Chapter 40 – Summer Training Camp
On the first day of summer break, the Hero Course began its training camp. The students gathered in the morning, all dressed in their school uniforms, as normal, and soon headed for the two prepared buses.
"What?! Some Class A student is getting extra lessons? That means some of you failed?!" Monoma mocked with faked surprise, his hand in his blonde hair. "Huh? How weird is that?! Everyone knows that Class A is totally superior to Class B, but now this?! Wow!"
WHACK
Kendo's hand chopped Monoma's neck and sent the loud boy to the ground in a heap. "Sorry about him." The Class Representative for 1-B apologized to Class A. Her right hand grew to a large size, letting her bodily lift Monoma in one hand, while her left grabbed his suitcase. "And you…just get on the bus and shut up." She nearly shoved Monoma onto Class 1-B's bus to prevent any further outbursts.
"Neat Quirk." Izuku muttered to himself, taking a moment to jot down a few notes in his notebook before putting it away again. This got smiles from his girlfriends as they saw his 'Quirk Nerd' side come out again.
"You're scary, Monoma." Yanagi Reiko mentioned of her classmate's behavior. She was a lovely girl with white hair and a 'low energy' demeanor. The girl held her arms in front of her, sort of like an old-school ghost, seemingly out of choice.
"Ignore Monoma, he's got some weird complex." Tokage Setsuna laughed it off. She was one of the four yearly Hero Course Recommendation students. She had long, green hair the same shade as Izuku's, her teeth were slightly pointed, and the grin she gave to Class 1-A reminded Izuku of Camie's.
'Is…Is Tokage-san a tease like Camie?' Izuku couldn't help but wonder, briefly looking between his girlfriend and Setsuna.
"None of us hold anything against Class A about the Sports Festival; we're happy to be working with you!" Setsuna smiled at the other class.
"Mmh." Yui nodded to them, her usual cool and calm demeanor on display.
"Woo…" Kaminari whistled lowly. "Are all of the girls in the Hero Course cute on purpose?" He asked Sero and Kirishima with a grin.
The seven girls of Class 1-B were all cute and lovely in their own ways, none of the guys in Class 1-A could deny that.
"Glad to be working with you as well." Izuku and Momo had stepped forward as Class 1-A's Representatives.
A few greetings were exchanged before everyone started boarding the bus that was assigned to their class.
"Class 1-A's bus is over here!" Momo called out, waving the group over to the large vehicle. "Please, be careful when boarding!"
Aizawa stepped onto the bus a few minutes later. He did a quick headcount with his eyes and then gave a short nod to Izuku and Momo. "We'll be stopping in about an hour, until then, do as you like, but keep yourselves under control." He looked at them with his eyes glowing slightly with his Quirk. When all of the students gave him a nod, he sat down in the frontmost seat and the bus began to move.
As the bus got onto the highway, the students became a little more rambunctious, teens just being teens. The volume got louder and conversations sprung up. Aizawa briefly looked back to make sure nothing was happening, but turned back to the front when he saw that his students were just chatting or doing their own thing.
"Let's have some music! Something summery! Some tube songs, maybe?" Kaminari grinned at Kirishima who had his phone out.
"No way, nothing beats Carol's 'End of Summer' in the summertime!" Kirishima laughed at his buddy.
"But it's not the end." Mina pointed out from across the aisle where she was sitting with Toru. Both girls giggled as Kirishima waved off the timing.
"Hey, you have pocky?" Sero looked over at Sato. "Can I have one?"
"Seats are meant to be sat in! Sit down, everyone!" Iida stood up to remind the other students that were standing up.
"Um…Iida?" Jiro mentioned, looking at him blankly.
"Way to lead by example." Chikuchi laughed while Iida quickly sat down, embarrassed by his own 'rule breaking' in his attempt to instill order.
"Come on, Sato, just one?" Sero clapped his hands in front of himself.
"Fine…" Sato gave in, letting his friend have one of his pocky sticks.
'Well this is their last chance to have some fun for a while.' Aizawa decided in his head as he partially blocked out the sound of his students. The training they had planned would be anything but fun.
Near the back of the bus, Izuku sat next to the window, while Tsuyu sat next to him. The boyfriend and girlfriend were leaning against each other and just enjoying the ride. With the seats in front of them being filled by Ochako and Momo and the seat beside them having Camie in it, the two were feeling 'safe' enough to be a little closer.
"Mm…kero." Tsuyu was smiling softly as Izuku's hand massaged her thigh, his fingers sinking into her skin a little. She'd pulled her uniform skirt up a bit to reveal more of her skin to Izuku, while keeping everything that needed to be covered, covered.
Izuku was able to not be a blushing mess by focusing solely on Tsuyu and her pleased reactions. That and the way her hand had slipped into his uniform shirt by undoing two of the buttons in the middle. Tsuyu's soft palm trailing up and down his chest and abs made Izuku sigh at the gentle pleasure.
The girls had already decided that they'd switch seats every fifteen minutes so that each of them got equal time with Izuku during the hour-long bus ride. Momo and Ochako were just slightly pink in the cheeks as they chatted, waiting for their turns. Camie was smiling, glancing over at Izuku and Tsuyu cuddling, and eagerly waiting for her own turn as well.
-One Hour Later-
The bus stopped at what looked to be a roadside lookout point. It offered a great view of the large forest that spread out over the valleys, hills, and mountains of the area, but didn't seem to have any facilities around. There was only a single other car there as well.
As the students got off the bus, some stretched to loosen themselves up. The last two off the bus were Izuku and Momo. The two Class Reps had made sure that everyone got off the bus and that everything was in order. This also gave the boyfriend and girlfriend some extra time to calm down. Izuku had been massaging Momo's thighs, while Momo ran her hand over his chest and abs. Both were a little flushed when the bus stopped while they were enjoying their cuddle session.
"What kind of a rest stop is this?" Shoji questioned after seeing the lack of facilities.
"Right? And where's Class B?" Toru questioned, looking around for the second bus.
"Of course we stopped here for a reason." Aizawa spoke up, moving over to the lone car as the doors of the vehicle opened.
"Heya, Eraser." A woman's voice greeted Aizawa.
"Sorry. Haven't seen you in a while." Aizawa gave a short bow to the two women that stepped out of the car.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" The first woman declared.
"Stunningly cute and catlike!" The second woman followed.
"We're the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" Both women exclaimed as they posed.
The students looked on blankly at the two Pro Heroes posing. Their costumes were similar too. The costumes consisted of a sleeveless, collared top decorated with three straps and a bell, a large ruffled skirt, a tail, an orange belt with pockets, a silver buckle resembling a cat paw with blue pads, large white cat gloves with retractable claws, boots with vertical stripes lined with white fur and communication devices designed to resemble cat ears. The blonde woman's costume was in a blue color, while the brunette woman's costume was red in color.
Behind the two Pros was a young boy, clearly around the age of an Elementary Schooler, wearing a simple outfit of a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts. His red baseball cap had two metal spikes, imitating horns, poking out of the front of it. He didn't look thrilled to be here at all.
"These are the Pro Heroes that'll be helping us out this time…The Pussycats." Aizawa gave a basic introduction to the class.
"The Pussycats! Mandalay and Pixie-bob!" Izuku's eyes lit up at getting to meet the Pros. "They're a four-person Hero Team who all work under a single Agency! This veteran team specializes in mountain rescue operations! They've been in business for twelve years now…"
The blond woman in the blue costume, Pixie-bob, was quick to palm Izuku's face with her puffy glove. "We're eighteen at heart!"
"Mmph!" Izuku's muffled cry was heard from within the fluffy glove.
Ignoring her partner's actions, the brunette woman, Mandalay, took over. "This entire area is our territory." She looked over the forest area before pointing to a single mountain in the distance, the retractable claw of her glove coming out from the motion. "Your lodging is at the foot of that mountain over there."
"SO FAR AWAY?!" Half the class exclaimed at the same time.
"Wait… Then why'd we stop halfway?" Ochako asked, not liking the feeling rising up in her stomach.
