Nikita was up before the sun Monday morning and woke to a loud clap of thunder and her power going out. Sighing she got up from bed and checked the mobile device Cindy had gotten for her. It was almost time for her to get up and go to work at the store anyway. She pulled her hair up in a messy bun and slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt before packing her school uniform in a bag with her shoes. She swiped a granola bar from the kitchen and pulled on a bulky hooded sweatshirt before stepping onto the wraparound porch.

She was immediately pelted with rain and groaned as she realized she didn't have an umbrella. It was still pitch black outside due to the dark ominous clouds overhead pouring rain and roaring with thunder above her. There was a chill bite to the air and she shivered as her sweatshirt became soaked in a matter of minutes.

With the help of the Cheetah, she made it to work in a few seconds and lightly rapped on the back door waiting for Toma to let her in. He didn't make her wait long and greeted her with a smile.

"You're early." He commented as she sloshed into the stockroom and dropped her sopping wet sweatshirt over the utility sink to dry. "You did great during the Sports Festival, we were rooting for you."

"Thanks." She beamed and turned to find him holding a towel out to her to dry herself off with. "Again."

After she'd dried herself off she helped Toma clear the stockroom to make room for the shipment truck's load. Toma's mother shuffled into the stockroom from the back office and paused as she noticed the cat girl. Her gaze fell on the bandages covering Nikita's burned wrist.

"Are you sure you should be letting her lift things with that arm, Toma dear?"

Toma looked to the cat girl with a frown, "Is it okay?"

Nikita offered them both a reassuring smile, "I'm okay, promise. It's more cosmetic than anything else."

"If you're sure dear." The elderly woman shrugged before shuffling over to the shipping log to look over the expected shipment as the truck pulled into the loading zone.

Nikita's ears and tail shifted to a tiger pattern and she jumped into action making quick work of unloading all the heavy crates and boxes. She was easily able to lift all the pallets without the use of a forklift and get everything off the truck and into the stockroom in a few minutes before getting everything unwrapped and handing each of the packing lists to Toma's mother to check off.

"It's always amazing to watch." Toma chuckled as he pat her on the head before going to speak with the delivery driver. "You mind getting all the cold stuff put away?"

"I'm on it." Nikita moved quickly and efficiently getting all of the refrigerated items, frozen items and then produce put away. In two hours time she had the entire truck completely unpacked and everything restocked and put away.

Once she was finished she tidied up the front and carried out the heavy sidewalk sign before going to the bathroom to change into her school uniform. As she stepped out of the bathroom ready for school, she paused as she found Toma's mother leaning against one of the fixtures just outside of the bathroom. She fixed the cat girl with a stern look.

"Is something the matter, Baa-baa?"

"You look a little pale, Niki dear, make sure you take care of your health." She extended a small parcel wrapped in a pretty green silk with white jasmine flowers and a plain black umbrella. "You never pack yourself a decent lunch and you didn't even bring an umbrella with you." She scolded the teen.

Nikita laughed nervously at this, "Sorry, Baa-baa, I'll try to be more responsible. Thanks for taking care of me."

"Get going." The elderly woman smiled fondly at the teen before shooing her on her way.

Nikita waved farewell and called out to Toma in the back, "Bye, Toma!"

"Later kid, thanks for your help today!"

Thanks to the umbrella Toma's mother had given her she managed to stay dry in the downpour as she made her way toward UA's campus. As she walked she noticed people on the street looking her way and pointing to her.

"Mommy! It's Neko-chan!" A young boy of five with bright red fox ears poking out atop his head screamed and pointed at her before dragging his poor bedraggled mother over to her.

"I'm so sorry." The clearly exhausted woman apologized to the teen, "He saw you on TV during the sports festival and you're all he's been talking about nonstop."

"Oh." Nikita smiled as she dropped down to the child's level, "Thanks for supporting me, little kit." She ruffled his ginger hair causing him to let out a delighted squeal and wrap his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Neko-chan is my favorite."

Nikita couldn't help but laugh as she hugged the child back, "Why is that?"

"Neko-chan is like me, if Neko-chan can go to hero school and become a hero, I can too!" The little boy beamed.

