They had a day before they returned to school. Maki didn't want to stay home all day and roped Shoto into going out. They decided that they were gonna try to go to the cat cafe they missed out on last time.

The cat cafe is full of all sorts of different cats. Most of them are only interested in people if they have treats otherwise they stay out of the way.

Maki was fully enjoying herself, watching as all the cats would snuggle up to Shoto's fireside. She video-recorded him. The happy and calm look on his face meant everything to her.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," she smiles, leaning into her palm.

"They seem to like me."

"Looks like it."

He's then bitten on the arm by a fluffy orange and white cat. "Ow!"

Maki chuckles. "Well, maybe not that one."

"I don't know what I did," he mumbles, watching the cat saunter off. "Did I pet her wrong?"

"Who knows, Sho. Cats are unpredictable sometimes. You okay?"

He nods, glancing at his arm. "Nothing I can't handle. Didn't break the skin."

She looks at the time. "Well, I guess our time is up. How about some soba?"

"Ok." He nods and stands up.

He holds out a hand to pull Maki up. She accepts and lets him pull her up. She hooks her arm around his. They say goodbye to the kitties and make their way down the road to the nearest noodle restaurant.

They get seats, order, and chat a bit while they wait.

Maki chuckles at something said and looks up at Shoto with a large smile before it drops into shock. "Sho! You have ears!"

He tilts his head. "Yes?"

She laughs. "No! I mean you have cat ears... and a tail!" She watches as it waves back and forth behind him.

He reaches up and feels the top of his head. "What? How?"

"Maybe the cat that bit you had a quirk?" She thinks. "You're so cute though!" She scoots in beside him and reaches up to pet his ears. "So soft!"

He leans into the touch, closing his eyes in contentment. "That feels nice."

"Aww, you're becoming a koneko!" Maki squeals. "I guess we should head home then. I'll message Tadao to pick us up."

~~~

Tadao pulls up, getting out to open their door. "Perfect timing. Endeavor just rang, asking for young Shoto to come home." He notices Shoto's new appendages. "It would be wise if you hide your new additions..."

Shoto nods as they enter the car. Maki pulls a bandana from her bag, tying it over Shoto's head.

"Tuck your tail under your shirt and wrap it around your stomach. I'm sure this'll wear off by tomorrow. Don't let your father find out, or he'll keep you away from our outings like before."

Shoto just nods.

...

Shoto wakes up to his alarm. He moves to turn it off, finding it more difficult than it should be. Everything seemed so far and bigger. He blinked. The smells, his sight, his senses were dialed up. All the colors are dulled, but his sight is sharp. He moves his arm to find a fuzzy white paw. He stares at it confused much longer than he should have before mentally freaking out. He stumbles over himself, tangling and untangling himself from his blankets.

He becomes motionless and takes a deep breath to calm down. First, turn off the alarm before someone comes to investigate. He slides himself out from under the covers and repeatedly trips over his four feet as he makes his way to slap the alarm off on his phone. After many attempts, it turns off with the pad of his foot. Silence rings out in the room. It unnerved Shoto for some reason.

He watches the phone screen go dark, and his reflection shows. His eyes widen as his pupils dilate. A half-red half-white kitten stares back at him. "I'm a cat." He speaks but doesn't hear words only meows. "Shit."

His sister can't see him like this. Especially not his father. He needs to get to Maki. He thinks over his opinions.

He could call her, but she wouldn't understand.

Text her to come get him, but then his sister or father will notice.

He could say to meet him somewhere close. A memory of yesterday flashes in his mind. They're supposed to meet each other this morning at a nearby cafe. She already texted him that she'd be there in 20 minutes. That was 10 minutes ago.

He pulls up directions, keeping the volume low, so only he can hear. He decides he needs a little bag to carry his phone in. Where he'd find one? He doesn't know.

He needs one that'll fit his phone but is small enough it can be held in his mouth or around his neck.

Pencil case.

He spots it sitting on his desk across the room, moving to the edge of the bed and looking down. He pauses in thought on how to jump off. Shoto has never owned a pet before. He doesn't know how they jump on and off. He thinks back to when Maki was an otter. He jumps copying the movements and still crumples on his face.

Shoto makes it to his desk, looking up. Why is he so small? How is he going to get up there? He groans which sounds more like a weird trill. And he left his phone on the bed, so now he'll have to find out how to get back on the bed.