"Uh oh…" Sato's face paled as a theory came to his mind.
"Let's get…back to the bus…?" Sero was slowly edging back toward the vehicle already, trying not to attract attention.
"It's now 9:30am… I'm thinking around noon, at the earliest?" Mandalay smiled, her tail swaying playfully, a function of the costume to fit the 'cat' motif even better.
"Aw, damn…" Kaminari felt his stomach drop.
"No way…" Kirishima was in the same boat as his expression fell.
"Run!" Mina took off towards the bus.
"Back to the bus, quick!" Shoji ran with the others.
"Kitties who don't make it there by 12:30 won't get any lunch!" Mandalay mentioned with a grin.
"Sorry kids…" Aizawa spoke, though he didn't really sound sorry.
Pixie-bob dropped into a crouch and slammed her gloves on the ground.
"But the training…" Aizawa continued as the ground rumbled and shifted beneath the class's feet.
"AAAHHH!" The teens cried out as the dirt beneath them rose up in a huge wave and threw them over the edge of the cliff before they could react.
"Has already begun." Aizawa finished as the students, along with the mass of dirt, disappeared over the cliff.
"Our territory is private property! So feel free to use your Quirks all that you want!" Mandalay called out over the railing at the top of the cliff. "You have three hours to reach the facility on foot! Make it through the Beast's Forest!"
-Bottom of the Cliff-
"Did she say beast's forest?" Izuku shook off the dirt from himself as best as he could before quickly checking on his girlfriends.
"Seriously?" Kaminari grunted as he pulled himself out of the dirt. "That sounds like something straight out of Dragon Quest!"
"Ptoo! Ack! Dirt in my mouth!" Sero coughed out.
"U.A. has got way too many connections to weird places like this." Jiro grumbled as she patted down her uniform, trying to get the dirt off.
"No point in complaining about it now." Tokoyami stepped out of the dirt pile and looked around the dense woods. "We'd better get moving."
A large creature blocked their path forward, just inside the treeline. It was quadrupedal, had a large jaw filled with fangs and four large tusks (two in the jaw itself, while the other two were on the chin), and was the color of dirt. It didn't appear to have any eyes though.
"AN ACTUAL BEAST?!" Kaminari and Sero cried out in shock at seeing such a thing.
"Calm yourself, creature. Please, back down." Koda surprised everyone when he spoke up loudly, but calmly, trying to use his Quirk on the unknown beast.
In response, the beast raised one of its forelimbs and prepared to swipe at Koda.
"Huh?" Koda looked on in shock, his Quirk had never failed to bring an animal under his control before.
"Koda!" Mina yelled out to the boy.
'Koda's Quirk can control animals, but it didn't work on this one?' Izuku rapidly analyzed the strange creature, looking for any reason why his classmate's Quirk would've failed. Seeing dirt falling from the creature's body as it moved, everything clicked into place. 'I get it!'
Four students leapt into action against the beast, while others moved into action to secure Koda.
-Top of the cliff-
"Pretty crazy pace you've got in mind for these kids, Eraser." Mandalay mentioned while Pixie-bob stood at the edge of the cliff, keeping track of the students in the forest with the hundreds of hidden sensors within the area, all of them connected to her visor to give her real time information so that she could control her golems accurately.
"Well, normally these're skills they wouldn't learn until the start of their second year. But we're here now because they need to learn them sooner than that. Hence the sped-up pace." Aizawa explained with a small grimace on his face at what had already happened this year, so far. "They need Provisional Licenses for Quirk usage in emergencies. That way they can act as Heroes if there's a need. The Villains have started to move in coordinated ways now, so even our first years…"
BOOM
"…need self-defense skills." Aizawa finished, ignoring the loud blast that had just gone off in the forest below. "You take over from here, Pixie-bob."
"Ooh, leave it to me! My fur is standing on end!" Pixie-bob had a wide smile on her face, clearly thrilled to challenge the class with her golems as they tried to cross the forest to reach the lodging facility.
"Time to move, Kota." Mandalay told the young boy that they'd brought along with them.
"Ridiculous." Kota huffed out after looking down at the forest for a short time. He followed after Mandalay a moment later.
-Forest-
"RAAAWWWRRR!" Another earth beast roared out, imitating a living creature rather believably.
"How many are there?!" Kaminari questioned loudly, hearing more responding roars from deeper within the forest too.
Jiro stuck one of her jacks into the ground and listened. "We're surrounded! I hear six moving towards us already!"
"I see two more in the sky!" Shoji called out, his Dupli-Arms covered in eyes and extended up into the canopy of trees.
"They can fly?!" Kirishima exclaimed in surprise.
"We don't even have our Gear!" Chikuchi bit out, grabbing at the water bottle she'd brought with her.
"Incoming!" Shoji yelled out.
"RAAWWKK!" A dragon-like earth beast dove from the sky and towards Class 1-A.
Sero launched a line of his tape upward, latching onto a branch and reeling himself in at speed. "I've got this one!" His free elbow launched a thick band of tape that stuck the two wings together and sent the dragon plummeting towards the forest floor.
BAM
The impact threw up dust and dirt.
"Sato! Kirishima!" Sero called out.
"Good thing I always keep a little sugar on hand!" Sato opened a small case he pulled from his pocket and dumped a few sugar cubes into his mouth, quickly swallowing them down to activate his Sugar Rush. "Hah!" The large teen bulked up so much that he shredded his uniform shirt as his muscles bulged and his strength multiplied.
"Let's go!" Kirishima hardened his body, making it take on a rocky structure.
"Hyah!" Sato leaped upwards, uppercutting the dragon so hard that its dirt head shattered into clumps.
Kirishima charged straight through the body, tearing it asunder as he bulldozed through the golem. "Yeah!" He grinned as the creature fell apart into motionless clumps of dirt.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami unleashed his Quirk as another beast charged out of the forest, this one looking more like a bull.
"Got it!" Dark Shadow called back as it slammed into the charging bull head-on and stalled it.
"Down you go!" Mina ran past the front of the bull beast and soaked both of its forelegs in her acid. The dirt crumbled and fell apart, making the bull collapse.
"Thanks!" Dark Shadow now had the advantage as it grabbed the bull beast by the horns and lifted it off the ground, before slamming it headfirst into the earth and shattering it.
Three beasts came out of the opposite side of the forest, looking like traditional oni. All three wielded large logs as clubs as they charged towards the students.
"Aoyama, hit me!" Hagakure had tossed off her shirt entirely, leaving her upper body invisible.
"Bonjour, monstre!" Aoyama fired off his Navel Laser at the invisible girl.
"Refraction!" Hagakure bent the laser and it blasted straight through all three of the dirt oni, reducing them to dust.
"RAAAWWWHHH!" A tiger-like dirt beast charged at Todoroki with a roar.
"Hm." Todoroki was unfazed as a line of ice formed across the ground from his right foot. Spires of ice erupted directly beneath the tiger golem, skewering it and lifting it clear off the ground before freezing it over entirely.
"Outta my way, Icy hot!" Bakugo flew over Todoroki towards a strange-looking beast that seemed based off of Cthulhu. He threw both of his hands forward as they crackled. "DIE!"
BOOM
The top half of the dirt beast vanished in the blast, the lower half falling apart from the shockwave.
"UNDERGROUND!" Jiro called out a warning.
In the center of the students, the ground burst upwards and a massive mole-like beast emerged. "SHHRREEE!"
"Duck and cover!" Momo warned everyone as she threw a rectangular object into the gaping mouth of the mole. Once it had vanished within the beast, Momo pressed the button of a small device in her hand.
BAM
The explosion was muffled, but the mole still burst apart from the inside out.
"Was that C4?!" Camie questioned her girlfriend in shock.
"RAAAHHH!" An earth beast swiped through Camie from behind, only for the girl to disperse into chromatic mist.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Camie reappeared a distance away with a grin.