"Of course you can." Nikita smiled as she got to her feet and handed him back to his mother. "Anyone can be a hero, you just have to want to help others."

"Can I have your autograph?" The boy had stars in his eyes.

"Sure, you can, but are you sure I'm not even out of school yet."

"I'm sure. Neko-chan is already my favorite hero." He grinned from ear to ear.

Nikita smiled and accepted the small notebook his mother handed her. She drew a cute little simplistic kitty face with just the mouth nose and whiskers and wrote a little note.

'To my favorite little Kit. Thank you for your support. Neko-chan.'

"Thank you." The boys mother smiled as the little boy hugged the notebook tightly to his chest.

"Thanks, Neko-chan!" The boy beamed before they were on their way.

Nikita smiled to herself feeling lighter than air as she made her way to school. A few more people stopped her to congratulate her on her performance in the Sports Festival but she wasn't asked for any more autographs. She made it to school a few minutes before the bell and dropped the umbrella Toma's mother had given her in the umbrella bin near the shoe lockers before changing into her school slippers and stashing her shoes in her locker.

She slid into her seat just as the bell rang and Mr. Aizawa stepped into the room. Her gaze flicked in Shoto's direction and she was pleased to see he seemed much more at peace than he had before. He looked relaxed. After his realization and reconnecting with his mother, he seemed to be in much better spirits. His mismatched gaze turned her way and she felt her heart flutter in her chest as he smiled at her. Her mind immediately went to yesterday's events and how flustered he looked when he meowed at her. Nikita hurriedly buried her face in her long unruly ebony hair as her cheeks flushed with color thinking how cute he looked when he was flustered.

"...It's time to pick your hero identities." She caught the tail end of what Mr. Aizawa had said. They were going to come up with their hero names? Nikita had never had an interest in such a thing before. She figured the papers and the people would call her whatever they wanted. She didn't care either way.

Originally when the subject of picking hero names came up, she thought she'd just present a blank page and say she didn't care what anyone called her. After her morning run in with the little fox boy, she had a name and had already signed her first autograph. Nikita tuned back into Mr. Aizawa's lecture.

"...This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally students don't have to worry about the draft yet. Not until their second or third year, actually, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first years, like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interest in you dies down before graduation, though."

"So, what you're saying is, we'll still have to prove ourselves after we've been recruited?" Toru asked.

"Correct. Now, here are the totals for those of you who got offers." Mr. Aizawa turned to the board and pressed a button on a small black remote.

Nikita's eyes grew wide as she spotted her name at the top. She'd gotten 4,500 offers! Shoto's name was below hers with a massive 4,123 followed by Bakugo at 3,556 before the numbers drastically reduced for the rest of their classmates. Why did she have the most offers?

She chanced a glance in Shoto's direction feeling somewhat nervous. It was never her intention to surpass him in anyway. All she'd ever wanted was to help him achieve his goal, to help him be the best. He turned his mismatched gaze to her. Relief flooded through her as a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He wasn't mad that she had more offers than him but she noticed he did appear to be somewhat annoyed. Her ears twitched as Yaoyorozu, who sat on Shoto's other side turned to him.

"That's amazing. You must be proud."

Shoto's annoyance became more evident as he responded, "These offers are probably because of my father." So that was it.

Nikita laughed as Uraraka in the seat in front of her grabbed hold of Tenya's shoulders and shook him excitedly. "People want us!" She cheered.

"Hey Cat Demon got the most! Ahead of the finalists." Kirishima pointed.

"It makes sense, I'm sure a lot of people didn't want to work with a guy who had to be chained up at the end. And she stole the show in the first round." Hanta Sero, a boy with almost shoulder length ebony hair who had a tape quirk, piped up.

"If I scared a pro, then they're weak!" Bakugo snarled, not helping his image in the slightest.

"Nikita made sure all of the students finished the first round. It was so cool!" Mina Ashido added.

"Despite these results. You'll all be interning with Pros. Got it?" Mr. Aizawa continued on ignoring all of the students' commentary. "Even those of you who didn't get any offers." Everyone glanced in Midoriya's direction. He'd gotten first place in the first round, but after seeing that his quirk caused his body physical harm, it was understandable why agencies weren't extending offers. It seemed to Nikita, that Midoriya had only recently awakened his quirk and still didn't have a grasp on it. If that were the case he was at a huge disadvantage as everyone else had awakened their quirks by age four or five and had about a decade to get used to them.

