The days passed and soon it was the end of November. One day, after class, Shota asked me, Midoriya, Kirishima, Tsu, and Uraraka, to come to the faculty dorm. When we went inside we were pleasantly surprised to see Eri sitting on a couch with Hado, Mirio, and Amajiki. Hado was putting Eri's hair into pigtails, making her look extra adorable.

"Wow! You weren't kidding about seeing her soon," Midoriya said to Shota.

"Hi Eri," I smiled and went over to her.

"UA is taking her in," Shota said.

"How'd this work out?" I asked curiously.

"Well, it's not like she can stay in the hospital forever," Shota replied.

The others came over to Eri as well. "She reminds me of my little sister," Tsu commented.

Uraraka wore a bright smile, "we've got ourselves an Eri."

"Hey!" Kirshima waved to her.

Before we could get into chatting with Eri, Shota and Mirio gestured for us to come outside. When we got outside Shota said, "they say her mother abandoned her. She still has a grandfather, the Hassaikai boss, but he's in a coma for the foreseeable future. In other words, she's got no place to call home."

"Mr. Aizawa might've mentioned this but, her horn is the source of her quirk," Mirio added. "Everything should be fine while its shrunken, but it's starting to grow little by little."

Uraraka had a nervous look on her face. "Hold on...how do we know that won't happen again?"

I flinched at the thought. I remembered being on the ground, bleeding out. Midoriya yelling in pain as his body was being ripped apart. The horrified and scared look on Eri's face. It wasn't exactly something I wanted to live through again.

Shota seemed to read the look on my face. "All the more reason to have her here with us instead of at an orphanage. She'll be staying in the faculty dorm where I'll keep an eye on her. We'll observe her and try to figure out a way to deal with her incredible power. There'll also be regular examinations, everything one step at a time."

"That's a big responsibility," Tsu looked at Shota.

I knew that he would be able to handle it because he already had in the past, with me. It began to dawn on me how similar Eri and I were. Both of us had a powerful quirk and were experimented on. Luckily we were both saved. It warmed my heart knowing that Shota was going to be the one taking care of Eri.

"That's where I come in," Mirio said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Since I'm taking time off school. Plus Eri and I are already pals."

"I know you all have busy lives, but try and stop by once in a while," Shota said.

Amajiki put a hand on Mirio's shoulder. "Once Eri's mind and body are stabilized it won't be long until our invincible dude makes a comeback."

Mirio put his hands behind his head and smiled, "that would be nice."

"Hey, Shota, since you are looking after her, it's kinda like Eri and I are sisters," I pointed out.

"How cute!" Uraraka gushed.

I looked and noticed Shota wore a small smile. He turned his attention to Mirio and Amajiki, "I know it's short notice, but can you third years keep an eye on Eri?"

"Yeah! We can play a game!" Mirio nodded, energetically.

"Can we play too?" Midoriya asked.

"No," Shota shook his head. "Back to the dorms with the rest of class A. You're expecting guests."

We all were curious to know who was coming to see us, but Shota wouldn't tell. I went inside and up to my room. I set my bag down and changes out of my uniform. I pulled on a light blue long sleeve shirt with some grey capri pants. I slipped on my slippers and headed to the common area where the others were sitting.

I walked up to Shoto who was sitting at a table working on some class work. I gave him a small hug and chatted with him for a little bit. After we talked, I told him I was going to go sit with Katsuki so he could finish his work. Shoto nodded and squeezed my hand.

I tried to hide my smile, but I don't think it worked well. I walked over and saw Katsuki and Kirishima sitting on a couch. I sat between them with a "hey."

"What're you so happy about?" Katsuki asked.

"What? Nothing," I quickly shook my head.

"Uh huh, sure," Katsuki said, not believing me.

Kirishima laughed at our small exchange. Katsuki gave him a look, making Kirishima laugh more.

"So what are you two doing?" I asked with a slight giggle.

"What's it look like?" Katsuki eyed me.

"Come on, man," Kirishima said.

"It's okay," I waved a hand. "I know how grumpy Katsuki can be," I added with a teasing smirk.

"I'm not grumpy," Katsuki said in a grumpy tone. This made Kirishima and I laugh.

The three of us began to laugh and tease each other. By the end of it even Katsuki was having a good time. Suddenly I got an idea. "Hey let's take a picture."

"Why?" Katsuki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For fun?" I tilted my head.

"Let's do it," Kirishima nodded.

"...Fine," Katsuki gave in.

We grouped close together and I gave my phone to Kirishima. He held it out and snapped a picture of the three of us. Kirishima and I both wore a smile but Katsuki frowned and rolled his eyes. His arms crossed over his chest with me leaning against him. The picture made me smile and I texted the image to the both of them.