"Aqua Buzzsaw!" Chikuchi launched a circular blade of water at the beast. The water was spinning so fast that it let out an audible buzz as it sliced through the air. The dirt beast was decapitated instantly as Chikuchi focused on manipulating her limited water supply. It was hard to form her normal nail-like constructs into a circular line of dozens and manipulate it with such precise control. She wouldn't have even been able to consider it before her Internship with Backdraft.
"RAAH!" An earth snake roared, rather than hissed, at Ochako.
"Hup!" Ochako put her new martial arts and increased physical conditioning to the test as she dodged the lunging strike, and placed her hand against the side of the snake, removing its gravity. "Tsu!"
Tsuyu's tongue wrapped around the snake's neck and with a powerful spin, she threw the weightless golem high into the air. "Got it!"
"Release!" Ochako placed the tips of her fingers together.
THUD
The loud crash once more threw up dirt and dust into the air, but the large snake golem was shattered into pieces from the fall.
The forest rumbled as a horde of more of the earth beasts charged in, coming from every direction.
"Are you kidding me?!" Kaminari sparked with electricity before he blurred forward. "Blitzing Ya!" He was on top of one of the large beasts a second later. "900,000 Volt Discharge!" He placed his hands on the beast and unleashed his electricity. The electricity coursed through the golem, finding material to travel through on its way to the ground. The golem was burned black from the powerful current and crumbled a second later. "Yes!" Kaminari cheered, both at taking down one of the beasts, and that he'd been able to successfully regulate his output without his gear.
"Heartbeat Distortion!" Jiro stabbed her jacks into two separate beasts and hit resonant frequency with the dirt they were made of. The two golems visibly vibrated for a half-second before bursting apart into clouds of dirt and dust.
"RAAAHHH!" A bat-like earth beast swooped in from behind Jiro, looking to take her out.
"Dupli-Muscle Whip!" Shoji's three left arms shivered before growing and lengthening as cells rapidly reformed and grew new synovial membranes and articular cartilage as dozens of new joints formed. He lashed out with the three new tentacles and swatted the huge bat golem out of the air, smashing it into the ground and shattering it.
"Thanks, Shoji!" Jiro gave the tall boy a smile as the two best reconnaissance members of Class A went back-to-back.
"No problem!" Shoji called back, his three hands on the right side creating more eyes and ears to make up for the ones that he'd transformed on his left side.
Koda raised his voice to be heard over the melee as he gathered up the animals of the forest. "Come, my friends, fly, swarm, run about! Remove these monsters from the forest!" Hundreds of birds and rodents emerged from the trees to besiege three of the earth beasts, stalling the golems as they were covered in the small animals.
"High-Gear!" Iida blasted forward and demolished the head of the first staggered beast. His feet barely touched the ground before he rocketed upward and blew apart the head of the second beast with a kick. He flipped around in midair, his feet touching a thick tree branch, before he blurred forward (snapping the tree branch) and destroyed the final golem's head with a downward kick before it could react.
Iida felt proud that he'd pulled off the advanced technique that his brother had shown him during his Internship. It could be done without any support gear, but it took a lot of fine motor control that, up until that point, Iida had simply lacked. Tensei had been an incredible teacher, just as Tenya always knew that he would be.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM
Izuku was rapidly launching compressed spheres of air at every earth beast he saw. A lesson that Endeavor had taught both Shoto and Izuku had been how to be precise with their overwhelming power. A Hero couldn't just wreck an entire city block and write it off as collateral damage. There would be investigations, hearings, and a very good chance of having their license suspended or revoked if they went overboard without reason.
Izuku was using one of his go-to combinations of Air Compression, Amplification, and Force Projection. To make a pseudo-Air Cannon which he launched bullets of air with. His thinking having been broadened from his instruction with Endeavor, Izuku now packed more air into smaller spaces, upping the explosive force the individual spheres had when they expanded after hitting something. It was certainly reducing the large numbers of earth beasts to nothing more than clumps of dirt in a short timeframe.
-Pussy Cats' Catnip Inn-
Aizawa ignored the sign next to the front doors of the facility. What the Pussycats named their base of operations was irrelevant, as long as the students' training could be done properly.
"Ah! The first-half of the litter is almost here." Pixie-bob grinned as she and Mandalay stood near Aizawa.
"Hmm, a little longer than I thought." Mandalay looked at her watch, seeing the current time was 3:45pm.
"Hey, they're still doing better than the other half." Pixie-bob had a wicked grin on her face. "They'll be here in another hour at the rate they're going." She giggled darkly at what her earth beasts were putting the two classes through.
The twenty members of Class 1-A came staggering out of the forest. All of them were clearly worn out, several showing signs of kickback from overusing their Quirks. Bakugo was grinding his teeth while holding his shaking right arm, his left trembling as well, but to a lesser degree. Todoroki noticeably had a few small patches of frost on his right side as well as some singe marks on his left side. Iida was practically dragging his feet, small puffs of smoke coming from his exhaust pipes every now and then. Mina was tottering along, looking a little unsteady on her feet, a sure sign of dehydration setting in from overusing her Quirk. Jiro's jacks looked to be twitching in time with her heartbeat as she trudged forward. Koda was gently massaging his throat, never having to yell and scream so much in his life. Kirishima, Sato, Shoji, Toru, and Chikuchi all looked exhausted, barely moving forward with each step before practically collapsing in front of the instructors. Camie, Tsuyu, Ochako, and Momo were showing signs of Quirk overuse and exhaustion. Momo was gently cradling her head; a headache had set in as she'd gone through a large amount of her body's fat stores to keep up with the endless horde of earth beasts. Ochako had one arm wrapped around her stomach, and the opposite hand covering her mouth, trying not to puke as her nausea set in. Tsuyu's tongue was hanging out of her mouth a little, the muscle clearly worn out from use. Camie was doing her best to walk straight, but her throat was a bit raw and her lungs were a bit overworked from her Quirk. With his girlfriends, Izuku was probably looking the most exhausted. The Class Rep looked to barely be on his feet, extreme fatigue having clearly set in, and if he laid down, he'd probably be out in moments.
"You said three hours…" Tokoyami, looking incredibly ruffled, spoke to Pixie-bob and Mandalay. Dark Shadow was nowhere to be seen, the sentient Quirk having retreated within Tokoyami and not coming out.
"It…wasn't…close…" Aoyama was holding his stomach; the overuse of his Quirk had made him sore beyond belief and he was glad that he hadn't eaten much for breakfast or else he'd have probably thrown it up from the kickback.
"Y-yay…" Kaminari had ended up shorting himself out for the first time in a while. His face blank as he came to a stop, wobbling in place but his brain was too fried to decide to sit down.
"I guess we timed it based on how long it would take us. Sorry." Mandalay put the index finger of her puffy glove to her chin with a grin.
"Flaunting the power gap in our faces? That's so mean…" Sato grumbled from where he'd nearly collapsed on the ground.
Pixie-bob giggled behind her large gloves. "I thought it would take you even longer! I did use medium-difficulty after all!"
"M-Medium…?" Izuku barely looked up at the Pro Hero.
"Oh yes! You're still students! First years, at that! I wouldn't put you through the hard-difficulty that we train with!" Pixie-bob waved the students off with a laugh.
"I-If that was…medium…what is 'hard' like…?" Kirishima couldn't help but ask.
"If it was hard mode, then I'd have made multiple beasts that were large enough to shake the ground when they walked…the flying beasts would've dropped large boulders from the air randomly without ever getting low enough for you to attack them…there would've been at least five human-sized beasts that were made with super-compressed dirt that would make them denser than rock without losing out in speed much…so on and so forth." Pixie-bob smiled at them wickedly. "It would've been a literal hell for you kittens!"
All of Class 1-A, even those too proud to admit it, silently thanked all that was good in the world for not having to go through the hard mode.
"But you all dealt with my earth beasts well!" Pixie-bob smiled at them. "Especially you four!" She pointed at Todoroki, Bakugo, Iida, and Izuku. "Oh, we could have such fun a few years from now! I should mark you as mine now!" She took a step forward only to stop when she saw the four girls between her and Izuku. "Oh… I see, I see…" She grinned at the four girls that were doing their best to glare at her.