~~~

Shoto was on his way to the cafe. He could hear his phone blowing up as he carries it in his pouch. He was late. 10 minutes late. Maki was worrying, and there was nothing he could do about it but run faster. The directions would voice off in between rings.

Halfway through, he started to get used to his extra limbs. He was faster and nimble, weaving between narrow spaces like he was made of water. It was surprisingly a nice change.

He jumps, sliding around the corner and dodging people who are surprised by his sudden appearance. Shoto sees Maki, pacing back and forth with her phone up to her ear.

"Sho... you're scaring me..." she mumbles, worriedly looking at the phone.

He brushes against her legs, meowing for her attention. "I'm here."

She sets her phone down once she hears the familiar ringtone and glances down at the bicolored cat. She scoops him up, holding him out in front of her by the armpits. "Shoto?"

"Yes." He trills.

"You're a neko!" She places him on the nearest table, picking the pencil bag out of his mouth. She takes out the phone inside to find his phone. "It really is you." She puts everything in her backpack. "You're so cute!" She squishes his face, kissing all over it and giving him chin and ear scritches. If he wasn't a cat, everyone would see the giant blush coating his face. He unknowingly starts to purr, leaning into it happily. She starts to take a bunch of pictures before realizing they need to get to school. "Ah! We're gonna be late!" She throws her bag on and places him on top where he balances on along with her shoulder. She flings open the back of the car. "We're gonna be late!"

~~~

Maki slides into the classroom. Five minutes late.

"You guys are back!" Mina shouts. "We were so worried!"

"What happened?" Sero asks. "Wher–"

"Iwase, you're late," Aizawa glares, cutting off further conversation. "Where's Todoroki?"

"Sorry!" She pulls Shoto from her shoulder, presenting him to their teacher. "We got distracted!"

Aizawa blinks, glancing from Maki to Shoto. "What happened?"

"Cat cafe. He got bit by a quirk-using cat and turned into one overnight!" She sets him on her desk.

"Am I going to have to revoke the two of you from going places?" Aizawa sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Shoto was distracted after that, looking at the person seated in front of him. His eyes land on Tokoyami, immediately his fur puffs up, and he glares at the bird boy.

Tokoyami glances away nervously.

Maki notices the puffed appearance, gently rubbing a hand along his back which instantly calms him. "What's wrong?"

Shoto blinks confused. "I don't know..."

"Aww, so cute!" Mina fawns. "Nekoroki!"

"That's really Todoroki?!" Midoriya squeaks. He whips out his notebook. "Do you think he knows he's a cat or more unaware like when you were an otter? How–"

Bakugo shoves his face away. "Shut up! Fucking annoying Deku!"

Aizawa sighs. "Enough. You can ask questions on your own free time. We have work to do."

Shoto tries to concentrate on the class but can't. He hops off of Maki's desk and makes his way around the room. Everything looks so different from this angle. He was kitten sized not quite a full-sized cat yet. Leaping on top of things was harder with how small he was. It was manageable but disappointing.

He must've gotten too close to the front because he's suddenly scooped up into his sensei's hold. It freaks him out, so he starts struggling and hissing. "Release me!" Shoto swipes his claws at him to no effect with his small size.

He wasn't menacing in the slightest.

Aizawa pays no mind to the cute yowling as he continues teaching. "Yes, he's cute, but you need to know final exams are coming up."

Maki sneaks pictures of it all even when he decides to fall asleep in their sensei's arms.

All the girls coo over the scene.

~~~

Shoto woke up from his nap sometime later. He does a big stretch as he pulls himself to his paws. He finds himself curled in Maki's UA jacket on his desk.

The classroom was empty except for Aizawa asleep in the corner.

Shoto hops down and makes his way over to his teacher. He pops at Aizawa's face to wake him.

Aizawa grumbles. "Taro... stop..." He continues to get popped. "Taro! Sto– You're not my cat..." Aizawa blinks. "Ah, right. Todoroki. You've been asleep. It's lunchtime now. You can head on over there if you like. They all left a few minutes ago."

Shoto's stomach decides to growl then. "Okay." He leaves the room.

It takes him longer to get to the cafeteria than it usually does. When he enters and finds his normal table, he's met with Maki holding a student up in the air by the front of his shirt.

