The next day when Shouto opened his front door, he almost tripped over the paper bag containing headache medicine and packaged noodles.

- Frost felt a tinge of suspicion as the villain he had chased into the alley smiled slyly.

"You shouldn't have followed me here, Hero, especially not without calling for backup. Because, while it seems you might have forgotten to call your friends, I, however, have not forgotten to invite mine."

Frost forced his face to maintain its evenness as five other villains melted out of the shadows, joining the villain he had foolishly chased by himself, away from the main fight.

He was overpowered, outnumbered and without allies.

But, Frost thought, he wasn't done yet.

He released his first blast of ice, effectively encasing a villain.

The fight went on for what seemed like hours, but was probably minutes, with Frost fighting tooth and nail against the villains, with no help in sight. Until eventually, Frost fell to the ground, glaring at the villain who had downed him, as the villain laughed, "Not so heroic now, are you? Down like some alley-cat, and just as helpless."

"Actually, I've found that cats, especially of the alley variety, to be more fearsome than most of the so-called villains I've met. You should meet the one in my building. I don't know if that speaks for the quality of cats, or that of the villains around here."

Frost's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. An air blast surrounded him as the villain standing near him blew away from the displaced air. His vision was suddenly filled with green, as the hero standing above him offered a hand up to Frost.

Frost took it.

Together, they faced the villains who were starting to stand up and take their positions. Frost looked at Deku, the hero from the agency that was a direct competitor of his own, who, despite it, had looked for him and had saved him. Deku looked back, his eyes determined.

The villains charged.

But with Deku there by his side, there was no real challenge.

Later….

Later, when they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a first-aid vehicle waiting for the clean-up crew to finish their work, Deku bumped his shoulder with his own, and said, in a gently chiding voice, "It's not a shame to ask for help you know….Especially not if the help needed is in service of others. It doesn't mean you aren't competent, it just means you need some help to do your job the best way you can. That's not a weakness."

Frost nodded, feeling golden warmth blossom in his chest.

- The days passed quickly, leaving behind memories with the consistency of molasses: thick, hazy and confusing. With no father to haunt his every step and no surprise "training sessions" to keep him alert, his days were almost idyllic in nature; But with nothing but his job to occupy his time, Shouto was, to put it simply, bored.

Shouto bit back the urge to sigh as he stood in his kitchen looking around emptily. The kitchen looked back, surprisingly free of past stains and damage.

A loud crash interrupted their uneasy detente. Shouto, this time, gave into the urge to sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

That cursed cat was at it again.

If Shouto's life was an anime, then that cat would be the twirly mustachioed antagonist that must be defeated for Peace to be achieved. Shouto longingly thought back to the days where he was free from meddlesome, and yet surprisingly ferocious felines who ate his carefully cultivated plants and left trash and dead animals in the balcony for Shouto to find the next day. Sure, it wasn't perfect, what with Endeavor and all, but at least his plants had been safe! (Mostly because he planted them in the one place Endeavor wouldn't think to look: his mother's bedroom)

Now there was no peace to be had, not for him, and not for his poor, innocent plants.

And all because he had lost that thrice-damned staring contest that first day when he was still green, unknowing of the things that were at stake in that battle.

Shouto narrowed his eyes, ice sweeping up his arm, leaving it covered in crystals that shone like diamonds, and stared at the balcony where a large shape could be seen lumbering towards his plants.

Well, we'll see how the big bad kitty liked a little water bath.

Shouto moved towards the balcony, determined to teach the feline the consequences of what happened when someone messed with Shouto, only when he opened the balcony door with a loud, theatrical bang, he stopped short in surprise and alarm.

This wasn't the cat he had come to know and begrudgingly coexist with. Though the same size, this cat had matted dark fur instead of the light brown of the Hellbeast.

The cat let out a mrowl at Shouto's entrance.

Shouto, who had been clutching the door-frame for courage, felt foolish. He stepped forward, to chase away the cat, no way was he letting some other cat also lay siege on his poor balcony! Next thing you know, they'll kick him out of his own apartment.

But at Shouto's step, the cat hissed dangerously, fangs showing, and she lifted her head up to eye Shouto suspiciously.

"Oh."

Shouto felt a trembling feeling shiver up his spine. Those yellow eyes were familiar; Shouto had spent more time than he'd care to admit staring into them after all.

The cat on his balcony was The Cat, after all.

He eyed the fur that had belied her identity, confused. Why was it… Shouto gasped as he saw tiny bloody, smeared footprints leading up to where the cat was snarling.

That wasn't fur, it was blood. Something had hurt the cat so badly that her fur was matted in blood. Shouto wondered if it was her blood staining her coat, or someone else's.

The cat kept snarling, eyes flashing at Shouto, a wounded animal, hurt and bloody, but ready to go out swinging, not yet done.

Shouto felt his heart resonate at the sight, and reached forward, unable to bear the sight of a creature in pain when he was nearby.

The cat almost slashed his arm off.

Shouto stumbled back, repressing his battle-ready instincts to ice the assailant, and felt adrenaline rush through his body, as he analyzed the situation.

What was he going to do? He had no idea how to respond to this situation. Should he call someone? Animal control? What should he do?

Shouto mentally shook himself, this wasn't the time to spiral, no matter how weak the snarls were sounding by the minute, or how dull those razor sharp eyes were looking.

If you can't handle the situation by yourself, there's no shame in calling for help.

Shouto steeled himself, he had to call for help.

But who? Shouto wondered; He had never before regretted his lack of social support, neither wanting nor understand the need for it. But, he thought as he eyed the spitting cat a few feet away, this wasn't just about himself. He had to think beyond himself.

Shouto backed away, running through the names of people who would know how to handle the situation only to come up short.

The cat let out a loud noise, one leg giving out underneath her. Shouto watched helplessly as she seemed to careen to the side, unable to go closer. She struggled, wide eyed and ferocious still, somehow managing to stay upright by sheer will alone.

She stood, bloodied and wounded, and stared back with the might of a soldier, daring Shouto to even try to take advantage in her moment of weakness.

But Shouto was struck silent at the look in her eyes. He remembered seeing the same look in All-Might's eyes when he was beaten down and without options, but still stood tall and proud. With silent dignity that no villain could strip away.

No wonder she was named after -

Shouto stopped thinking.

He turned around and ran, throwing open his front door.

Midoriya was smiling when he opened the door; The smile widening when he saw Shouto, eyes brightening with an emotion Shouto couldn't identify.

Shouto didn't know what emotion was showing on his face, but it must have been revealing enough to make even Midoriya's ever-present and luminescent smile disappear, and for him to say in a surprisingly familiar voice that rang with authority, "What happened."

Shouto felt his heart calm a bit despite the all-too-familiar adrenaline coursing through his body, at the feeling of safety the voice managed to instill in him, almost Pavlovian.

Strange.

Shouto blinked, this wasn't the time to be obsessing over some boy's voice, he said, words clipped but quick, like he was delivering a mission report, "It's the cat; She's hurt badly."

Midoriya's face hardened.

He laid a hand on Shouto's shoulder, and said gently, with a smile that managed to imbue Shouto with warmth and hope, "Don't worry Shouto, it's all alright now. I am here."

And Shouto, for the first time in a while, believed.