"Hey, Mandalay, was she always like this?" Aizawa looked over to the leader of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
"It's gotten worse recently." Mandalay sighed. "She's at the age that she's starting to worry about finding a mate."
Izuku noticed the small kid from before glaring at them all and pointed towards him. "Excuse me…but whose kid is that?"
"Oh? That's my nephew, Kota." Mandalay smiled at the boy. "Don't be shy, Kota, say 'hi', you'll be seeing these guys for the next week."
Izuku trudged over with a smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Midoriya from U.A.'s Hero Course." He introduced himself to the young boy.
Kota lashed out and punched Izuku in the junk.
"KOTA!" Mandalay raised her voice and the boy flinched slightly, knowing he'd be punished for his actions.
"…." Izuku's mouth opened, but no sounds came out as he fell to his knees from the unexpected nut shot.
"Midoriya!" Iida rushed over to his friend's side as fast as his exhausted body would let him. "You fiend of a child! Why would you do that?! A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!"
"Little brat!" Camie hissed out, a sharp glare promising retribution burning into the boy. The four young women wanted to enjoy a happy family life with Izuku in the future, but to do that he had to be 'in working order' below the belt!
Kota turned to glare at Iida, specifically avoiding Camie's glare in the process. "The last thing I want is to hang around with some wannabe Heroes."
"That brat's got spunk." Bakugo actually grinned at Kota.
Todoroki looked over at Bakugo with a flat stare. "He's like a mini version of you."
"Huh?! What're you talking about?! You can just shut your mouth before I blast you straight to hell, Icy hot!" Bakugo growled at Todoroki.
"Yeah, sure…" Todoroki clearly didn't care about Bakugo's threat.
"Enough playing around." Aizawa spoke up, making all of the students turn to face him. "Get your luggage off the bus. After you've put it in your rooms, then we'll have dinner in the cafeteria, after that you can bathe and sleep." He laid out the plan for the rest of the day. From the looks of things, the students would need the extra sleep anyway. "Tomorrow your training starts in earnest. You'd better get a move on." Aizawa motioned towards the front doors.
-Later ~ Cafeteria-
A massive feast had been prepared for the students. Table after table was ladened with all types of food, from the simple to more complex dishes. Beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables, fruit, rice, everything that the students could want was provided for their dinner.
"Thank you for the food!" All forty students clapped their hands in front of them in thanks. Two seconds later and the food was being devoured rapidly by the hungry teens.
Kaminari ate his tonkatsu with joy before starting to scarf down his rice. "It's so good! Almost as good as Lunch Rush's food!"
"I can't stop!" Kirishima exclaimed, eating his own tonkatsu and savoring the flavors as life returned to his body.
The Pussy Cats, all four members including the bubbly Ragdoll and the muscular Tiger, were moving back and forth through the cafeteria, bringing the students more food.
"Hahaha! You kids act like you haven't eaten in a week!" Pixie-bob laughed as she took an empty platter and set out a new one piled high with freshly-made gyoza. "Anyway, today's the only day we'll be doing this for you. So make sure that you enjoy it!"
"Yes ma'am!" Kirishima and Kaminari thanked her.
"So you guys had to fight those dirt monsters too?" Awase asked Sato as they ate across from each other. Both Aizawa and Class 1-B's homeroom teacher, Vlad King, had encouraged the students to intermingle and sit amongst each other.
"Yeah…" Sato finished chewing his food and swallowed. "You too?"
"We had a hard time with them until we figured out some quick and effective strategies." Awase stared off into space for a moment before shaking his head and resuming eating.
"It's amazing that Miss Pixie-bob can control so many, yes?" Pony Tsunotori, an exchange student from America, asked with a smile. Her Japanese was passable, but she seemed to get the grammar and sentence structure off from time-to-time.
"It really is." Hiryu Rin nodded in agreement before taking another bite of his food.
"Aww, you kids are sweet." Pixie-bob laughed as she overheard them. "But forty kittens are no problem for me!"
"Tiger and Ragdoll practically laughed at us when we dragged ourselves out of the forest…shroom." Komori Kinoko, a short girl in Class 1-B with her brunette hair styled sort of like a mushroom, mentioned as she set down her drink and started on her plate of food again.
Class 1-B had fought their way through the forest on the opposite side of the 'Catnip Inn' while watched over by Ragdoll and Tiger. Fighting against the earth beasts for hours on end had left them as beaten, exhausted, and starving as Class A had been.
"Damn… Those two can really pack it away." Tetsutetsu commented as he watched Momo and Izuku eat side-by-side.
"Indeed." Shishida Jurota, a large student of Class B with beast-like features, agreed with a nod. "I thought I ate a lot." He chuckled as he was already on his third plate while everyone else was just starting their second.
Except for Izuku and Momo.
"It's wonderful!" Momo praised the cooking as she ate vigorously. She was already finishing off her fourth plate.
"So good!" Izuku agreed with his girlfriend, eating a third bowl of katsudon. It wasn't as good as his mom's, but it was still his favorite!
Camie giggled at them brightly. "Say 'aah'…" She held a piece of tempura with her chopsticks.
"Mmh." Momo blushed as Camie fed her instead of Izuku. Camie only grinned and playfully wiggled her eyebrows.
"Aah…" Ochako blushed adorably as she fed Izuku some of her chicken.
"Mmm!" Izuku beamed at her as he enjoyed the teriyaki flavor. His face went a bit red when Tsuyu's tongue crossed the table and licked a stray bit of sauce from the corner of his lip.
"Kero." Tsuyu smiled, seeming pleased with herself.
Izuku and Momo were both red in the face now as they were fed.
To be fair to the two, both of their Quirks required a large amount of energy to work. Momo's used energy to convert matter and her lipids as a framework for her creations. Izuku's myriad of Quirks took a considerable amount of energy to activate and maintain, especially when he compiled multiple Quirks together as he often did. It was little surprise that they were both big eaters.
-Bath Time-
In the men's bath the male students enjoyed the large hot spring with happy sighs, a few of them even splashing around a bit with each other.
Izuku was relaxed, his back against the side of the spring and his arms spread out atop the rocks that lined the edge. The hot water felt amazing on his muscles after working so hard to get through the forest today.
"Hey, how thick do you think that wall is?" Tsuburaba from Class B asked with a chuckle.
"Really?" Honenuki deadpanned at his classmate.
"What? I'm just wondering?" Tsuburaba grinned. "You think Kaibara or Kamakiri could make a little hole?"
"Like hell." Kamakiri Togaru denied instantly. He was a tall boy with blades on each side of his face, mimicking mandibles. He had a green mohawk and his face was elongated somewhat, almost resembling a lizard. Kamakiri was notably similar to Bakugo in personality, being both competitive and a bit hotheaded.
"You trying to get us expelled or something?" Kaibara lightly glared at Tsuburaba as he relaxed in the hot water.
"I wouldn't try that, if I were you." Aoyama spoke up from nearby, a small grin on his face. "Four of those mademoiselles are Midoriya's girlfriends."
"Eh?" Tsuburaba blinked in surprise.
The widening of all of the other boys' eyes as a shadow fell over them only made things more ominous. Looking up, they all saw a large hand made of water above them, just waiting to grab anyone that tried to make a move towards the large wooden wall that separated the male and female sides. Every guy in the spring looked over to see Izuku staring at Tsuburaba with his right hand now dunked into the hot spring as he used Tactile Hydrokinesis to manipulate the water.
"H-hey…just a joke, M-Midoriya." Tsuburaba held up his hands with a shaky smile.
"Good." Izuku spoke in a tone that none of his classmates had ever heard from him. "Be more tactful, please."
"S-Sure thing!" Tsuburaba nodded rapidly and sank down into the water.
The large water hand slowly dropped back into the water as well, making large ripples in the hot spring for a few moments. Izuku was back to relaxing a moment later, a smile returned to his face.
Over on the girl's side, the conversation was different.
"This feels amazing…" Toru sighed happily.
"I'm so glad they have a hot spring here." Jiro agreed, relaxing back into the water.