"Apologize," Maki growls, eyes narrowed.

The blond boy swallows nervously. "S-S-S-Sorry!"

"Don't hurt my friends."

The boy forcefully jabbed the back of Midoriya's head with his elbow a few seconds ago.

"I-I-Iwase! It's fine!" Midoriya squeaks.

Shoto bumps into Maki's legs, rubbing his body against them. "What's wrong?"

Maki drops the boy and her scary persona as she crouches to the floor. She smiles. "Have a good catnap, Sho?"

He unknowingly purrs in response.

The blond boy begins ranting off some kind of nonsense that neither Shoto nor Maki listens to. An orange-haired girl comes up behind him and chops his neck then catches him. She apologizes for him, Monoma, and is introduced as Kendo. She continues by saying the final exams will be fighting against the giant robots. Kendo drags off Monoma after that.

Maki scoops Shoto and makes her way back to her seat, setting him on the table.

"Iwase! Deku says you went to another world!" Uraraka brings up.

"We did!" Maki responds. "The world of the Avatar. He has the power of air, earth, fire, and water!"

"Each element also has side elements. Water has ice, earth has metals, fire has lightning, and air has... um, I don't know actually, but I'm sure it's cool! I couldn't imagine having so many powers."

Maki takes apart pieces of her meal and gives it to Shoto. "I don't know if there's certain things you can't have like this, so this is just meat. Chicken and steak."

"Wowww!" Uraraka giggles. "It's kinda like if Todoroki and Iwase had a kid!"

Everyone turns to the two who're lost in sharing their food.

"Todoroki was explaining how fire bending works when we were at the hospital together. It sounds much more controlled and precise. It's a shame you couldn't bring someone back to help further his fire quirk," Iida says.

Maki perks up. "Sho learned a lot about his fire quirk there." She smiles, watching Nekoroki eat. "I'm just happy that he's finally using it. Zuko was a great teacher for him. They were very similar." She pulls out her phone to show them the pictures.

"Whoa!" everyone shouts at the picture of Shoto and Zuko. "Twins?!"

Maki spent the rest of lunch showing pictures and telling of their adventure in another world.

~~~

There were a lot of cat puns. Too many. Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina were filled to the brim with them after lunch. They used their entire lunch period to look them up.

Maki was thoroughly enjoying them. Shoto was getting annoyed, so he left.

That's how he's now lost in a part of UA that he's never been. It was clearly break time between classes as a few students roam the halls. Few coo over him and some just give second glances. He hisses at anyone who gets too close.

"Neko?"

Shoto turns to the voice to find a familiar face. "Hayate."

"Ah! No way! You look just like Shoto!" Hayate crouches down, gently running a hand down Shoto's back. "Good koneko koneko." Shoto lets himself get lifted up again. "Setchiiii!" Hayate runs back to his classroom. "Setchi! Look what I found!"

"Hayate, stop yelling."

"Look look!" Hayate ignores him and places Shoto on Setchi's desk. "Who does this koneko remind you of?"

Setchi blinks at the animal in front of him. "Shoto."

"Koneko?" a new voice pops up. "Aww! So cute!" A girl with long periwinkle hair and blue eyes pops her head from behind the twins.

"Nejire," Setchi sighs.

Hayate was taking multiple pictures and sending them to his sister.

"Is he yours?" she asks.

"I just found him in the hallway," Hayate says. "He looks like someone we know."

"Oohh? Who? Who?"

The door is suddenly slammed open with a gust of wind blowing everyone's hair back. "You found him! I was so worried!" Maki races up to her brothers, cradling Shoto into her arms.

"Wait is that really Shoto?" the twins ask.

She explains what happened, and they laugh.

"It's not funny!"

"First you're an otter then he's a cat!" Hayate chuckles. "You gotta admit it's kinda funny."

"It's fate," Setchi adds with a grin.

Maki sticks her tongue out at them in response. "We'll see you later." She blows them a raspberry as she leaves the room.

"Who was that cutie?" Nejire asks.

"Yeah, Iwase twins, you've been holding out on us," a random guy adds.

"That was our little sister," Hayate says.

"And she's already accounted for," Setchi says. "She has no intention or interest for anyone else, so leave her alone."

"Or deal with us," the twins threaten.

"Sho, you had me so worried," Maki pouts, holding him out in front of her. "You can't just leave like that. You had the whole class in a catastrophe." She giggles. "I've made arrangements for you to stay at our place until you return to normal. You can understand me, right?"

"Yes," he mews.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes."

