Lord, help my poor soul. [Isamu]

Isamu had staked out the room furthest from the stairs on the third floor when moving in at the beginning of the school year, secretly following the cat stereotype of having a high perch to watch their surroundings from. And even in that room he had taken it a step further, with a loft on one side of the room that split that side into two levels, with a ladder going from the bottom level to the top should he ever need it. The top of the loft was covered in soft carpeting, with a small cat bed, a dresser, and a scratching post discretely hidden next to it. Beneath it was a desk and bookshelf filled to overflowing with a mix of novels, technical references, and textbooks. The desk was neatly arranged with everything in a specific place, a framed family photograph on one corner and a picture of his younger sister on the other. On the other side of the room was a small workbench, with a computer monitor and keyboard set off to one side, with a cabinet full of tools next to it.

It had taken a lot of work to get it just so, especially to make sure the room just felt right. He rarely let in others in, as they might disturb the vibe of the room. Intellectually he knew he just had a territorial streak thanks to his quirk, but it generally didn’t matter if he indulged this particular impulse. There was only one cat here, and that was him, and that was how he liked it.

So when he caught wind that there was a second cat in the vicinity, he instantly went on alert, bolting for the door. It wasn’t outside, it was too close for that. That had to mean… He opened his door to see a cat running down the hallway in his general direction. Scowling, he pulled the door shut behind him and turned to face the intruder, standing up on two legs to make himself look bigger. “Himura! Don’t let your strays into the dorm!”

Isamu squared himself off against the other cat, claws bared, stance spread just a little to stabilize himself. Not the typical cat-fighting pose, but it was usually enough to confuse most normal animals and make them think twice about messing with him. He waited, timing his strike for just the right--

And then someone snatched the intruding cat right before he had to do anything at all.

That worked too.

He relaxed his stance just a little, standing up straighter and crossing his arms over his chest as he looked up to the taller student, seemingly uncowed by either the strugging cat or facing someone much taller than himself. Isamu was dressed rather plainly in a dark green t-shirt and black shorts, just enough to leave him ‘decent’ but not hamper his movement. Unlike his fellow classmate, he appeared neatly kept (as he did most of the time), with all of his fur groomed neatly and into placemat, and looking collected at least in appearance.

“So that’s your cat then? I guess I owe Himura-san an apology later.” He shook his head a little dismissively at the girl’s explanation of her cat’s behavior, although his tail was still lashing a little bit too quickly. “Don’t… worry about it. He’s probably just worked up because there’s a bunch of new scents and a new area and all of that.” General speculation or speaking from personal experience? Hard to say. He cleared his throat consiously as she continued to look without talking, returning her bow with a much shorter one after she introduced herself. “Suzuki Isamu. I’m also in 1-A.”

“What’s his name?” he asked, nodding to the strugging cat in Torami’s arms. “And before you ask, no, I can’t speak to cats.” Not with a regular language or anything, anyway. Claws and body language worked just fine, though.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” he said a bit dryly. “I take it you just finished moving in, then?” He didn’t bother asking what room her dorm was in. That would be easy enough to figure out, at least. Not that he anticipated having a need for that information. “And don’t worry about it. I’m used to dealing with animals.” Perhaps not as much as Torami herself was, but he’d definitely had more than his fair share of interactions compared to most people.

Isamu snorted lightly in response Tora’s reassurance that she wouldn’t ask him to speak to her cat. “Good,” was all he said on that topic. At least that was one of the least offensive things people had assumed about his quirk at times. His eyes flicked down to the cat as Torami introduced him, and he nodded to the cat in turn, even though he probably wouldn’t understand the gesture. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Wright,” he said, still without much enthusiasm.

He watched as Torami stared out the window wordlessly, gaze flicking over to see if there was something interesting out there, quickly deciding there wasn’t, and deciding to try and make his exit out of this encounter. He cleared his throat a little, before opening his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by another question. If he had eyebrows, he would have raised one of them at that question. “I’m a human. With a quirk. I have a family physician back home, but here I usually see the school’s staff if I need anything.” Okay, he did occasionally see a veterinarian back home in Osaka for more particular health issues, but a three hour train trip didn’t seem like a very good definition of ‘local.’

Isamu hated conversations like these, but if he was being honest he had had far, far worse over the years. At least here, aside from some small misidentifications, he hadn’t been outright questioned on the legitimacy of being here. Still, carrying on a conversation while another cat was just sitting there right in front of him was a little unnerving. Particularly with it so close to his territory.

Okay. Be civil. He doesn’t know any better, and you have to share this space with the other students and their pets.

Every once in a while he envied other humans certain things they could do. Like the skeptical one-eyebrow raise. That would have been handy so many times. He could sort of do it, but it didn’t express well on his face. Mostly due to the lack of eyebrows. Instead he settled for rolling his eyes. “I was just being polite. Some people get upset if you don’t acknowledge their pets. Look, just… put him down for a second so he can get to know me. If you don’t do it now he’ll just try to find me later and do it then.” He’d have to remember to keep his door locked so that cat couldn’t get into his room and mess the place up. Plus he could smack him down now and establish his dominance early if need be, which would just be easier to get out of the way now. Though that wasn’t the kind of thing he’d say out loud.

“Oh, there’s a bunch of strays that keep running around campus because people keep feeding them. You should keep that in mind if you let Wright go outside.”

Isamu resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the other cat padded near, holding out a paw for the other cat to sniff. “Yes, hi, meow, and all that,” he muttered quietly, keeping a wary eye out for any adverse reaction to his presence. Otherwise… it was a fairly straightforward process. One cat smells the other, the other smells back, they try to get a read on each other, and then they either get along or don’t, and if not, then Isamu would put the other cat in its place and that would, hopefully, be that.

He just got tired of doing it for every new animal he met that he was expecting to see more than the first time. Cohabitating a dorm definitely fell into that category.

Could have been worse. Could have been a dog.

He glanced up at Torami as she mentioned them not having to battle it out. Huh. So she was thinking the same thing he was. “Wouldn’t be much of a battle,” he said quietly.

“If you want to do that, I suggest talking to Himura-san. She can show you where they are. Although I’m pretty sure Sato-sensei has also been feeding them, too. She’s got cat food in her office. I don’t know if either of them have done anything more than feed them, though.”

After long enough for Wright to get his scent and get a sense of him, he gently pushed the other feline away. “Alright, alright. That’s enough of that, now.”