All fifteen girls in the first year Hero Course were enjoying the large bath after the rough first day of their summer camp training.
"I must admit to being slightly concerned that some of the boys may try to peep." Shiozaki Ibara looked at the top of the wall as she sat in the hot spring up to her neck.
Chikuchi raised her hand above the water with a lazy smile. "If they do…" The water in her palm rose up and formed two long spikes. "I'll put water nails in their eyes."
"Oh damn." Setsuna laughed at the viciousness from the other girl.
"You don't have to worry about that. Kero." Tsuyu shook her head with a soft smile. "Izukun wouldn't let them."
"Not with us in here at any rate." Camie laughed a bit, relaxing against the edge, her girls floating a bit in the water, showing off just how busty she was.
Ochako flushed adorably. "Izukun would definitely stop anyone from trying to peek." She covered her cheeks with her hands as she sat next to Tsuyu in the hot water.
"He's a gentleman." Momo smiled beautifully, making the other girls smile back reflexively. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Oh wow, shroom, all four of you?" Kinoko giggled out, looking between the four girls.
"Yep!" Camie popped the 'p' with a warm smile on her face.
Pony leaned forward with interest. "Have you gotten far…in relationship?" She stumbled over the last part of her sentence as her Japanese was a little lacking.
"Pony!" Kendo looked at the exchange student with a slightly amused smile. "You shouldn't ask that."
"We haven't done anything too naughty." Camie teased, sticking the tip of her tongue between her pouty lips.
"Camie!" Ochako and Momo both looked at her with red faces.
"Kero." Tsuyu sank into the water a little deeper, but there was still a wide smile on her face.
"Mm." Yui made a small sound, the edges of her mouth curving upwards in a slight smile. "Congratulations."
The four girls would be playfully 'interrogated' by the other girls that were eager to know what a relationship was like. Mina and Toru some of the worst about it as they giggled and asked for the 'juicy details' about what the fivesome got up to when alone.
After baths, Izuku happily met up with his girlfriends, all five of them wearing comfy yukata provided by the Pussycats, as if their base really was an inn. The five of them relaxed, had some drinks, and just chatted and cuddled a little before separating for bedtime. Lights out was enforced, and they all had to be up early tomorrow, according to Aizawa.
Every one of the Hero Course students was looking forward to this training camp and getting stronger.
They would all give it their best!
Chapter 41 – Quirk Strength Training
At exactly five-thirty in the morning, the forty students that made up Classes 1-A and 1-B trudged out of the 'Catnip Inn' to stand in front of their homeroom teachers. Most of them barely looked awake, some were yawning, while others tried to clear the sleep from their eyes.
"Good, you're all here." Aizawa looked over the students.
"So early…" Kaminari yawned.
Vlad King nodded sharply at the comment. "Get used to it, training will start at this time every single day of the camp." His words made more than a few of the students physically droop.
"This past semester you've learned the very basics of what you need to be a Hero." Aizawa said in his normal flat tone. "Laws and regulations, support gear, combat, and you've learned new ways to utilize your Quirks."
Vlad took over. "You've also been honing your minds and improving your physical conditioning." The Blood Hero commented on the schoolwork they'd been doing as well as their physical training. "But your Quirks haven't kept pace with the rest of your development."
"Our Quirks?" Nirengeki Shoda, a somewhat short teen that was Class 1-B's Vice-Representative, questioned his homeroom teacher.
Aizawa tossed a familiar softball-sized device at Izuku.
Izuku looked at the ball that he'd caught curiously. "Isn't this from the Quirk Aptitude Test?"
"Your distance on the first day was 1,410.3m. Try it now and see the difference." Aizawa motioned for Izuku to step off to the side and throw the ball.
"Wow, fourteen-hundred meters?" Setsuna whistled. "Manga got the farthest of any of us and his was eleven-hundred meters." She looked over at a teen with what appeared to be a comic book speech bubble for a head. Truly one of the most extreme of physical mutations granted by Quirks, especially considering that it wasn't the young man's actual Quirk, but a remnant mutation from his family tree.
As Izuku walked over to where Aizawa was pointing, he heard multiple of his classmate's making predictions on how far he'd launch it this time.
"You think he'll hit two kilometers this time?" Mina questioned, some excitement building up and pushing away her lethargy.
"We've been through a lot these past three months! Throw that sucker, Midoriya!" Sero cheered their Class Rep on.
Izuku held the palm in his hand and extended his arm at a forty five degree angle, quickly compiling the Quirks that would get him the longest physical throw. Air Compression, Amplification, Enhance Function, Kinetic Boost, Force Multiplier, and Force Projection. With more focus he compressed more air than he had been able to back at the start of the year and then blasted the ball with it.
BAM
A massive blast of air rocketed the ball into the sky and into the distance. If anyone had been sleepy before, they were wide awake now.
Aizawa looked at the measuring device in his hand, waiting for the result. There was a 'ding' and the homeroom teacher's expression barely changed. "1,425.9m." Aizawa showed everyone the screen.
"Huh? Only fifteen more?" Camie blinked at the lack of increased distance. She knew how hard Izuku worked on his Quirks these past few months.
"Class 1-A has been through a lot in this first semester." Vlad acknowledged the class with a nod. "But your Quirks haven't been keeping up with your physical development, which forces you to give up on some applications for your Quirks and focus on what you can do right now. If you want to improve as future Heroes, then you have to strengthen your Quirks."
Setsuna briefly raised her hand and got a motion from Vlad to speak. "You say 'strengthen your Quirks' like it's no big deal, but there's forty of us, each with a different Quirk… How do we each go about doing this?"
"We need more details here." Kamakiri agreed with Setsuna, not understanding how they'd all strengthen their Quirks.
"Class 1-B has been fortunate enough to avoid the disruptions to U.A.'s curriculum that Class 1-A has experienced." Aizawa said as he looked at Class 1-B. "Because of this, your growth has been steady and in line with how U.A. normally develops our students. I'm sure you recall from class that Quirks can be vaguely compared to muscles. The more you work them, the more they develop." He got nods from Class B. "Simply put, instead of steadily working your Quirks up as you age, like normal, we'll be deliberately pushing your Quirks past their breaking points to make them stronger, just like the tears in a muscle healing and reforming stronger."
"But with forty of us, can six people effectively help everyone?" Itsuka questioned politely, not wanting to doubt her teacher, nor their hosts, but it was quite the numerical disparity.
"That's why we have these ladies." Aizawa motioned to the side.
"That's right! We're four parts of a whole!" Ragdoll declared brightly.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" Mandalay declared.
"We've come to lend a paw and help!" Ragdoll continued.
"We've come from…somewhere…" Tiger spoke his part ominously.
"Stunningly cute and catlike!" Pixie-bob exclaimed.
"Wild, Wild Pussycats!" The four posed together, now able to complete their well-known Hero Team routine.
A few members of Class A and B clapped for the Pussycats, though all of the students were clearly a bit taken aback by the sudden arrival and posing.
"My Quirk is called Search!" Ragdoll grinned brightly at the students. "I know almost everything about a person just by looking at them! That includes weaknesses and their location! Up to one-hundred people at a time!"
"With my Earth Flow I can make the ideal training ground for each and every one of you!" Pixie-bob demonstrated by making large hills and cliffs form from the dirt dozens of meters away.
"And I use my Telepath to give advice to all of you in real time!" Mandalay smiled at the students.
"And I'm here to beat you into shape." Tiger said plainly.
'That's really different from the other three!' The students all thought at the same time.
"All of you power-up types come with me." Tiger beckoned them over with one of the claws on his puffy cat glove. "My bootcamp is ready to go."
Several students strode over, looking warily at the Pro Hero, already knowing they were in for a rough time.
Vlad looked at the students again before they were divided up for training. "Emitter types with maximum output levels need to raise their limits. Mutant Types need to strengthen their bodies and the traits that come along with their Quirks. Transformation Types need to increase the speed of their shifting and make it more fluid and natural on top of further increasing their abilities granted by their transformations."