~~~

"He's really coming home with us?" Hayate asks.

The end of the day came, and the Iwase's were on their way home.

"It's not like he could go home in this state," Setchi says. "His father would be furious and stupid about it."

"As per usual..."

Maki is using a cat toy that Momo made and playing with Shoto. His eyes are wide as he chases the string with feathers around the back of the limo.

It was just the siblings tonight as their parents had a mission way down south of Japan. They should return in a few days. It means they don't have to shuffle Shoto into her room to hide him.

"He can stay with me tonight," Maki says.

"And if he turns back?" they ask.

She blinks. "Then he'll be back? You two act like we've never slept in the same bed before."

"We just don't wanna be uncles at least until you get married after you graduate."

Her face flushes. "You two are disgusting!"

They cackle.

Shoto listens in confusion. "If we sleep together we have children?"

Maki looks back at Shoto. "I have no idea what you just said, but I have a feeling you took it wrong." She turns on her brothers. "You two need to stop putting bad ideas into my sweet Shoto's head! Don't listen to them Sho. They're stupid." She gently pats his head.

"Shoto! No babies yet!" Hayate laughs.

Maki turns her evil glare onto the twins which makes the two immediately shut up. The two squeak, shrinking into their seats.

Even though their parents weren't there, all the servants were. Their chef had something prepared for them as soon as they changed out of their uniforms.

A bowl of plain shredded chicken was set out for Shoto as everyone ate dinner.

Night falls and time for bed sneaks up on them before they know it.

Maki takes Shoto into her room, setting him on the bed. She gets herself comfortable under the sheets before pulling Shoto closer to her. She smiles as she watches him let out a big yawn.

Maki boops him on the nose, and he gives her an exasperated look. She giggles as she curls an arm around him up to scratch behind his ears. He starts to purr.

"I'm glad that we are stuck together," Maki says. "I don't think there's anyone else I'd rather be with than you. I'm proud of you for starting to use your fire quirk. It's been a long time coming. I'm happy. I hope you are too." She kisses him on the forehead before falling fast asleep.

...

Shoto wakes up early way before Maki does which is good because he discovers that he has absolutely no clothes on. He was back to normal. He shuffles out of the bed over to her dresser, knowing they could fit in the same clothes. He pulls out a large shirt and some pajama pants, slipping them on quickly.

He sighs, glancing back at her relieved that she didn't wake. "Back to normal..."

He curls back into the bed, carefully adjusting Maki to fit snug against him. He watches her sleeping face for a minute before he ends up falling back asleep.

~~~

Shoto is once again the first awake. Maki is curled into his chest with her head resting on his arm. He uses said arm to cup the back of her head and free arm around her waist, pulling her in closer. He buries his nose in her hair and relaxes.

Her alarm goes off 10 minutes later. She stirs and groans, pulling herself back and blinking at him. She smiles as her vision starts to clear and her face flushes a bit, gently touching his face. "You're back." She clicks the alarm off.

"I'm happy too," he simply says.

It takes her a moment to realize what he meant before chuckling. "I'm glad." They stare at each other in contempt for a moment longer before she buries herself into his chest. "No matter what the future holds, we'll do it together."

"Always."

Their peace is interrupted a few minutes later by banging on her door. "We're coming in! You two better be decent!" The twins come barging in with no care. "Good morning, glad to see you're back to normal! This is cute and all, but we've still got school."

Setchi lifts up the boy's uniform that he is holding. "You can borrow my spare as we won't have time to go to your place. We're about the same size, so it should fit. Might be a tad big but won't be obvious." He sets it over her desk chair.

"Problem is shoes, what size are you?" Hayate asks.

Maki lifts her free arm up, flicking it out and sending the twins out of her room with a strong gust. The door slams behind them and locks. Hayate starts fussing from the other side.

Maki groans, burying her face back into Shoto's chest. "Just a little longer..."

A soft smile appears on Shoto's lips as he leans his chin a top her head.

A moment of contentment before the sudden storm.