Katsuki looked at me for a moment before he said, "hey Snowflake. Let's go do something sometime." He looked away from me and stared at the ground, waiting for my answer.

"Sounds like fun," I smiled.

"Cool," Katsuki said with a small smile.

Before I could reply I heard Kaminari speak, grabbing my attention, "or maybe you've got fans who were gossiping about you!" I looked over and saw he was talking to Tokoyami. He added, "Like whoever was shouting 'Yaoyorozu!'"

Momo turned red at his comment. "Please don't tease me! I'm just happy to have an admirer."

"You probably have tons of fans, Tokoyami," Uraraka said. "Especially after your work study with Hawks."

Tokoyami rubbed his head, "no I don't think so. That all went a bit too quickly."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Iida called out for our attention. "There're here! Let's greet them!"

The door opened and four people entered. We recognized the group well enough as they posed. "Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" Mandalay began.

Ragdoll continued saying, "we've come to lend a paw and help."

Up next was Tiger, "we've come from somewhere..."

"...stingingly cute and cat-like," Pixie-Bob finished for him.

"The Wild Wild Pussycats!" They all exclaimed together.

The class erupted with "it's great to see you!" And, "it's been awhile!" I smiled and waved to the group.

"I hope all my little kitties have been well!" Pixie laughed.

Tiger approached me and Katsuki, almost looming over us. "Sorry we couldn't protect you back then."

My throat tightened a bit at the thought, "oh...uhm..."

"Don't remind us," Katsuki said, pulling me away from the hero.

I glanced over and saw Midoriya talking to the little boy Kota. I remembered how Midoriya saved him and the boy wrote a letter thanking him. I noticed a fond smile on Mandalay's face as Kota became flustered.

Sato came over with a tray of tea for the heroes, "so why're you here at UA?"

"We came to announce that we're back!" Pixie exclaimed.

"You too Ragdoll?" I asked her.

"That's right," Midoriya joined in. "With your quirk stolen I thought you had to quit."

"Not back in action per se," Ragdoll said. "I'll be in the agency supporting the other three. Just call me the cat-ministrave assistant."

"We did hear from him in Tartarus," Pixie said, making a chill go up my spine. "They're still pressing him to find out what kind of quirks he's got locked up in that body and how many. So in the meantime keeping him completely immobilized is the safest option."

I looked down, thinking about him. All For One. I could hear his voice in my head. That cold, chilling voice. I began to feel dizzy and my vision spotty. I leaned against Katsuki, trying to get my bearing back.

"Are you okay?" Katsuki asked me quietly.

"Y-yeah," I nodded and my dizziness began to fade. I took a deep breath and looked up at him with a smile. "I'm fine."

His red eyes stared into mine as if he was looking for something. After a moment he nodded, "okay." Katsuki looked over at Shoto and nudged me towards him. I gave him another smile before going to my boyfriend and holding his hand.

Shoto looked down, noticing my palms were clammy. I assured him I was okay and paid attention to the others. Momo had just asked the Pussycats why they were returning now.

"It's because they're about to announce this year's Second Hero Billboard Chart JP," Mandalay answered. "We're in 411th place."

"But your team was 32nd last time," Midoriya pointed out.

"Oh, so you're doing this to stop your sharp decline?" Kirishima asked.

"Wrong," Ragdoll shook her head. "Why do you think we're still in the triple digits despite zero action?"

"Our approval rating at least, was as high as ever," Tiger said.

"Which means people are still counting on us," Ragdoll continued. "So we can't stop moving forward."

Kirishima wore a heartfelt expression, "I hear you! Wild Wild Pussycats are dudes among dudes!"

"The billboard chart right," Ojiro said.

"That's right they haven't announced the ratings yet," Ashido tapped her chin.

"Not with all that's been happening," Sato said.

Some others joined in saying, "a billboard chart without All Might?" "I can't wait to find out." "It should be exciting!"

I looked up at Shoto. I could tell his mind was on his father. Endeavor would be named the number one hero in just a couple hours. I lightly squeezed his hand and he looked down at me. I smiled at him. "Wanna watch the ratings later?"

"Sure," Shoto smiled and gave a nod.

The Pussycats stayed for a bit and chatted. Once they left Shoto and I asked some others if they wanted to join us to watch the ratings. Kirishima, Midoriya, Momo, Kaminari, and Tokoyami joined us. We sat around a coffee table in front of the tv as the show began to play.

After the introductions they showed eight heroes on stage. The number one spot was empty, leaving it a mystery until the announcement. Another spot was empty as well.

"Never before have heroes taken the stage in person at this presentation," the announcer woman said. "The times however are ever changing!"

Soon they began, starting with the tenth place hero. "Number ten! She used to be ninth but fell a spot. The Dragon Hero: Ryukyu!"