"This'll be so hard that you'll wish that you were dead, so do your best to stay alive." Aizawa smiled at the students, the look coming off as vaguely sadistic to all of them. As if Class 1-A's homeroom teacher would be getting a laugh out of their coming suffering.
'That's NOT reassuring at all!' All forty students screamed in their heads simultaneously.
"Plus Ultra, right? Show me that ultra." Tiger demanded of the students under his instruction. Not a single student in the group didn't tremble at least a bit.
Because of Izuku's myriad of Quirks, his training needed to be equally varied. In the early morning, he was part of Tiger's bootcamp. Working out his body while Tiger acted much like a drill sergeant.
"Now. Come at me." Tiger ordered Izuku several minutes into the training.
Physicality Boost, Kinetic Boost, Enhance Function, Force Multiplier, Amplification. Izuku compiled the five Quirks in just a second or so and launched a kick at Tiger.
"Okaaay. Not quite fast enough yet!" Tiger used his Pliabody Quirk to bend around Izuku's kick in ways no normal human could hope to replicate. "Cat Punch!" Then he socked Izuku right in the face, putting the teen on his ass. "That's proof that you're not ripping those muscles enough yet!"
"Yes, sir!" Izuku mumbled out as he forced himself off the ground.
"I can't hear you!" Tiger bellowed.
"YES, SIR!" Izuku hollered back as he rejoined the others exercising.
Tiger moved on to the next student that he'd test, never choosing any two consecutive students and always seemingly at random from the group after everyone had gone a round. Any one of them could be called out at any time, whether it was in the middle of an exercise, or while they were climbing one of the cliffs, or running up one of the hills. If they didn't respond fast enough, a 'Cat Punch' would find its way to their face in no time.
Late morning until lunchtime saw Izuku working on control and output with his various Quirks. Pixie-bob would create walls, obstacles, targets, and even humanoid golems for Izuku to either destroy, avoid, or subdue. All of the Pro Heroes creations were moving as well, forcing Izuku to adapt on the fly, straining his reaction and mental flexibility.
"Gah!" Izuku yelped out as he was clocked in the back by a dirt golem's fist. Just a half-second ago he'd nearly blasted a target that was shaped like a woman pushing a stroller. That was one of the targets he was supposed to avoid. His forceful halt of his reaction to the sudden appearance had made him too slow to react to the next enemy that appeared.
"You won't last long as a Pro Hero if you take too long to assess and react to every situation in an emergency, Midoriya!" Pixie-bob's voice called out from outside of his section of the training area.
"Yes, ma'am!" Izuku got back to his feet to continue the exercise.
"There's a flow to everything, Midoriya." Mandalay's telepathy sounded within Izuku's mind. "Even in a chaotic situation, you can find this flow if you keep yourself aware. Look at the entire situation, don't get tunnel vision on one small thing at a time."
Izuku knew that Mandalay could only send messages with her Quirk, not receive them, but he sent her a mental thanks anyway as he started again. He did his best to spread his awareness to try and understand the 'flow' of the situation that Mandalay told him about.
After lunch was Practical Training for everyone. Today was sparring between members of Class A and Class B. Naturally, some people were a bit more competitive than others about such things.
"Hahaha! The time has come at last, Class A, for us of Class B to show you our superiority!" Monoma declared while pointing at the other class.
"Sit down." Itsuka chopped Monoma into the dirt. It was clear that she was in no mood to deal with his normal shenanigans after a full morning of grueling training.
Vlad and Aizawa left the matchups to a randomizer and the first match of the afternoon was between Kamakiri and Izuku.
Once both boys stood across from each other, their classmates sitting on one side with their teachers, while the four Pussycats and the young Kota sat on the opposite side, the rules were given.
"This is free sparring, but as Heroes you're required to know how to control your Quirks. The loss of life is something that we Heroes always strive to prevent. While injuries are expected, if you take it too far, you will be punished, understood?" Vlad's strong voice and dead serious gaze made it clear there wasn't any room for excuses.
"Yes, sir." Kamakiri and Izuku both nodded to the teacher.
"Begin." Aizawa started the match, his eyes focused and ready to activate his Quirk if anything went wrong.
From each of Kamakiri's arms a large, sharp blade formed in less than a second. "This is my Quirk, Razor Sharp, I think it's pretty self-explanatory." He took up a stance that spoke of years of learning how to fight with his Quirk.
"Transformation Type, blades form from the body, probably any part of the body and not just your limbs. Are the size and shape of the blades you produce freely under your control too?" Izuku's green eyes were bright at getting to see Kamakiri's Quirk up close. His Quirk Nerd was on full display as he analyzed the other student's Quirk.
"Eh? How'd he know that already?" Kaibara looked between Izuku and his classmates.
Jurota also looked confused, but offered a plausible idea. "Do you think he watched recordings of the Sports Festival?" Kamakiri had sliced through the surviving robots of the Robo Inferno during the obstacle race.
"That's definitely something that Izukun would do." Tsuyu smiled as she watched her boyfriend.
"Not that he would need to in order to understand someone else's Quirk." Ochako said with a small giggle.
"What's that mean?" Awase looked over at the two girls curiously.
"Izuku is a very skilled analyst when it comes to Quirks." Momo was the one that answered the question. "In just two days of classes, he knew more about my Quirk than I did." That got many in Class B to nearly gape. "I'd been making an incorrect assumption about how my Quirk functioned since I was four, and it actually held me back more than I realized."
Itsuka looked thoughtful for a second before looking at Momo. "Your Quirk is super complex and lets you make all sorts of items and gear on the fly. By comparison, Kamakiri's is much, much simpler. So will Midoriya have Razor Sharp figured out before this spar ends?"
"Probably." Camie shrugged with a little grin on her lips. "He'll probably have most of your Quirks figured out by tomorrow or the next day too."
Ching
What sounded like metal meeting metal rang out, getting everyone to focus on the spar as it started in earnest.
"The hell?" Kamakiri pushed his left blade against Izuku's bare forearm. Instead of making a cut like he'd intended, his blade had stopped on Midoriya's blade-like arm!
"I don't get many chances to practice with this combination, Kamakiri-san, so thank you." Izuku thanked his opponent sincerely as he broke the deadlock and swiped his left hand towards Kamakiri's midsection.
Ching
Kamakiri's right blade blocked Izuku's knife-like fingers, stopping them cold. "You think you can beat me at my own game, huh?!" He demanded as he proved his experience by quickly forcing Izuku backwards as they clashed again and again.
'The combination of Sharpen, Durability Up, Physicality Boost, Enhance Function, Kinetic Boost, and Amplification is working well enough.' Izuku thought to himself as he blocked one of Kamakiri's blades with his left hand and then grabbed it with his own sharp fingers. He yanked the blade to the side, opening up Kamakiri's guard, and thrust his right hand forward in a spearhand strike.
Ching
Izuku's hypothesis was proven correct as Kamakiri produced a blade from his chest to block the strike.
Lactic Acid Elimination Izuku added another Quirk to his 'stack' as he saw that this spar was going to require a good amount of physical effort. After the training the students had already gone through, Izuku didn't need his muscles burning and seizing up from the buildup of lactic acid in them. As the building burn in his muscles faded away, Izuku was able to more easily exert himself for longer against Kamakiri's fast blade play.
Ching
Ching
Ching
Ching
Ching
Ching
"Tch!" Kamakiri was surprised that Izuku was keeping up with him so well. They'd clashed a dozen times already, but neither of them had scored a single real blow against the other yet. "You're not too bad, Midoriya."
"Thanks, you're really good with your Quirk!" Izuku returned the compliment with a grin. It would've been a smile, but the pace of the spar made that a little hard right now.
Vlad watched the spar with sharp and experienced eyes, noticing that while Kamakiri was easily the more skilled of the two when it came to using blades, Izuku was making up for it with many unorthodox tactics. After all, not just anyone could grab one of Kamakiri's blades that could slice through metal, when the teen tried, and come out fine. "Why isn't Midoriya ending the spar already? With what I know just from the Sports Festival, he should've been able to disable Kamakiri already."
