cackled. "There's nothing to break down. That was the funniest shit I've ever seen."

I turned to him, eyes dead inside. "I don't know what's worse—the fact that we spent an hour running around like idiots, or the fact that the cat came back on its own just to make me look like a liar."

"Definitely the second one," he said smugly.

Todoroki, in peak emotional detachment, spoke up. "Maybe the cat was watching us the entire time. Waiting."

I whipped around to look at him. "What."

He nodded thoughtfully. "It's possible it never actually ran away. Just... wanted to see what we would do."

Bakugo burst out laughing again. "DID YOU JUST SUGGEST THE CAT WAS MESSING WITH US ON PURPOSE?"

Todoroki shrugged. "I'm just saying. It's suspicious."

I stared at him for a long moment. "Todoroki. Please. I cannot handle conspiracy theories about a cat right now."

"Would it really be that weird, though?" he continued, completely ignoring my pleas for sanity. "I mean, it can talk."

Bakugo's laughter died instantly.

We all stopped walking.

"...Shit," Bakugo muttered.

"See?" Todoroki said. "We should consider the possibility."

I covered my face with my hands. "Oh my god. I am actually losing my mind."

By the time we got back to the dorms, I was physically and emotionally drained.

I collapsed onto the couch, groaning into the cushions.

"I can't do this anymore," I mumbled into the fabric.

Bakugo, still enjoying my suffering, flopped onto the couch next to me. "Oh, you absolutely can. And you will. Because this is your actual life now, nerd."

Todoroki sat down on the floor, staring at me. "So... what do we do now?"

I lifted my head. "What do you mean?"

"The cat said something big is coming."

I let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I don't know, Todoroki. Maybe we just sit here and wait for whatever cosmic disaster decides to ruin my life next."

Bakugo snorted. "Bold of you to assume it hasn't already started."

I groaned.

"Alright," I muttered, sitting up. "We need a plan. A real one. Because if magic bullshit is about to wreck our lives, I'd rather not be caught off guard."

Todoroki tilted his head. "So you believe in it now?"

I threw my hands in the air. "WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE? A TALKING CAT JUST GASLIT ME INTO THINKING I LOST IT FOR AN HOUR, TODOROKI. I AM OUT OF OPTIONS."

Bakugo, in true asshole best friend fashion, just grinned. "So, what, you finally accepting you're a magic girl now?"

I snapped my head toward him.

He knew he fucked up the second our eyes met.

"Oh, you're dead," I said calmly.

He barely had time to react before I lunged at him, tackling him off the couch.

"SHIT—DEKU, GET OFF ME—"

Todoroki just watched the chaos unfold like this was his daily entertainment.

And honestly?

At this point, it might as well have been.