"Number nine! Another one who fell! That's unprecedented for him! Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha!"

"Number eight! You know him from those 'Clean 'N' Shiny' commercials... Laundry Hero: Wash!"

"Number seven! It's a Great Leap Forward for this up and comer! Kamui Woods!"

"Number six! Rock steady as ever, this orthodox hero has maintained his rank! Shield Hero: Crust!"

"Number five! This unyielding bunny was bumped up in the rankings! Rabbit Hero: Mirko!"

"Number four! The mysterious shinobi whose incident resolution rate and support are skyrocketing! Ninja Hero: Edgeshot!"

"This brings us to our next man! Still at number three, even though he's taking time off! With a higher public support rate than anyone...it's the Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist!" I noticed that he was missing from the stage. The announcer continued saying, "everyone is anxiously awaiting his swift return!"

"Number two! He does things his way, but always fiercely! With unstoppable momentum he made it to second place! Wing Hero: Hawks!"

"And finally! This guy's been on top for a little while now, but today it's official! He's waited a long time to claim the throne and become the number one hero! Flame Hero: Endeavor!"

As he was announced Endeavor walked out on the stage. His flames billowing out around him, showing off some new armor as well. The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering for their new number one.

After the announcements the president of the Heroes Public Safety Commission came up to the microphone. She had a professional vibe and she stood with her hands crossed in front of her hips. She began by saying, "we decided to put on such an elaborate ceremony because this is a critical juncture for our times. It's been about three months since All Might's retirement and word on the street is that our society is still missing an icon. But the heroes standing before you are ready to take on the mantle. So let us join them in their quest for a peaceful society. And now a word from our heroes."

They held a microphone in front of Ryukyu. "Thank you for this honor," she said. "However, in truth I would've withdrawn my name if that were allowed. There have been lives I couldn't save, so going forward I'll strive to really earn my ranking."

I put my hand over my chest, thinking about Sir Nighteye. I was sure that's who she had been talking about. The thought still hurt, but her words really struck me, knowing that she was going to strive to be the best she could. It's all any of us could ask for.

"I feel you, Ryukyu!" Crust ran over to her. "That pain in your heart! Like you're just not good enough! We need to stand tall and fight on! We can do it Ryukyu! I believe in us!"

After that outburst they moved onto the eighth hero. He said simply, "the mission is the same as ever."

Wash said," washa!"

Kamui Woods had more to say. "Edgeshot was kind enough to let me join his team so I'd like to make him and all my superiors proud."

Crust looked more frustrated. "Why wasn't I in Kamino that day! It still hurts deep down everytime I think about it!"

The rabbit hero wore a grin on her face. "To all you plotters and schemers out there! Hope you're ready for me to kick your butts!"

The announcer woman went to Edgeshot, "if public approval were the only factor you'd be in third place."

"Numbers done concern me," Edgeshot said. "I'm grateful to all my supporters of course, but I don't do this job for fame or reputation. The ability to preserve law and order is the true measure of a hero."

"Who the heck do you think wants to hear that crap?!" Hawks interrupted.

Mirko looked over at him, "sassy, I like it! You always did enjoy rocking the boat."

"I just hate holding back how I feel," Hawks responded. He spread his wings and began to float up into the air. "You wanna talk public support? Best Jeanist would be number one if that's all that mattered, thanks to the boost he's gotten during his leave of absence. I'd be second, Edgeshot'd be third, Endeavor fourth, and so on. Public approval? Sure...it matters more than anything else now, but c'mon. This isn't the time to dwell on the past. And you say staying the course is the answer? Our symbol is gone. Today's a turning point, so what I don't wanna hear is a bunch of p.r.-friendly sound bites from the gals and guys below me. Try coming up with something actually heroic to say!"

The crowd began to chatter. I remembered what I had read about Hawks. He was 22 years old, a hero who broke through the top three rankings last time. He started his own agency at the age of 18. I've heard that people say he does things a little too fast, but I wasn't sure. It seemed like he was going at his own pace, even if it was a quick one.

Hawks began to descend back to the ground, "that's all from me." He tossed the microphone to Endeavor. "You're next. Dude with a lower approval rating than me. Mr. Number One."

Endeavor had a hard look on his face. I wondered how he was going to follow up after what Hawks said.

"After my junior colleague fanned the flames like that..." Endeavor said. He raised his hand and clenched his fist. "I don't have much to say. Except...just watch me!"

The crowd was silent, shocked at what he had said, however Hawks clapped for him.

I looked at Shoto to see his expression but he wasn't showing any on his face. I leaned my head against his shoulder. I really hoped that Endeavor would live up to expectations and become the hero Shoto could be proud of.