"He's training himself." Aizawa answered easily, still ready to activate his Quirk and forcibly end the spar if he needed to. "With so many Quirks, there's bound to be some that Midoriya rarely uses. Combinations that he can't practice with against others, barring rare exceptions, without the risk of fatally injuring his partner. He's making a rational decision to limit himself in this spar, to better himself as a Hero."
The students were equally surprised that the match was still going on.
Kirishima was, of course, pumped up at the match. "So manly, Midoriya! You too, Kamakiri!" He cheered for both of them.
"Yeah! You two are awesome!" Tetsutetsu was equally as enthusiastic about the spar.
"Nothing against Kamakiri, but couldn't Midoriya have already ended this match if he wanted to?" Kinoko questioned her friends curiously.
"Maybe. But sparring is for practicing and learning about your own strengths and weaknesses as a fighter." Itsuka, a martial artist herself, felt like she understood what Izuku was doing. "I think he's making sure that both he and Kamakiri get the most that they can out of this sparring match."
Ching Ching
Kamakiri and Izuku locked blades again. More specifically, Kamakiri's two arm blades had been grabbed by Izuku's sharpened hands and held in place. Not one to let himself be beaten, Kamakiri created a blade from his foot, straight through his shoe, and kicked upward at Izuku's stomach.
Thump
A translucent green barrier had appeared over Izuku's torso, blocking the blade completely.
Heat Generation, Temperature Fluctuation Izuku compiled two more Quirks, letting them be boosted by the various enhancement Quirks that he was already using.
Sssss
A hissing sound came from Kamairi's arm blades as Izuku's sharpened hands began to glow with intense heat.
"What the hell?!" Kamakiri tried to jerk his blades out of Izuku's grip, but 1-A's Class Rep wouldn't let go. The normally white blades quickly blackened from the burning heat. "Let go!" Kamakiri launched a rapid series of kicks with each leg, both of them covered in sharp blades. The attacks hit the barrier between him and Izuku, but they did no damage.
"Surrender." Izuku gave Kamakiri a way out even as the heat from his hands started to make the blackened blades glow a dull red. The color was starting to spread from where Izuku was holding the sharp blades, and if nothing was done, the blistering heat would reach Kamakiri's arms soon enough.
Kamakiri continued to struggle, even going so far as to grow a blade from his forehead and try to strike Izuku with it.
That didn't work out though, given that Izuku had suddenly grown an extra 83cm taller and was now holding Kamakiri off the ground. The increase in size that came from using the Half Giant Quirk let him hold Kamakiri far enough away from his body that the forehead blade couldn't reach him.
"Grah!" Kamakiri lashed out with both legs again, but the barrier that had disappeared when Izuku had transformed reappeared even larger. Every kick hit the barrier, but didn't accomplish anything.
Realizing that Kamakiri wasn't the type to give up, even at the risk of bodily harm, Izuku went a different route to securing his victory. Canceling Heat Generation and Temperature Fluctuation, Izuku instead looked into Kamakiri's eyes. Paralyze Glare made Izuku's eyes shine for a moment and Kamakiri went limp in his grip.
"You're done." Aizawa spoke up firmly.
Izuku shrank back to his normal height and gently set Kamakiri on the ground as he deactivated all of his Quirks. A quick use of Paralyze Glare returned Kamakiri's mobility to him.
"Damn it." Kamakiri cursed quietly as he sat up.
"Thanks for the good match, Kamakiri-san!" Izuku smiled at the other teen as he held out his hand to help the other boy up. To everyone else, it was an act of good sportsmanship, and further proof of Izuku's good character.
But to Bakugo, it brought back a very specific memory. A memory of just over a decade ago, when he and Izuku had still been just little kids. The log over the creek at the park. How he'd slipped and fallen into the stream. Izuku holding out his small hand to help Bakugo up with that look on his face…one that a young Bakugo had mistaken for pity. But now, with his ego thoroughly beaten down from the first semester of U.A., and the benefits of both age and hindsight, Bakugo…Katsuki…understood that Izuku had never been pitying him. The other little boy had been genuinely concerned that he could've gotten hurt from his fall. He'd just wanted to make sure that his friend was okay.
'I'm a fucking idiot…' Bakugo thought in the privacy of his own mind. Without the mountain of trash that was his over-inflated ego in the way, the intelligent young man could admit that simple fact to himself. He'd let a simple mistake as a child build up into years of problems and at least a mental complex or two. In his quest to be his ideal of a Hero, someone that never lost, he'd come much closer to acting like a Villain instead. 'Damn it… Am I really this fucking stupid?' All of the small cracks that had formed in Bakugo Katsuki's massive ego and self-absorbed personality since he'd enrolled at U.A. finally manifested as a breakthrough for the teen. How fast he'd come to terms with his newfound realization, and when he'd seek any kind of help for his complexes, was still up in the air. But it was a start, an opportunity, for the young man to make himself a better person.
While Bakugo was having his epiphany, someone else was still mired in their own tumultuous emotions as they watched the green-haired Hero-wannabe.
"Stupid…" Kota grumbled under his breath, glaring at Izuku as the teen left the field with Kamakiri.
-4pm ~ Dinner Preparation-
Tables were filled with familiar ingredients. Brick camp stoves were lined up along one side of the covered tables, waiting to be filled with firewood and lit.
The forty worn out students stood before the area, some confused, others already having figured out what was coming.
"Like we said, the pampering ended yesterday!" Pixie-bob declared with a laugh.
"If you wanna eat, you have to cook for yourselves!" Ragdoll smiled as she clawed at the air, her energy seemingly boundless. "Today is curry!"
"Yes, ma'am…" Came the weary reply.
Ragdoll laughed brightly at the forty students. "You all look worse for wear! That's why this is no mere kitty chow that you'll be making!"
Ida perked up and held his chin for a second. "But of course… In times of disaster and evacuation, someone needs to fill the bellies and soothe the souls of fatigued citizens. That too, is part of rescue operations." He turned to the other thirty-nine students and raised his voice. "Naturally, U.A. never misses a teaching opportunity! So, let's make the tastiest curry in the world, everyone!" He chopped his hand through the air to emphasize his determination.
"Yeah…" Some of the students half-heartedly replied, the rest didn't even bother.
In the next few minutes the students were washed up and preparing ingredients, starting the fires, and getting their dinner started.
"Bakugo! You can't make fire with explosions!" Sero backed away from the brick camp stove that Bakugo was near.
"Watch me!" Bakugo placed his palm against the firewood in the bottom. With focus, he controlled the amount of his nitroglycerin-like sweat that was released.
Bam
A small blast made the dried wood jump a few centimeters. When it hit the ground again a few smoldering embers let off some wispy smoke.
"Heh." Bakugo gently blew on the embers, feeding them extra oxygen, until they burst into small flames that started to spread and slowly consume the firewood. "You were saying, Elbows?"
"Okay, okay. You were right." Sero waved it off.
"Can we get some fire over here, Todoroki?" Mina called out from the stove that she and Toru were tending to.
Momo looked over from her stove and spoke up. "Everyone! If we always rely on others we'll never learn to make fire ourselves!" Her hand glowed in a rainbow of colors as she produced a lighter with a long nozzle and casually flicked it on to start the fire.
Jiro snickered from beside Momo. "You make it look so easy, Yaomomo."
"It's alright, I don't mind." Todoroki walked over to Mina and Toru's stove. He kneeled down and held out his left hand. Flames snapped to life from his palm and easily ignited the firewood.
"Thanks, Todoroki!" Toru laughed as she and Mina watched the flames grow.
Izuku sent a mental thank you to his dad before inhaling and then exhaling flames onto the firewood of his and Ochako's stove. The fire was crackling away, ready to cook, a few seconds later.
"You make it so easy, Izukun." Ochako giggled and pecked his cheek when no one was looking.
"Huh, you're really good with a knife, Bakugo. It's kinda surprising, ya know?" Camie was stunned by how quickly the ash blonde was able to prep the ingredients. She was only about half as fast as she didn't want to worry about cutting herself.