Nikita pondered where Shoto was planning on interning. Since they had received the highest amount of offers it was safe to assume they'd gotten a lot of offers from the same agencies. The R-Rated Hero, Midnight, stepped into the classroom and was apparently going to be assisting them all with their hero names.

"The name you pick today could be your codename for the rest of your life." She said seriously as she sauntered into the room in her usual skin-tight ensemble. Mineta and a few of the other more perverse boys in the classroom looked like they were three seconds away from needing a bib for their drool. "You better be careful or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent."

"She makes a good point." Mr. Aizawa noted as he ruffled under his podium for his bulky yellow sleeping bag, "Midnight will have final approval of your names. It's not my forte. The name you choose is important, it helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you want to be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent. Take 'All Might' for example." And with that said he checked out and went for a nap as Midnight handed out dry erase boards to everyone.

After a few minutes a few people began scribbling things down on their boards. Nikita drew a cute little kitty face on her board before scrawling 'Neko-chan' in cutesy script. She glanced over in Shoto's direction, he looked thoughtful. A few people seemed to be struggling.

"Now students, who among you is ready to share?" Midnight addressed them.

Nikita slowly raised her hand, surprising Shoto in the process as she'd never been interested in picking a hero name for herself when they'd discussed it as children. Midnight beckoned her forward and Nikita skipped to the front of the room, her furry black ears were perked up and her golden eyes were bright as she turned to face her classmates. She turned the board around.

"Unfortunately, it's not up for discussion, I signed my first autograph today and this is what he called me." She giggled.

"He's either a perv or a child." Jiro noted.

"Child." Nikita giggled.

Midnight smiled. "It suits you. Great job."

Next was the sparkly blonde with the navel laser that gave him a tummy ache, Yuga Aoyama. He dramatically paused at the podium, "Hold your breath." He paused again for dramatic effect, "The shining hero, my name is I can not stop twinkling!" Aoyama revealed his board and Nikita held back a laugh as everyone in the class groaned inwardly. "Mon Amis. You can't deny my sparkle."

"Come on!" The other students groaned.

Midnight grabbed his board to make some corrections. "Take out the I and shorten can not to can't." She turned the board back to him for his approval.

"It's stunning mademoiselle."

Everyone seemed flabbergasted that Midnight liked his crazy name.

Mina Ashido skipped up to the podium once Aoyama took his seat, "Okie Dokie let me go next." She cheered happily, "My codename: Alien Queen!"

Midnight looked momentarily freaked out, "Hold on, like that horrible monster with the acidic blood? I don't think so."

Ashido trudged back to her seat looking downtrodden, "Dang it."

After Ashido's name getting shut down there was a string of successful names from many of the other students until Bakugo approached the podium and turned his sign around. Nikita giggled as she read 'King Murder Explosion'. The rest of the class laughed and Bakugo was sent back to the drawing board.

Once all the students had their codenames picked out. Mr. Aizawa handed each of the students a list of agencies to pick to intern with for the following week. Those who'd gotten offers were free to choose from any of the agencies that had made offers the rest of the class were given a list of 40 agencies that had agreed to allow students to intern with them.

Nikita approached Shoto once they were dismissed and the rest of their classmates began chit chatting about where they wanted to intern. She plopped onto his desk and tickled the tip of his nose with her tail causing him to smile. "So, where are we interning at Sho-chan?"

"Are you sure you want to intern with me, Niko? You got more offers, you can intern anywhe-."

"But I already decided what kind of hero I want to be." Nikita grinned causing their classmates to turn to the pair curiously.

"What kind of hero?"

"Sho-chan's sidekick, of course." She giggled.

Shoto looked up at the bright exuberant cat girl in awe as the tips of his ears burned crimson. "What?"

"Come on Sho-chan, don't act so surprised, I'm going to help you achieve your goal, remember?" Nikita beamed and a few of the other girls in the class squealed quietly as they watched the pair only succeeding in embarrassing Shoto further.

Video- "Seen the End" By Laurel Leven