"What do you mean 'surprising'? How can you all be bad with them?" Bakugo scoffed as he went back to his slicing of the vegetables.
After the curry had been made, it vanished even faster.
The ravenous stomachs of forty teenagers should never be doubted.
After dinner but before lights out was free time. This would usually be the time the students would bathe and then spend time relaxing and playing games together. Unless you were one of the two remedial students (Monoma and Bakugo), of course. But this evening, as the sun began its slow descent towards the horizon, a different idea was had by many of the students.
-River-
Among the expansive forest and mountain area that the Pussycats owned, a river flowed as well. It dropped down from a rocky cliff in a waterfall near the edge of the property and flowed through the forest and then out into a rock and grassy area. In the heat of summer, and with a bit of time until sunset, it was little surprise that swimming was brought up.
"Cannonball!" Kirishima yelled as he jumped into the deeper part of the river.
"Yeah! Swim time!" Tetsutetsu dived in before resurfacing a short distance away.
"It's nice and cool." Chikuchi sighed happily as she stepped into the water with Jiro right beside her.
As the girls approached the river together, most of the boys (the ones that decided to come at least) turned to watch.
Mina and Setsuna, both seeing the attention of the boys, grinned and tossed their towels on a large, mostly flat rock not too far from the river. "Enjoy the view, boys!" The two flirty girls called out loudly, making a few of the boys look away at being caught.
It was quite a scene for the boys that didn't look away though. All of their female classmates were lovely and cute. In their chosen swimsuits, the boys saw far more skin than they normally did. Some went for one piece suits, like Ibara and Tsuyu, while others went for bikinis. The levels of 'skimpy' varied among the girls, of course.
Camie proudly strutted her way towards Izuku in her black thong bikini, an almost predatory look in her eyes as she saw how much Izuku clearly liked it.
Momo drew a lot of eyes, given her curves, buxom breasts, and ample bottom in her red bikini. But she only had eyes for Izuku, and she wasn't exactly body shy or self-conscious anyway.
Tsuyu hopped over to Izuku, at the river's edge. She stood up to her full height and let out a cute little 'kero' when she saw Izuku give her body a once over before looking into her eyes and smiling warmly at her.
Ochako, being a little less bold than Camie, and not having Momo's seemingly innate lack of body-shyness, walked over to Izuku in her black and pink bikini with an adorably cute blush on her cheeks.
"You're beautiful." Izuku smiled lovingly at his girlfriends. They all looked just as amazing as they had back in the fitting rooms.
"You're not looking too bad yourself, Izukun." Camie eyed him up and down.
Izuku was wearing dark green and black swim shorts and nothing else. His toned and strong upper body was bare for all to see, and his girlfriends were very much enjoying the view.
"Kero." Tsuyu gently ran her hand over Izuku's abs and up his chest before gently threading her fingers into his fluffy green hair and pulling him into a sweet kiss. When they separated a moment later both had happy little smiles on their faces.
"T-Tsu!" Ochako was blushing even more now. "That's so bold."
"So, Chako wants to go next, got it!" Camie laughed and gently pushed Ochako into Izuku's arms.
"Izukun…mmm~" Ochako was kissed before she could worry about anything else.
"Better?" Izuku asked when they slowly pulled back from each other.
"Uh huh…" Ochako nodded and smiled at him with love and warmth.
Momo fidgeted cutely even after stepping forward. Izuku couldn't help but to gently take her into his arms and softly kiss her lips.
"Ah…" Momo let out an adorable mewl when the kiss ended. "Again?"
"Greedy, Momo-chan!" Camie giggled as she playfully separated Momo from Izuku. "Oh?" She looked down when she felt a strong arm encircle her waist. "Getting bolder, Izukun?" Her left hand came up and over her shoulder, finding the back of Izuku's neck, she pulled his head forward and turned her head to capture his lips. She might've also pressed her nice ass against him as they kissed to rile him up, but she wouldn't tell.
"Still not as bold as you, Camie." Izuku chuckled once they pulled away from each other.
"We'll work on it." Camie's bubbly laugh filled the air. "Let's swim! I think Izuku needs to cool off." She gave him a sensual look, her eyes half-lidded and biting her pouty lip. It offered and tempted with promises of so much, and Izuku felt his heart start hammering in his chest.
The girls all giggled, Ochako, Momo, and even Tsuyu blushing a bit as they saw Izuku's green eyes filled with his love and desire for them. When Camie got the other three girls to turn around, all four walked towards the river with a bit of a sway in their hips. It certainly did interesting things to their wonderful bottoms and Izuku started following behind them without even thinking about it. The next thing Izuku knew was being waist deep in water and getting splashed by Tsuyu.
"Of course you know, this means war." Izuku shook his head, his wet hair throwing water all about.
"Kero." Tsuyu smiled at him. She didn't even try to flee when Izuku lunged at her and playfully scooped her up into his arms before dunking both of them.
It was a good time for all of the students at the river. Just getting to enjoy the remainder of the day and cool off from the summer heat. Aside from the previous hard training, it was a typical day just being enjoyed by regular teenagers.
-Evening-
Izuku smiled as he approached Ragdoll, hoping that the Pro had some time to talk before lights out. "Miss Ragdoll?"
"Hm? Oh, if it isn't the strongest of the kittens!" Ragdoll teased Izuku playfully, even going so far as to pat his head and ruffle his fluffy hair like he was a small child. "Did you need something?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask for a huge favor, if possible." Izuku clapped his hands together in front of him in the classic 'begging' pose.
Ragdoll tilted her head curiously before a little smile pulled at her lips. "Ahahaha…. Midoriya, I'm flattered. But you're so much younger than me, and you're still a student…" She put her hands on her cheeks and swayed side-to-side a little, clearly teasing him if the barely suppressed giggles were any indication.
"N-Not that…Miss Ragdoll…" Izuku felt his face heat up at the older woman teasing him. She was beautiful, and a Pro Hero, both of which Izuku could admit to having a thing for, but he was spoken for already, four times over, in fact.
"I know, I know…" Ragdoll waved her joke off with a few more giggles. She put her index finger on her cheek and made a show of looking like she was thinking. "But if it's not 'that'…what else could it be?" Ragdoll perked up and held her hand up, index finger still extended. "Oh, I know!" Her face became gentle and understanding, calm and reassuring, something that she'd perfected in her years as a Rescue Hero. "You want to copy my Quirk, right?"
"Yes, ma'am, if you didn't mind, of course." Izuku bowed at the waist, making it almost a formal request.
"Sure." Ragdoll smiled at Izuku. "I'll show you how to use it while you're here. But could you explain the process first?"
"Of course!" Izuku stood to his full height with a beaming smile. "Thank you very much, Miss Ragdoll!"
"Ahahaha! You're really striving to be the best Hero that you can be, huh, Midoriya?" Ragdoll laughed at almost seeing sparkles in the teen's eyes.
The two sat down to talk and Izuku explained how Collector worked. Ragdoll listened carefully, asked a couple of questions, and once she was satisfied, she held her hand out to Izuku.
Izuku gently took Ragdoll's hand and the two shook on it. Izuku hadn't acquired a new Quirk copy since the USJ incident, but the feeling was the same as always. A tingling sensation as his Quirk rapidly parsed through the tiny amount of blood that his microtubules had taken from Ragdoll and found her Quirk information within her DNA. It was only a short time later that Izuku felt something in his head tingle. When he tapped into it, just as he did when activating any of his many Quirks, he experienced a new sensation.
"Whoa…" Izuku just stared off into empty space for a long moment.
"Yep! That's what I said the first time, back when I was a little girl." Ragdoll smiled fondly at the memory. Suddenly knowing where the last hundred people that you'd seen were and their condition had been a lot of information to take in. The four-year-old Shiretoko Tomoko had gotten a bit of a headache and cried for her mother. But after some lessons in turning her Quirk on and off, the little girl had been over the moon about her Quirk. Now she was part of the Wild, Wild Pussycats with her friends, and had helped and rescued hundreds of people with her power! She could only imagine just how many people an amazing future Hero like Midoriya would save with his own copy of her Quirk.